MANNING: One Small Step…. CD
Although I'm not a fan of the Moody Blues by any means, they were the first band to come to me when I heard the opening track of this album - there's a sort of orchestral prog quality to the instrumentation and arrangements, a wistful nature to the lead vocals, a kind of relaxed, soaring quality to the harmonies, a pace that is solid yet sedate, lyrics quite clearly audible, sung with that sense of yearning that's a pure Moodies trademark, acoustic guitars, keys and strings providing the icing on the cake as a lead sax provides an almost Floydian feel and the four minute track flows to the end - if you like that sort of thing, then this will be manna from heaven for you. From there, the next track, 'Night Voices', goes into a much more Jethro Tull territory with a nasally, Anderson-esque lead vocal and interweaving flute, but still with the aforementioned vocal harmonies and strings as the rhythm section provides a mid-paced, solid foundation, the lead work this time from acoustic guitars as the prog-folk feeling, six minute song makes you do a double take to realise that it's not actually Tull themselves. 'No Hiding Place' initially provides a Floyd-like introduction from guitars, organ and rhythm section before setting into a more bouncy rhythm and backing, still with that full, sumptuous sound, and developing into a song that has more of a feel with something akin to a clash of Pink Floyd and Chris Deburgh with lavish harmonies and a huge-sounding backing. Yet, as you half expect it to end around the four minute mark, instead the synths, strings, organ and guitar suddenly gather forces above the increasing pace of the rhythm section as this electric guitar solo rings out above organ and strings to provide a high-flying mid-song instrumental passage that has elements of Floyd and hints of 'Kashmir'-esque Led Zep as it flies along to the seven minute point as the body of the song and a slowly flowing synth/organ finale take the track on to a nine and a half minute end point. 'The Mexico Line' emerges with the now familiar yearning vocals, lavish harmonies and this time takes on a Moody Blues-meets-Caravan-meets-Tull identity that takes it onto the seven minute mark with a tender yet solid proggy-folky love song with a whiff of AOR about it. The next thirty minutes, divided into 8 sub-sections, are taken up with a suite called 'One Small Step….' which plays as a continuous piece for all you long-track fans and embodies all the elements and influences that have so far gone to make up the album, ensuring that if you like what you've heard so far, you're in no way going to be disappointed with what follows.
MOON SAFARI: A Doorway To Summer CD
You can say several things about this band - they love seventies prog with a passion; they are incurable optimists; someone there thinks 'Close To The Edge' is their favourite album; they're all fans of The Beatles; someone there won't admit it but they've got a soft spot for 10CC; you know the term "prog-rock"? well, this lot couldn't rock if they were on fire - but they sure know how to "prog"!!
There's a twenty four minute epic on here called 'We Spin The World' with tons and tons of instrumental passages on a song that's overflowing with soaring lead vocals and incredibly lush harmonies. But, instead of it sounding like Yes or Genesis or Camel or Hackett - it sounds like all of them - throw in 10CC, Starcastle, PFM, Argent, ELP, Barclay James Harvest & ELO and you're even closer. I mean, it's incredible - this thing passes by and you're going "oh, that's so & so" every few minutes, sometimes every few seconds in the first half, as the oceans of mellotrons, guitars, keyboards, synths, bass, drums, lead vocals, harmony vocals all pass by and wave to you as they go. The first time I heard it, I didn't believe it, but it sure made me smile - the second time I played it, it still made sense, proving to be cohesive, consistent and so superbly arranged, it takes your breath away. For the final few minutes, you could actually sing the end song bit of 'Close To The Edge' above their instrumentation and it'd sound scarily in place. But it's tasty - as I said, there's no real firepower in there, but as a slice of seventies-influenced and sounding prog, it is quite one of the most astounding tracks you'll hear anywhere - and this is less than half of the album! Yes, there's more. The final track, 'Beyond The Door', starts with solo piano before turning into this awesome slice of multi-part harmony vocalising over trademark sounding seventies prog rhythms, classic slice of high-register, slowly sliding Steve Howe guitar, a wailing synth lead that's pure PFM, mellotron choirs that are pure Barclay James Harvest, an organ line straight out of 'Close To The Edge' - but blink and it's gone - then all of this lot combine with huge-sounding and heart-warming harmony vocals to provide an end that practically leaves you jaw-dropped at the sheer skill with which they've put all this together - the ultimate prog tribute that isn't a tribute, yet is the most familiar sounding original work you've ever heard. Elsewhere we have 3 tracks between seven and eleven minutes that don't let you down, bearing in mind what I've told you already. The nine minute 'Dance Across The Ocean' has all the properties that make up the other tracks I've reviewed thus far, but to them adds a touch of Crosby, Still & Nash harmonies, Starcastle dynamics, Renaissance piano and still with all the other seventies prog influences worn proudly on their sleeves. Without going into detail, the other two are equally fine works and complete the picture.
