| Now here is an incredible album which has been on my top play list ever since I first heard it featured over the loud speaker system at a Robert Fripp/David Sylvian show at Massey Hall here in Toronto. I remember commenting to my friend on how much I was enjoying the warm up music just fed over the PA. Immediately after the show I picked up the CD not knowing very much about the release except for the great introduction I had the night before. As it turns out it is another side project from Robert Fripp this time teaming up with electronica wizards D.A.R. Peterson, Kris Weston and Thomas Fehlmann. Fripp as you would expect handles all of the Frippertronics, guitars and treatments. This album was mixed and produced by The Orb. For those who like it spacey I would highly recommend this CD to you as it is just incredible. FFWD>> is exceptionally well recorded and offers incredible speaker seperation...This CD sounds incredible on the 'ol headphones. I would categorize this release somewhere in the zone of "No Pussyfooting", but carries a more psychedelic landscape to it. Also some spoken words and lots of wild sound effects making the listener wonder what these folks were doing at the time of recording. Highly recommended for the space heads out here. | |||
| Atlas' Bla Vardag is essential prog in every way possible. This 1977 gem is sure to please all prog heads combining awesome keyboard work (yes even some Mellotron) with wicked guitar and bass/drum interplay. Atlas have a very classic sound and never get too sappy or loud sounding...always very controlled and sophisticated. In some ways they remind me a little of Kaipa (especially the guitar work), but have a strong Camel feel as well. Songs are exceptionally well crafted (some absolutely inspiring passages) and get very involved revealing the musical competency of this Swedish act. This is very upbeat, happy and involved prog which will certainly keep you sitting upright throughout the listen. Should have mentioned that this is an all instrumental recording. | |||
| Unfortunately I am only now getting around to reviewing Collage's best work to date in moonshine. This Polish Neo-Prog act blew me away several years ago with this delicate and intricate piece of modern day progressive rock. In many ways Collage hit a nice chord with me blending the musical aura of early Genesis with the darkness of Marillion's Script For A Jester's Tear. I bought this back in '94 and is on the now defunct SI music label, but I assume you can still get this one fairly easily? Lyrics are in English and vocalist Robert Amirian offers an excellent vox and adds to the richness of the music quite well. Moonshine offers 3 epic tracks which are all great and effortlessly extend revealing their musical maturity and professionalism. | |||
| This is Steve Rothery's (Marillion) solo musical advernture recorded in '96 during a break in the action of Marillion. I was really surprised by the meaty character of this recording and have found a lasting enduring realtionship with The Wishing Tree. Female vocalist Hannah Stobart has a sensational voice and is clearly a grand Accompaniment to Steve Rothery's tranquil acoustic touch. Listening to The Wishing Tree, one can not help but get a strong All About Eve feeling as compositionally they do seem to be from the same school. Rothery's guitar is sensational and musical companion Pete Trewavas adds some great bass in support of this project. Carnival Of Souls is full of soul and really seems to be a recordings which is easy to warm-up to and appreciate. I think it is important to recognize that this is not a Marillion album and offers no parallel to their music. This is a great recording and is highly recommended by this music lover. | |||
| Now here is some real crazy spaced out live prog rock from the '60's. This is pure psychedelia offering wild vocals and lyrics with solid musicanship. This music is not for the weak at heart but for those deeply into the pschy scene this is a must. HP Lovecraft deliver loads of psychey keyboards and drums and at times sort of remind me of the Doors (in the same vein). HP Lovecraft deliver here a lot of their most popular psych melodies and tunes. This album is a lot of fun and is nice and psychy. | |||
| Now here is a wild experimentation well worth checking out. Magic Mushroom probably is your parents worst nightmare...Take the psychedelic influences of the Ozric Tentacles and mix this with the urban beat of No-Man and then throw in a dash of Pink Floyd for good measure and you are getting close to this band. For many the beat alone will turn some off as it does at times appear to be catchy and dance'able. This is the dichotomy in their music as on 1 hand you have this modern influence being juxtaposed onto a psychedelic landscape. A couple of numbers are real stingers and this collection contains what is really their best tracks. Prog heads who don't mind being warped into a very strange and modern space world will likely love this effort. | |||
