Strongbow - Strongbow (1975)

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organ, mellotron, flute, saxophones and vocals.

This band came from and worked in the Cleveland area between 1972 and 1978. This album and a single was their only creative output. That and numerous gigs.

Their music was a blend of pomp rock, arena rock and symphonic prog.

Supertramp is a band that springs to mind here. There are also some Boston influences here. But most of all, this album is a run of the mill US arena rock album.

The music is pretty mellow with some decent melodies. The vocals is good. 

The music industry was and still is a cut-throat business where only the strong albums and bands survive. This album fell well short of making it. There is no hit singles here. There is no really pieces of music which stands out here. 

This album is a decent album. Fans of pomp and arena rock from the 1970s may want to check out this album.

2 points

Convivium - Convivium (1971)

The one and only album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of guitars, flute, percussion, bass and vocals.

The band was formed in Oslo, the capitol of Norway, and gigged in the clubs and cafeterias in and around Oslo. Then, the band split up and this album was forgotten until it was re-released on CD last year through the Norske Albumklassikere series.

The music on this album is acid-folk rock. The band was a far more acid-folk rock band than the likes of Folque. The lyrics is also a mix of tragic topics. From poverty to tragic love.

The music is vocals orientated. But there is still some good details in their music. The female vocals is good.

The melodies, details and music is all decent enough. This is an album fans of acid-folk should check out. I am glad that this album is now out on CD. It deserves a new life.

2 points

Zed & I Bolidi Lenti - Zed & I Bolidi Lenti (2022)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band comes from Naples in the south of Italy and has been around for the last twelve years. 

The band members are grown ups and I suspect the band was happy to run the band as a live act and a hobby project before they recorded and released this album.

That is a great attitude and one I applaud.

The music is middle of the road classic RPI. The band has been greatly influenced by the likes of PFM and that is obvious.

The sound is the organic RPI sound from the 1970s. With some modification and technical improvements, off course. The sound is good. The vocals is good too. The vintage organ and guitar sound is most welcome.

There is no great songs here and some of the songs falls a bit short. The sound makes up for it and makes this a good album.

Everyone into RPI should check out this album.

3 points

 

 

Soniq Circus - Reflections In The Hourglass (2011)

The second album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band debuted in 2007 with a self-titled album. The music on that album was a mix of good old 1970s heavy progressive rock and more new'ish neo-prog. All this with a Swedish flavour too.

The band returns with a more complex and symphonic take on all above. There are some The Flower Kings influences here. Some very strong ones, indeed.

The music on this one hour long album is therefore muscular, complex and pretty epic. It is also pretty melodic.

The vocals is good and ditto for the sound.

The songs are around eight minutes long on average.

The result is a good album and one to check out if Swedish prog and muscular neo-prog is your thing.

3 points

 

 

Saft - Horn (1971)

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, guitars, organ, piano, electric piano and vocals.

This album is the follow up to the self-titled debut album from the same year.

That album was a pretty good album. So did the band have enough good songs for two albums, released in the same year ?

The music here is a mix of beat, psych rock, progressive rock and some fusion. There are also some pop here.

People In Motion is the hit single here. A sharp no-nonsense lively pop tune. It feels a bit outdated anno 2023, but it is still a charming tune.

The rest of the album is mostly psych and the songs are not bad.

The result is a decent album. It is not as good as the debut album. Nevertheless, check out this album.

2 points

Czyszy - UwU Slaughter (2022)

The sixth album from this one-man-band from Poland.

Marek Krol does the guitars, bass, electronics and keyboards on this album.

I got this album some weeks ago and put it up for review. This was before I got to know this project.

The Bandcamp site gives me the impression that this is a cartoonish symphonic prog/neo-classical project.

..... Which is not far away from the truth.

References are ELP, Anyone's Daughter, Trace, Pink Mice and Ekseption.

There is a lot of substance and indeed good music on this album. The album is dominated by keyboards. Nevertheless, the music still feels a bit organic and not as a far out keyboards assault on our senses. 

Clocking in at forty minutes, this is actually a good album and a very nice surprise. It also tells me that I should check out the other six albums too... including the new album.

3 points

Zappa. Frank - Freak Out! (1966)

The debut album from Frank Zappa.

Frank Zappa played guitars, kazoo and did vocals here. He also did the arrangements. The rest of The Mother of Invention did drums, bass, tambourine, kazoo, guitars, harmonica and vocals.

Numerous others added their woodwinds, strings, piano, guitars and vocals.

This is my first ever review of a Frank Zappa album and I will do the discography this year in this blog. I guess it will overrun into next year and perhaps into a the next blog in the Sound Of Fighting Cats blog series. Frank Zappa has released a lot of albums and I got most of them, if not all of them.

