Released in 1970, Emerson, Lake and Palmer was the first album from ELP. It is basically a solo album for all three members as only the first song was a combined effort. Extended solos and songs, complex time signatures and many classical influences make this album a definitive piece of progressive rock. However, many people do not like ELP. They think they are pretentious and overblown and boring. I say those people are welcome to their opinion, but that since much of ELP’s music is actual classical pieces or heavily influenced by classical music, then people who don’t like them probably have no appreciation for classical music either.

I have talked about ELP – Brain Salad Surgery before, which I think is one of their best albums.

I think Keith Emerson is an amazing pianist and composer. Plus the Hammond organ he uses is fantastic. I love that dirty Hammond sound. The best example of this sound is on Knife Edge, one of my favorite Emerson, Lake and Palmer songs.

Track Listing:

Side One:

1. The Barbarian
2. Take  a Pebble
3. Knife Edge

Side Two:

1. The Three Fates: (i) Clotho (ii) Lachesis (iii) Atropos
2. Tank
3. Lucky Man

Emerson, Lake and Palmer went to #18 on the Billboard charts, while “Lucky Man” went to #48 on the Billboard top 100.

You can buy Emerson, Lake and Palmer at Musicstack or at Amazon.

Rush is one of those bands that dabbled in progressive music, but never fully became progressive, especially in their later years. This album, though, is considered to be an essential masterpiece of progressive music by ProgArchives.com.

Moving Pictures was one of Rush’s biggest successes, because (in my opinion) they started to drift from prog to more commercial and radio friendly music. In spite of this, Moving Pictures is still a great album. The album went quadruple platinum in January of 1995. It also went to #3 on the Billboard Pop Album charts.

Rush – Moving Pictures Track Listing

Side  One:

1. Tom Sawyer
2. Red Barchetta
3. YYZ
4. Limelight

Side Two:

1. The Camera Eye
2. Witch Hunt
3. Vital Signs

I know it may be cliche, but here is Tom Sawyer for your listening pleasure (you need Flash for this):

If you want to own Moving Pictures by Rush on vinyl, check out Musicstack. You can also find it at Amazon.

WYWH is the 7th album by Pink Floyd. Recorded in 1975, much of the subject matter is about Syd Barrett. His drug use and mental problems forced him to leave the band.

I have an original pressing of this album, and which is cool since the supply didn’t keep up with the demand.

The album also has a lot to do with the music industry and the feeling of the band towards each other.

WYWH went to #1 on both the UK album chart and the Billboard Pop album chart, and #2 on both the Austrian and Norwegian album charts. It went 6 times platinum in 1997.

It can be misleading to those who have never heard the album before because it only has 5 tracks.

Wish You Were Here track listing;

Side One

1. Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I – V)
2. Welcome to the Machine

Side Two

1. Have a Cigar
2. Wish You Were Here
3. Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI – IX)

Buy Wish You Were Here on vinyl at Musicstack. Just click on Wish You Were Here in the description on the page and you will find many sellers of this album. It is worth every penny.

WYWH is also at #209 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Yessongs is a 3 disc (vinyl record discs) collection of live concert recordings. It was recorded during the Close To The Edge tour, and was released in 1973.

Yessongs features extended solos by most of the band, except for Jon Anderson and the (at the time) new drummer, Alan White. Because it is 3 discs, it has a lot more album art as you open it up. Of course, this art is done by Roger Dean, the legendary Yes album artist.

On the charts, Yessongs hit #7 in the UK, and #12 in the US. It also went Platinum in April of 1998.

Yessongs Track Listing

Side One

1. Opening (excerpt from ‘Firebird Suite’)
2. Siberian Khatru
3. Heart of the Sunrise

Side Two

1. Perpetual Change
2. And You and I

Side Three

1. Mood for a Day
2. Excerpts from ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’
3. Roundabout

Side Four

1. I’ve Seen All Good People
2. Long Distance Runaround/The Fish (Schindleria Præmaturus)

Side Five

1. Close to the Edge

Side Six

1. Yours Is No Disgrace
2. Starship Trooper

Yes was one of those bands, along with Genesis, that were responsible for bringing prog rock to the masses. Without them, our music would be bland today (of course, I think most of the pop music today is bland). If you are into Yes, but don’t have Yessongs, you need to buy it at MusicStack. They play these songs a bit differently live than they do in a studio, and it is a great album.

There is not a lot of information about this album, as it didn’t make much of an impact. It is out of print, although released on CD in the mid 90′s. However, you can find Richard Wright CD’s and vinyl records at Musicstack.

Richard Wright - Wet Dream Vinyl LP

This album was released in 1978, my copy is a promo copy, so it is original, and 30 years old. What do your 30 year old tapes sound like? Rick Wright wrote and produced all of his own songs, except for the second track which he co-wrote with his wife.

Track listing for Wet Dream by Rick Wright:

Side One

1. Mediterranean C
2. Against The Odds
3. Cat Cruise
4. Summer Elegy
5. Waves

Side Two

6. Holiday (MP3)

7. Mad Yannis Dance
8. Drop In From the Top
9. Pink’s Song
10. Funky Deux

If you listen to the entire album (hard to do when you have iTunes on shuffle), you can hear definite influences from different Floyd albums. I know this because I love Pink Floyd and have every album, most on vinyl.

I am very sad that I will never get to see the original Pink Floyd in concert.

What was so different about this concert is that the band decided not to include their hit song in the set list. They wanted to show that they were more than just one song. Because of this, the first song “Conquistador” hit 16 on the US charts, even thought the band didn’t actually have time to rehearse it with the orchestra. Here is Conquistador in MP3,

One thing to remember is this album was recorded live before even 4 track recorders. If you don’t know what that means, it just means that recording an entire symphony, plus a rock band was not as easy as it is today.