Take it from me - you'll never have heard a prog album quite like this in decades, if at all - it's real, it's prog, it's immaculately well written and arranged, sung and played to perfection, and whether you're a fan of short tracks or long tracks, songs or instrumentals, keyboards or guitars, or any combination and more, as long as you like intelligent, instant, consistent, familiar, enjoyable, insistent, long-lasting prog of great passion, purity and potency, this is the dream album for you. As clichéd as it goes, the perfect Christmas gift for the prog fan in your life.
SALEM HILL: Mimi's Magic Moment CD
For a long time now, this band have ploughed their own furrow in the world of prog-rock, managing to play songs that somehow resolutely refuse to sound like anyone else around, so much so that it's almost impossible to spot exactly which influences are at work, while at the same time appreciating the writing and arranging for what it is. This new studio album is no less a challenge, with four tracks over sixty two minutes, three lasting fifteen, nineteen and twenty one minutes respectively, and, as a result, plenty of extended instrumental sections. On the opener, the fifteen minute 'The Joy Gem', partly thanks to a contribution from violinist David Ragsdale, the echo that comes to mind is a mix of Mainhorse & Caravan, bizarrely enough, but the instrumental work is a positive delight as the synths, violin and guitar ring out to proggy greatness, as the track twists and turns, slowing down to just piano before the vocals re-enter in high-range manner before tender vocal duelling ensues as the track returns to its sedate path, nothing as you'd expect as a vibraphone solo chimes above the slowly flowing backdrop as the songs gathers harmonies and moves onwards. The seven minute 'All Fall Down' sounds more like a cross between the Beatles of the mid -late sixties with slowly anthemic Neal Morse as the song flows with rippling piano, solid rhythms and a neatly executed electric slide guitar solo before electric mandolin appears, flute dances on top and the whole thing takes on a distinctly Tull-esque quality to the six and half minute point as the vocal returns and the song begins to fade. The twenty one minute 'Stolen By Ghosts' again takes on a more Caravan styled flavour, although even this as a comparison is only telling a small part of the story, but the song moves in that sort of balladeering, slowly building, dropping then building to even greater heights type of thing, even to the extent of some superb sounding seventies-esque organ, bass and guitar work in the extended instrumental part of the piece, the violin once more appearing to add the icing on the cake, albeit briefly. "The Future Me" ends the album with another track that twists and turns instrumentally even before the song portion has begun, this time round exhibiting a solid early Yes feel and sound to it as the synths then fly in and the whole thing goes a few years ahead to the mid seventies then drops down just over five minutes in as the vocals finally emerge. Then the song goes through fourteen minutes of chameleon-like changing to become the most prog-rock sounding epic they've created so far and a great way to end the album.
SYN: Syndestructible CD
First off, it sounds like a cross between Yes & Wishbone Ash. Secondly, you will only love this album if you love the vocals of lead singer Steve Nardelli - because he rarely stops singing throughout the album, especially amazing considering that 5 of the 7 tracks last between eight and thirteen minutes respectively. He has the sort of voice that would sound more at home in 'Argus'-era Wishbone Ash - you know, that sort of husky, almost harmonious vocal that is actually more mid-high range yet still relatively dry until multi-tracked, upon which it attains a sort of Yes-like quality. Speaking of which the guy responsible for the harmony vocals and multi-tracked choruses, never mind the electric bass work throughout, is none other than Yes' Chris Squire. Therefore there is a distinct Yes-like feel to the peals of choruses that appear particularly in the thirteen minute album closer, 'The Promise'. The Wishbone Ash bit comes in, not because of any exciting guitar work (because, even though there is a guitarist on all tracks, any solos are rarer than rocking horse droppings), but more to do with the pace and structure of the songs, as well as the harmony vocals, come to think of it. Yet, with a keyboard player in tow too, the songs are definitely prog-rock, although instrumental space is kept to a minimum as the vocals, both lead, harmony and multi-tracked, are dominant. There are literally a couple or three slots where the band is allowed to have some freedom without any vocals overhead, but that's about it. Despite that, the songs are very much in that whole seventies climate of things, and anyone into the more song-oriented prog bands of the time would get off on this, big-time. However, it has to be said that the final, thirteen minute, track, 'The Promise' is probably the best track that Yes never recorded, and it would be hard to imagine any staunch fan of the band, not warming to this - with its trademark building and layering, lashings of vocal harmonies, and overall production, allied to lush synths and keys, soaring Hackett-like (OK, wrong band - I know!) guitar work. As an album, though, for those that love the seventies, love a good song delivered by a solid band with proggy consistency and cohesion, then this will decidedly suit you, sir.