The debut album is a natural start and this album was released in 1966.

It feels more like a freaky cultural statement than a serious piece of music. This double LP is mostly a collage of vocals and sounds. There is some songs here too. 

The music is very primitive. There is a handful of good songs here. Most of the album falls a bit flat on it's face anno 2023. The album must have been exciting anno 1966. I am not sure if I would have rated this album even if I bought it in 1966.... It is a bit wild... and a bit too punk.

Nevertheless, this is a decent album and I will continue my journey into his discography.

2 points

Tabletom - Inoxidable (1992)

The third album from this band from Spain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, flute, saxophone and vocals.

Tabletom is a band difficult to really pin down in a genre.

Take Spanish rock, add some prog and jazz too and then add lots of fusion and folk music.

The vocals are in Spanish and the music is all over the place.

The saxophone is pretty dominant and add a very jazzy feeling. Some of the music is laidback and some other parts are pretty hard.

There are also some pretty melodic stuff here and some stuff that makes a symph prog fan happy too.

This is indeed an untraditional album but quite a traditional album from this band. 

It is also a good album too. The album has a lot of interesting details and a lot of good melodies. The vocals is really good and the saxophone is pretty OK. 

Check out this album.

3 points

Stranafonia - Il Nuovo Rinascimento (2014)

The fourth and final album from this band from Italy.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I have yet to sample their first three albums and it seems like they are pretty difficult to get too.

The band plays RPI. As plain as that. Italian symphonic prog in the vein of Nuovo Era. 

The music is pretty pastoral with some classic organs and piano like sound generated by the keyboard player. There is also some jazz and more heavy rock here. 

Most of the music is pretty complex. It is also pretty melodic. The vocals are in Italian and it is good. Ditto for the sound.

The result is a good album. I sincerely hope someone re-release their albums soon. This band deserve a lot more attention.

3 points

 

Hokus Pokus - Videre Fra Der Vi Skulle Ha Vært (2009)

The one and only album from this band from Norway.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, percussion, keyboards and vocals.

I had never heard about this band before I by accident found them under the letter H in ProgArchives when I was looking for another Norwegian band... Høst. I then found their album in my local Amazon shop for around £ 4 and downloaded it.

I have just learnt that two of the band members has passed on since the release of this album and this album is the only sign of life we will ever hear from this band. That makes me sad.

ProgArchives described the band as a symphonic prog band. There is no reviews of this album in PA... And the music is not automatic symphonic prog even with using Roger Dean painting as the album cover.

There is though a lot of Yes influences here. Some of their, Yes, music is very eclectic. That goes for the music if Hokus Pokus too.

The music is pretty sunny and bright. The Yes influences is there. And so is the Gentle Giant influences. There is also some Scandinavian, in particular Swedish, symphonic prog in their sound and music too.

The organ, mellotron and moog sound is very good. The vocals is good. 

The music is very complex and their sixteen minutes long Akallabeth is full of very surprising twists, turns and details.

The three other tracks is also of the same kind.

The album is clocking in at just under forty minutes. It is a very good album and a true gem. Fans of both Yes and eclectic prog, not to mention Norwegian/Scandinavian prog should get this album. 

3.5 points

Korb - III (2022)

 The third album from this band from UK.

The band is a duo with a lineup of drum machine, bass, guitars, synths and electronics.

Their self titled 2018 debut album had a lot of promise. Pretty good outer space krautrock.

I do not have their second album but I got their third album and this is the one I am reviewing here.

The music is still outer space krautrock. There are some Klaus Sculze influences here and some Tangerine Dream influences. 

The music is gentle and groovy. This is not full on outer space kraut. It is more less-is-more than a full aural assault.

There is also some interesting sounds and melody lines on this album.

The result is a good album and one to check out if space rock and krautrock is your thing.

3 points

Soniq Circus - Soniq Circus (2007)

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band has so far released three albums and they are all up for reviews in the coming weeks/this winter.

The band was formed by some Swedish young men who wanted to play progressive rock. After operating under a different name for a while, they changed name to a far better name..... Soniq Circus. A name who alone guaranteed them attention.

Their music is a mix of good old 1970s heavy progressive rock and more new'ish neo-prog. Add some Swedish symphonic prog and you got their sound and music.

The music is both melodic and technical. It is obvious already from their debut that the band has a lot of talent.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. It is still a more than acceptable debut and an album fans of Swedish melodic prog should seek out and get.

2.5 points

 

 

 

Saft - Saft (1971)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, electric piano, flute and vocals.

This band from the west coast of Norway released three albums before they split up. Two of their members recently passed on. 

The band is most known for it's cooperation with the local folk music scene. But that was only on their third album. An album I currently do not have but which I think I will order now. I got their second album Horn and a review will follow later this month.