| For those who like it a little psychedelic and spacey then you are certainly hovering over the right review space. Melting Euphoria create very fluid psych'd out landscapes with out ever getting too loud or heavy sounding for me. Inside contains some far out guitar slides never getting too hyptnotic and certainly holds the listeners attention. A number of tracks have some real solid melodies which are built on layer by layer....also love the spaced-out keyboard sounds they generate here....highly recommended....and prepare for a little space ride here my friends.... | |||
| Vulgar Unicorn is essentially a 3 member band ( Neil Randall - Keys/Bass/Vocals), Adrian Soord (Guitars, Vocals), David Hutchfield (Drums) who have invited a host of guest musicians to assist adding trumpet, violin and sax. As you could imagine this album is full of outrageous movements, serious musicanship and even some softer parts. Under The Umbrella is essentially 2 epic tracks and are both excellent. Vulgar Unicorn offer a very professional approach to prog offering a wide array of sounds and song structure. Loads of electric and acoustic guitar with heavy symphonic keyboard layers and precision drumming. Although probably categorized somewhere in the Neo-prog camp, V.U. has a very fresh feel to it and never gets too synthy for my liking. Vocals are excellent as well and Under The Umbrella offers excellent vocal harmonies throughout. This album also offers many surprises which will take you by surprise like some wierd background noise , sudden Jazz/prog riffs and many tempo and song structure changes. Overall a very good album which most prog heads will enjoy. | |||
| Spartacus is in my humble opinion perhaps their greatest moments in the recording studio. Sensational keyboard driven progressive rock very much in the same vein as ELP. Triumvirat deliver some excellent proggy moments here and I think the songs are very well constructed and are in the 7-8 min range. Spartacus is a great place to start. | |||
| This is another electronic nightmare as created by Klaus Schulze. I believe this written and used in one of those "B" grade movies in Germany. Schulze creates some incredible electronic landscapes here which make listening through a set of headphones a whole new experience in life! I love the warm electronic waves he creates and the songs have purpose with great feeling and emotion. This will certainly appeal to fans of Tangerine Dream (ie. ATEM...)and is in my opinion an essential electronic album to own. Body Love is my favorite Schulze offering for some reason and he seems to push all the right buttons | |||
| Thanks to the fine folks at BGO we can all enjoy these 2 great pieces of prog work at one time. Druid offer very beautiful and yet sophisticated progressive rock in many ways not unlike YES. Druid blend complex guitar with symphonic keyboard interplay. Vocals are quite good and fans of the higher pitched male vocal will dig this guy named Dane. Every song is well crafted and offers the listener a nice variety and sound dimension throughout. Remastered version is superb and the speaker seperation is quite good. Highly recommended by this prog lover. | |||
| As you might expect these lads were certainly influenced by Van Der Graaf Generator, however, they bring their own unique flavor into the music. Still life blend dark atmospheres with rick progressive rock jams which will keep most prog fans very interested. The lead singer can certainly let it all out and reminds me a little of Peter Hammill. Guitars and bass interplay are excellent and considering the age of this beast it does sound quite solid! | |||
| Well here is their first release and for me is yet another incredible Italian progressive rock recording. This is very professional sounding symphonic prog of the highest quality. Swirling dual keyboards with incredible vocal harmonies put to the most beautiful songs you have ever heard. Fans of symphonic Italian prog will surely drool over this recording. I would put this recording on the essential list for you next prog shopping experience.....essential music. | |||
