| Clearlight Symphony is one of the finest progressively electronic instrumental albums to emerge from the '70's. The genius of Clearlight's music rests in the hands of Cyrille Verdeaux who plays Grand Piano, Mellotron, organ and synths galore. Symphony is one of the richest sounding space patrols you will ever encounter. Verdeaux's cleverly Injects classical structures and instrumentation (Piano) with fusion-like inspired parts (aka Gong) and occasional psychedelic guitar flare-ups. The sound is rich and full of color and texture with some superb melodies and atmospheres. Verdeaux is helped by well known guests such as Steve Hillage (guitars), Didier Malherbe (Sax) and Tim Blake (Synths) who add some great depth to the music. Symphony is essentially 2 long (over mins) movements which both are killer and would make the perfect dinner music piece. An essential recording and thanks to Clearlight Music (See my link section) you too can own a re-mastered copy which puts a whole new spin on this French progressive gem.
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| Without a question these guys are just boiling over with song writing skills and musicianship. Severely underrated album from The FlowerKings with some simply exquisite musical passages. "Stardust" is a 2 CD set which gets the opportunity to explore a wide range of musical possibilities ranging from short Church organ centric ditties to the 25 minute epic title track. This album showcases Tomas Bodin's talents behind the vast array of keyboards that he performs on with masterful strokes. In many ways this concept album digs deep into the spirtual side of life obviously injected with Stolt's musical positivism. Roine Stolt and his band of merrymen deliver some grand progressive rock moments far too many to try to detail here.
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| I must first of all take a moment out to thank Bob "The Prog'essor" Turnbull who played a snippet from Solar Fire a wee while ago for me which caught my ear. When I was a young man I remember spinning that poppy "Doo Wha Diddy" tune, but never would have expected such a musical transformation. "Solar Fire" is a wonderfully rich and intensely deep moving piece which combines heavier dark progressive passages with some classic rock tendencies. "Solar Fire" contains some wicked guitar playing and some very tasty keyboard spacey analog passages and atmospheres. For those who love heavy guitar and keyboard space jams will likely adore this album. Songs are highly memorable and offer some great melodies and musical passages. The second half of the album is simply killer with a great dark space jam piece "Saturn, Lord of the Ring, Mercury, The Winged Messenger" and a 2 part epic tune called "Earth, The Circle (Part 1 and 2) both of which will blow you away. | |||
| Stunning Canadian progressive rock band who play a highly unique and powerful style of music. Nathan Mahl deliver a true and highly professional sound with an abundance of mood and theme shifts. Their music is both dark and light , complex and symphonic, loud and quiet, yet always stretching way beyond. When these guys get going they are unstoppable and produce some real sweet progressive sounds which will keep you amazed. Original band member Guy LeBlanc plays some grand and deep sounding keyboards in a classic vein (ie. Not neo-prog'ish). The rest of the band members are also highly skilled musicians: Jose Bergeron adds some great acoustic and electric guitar riffs, Calude Prince slaps in his deep 4&5 string bass frets and Alain Bergeron effortlessly handles the drums and percussion department. Songs are generally nice and long (10 min range) and are given lots of room to stretch out and explore "prog land". "The Clever Use Of Shadows" was very well recorded and offers some great musical separation on your speakers with some nice deep tones throughout. Nathan Mahl are simply one of the best bands I have heard in a long time and I would heartily endorse their music to all good lovers of true mind music. You can contact Nathan Mahl at natmahl@istar.ca | |||
| The Power & The Glory was my first Gentle Giant album I ever purchased and remember being so addicted to this album playing it over and over again and again. Gentle Giant unleash all of their "Giant'isms" with superb complex and highly syncopated vocal harmony and contrasts. "The Power & The Glory" delivers some pretty sporty rhythms and jazz-prog interludes. Songs are exceptionally well written offering great sound contrasts and complex mood and melodies. This is highly clever music which never remains static for too long and is always moving and changing. "Playing The Game" is perhaps my favorite Gentle Giant tune of all time which is the highlight on the album in my opinion. | |||
| I guess the fact that I must by now have every Spock's Beard Album reviewed on my site is a testimonial to my apparent love for this band. "The Kindness Of Strangers" contains all of the Spock'isms as you would imagine…wild frenzied musical moments, quiet acoustic interludes and wonderful vocals and harmonies all wrapped up in some highly memorable melodies. Musicianship is exceptional as always and I am still amazed at the level of energy these guys put into their music. This album is housed by loads of mellotron which gives an even warmer feel to their classic sound...even a string quartet on the opening number. This is essential progressive rock and as the saying goes "The Radiant Is Still Here" | |||
| "I can hear you across the water" cries Gary Chandler on the very opening breaths of the album and for me this is a truth! Jadis have been on the leading edge of the progressive rock revival for some time now and have built up a loyal following of fans. Jadis' second release follows in the footsteps of their standout debut album building on many of the finer points. Although the curse of the "follow-up" albums does oft hold true, it is clearly not the case here. "Across The Water" further explores Chandler's musical ideas articulated by his own lyrics and vocals. Musically Chandler's guitar solos are amongst the best I have heard and the combination with the high talents of Martin Orford (Keys), John Jowitt (Bass) and Stephen Christey (Drums & Percussison) how can you miss. Jadis play a unique style influenced somewhere in the IQ, RUSH camp of prog. Songs are very well written and offer great musical expressions and atmospheres which will simply amaze.