Saft was a big band in Norway back in the 1970s. One of their songs was and is still banned in BBC because the verse includes the big F word. The song is All The Time. It is the one and only song they submitted to BBC and it got banned.....

The music is a mix of folk, prog and psych rock. Mostly psych rock.

The vocals are a mix of English and Norwegian. The music is rather pastoral and has a lot of good vocal harmonies. Crosby, Stills & Nash sometimes springs to mind.

Their version of Eleanor Rigby, the great Beatles song, is a rather throw away version. The rest of the album is rather good with the banned song All The Time being a good song.

I only knew this band by reputation before getting this album and this album has been quite an eye opener. 

Not everything is good here but there is a lot to be happy about on this album. Check it out.

2.5 points

 

 

Flamborough Head - Jumping the Milestone (2022)

The eight album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, flute, keyboards and vocals.

The band is back again, nine year since their last album. It is a sign of life I never thought we would hear. But the will to live and the will to continue this band was stronger than I thought.

Flamborough Head was and still is a great band so we should all rejoice.

They were also one of the leading lights in the Dutch neo-prog scene. Other bands has moved on and taken over their territory. 

Jumping The Milestone is a light, shiny and still complex neo-prog album. It is also clocking in at one hour too.

The band has also retained their sound and the Dutch neo-prog sound. A sound largely created by this band. 

There is no cracking great songs here. Nevertheless, the music is really good and the band has returned in style. 

This is another good album from this Dutch band. 

3 points

XII Alfonso - Claude Monet Volume 2 (2005)

 

The fourth album from this band from France.

The band was a seven piece big band on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, mandolin, organ, piano, keyboards and vocals.

XII Alfonso is one of those bands I find difficult reviewing. So my last review, Claude Monet Volume 1, was done in September 2012. A fairly decent album.

I have decided to grasp the nettle again and review their four remaining albums this winter. Yes, the band released altogether seven albums.

Claude Monet is one of the most famous painters of all time. He has got a certain style which has impressed a lot of people. I have to admit that I have yet to be bothered.... browsing through some of them now..... They are really impressive !! OK, I am converted and I may even order copy, not an original, for one of the walls in my office. 

Back to these albums after feasting my eyes on some fantastic artworks...... Volume 1 and Volume 2 sounds pretty similar.

That means neo-classical and fusion with some sprinklings of symphonic prog. This album is long, clocking in at almost eighty minutes.

The music is not really interesting. It feels cheap and like something you find in cheap TV productions. 

The music is barely half-decent and is not of much value. Some interesting details elevates this album from a turkey status. But this album is still poor and well worth avoiding.

1.5 points

Tea Party. The - Splendor Solis (1993)

 

The second album from this band from Canada.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, cello, percussion and vocals.

This is their real debut album, the band has said many times. 

The self-titled album that came before this one was not a bad album. I would not be too ashamed of it.

Splendor Solis is an album that made many think that The Tea Party would inherit Rush many fans and the title as Canada's best band.

Take a big chunk of Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and King's X, add some blues and some rock too. There is even some Rush and The Beatles in their sound and music. Even Buffalo Springfield springs to mind here.

Jeff Martin's vocals is very good here and the musicians comes up with a lot of interesting details.

The result is a very good album. It is also a fascinating album and one to grab the attention of the listener. 

This band sounds like the real thing to me.

3.5 points

 

 

Stark Naked - Stark Naked (1971)

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, organ, keyboards and vocals.

This band from the New Jersey area was regarded as the new big hope in the US rock scene for a while. They were snapped up by one of the major record labels, RCA, and everyone thought the band would break USA and the world.

That did not happen and this album is their one and only album.

The music is psych rock. Hard rocking psych rock with some blues and soul influences. There are also some more gentle rock and pop here. The vocals harmonies are good.

The sound and the vocals is good. There is no real killer tracks here and I believe this is the reason why this album did not break the band.

This album sounds pretty good anno 2023 and this is another gem unlocked from the vast amount of albums released during the last fifty years.

Check out this album.

2.5 points

 

 

Half Past Four - Rabbit In The Vestibule (2008)

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I have previously reviewed their second album, the 2013 album Good Things and the 2016 Ep Land Of The Blind. I liked both of them.

I therefore jumped on the chance to review their debut album too.

The music is a mix of art-rock, modern pop and fusion.

The vocals are female vocals and they are good. The sound is good and this album is just over an hour long.

The music has a bohemian pop sound which is very cool. 

The quality of the music is good too. Barely good but still good. 

This band is another gem just waiting there to be picked up by those who are willing to go out and look for gems in the scene.

3 points

Korb - Korb (2018)

 

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

The band is a duo with a lineup of electronics, drum machine, synths and samples.

