1968

Free-spirited peace 'n' love gave way to full-on rioting in the streets. Rioting in Paris almost led to the downfall of the government and a global revolution seemed imminent. The soundtrack to all this was the return to greatness of the Stones - out of place with hippy-dippy vibes in tumultuous times they flourished. 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' marked their triumphant return - but it was the album 'Beggars Banquet' (featuring the malevolent 'Sympathy For The Devil'') a hotch-potch of burnt acid blues and extraordinary riffage of the likes of 'Street Fighting Man'. It was also the last Stones album to feature Brian Jones.

Psychadelia became more expansive and darker - witness the changes in Hendrix - 'Electric Ladyland' featuring 'Voodoo Chile' was a mind-expanding exploration of sound which marked a new maturity while simultaneously begged the question - how much further can this go? It would be his last genuine studio album.

The times were also getting to The Beatles but in a negative way - they released their most fragmented work to date, ironically called 'The Beatles' aka 'The White Album'. It was broken and brilliant and contained the seeds of the most horrifying post-hippy comedown in 'Helter Skelter' which a failed songwriter named 'Charles Manson' would take as inspiration. The dream was over but it was about to get worse...