| ATOLL were a talented French ensemble who very much carried their own symphonic sound blending the finer aspects of French comrades ANGE, PULSAR and MONA LISA. Next to Ange, Atoll were probably the most influential of the French symphonic groups. With this debut album Musiciens-Magiciens, Atoll led the way for the others with a wonderful progressively charmed album full of emotion and originality. Their style was very theatrical in nature offering dynamic and melodic arrangements with some great song writing and vocal harmonies. Musically Musiciens – Magiciens is directly in the GENESIS, YES , MAHAVISHU ORCHESTRA and ANGE camp. The album is comprised of 7 tracks of early prog rock with an amazing 11 min epic track “Le Baladin Du Temps” which definitely is IMHO the defining moment on this album. An excellent album full of originality………. | |||
| Morse Code were a French Canadian progressive rock outfit that released 3 great mid 70’s albums. This four piece band blend rich analog keyboards with distinct bass, guitar, flute and drum interplay. Overall sound is very big and deep really making this album and unbelievable listening experience. With a sound somewhere between Genesis’ “Selling England By The Pound” and Ange’s “Emile Jacotey” this album delivers everything a prog fan would love. On “La Marches Des Hommes” (The March Of The Men) they utilize lots of piano, mellotron, organ, clavinet in a similar way to that of classic Genesis. Songs are very well constructed and enable the listener to create lots of imagery as you listen with lots of dynamic timing and mood changes. Vocals are exceptionally well done with some nice harmony and of course sung in French. Their most widely recognized piece is the self titled 12 minute epic track which is simply to die for but I also love the rest of the album equally well. Another essential progressive rock album for your collection. | |||
| Recorded in Cologne in 1971 this was the debut progressive krautrock monster. A Krautrock classic and festifav in this household offering everything you could ask for in an album ….. drifty, blasting psychedelic rock with electronic effects, acid guitars, acoustic guitars, tabla and Eastern music influences. This flowing, conceptual masterpiece blends a wide array of musical tones and moods sounding very reminiscent of a clash of classic Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free and Pink Floyd (Ummagumma / Meddle era). For the Popol Vuh lovers out there you will pleased to see this album features Conny Veit (guitars, voice, table, electronic effects). In addition Gila blow you lips off with additional instruments including the mellotron, organ, mandolin and bongos. This may be my personal most beloved German krautrock album of all time. Highly regarded album and an essential one for your collection. | |||
| “Perhaps Still Poetry” (Forse Ancora Poesia) was one of Pooh’s classic 70’s albums mixing soft light rock and symphonic rock in a highly crafted album. In many ways the early 70’s work of Pooh reminds me of La Bottega delle’ arte with hugely orchestral and caressing symphonic passages. The second track “Ninna Nanna” is still to this day one of my favourite Ital prog songs of all time. The classic 70’s Pooh line up was Roby Facchinetti (keyboards), Dody Battaglia (guitars), Stefano D'Orazio (drums) and Red Canzian (guitar, vocals). Like all Pooh albums they perform each song with great instrumental prowess and passion for the music. | |||
| Area were one of the more varied Italian bands with their distinctive mix of prog and jazz genres. Without a question Area’s early 70’s work is pure classic Ital prog, it was 1980’s release Tic & Tac that caught my ear. Sounding something in between Soft Machine and UZEB this album moves and moves and never really stops and takes a breath. The band lineup included Patrizio Fariselli (acoustic piano, M.C.S. 70 synthesizer and electric piano), Larry Nocella (tenor sax), Giulio Capiozzo (drums), Ares Tavolazzi (electric bass, double bass, guitar), Guido Guidoboni (trumpet), Luciano Biasutti (trumpet). | |||
| Greenslade’s classic third album, “Spyglass Guest” uniquely features guitars with Andy Roberts and Dave "Clem" Clempson (another former Colosseum bandmate) delivering some six-string action. I personally love the first 4 Greenslade albums and find each one different and in many ways unique. “Spyglass Guest” features the full arsenal of Greenslade’s keyboards (organs , synths, Mellotron, Calvinet, Glockenspiel, Harmoniums and Tubular Bells) with Lawson’s keys and vocals, McCulloch’s drums and percussion and Tony Reeves last album (Bass). Overall feel of the album is Engligh prog rock in character with some great instrumental work. | |||
