Missionaria Protectiva

  JIM CROCE  I Got A Name  (ABC,1973) - Folk rock       I Got a Name  is Croce's third and last album; it is also his best. The production by Cashman and West, who also produced  You Don't Mess Around With Jim  and  Life And Times , is a bit richer than on the previous albums, but not in a way that interferes with Croce's persona, the tough-tender storyteller and philosophic realist, who naturally identifies himself with the young working class of the American heartland. Eight of the album's 11 cuts are Croce originals that divide between the philosophic and anecdotal. TRACKLIST: I Got A Name                   Lover's Cross                   Five Short Minutes                   Age                   Workin' At The Car Wash Blues         ...

  STORIES  About Us  (Kama Sutra,1973) - Pop rock      Compared to the band's intricate, insular debut, About Us is a completely different story altogether. No work is required of the listener on this second album by Stories, as  Eddie Kramer 's cinematic production gives the band definition and drama, pulling them into the leagues of such power poppers as  Badfinger ,  the Raspberries , and  Todd Rundgren . Not that Stories rocked as hard as any of those three -- there's not much kinetic thrust to their rhythms or reckless abandon to their playing, not even on the boogie "Don't Ever Let Me Down" or the jokey blues of "Down Time Blooze" -- but there's muscle and color to their sound on About Us; the songs leap out of the speakers and command attention, unlike the tunes on the debut which whispered and required close listening.  TRACKLIST: Darling                      Don't Ev...

  BREAD  Baby I'm-A Want You  (Elektra,1972) - Soft rock       When Bread's first album was released, the group was dismissed in many circles as a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young carbon. Since then, Bread has become one of the most consistent hit making musical aggregations in the U.S. and as the LP shows, they sure have that hit formula down pat; catchy and somewhat melodic rockers that are all under 3 1/2 minutes in playing time, just perfect for all those AM program directors who have made Bread this generation's Lettermen. Like The Guess Who, Bread has bridged the gap between bubblegum and progressive, though many of their ballads, like "Baby I'm-A Want You" and "Everything I Own" lean more towards the saccharine.       There is no doubt as to Bread's musicianship, for all its members are accomplished and respected studio musicians. As a matter of fact, when Robb Royer left the group, he was replaced by the ubiquitous keyboard man Larry ...

  BADFINGER  No Dice  (Apple,1970) - Pop rock      Badfinger carries on the rhythm-happy tradition of the early Beatles, rocking to the big beat without hang-ups or pretensions of profundity. Pete Ham and Joey Molland write most of the group's original material, but songs, as well as the Liverpool-type voices, cover the Beatles like a Xerox. The catch is they're good, and prove it nicely on "No Matter What," "Better Days," "Without You" and "I Can't Take It." TRACKLIST : I Can't Take It                       I Don't Mind                       Love Me Do                       Midnight Caller                       No Matter What                       Without You        ...

  DAVID ACKLES  American Gothic  (Elektra,1972) - Rock/Americana       A former Vaudeville performer, Illinois-born Ackles was hired by Elektra Records in the mid-1960s as a paid songwriter, a job that ultimately landed him a five-record deal that would yield this Bernie Taupin produced album, among three others. It was this unlikely clash of anachronistic show business and modern-day lyricism that so deeply informs his recorded output. Alternately calling to mind Hoagy Charmichael, Irving Berlin, Robbie Robertson, Tim Hardin, and Scott Walker, Ackles forged an utterly unique sound out of stray parts that comprise a whole that is as uncompromising as it is unrivaled. Nearly entirely eschewing the singer-songwriter staple of guitar, Ackles favors an elliptical piano that weaves itself around the moaning “high school” horns that were so memorably employed by the Band on their self-titled record. It’s a fascinating move that only adds to the wheezy candor of h...