OLIVER WAKMAN: Mother's Ruin CD
In the hinterland between prog and metal, lies the opening track on this album - it's got all the power of rock but all the attributes of prog on a four minute song that wouldn't have been out of place on the last Rick Wakeman band-recorded studio album, with wailing keys and synths, electric guitar soloing and those dry but soaring vocals so beloved of the Wakeman fraternity. The eight and a half minute 'The Agent' continues in a similar vein with a sound more akin to vastly souped-up seventies era Wakeman-esque slice of rocking prog, organs and guitars, synths and rhythm sections following a high-flying course of soloing and duelling in between the extensive song portions. The pace decelerates somewhat for the anthemic prog-AOR ballad that is 'In The Movies' although its developing, building approach gives the song more of a dynamic quality from tender to impassioned and powerful. Then you get 3 tracks that are back to the prog-metal-esque openers, before another ballad creeps in. The four and a half minute 'I Don't Believe In Angels' mixes both with some seventies sounding wailing moog and organ-like soloing along the way amid fiery rhythms and expansive electric guitar riffs. The album ends on the ten minute 'Wall Of Water', a song that starts slowly but builds into another seventies sounding Rick Wakeman styled mix of lyrics and solos.
PSYCHEDELIC/SPACE-ROCK/STONER:
I.E.M.: 1996-1999 CD
Just over half of this album consists of the first, and totally instrumental, IEM LP released in 1996.It opens with a near thirteen minute instrumental track that's worth the price of admission on its own - a steaming stream of Krautrock jamming with its roots in the seventies, its rhythms in Neu & Can, it's guitar work solidly psychedelic, a mid-song, one and a half minute respite of eerie electronics and brief mellotrons, hissing cymbals and backwards effects, before firing up once more and surging ahead as it began - a stunning slice of seventies-rooted Kraut-esque magic. Following this are eight minute of classic, early seventies influenced cosmic music, the sort of thing you'd have heard on an early Tangerine Dream album only more psychedelic and with more guitar, but plenty of swirling synths, rattling drums and percussion and wandering keyboards. The eight and a half minute 'Fie Kesh' opts for a more sedate but no less powerful mix of deep drones, swirling space synths, Eastern-sounding drums and percussion, chiming acoustic guitars, deep rumbling bass and an absolutely gorgeous Krautrock-derived electric guitar lead that flis slowly overhead, as yet another magical track unfolds. The original album ends with another nine minute rampage through the world of psychedelic laced Krautrock that echoes early Neu with early Hawkwind space-rock and is simply astounding. On this CD there is also a track called 'Escalator To Christmas', here in two versions, one lasting ten and a half minutes, the other over thirteen, but both are corking instrumentals, again continuing the flavour of what's gone before, with some outstanding electric guitar work amid the chiming guitar backdrops and rolling rhythm section - another pair of outstanding instrumentals that mix Neu, Hawkwind & Popol Vuh in equal measures. The only other track on here is the six minute 'Headphone Dust', a slowly reflective instrumental that is pure early seventies Krautrock with soaring slide guitar, chiming acoustic guitars, distant organ and just the sort of thing you'd have heard way back then. Overall, this is a faultless CD with not a second of wasted music time on it, every track a gem and if you're into early seventies instrumental Krautrock with a slight dash of that era space-rock jamming, then this is essential listening and a long-lasting pleasure.
