| “Far Far Away” opens the adventuress and psychedelically charmed masterpiece from early Barrett influenced Floyd. “A Saucerful Of Secrets” was I suppose a bit of a transition album bridging Syd’s psychedelia influenced music with new member David Gilmour’s and his slightly more progressive leanings. I love the early Floyd psychedelic experience and IMHO “A Saucerful Of Secrets” represents one of the key albums that helped shape both the progressive rock era as well as the generation readiness for the prog explosion. This album also manages to cover a good chunk of ground from the dreamy membrane of Wright’s “Remember A Day” to the socially poignant and surface humor of “Corporal Clegg” to the pure progressive magic of “Set The Control For The Heart Of The Sun”. The end result is a tremendous little album full of dark and psychedelic influenced exploratory progressive rock. | |||
| ..And now for perhaps the greatest psychedelic-rock album of all time…enter Mr. Syd Barrett and company. Piper was the first full album by London’s “The Pink Floyd” and showcases their creative yet drugged out free form musical compositions. Without a question this is Barrett at his best and most evocative music from his creative mind. Included on this album are 2 of the most respected and copied tracks from the psychedelic era namely “Astronomy Domine” and “Interstellar Overdrive”. I have always loved the early Floyd albums and consider this album to be one of my personal favs from this era. | |||
| Isao Tomita’s debut album and another excellent electronic endeavour showcasing the musically interpretive talents of this man. "Snowflakes are Dancing" is based on ten pieces by the French impressionist Claude Debussy. Typical of Tomita, he used an wide arsenal of electronic gadgets and keys to create his wall of beep and bips…Moogs, oscillators, sequencers, filters and even Mellotron. Debussy’s classical compositions are transformed into Tomita’s own world of electronic treatments and sweeping analog sounds. This intriguing proto-synthesizer recording is truly a masterpiece and although I suppose you might comment on the aged electronic sound and slight moments of interstellar cheesiness, Tomita's debut will blow you away. Another great headphone experience album as well as his early work was well recorded. | |||
| Every now and then an album comes by that totally blows my mind and that is certainly the case with “Cerulean Blue”….an album of epic proportions. Written and performed by an artist simply noted as RAIN, this concept album details the story of a man (Rick) and his journey across America as narrated thru a series of postcards. With his angelic voice RAIN and his cast of top musicians detail this journey and have written some simply beautiful music. RAIN’s voice actually reminds a bit of IQ”s Peter Nicholls at times and shares a deep conviction for meaningful lyrics. The seven tracks on “Cerulean Blue” are carefully narrated as well by the deep toned laynx of Rob Brown which adds a certain degree of mysticism to the album. Musically this is a symphonic album with lots of orchestration and choral passages and features some stellar keyboard work, violin, viola, cello, sax and drums. This album is a work of art and comes highly recommended and can be ordered directly from RAIN’s website at www.telosmusic.net | |||
| This 3rd release would prove to be Jade Warrior’s last on the Vertigo label and IMHO one of their best overall albums. Jade Warrior’s progressive leanings clearly come from their original genre fusions of rock and world….clearly in their approach. Jade Warrior blend Jon Field's flute with Tony Duhig's non- standard guitar tunings along with interesting percussion (congas, bells…) elements resonating a highly crafted and original sound. "Last Autumn's Dream" is an album that utilizes experimentation, a touch of fusion, traditional Japanese sounds, folk, jazz and yes even progressive rock to its advantages. Just as Jade Warrior are content to play in the tranquil space nebula they also are comfortable on the same album rocking out. This is a great album and one that I play rather frequently. | |||
| To my knowledge this was Festa Mobile’s only release and however short in playing time, what a release it was. This fantastic act blended melodic symphonic jazz and rock into a very unique sound. Their music is largely dominated by keyboards and features some incredible piano work throughout the album (probably the highlight of the album). The rhythm and drum work is also quite solid with these guys laying down some great grooves for the keyboards and electric guitars to bounce off. As you would expect the lyrics are sung in Italian and are very well done and work well with the bands music. This album also contains one of my personal favourite Ital-prog tracks from any band “Aristea” which is just simply breath taking in all aspects. The music on this album is at times a bit frantic-like in aspect which will require some pretty focused active listening and is not for the light at heart. I snagged the BMG Italiana Re-mastered version which offers some pretty inspiring sound quality and instrument separation. Overall a fantastic album . | |||
