This new release collects the two studio albums from Warhorse and augments them with bonus tracks. There was an earlier collection with nearly the same cover and “1970-1972” at the end of the title. So, obviously, this one has tracks from later.

Now, not all of this is progressive rock, but a lot of it is at least proto-prog. A couple prog connections push the balance in that direction, though. For one thing, until shortly before these recordings were done, Rick Wakeman was the keyboardist in this band. Lead singer Ashley Holt later joined Wakeman in his British Rock Ensemble.

It should be mentioned that there are quite a few Deep Purple like leanings on this set. That makes sense because the band was put together by original Deep Purple bassist Nick Simper. The music here, no matter which side of things each individual song lands on, has a real classic 1970s vibe and works quite well. This is a great collection of music from a lesser known band.

Very mellow organ starts this and holds it for quite a while. Eventually a loud blast of rock music takes over. That gives way to a cool, psychedelic meets blues rock jam. There is a full on prog jam later in the track. The closing movement feels decidedly psychedelic.

Drums and bass get things underway here. As the organ comes in, it takes on classical, proggy modes. This takes on more of a folk prog meets psychedelic ballad approach as it continues. This has some great moods and sounds built into it. It gets soaring and driving at times. There is some powerhouse prog jamming later.

The opening movement on this makes me think of Vanilla Fudge. It eventually works out to more psychedelic rocking based stuff. It has a great groove and a lot of energy. The instrumental section later is purely on fire. It includes both some smoking hot keyboard work, but also some powerhouse guitar soloing.

This is much more of a funky, soulful 1960s rocker. It has some killer jamming built into it, bringing hints of prog, but overall this is more a soulful rock song.

While this isn’t a major change from the last track, there is a little less of a soulful angle to it. The instrumental section later is where the real magic happens, bringing some killer musicianship to bear.

Coming in much mellower, there is a great blend of psychedelic rock and proto-prog. It grows out gradually. This builds into some pretty powerful stuff, but it’s more 1960s oriented. It’s not one of my favorite things here. It does have some tasty guitar soloing.

This number feels a lot like Vanilla Fudge to me early. This is an energized and dynamic proto-prog piece that has some funk in the mix. The instrumental break includes scorching keyboard and guitar soloing.

Here we get a live recording of the earlier tune. I’m betting you figured that out, though, right? I think it feels more polished and mature in this telling. It seems more creative, too.

This is more of a mainstream rock song. It has some charms, but is not at the level of some of the rest. Then again, it’s a demo and a bonus, so that makes sense. It does seem to have a bit of a country rock vibe in some of the jamming late.

Again, I think this live version is superior to the studio rendition. It just feels more polished.

While I think this version is also superior to the studio one, the difference isn’t as big as it was on the other couple tracks. This jam works well in both configurations.

The prog and Vanilla Fudge like angles seem more pronounced here.

There is a driving, proggy sound to this. The whole vibe is more mature than the sound on the first disc. It has a lot of style and charm. There are some great melodic elements at play amidst the insistent rocking energy.

Hard rocking at the onset, this works out with a lot of style. The keys bring some proggy elements. Honestly, this is more of a hard rocker than it is a prog tune. It even turns metallic in the guitar-only section later. That section is very extensive. When the rest of the group rejoin we’re taken into an intense hard rocking jam with some cool dual guitar pyrotechnics. 

Here we get a pretty straightforward 70s rocker. While this has some cool jamming, it’s not really in any kind of a prog style. Instead, this is more generic hard rock than that.

Another that’s pretty mainstream hard rock based, this does have some real emotion built into it. The organ brings something special to the proceedings, too.

Now, this feels a bit like jam-band-meets-proggy-psychedelia. It’s a step up from the last couple songs. The echoey effect on the vocals is a nice touch.

This jam gets into some serious proto-prog territory. It’s a killer that’s among the best on this second disc. That said, this includes an extensive drum solo, and I’m not a fan of drum solos, so it loses me for a while.

This has a really classic proto-prog sound to it. It’s packed full of psychedelic angles. The balance between louder and mellower stuff is great. The whole song is magical. This is a highlight of the second disc. It gets powerful and intense further down the road.

This is a powerhouse live version of the track from the first disc. I think I prefer the other live take to this one, but part of that is the recording quality here. Still, that other rendition just felt more “together” for me.

There is a healthy helping of jam band sound here. The track has a lot of killer instrumental work built into it. It’s definitely classy. This is proggier than some of the rest on this second disc.        

This balladic number has a soulful, bluesy feel to it. It’s classy and represents some variety.

Funk, rock and more merge on this stylish tune. It has a classic 1970s sound and some hints of proggy sounds. The organ lends a lot of cool to the whole thing.

This has a real Deep Purple kind of vibe. It’s pretty basic hard rock, but has some style.

While there are some hints of proggy sound here, this makes me think of Steppenwolf to a large degree.

A hard rocking jam with plenty of proto-prog in the mix, I really love the bass sound on this. It has plenty of energy and style. The organ gets some seriously cool soloing.