There's the Rub is the fifth studio album by rock band Wishbone Ash. It is the first album to feature guitarist/vocalist Laurie Wisefield, who would be a major part of the band's creative direction for the next 11 years. The album is considered by many to be a highpoint of the band's recording career. The title is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet; "To sleep—perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub." The track "F.U.B.B." caused controversy because of the acronym's meaning ("Fucked Up Beyond Belief") upon the album's release. Moreover, the haunting ballad "Persephone" would go on to become one of the band's most popular live songs. The lyrics of "Lady Jay" are based on the Dartmoor folk legend about Kitty Jay.

Despite her Latin heritage, Joan Baez probably wouldn't have been encouraged by her 1960s record label, the New York-based independent Vanguard, to sing an entire album in Spanish. At A&M Records, the Los Angeles firm co-founded by Herb Alpert that she joined in the early '70s, however, it would have been a different story, and it was A&M that released Gracias a la Vida ("Here's to Life") in 1974. Baez demonstrates an affinity for Mexican folk music on such obvious choices as "Cucurrucucu Paloma," but it's no surprise that, a year after the assassination of leading nueva canción folksinger Victor Jara in a military coup in Chile, an atrocity that shocked the American folk community, she has not backed away from her political commitments…

Murple unfortunately released only one album (until their belated reunion in 2008) titled "Io Sono Murple" which stands out as a superb piece of 70's Italian Progressive Rock. Centred around the symphonic keyboard and piano work of Pier Carlo Zanco this album blends all of the progressive rock characteristics that made this such a beloved region for this art rock genre. Comprised of just two lengthy tracks (side one and side two) "Io Sono Murple" draws on the classic 70's Ital-prog vibes with gorgeous piano and synthesizer work mixed with fantastic guitar, bass and drum interplay. The 2 songs are both drop dead fantastic and contains the romanticism of I Pooh and Locanda delle Fate with the musical prowess PFM.

This Barcelona-based spanish band made their debut in 1972 with their eponymous album. This record is a mostly instrumental one (a few scatting one the opening track), but this does not hamper the enjoyment of the music: they have a fairly unique sound and the music has some very subtle Spanish overtones but not in the Flamenco realm. Their sound oscillates between Isotope, Wigwam (the Gustavson and Pohjola compositions), Focus or Finch, Sloche (or fellow Quebecois Maneige) and countrymen Iceberg. If the jazz colours are the main characteristics of the album, the classical influences peak here and there, most notably in Negra Sombra (Dark Black).
Their second slbum 'Fusioon 2' (1974) comprises a stunning combination of delightful melodies and counterpoints, clever interplaying, delicate dissonances…

In their early years, Kaipa was one of Sweden's best Symphonic Prog bands. Roine Stolt from The Flower Kings was a member of Kaipa. Their albums contain mostly instrumental music, drawing its influences from classic progressive Rock bands (Camel, Yes, Genesis), Classical music (Bach), and also Swedish Folk music. The Decca Years is a compilation of the three first albums from Kaipa, released under the Decca label during the years of 1975 to 1978. It also includes a demo which was previously unreleased, and a previously unreleased live set.

Weather Report's fourth recording finds Wayne Shorter (on soprano and tenor) taking a lesser role as Joe Zawinul begins to really dominate the group's sound. Most selections also include bassist Alphonso Johnson and drummer Ishmael Wilburn although the personnel shifts from track to track. "Nubian Sundance" adds several vocalists while "Blackthorn Rose" is a Shorter-Zawinul duet. Overall the music is pretty stimulating and sometimes adventurous; high-quality fusion from 1974.

A master of the traditional and the progressive, the styles of the past and the bright, swinging future, Eddie Palmieri is one of the most influential Latino pianists of the 20th century. His extreme versatility and artistic vision are brilliantly displayed on The Sun of Latin Music. While most Latin jazz musicians fall into either staunch traditionalism or pursuing progressive ideas to the detriment of groove and accessibility; Palmieri marries both ideals effortlessly. With smooth, danceable rhythm, lush vocals, and a clear center to the song, combined with sophisticated arrangements, tunes like "Desea Salvaje" and "Nunca Contigo" both swing the dancer and captivate the discriminating listener. Palmieri's interest in stylistic variety, including styles like danzon, guaguanco, and cumbia, not common of '70s era salsa, enrich the album and show off his versatility…

Phaedra is one of the most important, artistic, and exciting works in the history of electronic music, a brilliant and compelling summation of Tangerine Dream's early avant-space direction balanced with the synthesizer/sequencer technology just beginning to gain a foothold in nonacademic circles. The result is best heard on the 15-minute title track, unparalleled before or since for its depth of sound and vision. Given focus by the arpeggiated trance that drifts in and out of the mix, the track progresses through several passages including a few surprisingly melodic keyboard lines and an assortment of eerie Moog and Mellotron effects, gaseous explosions, and windy sirens. Despite the impending chaos, the track sounds more like a carefully composed classical work than an unrestrained piece of noise…

Best known as a member of the legendary Welsh band Man, Deke Leonard also enjoyed a successful solo career in the early 1970s.
Iceberg (1973). Though Deke Leonard had made his reputation playing progressive rock in the Welsh group Man, his first solo album has more of a roots rock feel than anything released by that band. Roots rock played by someone with a taste for odd arrangements, perhaps, but roots rock nevertheless. "Lisa" and "Jesse" both sound like something that the Band might have turned out, country fiddle, organ, and all, though Leonard's distinctive, reedy voice makes it unlikely that anyone is actually going to mistake one for the other. Rockabilly comes in for some attention too, as in the delirious "Hard Way to Live"…

This matchup between pianist Oscar Peterson, bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and drummer Louis Hayes directly precedes Peterson's recordings for Pablo. The pianist is in typically brilliant form on the LP, performing six standards (including "Soft Winds" and "On the Trail") along with his own "Wheatland." From the results here, it couldn't have been too surprising that Peterson would want to record frequently with Pedersen in future years.

After several vain attempts in many bands, the brothers Rolf and Klaus Fichter finally found in 1973 their own musical identity. At this time the band original name Brontosaurus changes to Yatha Sidhra, a musical name which is really suitable for the new musical orientation taken by the two musicians. Particularly attentive to ethnic and meditative influences in popular music, they began to work on a long & epic piece called "A Meditation Mass" (under the influence of the famous Achim Reichel, the virtual member of the band who produces the album in 1974).
The first intention was to create a dreamy musical landscape where the Moog synth, the flute & traditional "percussive" instruments play an important part…

For the Good Times brings together two early 1970s albums from alto/tenor Rusty Bryant: 1973's For the Good Times and 1974's Until It's Time for You to Go. Both albums find Bryant combining pop and soul-jazz with the aid of electric pianos and funky guitars. Things get started with tepid versions of the title track and Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song," both veering dangerously close to Muzak territory. The pieces are salvaged, however, by Joe Beck and Hugh McCracken's guitar work and Hank Jones' steady hand at the keyboards. Bryant turns in his best solo on a groovy version of "Theme From Deep Throat" that's propelled forward by bassist Tony Levin and drummer Steve Gadd. Musically, things pick up a bit on the last six tracks…