| Iona are an English band who play a certain atmospheric - ambient - space styled Celtic art rock. In many ways Iona combine the vocal and symphonic clouds of ENYA with the musicianship and themes of Mike Oldfield. Iona use a vast array of traditional Celtic instrumentation including the Harp, Big Bass Drum, Shakers, Ribbon Crasher Bells, Chimes, Tin Whistles, Flute, Low Whistles, Uilleann pipes, and Whitby Shell Chimes. The end result is quite amazing and layered on with E-Bow, electric and acoustic guitar and the unmistakable vocals of Joanne Hogg, creates some simply mesmerizing musical moments. Robert Fripp (King Crimson) appears on several tracks adding his guitar wizardry and of course 'Frippertronics'. Overall this is a great album and although you may find it filed under Christian rock, Scandinavian rock, or perhaps even "easy listening", ignore the classification and pick it up....... | |||
| Brainticket's debut album is perhaps one of the most psychedelic recordings of all time (and also one I do enjoy). Led by Swiss keyboard wizard Joel Vandroogenbroeck, Brainticket will space you out beyond belief. Cottonwoodhill is loaded with acid laced guitar solos, heavy forboding organ screeches and loads of psychedelic influenced lyrics and vocals. The uninitiated should recognize that the title song Brainticket Part 1 & 2 does have a major repetitive chorus which although I find perfectly psychedelic may trouble others out there. Like all good prog rock, Brainticket explore a vast array of music here and move from funk-like beats to heavy west-coast acid-freaked-out psychedelia. To sum it all up is to simply say that if your into the psychedelia then Brainticket is your long lost grandfather. | |||
| Amazing Blondel's first 3 album highlights are extensively featured on this fully stocked CD compilation. This pseudo-Elizabethan/Classically based acoustic harmonic trio will take you back several centuries into the jesters court and the kings lair. Their music is fresh, positive, romantic and beautiful with a majestic compliment of delicate instrumentation. Songs are acoustic and are supported by acoustic guitar,lute, tabor pipe, harmonium, harpsichord, mellotron, cittern, glockenspiel, flute, piano, double bass to name just a few. Amazing Blondel's greatest strength lies certainly in their use of harmony and at times the hair will stand up on your arms it is so fine. Standout track for me is their 20 min epic track "Fantasia Lindum" which covers some vast musical territory and sounds so very fresh. Their music is relaxed and highly polished and do as we have been instructed. . . "tuck in your velvet trousers into your buccaneer boots, pull on a suede jerkin, light the tallow-lamp, prepare a platter of spiced chicken and pulses, pour copious glasses of mead, pull up a throne to a blazing fire and listen".
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| Canadian bass wizard Alain Caron who may be best known for his fine work with Canadian rock/jazz outfit UZEB has struck gold with this side project. Alain Caron is joined by Jean-Marie Ecay (guitars) and Didier Lockwood (Electric and acoustic Violins) who play some simply incredible jazz inspired music. Fans of Jean Luc Ponty will go crazy for this album as Lockwood's violin resonates with deep soul and conviction throughout. One of the marvels of this album is that although there is not any percussion/drums, it flows so full of rhythm and actually forces the listener to keep his/her own timing. Everytime I listen to this album I catch myself tapping my toes on the floorboards. Caron, Ecay, Lockwood is an intoxicating album which is full of superb bass, guitar and violin soloing which I would recommend to those who don't mind a good jazz-prog fix from time to time. | |||
| Mike Oldfield has been responsible for so many great recordings with The Songs Of Distant Earth representing in my opinion one of his highest achievements. Oldfield creates some pretty lush atmospheres which provides the required mood for his guitar trickery and play on vocal harmonies. This is a very spirtual album actually and contains some simply unbelievable melodies and musical moods for you to get easily lost in. Oldfield's definite guitar sounds accent this album throughout with the touch of a real master. Distant Earth is a highly creative and original album from Oldfield who takes us deep into the depths of space or at least into the depths of our minds. Brilliant album worthy of your ears. | |||
