Released after the varied (but commercially successful) soundtrack More, Ummagumma was intended to be a tour de force for Pink Floyd. The two-record set is half-live and half-studio-recorded and constitutes the first release on EMI's new Harvest sub-label. Offering the first live document of the band, the first disc was culled from a series of concerts recorded in April and May. Here, "Careful with That Axe, Eugene," the archetype of their slow-building space rock, makes its first appearance on album.

After Kevin Ayers's split from Soft Machine, manager Peter Jenner and a contract from Harvest coaxed him away from Majorca. Back in England, he quickly assembled his old Softs cohorts at EMI Studios to record his debut solo album, Joy Of A Toy. New to the fold was David Bedford, a classical composer by trade, offering his arrangement skills and doubling on keyboards. The album jumps off with the classic (if dated) psychedelia of "Joy of a Toy Continued." Bedford's arrangement augments "Town Feeling," but it's really all Ayers.

In the 1970s, the Netherlands spawned groups ranging from the better-known Golden Earring, Focus and Kayak to the lesser-known Supersister and Alquin. On the latter end of the spectrum, Earth and Fire combined the talents of the brothers Koerts-Chris on guitar and Gerard on keyboards-with Hans Ziech on bass and female vocalist Jerney Kaagman. Their initial success was as a singles band; from the early-to-mid 70s, they consistently littered the Dutch record charts with their English-language hits.

Hailing from Genoa, the New Trolls were one of the first Italian rock bands. Story has it the band was “created” by a music critic choosing an ideal lineup: guitarist Vittorio De Scalzi, vocalist (and guitarist) Nico Di Palo, drummer Gianni Belleno, keyboardist Mauro Chiarugi and bassist Giorgio D’Adamo were all fortunate enough to land a supporting spot on The Rolling Stones’ 1967 tour of Italy. After several successful singles (and two albums compiling them), the band collaborated with Argentinean composer Luis Enríquez Bacalov for Concerto Grosso per i New Trolls.

Amon Düül II’s second release, the double-album Yeti, appeared in November 1970. The improvisations there were more structured, but encompassed most of the album. Released as a single, the appreciably hard-rocking “Archangels Thunderbird” b/w “(Excerpts from) Soap Shop Rock” was a stormer, pointing to the future. The cover features an iconic collage of a grim reaper, in fact a tribute to Wolfgang Krischke, their soundman that died of hypothermia during an LSD trip.

Rare Bird were part of Tony Stratton-Smith's Charisma Records stable of artists. Formed in 1969, the original lineup was built around two keyboardists, Graham Field (born Stansfield) and Dave Kaffinetti, who added Steve Gould on bass and vocals and Mark Ashton on drums. Their self-titled first album was released in late 1969 and featured classically-inspired organ rock, best demonstrated with the track "God of War." Yet it was the "Sympathy" b/w "Devils High Concern" that rose to No. 27 on the UK charts and sold a million copies worldwide.

Originally from Oldham, Lancashire, guitarist John Lees, keyboardist Stuart "Wooly" Wolstenholme, bassist Les Holroyd and drummer Melvin Pritchard first turned professional together in 1967, drawing the names Barclay, James and Harvest out of a hat. Often described as "the poor man's Moody Blues," BJH did draw some similarities to their namesake, particularly that 60s vibe to their music.

After the departure of Damo Suzuki in 1973, Can reverted to a four-piece, which was first heard on the excellent Soon Over Babaluma. In 1976, Can scored a hit single in the UK with the bizarre disco of "I Want More" b/w "...And More" (it reached No. 26). Released in 1976, Flow Motion pointed the band in a new direction, which reached a pinnacle on 1977's Saw Delight. New to the fold were two ex-Traffic members, percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah and bassist Rosko Gee.

One look at the backgrounds of the members of Can (jazz pedigrees, students of Karlheinz Stockhausen, WDR Studio etc.) and the last thing you'd think is that they were a rock band. Similarly, listening to their music, you'd also probably have to stretch the concept of rock ‘n' roll to fit them in. Krautrock was Germany's answer to the psychedelic and progressive music of the late 1960s, and certainly a unique idiom in and of itself. But Can's post-psychedelic groove had much more to do with the avant-garde, even by krautrock's standards.

Raised in the high desert outside of Los Angeles, legend has it that a young Frank Zappa (b. 1940) was granted a long-distance phone call for his fifteenth birthday: the recipient was 20th century composer and musical pioneer Edgard Varèse (actually his wife). Zappa's first release was in late 1966. Credited to The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out! was a sprawling double-album with little precedent; it shunned the burgeoning hippie vibe of the West Coast for something far stranger: a mélange of music styles, ranging from highbrow classicism to down-in-the-gutter rock ‘n' roll.