Ommadawn - Mike Oldfield

Ommadawn (36:41), like his previous efforts, covers two sides of Mike Oldfield's third album. It came out in 1975. In 2017 an album called Return to Ommadawn appeared. To record the original album as he wanted Oldfield persuaded his label, Virgin Records, to install a 24-track studio at home in The Beacon, Kington, Herefordshire. The African drums had to be recorded at The Manor, Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire, where the first two albums were recorded. There was insufficient space at The Beacon to accommodate the instruments and equipment. An initial version had to be abandoned due to problems with tape and so Oldfield started again. Among the musicians involved is Paddy Maloney on Uillean pipes. There is also a brass band in there. Chiefly instrumental, both parts of Ommadawn contain lyrics, in Irish and in English. On Side 1 Clodagh Simonds sings with two others in Irish

Tá daidí 'na leaba

Tá an cat ag ól an bhainne

Tá mé an Amadán le Ceol

Amadán le Ceol

[Daddy's in his bed The cat's drinking the milk I'm the idiot singing (or the singing idiot) Idiot singing (or singing idiot)]

The word idiot (amadán in Irish) was anglicised into Ommadawn and used as the title of the album.

Sphinx Lightning - Tangerine Dream

Sphinx Lightning (19:56) takes up the second side of the original 1983 album, Hyperborea. The album was Tangerine Dream's thirtenth studio album and their last with Virgin. An instrumental, of course, it begins with a slow section followed by a quicker one, then a more ethereal slow part which moves to a part where an animal like cry features. Things then pick up for a more upbeat, rhythmic section before the final upbeat one follows and a final animal cy like end. Some versions divide the track into five sections (00:00 - (Section 1) 2:52; 02:52 - (Section 2) 6:06; 08:58 - (Section 3) 3:47; 12:45 - (Section 4) 3:55; 16:40 - (Section 5) 3:16). Hyperborea was a word the Greeks used for a distant region in the north. A sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion and the wings of a bird. According to Greek myth, she challenges those who encounter her to answer a riddle and kills and eats them when they fail to do so. This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus.

Sphinx Lightning was a British Army wartime project on Salisbury Plain involving the testing of the new remote control Mk VII Churchill Crocodiles armed with flamethrowers and machine guns.

Medley - The Beatles

The Medley or The Long One (16:11) sneaks in rather as it is by The Beatles and was originally presented as a series of eight separate tracks rather than one epic long track. It was on their last album, Abbey Road released in 1969. Arguably, it is the original of all that followed. The separate tracks are McCartney's You never give me your money followed by Lennon's Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam. They in turn are followed by four McCartney songs, She Came In Through the Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, (based on Thomas Dekker's 17th-century poem), Carry That Weight, The End. The last track features Starr's only ever drum solo.

Lady Fantasy - Camel

Lady Fantasy (12:44) is one of two long tracks on either side of Camel's 1974 album Mirage, their second studio album. There are three parts to the piece, Encounter (3:47) , Smiles for You (1:25) and Lady Fantasy itself (7:32). The first and third parts include lyrics while the middle part acts as a sort of instrumental bridge (although there is plenty of instrumental work on guitars and keyboards in all three parts). All four members of the band are credited with composition.

Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Tarkus (20:59) takes up the first side of the original 1971 album of the same name, a name invented by Emerson. The albium was ELP's second studio album. The Tarkus track divides into seven parts of between 1:16 and 4.13 minutes - Eruption, Stones of Years, Iconoclast, Mass, Manticore, Battlefield (by Lake only, the rest being either by Emerson or Emerson and Lake). Three parts have lyrics (Stones, Mass and Battlefield). Emerson composed his parts in just six days on an upright piano at his London home. The band then rehearsed it for another six days, then recorded it. Emerson used a bit of Prokofiev to form a bridge between the two part of Eruption, which is in difficult 5/4 time.

King-Bird - Trace

The track King-Bird (22:01) is found on the second studio album by the Dutch trio Trace, their 1975 album Birds. It takes up the whole of the second side of the original vinyl album. The track is divided on the album into as many as 19 different sections, some shorter, some longer. The shorter runs are called avenues and the longer ones are given bird names. At the beginning of the track we hear church-like bells, organ, and bird calls in the background. The keyboard (piano,organ,harpsichord, synth), bass and drums instrumental track includes a pop song (Preacher Bird) sung by bassist Iaap van Eick and a track where bass features but no drum solo.

Hamburger Concerto - Focus

Hamburger Concerto (20:19) takes up the whole of the second side of the fourth studio album by the Dutch band Focus. The album came out in 1974 and was the penultimate album to feature guitrist Jan Akkerman. The "concerto" in six parts is arranged round a catchy riff by Akkerman but begins with a starter arranged by van Leer, a version of Variations on Haydn by Brahms, which ultimately relies on the St Anthony Chorale. Then comes "Rare" written by Akkerman and two lots of Medium, mostly by Akkerman and a "Well done" that includes the Dutch Christmas carol O Kerstnacht, schoner dan de dagen. The whole things is rounded off in grand prog rock style with "One for the road" where all the stops are pulled out for a wonderful finish that leaves you breathless. The piece and its parts have rarely been performed.