High Tide for progressive rock and other classic rock: 1972

 This high tide of amazing recorded music would continue into 1973, 1974, and 1975. From there, the tide subsided. But, let's look at the 1972 releases with all the awe we can muster. 

First, on a personal note, I attended my first true rock concert in February 1972: Yes at the Academy of Music in NYC. It was a weeknight, and I had to literally beg The Parents to let me go. It was amazing. I would go on to attend nearly 75 concerts during the 1970s. As I tell young folks, the concerts were, on average, $5, which, with minimum wage jobs of about $2.50 an hour, was still a great deal. The reason concert tickets were so much cheaper is people bought albums, which were $5 a pop, and the concert tours became "loss leaders," meaning the concerts were promoting people to buy albums. When that flips, with the advent of digital downloads, concerts became the vehicles for moneymaking. Also, concerts became much more complicated affairs, as most bands back then merely showed up with their amps and instruments, and relied on venues for lighting. An exception was Pink Floyd, but even then, nothing compared to a Katy Perry show in this century.  

Second, in creating this list, I am mostly relying on good ol' Wikipedia. However, I also had to rely on my own memory of various albums not listed in its 1972 album releases entry. I had become a major music "phreak" at that point in my life. :), and I wished to write down these bands and their albums while my memory remains strong. It is still an eclectic list, and definitely subjective, as I leave out James Brown, Elvis, Supremes, and other recording artists who released albums that year, but which I did not find all that memorable from those artists.  I did not put in live albums, unless they were truly special (I left off "Grateful Dead's" "Europe '72" live album, and "Deep Purple's" live in Japan album, for example).  

I typed in asterisks for the albums I loved and still love to this day.

January 1972:

Premiata Forneia Marconi, "Storia di un minuto"** (Damn!  A great first album that would have won in many other years outside of this amazing period. And their second album, "Per un Amico" is released later in this year, in November.  That is at least as great, if not better, and more organized as an album.)

Paul Simon's first solo album, just entitled "Paul Simon"* (an amazing album that has so many iconic songs, showing he was truly the brains behind the music, though Art Garfunkel was a major part of the S&G sound.).

Flash's first self-titled album* (Yes band refugees Peter Banks and Tony Kaye. An amazing opening album with outstanding tracks throughout.)

Jackson Browne first solo album, just entitled "Jackson Browne"

February 1972:

Todd Rundgren, "Something/Anything"*

Neil Young, "Harvest"*

Allman Brothers, "Eat a Peach"*

Fanny, "Fanny Hill" (an all female rock band which put out some great covers, and decent psychedelic/hard rock)

Strawbs, "Grave New World"*

March 1972:

Jethro Tull, "Thick as a Brick"** (the best album of the year, in my not-humble view)

Kinks, "The Kink Kronikles"*

Deep Purple, "Machine Head"*

Frank Zappa, "Just Another Band from L.A." (not a favorite, I must admit)

Chase, "Ennea"

Pure Prairie League, self-titled debut album

Banco Del Muto Soccorso, self-titled first album** (A great one I missed at the time, and did not learn about until the early 2000s)

April 1972:

Archie Sheep, "Attica Blues"* (I became a Shepp fan in high school, and this album was radical politically and artistically in the Jazz genre)

Graham Nash David Crosby, "Crosby & Nash" ("Immigration Man" song is worth listening to at least)

Gentle Giant, "Three Friends"** (one of the top five albums in my not-humble view)

Lou Reed, first solo album, just entitled "Lou Reed"

Al Kooper, "A Possible Projection of the Future/Childhood's End" (intriguing album, but not memorable for me)

Procol Harum, "Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton (Canada) Symphony Orchestra"* (a live album that turns previous songs new again, and a Side 2 concerto "In Held T'was In I" that is still great to hear: "Oh, my Son, Life is like a beanstalk/Isn't it?")