| After Harmonium recorded their masterpiece “L'Heptade” in 1977, Serge Fiori formed a side project with fellow musician Richard Seguin and recorded a great little folkie prog album strangely titled “200 nights per hour”. With both Fiori and Seguin playing acoustic guitars and backed by a great band with flute, e-piano, bass, drums, sax, synthesizers and great vocal harmonies this album is a pure treasure. Other family members of Harmonium credited on this album include Monique Fauteux (vocals, keyboards) Denis Farmer (drums), Robert Stanley (guitar) and Libert Subirana (horns). Musically then Fiori-Seguin is very reminiscent of Harmonium with perhaps a slightly more prog-rock orientation (being perhaps just a slight bit less folk–like). The vocals are quite inspired and in many ways plays like a more folk driven version of France’s Ange with bits of Supertramp tossed in. In fact the Supertramp influence is even more exaggerated by the fact that Harmonium had just supported Supertramp on their European tour and this carried somewhat onto this album. | |||
| My fond addiction to this band’s music started with their 1995 release on The Laser’s Edge. With their patented strong Scandanavian influences, White Willow also interestingly for me build in that certain magical progressive mannerism which caught my attention. With a fine array of instrumentation including a fine use of vintage analog keyboards this band have my ears. “Ignis Fatuus” is their most relaxed album to date but still contains all their mystical moods and creative Folk Prog elements. The musicians on this album are also quite talented and offer some great flute, keyboard, acoustic guitar bass and vocalizations. The music of White Willow is always teetering on the edge of darkness ,but never gets ugly or eerie…always creative. Sara Trondeal’s vocals are fantastic and definitely add to the Scandanavian mystical vibe I get when I hear this album. Sara is supported by the talents of Jan Tariq Rahman (keyboards, recorders, crumhorn, kantele, sitar, bass pedals, bass, vocals, devices), Tirill Mohn (violins, classical guitar), Audun Kjus (flutes, whistles, pipes, bodhran, vocals), Eldrid Johansen (vocals), Alexander Engebretsen (bass) and the band leader Jacob C. Holm-Lupo (guitars). Overall a gentle yet very moving album full of superb workmanship and song writing. | |||
| Pink Floyd’s 2nd movie soundtrack built for the movie “The Valley” is a pure work of art. “Obscured By Clouds” is very reminiscent of Meddle-era Floyd with their establishing winding blues prog rock and Gilmour’s soaring guitars and soft gentle yet affirmative voice. “Wots…Un The Deal”, “Mudmen” and “Childhood End” are 3 superb tracks that make this album simply killer. Over the years this album has remained a favourite in the Unger household and in 1995 I upgraded to the EMI re-mastered version which has enhanced this sound even more than my previous LP version. | |||
| I really had no idea what to expect from such a strangely titled album “Barb-A-Baal-A-Loo”, but let me just say that this is an excellent album. With 4 solid albums before this one I was well aware of the Visible Wind musical sandbox but this album does take them into new territory….and the end result is an outstanding album. “Barb-A-Baal-A-Loo” features the standout keyboard work of Stephen Geysens, Luc Hébert’s drums, Louis Roy’s bass playing and the crunchy guitar work of Philippe Woolgar. The opening track “The Healer” is completely worth the price of admission here folks ! This tune is a killer example of how this band have cured over time and may be my favourite Visible Wind song of all time. I suspect this is a concept album but I have no idea of the story line, but having said that it plays in many ways not unlike Saga’s approach on “Generation 13”. This album is filled with lots of background effects and song by song with a degree of plot. This album deserves to receive a whole lot more attention than it received ! Simply brilliant. | |||