This is a band who has so far released three albums. The latest one was released last year and that one is also up for review. I have yet to get their second album.

The genre is krautrock. Minimalistic electronic krautrock.

The music is also very much space rock where the band is operating in outer space. The space rock is still minimalistic, but still very effective.

The drums are programmed and there is not a single organic tone here.

There is also some haunting Britanny bagpipe sounds here which is very good and adds a lot to this album.

The tempo is mellow space rock and there are some interesting details here. The quality is somewhere between decent and good throughout these forty minutes.

This is an album well wort checking out.

2.5 points

Wolf - Night Music (1974)

 

The third and final album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards and vocals.

The band continued on this, their third album, despite of their lack of commercial success. Looking back at the band these days, it feels like a supergroup with members from Curved Air, Soft Machine, Soft Machine Legacy and Marillion. But Soft Machine and Marillion was bands the two members joined after their stints in Wolf. 

Curved Air was the band the Wolf band owner Darry Way formed before he left them to start up Wolf. Hence why this band was named Darryl Way's Wolf by the records pushing record label. Not enough records was sold and the band was dropped.

That is a great shame as their third album too is a mix of symphonic prog, fusion and a bit pop music. And the music is good. Just as the music on their first two albums was good.

The only missing thing here is the lack of any great songs or even hit-singles. The band had some good to great music. But they never wrote and recorded a hit song or a great song.

Wolf probably has a greater audience these days than back in the 1970s. That says it all. 

Wolf and their three albums must be on every proghead's radar and in their record collection.

3 points

 

 

Skepticism - Companion (2021)

The sixth album from this band from Finland.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The so far latest album from this band. A band who are one of the pioneers in the funeral doom genre. 

Their 2015 album Ordeal saw the band loosen up a lot and introduce some stylish keyboards to flesh out their new twin-guitars lineup.

Six years later and the band returns with a lot heavier and much more epic funeral doom. There are still some melodies here but the vocals are a mix of death and black metal. 

The keyboads/synths makes the music a lot more epic.

This fifty minutes long album is not for the faint hearted and those who likes light and fluffy music. This album is as heavy funeral doom.

The quality is decent to good and this is a band well worth checking out if you want to explore the funeral doom genre.

2.5 points

 

Manticore - Elements (2022)

The third album from this band from Sweden.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

A female vocalist also adds her voice. 

I reviewed their second album, the 2018 album Next Step back in August 2018 for # 2 of this series of blogs.

That album was influenced by everyone from Yes, The Moody Blues, ELP and The Beatles. It is also a good album.

The Yes and ELP influences has gone altogether on Elements, the follow up album. Ditto for The Beatles too.

Elements sounds like a more pop influenced version of Kaipa. Add in a lot of The Moody Blues and Barclay James Harvest too and you get them.

The music is very melodic indeed.

The quality is not particular impressive. This is a barely good album, but it still deserves to be rated as a good album. The cover art-work is also a good one.

3 points

Enslaved - Vertebrae (2008)

 

The tenth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, organs, synths and vocals.

Ronnie Le Tekro from TNT added a guitar solo on one of the tracks and another guest added some electronics.

Enslaved started out as a viking extreme metal band before they started to adopt a lot of progressive rock. 

With the exeptions from their demo tapes, Enslaved has always sounded progressive in my ears. That with the possible exception of their Frost album. Vikingr Veldr was very progressive.

So their mix of prog rock and extreme metal on their last four albums was not a big shock to me.

Vertebrae continues in the same vein. A lot of interesting details, a lot of ultra-fast viking metal with some progressive rock in the vein of both King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator.

The Van Der Graaf Generator influences on this rather muddy produced album is pretty evident here. The vocals is still a mix of viking and clean vocals.

The music is still fascinating and good. The music is still relevant and Enslaved is still in their own genre and class.

Check out this album.

3 points

Spacelords. The - Synapse (2014)

The third album from this band from Germany.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, sitar, vocals and synths.

This band from Germany has so far released seven albums and I am reviewing them this winter.

Their debut album was a good album while their second album was a bit of a let down. So my hopes was not the high when I started listening to Synapse.

We are again in the middle of space rock land. Pretty much bang in the centre of space rock land. 

The frequent use of sitar is the only really deviation from the norm on this album. There are some vocals at the end of this album too and an organ sound.

The rest of the album is solid, gold standard groovy space rock. 

The music is really groovy and a reminder why space rock is such a great music genre when it is done properly. The music is on the safe side. Nevertheless, the band manage to spice up the music, the four songs and forty odd minutes, with some interesting details.

The music is good throughout this album and it is an album space rock fans should check out.

3 points

 

 

Staring Into Nothing - Power (2017)

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band has released two albums. The last one in 2020 called Love. Both albums released through Bandcamp.

