Bowness. Tim - Late Night Laments (2020)

The sixth album from this artist from Great Britain.

Tim Bowness did the ukulele, synths and vocals himself here.

He got help from numerous guests who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, vibraphone, dianatron and backing vocals.

His first five albums is a mix of singer/songwriter, art rock and progressive rock albums. 

His 2015 album Stupid Things.... was pretty much a pretty much a fully blown neo-prog album. He has since then retreated back to a more simple musicial sound and soundscape. 

Late Night Laments is a forty minutes long minimalistic singer/songwriter album based on his vocals, a sparingly use of instruments and some electronica.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good throughout. This is not his finest hour but it is still worth checking out.

2.5 points

Popol Vuh - Popol Vuh (1972)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, electric piano, moog, mellotron, trombone, flute and vocals.

This band released four albums before they gave up the ghost. The first two albums under the name Popol Vuh and then the final two albums under the name Popol Ace. This was off course after the German band Popol Vuh objected to their use of this name.

Popol Vuh/Ace also had a vocalist, Jahn Teigen, who later became a Norwegian national treasure. He passed away some years ago. Btw... Becoming a national treasure in Norway also happened to Prudence's vocalist.

I got the four Popol Vuh/Ace albums up for review this summer. 

The art-work is iconic and far more known than the music of this band. That is my start point.

The music itself is a mix of psych rock, art-rock and symphonic prog. Fruupp, Jethro Tull, King Crimson and Gentle Giant is some good references. But most of all, this is vintage rock and a band with their own style.

The vocals is very good and pretty operatic male. There are some good songs here and some decent songs here. This album is more iconic than a really good album. It is an album fans of Norwegian prog or Norwegians into prog rock must have in their collection.

3 points

Forever Twelve - Home (2017)

The fourth album from this band from USA.

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

Forever Twelve is a US neo-prog band whose music is sometimes crossing into symphonic prog.

Ten years or so ago, I reviewed their 2010 album Taking Forever for # 1 of this blog and was not particular impressed.

Seven years has gone from recording that album and the band is back, a bit slimmer too. Gone is the female vocals. 

There is not much change besides of getting a new vocalist. A male vocalist, this time. The music is still a bit of US neo-prog with a lot of symphonic prog influences.

The band does a lot of the right things on this album. The sound is good and there is some good details here.

The quality of the song writing leaves something to be desired and this album is falling a bit short when it comes to good songs.

Collecters of US prog should check out this band.

2.5 points

Hex A D - Delightful Sharp Edges (2023)

The sixth album from this band from Norway.

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

The band has been blending stoner rock, heavy metal and progressive rock.

I was not too impressed by their previous album Funeral Tango For Gods And Men. That was released two years ago.

It seems like the band kind of share that view as they have returned to the recipe they used on their fourth album, the 2020 album Astro Tongue In The Electric Garden. 

The music is more mellow and far more progressive than heavy metal and stoner rock influenced. There is also a lot of psych rock in their music.

The balance between prog, psych, stoner and heavy metal is very good here. 

The organ, mellotron and the vocals is great on this album. There is a lot of very interesting details and riffs here too. The overall quality of the music is very good.

The result is a very good album indeed.  

Check it out.

3.5 points

Desert Wave - Lost in Dunes (2017)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

This trio has so far released two albums through Bandcamp and they have toured bit too. I will review their second album later this summer.

The music is heavy psych stoner rock.

There is no vocals here but the band still manage to create some pretty interesting music.

The riffs are fat and demented. The sound is good too.

The band operates on an already overcrowded market of power trio stoner bands. This is a promising, decent album and only the future, and their second album whom I will soon review, will tell if they got a future.

2 points

Days Between Stations - Between Stations (2007)

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a duo with a lineup of bass, guitars, synths, vocoder, electronics and organ.

They had help from numerous guests who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, woodwinds and vocals.

This band has so far released three albums and I got hold of two of them for review this summer.

Their music can best be described as a blend of post-rock and cinematic rock. There are also some Pink Floyd psych rock in their music too.

Most of the music is guitars and various synths driven. There are some really cool woodwinds, saxophone, trumpet and trombone, at the end of this one hour long album which makes the album interesting again after the album were loosing it's life after the forty minutes mark.

The first half of the album has some fairly good cinematic rock.

This album still falls a bit short. But those into more eclectic, cinematic rock should check out this album.

 2.5 points

 

 

 

 

Perseide - Les couleurs d'été (2023)

The third album from this band from Canada.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, guitars, clavinet, organ, wurlitzer organ, mellotron, keyboards, synths and vocals.