SPACE RITUAL: Sonic Savages CD-EP
Three brand new studio tracks from Nik Turner's space-rock band, the first new studio material from the band, virtually since they began. So, what's it like? The lead track is 'Sonic Savages' and it opens with the sound of synth strings as a single space-synth lead weaves all around and the band piles in to provide this shuddering rhythm above which Turner's multi-tracked vocal (or with someone on harmonies) sings the verses - and it sounds a bit like a decelerated 'Assault And Battery' - seriously - listen to it and think about it - I'm not far wrong. But that's just the verses - the chorus is quite anthemic and uplifting as this huge wall of sound shudders and shivers. Three minutes in sees a soaring sax solo from Turner which then gives way to a searing electric guitar solo. The six and a half minute song, penned by Dave Anderon & Nik Turner, is a slowly moving juggernaut of a number that takes you by surprise at first - perhaps not what you expected - but slowly works its way into your psyche as you fall under the spell. The second, and three and a half minute, track, 'Ritual Of The Savage Earth', penned by Dave Anderson, Del Dettmar & Michael Moorcock, is a recitation from Turner in his classic seventies fashion, but the backing is solidly and decidedly contemporary with a driving sea of electric drums, digital synths, pounding bass, soaring space synths and another huge-sounding wall of space-rock shudders forward, ending in a squall of electric guitars, fading vocals and distant space synths. The final five minute track is 'Jazzy Jam', penned by the band (except Dettmar) and features a Turner recitation over a rolling drum rhythm that sounds like a refugee from Pink Floyd's 'Set The Controls' with equally cascading bass, while wah-wah space rock guitars, echoed vocals, chiming distant guitar, echoplexed sax and space synth swoops provide a solid, slowly driving, seventies styled backing. The guitar and sax leads drive it all forward at the same pace as the Floyd track, only the overall sound here is quite huge and expansive, with some seriously tasty guitar and sax duelling. Overall, then, it's music that will slowly work its way into your consciousness and probably become quite endearing over time - certainly more overtly "space-rock" than anything on the latest Hawkwind album, in seventies terms, even though this is the sound of analogue space-rock for the digital generation.
TRIGON: Emergent CD
Brand new studio album, produced by Eroc and with a sound that is just stunning in terms of its power, clarity and dynamics. Only 4 of the 13 tracks feature a synth/keys player, which leaves the remainder as a trio of electric guitar, bass and drums to play some sizzling psychedelic fusion that really rocks, with some astounding psych guitar work that's very Paul Rudolph-sounding in many places. The dynamics of a lot of the tracks are exemplary, starting as slow builders and then firing on all cylinders in a blaze of scorching electric guitar work, with a rhythm section that's solid and powerful. You can't avoid mentioning the production from ex-Grobschnitt drummer Eroc, who must surely be one of the world's finest producers, and he gets a sound where the bass is absolutely evident but not obtrusive while the drum sound is the best you'll have heard in ages on a European psychedelic jamming album such as this. Without a less than glowing track on a positively nuclear but always melodic and dynamic album of instrumental psychedelic music that's structured yet possesses the loose and flowing feel of a great jamming album, this is a monster and absolutely essential listening for fans of psych, instrumental guitar rock, guitar-dominated Krautrock and more - quite stunning!
TRIGON: Herzberg 2004 CD
A seventy six minute live album from the German answer to a more progressive Ozric Tentacles as the bass, drums, electric guitar and keys/synths quartet fire up and soar into space. Across fourteen tracks, from three to seven minutes long, you'll hear a full range of psychedelic fusion as all moods are touched from serene to all-out attack. On the first track alone, with some expansive synths and mellotron-sounding backing, amid rhythm section work that goes from dynamic and powerhouse to slow and tasty, the electric guitar work alternates between spiralling runs and furnace-heat soloing. From there onwards, track after track is a surging delight, as the band as a whole and the guitars, in particular, and synths/mellotron/ organ, all fire up to provide an excellent sounding, quality live set.
NIK TURNER'S GREEN RITUAL: At The Big Green Gathering 2003 DVD
Tracks: Invocation/Ejection/Brainstorm/Sonic Attack/Orgone Accumulator/Children Of The Sun/D-Rider/Master Of The Universe.
Concert recording and mixing desk sound of the 2003 band live in concert at the open air festival. A mix of live footage that's been enhanced more than somewhat decently with computer imagery (not to such an extent that it detracts from watching the band), Turner leads things with vocal right upfront. A better sound than the 'Greasy Truckers' album from the same year, and with female dancers, female percussionist and all-male band, it's a visual treat for all Hawkfans. The picture quality is crystal clear, the sound an untampered mixing desk recording so you hear it exactly as it went through the desk. Performance-wise, we're talking wild and loose, and while it's space-rock in its rawest form, the quality of what you have will prove to be enjoyable to any Hawkwind collector.
ROCK/METAL/AOR
GET AMPED: Token Xmas Song CDEP
What? You want me to review this? Look, it was Marina from SAZ's birthday on Saturday - a disco at Dexters that was well loud followed by three hours at The Cage with a heavy rock disco that would level jet planes at a couple of miles away, all this time drinking Magness cider, then all back to Marina's place to be plied with vodka and coke and do the DJ bit till 7am in the morning, and you expect me to review this? Still, it is Christmas and the season of goodwill to all HeroPR people everywhere. So, just for you……oh, it's finished. Tuff! I'm off to get me mince pies. Cheers and have a good one!