Also used in this concert was quadraphonic effects. The album isn’t in quadraphonic sound (some are) but the concert-goers would have been treated to an early surround sound. Quadraphonic sound is basically four speakers surrounding you.

Procol Harum were already at the forefront of progressive rock, and this album put them at the beginnings of symphonic rock also. They were one of the first bands to successfully bring together the rock band and the orchestra sound.

You’ll definitely want to buy some Procol Harum on vinyl at Musicstack.

Yes, the title is a little different, but don’t let it scare you. It is a lyric from Dr. Johns song “Right Place, Wrong Time.”

This was ELP’s fourth album, and one of my favorites. I love “Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2.” This song was so long, it had to be split up on both sides of the record. “Toccata” by Ginastera, was originally not going to be used because Ginastera’s agent didn’t like it. But Ginastera himself did like the ELP version. So there it is.

Also used on this album was a new piece of equipment called a drum synthesizer. This allowed Carl Palmer to play his drums and create more synth sounds and effects.

There are three more song that were recorded, but never put on the album. These are “Brain Salad Surgery” “Tiger in the Spotlight” and “When the Apple Blossoms Bloom in the Windmills of Your Mind I’ll Be Your Valentine.” I wonder if the last one was left off because the title wouldn’t fit on a record label.

If the radio ever does play ELP, it’s usually “Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 2.” During Christmas you can hear “I Believe in Father Christmas.” So I think I’ll put something else on here as an MP3 for you, here is “Still… You Turn Me On”;

Track Listing:

Side One

1. Jerusalem
2. Toccata
3. Still… Your Turn Me On
4. Benny The Bouncer
5. Karn Evil 9
   1. 1st Impression Part 1

Side Two

1. Karn Evil 9
   1. 1st Impression Part 2
   2. 2nd Impression
   3. 3rd Impression

If you want Emerson, Lake and Palmer on vinyl, check out Musicstack. Or you can just download Brain Salad Surgery below.

The reason it sounds so good, is that it was recorded from the original master recording at half speed. It was then pressed onto 200 gram high definition vinyl. Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs is the company that makes these records.

David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Nick Mason have all said that this is not their favorite album. They really don’t like it much at all. A little overdone and ‘pompous.’ Personally, I don’t mind overdone and pompous music for the most part. However, in spite of how they feel about it, it went to #1 in the UK and #55 in the US. It eventually went Gold in the US in 1994, only 24 years after its release in 1970.

This is not an album that every one will enjoy sitting down and listening to. There are many albums out there that require more than just casual listening. This is one of them. With the entire first side of the album being one song, it’s not radio fodder.

Side One:

1. Atom Heart Mother
   1. Father’s Shout
   2. Breast Milky
   3. Mother Fore
   4. Funky Dung
   5. Mind Your Throats Please
   6. Remergence

Side Two:

1. If
2. Summer ’68
3. Fat Old Sun
4. Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast
   1. 1. Rise and Shine
      2. Sunny Side Up
      3. Morning Glory

You can tell by just looking at the individual parts of the song Atom Heart Mother that this isn’t your normal ‘one size fits all’ music.

If you would like to buy this, you can get it on LP, but Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd is also on Musicstack in the same format as I have here.

Here is Pink Floyd’s If on MP3;

As always You can also find this on Amazon on CD, LP, 8-Track (yeah right), cassette or MP3.

Almost everyone knows the songs ‘Aqualung’ and ‘Locomotive Breath,’ but there are other great songs on here, such as ‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ and ‘Mother Goose.’

Aqualung was the 4th album by Jethro Tull, released in 1971. The song ‘Aqualung’ hit #7 on the Billboard charts, and the album was #337 on Rolling Stones 500 greatest albums.

The album according to Ian Anderson, lead singer and flautist, is “pro-God, but anti-Church.” He said that “organized religion can actually restrict a person’s relationship with their God instead of enhancing it.”

There are also 6 bonus tracks from different reissues:

1. Lick Your Fingers Clean
2. Wind Up (alternate version)
3. Excerpts from the Ian Anderson Interview
4. Song For Jeffrey
5. Fat Man
6. Bourée

Here I’ve made all of the MP3′s from Jethro Tull’s Aqualung available for download from Amazon.

This is one of the greatest albums of all time. I have an original pressing of Dark Side. It is in perfect condition, and sounds great.

Below you can download the MP3′s, or you can find the vinyl album at Musicstack.

The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the best-selling albums of all time worldwide, and the 20th-best-selling album in the United States. Though it held the ?1 spot in America for only one week, it spent a total of 741 consecutive weeks, approximately fourteen years, on the list until April 23, 1988 only to be removed by a rule change. To this day, it occupies a prominent spot on Billboard’s Pop Catalog Chart, reaching #1 when the 2003 hybrid CD/SACD edition was released and sold 800,000 copies in the U.S. alone. On the week of May 5, 2006, The Dark Side of the Moon achieved a combined total of 1,500 weeks on the Billboard 200 and Pop Catalog charts.

Dark Side Trivia

• If you listen closely, you can hear Ticket to Ride by the Beatles after the song Eclipse.
• The original name for the album was “Eclipse: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics” due to an album called Dark Side of the Moon by Medicine Head. However, Medcine Heads album didn’t do very well, so Floyd used DSOTM.
• Paul and Linda McCartney were recorded answering questions for the album, but were not included.
• Do I need to talk about the Wizard of Oz?

Here I’ve made all of the MP3′s from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon available for download from Amazon.