The band had help from some guests who added their percussion, steel guitar, synths and backing vocals.

This band and their fellow French-Canadians Barrdo is for the greatest finds of this year. 

Their blend of The Beatles, Rush, Harmonium, King Crimson and Led Zeppelin is just about my personal paradise. 

On this album, there is not so much Led Zeppelin as on the first two albums. The music has been become far more pastoral and an extra eclectic prog edge has been added.

The songs are not so catchy either. This album is much more a grower than their second album. An album I still think is their best album.

Then again, the band still proves that they are highly talented and skilled even when changing their style a bit. Even the pastoral side of this band is very good.

This album is indeed a grower and grows on the listener a bit slower than their first two albums. But when the listener gets it..... voila. 

Check out this very good album and band. This band really deserve a lot of attention.

3.5 points

 

 

Psicolorama - The Man on the Cross (2020)

The 17th album from this one-man-band from Spain/

Manuel Casado did the guitars, electronics and synths on this album. 

A guest vocalist added vocals on one song here.

This album feels like a mix of the vocals parts of this project and the ambient part of this project.

The song is rather good. Carlos Herrera has a good voice. 

The rest of the three quarters of an hour long album descends into some mind numbing boring ambient music.

Hence, I am not impressed by this album.

1.5 points

Alpha III - The Seven Spheres (1990)

The ninth album from this one-man-band from Brazil.

Amyr Cantusio Jr does all the synths on this album.

Alpha III albums can be a bit of a hit and miss. Some of them has been abysmal bad elevator music and some albums has been rather interesting neo classical albums.

The cheesy factor has been present on most of his albums, though.

There is a lot of cheese and cheap and nasty sounds on this one hour long album. 

The music is a mix of space rock and neo classical music. The sound is very plastic and cheap synths based. 

The music is horrible to say at least and this is a true turkey with all the trimmings.

Avoid.

1 point

 

 

 

Pluto - Voyage Into A Dreamer's Mind (1980)

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

Pluto is Peter Espen Guthe on guitars, synths, electronics and vocals.

Pluto/Peter Espen Guthe has released three albums. This one has been re-released on CD through Norske Album Klassikere and the second album is currently being crowdfunded.

Pluto was totally unknown to me until I became aware of the Norske AlbumKlassikere series two years ago. I purchased this album but it took one year before I started to listen to this album.

The album title says a lot about the music here. Soft symphonic prog with a lot of Genesis and Camel influences. This is how it was sold to me and this is what I get from this forty minutes long album. I would though add Mike Oldfield to this list of influences. 

Peter Espen Guth had the same attitude to music and the studio as Mike Oldfield did. Something we can hear on this album.

There is a lot of soft electric guitars here in the Mike Oldfield, Anthony Phillips and Andrew Latimer vein. The ten pieces of music on this album has been maximised. 

The music is understated and softly spoken. It is also good and this album has grown on me and that a lot. 

Mike Oldfield, Genesis, Camel and symphonic prog fans should really get this good album. It is indeed a hidden gem in the scene.

3 points

Flax - One (1976)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

Flax was the first ever heavy metal band from Norway and their second album Monster Tapes is the first ever heavy metal album from this small country who later became a big exporter of heavy metal bands and albums.

One, their debut is a mix of glam rock, hard rock, heavy metal and some more blues rock. There are even some pretty strong folk rock influences here.

The vocals is good but the star here is the late guitaris John Hesla, a guitarist who unfortunate is a bit forgotten although he was a strong influence on Ronnie Le Tekro in TNT. The guitars on One is good.

The songs are all decent and this is not a bad album at all. 

It is a debut album and the first of three albums from this band. I still rate this band.

2 points

 

 

Ten Jinn - Ardis (2023)

The sixth album from this band from USA.

The band is a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, chapman stick, synths, keyboards, piano and vocals.

This band album debuted back in 1997 but this is my first ever meeting with their music.

The band plays a blend of US neo-prog, symphonic prog, art-rock and cinematic rock.

The sound is made in USA as in bold, big and epic. 

The music is also melodic and has some good details. 

It is also slick and has a lot of good vocals and harmonies.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. I will purchase their first five albums and review them sometimes later/probably next year. This is a band well worth checking out.

2.5 points 

 

Hex A.D. ‎- Funeral Tango For Gods And Men (2021)

 

The fifth album from this band from Norway.

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

This band album debuted as a heavy metal band back in 2014 and they has largely flown under my radar until they released their fourth album Astro Tongue In The Electric Garden where the reviews noted their progressive rock influences. That got my radar's attention. I have therefore got their last three albums up for review this summer.