Jim Croce, "You Don't Mess Around with Jim"* (might as well be a greatest hits album)

May 1972:

Jeff Beck, "Jeff Beck Group"

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, self-titled

Rolling Stones, "Exile on Main Street" (My vote for the most overrated album of that year, or most years in the era of 1965-1975)

Uriah Heep, "Demons & Wizards"*

Caravan, "Waterloo Lily"*

Funkadelic, "America Eats its Young"*

Weather Report, "I Sing the Body Electric"*

Randy Newman, "Sail Away"*

Bill Withers, "Still Bill"* (just for "Lean on Me")

June 1972:

Aretha Franklin, "Amazing Grace"

Pink Floyd, "Obscured by Clouds"** (the most underrated album of 1972; nobody talks about it, but it is magnificent, and would have been a top three or better album in nearly any other previous year)

David Bowie, "The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust"**

John Lennon & Yoko Ono, "Some Time in NYC"

Jethro Tull, "Living in the Past"** (the record company released the album a month after "Thick As a Brick" because it contained a bunch of singles not previously released, with the intent of giving Tull airtime. "TAAB" was one 40 minute song/concerto and most radio stations would only play a snippet. Bastards. Anderson was pissed with the release of LITP, but we fans loved the double album.)

Aphrodite's Child, "666"* (an underrated album I frankly missed at the time of its release)

Free, "Free at Last"

Big Star, "Number 1 Record"* (worth a listen; Boxtops leader's more album oriented rock album)

Alice Cooper Band, "School's Out"* (an iconic release which has some outstanding music for most of the album)

July 1972:

Renaissance, "Prologue"** (The Annie Haslam era begins!  This is a top five album, though I will run out of numbers for a top five this year of 1972. It is so extraordinary the number of amazing albums that still remain vital listening.)

Argent, "All Together Now"** ("Hold Your Head Up"--nothing more needs to be said)

Doobie Brothers, "Toulouse Street" (major Doobie Bros. hits appeared on this album release)

Frank Zappa, "Waka/Jawaka"* (Zappa moves into his jazz period, with this and "The Grand Wazoo" released in this year, 1972. This is inferior to "The Grand Wazoo," but is still outstanding.)

Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, "Trilogy"** (An amazing album. Full stop. Did you hear what I said? Full stop.)

Chicago, "Chicago V"* (Chicago's most prog album)

Harry Nilsson, "Son of Schmilsson"

Doors, "Full Circle"* (a post-Morrison album, their last studio album. I am thinking I must re-listen to this one, which I don't own, through YouTube)

Rod Stewart, "Never a Dull Moment"

T-Rex,"The Slider"

Captain Beyond, "Captain Beyond"* (last of the psychedelic-hard rock bands, as psychedelia had morphed into Progressive rock and Heavy Metal. This remains a solid and worth listening to album.)

Nazareth, "Exercises"

Foghat, self-titled first album

Curtis Mayfield, "Superfly"* (not my taste, but a masterful soundtrack album of original songs)

August 1972:

Michael Jackson, "Ben" (yes, the title song for the thriller--pun intended--film, "Willard")

Kinks, "Everybody's in Show-Biz"** (Yeah, this album. Outstanding in a year of amazing records that simply push this one aside, unfortunately.)

Gil Scott-Heron, "Free Will"* (worth a listen to now more than then)

Seals & Crofts, "Summer Breeze"* (progressive oriented folk)

September 1972:

Return to Forever, self-titled first album* (A good and solid album, but my asterisk is more for historical purposes. This is the first of the two incarnations of the band, with a much more jazz sound, with the late Flora Purim with her sensual and compelling vocals, and her hubby Airto Moreia on drums. It was the second album, "Light as a Feather," in 1973, which remains the knockout punch of an album, and so compelling to hear today.)

Mott the Hoople, "All the Young Dudes"** (other than the title track, not so great. But the title track!)

Yes, "Close to the Edge"** (the greatest album of the year except for "Thick as a Brick". This is so ridiculously brilliant I can't even believe it was even made by then young people. Yeah, so damn great!)