| Early ELOY members Jurgen Rosenthal (also ex-Scorpions) and Detlev Schmidtchen combined talents in 1979 in what I consider simply to be an amazing album all the way through. Rosenthal & Schmidtchen broke ways with Frank Bornemann and ELOY after recording Silent Cries & Mighty Echoes and immediately began writing and recording what they considered more "creative" and "progressive" music. Acid In Wounderland is full of great space atmospheres combined with loads of loop and tape effects, acid like guitar solos, bass trance like grooves and loads of electronic keyboard accents. Without a question this album will take your brain into the wonderful world of deep space. The fine folks at Second Battle have found an additonal 35 minutes of unreleased EGO which includes a wickedly wonderful 20 min epic space journey called Once In Africa. I can not say enough about this album and will recommend this to all lovers of electronic space psychedelia. Buying this album is a better value than going to see another one of those "lovie - dovie" Tom Cruise flicks. | |||
| A superb live album with all the Zappa'ish twists one has come to expect. Zappa is a 'show-man' and live at Filmore's displays the zainy, wacky and thought provoking musical ideas of Mr Zappa. For me this live album (although not long enough) does nicely transport the listener back into the early days of this creative musical genius...even a couple of live tracks from 'Hot Rats' and an old classic featured for the first time "The Mud Shark". | |||
| For those familiar with the 'Lazwellian world of music' will immediately know of "Praxis", an acid-funk band who play awe - inspiring rhythms and grooves in an "Avant=Garde" style. Supported by cast members Buckethead and Brain, Lazwell's Transmutation live re-visits their studio material in 4 epic movements, delivering a real high degree of musical polish and energy. Transmutation live may not appeal to all prog heads out there so be warned. Songs are hard edged carrying a strong industrial feel with quite a bit of DJ "record reverb" (which does get a bit wild for me at times). Clearly the best parts are when the lads are grooving......amazing and a lot of fun. | |||
| Killer acid-head-like psychedelia which would make the perfect sonic companion for your household lava lamp. Brainticket's second release is less electric than their debut album and slighly less psychedelic. Psychonaut is a chilled-out psychedelic gem which must adorn your collection above the mantle piece. Psychonaut is full of warped yet clever music which moves from the soft canvess of "One Morning" to the heavy instrumental psyched rock of Coc'o Mary. Brainticket is brain food and probably deserves to be filed under ones "Stoner Rock" section. Led by keyboard giant Joel Vandroogenbroeck and female vocalist Jane Free who carries of picture perfect west-coast persona making Braintickets second release a "gotta have-it release". Psychonaut will take you on a 30 minute journey into regions of your mind you have never travelled before. This is uniquely enabled through their darkly crafted use of flutes, organs, guitars, wild percussive elements and loads of sound effects. All in all this is a superb psychedelic-progressive rock offering which should appeal to all good music heads out there. | |||
| Without a question one of the finest live recordings from the 90's and what could be better than the combined talents of Robert Fripp and David Sylvian. Damage does a wonderful justice to the magnificient album and tour which accompanied "The First Day". Fripp and Sylvian sound so great together that at times I just can't believe my ears and with the backing of Trey Gunn, Michael Brook and Pat Masteletto this just puts the icing on the ol cake. Damage opens with the delicate and introspective ballad Damage which opens and unfolds the concert with a dark foreboding style….perfect for my friend Mr. Fripp Although songs played are largely from The First Day most are improvised on or altered to give a different feel from their fine studio effort. If you don't have this then you need to open your wallet.
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| Without a question Echolyn are one of my personal all time favorite progressive rock units. Big meaty mood and rhythm changes blended with carefully orchestrated songs and themes. As always vocal harmonies are used throughout and are in clever ways. This first album has become hard to track down as it has been long since deleted with a cassette version being still readily available (minus 3 tracks and some 20 mins of recorded material). What immediately struck me here was the depth of the band in terms of song writing and musical competency. Echolyn's first album still has loads of their jazz-syncopation dashes and bring yet a slighly different feel out than later albums. Brilliant playing throughout and a super groovy band that demands your listening attention.