| Keyholder is Kaipa’s 2003 release taking on a slightly harder edge than “Notes From The Past” album with a step even further from The Flower Kings. Having said that though there still remains a heavy Yes/Flower Kings tastefulness with cups of Kaipa tossed in on every song. What clearly brings out Kaipa’s sound is Hans Lundin’s (Hammond organ, synthesizers, mellotron, pianos & vocals), Roine Stolt (guitar), Morgan Ågren – Drums, Jonas Reingold - Fretless & Yamaha custom basses. Vocals are shared by Patrik Lundstr¨m (Ritual) and the angelic Leena. Both are in top form and sound great together with Leena taking more of a vocal leadership role on Keyholder…..clearly her beauty compliments his tone. As you would expect Stolt's guitar solos are excellent and compliment the rest of band's peformances. Overall an excellent album with some great songwriting and awesome instrumentation. | |||
| The first time I heard this album I was totally blown away and knew I had discovered another fantastic act that would produce a monster album or two. Without a question “Man With A Movie Camera” is a masterpiece but very different from the “Progressive” you might be more used to. The Cinematics blend a very unique and progressive mix of instruments with a bit of electronic wizardry and manage to rearrange into a form of music embodying soul, jazz, hip-hop and electronica into something truly beautiful and original. This album is plastered and oozes with cerebral class in its overall delivery of well-refined and very connecting melodies and colour. I am told this album was actually a Russian move score (director Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent documentary of the same name). This instrumental album contains a nice wide variety of instrumentation including Violin, Viola, Cello, turntable / electronics, piano, double bass and drums and percussion. An amazing album for sure and a great Sunday morning listen. | |||
| Frijid Pink typified the 70’s Detroit rock music scene with their mind blowing hard edged yet soulful classic rock. Their first two albums were a startling mixture of rock-blues-psychedelic music led by lead guitarist Gary Thompson and the raspy vocals of Kelly Green. The remainder of the band includes Tom Beaudry (Bass) and Rick Stevers (Drums) who help collaborate to the album raw’ness. Songs are pretty much prototypical vintage 70’s rock with an acid guitar layer and pulsating psychedelic vibe throughout. | |||
| A year after releasing the classic album “La Marche Des Hommes”, Canada’s Morse Code released another masterful concept album titled “Procreation”. Following very closely their patented formula of progressive rock, this album will simply make all prog fans drool. Imagine a blend of Hackett’esque guitar swoops with lots of beautiful mellotron/organ, creative bass and drum interplay and highly imaginative song writing and you have Procreation. Morse Code is really a perfect marriage of classic ANGE with GENESIS ! Vocals are sung in French and really remind me of the theatrical presence of Christian Decamps (ANGE's vocalist). This album showcases the epic 26+ minute epic title piece which blends a highly British 70's prog character with their unique Québécois flavour. Overall another killer album that everyone needs to have in their collection.........absolutely essential album ! | |||
| Seattle's Green Pajamas have been releasing music for over 10 years now with “Seven Fathoms Down & Falling” hitting a very soft spot for this music lover. The Green Pajamas are purveyors of highly melodic, yet distinctly psychedelic rock and have managed to carve out for themselves a well deserved place in the Rock pantheon. Now this is a fantastic record with an original mix of pop and prog sounds with heavy emphasis on the musical image of The Beatles. May be best to describe The Green Pajamas on this album as a mix of original and old musical sounds from Beatles’ albums 'Revolver , The White Album' and 'Abby Road' , The Byrds and The 5th Dimension. The central force behind the genius of the Green Pajamas is Jeff Kelly (guitar/vocals) with other members being Joe Ross (bass/vocals), Karl Wilhelm (drums), Eric Lichter ( keys/percussion/vocals) and Laura Weller (vocals/guitar). On this album psychedelic pop fuzz guitar and keyboards are overlayed over orchestral passages with strings all wrapped in a 70’s psych pop sound. Songs are very well written and performed with a modern yet 70's feel. Highly recommended album....Brilliant | |||