The music is a mix of neo-prog, heavy prog and art rock.

The vocals are good and the music is songs based. 

There is a twenty minutes long suite on this album too. That inbetween some, on average, six minutes long songs. The suite is decent but nothing special.

This album is seventy minutes long. It has too much of this run-of-the-mill feeling and is not adding much to the scene. 

It is a decent album and worth checking out.

2 points

Hipgnosis - Valley of the Kings (2021)

The fourth studio album from this band from Poland.

The band is a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, electronics and vocals.

I was meant to review this album back in 2021. But I dropped the idea after one listening session because I found the album too far out there, too long and too difficult to get my head around.

It has always annoyed me, my failure to get my head around it two years ago. Hence.... I gave it another chance.

The music is a mix of electronica and dream pop. It has some eclectic prog too. 

The female vocals is cool and most of the melodies are cool too. The music is really laidback and full of electronics generated percussion. The theme for the art-work is also well represented in the music.

This album is very long. One hundred minutes long and it is a double CD.

Not everything here is good and there are some small electronica breaks and avant-garde pieces here who simply does not work that well.

This is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Cyklad - Offline (2022)

The debut album from this one-man-band from Sweden.

This is the band from Mr. Bjorn Sandstrom and he did the guitars, bass, keyboards and electronics here.

A drummer added his drums and various vocalists added their vocals.

This album is a Bandcamp album and Bjorn is the lead guitarist in the Swedish heavy metal band LostQ. Lyrics and the artwork was provided by another artist.

The music is a mix of neo-prog and heavy prog. The vocals is both male and female and the album is fifty-five minutes long.

There are also some Swedish folk rock incorporated into this music. Subtle, but still there. Ditto for the heavy mertal influences. Bjorn's daytime band is a heavy metal band and that shines through most of this album. 

The vocals is good and ditto for the sound. The sound reminds me about the 1990s heavy metal scene.

Some of the music is decent and some of the music is rather good. This is an interesting album and one well worth checking out. Is this a one off album from Bjorn ? Only time will tell but this album deserve some attention from the progressive rock scene.

2.5 points

Wolf - Saturation Point (1973)

The second album from this band from England.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards and vocals.

Wolf was the ex Curved Air member and founder Darryl Way's band after leaving Curved Air. Three albums followed under the Wolf name.

The 1973 debut album Canis Lupus was a very good album. 

Saturation Point gives us forty minutes with a mix of fusion, symphonic prog, neo-classical and eclectic pop. 

The violin is the main instrument and the music is built around this instrument. That makes Wolf a pretty unique band. Their three albums is also pretty unique and one of a kind.

The music is dynamic and very lively. Lively and intense. But never really hard. 

Most of the music is instrumental where the violin dominates the sound.

The music is also good. It has a lot of interesting details too.

Check out this album.

3 points

Skepticism - Ordeal (2015)

The fifth album from this band from Finland.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This seventy-seven minutes long album was recorded live in a studio in front of a small audience.

Six of the songs are brand new and two of the songs are old songs. That means a studio album in my view.

The music is funeral doom and some pretty harsh funeral doom too.

The music is less harsh on this album than on the previous four albums. The vocals is less harsh and ditto for the guitars. This means a bit softer sound and songs.

The songs are long and epic.

There are even a couple of good songs here. The other songs are decent enough. There are also some good details here.

The keyboards also gives us some church organs like sounds.

The result is their best album to that date.

This album is well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Hiperborea - Enigmagination (2016)

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This is another power metal/thrash metal band from Italy with one album and then not any more signs of life.

This band is actually leaning more towards progressive metal than power/speed/thrash metal. 

This album still has some ills from power/speed/thrash metal. The vocals sounds forced and unhealthy. 

The music on this one hour long album is varied with a lot of acoustic pieces too. 

The quality is only half-decent though and I can understand why there has not been any signs of life from this band after the release of this album. 

This is not an album worth checking out.

1.5 points

Psicolorama - The White Sun (2017)

The eight album from this one-man-band from Spain.

Psicolorama does the guitars, synths and programming himself. 

A vocalist added some vocals on this album.

This one-man-band has so far released twenty-five albums and I got twenty of them for reviews. 

One-man-bands normally offer some pretty poor music. It is no denying that proper bands offers better music than the one man and his computer bands.

The White Sun gives us an hour of slow, dirge like space rock. 

The vocals offers up some life in this barren landscape. The vocals is rather good.

The music is decent and very much in tune with a harsh, frozen landscape. It has some funeral doom too. 

The result is a decent enough album. Psicolorama is one of the best one-man-bands and this album very much proves my point.

2 points

Tea Club. The - Rabbit (2010)

The second album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band comes from New Jerse, an area near New York. 