The band members has played in Blaze Bayley, Paul Di Anno (both Iron Maiden) and Ripper Tim Owens (Judas Priest) bands and Absolute Steel. Classic heavy metal background, in other words.

The band gives us a mix of heavy metal, stoner rock and some progressive rock. A good combination and it really worked on Astro Tongue In The Electric Garden. See my review from earlier this month. 

The band has gone a bit heavier and a bit harsher on this album, Funeral Tango For Gods And Men. The music feels a bit more cynical and less warm.

The quality of the songs are somewhere between decent and good too. It is not on par with their previous album.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting album and another reason to check out this band.

2.5 points

Perséide - Parmi les arbres (2019)

The second album from this band from Canada.

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

This band comes from the French speaking part of Canada. Their take on progressive rock is also unusual and untraditonal. They are to a certain degree a Quebec scene band too as they has adopted a lot of the music and sounds from that scene. 

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is a bit difficult to describe too. Take a bit grunge, add some of the melody sensibilities of The Beatles, Rush and Led Zeppelin. There are also the folk rock symphonic prog from Harmonium here. Also add some influences from the Middle-East scene and from the French symphonic prog scene. 

There are a great deal of epic music in their sound too.

The vocals are really good and the band has taken a step forward from their good debut album. 

The result is an album with mostly very good songs. 

This is an album well worth checking out and one who should win a lot of fans among progressive rock lovers around the world.

3.5 points

 

 

Tree Of Life - Passover (2023)

The debut album from this project from Slovenia.

Tree Of Life is mr Dragan Mladenov on all digital instruments and electronics. 

The idea of an album full of digital instruments may sounds like a cold album. And in most cases, it is.

That is not so much the case when it comes to this album.

Flutes and some more woodwinds together with some harpsichords is the dominant sound here. Add in a female voice too and you get my drift. This throughout these three quarters of an hour long album.

The music is pretty much Middle-East symphonic prog folk rock too. Yes, there is a strong Jiddish feel over the album. 

The result is to my surprise a good album. That not least because the female wailing voice is adding the final piece needed to make this album one to remember.

Check out this album.

3 points

Zappa. Frank - Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)

The ninth album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the lead guitars and some vocals on this album. 

He got help from numerous other musicians who added drums, bass, guitars, electric violins, woodwinds, piano, organ, electronics and vocals.

Frank Zappa and his record label had by now started to release some albums which was partially live and partially recorded in studios around the world. This according to where they were on tour at that time. 

Frank Zappa and his band did a lot of touring.

The running theme here is avant-garde jazz. Well, more or less avant-garde jazz although it is pretty melodic and not as esoteric as expected. 

The jazz here is pretty good. The sound is not that good and this three quarters of an hour long album feels a bit disjointed. 

Nevertheless, this is a decent album but just that. I therefore cannot even recommend it.

2 points

Beggars Opera - Close To My Heart (2007)

The eight album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was reduced to a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, mellotron and vocals.

The band re-appeared again after a long break with only Ricky Gardiner as the original member. They then released seven albums during five hectic years.

The music has also changed and it is only fair to say that Beggars Opera was three different bands with the same name. Confused ?

The music on this album is dominated by female vocals. The music is a mix of power pop, punk and the likes of Hawkwind, King Crimson and Pink Floyd.

Art rock, we will label it as.

The music on this sixty-five minutes long album is a bit of a grower as it is not really progressive rock. It feels a bit alien.

There is some good parts here and some not so good parts. And this album is an improvement on their heavy metal albums. 

Check out this album.

2.5 points

Eye 2 Eye - After All... (2009)

The second album from this band from France.

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

Three guests delivered backing vocals on some tracks.

The band has so far released five albums and their third album, the 2011 album The Wish, got a very good rating one week ago in this blog.

We are in the middle of neo-prog land again. Pretty much middle of the road neo-prog too. 

The songs are pretty long and epic. Some of them are between ten and fifteen minutes long. 

The vocals are good and the music is not particular muscular. It is very melodic, though.

The music is good throughout and this album is a good example of how music in the neo-prog genre sound.

Check it out.

3 points

Faun - Wondrous End (1998)

The one and only album from this band from Germany.

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

There is two German bands with this name. The other one is a prog folk band and it has released eight or so albums. 

The band who released Wondrous End released this double album before they gave up and disappeared. Most of the album consists of live tracks.

The music is neo-prog with some pretty good symphonic prog influences. 