| Now this is a fantastic album full of highly energetic, well crafted songs with some superb musicianship. The Tangent are a kind of “supergroup” with Roine Stolt, Zoltan Csorsz and Jonas Reingold (Flowerkings) , David Jackson (Van Der Graaf Generator) and Andy Tillison (Parallel Or 90 Degrees). Of course with 3 members of the Flowerkings hearing allusions to their music and Kaipa’s is unavoidable. However with Tillison’s song writing and the cast of other musicians The Tangent take this music into a different zone. This mighty band offers the listener 16 unyielding tracks of progressive-rock sprinkled with the occasional jazz-fusion. Lyrics are sung by Stolt and Tillison and both have great voices. The album consists of three different suites, “In Darkest Dreams,” “The Canterbury Sequence” and “The Music That Died Alone.” Each section offers passionate guitar playing and thoughtful keyboard performances. Jackson’s sax and flute contributions fit to enahcne the music even that much more making this album very hard not to love. Overall a great album full of deep progressive passages. | |||
| The third album from Britain’s Thieves' Kitchen offering the listen a nice and wide range of musical possibilities. After leaving Grey Lady Down, Mark Robtham (drums) formed Thieves’ Kitchen and several years later have struck a great chord with me in "Shibboleth" (Hebrew). Vocalist Amy Darby has a beautiful and fitting voice full of emotion and clarity. Along with Darby’s beautiful voice we are treated to the instrumental prowess of Phil Mercy (guitars), Wolfgang Kindl (keyboards),Andy Bonham (bass) and Mark Robotham (drums). The end result is something very original perhaps and best interpreted IMHO as a cross of Renaissance and IQ. Overall a highly intelligent album full of originality and craftsmanship needing your attention. | |||
| Pulsar’s “Strands Of The Future” is one of the classic space prog rock albums of the 70’s IMHO and remains to this day one of likely candidates for my desert island list ! Highlighted by the 22 Mins titled epic this album will blow your mind into another dimension. This album has everything I love…lots of Floydian keyboard spaceyness, great guitar soloing and accents and wonderful bass/drum interplay. Vocals are sung mostly in English with the exception of the epic track, which has a few words sung in native French. Vintage keyboards are used throughout featuring the Mellotron, moog and organ. Songs are very well written and give an overall feel of Pink Floyd with a mix of Ange and/or King Crimson. My only criticism I have ever had about this album is the rather reduced sound quality which differs in contrast to their masterpiece “Halloween” which was exceptionally well recorded. However the album is still of course very listenable and remains a classic for sure and one of my favs. | |||
| The Polite Force was Egg’s second album and represents IMHO one of the pinnacle and most influential Canterbury prog albums. The Polite Force is stylistically similar to the early work of Soft Machine featuring Dave Stewart's surging keyboard work with a solid supporting duo of Hugo Martin Montgomery Campbell (bass, vocals, organ, Piano and French horn) and Clive Brooks (drums). Songs vary in compositional aspect and range from very complex to pure experimental maintaining a high degree of originality and professionalism. Egg score with their mixture of Arzachel / Soft Machine influenced instrumental extensions, highly developed Stravinsky influenced compositions, impeccable performances and their careful attention to timbre and organ dynamics of Dave Stewart. Would strongly recommend you pick up the Mason Records re-mastered version of this classic album which has been very well reproduced. | |||
| “Martin Road” is Ken Baird's 4th studio album, this time taking our ears into a fresh new song oriented direction. One of the finest qualities of Ken Baird's music is his unscathed and unconstrained approach to music. Martin Road is an album that will grab your attention by its sheer color and beauty right from the start. This album is an introspective journey into Baird's symphonic landscapes of imagery and color and on every listen you will discover something slightly different. As in all of his albums, Martin Road showcases his deep keyboard arsenal and talents with a unique fusion of contemporary song oriented elements with rich symphonic sweeps. Sue Fraser and her angelic voice appears as well on the album, but contributes mainly on backing and support vocals with the majority of them being handled effortlessly by Ken. Canadian composer/guitarist Steve Cochrane is also featured on this album performing some of his personal finest guitar craftsmanship yet. Overall Martin Road is another excellent addition into Ken Baird’s discography.....clearly one of Canada's most hidden talents…….highly recommended. | |||