John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High"* (This was some year in music, wasn't it?)

Black Sabbath, "Vol. 4"* (Pure heavy metal being casted from the iconic Black Sabbath)

Cat Stevens, "Catch Bull at Four"* (Great album!)

Family, "Bandstand" (for me, only famous for having John Wetton in the band)

Steeleye Span, "Below the Salt"* (one of my favorite albums from this band; so worth the listen!)

Osmonds, "Crazy Horses"* (worth the listen if only to be shocked by it being a good hard rock album from an unlikely source)

Bonnie Raitt, "Give it Up"

Waylon Jennings, "Ladies Love Outlaws"

Brinsley Schwarz, "Nervous on the Road" (a second release in one year, the protopunk band with Nick Lowe)

Sandy Denny, "Sandy"* (a much neglected album from an artist who died of cancer before the decade was out)

Pentangle, "Solomon's seal"* (a band much like, and earlier, than Steeleye Span)

October 1972:

Genesis, "Foxtrot"** (Damn!  If I had to rank the top five albums, this is within that top 5, and in any other year, higher than that)

Santana, "Caravanserai"

Pure Prairie League, "Bustin' Out"

Tim Buckley, "Greetings from L.A."* (a much neglected album, too)

Loggins & Messina, first album, self-titled

Atomic Rooster, "Made in England" (another of the last of the purer psychedelic bands)

Carole King, "Rhymes & Reasons"

Ten Years After, "Rock & Roll Music to the World"

Harry Chapin, ""Sniper & Other Love Songs"

Bee Gees, "To Whom It May Concern"

November 1972:

Premiata Forneria Marconi, "Per un Amico"** (So fantastic! As I keep saying, What. A. Year.!)

James Taylor, "One Man Dog"

Hollies, "Romany"

Slade, "Slayed?"* (this is a classic that may properly be called psych-pop-metal. Yeah, listen to this one.)

Bette Midler, "The Divine Ms. M"* (Not my personal taste, but I so respect Midler's talent)

Neil Young, "Journey through the Past" (a soundtrack album)

Lou Reed, "Transformer"* (yeah, that's the album to listen to for Lou Reed)

Barclay James Harvest, self-titled*

America, "Homecoming"* (for "Ventura Highway" alone, but a solid album nonetheless)

Moody Blues, "Seventh Soljourn"* (Great album!  There are at least ten iconic albums released by bands in this single year, and this is one of those iconic albums)

Poco, "A Good Feelin' To Know"* (Their best, in my not-humble view)

Ricky Nelson, "Garden Party" (a comeback on the top 40 charts for the title track)

Ry Cooder, "Boomer's Story"

Steely Dan, "Can't Buy a Thrill"

Don McLean, self-titled* (Yes, "American Pie" and "Vincent" are on this one. Yeah, it is still great. I think, when the last Baby Boomer dies, the rest who came after can play "American Pie" in ironic tribute. We were the superpower when the album was released, and when the last Boomer dies, we will realize as a nation how bad Boomers really were.)

Can, "Ege Bamyasi"

Joni Mitchell, "For the Roses"

Kool & The Gang, "Good Times" (no, "Celebration" is not on this album.  This one is listed more historically to place what would become disco style music)

Kris Kristofferson, "Jesus was a Capricorn"

Uriah Heep, "The Magician's Birthday"* (Their best album. Full stop. And a great one to this day).

Bloodrock, "Passage" (Damn, the third of the psych bands that released albums when their style was being eclipsed by prog and metal)

Edgar Winter Group, "They Only Come Out at Night"* (The greatest Winter album in the not-humble opinion.  "Frankenstein," which Winter clearly created after hearing Gentle Giant's "Alucard" (Dracula spelled backwards), but which stands on its own as a great monster--literally--rock track.)