| So often is the case with the music of Amon Duul II either you get it or not……usually nothing in between. I do really enjoy the early years of Amon Düül II with Wolf City representing one of them. The thing that sets this album up differently from say an album like “Yeti” is clearly the more accessible progressive leanings, yet still remains highly imaginative. This album mixes psychedelic and progressive rock in a way no one else could. On top of the usual guitar, bass, keyboards, Amon Duul employ a nice dose of sitar (Pandit Shankar), tabla kettle drum and tambura which really all clicks on this album. Without a question Renate Knaup’s vocals do take some slight adjustment to get into but for this music lover fits perfectly. This is a lively, fun and exciting album to listen to and I love their use of the distorted wah wah guitar and phasing effects and of course vintage keyboards. Musically this is actually fairly aggressive sounding without being noticeably loud or over the top. Songs are highly creative and cover quite a wide range of influences from the early sounds of Pink Floyd to the punk mood of the late 70’s to the psychedelic aura of The Ozric Tentacles. Overall a magical album and one that needs to be your collection. | |||
| Nothing finer in the world than the hard progressive rock vibes of ‘The Heep’. For me “Firefly” was just one of those albums from the 70’s that I played over and over again and along with “Demons and Wizards” was just part of my childhood. For me “Firefly” encapsulated everything and worked on multiple levels…a fine rock album and fine shifting progressive rock sound. No question in my mind that Uriah Heep had hit full stride by the release of “Firefly” offering to the rock world a creative high energy album. I love the keyboard work that Hensley pumps out on this album with some nice deep organ and vintage keyboard work as well as some of Mick Box’s best guitar work. I would say that the title track “Firefly” is likely my most beloved Uriah Heep track from the mid 70’s era albums and I was sure as a kiddie-boo-boo that this was the finest tune in the world (you know what I mean). Overall "Firefly" is still a fantastic album for this music lover. | |||
| Based loosely on the life of Alexander the Great, this was Supersister’s 4th album released and their concept album contribution. Clearly this was a departure from their earlier Canterbury’ish sounds being replaced by a more free jazz direction which works well for me….somewhere in the later Soft Machine sound. Regardless in the change in direction, there is still a strong organ and bass interplay on this album with some great sax and flute work. Line up was Robert Jan Stips (keyboards, lead vocals, vibes), Ron van Eck (bass, guitar), Charlie Mariano (saxophone, flute) and Herman van Boeyen (drums, percussion). In many ways "Iskander" ebbs and flows more like a movie soundtrack than an album. Overall a pretty cool album and a good one for the headphone listening fraks out there. | |||
| For their 3rd album , The Trip moved clearly more into the company of Emerson Lake and Palmer with heavy keyboard dominated runs and progressive bass/drum interplay. Originally The Trip were an English band who move to Italy to get in on the popular Beat movement that was sweeping the Country off their feet. Their line-up included Joe Vescovi (keyboards, vocals), Arvid "Wegg" Andersen (bass, vocals) and new member Furio Chirico on the drums. An interesting rock trivia fact is that the original membership of the Trip included a young Ritchie Blackmore. Instrumentally this is some nice vintage dominated keyboard playing some excellent bass and drum interplay providing the backdrop for the key work. Vocals are sung convincingly in English and I think sound great with the instrumentation. | |||
| With heavy rock tones, Uriah Heep’s third release “Look At Yourself” truly marked their entrance into the world of prog rock. Of course Uriah Heep were always more about rock than prog but managed to teeter on the border throughout their career. “Look At Yourself” offers some of Hensley’s finest keyboard work as well as standout guitar work of Mick Box. This album carries a slight underground early 70’s vibe but does offers superb sound quality at the same time. David Byron’s vocals work to perfection on this album a carry that strong rock tinge to them. There are a couple of guests as well with Manfred Mann adding some scrumptious mini moog on July Morning and Osibisa assist on the title track “Look At Yourself”. Prog rock fans might find it interesting that Ian Clarke (Ex Cressida) takes primeship for the drumming on this album as well. Overall a heavy dose or early rock with progressive tinges makes this still one of my favourite Uriah Heep albums. | |||