| Mick Karn is a phenomenal fretless bass player (ex- Japan / Rain Tree Crow), on this album collaborating once again with guitar player David Torn. Karn once again has brought in a number of amazing musicians to add some very unique character ..Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree), Richard Barbieri (Japan, Porcupine Tree) and the great Natscha Atlas (vocals). More so than his other albums, this album is a mixture of western (jazz-) rock and traditional middle-eastern music with still tons of progressive flair. “The Tooth Mother” is a album full of originality and offers a vast range of moods and tempo shifts….there is a little something for everyone on this album and a whole lot for fans of progressive world music. An awesome album !. | |||
| Deodato’s “Prelude” is a classic album without a question and IMHO one of my personal favourites from the jazz-prog arena. The cornerstone of this album is of course his classic rendition of Also Sprach Zarathustra. . Deodato's funked-up version of the Strauss classic still lives on in today. The line-up of talent on this album will send shivers down your spine with Stanley Clarke (bass), Ray Barretto (Congas), Billy Cobham (Drums) and of course Deodato on all keyboards. What is amazing about this album is its improvisational like qualities reminding me of the days when experimentation and transition were the order of the day. The music here is expressive and multi dimensional. The recording itself benefits greatly from the Super Bit Mapping process thanks to the fine folks at CTI and feels very fresh, dynamic and exciting. In addition to the superstar guests featured on the performance, the music is augmented by an ensemble of strings and horns. Throughout this entire recording, Deodato does a great job of delivering music in transition while retaining the acoustic beauty of orchestral instruments. Half way Jazz half way Fusion 100% progressive in intent. An album I will pack on my way to the Deserted island. | |||
| Kaipa's three first albums stand as the high-point of Swedish symphonic prog in the 1970's. Their debut album is a magical album full of deep professionalism and a band hungry to share their clever song writing and symphonic sound. The first Kapia album in many ways is their best as it introduces the world to a young, ambitious band exploring the boundaries and overlap-areas of rock, classical, jazz and folk. On this album keyboardist Hans Lundin dominates the sound with piano, organ, string-synth and both melodic and occasionally more grating synthesizer solos. When coupled with Roine Stolt’s guitars, Bergmans’ drumming and Erikkson’s standout bass work, we get a definite allusion to the sound and feel of Camel. On this album Kapia perform some wonderful symphonic music with great character and originality. | |||
| Greenslade's second album is as remarkable as his debut album with even more mellotron than he could pack into the first release. This truly awesome album blends mellotron and flute passages that will make you drool. Once again the album is drenched in English personal and charm. Without a question "Pilgrims Progress" is one of my personal favourite songs from the 70's prog era. The symphonic passages are lush and yet the songs are aggressive and ever shifting. Songs are played with amazing musicanship and are all quite clever. Overall an outstanding album that you must own. | |||
| Black Cat Bones were a blues-prog rock group from London founded in the late '60s by Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke (drums) both who would leave after recording this album and form the band “Free”. Black Cat Bones also had the talents of Rod Price (Lead Guitar) who also would later go on to play in Foghat. “Barbed Wire Sandwich” was released originally on Decca’s progressive label NOVA and represents a wonderfully blues driven progressive rock album. Considering there are 3 guitarists on the album this recording is bubbling over with 6 stringed contributions. Vocals are strong with Rod Price’s convincing deep accents and warm guttural soul. The album is actually very reminiscent of Cream's "Disraeli Gears" with driving guitar bass and drum interplay and that certain rawness. Overall album is superbly crafted with some great songs and instrumentation. I love this album to death….. | |||
| FREEDOM were formed in the autumn of 1967 by two ex-members of Procol Harum, Bobby Harrison and Ray Royer. They were really a blues based British hard rock / psychedelic band with loads of talent. Stylistically “Is More Than A Word” is reminiscent of Cream (aka Disraeli Gears era) with driving guitars (Roger Saunders, Steve Jolly) and strong supporting bass (Pete Dennis) and drum interplay (Bobby Harrison). Roger Saunder’s vocals are excellent as well and really suits the music. Overall this is a great blues-prog album with lots of excellent guitar, bass and drum interplay. | |||