        King's X developed one of the most unique, unmistakable sounds of the past few decades, and it stands to reason that their bass-playing frontman, Dug Pinnick, be equally one-of-a-kind. His playing beautifully fleshes out the group's avant-garde metal while his soulful vocals soar above it all like a religious experience. KING'S X Out Of The Silent Planet Megaforce,1988 https://www.sendspace.com/file/ek2hdk

  VOIVOD  War And Pain  (Metal Blade,1984) - Thrash metal       Canada was not exactly a leader in the heavy metal world. Aside from workmanlike power metal bands like Anvil and Exciter, the great progressive power trio Rush, the more middling power trio Triumph, and the fun party metal of Helix, the country had little to offer, metalwise, by the time 1984 rolled around.  War and Pain  changed all that; here was an album that was not only so extreme it was startling, but it was also one that derived heavily from the various stalwart bands in the underground metal scene at the time, yet remained completely different from anything that came out that year. TRACKLIST: Voivod                         Warriors Of Ice                         Suck Your Bone                       ...

  METAL CHURCH  Metal Church  (Ground Zero,1984) - Thrash metal      W hile the complex songwriting and aggressive riffing seen on trad metal epics like "Beyond the Black," "Gods of Wrath," and "Metal Church" are about as good as it gets, thrashier moments like "My Favorite Nightmare," "Battalions," and the appropriately named instrumental "Merciless Onslaught" still needed a little work. In fact, the band's incredibly tight musicianship is a highlight all on its own, and vocalist  David Wayne 's piercing screech (similar to  Accept 's  Udo Dirkschneider ) was considered very hip at the time, believe it or not. Concluding with a full-throttle cover of the  Deep Purple  standard "Highway Star," this album remains an overlooked classic of straight-ahead American-bred heavy metal. TRACKLIST : Beyond The Black                        Metal Church         ...

  PRONG  Force Fed  (Spigot,1989) - Thrash metal       Force Fed is suitably primal, with one of the best 'raw' mixes in thrashistory. The guitars blister and scream, the bass is suitably dense and distorted, the vocals seem to cascade about in their claustrophobic conditions, yet with the firm New York gruffness. Riff for riff, this is superior to any other Prong album, but not the only I'd recommend (Beg to Differ and Rude Awakening are their other finest hours, but you can't go wrong with many of their efforts). It's a unique and inspired blend of extreme music genres with an intriguing subterranean atmosphere. This doesn't capture the tough guy streets of the city, but the thriving lifeline of its bowels, where all the piss and poop is washed away with so much of the metropolis' memories and detritus. PRONG  Primitive Origins  (Spigot,1987) - Thrash/Hardcore      It would be easy for an inexperienced fan, perhaps influenced by t...

  SAVATAGE  Power Of The Night  (Atlantic,1985) - Heavy metal       Power Of The Night is an uneven album that regrettably lacks the tremendous intensity and the passion of Savatage's two prior offerings but still is able to look straight in the eyes the rest of the band's albums. A statement that surely isn't valid for their next rock bottom album Fight For The Rock. Fortunately the band's downward spiral, whose first signs are clearly highlighted here, was brief and led to the second glorious prog power metal Savatage era. TRACKLIST : Power Of The Night                       Unusual                       Warriors                       Necrophilia                       Washed Out                 ...

  TESTAMENT  The Legacy  (Atlantic,1987) - Thrash metal       This was thrash metal right to its core, it was full of passion and integrity that was starting to drift away from those bands which had become more established and signed to major labels. Even now, ‘The Legacy’ sounds great with tracks like ‘Apocalyptic City’, ‘The Haunting’ and ‘Burnt Offerings’ leading the charge and although the production wasn’t fantastic, thrash never needed that to create some spectacular. TRACKLIST : Over The Wall                        The Haunting                        Burnt Offerings                        Raging Waters                        C.O.T.L.O.D.                       ...