The sound on this two and a half hours long album is not the best. Neither is the music particular good.

Faun was not a particular good band and this album is just a decent album. Fans of German neo-prog may check out this album.

2 points

 

 

Appleseed - Earn Heaven (2023)

The debut album from this band from Poland.

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

The album has been released on both CD and through Bandcamp by the very impressive Oskar Records in Poland. A label with a lot of albums out and I have already reviewed most of them during the last fifteen years.

The neo-prog scene in Poland is very strong and has always been strong. 

Appleseed is a new addition to this scene.

The music is both muscular and melancholic. Typical neo-prog from Poland in other words.

The vocals is good and the melodies are more than acceptable. Clocking in at fifty minutes, this album is a debut album the band can build on. I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

3 points

Hex A.D - Astro Tongue in the Electric Garden (2020)

The fourth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, organ, synths, mellotron and vocals.

This band album debuted as a heavy metal band back in 2014 and they has largely flown under my radar until they released this album where the reviews noted their progressive rock influences. That got my radar's attention. I have therefore got their last three albums up for review this summer.

The band members has played in Blaze Bayley, Paul Di Anno (both Iron Maiden) and Ripper Tim Owens (Judas Priest) bands and Absolute Steel. Classic heavy metal background, in other words. 

The music on this forty minutes long album is something altogether different.

Take stoner rock, add some power metal, classic hard rock and some progressive rock. 

The music is pretty hard throughout. The vocals is pretty melodic though.

Most of the music here is bold and has got a psych vibe. Make that; stoner vibe. 

The music is good throughout and this band has come as a surprise to me. This is another band from Norway worth following.

3 points

 

 

Perséide - Rites païens (2018)

The debut album from this band from Canada.

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

This band from Quebec has so far released three albums and I got them all for reviews this summer.

Earlier this year, I reviewed the four Barrdo albums. A band with a very original sound and take on progressive rock. The band is from the same area as Perseide. 

Both Perseide and Barrdo should indeed be regarded as associate members of the Quebec scene... if not fully paying members of this scene.

The music on the half an hour long Rites Paiens is a bit difficult to describe. Take a bit grunge, add some of the melody sensibilities of The Beatles, Rush and Led Zeppelin. There are also the folk rock symphonic prog from Harmonium here.

There is some hard edges in the music on this album too. The vocals, French, is good. 

Most of the music is melancholic and pretty pastoral. But the band rocks off now and then.

The result is a pretty unique, good album and a great way to introduce themselves. 

3 points

The Black Cat's Eye - The Empty Space Betwee..(2023)

The debut album from this band from Germany.

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

Two guests added flute and backing vocals on one song.

I know nothing about this band. This album just showed up in my review offers feed and I decided to give it a try.

The band released an EP before they released this album on vinyl, CD and Bandcamp. 

The music is a mix of psych rock, symphonic prog, neo-prog, krautrock and space rock.

The album is a bit unusual as it is forty minutes long and the first half or so is entirely instrumental. 

The first half has a lot of Pink Floyd influences and will make any fan of this band happy. If not... very happy. 

The vocal parts is also a bit more psych rock. The melodies are quirky and pretty interesting. The vocals is also good and adds value to this album. 

There is a lot of talents in this band and the music is well delivered.

The result is a good album and one to check out.

3 points

 

 

Bloodrock - Bloodrock (1970)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

Bloodrock as a pretty popular US hard rock band who then later moved to progressive rock and jazz. 

I recently got their six studio albums and will review them this summer.

This album has been described as a proto-metal album in magazines like Rolling Stones. I am not so sure about the metal elements here...

The music is heavy but it is still rooted in US country, southern rock, soul and blues. Even folk rock. It has this USA rock scene feel. 

The music is muscular, bold and pretty good. The good vocals helps off course.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. 

This is an earthly heavy rock album and one to check out. 

2.5 points

Voivod - Killing Technology (1987)

The third album from this band from Canada.

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

This album is their first album where they moved more towards progressive rock. This according to those who knows this band.

Well, I get that.

The music is still speed metal with a lot of punk and metal vocals. There is still a lot of punk here too. The music is....... well, speed metal. Very fast in other words.

There are still hooks and riffs from the progressive rock genre here. This somewhere in these cascades of speed metal and noise. They are subtle, but they are still there.

Bypassing all this speed and vocals, the music is actually pretty quirky.

I am not a speed metal fan. Nevertheless, the inclusion of these quirky riffs and themes makes this a decent album and an album fans of progressive metal should have on their radar.

Check out this album.