| Il Mucchio's debut album is a remarkable and unique album bridging classic Ital Prog and Psychedelia. With essences of melodic prowess, this album generally places heavy emphasis on light organ runs to create that certain aura of space psychedelia. Because of its originality it is very hard to draw a ton of similarities and this is what I love about this album. They even take a stab at a progressively psychedelic version of Schubert's "Ave Maria". CD includes 4 bonus tracks which actually fit the album well and makes this Mellow Records release a real gem. | |||
| This British 70’s prog inspired Québécois band from Canada released 3 gems in the mid 70’s with “Le Suis Le Temps” being their 1977 release. On “Je Suis Le Temps” Morse Code moved away from their close musical proximity to the sound and approach of GENESIS and ANGE and shifted more to a classic rock based progressive feel. The music presented on this album take on more of a song based presentation and not the concept approach on their earlier albums. May be more fitting on this album to draw parallels to the music of Barclay James Harvest, Styx and Yes. Having said that this album is full of great keyboard, bass, drum and guitar workmanship. Songs are very well written and performed with great lustre and musicianship. Overall an excellent album. | |||
| After Red Canzian replaced Riccardo Sheets in 1973, Pooh’s music took new form blending more symphonic and progressive tendencies into their music. Early first few Pooh albums had been very psychedelic and although very good as well I am more fond of the early 70’s Pooh output. One of those great early albums is “A po' of our better time” which features the symphonically sculptured music of Roby, Dody, Stefano and Red. This is likely my favourite Pooh album with so mnay great progressively pop influenced tracks. On this album Pooh found the right balance and gave this album more room to explore than any other. I still find it amazing how many people outside of Italy have never heard or do not own any Pooh in their collection with so many great albums just waiting still to be discovered. | |||
| Le Temps were a prog folk band from Quebec and play in a style very influenced by Canada’s Harmonium. Le Temps play melodic mellow folk-prog with lots of acoustic instruments with flute and acoustic guitar playing a dominant role throughout the album. This album is highly melodic and rich in mood and atmospheres. The vocals are sung French and carry a very soft and complimentary aspect to their music. | |||
| A trio from Palermo and one of the few important bands to come from Sicily. Era di Acquario only released one album that, despite the title Antologia was not an anthology in any way. The music of Era di Acquario is mainly based on acoustic guitar and flute and manage to create soft atmospheres in an almost progressive dream-like state. The BMG re-mastered version is full of deep tones and great clarity especially around the bass work, flute twills and acoustic guitar fingerings. This is simply beautiful music with some great instrumentation throughout. | |||
| “Et Ceterna” were a 5 piece Canadian prog rock band who were really into Gentle Giant! Try to imagine a Quebecois version of Gentle Giant, with a female singer, then you pretty much know exactly what these guys sound like. This band blend syncopated prog passages with Gentle Giant-like vocalizations/ acappela accents and Grobschnitt-like charm prowess. Instrumentation utilized is quite vast actually and includes flutes, vibraphones, drums, bass, violin, guitar and piano. The musicianship here is fantastic with nice warm tones and offers excellent speaker separation. | |||
| Crucis' debut album is a pure masterpiece of jaw dropping symphonic rock. This South American band blend the musical prowess of YES with the emotional sensitivity of the best Italian prog rock bands. Without a question this band were amazing with and played a very tight technical skill yet never sounding too over the top. Crucis blend crunchy guitar (Pino Marrone) with organ flights (Anibal Kerpel) and sophisticated drumming. In many ways this album reminds me of the music of the dutch band FINCH. The music is rich in melody and contains a unique charm which after many listens will be sure to become amongst your favourites. I flip flop on which album I like better between this one and their second "Los Delirios Del Mariscal". Bottom line is to get this album ! | |||
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