| Lots of confusion of this album so let me attempt to simplify by saying that this is not a Supersister album, but instead a solo album by Sascha van Geest under the name “Sweet Okay Supersister”. The confusion I think is that many of the musicians also played in Supersister incarnation that appear on this album. Having said that though this overtly quirky album resonates with a certain flare and offers some pretty interesting moments. Musically this album clings to a certain Zappa’esque magnetism offering strange musical compositions and challenging time signatures. Instrumentally this is a full album with a large cast contributing : Robert Jan Stips (Keyboards, lead vocals, vibes), Jan Hollestelle (Bass), Ron van Eck (Bass), Sacha van Geest(Flutes, vocals), Mien van den Heuvel(Mandolin), Hans Alegres ( Steel drum), Inge van Iersel and Jose van Iersel (Backing vocals). Lots of background effects, talking/chanting and noises adds this the mysticism of this album, which clearly verges on the cliffs on insanity. I hear all kinds of musical influences here like Syd Barrett, Gentle Giant, Supertramp,. Steve Hackett and of course Supersister. This album has grown on me as I found it slightly too arcane on first listen, but now find I am quite fond of it’s progressively psychedelic zaniness….may not be for everyone’s taste buds though I appreciate !. | |||
| On Visible Wind’s 3rd album they took a slightly more guitar-driven sound than found on their previous albums, offering a slightly new direction to contrast. Having said that, this album shines for this music lover with strong attention to progressive rock details….syncopation, shifting time signatures, strong musicianship and clever song writing. Line up included Luc Hebert (Drums), Louis Roy (Bass, Taurus Pedals), Stephen Geysens (Keyboards, Vocals) and Claude Rainville (Guitars) who deliver a acute album not unlike the aura of Canada’s Saga. The mood on this album also takes quite a shift from softer ballad-like compositions to all out hard rock elements. Songs are sung in both English and French on this charming album from one of Canada’s underground Progressive Rock bands. | |||
| Following the highly successful release of “Si on Avait Besoin D’une Cinquiene Saisons” , Harmonium sat out to record their most musically involved and challenging album. L’heptade is a multi-disc concept album based around the melancholic atmosphere of the seven states of consciousness of life as depicted through a daily newspaper. The end result is a wonderful mixture of Harmonium’s traditional folk- prog with a heavy dose of symphonic brush strokes. This album is often criticized for having been a tad too long and perhaps having lost some focus all of which I can note subscribe to. In sharp contrast, I love the wondering melodies and aimlessness in parts of the album and find it very musically seductive. Harmonium have always had a way of reeling me into their music and this album may be in fact my favourite of the lot. This was the last studio album by Harmonium and cast member Michel Normandeau left before this project was completed. Drummer Denis Farmer, flutist Libert Subirana, guitarist Robert Stanley, and vocalist/second keyboardist Monique Fauteux were recruited. As well Neil Chotem was brought in to compose and arrange orchestral bridges between the songs. The end result is a gentle yet mind numbing album full of some wonderful melodies and instrumentation. | |||
| Horacee Arnold's "Tales of the Exonerated Flea" has to be one of the finest psychedelic-progressive-fusion-jazz albums of all time (how’s that for a genre busting album!). This amazing album is simply stacked end to end with talented musicians including Horacee Arnold (Drums), Jan Hammer (Keyboards), Rick Laird (Bass), David Friedman (Vibes), Ralph Towner (Guitar), Dom Um Romao (Percussion), Art Webb (Flute), Sonny Fortune (Sax), John Abercrombie (Guitar), George Mraz (Bass) and Clint Houston (Bass). Obviously with this personnel aboard you can hear elements of Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra and even Miles Davis. The album gets pretty hypnotic at times but really does groove from start to finish. This overlooked gem offers some of the most complex, yet lush fusion polyrhythms and melodies. Obviously this is a fairly heavy percussion centric album, but Arnold’s “patterings and twangings” never overshadow the other instruments at play. Lets me just say that if you are into percussion then this is a study all of its own. There is not a dull moment on this album from start to finish with it’s wicked rhythms and great solos (Hammer, Abercrombie, Fortune and Towner). IMHO this one of the best Jazz Rock Fusion recordings ever made and is a definite for Unger’s desert island selection. | |||