  KING DIAMOND  Conspiracy  (Roadrunner,1989) - Heavy metal       Arguably, 'Conspiracy' is the weakest and most directionless of the first five King Diamond albums, both musically and conceptually, but it's still a fun album in its own right. It's by far the most complex of the band's early years and seems to be the peak of their musical excursion and experimentation, since we are treated to a much more mellow successor in 'The Eye'. If we cast aside the story and forget it's a conceptual record, maybe the song placement will not seem all that weird. But there's also no denying that this is a rather lopsided album where Side A pulls all the weight while Side B mostly staggers on the side of the road. However, for all its flaws, this dip in quality is not overpowering enough to dampen the album's unquestionable status as a classic and it only adds to the band's top-drawer resume of fantastic albums one after the other, year after year.   TRAC...

        While others imitated Eddie Van Halen, Nuno took his ideas to new places. His devastating syncopation gave Extreme funk where their peers had none. EXTREME Extreme A&M,1989 https://www.sendspace.com/file/nxxnfz

  GURU GURU  Hinten  (Ohr,1971) - Krautrock       Hinten  is a stone classic and another advancement on the lineage started by Cream and Jimi Hendrix as a trio in the late 60s, especially if you were to take "EXP" from the latter's  Axis: Bold as Love  and increase its influence in the mix. While Genrich, Trepte, and Neumeier form a guitar, bass, and drums trio, the amount of effects and electronics they all wield ends up blurring that basic distinction so that the boundary between the instruments and the weird sounds can often be hard to pinpoint. The band will lope into some wild and wooly groove and at times everything will distort, echo and reverb into something much more strange. On one song this is interrupted by vocals exclaiming "Bo Diddley!" after a descending riff with all sorts of bendy effects on Genrich's guitar. To this day and just like the, perhaps, slightly superior  UFO , I've always found this endlessly inventive, espe...

  ELOY  Metromania  (Harvest,1984) - Progressive rock       The expertise in arrangements on this album is dazzling. While the musicianship and songwriting are superb, it's how the whole package is assembled that is key to Eloy's success, particularly in the expert blending of guitar and keyboard tones to produce unusual composite sounds. Although this album shows its 1980s genes in the use of electronic drums and certain keyboard sounds, it transcends the era to become a timeless classic. TRACKLIST : Escape To The Heights                    Seeds Of Creation                    All Life Is One                    The Stranger                    Follow The Light                    Nightriders       ...

  STEVE HACKETT  Defector  (Charisma,1980) - Progressive rock       Defector  is usually called the last of the four classic Steve Hackett albums. It shows a brilliant band taking up Steve’s songwriting ideas and giving them their own character. The album is darker than its predecessors and more political. The warmth and the magic of the “spectral morning” has given way to the cold and loneliness of  The Steppes .       Five instrumentals are balanced by five songs with wonderful vocals by Pete Hicks. The basic concept of showing a defector’s feelings as he starts over in a new culture is an allegory rather than a real story. Steve’s attempt to come to terms with the world of cold war remains vague. You could also see it as an exploration of the artist’s role in a commercialized society, yes, even as Steve coming to terms with his leaving Genesis ( Time To Get Out, Leaving ).       Steve shows himself a jack of all tr...

  KESTREL  Kestrel  (Cube,1975) - Progressive rock       Kestrel is an obscure progressive rock act with one album released in their short career. Selftitled from 1975 , this album is a good one in every way, because it reminds me of the great prog rock bands from mid'70's. To me this album is a combination between heavy prog arrangements and some art rock parts, very well composed with some memorable parts. The sound is crystal clear, evey instrument is where it belogs creating some excellent passages full of intristing keybords and great guitar chops. The vocalis Tom Knowles is very ok, warm voice and fits perfectly in the mood of the album. What I like most are the keybords parts, there are some fantastic passages like on In The War , both on great intro of the piece and the last min of it, great atmospheric and grandious keybords, excellent. Also the heavy prog sections are very well performed, where the duel guitar-keyboards are awesome, tight and intr...