Hoelderlin's third album was recorded less than a year after their second, and again consolidated their grasp of British prog rock. The band also experienced lineup changes: Hans Bäär (Hans Detlef Maahn) now replaced Peter Käseberg on bass, while Joachim Käseberg put down his guitar to concentrate on live sound—he was the first member to switch to the "business" side of the band. Guest Jörg-Peter "Büdi" Siebert, in a recurring role, added wind instruments. As the title suggests, the album is indeed divided into two halves.

The success generated by the previous year's Free Hand and Gentle Giant's extensive touring to promote it instilled the band a considerable amount of pressure for the follow-up. They entered the studio in February, reputedly less prepared than they'd hoped; but what they delivered was something more straightforward and precise than any of their earlier efforts. As the title indicates, the concept of Gentle Giant's eighth album is a mock interview with the band.

Van der Graaf Generator spent most of 1975 on the road, completing tours of both England and Europe. Then the band entered the studio in January 1976 for a few weeks to quickly complete Still Life, in what would be one of the band's most balanced and enduring records. It is a bit of an understatement to call Peter Hammill's prose here merely lyrics; he explores love, life and the meaning of it all with enough depth to sink a black hole; his powerful and direct vocal delivery is up front in the mix throughout the album.

In the varied landscape of progressive rock, Schicke, Führs & Fröhling were surely an odd trio: two Mellotron players and a guitarist with a Les Paul/Rickenbacker double-neck guitar. This apparently caught the attention of Frank Zappa; but unfortunately, scheduling prevented the American from producing the band's debut album. In 1974, drummer Eduard Schicke and guitarist/bassist Heinz Fröhling formed SFF out of the Oldenburg band Spektakel, when a like-minded Gerhard Führs joined the pair on keyboards.

Rush were a Canadian trio who, in just a few short years, went from riff-laden heavy metal (read: Led Zeppelin-style) to British progressive rock (read: Yes-style). The band had an excellent and versatile guitarist in Alex Lifeson, while Geddy Lee was known for both his trebly bass and high-pitched vocals. Drummer par excellence Neil Peart, who joined for the band's second album, also provided lyrics for the band's music. Their sound had steadily "progressed," both artistically and commercially, over a few albums, culminating here on 2112.

Nektar returned to the US to capitalize on the chart success of their previous two releases; there, they undertook an extended tour between March and May of 1975, with Larry "Synergy" Fast and ever-present Mick Brockett's light show in tow. They were then off to Château d'Hérouville in France to record Recycled, with producer Peter Hauke and Fast. The concept of environmentalism was drawn from the US tour, as well having road-tested some of the music during the tour.

PFM's international fortunes had greatly improved, thanks to major bouts of touring in both the UK and the US, and their record deal with Manticore Records now encompassing Asylum Records in the US. Chocolate Kings was the first of two albums the group would record solely in English. True to their resolve, the band recruited vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti, previously in Italian progsters Acqua Fragile. Educated in Texas, Lanzetti had a distinctive voice, somewhere between Roger Chapman and Peter Gabriel.

Following Peter Gabriel's departure from Genesis, the band searched for a new vocalist (short-listed were Mick Jones, Steve Gould and Bernie Frost), before ultimately realizing that they already had their man right behind the drum seat: Phil Collins. Of course, his voice, not that dissimilar from Gabriel's, had been heard plenty by now. That settled, the band entered the studio with the task of proving whether they could survive without their former frontman.

With Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth in Majorca, the remaining members of Gong—Mike Howlett, Didier Malherbe and Pierre Moerlen—were left holding both the proverbial torch and a two-album contract with Virgin Records to fulfill. Tim Blake had already split to France to start his own solo career, while Steve Hillage would make a final guest appearance here. The band toured the UK in late 1975 with Clearlight, and live tapes reveal the full impact of the new members. The set list includes tracks from the Trilogy era and Hillage's Fish Rising album, as well as new material.

Hailing from Illinois, Starcastle was one of a few US prog rock bands (along with Ethos and Symphonic Slam) that achieved some recognition in the mid-70s. After trudging the bar circuits under various names, the core of guitarist Steve Hagler, drummer Steve Tassler, keyboard player Herb Schildt and bassist Gary Strater were joined by another two members: second guitarist Matthew Stewart and vocalist Terry Luttrell, the latter previously in another Champaign band, REO Speedwagon. In 1974, they changed their name to Starcastle and signed to Epic Records.