| Before the golden era for Kraan ended, they managed to release with producer Conny Plank one last excellent live recording “Tournee”. This album was made up of clips from four different performances circa 1979. Stylistically, 'Tournee' is very similar to “Wierderhoren” (in fact 3 songs are lifted from that studio album!) with their unmistakeable cheerful, upbeat jazzy-rock drenched music. Kraan’s line up included Udo Dahmen (drums), Light Courage Hattler (bass), Peter Wolbrandt (guitar, vocals) and Ingo Bishop (keyboards). Kraan were an amazing band and really did not sound like anyone else at the time and always exuded strong, high energy rhythmically explosive music. With all the complexity in their music they never lost that certain sense of dreamy melancholy in their sound either which carries a strong ensuring quality for me. Definitely less cosmic-like than Kraan live but definitely the same band in full action captured here. I suspect fans of Grobschnitt will adore this band. | |||
| I have always loved the music of the Strawbs with “Ghosts” reaching top shelf. Ghosts is a musically rich and inspired album with some nice diverse moods and themes. My favourite Strawbs tune of all time (next to “Autumn” from Hero and Heroine) is “The Life Auction” with its clear Genesis inspired progressive vibes and mellotron led accompaniment. Ghosts is also quite a diverse sounding album really with folk –like passages (aka Cat Stevens), straight ahead classic rock, pop and obviously progressive sounds. Band members include David Cousins (Vox, Guitars), Dave Lambert (Vox, Guitars), pianist John Hawken (from the first line up of Renaissance), bassist Chas Cronk (from Rick Wakeman's band) as well as Rod Coombes on the drums. Overall a brilliant album and a definite need in your collection. | |||
| As the opening of the album tells us 'Osibisa' means 'criss-cross rhythms that explode with happiness' and that is exactly what their music does. I guess here is one of the advantages of having your own website and hopefully a fairly liberal definition as to what is progressive rock / music as I am unquestionably including Osibisa. For those unfamiliar with this band let me as usual try to describe their claim to fame and musical approach. 'Osibisa' were formed in England in 1969 by a multi-racial group of highly talented musicians who all shared a common interest in creating some highly original and thought provoking music. Their music borrowed from Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, progressive rock, fusion, African based drum music, Rock, Pop, and Latin Grooves, to create a one of a kind original sound. Imagine African drums and layers of electric guitars, organs, horns, woodwinds and flutes and authentic earthly tones and you have the music of Osibisa. This mostly instrumental music actually reminds me at times of the work of old time Santana and Malo with more Africano tossed in. A remarkable album and a pure classic for sure. | |||
| Edward Bear were a Canadian 70’s act who released a great little debut album “Bearings” that has mostly been lost in the vinyl archives. “Bearings” may be best remembered for the pop hit “You, Me In Mexico” but it is really the remaining 8 songs that move this album into a more progressive psychedelic vein with Blues rock tendencies that scopes points for me. This incarnation of Edward Bear were a 3 piece band with Larry Evoy (drums, vocals), Danny Marks (guitar) and Paul Weldon (keyboards). “Bearings” is a quirky album and offers a little something different on each track from Procol Harum’esque organ driven melodies to pure Blues- rock jams with Canterbury leanings not unlike early Caravan in many ways. The tune that really grabs me is “Mind Police” with is unique heavy distorted guitars, 70’s grinding organ grinds and strangely mic’d vocals. Quirky album with some amazing instrumentation and an album I am right into. | |||
| Early Styx were a very different band than their later incarnation (aka Grand Illusion, Crystal Ball, Equinox) although I suppose the heart of the band were there. Styx’s first album is far more exploratory and 70’s’ish in feeling with heavy organ and synth work with some nice and heavy guitar soloing. Vocals are shared between Dennis DeYoung, James Young and John Curulewski and although resonate with the classic Styx feel at times really carry a more raw feel to them (especially so with Curulewski). Standout track for me is the 13 mins epic track “Movement For The Common Man” which monopolizes side 1 of the album and showcases a very different sounding band. Progheads will likely love this tune (as I do). The other really cool feature on this album is the 70’s electronics and synths used which sound awesome with the heavier backdrops. Although I also adore the classic Styx era albums it is their debut album that has endured with my innate progressive affiliations. | |||