2 points

Daphne - Daphne (1996)

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

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

This album was released through Mellow Records, the leading Italian record label for progressive rock. The band is totally unknown and the band members disappeared from the scene altogether after the release of this album.

The music is a mix of RPI, progressive metal, neo-prog and pomp rock.

These fifty minutes makes a lot of visits to quite a lot of genres, to put it that way.

The music is still muscular and very much the child of the 1990s progressive metal sound.

The Italian vocals is good. The sound is not that good but it is still more than acceptable. 

The album is good when the music is slowed down so the flutes and the vocals comes in the foreground. The progressive metal stuff here is not particular interesting.

The result is a decent to good album who may appeal to everyone into the 1990s progressive rock scene. RPI fans should also include this album in their collection.

2.5 points

Far From Your Sun - In the Beginning​... (2016)

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

This person in this band does the vocals, guitars, synths and computers himself.

This one-man-band has so far released two albums and one EP through Bandcamp. I have yet to sample last year's album and the EP.

This album is a concept album about the history of the world. A nice concept...

The music is a mix of post-metal, singer/songwriter and art-rock.

The music is both melodic and uncomplicated. It is at times pretty pastoral too.

The good vocals is really carrying this album. All the seventy minutes of this album. Acoustic and electric guitars is the most prominent instruments. 

The result is an album somewhere between decent and good. There is a lot to enjoy on this album, indeed.

Check it out if melodic art-rock with an edge sounds tempting.

2.5 points

 

 

Karmic Juggernaut - Phantasmagloria (2023)

The second album from this band from USA.

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

Two guests has provided trumpet and trombone.

I really liked their 2018 debut album The Dreams The Stuff Are Made Of. The review is in # 2 of this series of blogs.

The band is listed as RIO/avant-garde in ProgArchives and I am a bit hesitant to review albums in that genre. But their debut album was not particular in that genre and neither is their new album.

The band offers up a mix of jazz, eclectic prog, college rock, symphonic prog and some hints of avant-garde/RIO. The music is both melodic and not so melodic.

The music is most of all eclectic and quirky. 

The music is loud and bold. It is hard.....well, maybe youthful and lively is the word. The music is fast with some strange quirky melodies.

The music is also good and this is a band well worth checking out.

3 points

 

 

Bayon - Tanz der Apsara (2008)

The sixth and final album from this band from Germany.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, congas, percussion, bass, guitars, mandolin, cello and flutes.

This band album debuted back in 1977, took some long breaks and finally released this album after another long break.

The band is a folk rock band. But the albums I have heard so far reminds me more about chamber rock and chamber neo-classical music.

This album is in the chamber neo-classical music genre.

There is no rock, folk music or even progressive rock here. OK, there are some Camel and Aranis references here. But that is it.

The music, mostly performed by flute, acoustic guitars and other strings based instruments, are pretty pastoral and melancholic. There is no fireworks on this album.

The music is decent in itself. It is what it is and it relaxes the listener as the same time as the listener gets some decent melodies and details to chew on.

Check out this album if chamber music is your cup of tea.

2 points

Canzoniere Del Lazio - Italien (1977)

The fifth album from this band from Italy.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, xylophone, percussion, bass, guitars, violins, piano, saxes, flutes and vocals.

This band released six albums and became pretty popular after their second album. Their cooperation with Area was the highlight of this band's musical outputs.

I have reviewed four of their albums without really being impressed.

Their music is Italian folk music with a lot of gypsy influences. There is also some jazz and rock influences in their music.

The music is wild and fast on this forty-five minutes long album. There is a lot of wild flutes, violins and female vocals on this album.

The quality is not really bad. There is not any good pieces of music here and that is my gripe with this album.

Those into folk rock should check out this album and indeed.... band.

2 points

Stone. Andrew - The Psykadelik Whirlpool (2023)

The second album from this artist from Great Britain.

Andrew Stone does the bass, mandolins, guitars, ukulele, guitar synths and vocals here.

He got help from guests who provided drums and violin.

This is a new name to me. His debut album The Pilgrim was released back in 2021. Both his albums and a couple of singles has been released through Bandcamp.

The music is a mix of singer/songwriter, psych rock, west-coast rock and art-rock. There are also a couple of strange songs here.

Most of the album, well, the whole album is melodic and mid-tempo. It is also pretty laidback too. Pink Floyd comes into the picture here.

The music is very cool throughout. The vocals is good.

The quality of the music is also good throughout these fifty minutes. 

This is an album well worth checking out. 

3 points

Circa Survive - Juturna (2005)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

This band has released seven albums to this date and I got all of them up for review this summer.