Their 2008 debut album General Winter's Secred Museum was an album full of eclectic art rock with a lot of psych and post rock influences. 

The band continues in the same vein on Rabbit, the follow up album. 

This band's music intrigues me more and more. Hence, I am reviewing all their albums this winter. 

Take a bit of Radiohead, Marillion, David Bowie, Velvet Underground and Sigur Ros. Mix them together and you get this band.

..And you get this album too. 

The vocals is good and the music on this just over an hour long album is full of interesting ideas.

The music is dense and quirky. This is not mainstream music.

This is a good album though and one to check out.

3 points

Squackett - A Life Within a Day (2012)

The one and only album from this duo from England.

Chris Squire did the bass and vocals here while Steve Hackett provided guitars, vocals and harmonica.

They got help from six friends who provided drums, violin, viola, cello, double bass, programming, keyboards and backing vocals.

This duo were working on and off this project for a very long time before this album was released. Two good friends from two of the most influential prog bands of all time; Yes and Genesis.

Chris Squire passed away some time ago so this album is a one-off album.

The music is a mix of what Chris and Steve did in their solo careers and in Yes and Genesis. Add some strong influences from Eastern Asia, modern pop and modern rock aka Yes under the tutelage of Trevor Horn.

The music is both melodic and full of interesting details. The vocals are really good too.

The guitars are also good and the bass is rumbling around as per usual from Chris.

This is an interesting and a good album. 

Check it out. 

3 points

 

Hidden Dream - Through The Silence Of Reason (2016)

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

I thought I was in for some good Italian progressive metal when I got this album. An album I have yet to see reviewed anywhere.

I was wrong when it comes to the music.

The album is forty minutes with a blend of thrash metal and heavy metal.

The vocals is poor. Ditto for the guitars. The album is also full of cliches and ideas done by other bands, decades ago.

This album is in short a turkey and one to forget.

1 point

Staircases - Lion (2012)

The one and only album from this one-man-band from USA.

Staircases is Mr Jack Collopy on guitars, bass, electronics and drums.

This album is listed on ProgArchives as a space/psych rock album. It is also unreviewed, more than ten years after it's release.

So I thought it was only right and proper to include a review of the album in my blog.

The album is forty minutes long and it is Bandcamp album. It would never ever have been released by a record label.

The music starts with a melody before it descends into a twisted tones dystopia where nothing grows. It feels like a mental illness, this album.

The sound and music feels very cheap as in recorded in a bedroom. The guitars is hideous bad.

There is no reason to wonder why there has not been a second album. Lion is hideous bad album and a turkey.

1 point

Morse. Neal - Innocence & Danger (2021)

The 29th album from this artist from USA.

This album has been released under the name Neal Morse Band and the lineup is drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Neal Morse is back again and this time as a member of this band, a band named after him.

There is no choirs, no strings and no woodwinds here. The music is still epic, though.

The previous album Sola Gratia from 2020 was very much influenced by his albums Sola Scripture and the two Testimony albums. It was also inspired by the early Spock's Beard albums.

The same can be said about this album, Innocence & Danger. 

This album is one hundre minutes long, one hour and forty minutes long. Most of the second CD is taken by the half an hour long Beyond The Years opus. A good opus.

Strangely enough, we are also being treated to a psych symphonic prog version of Simon & Garfunkel's classic Bridge Over Troubled Waters. A very peculiar version... but it works. 

Neal Morse & the band is at times very playful and the lyrics is not particlar preaching or religious. They are very restrained, indeed. 

The music is epic, melodic, playful and very much in the US symphonic prog vein.

The music is also very good and this is a Neal Morse album I will play again and again.

3.5 points

Socrates Drank the Conium - Phos (1976)

The fourth album from this band from Greece.

The band was now a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band had shortened their name to Socrates, a name they used for the remainder of their career. I still think they are around.... actually, due to the death of their main members during the last three years, the band has split up/has ceased to be.

Vangelis did the keyboards and produced this album. He was indeed a full member of Socrates on this album.

The album is mainly a rework and re-recording of their best songs from their previous albums. It is their most selling album too and the one they are most famous for.... for obvious reasons. 

The music is some more mellow and pastoral versions of their wild and heavy stuff. 

The music is still weird and wonderful. Vangelis has not tried to sanitise their music. Phos is still a weird album. Mostly because the music is still hard psych rock.

The result is a decent to good album. It is also an album well worth checking out if the 1970s psych rock scene is your thing.

This band was a weird band. Phos and their other albums is worth checking out.

2.5 points

 

Collage - Over and Out (2022)

The fifth album from this band from Poland.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths and vocals.

Steve Rothery from Marillion is adding guitars on one track.

Collage is one of the greatest neo-prog bands from Poland and mainland Europe. They are the grand-fathers of the Polish neo-prog scene. 

