Marsupilami - Marsupilami (1970)

Marsupilami were an English progressive rock band active in the early 1970s. Their name was taken from a famous Belgian comics character created by Belgian artist André Franquin.[1] In 1969, the band toured with Deep Purple, and played at the opening of the Isle of Wight Festival when King Crimson withdrew. They released two albums, Marsupilami (1970) and Arena (1971), on Transatlantic Records. The albums were reissued on Cherry Red Records in 2007. The band briefly reunited for gigs in 2011.

Laurie Anderson - Big Science (1982)

There was a backlash against Laurie Anderson in "serious" musical and artistic circles after the completely unexpected mainstream commercial success of her debut album, Big Science. (The eight-plus-minute single "O Superman" was a chart hit in England, unbelievably enough.) A fair listen to Big Science leaves the impression that jealousy must have been at the root of the reception because Big Science is in no way a commercial sellout. A thoughtful and often hilariously funny collection of songs from Anderson's work in progress, United States I-IV, Big Science works both as a preview of the larger work and on its own merits. Opening with the hypnotic art rock of "From the Air," in which an airline pilot casually mentions that he's a caveman to a cyclical melody played in unison by a three-part reeds section, and the strangely beautiful title track, which must feature the most deadpan yodeling ever, the album dispenses witty one-liners, perceptive social commentary (the subtext of the album concerns Anderson's own suburban upbringing, which she views with more of a bemused fondness than the tiresome irony that many brought to the subject), and a surprisingly impressive sense of melody for someone who was until recently a strictly visual artist. For example, the marimba and handclap-led closer, "It Tango," is downright pretty in the way the minimalistic tune interacts with Anderson's voice, which is softer and more intimate (almost sexy, in a downtown-cool sort of way) than on the rest of the album. Not everything works -- "Walking and Falling" is negligible, and the way Rufus Harley's bagpipes intentionally clash with Anderson's harsh, nasal singing and mannered phrasing in "Sweaters" will annoy those listeners who can't take either Yoko Ono or Meredith Monk -- but Big Science is a landmark release in the New York art scene of the '80s, and quite possibly the best art rock album of the decade.

Bo Hansson - Lord Of The Rings (1972)

For decades, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy had been well loved by book readers everywhere. Now, New Zealand-born director Peter Jackson is transforming the epic on to the big screen, the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring had already hit the theaters at the end of 2001. In 1978, there was a rather forgettable animated version of Lord of the Rings. But before Lord of the Rings ever appeared on any type of screen, musicians were recording music inspired by Lord of the Rings, and Bo Hansson from Sweden recorded such an album in 1970.

The album was originally released in Sweden on the Silence label as Sagan Om Ringen, and all the songs bore Swedish titles. Eventually in 1972, Charisma Records, the British label that gave us Genesis, Rare Bird, Van der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill, Lindisfarne, and even Monty Python, had released the Bo Hansson album for international distribution, this time with totally different cover artwork, the better known English title, which was Lord of the Rings, and the fact the songs now all bore English titles. Don't worry, nothing was changed musically, as this is all instrumental music. Basically the music is very mystical sounding prog rock dominated by Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer.

He got some help with the likes of Gunnar Bergsten on sax, Sten Bergman on flute, and Rune Carlsson on drums. Hansson did all the keyboard work, as well as guitar and bass. Songs, as you may guess, bear titles like "Leaving Shire", "The Old Forest/Tom Bombadil", "Lothlorien", "The Ring Goes South", "Shadowfax", and many more. None of the songs are over 4 minutes long. The music is totally different from the more typical Hollywood type orchestral fare that is found on the Peter Jackson movie.

Bo Hansson's Lord of the Rings had been frequently criticized as being "cheesy organ and synthesizer music" (which I don't think so), and not fitting in with the trilogy. Usually these come from people who like to collect Lord of the Rings-related material, but don't listen to prog rock. To me, this music fits perfect to Tolkien's trilogy. You simply have to like prog rock, or understand what music was like in the early 1970s to appreciate it.

The album has a home made production. Most of this album was recorded at Bo Hansson's home on an island outside of Stockholm. Yeah, the music does get a little repetitious, but the truly mystical atmosphere makes up for the album's shortcoming. So if you're a Tolkien fan and a prog rock fan, be sure to add this album to your collection.

~ Reviewed by: Ben Miler