I am off course starting with the debut album. 

The music here is pretty intense post-hardcore with a lot of indie influences. The music is indeed indie rock. There is a lot of art-rock in their music too.

The vocals is intense and full on all the time. 

There are some melancholic pieces of music here too. That is... when the music get the chance to breathe. Which is not that often. There is also a lot of half-acoustic guitars here too.

The quality of the music is not really that impressive. It is a decent enough debut album and just that. 

I hope the band raised their game on the next albums...

2 points

Bowness.Tim - Flowers at the Scene (2019)

The fifth solo-album from this artist from Great Britain. 

Tim Bowness does the synths and vocals himself here.

He got help from around fifteen guests who added their drums, percussion, bass, guitars, strings, flute, trumpet, piano, keyboards, programming and vocals.

This is his ninth album if you include his coop albums with the likes of Peter Chilvers, Richardo Barbieri and Samuel Smiles. I have not included these albums.

Tim Bowness is a singer/songwriter who operates both within this tradition and the progressive rock tradition.

There is an awful lot of his vocals on this and his other albums. Hence this singer/songwriter genre where he belongs. 

Sometimes, his vocals is both underwritten and expanded by some good progressive rock influences. This is evident on the previous two albums.

Flowers At The Scene sees him withdrawing more back to the singer/songwriter genre. The music is not that expansive and complex.

That is a step backwards and this album is not as good as the previous two albums.

Nevertheless, this is a good album and one to check out.

3 points

Eye 2 Eye - The Wish (2011)

The third album from this band from France.

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

I reviewed their 2017 album The Light Bearer back in August 2017 for # 2 of this blog and liked it a lot. I have also now found a copy of their second album and will also review that in a week or two weeks time.

This band is one of the few English scene inspired neo-prog bands to come out of France.

There is a subtle difference though.... 

Eye 2 Eye incorporate a lot of muscular operatic music into their take on neo-prog. There are also a lot of symphonic prog here. 

The vocals is very good indeed. There are some very good keyboards run and solos here.

What is missing on this seventy minutes long album is some killer tunes. There are some great stuff here but not so much any killer tunes.

The result is a very good album. This is a band well worth checking out if you like symphonic prog and neo-prog.

3.5 points

Unifaun - Unifaun (2008)

The one and only album from this band from Sweden.

The band was a duo of Christian Bonamici (keyboards) and Nad Sylvan (drums, bass, percussion, guitars, keyboards and vocals).

A guest added drums on a couple of tracks.

This project was formed in a Genesis fan forum where Bonamici wanted feedback on a tribute to Genesis track he had written. Nad Sylvan got in touch and suggested both a band and a record. 

The result is this seventy-five minutes long album.

The music is very similar to Genesis indeed. It is not a Genesis rip-off album, though.

The music is based on this duo's own songs. None of them has stolen Genesis melodies or riffs. This album still has the feeling of an unreleased Genesis album, the gap between Wind & Wuthering and Then We Were Three. 

The sound is very good and ditto for the vocals. A couple of better songs would have been an asset to this album.

Nevertheless, Genesis and symphonic prog fans will really like this very good album. It is one of those sadly slightly obscure albums who deserve a lot more attention.

3.5 points

Heatwaves - Kappa (2023)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band is a new band in the Norwegian music scene. Their kind of music is not what I normally cover in this blog. But I got the promo album and that is that.

The music is a mix of jazz, funk, west-coast rock and dream pop. 

Most of the music is instrumental. There are also some more dream pop songs here too. One of them are pretty quirky. The vocals is good.

The music is very elegant and that goes in particular for the more jazz orientated parts here. There are also some good details throughout this album.

The result is somewhere between decent and good. This album is not making any new ground. But it is still a nice album.

2.5 points

Bayon - Suite (1980)

The second album from this band from Germany.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, flute and synths.

The band had help from two guests who provided accordion and percussion.

The band and this album is difficult to put in a genre. Folk rock is perhaps the best genre.

This forty minutes long album sees the band go acoustic and.... Well, the music is difficult to describe.

Neo-classical with folk rock influences and some acid folk is what I get out of this album. There are still some chamber music in their music.

The music is softly spoken too. 

This album is one of those albums who scores high on originality too.

The quality of the music is decent enough. I am again yet to be won over. Those who are looking for something special and original..... this is an album well worth checking out.

2 points

Canzoniere Del Lazio - Miradas (1977)

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, saxophones, flutes, piano and vocals. Male and female vocals.

The band had been reformed and they had their breakthrough with their previous two albums. 

The band teamed up with the avant-garde jazz combo Area on this album. 

The result is lively, to say at least. 

We still get lots of folk music here. The vocals is both male and female. 

The added saxophones and the added jazz gives this album a jazzy feel and sound. The vocals is hyper-busy too.

These forty minutes is pretty intense and busy. It leaves no prisoners. There is hardly a mellow minute on this album.

The result is a decent enough album. I am still to be won over.

2 points

One Shot - 111 (2023)

The fourth album from this band from France.

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

I had the joy of listen to and reviewing their 2011 live album Live In Tokyo back in January 2014 for # 1 of this blog. I loved that album and I decided to get hold of their then three studio albums. 

I must have forgotten that promise as I did not get them. Their third album was released in 2008, fifteen years ago. 111 is a comeback album, in other words.

The band has two keyboards players. In reality, one of them mostly plays a Fender Rhodes organ. One of them is also helping out the rhythm section while the other one is keeping the melody and solo alive.

The band plays fusion with a lot of zeuhl influences. 

The music is pretty hard edged with a lot of rhythms. Just like as in zeuhl.

There are some very good pieces here and some not so good pieces. Some rather dull pieces. 

The end result is a good album and one to check out. Let's hope the band will stick around for some more albums.

3 points

Psicolorama - My Name is Guggenheim Vol. 3 (2019)

The 16th album from this one-man-band from Spain.

The man in this band did the guitars, vibraphones, synths and computers himself.

After some good organic sounding albums from Psicolorama, where even psych and progressive rock were being explored, we are now back in ambient music.

Eighty minutes of ambient music, no less. Events 1-3 and a closing section.

There is nothing much going on here and I am glad this one is out on name-your-price Bandcamp as it would be bad setting a price for this drivel. Because that is what it is. 

Nothing much is happening here as the music is as interesting as watching paint dry.

This is an album well worth bypassing.

1 point

Alpha III - The Aleph (1989)

The seventh album from this band from Brazil.

The band is a one-man-band and the band is Amyr Cantusio Jr on drums, percussion, bass, whistles, grand piano, organ, synths, keyboards and vocals.

I have yet to be impressed, let alone satisfied by any of his albums. So I am giving this album a try.

This album is thirty-eight minutes long, divided on two pieces of music. The Aleph part 1 and The Aleph part 2.

The sound is pretty flat. The vocals here is mad laughing. The music is mostly neo-classical and it is pretty cinematic. It feels like background music for some adult movies.

The music falls flat on it's face as the standard is poor.

This is in other words a turkey and best bypassed.

1 point

Exit - Exit (1975)

The one and only album from this band from Switzerland.

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

Switzerland has never been the most prolific contributor of progressive rock bands and albums. But they have still given us some good bands.

Exit was a short lived band.

The music on this album is a mix of psych rock, hard rock and symphonic prog. Add some krautrock too and you get this album.

The vocals is good. Ditto for the organ sound and the sound in general. 

This album is quite a charmer. The mix of psych, hard rock and symphonic prog is a good mix. It has this 1970s sound and ambience. 

The result is a forty minutes long decent album. It is an album well worth checking out for those who likes the sound of the 1970s. 

2 points

Undertakers Circus - Ragnarock (1973)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a ten piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, congas, woodwinds and vocals.

Some guests added their saxophones, piano, congas and flutes. 

This band released two albums before they gave up the ghost. Both albums has just been re-released on CD if my memories serves me right.

The main genre here is brass rock. The band has numerous brass players. The result is obvious. A good, a very good reference is Blood, Sweat & Tears. 

The band is also dabbling with hard rock, rockabilly and rock on this album.

The vocals are good throughout.

The quality is not particular good and this is an album prog rock fans can safely bypass.

This is a half decent album but nothing more than that. I think I will bypass their second album altogether. 

1.5 points

Ring Van Möbius - Commissioned Works Pt II (2023)

The third album from this band from Norway.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, timpani, tubular bells, glockenspiel, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards, organ, moog, mellotron and vocals.

This band has so far released two great albums. Two very impressive albums. Their claim to the throne as the kings of Norwegian progressive rock is a strong one.

Hence, I was very happy when I got a reviewer version of their new album. An album to be reviewed in mid July 2023. Hence, I am too early with this review. Something I just discovered. But.... Anyway.

The band still sounds like a marriage between Van Der Graaf Generator and ELP. The music has become even more complex on this album and there is clear Yes references in their music too.

The music is very bombastic, epic and complex.