| I have always been a fan of Kraan and this live album captures most of the true reason why I have such a fondness for them. In true progressive rock style, Kraan play a magical high energy set with many original songs being extended and expanded on live (Berlin – 1974). Kraan is a primarily-instrumental band that blend elements of fusion, funk, space and progressive. A very hard band to peg and categorize to be honest and a band whose music never sits still. Led by the awesome bass skills of Hellmut Hattler, Kraan blend keys, sax, guitar and drums into a highly unique and refined style of their own…..a very fun album………….funky prog rock with a really spacey feel. | |||
| Written and recorded as a soundtrack to director Barbet Schroeder’s dystopian hippie road flick MORE (1969). On top of the various short number of movie tracks there are also a number of great classic Floyd songs which actually made their way into the live sets in the late 60’s and early 70’s (Cymbaline, Green In The Colour and Cirrus Minor). This heavily psychedelic-laced album explores some pretty trippy zones and mixes both soft blues rock and psychedelic genres. In many ways this album is reminiscent of “Atom Hearted Mother”. Overall a classic album and although I suppose is considered by most to be a soundtrack, really represents a full fledged Pink Floyd album for me. 100% Essential | |||
| This was Osibisa’s second release and followed very closely in the footsteps of their debut album with African-driven rhythms and the full Osibisa orchestra with that rock (organ and guitar) flare. I always considered this album a necessary compendium to the first album and treasure it as well. Once again Osibisa explore the dark roots of Africano rock with some pretty groovy rhythms and beats. As you would expect this album draws on many different genres of music... jazz, R&B, Rock, Prog , Psych and Latin. | |||
| Wow is this guy inspired of what ? “One” is simply a killer album from ex- Spock’s Beard leader and a noticeable improvement over “Testimony” which failed to work for me. Morse drives home his inspired lyrics and messages over some powerful music with the help of pals Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER) and a terrific bass player named Randy George. “One” is jam packed and clocks in at almost 80 mins with 4 epic tracks, each given lots of room to explore and build up his musical concepts. I think this is the closest to Spock’s Beard in texture and sonic explosions that he has come yet from all his solo albums. Morse’s vocals and harmonies are pure and heavily inspired and his lyrics reach heavenly heights for this music lover. Morse covers the guitar and keyboards while Portnoy contributes his competent yet controlled drumming and Randy George’s fine bass interplay. Overall a truly wonderful album with some great musical moments and an album I treasure in my collection. I guess he finally landed with a Christian-Prog album for me. Two Thumbs Up ! | |||
| The Mars Volta are a refreshing breath of air in an industry that often fails to meet the music mark! The Mars Volta are a machination of members from other bands but the end result is truly unique and very original concept album…..l call this progressive. De-loused In The Comatorium is 61 minute epic album which in the heart tells the strange story of a man who attempts suicide and ends up in a coma, travels through his own consciousness and, eventually, wakes up and rejects the physical world in favour of death. The Mars Volta is the genius of lead guitarist and song writer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez who managed to write 61 Mins of pure magic. Lead vocalist Cedric Bixler Zavala has a high powerful voice which fits the bombastic music quite well…..high energy and poignant. Musically these guys get into some pretty crazy and complex moods and tempo shifts……moves from semi – erratic blistering sounds to slow mezmorizing interludes littered with sound effects and odd bits. As you can tell this album covers a lot of ground from King Crimson’ish bursts and guitar work to abstract Porcupine Tree’ish space to the modern ulcerous themes of Radiohead. No question this is one of the loudest recordings in my collection but I have acquired the Mars Volta taste now so no turning back. This is pretty much an essential album and will appeal to all music lovers who don’t mind a few less spoonfuls of sugar in their coffee. | |||