| Gravy Train were a British quartet who play a very on the progressive rock side of classic rock. Staircase is considered a classic in the prog rock circles and I must agree. Gravy Train blend the English style classic rock sound with progressive movements creating an excellent but very different style. Staircase offers nice mood swing throughout and ranges from Hendrix-like guitar driven moments to pastel / keyboard laden parts. | |||
| Rooted heavily in the Magma school of progressive rock, Weidorje delivering blistering improvisational-like prog jams. Weidorje actually were a Magma offshoot as members of Magma joined to form this band later. Like Magma's music, Weidorje is heavily dominated by accentuated bass guitar solos accompanied by percuission, keyboards, trumpets and sax. Songs are long and have an extended jam feeling to them giving the band lots of time to change tempo and stretch the songs out to its maximium. This CD has been played to death in my CD player and fans of Magma should be placing their orders as we speak. CD packaging is also well done and typical of Musea does provide a nice history with photos of the band. | |||
| For those uninitiatied Dreg Heads, let me tell you that Full Circle is a great place to start...after a silent years the Dregs managed to crank out another winner! Full circle is a very diverse album ranging from blues to acid laced guitar solo's. Full Circle offers exceptional song writing and musicianship throughout from Steve Morse (Guitar), Rod Morgenstein(Drums) and the rest of the Dregs! This is very clever guitar driven rock which has just enough changing time passages and flux in mood and atmosphere to sustain and please all prog fans. Fans of Steve Morse will be drooling over this one....A great fun album | |||
| Criminally under-rated 1971 debut album by this hard prog rock supergroup comprising of brothers Adrian & Paul Gurvitz (from Gun, whose 'Race With The Devil' was a 1968 UK Top 10 hit) and Spooky Tooth/Only Ones drummer Mike Kellie. Before the active listener plugs in The Three Man Army album one should be buckled into their seatbelt! This 3 man outfit deliver some heavy pulsating prog rock which if you love this kind of music is top rank. Here we are treated to lots of organ, Mellotron and heavy guitar influenced hard rock. | |||
| Gentle Giant's 3rd album and for them marks their first concept album delivered with great pinache. Based around three school friends who grow differently (one becomes a road digger (Working All Day), the second an artist (Peel The Paint), and the third a white-collar worker (Mister Class and Quality) who can no longer understand each other's lifestyles. But regardless of the storyline, the music is astounding, ranging from raucous rock to exquisite choral work, and ending with the stunningly beautiful title song. The music is captivating and has a heavy foot attached this time around. As with all Gentle Giant's work, their music is loaded with syncopated time changes, superb and deep expanding vocal harmonies and superb musicianship. Three Friends is in my opinion one of Gentle Giant's greatest outputs and deserves a front row seat. | |||
| Yet another brilliant album from these German prog'sters this time singing in German. In Blau continues Anyone's Daughter's symphonic exploration into music with some real superb songs and musicianship. Bareth's vocals are as soft and caressing as always with some spine tingling moments with his vocal harmonies and soft touch. Uwe Karpa adds some simply wicked guitar solos throughout playing both the acoustic and electric 6 strings. This is real beautiful music and reminds me every time I hear it how special Anyone's Daughter really was. Songs range in the 5-6 minute format here and runs very smooth in transition throughout the album. As you would expect the album seems to sustain a certain feel throughout and travels along with the same disposition. | |||
| Often after I listen to music I realize that the website is missing many great albums and this was the case with The Wall. Sometimes the most obvious is not so obvious until you sit back and look at it….. The Wall was in my opinion the crowning moment for Pink Floyd. Requiring 2 albums to fully explore, Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason take us into the dark world of a warped out rock star who builds walls to survive in his world. The Wall is a remarkable concept album which has become one of the all time most popular double album sets. Songs and themes vary from the "nightmare'ish" court room scene to the dark and repressive schoolroom where teachers engage in physical measures to teach their students. If you have not heard Another Brick In The Wall or Run Like Hell then I would say you need to buy this album right away. Clearly a masterpiece all the way through. | |||