Joan Armatrading, "Whatever's For Us" (a combination of folk and funk that lots of people I knew loved)

War, "The World is a Ghetto" (more a historical piece than one I enjoy hearing)

West, Bruce & Laing, "Why Doncha" (a supergroup of hard rock, psych band members, which I am less sure holds up to hear)

Nektar, "A Tab in the Ocean" (a prop pop band that was more prog than pop on this one, and so held my interest)

Hawkwind, "Doremi Fasol Latido"* (another band that was prog-oriented, though I am not sure is fully prog, but this album is a wild one to hear)

December 1972:

Gentle Giant, "Octopus"* (released in England, but not the US till March 1973. I don't count it because 1972 is just too great to let this be obscured, but I note it here.  And yeah, 1973 is gonna be a killer year, too, to list in 2023.)

Marvin Gaye, "Trouble Man"* (this is an iconic Gaye release that is under most radars. I don't claim it's to my taste, but I respect it very deeply.)

Status Quo, "Piledriver"

Frank Zappa, "The Grand Wazoo"** (here it is!  A spectacular album in that top five of an amazing year)

New Riders of the Purple Sage, "Gypsy Cowboy"

Ohio Players, "Pleasure" (another album letting the world know disco is coming)

REO Speedwagon, "REO/T.W.O." (not my taste, but this band's big time begins here)

Other albums I had to find elsewhere besides Wiki:

Tranquility, self-titled first album* (Worth it for a few songs, particularly "Oyster Catcher." It was the the second and final album, "Sliver" in 1973 is the key album from this band.)

Amon Duul II, "Carnival in Babylon"* (Prog Kraut Electronic rock)

Amon Duul II, "Wolf City"* (yeah, two solid albums in one year)

Kraftwerk, "Kraftwerk II" (here comes the Kraut electronic Rockers)

Roger Ruskin-Spear, "Electric Shocks"* (Bonzo Dog Band member solo album, so worth the listen for its British humor and cleverness)

Bonzo Dog Band, "Let's Make Up and Be Friendly"** released after the breakup, but showing they were amazing to the end. Don't know them? Think Monty Python with music. And they show up in the Beatles' short film, "Magical Mystery Tour," as a by-the-way. The Beatles admired the Bonzos, and it was George Harrison who tapped main writer Neil Innes to pen "The Rutles'" music in the late 1970s. Yeah, that band.)

Focus, "Focus III"* (Not a favorite, but "Sylvia" is on this one)

Gnidrolog, "...In Spite of Harry's Toenail"* (Canterbury Rock arising as a sub-genre of Prog)

Matching Mole, self-titled first album* (Yeah, this Canterbury Rock album, too!)

Matching Mole, "Little Red Record"* (Yeah, two albums in one year, and the sound is getting more organized. The reference is to Mao's "Little Red Book," but Matching Mole was an art-for-arts-sake band, not political.  This was merely mischievous in the title.)

Groundhogs, "Who Will Save the World?"* (This is a favorite Groundhogs album for me. Groundhogs, Captain Beyond, Atomic Rooster, and Bloodrock all had albums released in this year, yet hardly any of them go the airplay on radio stations, outside of some obscure college stations. A pity, as they were really great and could have hit hard)

Mandrill, "Mandrill Is..." (I am not a fan of this prog oriented band, but others certainly are--and who am I to say No?  Not me on this, but, well, not my cuppa tea.)

Curved Air, "Phantasmagoria"* (high water mark for this band, from which Darryl Way would leave and form "Darryl Way's Wolf" the next year)

Le Orme, "Uomo de Pezza"** (one of the many prog rock bands to emerge from Italy)

Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, "Kingdom Come"* (a good, but not iconic album in between the truly iconic "Galactic Zoo Dossier" in 1971 and "Journey" in 1974. If you don't know "Galactic Zoo Dossier," just find it, buy it, and listen.)

AND IT IS TRUE: THERE IS MORE. However, I listed what I recall this morning as I type, and what I found at Wiki or elsewhere.  1972 was a stellar year in the history of recorded music. So many iconic, classic, and outstanding recordings.  As I like to say, Baby Boomers era did produce great music, at least. :)