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| Neo prog pioneers who released several albums and mini albums over the years with "The Sentinel" clearly remaining in my opinion their most aggressive and memorable album. I bought this album back in the early 90's and remember although having really enjoyed it reading articles trashing it. In fact to this day it seems to still be criticized in unfair light. The Sentinel is sort of a mix of early Rush will elements of Marillion and IQ, yet still reflective of their original musicianship. Combined with gorgeous art work (Patrick Woodroffe), excellent science fiction oriented lyrics and a highly thematic storyline, this wonderful concept album explores the lost world of Atlantis. Pallas create heavy and dark atmospheres lead by the strong vocals of Euan Lowson, the accentuated Richenbacher bass jabs of Graeme Murray and the highly pompous keyboard runs of Ronnie Brown. Guitars (Niall Mathewson) are excellent with some superb playing and sound perfect against the aggressive drumming of Derek Forman. "The Sentinel" covers a wide spectrum of themes from highly symphonic moments to more aggressive rock derived structures. Several moments on this album are simply breathtaking and makes the hair stick up on my arm to this day when ever I hear the parts. A great little concept album which unlike many out there I do really enjoy (sorry gang it is my opinion). | |||
| Excellent debut album release from Canada's Visible Wind combining excellent musicianship with clever and complex song writing. "A Moment Beyond Time" delivers some wonderful musical moments and actually carries a little Camel-like influence. Songs are varied and move from Jazz imaging to heavier musical moments (not unlike that of RUSH and SAGA). Visible Wind have an original sound and the instrumental moments are the highlight for me on this album where the combined talents are showcased. They guys get into some wicked jams with standout keyboard and guitar interplay. A complete and magical album full of twists and turns and a remarkably professional debut outing. For those who were unable to get their hands on the origianl CD pressing, please note that this has been re-released with a couple of bonus tracks and new liner notes and photos. As talked about the re-release contains a superb new '99 re-recording of the titel track "A Moment Beyond Time" which now run over 10 mins and is smothered in the ol' mellotron. Go and buy this album if you do not have it! you need this in your life! | |||
| Lovers of "The FlowerKings" will certainly become addicted to this tasty treat of heavy guitar-centric prog. Stolt has written and recorded some pretty sweet and spiritually uplifting music here with real warmth and delivered with some stunning musicianship. Hydrophonia is full of Stolt's positive vibes and eye and ear popping guitar work. Roine is supported by Jamie Salazar on the drums/percussion and Ulf Wallander on the sax, but otherwise it is Roine Stolt (Guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion). Songs are very well crafted and offer some great musical ranges, tempo and mood changes throughout. An excellent album with some highly memorable songs from this highly creative and talented musician.