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| Fantasy's second album which sadly never really saw the light of day is nothing short of a superb recording. Fantasy blend highly melodic themes with great tempo changes and superb musicianship. Fantasy play music inspired with loads of analog keyboards (aka Genesis) and even the odd sprinkle of the ol' mellotron. Vocals are charismatic with lyrics drawing heavily on fantasy-like themes and imagery. Their music is probably best described as somewhere in the middle of the road between Genesis and Yes. It would be a mistake to also review thios album and fail to mention the superb guitar playing throughout, which is much more accentuated than on their debut album. Thanks to the fine folks at Audio Archives for not only doing an excellent job in carefully remastering and repackaging this lost gem but including the 5 bonus tracks (3 old 1970 tracks and 2 demo versions). Beyond The Beyond Plus is a great album and I would recommend this album to the lovers of English 70's prog.
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| Rich in the English neo-prog vein of Jadis and Galahad, Big Big Train delivers highly symphonic and memorable music. Goodbye To The Age Of Steam is a wonderful little recording with some solid guitar, keyboard and drum interplay. In many ways this album reminds very much of Jadis and in fact Steve Christey and Gary Chandler both join the lads adding some brilliance. In fact this album is hosted by a few other friends including Stu Nicholson (Galahad), Martin Orford (IQ) and Sally French. Big Big Train play a very tight and bright rock with gentle passages and packed with solid instrumentation. Solid neo-prog all the way through . | |||
| After having received many E-mails from prog fans insisting I listen to After Crying, I broke down and purchased this quality compilation covering highlights from their career. Without a question this is a highly energetic and highly talented band who play beyond that capability of many. Their song writing is deep, rich and highly original which is encapsulated with the finest of musical talent. One of the most exaggerated differences in their music is their use of instruments which are pure and highly emotive in their feeling. At times After Crying break out into heavy jazz/classical/prog styled jams which covers a wide spectrum of genres which comes as no surprise after reading through the credentials of the members in this band.
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| Keyboard and song writing wizard Par Lindh's Gothic Impressions is an excellent album with a distinct personality. Lindh who is known around the prog circles as a real originator has created some amazing landscapes here supported by some amazing co-musicians (incl Roine Stolt on 1 track). Essentially Gothic Impressions is "Renaissance musical impressionism" at its finest. Lindh's cathedral like keyboard playing and analog synths will transport you back to the turn of the previous century where men lived and died by the sword. Imagery is high here and the music is rich and very pure sounding with solid speaker seperation. One of the things that impressed me here is the deep and pure analog bass sounds he extracts from the instruments which fills your speakers. I have always loved the rich church organ sounds in prog music (aka Wakeman) which at times sounds just so damn perfect......another real solid progressive rock album. | |||
| After far too short a musical history, Trespass were truely one of those bands that got away. Deeply rooted in the Genesis/Marillion and Grobschnitt vein, The Final act is a rock opera with the title track gobbling up 45 minutes of the CD. Trespass wrote some real superb musical passages with great keyboard and vocal work. The lead singer does sound a bit like Peter Gabriel actually at times, but still carries his own charisma. The only bummer here is the poor sound recording of this live performance which would parallel a "good" bootleg for sound quality. I love this CD very much and think Trespass were a great band and the music on this cd is very captivating. | |||
| France's Minimum Vital has certainly its own individuality on the desk of progressive rock. Full of grandeur and beauty, La Source combines all the right elements for me with excellent guitar and keyboard interplay with some nice complex drumming and deep bass playing. To be honest they are highly original and play their own style which I really like a lot. Songs are well written and offer nice mood and tempo swings with great instrumentation. Lyrics are sung in a language all their own (not unlike Magma in approach) which has some real nice sounding phrasing. Overall La Source is a deep and professional album which I find upbeat and a positive feeling album.
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| Excellent symphonic space prog with loads of keyboard soaked instrumental passages and acid laced guitar solos. Vocals are in Hungarian are are quite good with lots of symphonic chants throughout. East generate some real serene melodies and lush landscapes which makes this album easy to fall for. Songs on Huseg seem to run together effortlessly and in fact the whole albums runs very much like a concept album should which this is. East are a highly professional unit who play a very sophisticated and deep styled progressive rock whoch is very imaginative. Fans of good symphonic prog will need to have this album in their collection. | |||
| For those who love a real keyboard workout will love Redjy Emond's "Sphere". With strong musical allusions to Rick Wakeman, Par Lindh and Keith Emerson, Redjy Emond writes a similar highly technical and creative musical journey. "Sphere" is 47 minutes of delicately crafted, cerebral songs which are played with highest of musicianship and emotion. Redjy utilizes a very wide range of digital and analog keyboards to bring forward many different moods and atmospheres. "Sphere" is full of a multitude of tempo changes and offers the listener many magical musical passages. "Sphere" is an exhilerating album which I consider a top notch piece of electronic progressive rock. Highly recommended. | |||
| For those who may not be all that familiar with the Spacemen 3,you are in for a real space trance treat. In many ways, I would consider them the pioneers of 90's ambient electronica. Led by guitarist/keyboardist Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember's (Spectrum & Experimental Audio Research) and guitarist Jason "Spaceman" Pierce's (Spiritualized), they were writing and performing some of the most challenging contemporary music of their time. In my humble opinion Spacemen 3 were the avatar's of a completely new musical era and Dreamweapon may best accentuate this point. Facetiously subtitled "An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music" after the album's stunning 45-minute centerpiece, an extended drone that recalls the early minimalist work of LaMonte Young and Terry Riley, which actually sounds fittingly like an electronic /ambient sitar track. DREAMWEAPON was easily the band's most experimental work and may not appeal to all fans out there. Esentially Spacemen 3's music challenges the very nature of music and progressively attacks the form and structure of music. I love this album a lot and dig the heavy but serene nature of this album. Without a question your mom and dad will hate this music........ | |||
| Full of epic grandeur and romanticism, Gandalf's "Gallery Of Dreams" is a masterpiece. From the first few bars of music, you will be moved in ways that can only be described by simply listening. What clearly makes this a special album is the joint collaboration with Steve Hackett. "Gallery of Dreams" contains lots of "Hackett'isms" and works unbelievably well with the symphonic touches that typifies Gandalf's work. With accents of flutes, woodwinds and wind chimes, Gandalf creates a very medieval/Renaissance era'ish atmospheres and emotions. This album has been on my desert island list for some time now. Although almost entirely instrumental, a young Tracy Hitchings also is featured on the title track which tastefully accents the album | |||
| Fan of early 70's acid prog aka Gravy Train will drool over Coventry's Indian Summer. This album is loaded will lots of driving rhythms and "psychy" musical passages with emphasis on keyboards and guitars. Vocals (Bob Jackson) are quite good and have a certain wildness about them which either you will love or hate. Although fairly heavy musically speaking , Indian Summer do resonate with a cetain Cantebury leanings actually and at times remind me of a heavier version of Caravan. Songs are well written and do carry a certain dark atmosphere to them which I do enjoy. The fine folks at Repertoire have done a wonderful job of enhancing the recording and speaker seperation is actually quite good. Most importantly, Indian Summer have a very original and professional sound quality to their music and they were clearly one of the better bands who had far too short an existence. This is one of those albums which once you get into, you will cherish fondly forever...full of lots of razzle & dazzle.
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| Triade 's La Storia di Sabazio is often an overlooked gem from the golden age of Italian progressive rock bands. Triade were a highly talented 3 piece ensemble who some have tried to compare to ELP's style ( Although some similarities may exist, I do not subscribe really to this opinion). This album contains some solid instrument usage ranging from cello to grand piano and without a question the heavy use of analog keyboards. Originally released in 1973 on the now highly collectible Derby record label, Si Wan have done a wonderful transfer onto CD. In my opinion Triade carries the musical influences of Italian greats RDM and PFM in many ways , especially the music featured on side two. If you love piano and analog keyboard driven Italian prog then La Storia di Sabazio is for you. Speaker separation is quite good and the reproduction from CD is superb…… | |||
