The Year 1976 Albums Calendar and Rankings

1976, the year I was born. Also the year of the Bi-Centennial of course (per 1776).

Odd year in some ways per there was a ton of Jazz-Rock being made. I guess it was at the peak, or just after the peak of Jazz-Fusion and progressive rock. Punk, Post-Punk and New Wave were a couple of years away from taking over overall.

But the other thing is, and it may just be a product of the time and obscurity to a point, 18 albums below I cannot find a release date or month for. Kind of sucks, but I don't have time to do the research.

But as far specifics, Marscape is a favorite of mine, a masterpiece of Jazz-Rock and concept albums. And it really is a Brand X album, before they came up with their name.

Romantic Warrior also a big favorite among jazz-rock for me and many others. Rush's 2112 was a breakthrough, Jon Anderson's debut album is by many his best work.

Many great live records from Renaissance, to Rush and Led Zeppelin (which was for the film of course).. And the Billy Cobham / George Duke album is a favorite of mine as well, as the cover art I adore. Its charm, comedy, and Scifi element among other things. I even have George Duke's signature on my vinyl copy.

1. Jack Lancaster and Robin Lumley - Marscape
2. Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
3. Rush - 2112
4. Jon Anderson - Olias of Sunhillow
5. Kansas - Leftoverture
6. Al Di  Meola - Land of the Midnight Sun
7. Renaissance - Live at Carnegie Hall
8. The Billy Cobham / George Duke Band - Live on tour in Europe
9. Genesis - A Trick of the Tail
10. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
11. Styx - Crystal Ball
12. Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life
13. Rush - All the World's a Stage
14. Boston - Boston
15. Queen - A Day at the Races
16. Rainbow - Rising
17. Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same
18. Led Zeppelin - Presence
19. Genesis - Wind and Wuthering
20. The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Allan Poe
21. Shakti with John McLaughlin - Shakti with John McLaughlin
22. Stanley Clarke - School Days
23. Starcastle - Starcastle
24. Camel - Moonmadness
25. Jean-Luc Ponty - Aurora
26. Ken - By Request Only


Journey - Look into the Future
rel January 1, 1976



Peter Frampton - Framption Comes Alive!
rel January 6, 1976



David Bowie - Station to Station
rel January 23, 1976


10cc - How Dare You!
rel January 24, 1976


Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Worlds
rel January 1976


Genesis - A Trick of the Tail
rel February 2, 1976


Jean-Luc Ponty - Aurora
rel February 26, 1976


Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
rel February 1976


Starcastle - Starcastle
rel February 1976


Donna Summer - A Love Trilogy
rel March 5, 1976


Weather Report - Black Market
rel March 11, 1976


Marvin Gaye - I Want You
rel March 16, 1976


The Doobie Brothers - Takin' it to the Streets
rel March 19, 1976


Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
rel March 23, 1976


Camel - Moonmadness
rel March 26, 1976


Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
rel March 26, 1976


Led Zeppelin - Presence
rel March 31, 1976


Michael Nesmith - From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing
rel March 1976


Rush - 2112
rel April 1, 1976


Gentle Giant - Interview
rel April 23, 1976


Jethro Tull - Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
rel April 23, 1976


The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Allan Poe
rel May 1, 1976


Van der Graaf Generator - Still Life
rel April 15, 1976


Rainbow - Rising
rel May 17, 1976


Billy Joel - Turnstiles
rel May 19, 1976


Steely Dan - The Royal Scam
rel May 1976


Brand X - Unorthdox Behaviour
rel June 18, 1976


Patrick Moraz - The Story of I
rel June 1976


Soft Machine - Softs
rel June 1976


Jon Anderson - Olias of Sunhillow
rel July 24, 1976


James Brown - Get Up Offa That Thing
rel July 1976


Boston - Boston
rel August 25, 1976


Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius
rel August 1976


Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record
rel September 11, 1976


Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy
rel September 25, 1976


Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
rel September 28, 1976


Rush - All the World's a Stage
rel September 29, 1976


Styx - Crystal Ball
rel October 1, 1976


Stanley Clarke - School Days
rel October 8, 1976


Donna Summer - Four Seasons of Love
rel October 11, 1976


Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same
rel October 22, 1976


Al Di  Meola - Land of the Midnight Sun
rel October 25, 1976


Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Come in un'ultima cena
rel October 1976