| Without a question this would be one of my all time favs. This is Camel when Camel were Camel! Superb and highly memorable songs lavishly accented with deep keyboard (Organ & Mellotron) sounds creating a very spacey atmosphere. Song are uniquely longer in duration than much of their later material adding a different dimension and feel. Camel's debut album offers deep and warm sounds with solid musicianship throughout. Put this one into the "Essential Progressive Rock" category | |||
| Gravy Train's (A Ballad...) is a magnificient work of art and may represent one of the 70's most impressive albums. Combining delicate prog (aka Jade Warrior and Crimson's "In The Court" ) with well timed and thought out harsher explosive moments and extended jams. A Ballad Of A Peaceful Man is filled with heavy "Psychy" guitar, loads of delicious analog keyboard parts and a lot of amazing flute playing. One word of caution is that lead vocalist Norman Barrett has a very distinctive heavy sound which I love but may not appeal to everybody out there. I actually think that my love affair with Gravy Train's music rests somewhere in the cleverness and beauty of the musical contrast these guys deliver. Essential music for your ears..... | |||
| Folk prog masters from Canada Harmonium released several brilliant albums in the 70's with "si on avait..." representing perhaps my favourite of all of thier releases. Harmonium's music tends to resonate on the light side of things with its brilliant and crisp piano accents and happy like guitar passages. Songs are highly acoustic in nature and at times take on a folk-jazz attitiude only to be enriched by the flute, harpsichord and mellotron throughout. Vocals are well done and suit the music quite well (they are in French). | |||
| If there was an album influenced by the Moody Blues "Day's Of Future Passed" then Quiet World's "The Road" would take honours. However, let me be clear that this album is not a plastic replica nor does it come across as a rip off. In a similar fashion, "The Road" makes effective use of short narration and orchestration which is nicely juxtaposed with the 5 piece band. "The Road" features a very young Steve Hackett on acoustic and electric guitars and for Genesis fans is quite a collectible album to find. Quiet World wrote some highly imaginative and memorable classic tunes here which are quite tasty. This is a wonderful concept album and sounds superb on a Sunday morning with your coffee and newspaper. | |||
| Open up the mental portal in your brain and let Bill Laswell take you on a "Psycho-navigational" journey of a lifetime. "Psychonavigation 4" is in my opinion one of Laswell's more ingenious collaborative efforts yet teaming up with Peter Namlook. This album contains 4 urban space tracks , two of which are over 17 minutes long giving loads of time to explore and expand the boundaries of music. In many ways this album brought me back to my childhood when I first heard the electronic music of Tangerine Dream and knew this was something really different. Namlook and Laswell get into some pretty spacey grooves here which are juxtaposed with deep electronics. While the music quietly pulsates, your mind is wondering into the depths of space. Psychonavigation 4 is as intense as it is catchy with captivating melodies, spheric sounds and electronic beats that sound like the DUB-bass of Bill Laswell goes Electronic. ("Arena" & "ENTIB 2060"). On the second track "Samira" ethno-oriental sounds and beats mix with electronic and monumental spirits giving a wild experience. Last track "Good and Bad" is a chill track that moves between dark deep and light & bright emotions. Overall a great electronic album which is full of thought provoking musical moments. | |||
| With perhaps one of the greatest introductions in progressive rock of all time, "L'isola di Niente" or what was later re-released in english as "The World Became The World", is clearly a grand album of epic proportions. In typical classic PFM fashion, "L'isola Niente" is loaded with great keyboard work and some amazing guitar and percussive moments. In my opinion L'isola Niente has some of PFM's strongest musical moments full of jazz/prog rock influences. With grand mellotron, synth and flute filled passages, it is PFM's emphasis on the use of vocals which makes L'isola Niente such an original album. This album moves from the dark grooving title to track to the soft caressing touch of Mauro Pagani vocals on the romantic track "Dolcissmima Maria". Overall this is an essential Italian progressive moment which you need to have in your collection. | |||