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| Years after leaving Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green carried on putting out some tasty guitar albums with "In The Skies" being in my opinion one of his best offerings. Although primarily a blues based album Green does manage to throw in some progressive and even the odd psychy twinges including a couple of earth shattering extended guitar jams. Green is also supported by Camel's Peter Bardens on the hammond keyboard and Snowy White on additional rhythm guitar. "In The Skies" will appeal to lovers of great guitar solo work and will drool over Green's great song writing. Hard to peg this album down, but it lies somewhere in the stoner/blues category of prog. But, without worrying overly about its classification, "In The Skies" remains a superb album especially when you need to just simply chill out.
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| Centered around the musical biographies of 6 famed personas, electronics master Klaus Schulze takes us on a space trip of a lifetime. This 2 CD set represented by 6 songs (one for each musical biography) contains some of the most mind altering yet provocative electronics he has ever recorded. Schulze fills our ears with a wonderful array of electronic devices including the mellotron, moog, minimoog, ARP Odyssey, Polymoog and many more. What makes "X" truly stand out for me as one of the greatest electronic albums is the amazing mix of electronics with percussion. Schulze is assisted on percussion by Harald Grobkopf , Wolfgang Tiepold (cello & conductor) & adds in a small string orchestra. All tracks are well written and delivered with an overall warmth that can only come from those deep sounding analog keyboards. "X" is one of those albums which must be listened to at higher volumes and then will certainly lead to sensory overload as the packaging promises. | |||
| With heavy prog - jazz influences and in the spirit of the likes of Gentle Giant, Spock's Beard and Echolyn, Nathan Mahl's debut album re-release is a superb musical workshop of the highest calibre. "Parallel Eccentricities" contains some sumptuous keyboard runs (piano, organ and synths) , wild guitar soloing all wrapped up in a jazz styled bass and drum collaboration. Songs are highly original and delivered with awesome energy and instrumental workmanship. Vocals are quite solid with much harmony and in fact are contributed to by all members of the band. This is truly progressive rock and offers much character and originality throughout. I can not get enough of these guys and you need to have this recording in your collection. You can contact Nathan Mahl at natmahl@istar.ca | |||
| Mellotron…mellotron…and more mellotron, garnished with organ , side of C3 Hammond and sautéed with piano. Opera Prima is a symphonic concept-story opera written back in the golden era of early 70's Ital-Prog centered around the warm analog sounds of keyboards. In many ways Opera Prima stylistically approaches the fine work of Il Paese Dei Balocchi and some fringe elements of ELP. Rustichelli performs all the lovely keyboard work while Bordini supports with his classic and complex percussive and drum, talents. This is richly textured music, which is full of grandeur and highly skilled performances. The warm keyboard sounds are simply to die for with loads of heavy analog symphonia! Vocals are slightly guttural (deep & dark) but well done and nicely suits the music. There are no guitars or bass played on this album and to be honest is not missed. The re-mastered transfer to CD is fantastic and offers great sound quality which really brings out the fullness and richness of sound. Overall Opera Prima contains some truly unforgettable progressive rock moments and is an essential recording for lovers of 70's Italian Symphonic prog. | |||
| If this early recording is any sort of signs of what is to come, boy-oh-boy are we in for a real treat! "The Last Placid Days Of Plenty's" 1st 3 song studio EP simply blew me away and "Potential" continues the trend giving us "Plenty" to dream about. Complete with progressive dream-like imagery, background sound effects and symphonic dark melodies, "The Last Placid Days Of Plenty" will certainly transport you into another dimension of progressive space. This young Canadian progressive outfit actually remind me somewhat of the US Prog Act Discipline. A superb start to what we can only hope is a highly prosperous career. Get some "Plenty" today…highly recommended.