Kansas - Leftoverture
rel October 1976


Jean-Luc Ponty - Imaginary Voyage
rel November 4, 1976


The Eagles - Hotel California
rel December 8, 1976


Queen - A Day at the Races
rel December 10, 1976


Genesis - Wind and Wuthering
rel December 17, 1976


Billy Cobham - Life and Times
rel 1976


The Billy Cobham / George Duke Band - Live on tour in Europe
rel 1976


Chick Corea - The Leprechaun
rel 1976


Chick Corea - My Spanish Heart
rel 1976


Paco de Lucia - Almoraima
rel 1976


Jan Hammer - Oh Yeah?
rel 1976


Alphonso Johnson - Moonshadows
rel 1976


Ken - By Request Only
rel 1976


Jack Lancaster and Robin Lumley - Marscape
rel 1976


Max Webster - Max Webster
rel 1976


Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life
rel 1976


McCoy Tyner - Focal Point
rel 1976


Oregon and Elvin Jones - Together
rel 1976


Flora Purim - 500 Miles High at Montreux
rel 1976


Renaissance - Live at Carnegie Hall
rel 1976


Shakti with John McLaughlin - Shakti with John McLaughlin
rel 1976


The Skatalites - The Legendary Skatalites
rel 1976


Triumvirat - Old Loves Die Hard
rel 1976

Porcupine Tree Book coming soon

http://www.porcupinetreebook.com/

From Rich Wilson, I honestly can't say I'm surprised by this or it being written by him. The same writer who did the Dream Theater Lifting Shadows book.

Not sure how spendy it'll be. Hopefully not over $100. More like $50 or less would be preferable.

I can see a lot of stuff coming out from it, even something as simple as to where the name of the band came from.

When will the book be published?

Publication is planned for late 2017.

Where will I be able to get the book?

The book will only be available from Rocket 88 initially.

The Reign of Kindo: Patreon songs (as of 5/3/17)

https://www.patreon.com/thereignofkindo 



So I know I posted about this Patreon program a while ago when it launched (September?), and they have released the following tracks,  almost one every month:

City of Gods 6:13
Human Convention 3:34
About Love 4:49
One in a Million 4:09
Smell of a Rose 3:50

Some challenges with life/living set back a couple months over the winter, but the past couple of months they have been putting a new song up and I guess from some of the commentaries (which I don't currently have access to per my pledge level), they have many more ready to go.

As far as these songs, all of them are very good and among the best stuff the band has done. The latest "About Love" might be my favorite. It's a ballad that midway through starts to layer and get dreamy yet funky and catchy in a way. It's rather mesmerizing.

The others use a lot of the sweet jazz undertones Kindo is known for (trumpet, sax, etc), but they do seem to be implementing more rock and proggy elements with cool synth patches and what not.

Physical Copies/Release(s)?

Unsure, but one thought may be they just continue with the 1 per month deal the rest of 2017 and put out a physical release in early 2018. Or a physical EP, and then a full-length later? I dunno.

But when I put up my midyear list soon, I think it would be foolish not to include them.

Pain of Salvation News: Staffing Changes

So a lot of this stuff has gone down over the last 24+ hours (been kind of preoccupied with a showing of my apartment = many hours of cleaning required)

-Ragnar Zolberg unfortunately is not with Pain of Salvation anymore.

-Johan Hallgren is now back with Pain of Salvation.

The below accounts and comments on Facebook I always take with a grain of salt (no pun intended).

I want to believe this is for the best for both parties. The part about the money and songwriting credits, I guess on the surface is hard to see Daniel in the best light. But I want to believe Daniel and Ragnar just agreed to disagree unfortunately.

Ragnar showed on their new album In the Passing Light of Day, he is a talented singer/musician and songwriter, and with that, it hurts losing him. He in a lot of ways infused new life and interest in Pain of Salvation.

On the other hand, now learning of Johan Hallgren returning, I can't help but be happy to see. Longtime member and part of their "classic" lineup per say; I guess losing Ragnar, Johan Hallgren is as good a replacement out there.

But it does seem like a Soap Opera. Revolving door per say, almost like Yes in a way.

In the mean time, it will be interesting to see what Ragnar does going forward and of course what the next Pain of Salvation album may be like.