It is also uplifting and has a lot of great melodies and details.

This album is by no means easy listening. It takes a lot out of the listener. It demands a lot from the listener.

Then and only then does the album reveal itself.

This is another great album from this Norwegian band and surely one of the best albums so far this year.

The throne is yours, Ring Van Mobius.

4 points

Folque - Fredløs (1980)

The fifth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, dulcimer, guitars, fiddle, mandolin, banjo and vocals. 

Folque is regarded as the biggest folk rock band in Norway. Was at least until Lumsk arrived on the scene thirty years later.

Fredlos sees the band turning more towards traditional folk music again. There is some rock here but sadly no progressive rock. 

The music is songs based and there is both male and female vocals here. Both of them are good.

The music is decent enough without really being impressive. The music is simply too primitive.

If folk music is your thing, this is an album well worth checking out.

2 points

Ekseption - Mindmirror (1975)

The eight album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a sextet on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, piano, organ, trumpet and saxophone.

A guest added voices.

This is the second and final album in his band's fusion period. 

The founders of this band had left the band well before their previous album Bingo and we got some members who preferred fusion instead of their normal fare...... symphonic prog.

This reminds me about when Gong went fusion too. They released some very good fusion albums.

Bingo was a good album. Mindmirror is more an all out fusion album without any of the neo classical music detours Bingo had. 

The music here is also leaning towards Focus at times too.

The quality is decent enough. The album is suffering from the lack of great or even good piece of music. The band then promptly reinstalled the old regime and returned to what made their name.

2 points

Jethro Tull - RökFlöte (2023)

The 24th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A new album from these legends and that hot on the heels of the very good The Zealot Gene from last year. 

Happy days.

Jethro Tull has an unique sound and their back catalogue is full of classics and great albums. I rate them as one of the best ever progressive rock bands ever. Make that; among the ten best ever rock and pop bands.

Many reviewers before me has noted that Ian Anderson's vocals and voice is shot to pieces and gone on this album. Yes, that is not an unfair criticism. Age has finally caught up with one of the best ever vocalists and artists. 

The music on this album is still folk rock with a lot of progressive rock influences. Progressive folk rock. There is also a lot of more harder rock here when the flute has been put away. That is not often, though.

The music is flutes and vocals orientated. 

There is one great song here. The rest is good or decent enough. I settle on a good rating. A weak one but I cannot deny that this band is pure class and that I really feel at home in their music. 

This albums is not as good as The Zealot Gene but it is still a good album.

3 points

Zappa. Frank - Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970)

The eight album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the guitars, organ and vocals on this album.

He had help from a dozen other musicians who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, woodwinds, piano, keyboards and vocals.

His seventh album, Hot Rats, was the first ever Frank Zappa album I really gave a good rating. The previous six albums is of a poor standard although a lot of them are loved by a lot of people. 

I am more interested in music than samples and kindergarten and cultural ditties.

Frank Zappa has retained a lot of the jazz from Hot Rats and blended the jazz with some pop tunes and ditties. 

This time, the ditties and the pop tunes is not that bad. Some of them are rather good. The few neo-classical bits here are pretty cool.

The jazz bits has a notable drop in the sound quality and that is not so good. These bits are still pretty good, though.

The result is a forty minutes long album with a lot of varied stuff. Most of it is working but some of it is not. There is no scary bad stuff here though.

This is an acceptable album and pretty close to being a good album.

2.5 points

 

 

 

Beggars Opera - Lifeline (1980)

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The band had moved on since their symphonic prog rock days. 

Each album was a bigger and bigger departure from their roots. 

Lifeline sees them as both a heavy metal band and a commercial rock band. 

The band could not really decide if they were a rock band or a heavy metal band. This album is therefore more a compromise than anything else.

The music is pretty horrendous and not even worth their name. 

This is their last album before they split up and took a long break. A wise move. Releasing this turkey was not a wise move.

1 point

Eik. Alf Emil - Joy & Breath Of Eternity (1979)

The one and only album from this artist from Norway.

Alf Emil Eik did the drums, bass, guitars, vocals and synths on his own. 

He got help from some guests on piano, saxophone and female vocals. 

The music here is a mix of cinematic music and fusion. 

A lot of this music could have been included in TV series and movies as background and mood music. 

The music is a mix of more ballads kind of fusion and more dynamic fusion.

The music is really slick and full of synths and some guitars.

The quality is decent enough. My only gripe with this this album is the lack of any really great music.

Besides of that issue, this album is somewhere between decent and good.

Fans of fusion from Scandinavia should check out this album.

2.5 points