This comeback album was therefore highly welcome. 

Would they still be able to deliver the goods ?

The music is neo-prog from the 1980s - 1990s. The band is not ashamed of sticking to their guns, music and sound that made their name.

The music is pretty epic neo-prog and Marillion, the Fish era, is a good reference.

The result is a very good album and an album neo-prog fans may hail as the best album of last year.

3.5 points

 

 

Wolf - Canis Lupus (1973)

 

The debut album from this band from United Kingdom.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, violin, viola, keyboards and vocals.

Ian McDonald from King Crimson added piano and tambourine. He is also the producer of this album.

This band was put together by Darryl Way from Curved Air. He joined up with the US musician Derek Messekar and the two UK musicians John Etheridge and Ian Mosley. John is today a member of Soft Machne, whom he joined in 1975'ish and Ian Mosley is now a member of Marillion.

The band released three albums and all of them will be reviewed this winter in this blog.

Darryl Way is mainly a violinst and that instrument is all over this album.

An album with music as diverse as fusion, symphonic prog and eclectic prog. 

The music is weird and pretty wonderful at times. Quirky is a word that also springs to mind. 

The music is always interesting and very good. I am postive surprised by this album and I get the feeling that this band will be one of those I will rate very highly when I have finished of reviewing their three albums.

3.5 points

Tabletom - Rayya (1983)

The second album from this band from Spain.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, violin, guitars, flute, sax and vocals. 

Their debut album was a mix of everything from jazz to eclectic prog. The band was a fusion/jazz band. 

The band has released altogether seven studio albums and I am reviewing all of them this winter.

The music on this album........Take a big chunk of Spanish folk rock, add some old hard rock, then add a lot of psych rock, a bit of Spanish pop, a lot if eclectic prog and then add fusion and jazz on the top of that again.

The result is pretty loony and colourful. It is also very Latin and Spanish. That pretty much helped by some funny, insane Spanish male vocals.

The music sounds very exotic and a bit alien to no-fun people like myself from the British Isles and Northern Europe. 

This is a funny album and the quality is decent enough. It is well worth checking out too. Just be prepared for some insane sax and flute solos. Of them, there are plenty of on this album.

2 points

 

 

 

Souls Ignite - Chaos (2014)

The one and only album from this band from Argentina.

This band is a duo of two well known musicians, Rodrigo San Martin and Juan Manuel Torres. Both did bass, guitars and keyboards.

They got help from numerous guests who provided drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, synths, piano, organ and vocals.

This one-of album and cooperation is a rock opera, no less. It is a project and not really a band album.

It is also a name your price Bandcamp album. It is a free album if you like. 

The music is very hard at times but always very complex. The Dream Theater influences are very obvious throughout this album. There is a lot of female vocals too and it has some more melodic pieces too.

The music obviously has this rock opera feel and that shines through this forty-five minutes long album.

The music fails a lot when it comes to quality. There are some good details here and some good melodies. The vocals are good.

Hence, this album is one of those half good albums. It is very much a recommended download, though.

2.5 points

 

Heron - Twice As Nice & Half The Price (1971)

The second album from this band from England.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitar, accordion, harp, piano, electric piano, organ and vocals.

This band was a prolific folk rock band and their first two albums has got a cult following. I have reviewed both albums this month.

The band is still active and has released around ten albums. Folk rock is not my cup of tea and not something I want to focus on. So for time being, their first two albums will suffice.

Twice As Nice & Half The Price is widely regarded as their best album. I love the cover art-work and that sets the scene for the music on this double LP. 

This double LP has over twenty songs and is around seventy minutes long. 

The music is folk rock and very much focused on the vocals. They are supported by mostly guitars. 

There is not many interesting details here. The music is decent though and there is some rather good songs here.

This is an album for those who like basic, uncomplicated vocals based folk rock. 

2 points

Dim Gray - Firmament (2022)

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, programming, keyboards, mandolins, guitars and vocals.

Some guests added saw, flute, theremin, cello, violin and bass.

The Norwegian art rock and progressive rock scene was very productive and lively last year. Yes, we are in 2023. 

Dim Gray are more in the art rock camp than in the progressive rock camp.

Marillion and Gazpacho is two big references. There are also some Radiohead and electronica here. 

The music is both melancholic, airy and melodic. There is a lot of post-rock melodic sensibilities here. Sigur Ros springs to mind.

The vocals are very good and the rest of the band does a great job. The quality of the music is good throughout this three quarters of an hour long album.

This is another good album from Norway.

3 points

Morse. Neal - Sola Gratia (2020)

The 28th album from this artist from USA.

Neal Morse did the percussion, drums, guitars, keyboards and vocals here.

