No.475: “Jailbreak” by Thin Lizzy (1976)
In 1976 came Dublin’s finest with their breakthrough album after a patchy five years scrabbling around finding their feet. The twin guitars of Scott Gorham (now with The Black Star Riders) and Brian Robertson, plus Brian Downey on drums and of course the great Phil Lynott. Take it away lads…
No.474: “The Prophet” by Roy Buchanan (1972)
Hailing from Arkansas, The Prophet was actually unreleased until 1984 when it was finally recognised as the great lost album from this white bluesman. Best hearing it in it’s entirety, it included this beautiful excerpt, ‘Sweet Dreams’:
No.473: “Frampton Comes Alive” by Peter Frampton (1976)
One of the most unexpected events in the history of rock, fairly well-known singer/guitarist named Peter Frampton from 60’s bands Humble Pie and The Herd was captured live in the States and they decided to release the gig. The resulting album took off wildly and it became one of the best selling albums ever, live or not, in history. It’s a superb collection of songs and these are two of the best from it:
No.472: “…And Justice For All” by Metallica (1988)
Virtually inventing the term “thrash metal” Metallica have since eased off (a bit) and have become just about the world’s biggest heavy rock band.
…And Justice For All contains the machine gun-like anti-war anthem ‘One’, plus a live rendition here of another of their crowd-pleasers ‘Harvester Of Sorrow’.
No.471: “Christopher Cross” by Christopher Cross (1980)
Young Texan singer-songwriter Christopher Cross came onto the scene in 1980 with a collection of M.O.R. tunes with that classy touch to them, none more so than these couple I have selected. The first ‘Sailing’ is simply one of the most beautifully descriptive songs you could ever come across; a classic single, plus the even more popular ‘Ride Like The Wind’. Wonder what Cross is doing these days?
And as a bonus for you, a song not on the album. The title music from the motion picture ‘Arthur’ (1982):
Two hours later and my afternoon now gone, we’ll have to end with this one for today:
I’ll take a break tomorrow and return Friday night. Please feel free to add any comments or relevant videos, thanks 
I saw Hawkwind in Cardiff in 1976.
These were on the same bill:
Budgie
Curved Air
Jackie Lynton
Status Quo
Strawbs
You got value for your money in those days.
Jackie Lynton was (and still is) a good rock and roller.
Never a mention
And I bet that gig only cost about a fiver too!
Jackie Lynton is a new name to me. Like it. Nice Temptations-type soul or even Northern soul.
I’ll convert that to MP3 for my collection. Thanks bud
Christopher Cross to Metallica, Floydy…no on can accuse you of not having an eclectic mix!
More but the internet speed is killing me tonight.
Bad dreams ahead thanks to Peter Gabriel (who should never be allowed to dance, btw)…better replay “Sailing a time or two” 
You mean to tell me, Surfermom, that you’ve never heard Christopher Cross’ version of ‘Enter Sandman’?! If only…
Sorry about the Genesis horrorshow too. Lol. Goblins and even giant sunflowers are moderately fine, but when Gabriel was all dressed up as a sort of giant hogweed creation with all those lumps and bumps…well that’s streching things a little! All in the name of prog though.
A superb and classic album. I was already into reggae and blue beat by the age of about 13 but Marley made it commercial and easy to identify.
The first Third World superstar as he was billed at the time.
he’s still unsurpassed as the greatest reggae icon, by a long way.
Might squeeze a few more in before I go out for tea…
No.469: “Human Touch” by Bruce Springsteen (1992)
The companion to the Lucky Town album (No.713) which was released the same day, Springsteen assembled a completely new band for this project and it became even more lucrative when the whole thing was featured on a subsequent MYV ‘Unplugged’ (called ‘Plugged’ in this case) with album and DVD a year later.
No.468: “The Allman Brothers Band” by The Allman Brothers Band (1969)
First release from one of the pioneers of the laid back country-blues sound, The Allman Brothers comprised brothers Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johnson. After the release of the second album they would gain major recognition by playing the Fillmore East concert arena to great critical acclaim and worldwide fame.
No.467: “Stephen Stills” by Stephen Stills (1970)
Representing Stephen Stills solo achievements, I plumped for his debut release rather than fill this list full of similar albums (most equally as good as this). Stills would perform frequently with various amalgamations of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, solo, with the band Manassas and as a guest performer on many other artists’ records. This will always be his best-known song, here in a live rendition from 1978:
No.466: “Rattle And Hum” by U2 (1988)
Hot on the heels of their world beating Joshua Tree album a year earlier, U2 wasted no time by putting out this rather more diverse collection of tracks. Big anthems, live tracks, excerpts of famous speeches, the full works. There was also a film and a world tour.
Two tracks now. One is the first single ‘Desire’ followed by their classic team-up with blues legend B.B. King:
No.465: “Afterburner” by ZZ Top (1985)
ZZ top were on a roll thanks to the previous Eliminator album with it’s high octane songs and tasty videos. Afterburner wasn’t as successful as it was missing some of the bluesy quality that this Texan band were known for - the 1980’s always had to have that awful synth and crashing snare drums on everything!, even ZZ Top records - but some songs stand out. None more so than this very different (for them) ballad, ‘Rough Boy’. Billy Gibbons’ guitar solo on this is tremendous:
No.464: “Cracked Rear View” by Hootie & The Blowfish (1995)
I loved this album when it came out in the summer of 1985. Darius Rucker and his band with their own brand of soulful bluesy pop-rock took America especially by storm with this collection of catchy, lively songs.
No.463: “Liquid Skin” by Gomez (1999)
This is a little different, remember this band? An indie-alternative group from Southport who used additonal instruments such as trombone and shuffling drums to supply us records full of interesting themes. This was their second album and unusually featured the title track of their first album which didn’t actually appear on that release, ‘Bring It On’:
No.462: “The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion” by The Black Crowes (1992)
When this superb band crashed onto the scene in the early 1990’s, melody Maker called them “the greatest rock and roll band in the world”. This was perhaps a little too brash, but they were on the right path. The band carried on for a couple of decades before disbanding and their members forming their own outfits. This is the single ‘Remedy’:
