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Progarchives: GENTLE GIANT Acquiring The Taste (Eclectic Prog, 1971)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:02:49 +0100

Review by AtomicCrimsonRush — Expanding the frontiers of contemporary popular music.

Gentle Giant are into full experimental adventurous mode with their second album "Acquiring
the Taste" and it is a pleasurable journey for any prog fan. The music is chaotically weird and
has a slice of humour that is absurdly infectious. The fast tempo xylophone tinkling and horns
battle royale on 'The House, The Street, The Room' is a case in point, and even more
astounding is how it suddenly launches into a blazing wah-wah lead guitar solo and an ominous
time sig with bass, keyboards and drums. This builds into a crescendo, a key change and a
new verse. The vocals throughout the album are first class from Derek Shulman. The song
goes back to fiddle, trumpet, xylophone and dissonant avant 12 string acoustic and plink plonk
plucking at the end on clavichord and celeste.

The liner notes spell it out; "it is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music
at the risk of being very unpopular. We have recorded each composition with the one thought ?
that it should be unique, adventurous and fascinating. It has taken every shred of our
combined musical and technical knowledge to achieve this." And furthermore, "we have
abandoned all preconceived thoughts on blatant commercialism." The adventurous approach
to this music is a trademark of GG who would be known for their technical complexity and
whimsical style. One never knows where the music will go next and it is a wild ride when the
Giant are firing on all 4 cylinders. There is much to recommend and it continues non stop on
this classic album.

'Pantagruel's Nativity' is one of the greatest GG songs and opens the album in a blaze of glory.
The rhythmic changes and the melodies are killer. 'Edge Of Twilight' features some swishing
harpsichord that pans from left to right speaker casuing vertiginous effects. It features a terrific
medial section with sporadic kettle drum pounding and timpani with snare, as a xylophone
plunks a series of notes. Kerry plays moody Mellotron and Moog synth.

'Wreck' is a fun ditty with sea faring style where Shulman sings a line which is responded with
"heyeheh hold on". It is reminiscent of sea shanties like 'Blow the Man Down'. 'The Moon Is
Down' begins with pastoral woodwind and then beautiful harmonies sung in an odd meter. This
one has a nice bassline from Ray and his brother is fabulous on tenor saxophone. The time sig
changes cadence and the harpsichord and keyboard join to create some awesome melodies.
The sax solo is jazz fusion style and very welcome as is the plinking nimble fingering of guitar.

'Black Cat' is very memorable and ultra bluesy augmented by Minnear's quiet vocal tones.
There are many layers of music here such as violin, guitars, claves and percussion. The violins
give the impression of a cat sneaking around the halls looking for its prey. The rattle
percussion and strings are effective and atmospheric. There is even the use of a donkey's
jawbone according to the liner notes. The multi layered harmonies are mesmirising and typical
of how Gentle Giant would continue on subsequent albums.

'Plain Truth' rocks along well with guitar and violin slugging it out. There is a great riff in 6/8 and
some terrific violin with wah-wah guitar. The sigs are all over the place and then it settles into
quiet guitars breaking until bass comes in and some hi hat percussion work, followed by wah-
wah trilling on violin strings, then a stronger beat flows into the main motif and riff.

Every track is a genuine progressive musical excursion of unmitigated virtuosity, and the Giant
are at their best here. They would continue in this vein on subsequent albums and produce
some of the best albums of the 70s. This is really where it all started for the ingenius Gentle
Giant and many did indeed acquire the taste.

Progarchives: TOYZ Remember (Progressive Metal, 1998)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:58:14 +0100

Review by b_olariu — Toyz is a forgotten and totaly unknow progressive metal band from Holland who release only one album in 1998 named Remember. Quite great progressive metal with plenty of memorable moments, athmospheric keyboards melted with guitar parts. I don't know very much about this band only what I've red during my digital download from CD baby, where is available at very low price, only in digital format is available. Fans of the genre must check this band because worth it, belive me. Elaborated guitar parts, very well played wuth keyboards helping through out giving a very enjoyble atmosphere. Great cover art. 4stars easy, pleasent most of the time with inventive passages. They disbanded in 2002 and gone into oblivion.

Progarchives: JEAN-LUC PONTY Jean-Luc Ponty: Live (Jazz Rock/Fusion, 1979)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:44:21 +0100

Review by moodyxadi — This great live album was my first contact with Ponty & fusion at all. A chap in college in 1993
gave this LP to me because he "had all this music in their original versions". Well, thanx a lot,
Henrique, wherever you are! This was my first step outside the rigid boundaries I'd constructed
to myself, constraining me in the "pure" prog rock and heavy metal worlds. What a fool we are
at the 19's!

This collection abridges a short best-of from his albums on Atlantic Records (his best phase
and band IMO). So we have music from Aurora till the then recent Cosmic Messenger. It's a
real threat to all jazz-rock aficcionados and a wonderful introduction to the fusion world, since
there's a great dose of rock (or prog rock if you want) in these recordings.

The only flaw of this brilliant album is its shortness. For those who wants to explore what was a
Ponty concert in the late 70's I recommend the recording made by the great Lampinski from his
1979 tour (search it and you will find). That is a 5-stars piece; this one is a 4.5 stars.

Progarchives: CRUZ D MALTA Cruz D Malta (Progressive Metal, 2011)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:43:28 +0100

Review by b_olariu — Cruz D Malta is a young and talentated progressive metal band from Brazil who recently release
theiur first opus selftitled. Well I was pleasent surprised what I've heared here, instrumental
progressive metal with great musicianship, good passgaes and definetly a winner to my ears. The
album is long over 75 min , maybe little to long, but is not a problem after all, because each piece
is well constructed, with great interludes between musicians, the album is varied, from mellow
passages to more uptempo, Cruz D Malta always done a good job. Besides couple of pieces who are more
mellow but very good like Renancer, the rest of the tracks are a cascades of riffs and solos, the
guitar player being a very good one for sure, the examples are the longest piece of the album
Instinto Animal and to me the best , very well performed with some great arrangements, progressive
metal like shoud sound this style. So, overall a great debute that will please most of the
progressivemetal fans, those who are more into Dream Theater (Train of thought era). To me is quite
similar with another brazilian progressive metal band named Di Lallo & Band who released couple of
years before Dream Interpretation. I will give 3.5 rounded to 4 this time, a quite great dubute for
this talentated band.

Progarchives: GENTLE GIANT Giant For A Day (Eclectic Prog, 1978)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:21:55 +0100

Review by AtomicCrimsonRush — And the Giant came crashing down

I just got through this again for this review and it was a weary slog. This one is up there with
"Love Beach" as the biggest sell out of a prog band in history. The music is accessible, the
voices are clear and bright, the music is three chord precision but this is an appalling waste of
talent. This album is so uninspired it is almost beyond reason. There are major risks taken with
this one and GG are obviously trying to fit into the new wave music of 1978 when prog was
snubbed but they are sapped of all their power and become insipid as an AOR band. They
were never meant to play this type of sap so without the complexities, the concepts and
sprawling instrumental breaks, there is nothing left. This imposter band going by the name of
Gentle Giant play some of the sappiest most boring repetitive drivel I have ever heard.
I acquired this album as a double feature with "The Missing Piece" and that album certainly did
have some great moments and really once that album is over I rip the CD out so that I don't
have to be inundated with any of "Giant for a Day". You gotta love the original packaging with
that corny Giant mask! Did anyone cut up their album cover and wear that around the place?
Madness! Attacking this album is like turning a cannon upon a budgie cage; you can't miss. Nothing on this
is redeemeable, and believe me I tried to find something. Let's look at some of these tracks,
heaven help us!

'Words From The Wise' is over harmonised and sounds like Little River Band meets Petra,
except those bands have better songs than what is offered here. 'Thank You' is pop pap so
boring it is unsettling. 'Giant For A Day' is perhaps the best track and is AOR but I liked some of
the guitar riffs though I cant remember a single note. 'Spooky Boogie' should have been good
as an instrumental but is really silly Halloween themed nonsense with a forgettable melody.
John Weather's only solo composition 'Friends' is acoustic humdrum compost filler, and the last
track 'Rock Climber' makes me want to throw rocks at the CD player to put this thing out of its
misery.

The liner notes are the best thing about this; "ironically keyboard player Kerry Minnear's 'It's
Only Goodbye' was written specifically as a single, but was never released as such." And the
album "failed to elicit much enthusiasm when it was released", and stating the bleeding obvious,
it "left long term fans dissatisfied." But best of all and most delusional I quote "the album's
disappointing sales in no way reflect a lack of quality." I beg to differ because after hearing all
the other excellent GG albums this is an absolute disaster and one to avoid unless you desire a
rather expensive coffee coaster.

Progarchives: MORGAN Nova Solis (Symphonic Prog, 1972)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:14:41 +0100

Review by 1967/ 1976 — The only thing that strikes me as odd is that Morgan has had to come to Italy to record (and
published) this album. Why, then, as too many bands (not just between RCA's bands) has disappeared as a
band. Considering the high quality of music presented can only regret that this band has
produced one album and has recorded a second album (released posthumously). Morgan
was a band formed by great musicians, all with previous experience in famous bands (but
today interesting for the presence of vocalist Tim Staffel, former Smile [pre Queen]).

The music is good, a mix between ELP, King Crimson, Yes but it is strange As there are
echoes of Italian bands of the period, perhaps because many of Italian bands were trying to
copy English andAmerican music (not that this is a fault, after all). (Probably the echo of Italian
Prog is due to certain sounds of synths, because programmed with Italian programmers). In
all these compositions like "War Games" or "Alone", shine a bright light. Although the
production is a little flat (defect typical of Italian productions of the period) and it sounds so
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso I can say that "Nova Solis" is an album of a band that deserved to
go to the Olympus of the great bands of the 70's. Also because the suite "Nova Solis" it
sounds very Yes in some parts and Greenslade in others, as well as incorporating elements of
King Crimson, ELP, and other similar bands, to the point that it could be said to see in it a very personal
style.

Although "Nova Solis" is an album of a minor success band, is an excellent album, that can
still be good today and, indeed, to convey the same emotions as that emitted in 1972.

Progarchives: GENTLE GIANT The Missing Piece (Eclectic Prog, 1977)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:55:41 +0100

Review by AtomicCrimsonRush — Gentle Giant, missing in action...

Gentle Giant's "The Missing Piece" is a transitional album made during 1977 as disco was
beginning to be king and punk was alive and spitting. The album I have came with the dismal
followup "Giant For a Day" and in comparison to that, this album is very good. However, gone are
the technical coimplexities of the Giant only to be replaced with very simple three chord wonder
melodic rock. I like the way it starts with its raucous and rather catchy 'Two Weeks in Spain', the
Shulman brothers sound great and this one is infectious with some weird musicianship. It then
goes steadily downhill with 'I'm Turning Around', a failed attempt at a ballad single, that did not
trouble the top of the charts either side of the Atlantic. 'Betcha Thought we couldn't do it' is
mediocre quasi-punk as is 'Who do you think you are?' and the nauseating hicksville of 'Mountain
Time'. It picks up a bit with a more progressive approach with 'Memories of Old Days' that has a
longer running time and even effects of children thrown in. The album even ends on something
proggy with 'For Nobody' but this is rather a lacklustre album.

The liner notes attempt to explain or justify this mediocrity from a band we have come to admire
over the years for their virtuoso complexity in prog. Ray Shulman explains; "it was a funny period
of time; we were suddenly searching for an identity, what we ought to be, where we were going to
fit in. There was a degree of pressure to make a more commercial album, and to be honest I can't
even remember whether it was self-generated or from the outside; in any case, we'd always tried
to avoid repeating ourselves, we were always looking for something new to do." The result is this
rather poor effort and it certainly was the beginning of disaster for the group that would continue
to decline on the ensuing GG catalogue.

Progarchives: RODRIGO SAN MARTIN Eyes (Crossover Prog, 2012)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:54:09 +0100

Review by octopus-4 — This album is a significant improvement respect to the already very good "There's No Way
Out" specially thanks to the effort of Ludmila Clemente at drums and Fernando Refay at
synths.
The first nice thin is that the album is logically split into two parts of about 20 minutes each,
like it was a vinyl. So we have an "Eyes Wide Open" (this is what "Con Los Ojos Abiertos"
means) side and an "Eyes closed" one.

Starting with the "Open" side, it's a side long track (it's nice speaking of it like a vinyl) made
of seven distinct parts with no gaps and with a little of neo-prog influence. The song
features the excellent vocals of Ludmila and has some very rocking moments. Also the
transitions are very well done. In particular the transition between part two and part three
that's very heavy. A piece of music that can be considered progressive metal. Part 4 with the
radio voices below a fretless bass starts very floydian, with the vocalists reminding of Mostly
Autumn and Rodrigo's clean bluesy guitar like Clapton in Pros and Cons of Hitch-Hiking,
just before a very good solo in a prog metal style. However all the seven parts have their
good moments and in the complex this is one of the best long tracks that I've heard recently.
For its structure and the passages between metal and melodic moments I think it can be
compared to some parts of Ayreon's The Human Equation, also because Ludmila's voice is
not too dissimilar than that of Heather Findlay.

The "Wide Shut side" starts with a melodic piano intro. "The Mask" is another song in 3
parts. It has a structure similar to the epic but there's a lot of piano and classical influences.
The second part is an instrumental that reminds to Renaissance until guitar and keyboards
enter and change it drastically. Here on Part two the keyboards deserve a mention as the
solo reminds to Vitalij Kuprij for the speed and the sound, but there's also an excellent
guitar riff immediately after, followed by part 3 which features acoustic guitar and voice. Fans
of Mostly Autumn will surely like it.

Now some prog metal. The link that Rodrigo has sent me contains this song in two
versions: with English lyrics (Destroy The Signal) and Spanish (Destruye la Señal). The
song alternates very heavy instrumental riffs and very melodic singing. A short powerful rock
song for all the prog metal fans.

"Amanecer (Dawn)" has a very good "retro" taste. It's a song that if it wasn't for the "modern"
sounds and the excellent production could come directly from the 70s. Heavy and melodic
on which I hear echoes of YES, Renaissance, and 70s in general.

The minute and half of "Interludio" is a short guitar instrumental on which Rodrigo shows
his guitar skill. Listening to it and to its jazzy sequence of chords I think To Pat Metheny and
to Phil Sheeran, until guitar and organ start the last song of the album with an intro that
could stay on an Uriah Heep album. "Ahora (Now)" has English lyrics despite the Spanish
title. It's another melodic rock song with very rocking breaks and pauses. Again, Uriah Heep
is the reference that comes to my mind. It's a very good closer.

It's a very good album on which the level of all the songs is constant. There are no weak
moments and in its genre together with the last Yesterday's album, is the best thing that I've
listened to in the last months.

Strongly suggested to anybody who loves any of the artists that I've mentioned. Rodrigo San
Martin is a young artist already at his third full length album. While his second effort was
promising, this album confirms all the expectations. Check it out.

Progarchives: DREAM THEATER Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (Progressive Metal, 2002)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:10:31 +0100

Review by Mack888 — Even before you reach the Six Degrees suite, the band are very brave with the things they
cover; dying, alchoholism, stem cell research, a lack of or losing faith. Strong stuff indeed,
but they're not forced upon you. The lyrics are strong but the music backs it up very well. The
theme within the album seems to be things that people are touched or affected by, or things
people come across in their lifetime. It's all very brave stuff indeed as more often than not
when one attempts to cover such topics, they embarrass themselves.

Many criticise DT for cliched lyrics and that's fair enough, but one of my favourite things
about prog is the concepts within albums and sometimes you just gotta use some cliches.
That said, LaBrie is on top form throughout the album, his singing expressive. You feel he's
trapped in "The Glass Prison", the lyrics are given with punch and you can hear the despair
in his voice. on the flip side however, you hear the sadness in "Disappear". The sadness
not just coming from the music or lyrics but from the way he sings the lyrics, you do wonder
just how personal the song is to him.
Musically, there are no faults. It's typical Dream Theater, never missing a beat, never
missing a note, technical perfection. You're reminded somewhat of Crimsons "The Talking
Drum" upon the introduction of "The Great Debate", one of the strongest tracks on the first
part of the album. An epic covering the debate over stem cell research and its correctness.
Littered with snippets of media coverage etc, it really does make you think to yourself where
you stand within the debate itself. Strong lyrics and fantastic delivery from James, as well as
stellar work from the rest of the band, look out for the chorus and the fantastic drum work on
the intro and outro.
As mentioned, the album in its entriety features impeccable work from the band musically
and lyrically, however the strongest tracks are "The Glass Prison", with its fast pace and
heavy use of differing time signatures, brick hard lyrics and at times crushing guitar work.
"The Great Debate", for reasons already mentioned, "Disappear", a song which is delivered
so brilliantly it can be almost heartbreaking to listen to, and will move you on every listen.
And finally the Six Degrees suite.

A bombastic production is found within the SDoIT suite, which brings in an orchestra, and a
concept within itself. Had this been released on its own it would still have been worth
purchasing the album. Covering six different psychological disorders, (of which there is still
some debate over exactly what disorders they are), it is a journey. Lyrically it's solid as a
rock, absolutely solid. Bipolar is covered in the section "About to Crash", and exceptionally
so, with uplifting music but opposite lyrics. This technique is also used in the section
"Solitary Shell", covering Autism/Aspergers. A very uplifting progression, not quite matched
by the serious lyrics.

When an album moves you it's difficult to describe in words. You can describe how terrific
an album is when it's really good, and you can slam an album that's awful, but when it hits
somewhere within you, it's hard to explain. This is what this album does. I'm not a metal fan
at all, this is the closest I get to metal. It doesn't even matter what you listen to, this album
should be listened to, end of. Without a doubt an album that should be in among any prog-
heads collection.

In terms of a rating, I'd rate it 93%, kept from perfection only by the slightly weaker (but still
very good) "Blind Faith", which musically sounds somewhat out of place with the rest of the
music on the album.

Progarchives: IAN GILLAN BAND Clear Air Turbulence (Jazz Rock/Fusion, 1977)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:40:31 +0100

Review by tszirmay — Wonder where I was with this one! I guess it had more to do with the fear of some
Whitesnake clone creeping in through the Deep Purple door and never gave this a proper
chance at all. It turns out that the content of this remarkable album lies in conspiring
against the obvious and search out new musical horizons , strangely for Ian the Howler he
opted for a jazz-rock format , more like Colosseum II than anything else .He chose to
surround himself with some powerful second tier musical talents such as the devilish
bass-meister and party-monster John Gustafson (ex-Quartermass and Roxy Music, among
many others) , the delectable guitarist Ray Fenwick who crossed paths with Traffic cop
Steve Winwood in Spencer Davis Group and Elf's Mark Nauseef who never quite showed
this much yank flexible polyrythm on the Dio band's albums. The tunes are fringe
progressive rock due to unknown Colin Towns keyboard and flute presence.

While the title track rolls along like a fizzling livewire , spewing out frizzy axe splashes and
fussy singing by the Montreux man , welded together by some solid bass and drum work,
the sloppy "Five Moons" is just an excuse for a savage sax blowout from Phil
Kersie . "Money Lender" is more like Spooky Tooth-like in structure, Ian screeching
(Goodness is he ever good at that, like only he can), funky clavinet punching through the
brass backdrop, trumpets ablaze. The results are satisfying only because the track has
been fleshed out by some zany soloing. "Over the Hill" stretches out further the basics, a
fine Fenwick "Look, I can play like Carlos Santana" series of licks and then of course, you
have Gillan "Look, I can shriek like Carlos Santana can play guitar", then toss in a slippery
synth solo from the urbane Mister Towns (oooo, nasty pun!), some impromptu drum solo
riffing from the Yank as well as some silly bass swirls and abrasive guitar ramblings that
ultimately explode into a maddening solo. And what do you get? A cool song. Darn, I
mentioned the Latino guitar phenomenon and ........TADDAAH on "Goodhand Liza", the band
proposes something akin to the Journey debut album, when Gregg Rollie was still in
charge and still carrying the Santana aroma with him , building a brash, spicy and
polyrhythmic stew led by Gustafson's hectic bass . "Angel Marchenio" has a dreamy, funky
tempo that provides a fine platform for a good story (his blood brothership with a Spanish
gypsy dancer) and another thoroughly enjoyable instrumental expansion. I am glad that I
finally got this and also ashamed it took me so long to get it.

Fully concur with the illustrious signora Raff, the title cut and Over the Hill are superb slices
of just plain good music. But the rest is high quality funky music nevertheless.

Oh, one of the weirdest cover artworks ever which explains my >

4 Jewish bumblebee spaceships

Progarchives: GENESIS The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Symphonic Prog, 1974)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:00:09 +0100

Review by geneyesontle — Hands down the best concept album of all time.

Genesis were at the peak of themselves lyrically and musically at the Peter Gabriel era. And this
album shows it perfectly. This album tells the story of Raël, a Puerto-Rican who lives in New York.

Some think that this album is very pretencious. And this was their most elaborate record ever made. It
wasn't for everybody. Some fans didn't understood the story.

But I think that is their best record ever made.

I also think that Peter Gabriel is a genius. He is one of the best lyricists of all time and he puts so
much emotion in his voice. But bad news struck when he left the band. He was the spirit of Genesis.
There was still Steve Hackett but when he also left Genesis, the band gone completely wrong. It was
the "Turn it on, Turn it on Again" years.

Progarchives: THE SOFT MACHINE Fourth (Canterbury Scene, 1971)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:04:40 +0100

Review by JackFloyd — While Third is inventive and in constant combustion, Fourth is barren, cold and desolate. It's
almost as if the previous record was an atomic bomb and this is the aftermath of the explosion, and,
in a sense, it is. By this time, every member was tired of the band and virtually hating each other,
tension was specially high between Robert and the rest, isolating him and eventually leading to his
exit in August 1971. Fourth reflects all of this and it also reflects the spirit of a band that
isn't really sure of what next step to take and how to get away from the shadows of their
masterpiece, and yet, this is entirelly different from Third.
Not quite. At least not mostly: so they basically carry on in the direction they began with Third or
the state of mind, that is, to gradually move deeper into the world of jazz-rock, only this time
staying more to the jazz side of the equation; in fact, there are parts here that are almost
exclusively jazz. And that's about it.
The music on Fourth (apart from "Teeth" which, in spite of several seemingly improvised parts, is
actually carefully written right to the bone) is freer and almost "stream of consciousness" in some
points, basically glacial, allowing itself to move to unnexpected directions even when underpinned
by a riff, but sometimes there are no riffs at all. Another thing that sets it apart from it's
predecessor, and just about every other Soft Machine record, is the volume of this music: it is not
intentionally mixed low or suffering from a bad transfer of a master tape, the music is played that
way, in this laid back style and low tone, even "Fletcher's Blemish" with all of it's dissonance is
actually very quiet. This overall quietness gives Fourth a liquid quality, a sense that things may
actually float away even when the music is quite dense.
The mix is crystal clear and every single instrument, from Roy Babbington's double bass to Mark
Charig's cornet, can be heard perfectly, with the sole exception of Wyatt's drumming. Sure, Wyatt's
skin pounding has always been about atmosphere, a map, if you will, where the others can draw their
lines while being given support, but on Fourth, Wyatt's so lost in the mix that sometimes it sounds
he has no bass drum at all or is playing percussion instead. On "Teeth", for example, in the last
sections, where he is weaving a storm behind Ratledge's fuzz organ riffage and the wall of brass, he
is only barely audible.
When Fourth's "Teeth" opens with a double bass you know things are going to be different, even in
it's complexity, this is a jazz tune, and a great accomplishment at that. It is a good tune, even if
the several changes and sections lose some of it's cohesiveness.
But my favourite tune on Fourth is most certainly "Kings And Queens", which is actually very
reminiscent of "Noisette" from Third, with an equally simple but effective bassline and quiet and
elegant atmosphere, no wonder Hopper wrote it. It is a beautiful tune all the way, but it gets even
better near the end when Hopper and Wyatt slowly dissolve the rhythm, Ratledge's delicate Wurlitzer
piano gets more prominent and Dean stops playing, giving way for Charig and Evans to do their magic
with their respective cornet and trombone.
Even though I normally enjoy dissonant stuff, I must confess I'm not fond of "Fletcher's Blemish",
it lasts too long without any cohesive hook and literally gets on my nerves. Elton Dean was a lover
of free jazz and I really respect his tastes as well as his playing and his right to compose, but
"Bone" from Fifth really shows how he could make fine free jazz with much lesser notes.
"Virtually" is, I must say, a fitting end for the album, another atmospheric and elegant tune from
Hugh Hopper which I enjoy quite a lot, actually. The first two parts are my favourites as they
manage to make a very good epilogue of Fourth as a whole and showcase everybody's talent and styles.
The other two parts aren't bad either, the third containing some angry tones from Hopper's fuzz bass
over Ratledge's Lowrey organ chords while the fourth is mildly experimental and, in my opinion, a
good way to close the whole experience.
Fourth is an anomaly in Soft Machine's history, but I'm fond of it anyway, yet, some of it is a bit
too much and, when put close to their previous three, it just hopelessly fades, therefore, I cannot
give it more than 3 stars.

Progarchives: RUSH Hold Your Fire (Heavy Prog, 1987)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:46:25 +0100

Review by 7headedchicken — Rush continued to move forward in developing both their sound and songwriting with 1987's
Hold Your Fire, the peak of their forray into synth enhanced heavy prog pop/rock, or whatever
you may choose to call the highly technical, emotional, and intelligent music they had been
making with the last several albums. There are even more layers of even faster moving
keyboards than on Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows, the drums are more
electronically enhanced than before, and Alex Lifeson's ability to hang in there through all of
the computerized additions with great wrenching, expressive solos is even stronger than
before. Neil Peart continues to grow as a lyricist, taking his already profound philosophical
approach to a new level, with every song having a very socially important subject matter that
he's taken on deftly, with many, many great lines that are sure to get you and I thinking. The
songs are packed with new musical ideas, and Geddy Lee has brought us some highly
listenable and intriguing bass parts, especially in the chorus of "Force Ten", and in the intro
to "Open Secrets." He's also using a wider pallete of keyboard sounds from the broad,
majestic synth pad chords that open "Mission", to the oriental flute sound that graces "Tai
Shan", to the sparkling decorative high-pithced synths that augment the arrangements
throughout the album. There are many other noteworthy moments, like the humanist lyrics
for "Lock and Key", and a generous helping of great melodies sung powerfully and
expressively by Lee, including the truly beautiful harmonies between him and Aimee Mann on
Time Stand Still. Many of the songs are more straighforwardly written than previously, but not
necessarily simpler, and the band is playing very virtuostically throughout. When listening to
Hold Your Fire all the way through, I'm tempted to say it's the best of their 80's output, but also
always get the feeling there are a couple songs that weigh down some of the other ones and
that it may have been just a little bit stronger if it would have been released as one of their 8
song albums, although I can never decide which two would have been better left out, as they're
all great songs. I believe I once felt the same way about Genesis' ...And Then There Were
Three... at one time, and eventually got over it, so let's go with 5 stars for this one as well,
instead of that 4.5 stars I was thinking about that just didn't feel right.

Progarchives: TWIN AGE Month Of The Year (Neo-Prog, 1996)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:36:00 +0100

Review by Warthur — Twin Age play a style of neo-prog which to my ears sounds closely related to early IQ - heavily
influenced by Genesis, with a guitarist who is able to do a nigh-eerie Steve Hackett
impersonation and a keyboardist who is able to masterfully evoke the sounds of classic 70s
synthesisers; as with IQ, their music tends towards the darker and more mysterious ends of
the Genesis sound, and like IQ they are at their best when they get into a long instrumental
section in which the guitar and keyboards can play off against each other. Whilst I can't say
their vocalist is up at the level of Peter Nicholls, I think on the whole they've produced a very
credible album here and most neo-prog fans will greatly enjoy it - IQ fans in particular.

Progarchives: KLAUS SCHULZE Timewind (Progressive Electronic, 1975)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:57:50 +0100

Review by EatThatPhonebook — 6/10

"Timewind" is a decent midway album between the two golden Schulze periods.

Klaus Schulze's fifth album distances itself quite a bit from the musician's previous album,
the abstract 'Picture Music', and goes towards a direction similar to the one early Tangerine
Dream were going for.

Space once again is put aside on 'Timewind': the cold synthesizers, the fragile layers of the
sound and especially the strong, yet atmospheric synth leads that linger for whole pieces,
give a strange, primordial feeling, as the listener was transported into the beginnings of time
and space. It's a somewhat dragging piece of work, where, as mentioned, the synth leads
are for the most part remaining intact while around them Schulze throws in quirky sound
effects or actual melodies. It has been so for other albums of the musician, like for 'Irrlicht'
and 'Cyborg', although it wasn't as obvious as it is here. Pink-era Tangerine Dream
influences are also noticeable, however, Schulze's style despite having the same roots as
the band's, was always able to pull off a style completely different from theirs.

If 'Picture Music' is the ultimate abstract Schulze album, and 'Cyborg' at the time was the
ultimate cosmic Schulze album (or 'Irrlicht'), 'Timewind' stands right in between: such an
album could have been the most important one by far of the musician, as it resumed all of his
previous works, however, despite being dragging in it's nature, fails at times to leave a
strong impact, as 'Picture Music' did. The two tracks, one per each LP side, are very long,
and require attentive and dedicated listening and it gets hard to keep such a concentration,
and if one just relaxes to the music without paying that much attention to the details, he'll be
missing most of the things going on. It's a rigidly complex album that alludes to more
simplicity.

The two long tracks that shape 'Timewind' are both about half a half hour long, the first one
being 'Bayreuth's Return', a slow, but somewhat hypnotic piece, and the second track
'Wanhfried 1883', even slower and more difficult to get into. Both of them aren't always as
entertaining and effective as they should be, leaving a mark of disappointment after this hour
long electronic meditation.

'Timewind' has some shiny moments here and there in both the tracks featured, however, as
a whole neither of them can be exactly grab you from beginning to end, making it somewhat
frustrating for the listener. Then again, 'Timewind' should be respected as a decent midway
album for Klaus Schulze, who will accomplish his most grandiose albums after this LP.

Progarchives: DEVIN TOWNSEND Ocean Machine: Biomech (Experimental/Post Metal, 1997)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:19:14 +0100

Review by Warthur — Biomech was originally credited to Ocean Machine, a moniker for Devin Townsend's solo
projects before he just applied his own name to them. Whatever name is applied to it, it's an
intriguing brand of metal which unlike many prog metal releases focuses not on references to
prog bands of the past but rather concentrates on presenting this light, shimmering wall of
guitar which reminds me at points of the work of shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine.
Personally, I find the album gets a bit wearing after the first few minutes and lacks the variation
or wit of later works by Townsend, but it's an interesting enough listen and by no means an
embarrassing start to a solo career.

Progarchives: 6LA8 The Stereotypes of Tomorrow (Progressive Electronic, 2011)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:08:49 +0100

Review by SolarLuna96 — It won't matter, trust me

You know that feeling when it's just before midnight, and you're really tired, yet everything
around you seems so vividly beautiful? Although I detest this cliche myself, I would think that
the word beautiful fits this music perfectly. The music made by 6LA8 could best be described
as experimental ambient post-rock. This album, however, has far more electronic elements
and not as many traces of post rock. Now, on to the music.

To listen to this music, I would suggest going into a completely dark room, and turn on one
very small light. Turn the music on, and focus on this small light, and let the music take you
away, because although the music is quiet and minimalist in nature, its full attention is
required for one of the most rewarding experiences you will have in music. This is the kind of
music for when the party is just ending, you're going home, and it's already dark outside.
Really dark. In fact, I think that I would call this nocturnal music, because it can have it best
effect on the listener at night. Yet, in this darkness, the stars shine so bright, and form a blanket
across the sky, eliminating that lonely feeling, because even though no people surround you,
you know that something is there, protecting and comforting you. I feel that the music has this
effect, because although there are no real lyrics (however, there are spoken samples), the
listener can feel a presence.

The first song is very post-rocky in nature and begins with a guitar line that repeats over and
over to become part of the structure of the opening. Electronic instruments slowly build up
behind this, and the song becomes full blown and a recorded voice is added in. Once the
song reaches its peak, it dies down ad slowly makes its exit. If I were to use the metaphor I
explained earlier, this would be the party (or the end of it), and the outro would perhaps serve
as the beginning of a journey home.

Karachi Nights takes you across electronic soundscapes, making twists and turns into jazz
and again, post rock. It is very energetic in nature, yet also quite tame and it seems to be
somewhat of a jam.

An Honest Man's Memoirs is slower with synths and the guitar in the background letting the
spoken word guide the music, which works very well and is done through many of 6LA8's
songs.

Coffee Break's title describes the song very well, as it is a short interlude from the 10+ minute
songs bookending it. It is a nice time to breathe and not focus on the music as much as your
energy.

Dance to Forget is my favorite song off of this album. It begins slowly with a trance-like feel,
and then a robotic voice begins to speak. I believe that 6LA8 chose to use a robot was for
irony, since the robot is conveying much emotion. While the narrator is expressing himself, the
music builds, and there are some dubstep-esque sounds thrown in. After the narrator finishes,
a female voice repeats a few lines for the rest of the song, and it builds up in such a way that it
is almost magical.

Morphine Candy, Anyone? is a another "break" track that, in my opinion, does not really do
much. It begins by building tension, which keeps the listener listening, yet it just doesn't go
anywhere. I wouldn't say this is bad though, just not as great as the other songs.

We're Floating... Not Swimming is what I would call a very successful interlude. It begins slow
and calmly, yet the sound keeps on building, and at one point keyboards start to move in the
same way water does when you pour it over wax. Overall, this song is very relaxing and
rewarding.

Now, I could go into detail about the rest of the songs myself, or I could let you hear them for
yourself. You can keep your Thick as a Brick and your Close to the Edge, because this album
is just wonderful and enjoyable for anyone who is open-minded enough to listen. Time for
your journey to begin, but are you ready?

Progarchives: PENDRAGON Live In Krakow 1996 (Neo-Prog, 1997)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:03:26 +0100

Review by Warthur — Recorded before a very receptive audience in Poland - where Pendragon are several orders of
magnitude more popular than they are in their home country! - Live In Krakow 1996 is one of
my favourite Pendragon live albums. Part of this is because it presents what I consider to be
definitive renditions of just about all of The Masquerade Overture aside from the disposable
intro track and the brief and rather forgettable interlude of The Pursuit of Excellence. As well as
trimming back those two bits of gristle from the album, the versions here also spark with
energy and rock out a bit more than the ones on the studio album, which I felt suffered from a
slightly sterile and pop-leaning production.

The fact that the album also includes two well-chosen snippets from The World and an
absolutely scorching version of Leviathan from The Jewel - which blows the original studio
version out of the water - is the cherry on the top. This one is so good it's actually displaced The
Masquerade Overture in my collection, and it's by far Pendragon's best live album of the 1990s
- and indeed of their career to that point.

Progarchives: TRIUMVIRAT Pompeii (Symphonic Prog, 1977)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:41:17 +0100

Review by presdoug — When former Triumvirat musician-singer-songwriter Helmut Koellen died on May 3rd,
1977, Triumvirat as it existed had been toying with the idea of doing a concept album based on the
disaster in Pompeii, Italy. Overcome by grief and loss at losing such a beloved figure as Koellen,
Jurgen Fritz and others decided to turn their feelings into positive, creative action, and the
result was the Triumvirat album "Pompeii". If there was ever an album that qualifies as acquiring
"mixed feelings" for me, it is this.
Now, the bad news first. Barry Palmer's vocals are pretty routine, and he was no
Helmut Koellen, that's for sure. The worst thing is that the use of vocals on Pompeii is overdone,
and in many songs, the vocals are long winded, and this detracts from the appreciation of the
accompanying music. It can be really annoying.
The good news, is that the actual instrumental music played here is of pretty high
quality. Jurgen Fritz especially shines as keyboardist, and Passport musicians Dieter Petereit and
Curt Cress are great, as well. Instrumentally, Pompeii is better than it's predecessor Old Loves Die
Hard. Fritz seems to be trying less, but getting better results in that department.
I have always wondered what Pompeii would sound like with the vocals greatly reduced,
or removed completely-that would be something!
I understand that in concept albums, a story needs to be told, usually vocally,
but here, the instrumental aspects shine more than the others quite obviously. Oh, well, not a
perfect album, but not many are. I give it three stars-Pompeii is not great, but good.

Progarchives: MANTIS Mantis (Crossover Prog, 1973)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:19:52 +0100

Review by Evolver — This, the only album from seventies Canadian band Mantis, only has three truly prog songs, but
somehow remains quirky and likeable throughout. Like many bands of their time, Mantis shows quite
a bit of humor in their songs, which sound to me to be mostly inspired by the west coast rock (The
Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas & The Papas, The Doors...) of that era.

The trhree songs that spark my interest are What Does It Take, a piece that starts out
omewhat nondescript, but turns into a sound like what Pink Floyd was working on in those days.
Fred another shifting styles song, begins as a country blues jam, but after a nice guitar solo,
the keyboards turn it into something similar to Keith Emerson & The Nice. Eyes Of Fire, the
proggiest piece on the album, is a Santana-like jam, with some fusion and symphonic breaks.

Those three pieces easily make this an album worth owning for a prog fan, and the others, while more
straightforward, are not so bad either.