Inquiries can be made by contacting Eric Domander at eric.domander@tdsb.on.ca | |||
| Absolutely stunning 70's Krautrock masterpiece with some pretty tripped out psychy moments. Malesch uniquely delivers a heavy space driven but middle Eastern influenced music juxtaposed with extended guitar solos and mesmerizing atmospheres. Malesch combines various recorded psychy sound effect and tape effects with extended jams and free flowing musical expressions. Once again a young Michael Hoenig performs his pattented array of electronic devices throughout. A truely magical little recording which I would recommend to all lovers of the ol' progressive space things. But be warned, your mothers will likely not be as pleased with this albumas you will be. | |||
| According to historians this classic recording was one of their best U.S. shows of all time and a final curtain call for the legendary Peter Green who by 1970 was considered one of the most creative guitarists of the times. Highlight for me is the powerful version of the 28 min jam "Rattlesnake Shake" which showcases the creative and improvisational dexterity of this guitar legend. Peter Green gave this all he had in him and as the liner notes detail "This is possibly Peter Green's finest recorded jamming, this is real edge-of-the-seat, tortured stuff and doesn't let up throughout its 28 mins". Fans of early Mac will need to own this legendary recording of this stunning heavy prog/blues based performance. Although snippets of this concert did show up on other recordings over the years, it was not until the CD re-mastered release (from the original 8 track master tapes!) that this all rests on one recording for the world to enjoy as it was performed. The definitive live Fleetwood Mac statement… | |||
| Rich in their renaissance'ish classical vein, Gryphon's "Red Queen To Gryphon Three" is a superb instrumental album offering some lovely tones and atmospheres. For me one of the most striking aspects of this album is the unusual use of instrumentation including basoons, krumhorns and recorders mixed with guitars, keyboards and perucssion. Comprised of 4 long tracks each being given the space to explore some excellent progressive rock grooves. This album has many delicate musical moments while still offering some nice complex elements mixed throughout as well. For the progressive rock historians out there it was the success of this album which gave Gryphon the opportunity to warm up YES on their USA tour back in '74. This is highly original and highly intellectual music which I would warmly recommend.
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| Without a question one of today's most notable and highly hypnotic prog acts about the scene are Sweden's "The Spacious Mind". Take note of these guys my friends they are simply bigger than life! "The Mind Of A Brother " marks the 4th CD released from these culturally cosmic inclined space rockers and stands on its own as another wonderful album. Not unlike "Organic Mind Solution" and "Cosmic Minds At Play" this album is full of what can only be described as a sonic mind blast. "Brother" is full of raging fuzz guitar solos, bongos and percussion, wild vocals, heavy sound bites and psychy backdrops. The Spacious Mind are a wonderful mix of psych and progressive genres offering some absolutely stunning sonic breakouts. This album is not well suited for those long Sunday afternoon drives in the county , but instead is a great way to start your morning off right! | |||
| Cougen is a highly talents multi-instrumentalist who performs all instruments on this album with great dexterity. Cougen's play is centered mainly around the guitar but is surrounded by some great bass, keyboard and drum work. In the great progressive tradition, songs are varied and carry many infleunces including allusions to Steve Hackett, YES, Deep Purple and even Tai Phong. Cougen's vocals are very well done and he sings comfortably in a higher register not unlike Jon Anderson in some ways. Most of the album is sung in English with one tune in his native Japanese tongue. At times Lost Paradise gets kicking onto some pretty rockin moments breaking out of the strick progressive definition but I actually think it works quite well. This album has grown on mw quite a bit lately and I have been getting into this guys great grooves and guitar picking (he is an awesome guitarist). A lovely album with some meaty guitar jamming.
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| For the true space lovers out there (like me), "Miditerranean Pads" is an essential album. This album actually represents I think the 21st solo album for Klaus Schulze who has had a highly prolific career with some true high points. This album is essentially 3 long tracks all of which are given lots of space to explore and will certainly take your mind into orbit. "Miditerranean Pads" is a highly inventive and wonderfully warm electronic album with some great instrumental keyboard and percussive elements. A grand album fully demanding your attention. | |||
| For the ultimate in solar space travel my friends, may I suggest you sit, put on your headphones, dim the lights and tune into Tangerine Dream's "Electronic Meditation". This early release from Tangerine Dream which has been referenced to as "The Pink Years" is a truely unbelievable album and is one of the all time greatest space trips. With strange beeps and clicks, Tangerine Dream draw us into their eclectic world of electronic space atmospheres and electric guitar pluckings. In many ways I get a bit of the ol' Ash Ra Tangerine Dream effect especially with the wild guitar bits tossed in all over the electronics. Highlight for me is the 18 min epic track "Journey Through A Burning Brain" which explores some great musical moments. Overall this album has a highly underground feel to it and may be a bit challenging at times with its inherent stangeness, but after repeated listens you will be hooked.
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