He had help from a dozen of guests who contributed with drums, bass, guitars, violin, cello, viola, piano and backing vocals.

Neal Morse is back in the symphonic prog land again. Sola Gratia is music wise in the same vein as Sola Scripture and the two Testimony albums. There is also some pretty huge Spock's Beard references here.

That is good news for his fans. Myself included.

There a lot of this ebbs and flows, these dramatic breaks in the middle of an epic piece of music, on this album. This is classic, classic Neal Morse. Both as solo artist and the major songwriter in Spock's Beard when he was a member of that band.

There are also some rather new ideas here who are very good. Ideas that refreshes Neal Morse's musical universe.

The football terrace chants backing vocals is a bit cringe worthy.

That aside, this is indeed a very good album. A refreshing album that brings hope to Neal Morse's world. 

3.5 points

Socrates Drank the Conium - On the Wings (1973)

The third album from this band from Greece.

The band was now a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

The band returned again as a twin-guitars combo. 

The music was more or less hard rock with a psych rock twist. The blues was still evident. Led Zeppelin and to a lesser degree Black Sabbath was the references here. The Welsh bands Budgie and Man is also good references.

The music still has a psych rock element.

The music on this half an hour long album is half decent. This band was not among the best song writers or musicians in the scene. Their band name and then cooperation with Vangelis is the only reason why this band ever got a fanbase and is still remembered.

Unless obscure hard rock from the 1970s is your thing, this is an album well worth bypassing and that by many miles.

1.5 points

Klochard - Rock and Roll Pariah (2022)

 

The second album from this band from Mexico.

The band is a duo with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars and keyboards.

The band released their debut album Mundus Est Domus in 2021. Both albums has been released through the Bandcamp based record label Leptis Magma, Mexico.

The music is a mix of most things.

Take classic arena rock, jazz, post-metal, psych rock, hard rock, a bit neo-prog and add a lot of kraut rock to the mix.

The sound is grungy and the music is not particular original. Many other bands has released albums like this album. The lack of vocals robs the music from having a focal attention.

I have heard worse albums than this one and in this genre.

It is a decent album and well worth checking out.

2 points

 

 

Skepticism - Alloy (2008)

The fourth album from this band from Finland.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Skepticism is legends in the funeral doom scene and they have released six albums.

Skepticism's take on funeral doom is violent, black as the devil's paintkit, epic and monumental. The music is very heavy, indeed.

There are still melodies in all this monumental epic music. 

The guitars are dark and ditto for the vocals. The keyboards is epic and is adding melodies and progression to the pieces of music.

The result is a decent enough album and one to check out if funeral doom is your thing.

2 points

 

 

Tea Party. The - The Tea Party (1991)

The debut album from this band from Canada.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, mandolin, sitar, cello, banjo and vocals.

This album is a mix of some demo tapes and the band is not happy about this being their debut album. They regard their second album, the 1993 album Splendor Solis as their true debut album. 

I got Splendor Solis and five other of their albums, altogether seven of their nine albums, up for review this year.

This band was hailed as Rush heirs to the throne and got some good attention in Canada because of that claim.

This sixty minutes long collection of demos points much more towards Kings'x than Rush. That in addition to a lot of grunge influences. There are also some Indian raga-rock influences here in addition to some blues and some hard prog in the vein of Rush.

The quality is..... not bad. The band knew what they were doing and were pretty talented already on these demos. This is indeed a decent album and there is no shame in having this album in a record collection.

2 points

Solaris - Misty Morning (1977)

The one and only album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This was an obscure band from the north of Norway. It was lead by Ole G Nilssen who had previously released his solo album World Of Dreams. An album I have reviewed in this blog last month... or in November last year. 

Both of these two albums has been re-released on CDs now and has got some more attention. 

I had really been looking forward to reviewing this album as I had been told it was a symphonic prog album.

Well, it is not.

Take a bit proto-symphonic prog, add some west coast rock, psych rock and some AOR. Add some beat too and you get this album

The music sounds dated and has some weird choirs and guitars. 

The music is decent enough. But not enough to really excite me. This album deserved the CD re-release but that is just about it.

2 points

 

 

Heron - Heron (1970)

The debut album from this band from England.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitar, accordion, harp, piano, electric piano, organ and vocals.

This band was a prolific folk rock band and their first two albums has got a cult following. Albums I am reviewing this month.

I have just learned that the band is still active and released their new album some months ago. Their tenth or so album. Folk rock is not really my genre so I will leave the band in peace after the review of their second album.

The music on this album is straight folk rock with mostly piano, acoustic guitars and vocals. The references is Incredible String Band and... Bob Dylan. 

The songs are decent with multiple layers of vocals and instruments. 

The result is barely a decent album but still a decent album.

Fans of this genre should get this classic album from that genre.

2 points