Ragnar
FB
I quit Pain of Salvation in 2013 after having been in the band for 1 year only. It was nothing like what I had expected and I had come to understand why some members before me had also left. At that time Roger stepped in and did the acoustic tour in which he did a very good job! 
About one year later I was asked to do one more gig, prognation at sea, I agreed. When I showed up for rehearsals Daniel had been hospitalised and asked me to fill in his shoes for the show, after he got better he asked me to join the band again and write the next album with him. I love to make albums so I decided to stick around a little longer.
Recently, with our album In the Passing Light of Day the band has been doing considerably better. An album which Daniel and I wrote together during a 2 year time period and I also lent some of my previous compositions to it. With a lot of dedication, sacrifices and help from various people we managed to go from almost being dropped from the record label to selling a descent amount of albums and playing to sold out shows. Something that I am very proud of and obviously very grateful for the love shown to us by the kind people attending our shows. 
I have had a great time with my friends Gustaf Hielm, Daniel Karlsson and Léo Margarit. I am going to miss hanging out with them as much, they are the biggest reason I managed to stay all this time. <3 font="" nbsp="">
As it turned out, everybody worked on the album as a team, but as soon as our album was finished last year, the band leader started acting in a very similar manner as what we have been seeing of the band Ghost recently. It was clear that this was not “our" album anymore, but his. I got payed a small amount of 1000 euros for my work for those 2 years, that did not even cover my travel expenses.
Although PoS have now been doing quite good business wise, being in this band has been bad business from the beginning and has cost way more than what I’ve had in return, both mentally and economically. Minimum wage is not to be expected when you play to sold out shows and full venues at our standards. Neither is pessimism and criticism after almost every gig.
I have spoken my mind about all of this while still doing what I could to keep a professional relation towards everything, after all it is also my music that we have been playing and I have wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible despite the unjust treatment I have faced.
Instead of making amends, offering better salary or even giving credit where it’s due I was instead asked by Daniel to leave the band yesterday.
I am happy for everything I have learned in the recent years and the people I have gotten to know through this adventure and I am also very happy to be moving on. One thing that I have learned and think should be kept in mind is: Never take credit for others peoples work, that’s just not nice and extremely disrespectful.



A Message from Daniel Gildenlow
FB
After a few years of working together with Ragnar, I feel that we have come to a point where it is necessary to part ways. It feels very sad, because we are losing a great vocalist and stage personality in Ragnar. It felt great writing the new album together with him, and I am very thankful for that time. We all are. But with time it has become clear that his true place is not in this band. Musically, it has worked very well, but there are so many other variables that need to click in order to make a band strong and stable.
We are not going into a period of uncertainty, but one of deliberate change and strength. We have a great record label and a great management/booking company that have both told us that they understand our decision, and that they back us up and support us fully through this. All scheduled shows will happen as planned. How? Well, we are happy to announce that, starting today, Johan Hallgren will be returning to the band as a full member again, and we will go full throttle ahead through this. We are very happy about seeing him back onboard, and we are sure you will accept him back with open arms, as will we.
One thing that we are looking forward to a lot is the regained possibility to meet up and rehearse more often, which is one of the main reasons why I started playing music in the first place: to have that small and devoted tribe, standing in a sweaty rehearing room, sharing a stupid dream. And then making it come true.
So, a new chapter in the life of Pain of Salvation, and yet not. We hurt, we heal, we rise. And we keep delivering, that is a promise. We hope for your love and support through this. We want to thank Ragnar for the good years together with us, and wish him all the luck with his future endeavours. And again, we warmly welcome Johan Hallgren back to our family!
Peace,
Daniel and Pain of Salvation
What the band members and Johan himself has to say about his return to the band:
Johan Hallgren:
“Already when I quit the band, I felt that I really wanted to come back. This feels fun as hell, and I will go into this with full force – hook, line and sinker. I have promised myself to supersede everyone’s expectations of my return. This is something I know well, and I am damn good at it. And more than that, I have really missed them all – it’s a wonderful gang!”
Daniel D2 Karlsson:
“I am very happy to see Johan back – I actually feel quite exalted. Johan is a wonderful human being with a warm heart, and he’s got a fantastic charisma as a musician. I am convinced our fans will welcome him with a warm embrace.”
Léo Margarit:

“It’s great that Johan is back – a good friend. I am certain the fans will be very happy, he was a beloved band member, and many were sad to see him go. It will be very fun to play with him again!”



A message from Johan Hallgren

The guys in the band said some really kind things about me so I thought I would return the favor!
D2! First time I met him he was just a little kid about 11 years old and look at him now! He is handsome and a humble super musician who can switch between bass and keys in an instant! He is also a midi-wizard, sound engineer, light tech and so much more! Love to spend some time with him!
Leo! What can I say! Love the guy and everything about him! I don't think I need to mention his musical qualities! Seems like he was born through a drumroll singing!
Gustaf! Have had some sporadic contact with him over the last 25 years! Humorous guy and a killer musician! He is also a beast on bass but you already knew that!
Daniel! Sometimes he is a mystery to me! How can such an intellectual person go through hell sometimes squeezing out the last drop of blood in every musical and artistic insight! If he would be into economics he probably be a billionaire! Instead he beats himself almost to death to bring Pos forward giving everything he's got! But mostly he is just that loving, funny, person who is a close friend that always inspires me to be better on and off stage!
I've seen some pretty harsh posts out there about him during this member transition! Cut him some slack he is a human being! If the intentions was to hurt him, you did! Now we have two persons hurt! Let them heal and have two awesome bands out there! Johan

Bend Sinister - Get Along [1B] (2017)

http://www.storyhive.com/project/show/id/2195

Excellent track!

Also I find in the description of this project, the note

Bend Sinister will be releasing two albums in 2017 and hope to include a Storyhive video