Bushman's Revenge - Cowboy Music (2007)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band has so far released seven albums and I got three of them up for review this autumn. I am looking into getting the rest of them too.

No, this is not country'n'western. This is jazz.

Well, raw and harsh jazz with some metal and eclectic prog influences.

Most of the music is very harsh jazz with a lot of dissonance and avant-garde ideas. There are also some pastoral pieces here.

This album is long.. fifty minutes long and it takes this forum of power trio jazz to it's limits. I would say, almost too long. Nevertheless, this is a decent album which has not set the world on fire. 

If dissonant raw jazz is your thing....

2 points

Chronicles of Father Robin. The - Book 1 (2023)

 

 

The Songs & Tales of Airoea Book I: The Tale of Father Robin (State of Nature)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, glockenspiel, bass, guitars, mandolin, organ, piano, synths, keyboards, flute, electronics and vocals.

Four guests added backing vocals, mellotron, clavinet, organ, electric piano, synths and keyboards.

This band debuted twenty years ago on some festivals before life in general postponed any further activities. The band was more like a ghost in the scene than a real band during these twenty years as the members got involved in bands like Jordsjo, Samuel Jackson Five, Tusmorke and Wobbler. Then the members reunited again and made a strictly limited box (500 x) with three LPs.

This box is one of the most ambitious and eccentric projects og all time in Norwegian progressive rock. Perhaps also in the worldwide scene too. But thankfully, these three LPs has also been made available as single CDs and download albums through their Bandcamp site. That also means the second album will be released in some weeks time. The final album will be digitally released early next year.

In the meantime, the progressive rock scene is listening to this album.

The music takes us both back to the 1970s and the contemporary Scandinavian prog rock scene. Even the Italian progressive rock scene. There is indeed a lot of RPI in their music.

The music is a mix of progressive folk and symphonic prog. It is complex and bombastic. It is also pretty eclectic and it has a lot of good vocals, both male and female vocals.

There is also a lot of vintage organ and mellotron here. The guitars are mostly half-acoustic. 

There is a lot of contrasts here. The contrasts between hard music and pastoral vocals is what makes this album into a very good album......... Although I get the feeling most other reviewers and fans will elevate this album to a classic album status. They may be right and I am pretty sure this album will be a hot topic when the Norwegian progressive rock scene will be debated in decades to come.

Check out this album.

3.5 points

 

 

Radiohead - The Bends (1995)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Three guests added strings.

Their 1993 debut album Pablo Honey exploded onto the scene due to the (excellent) hit single Creeps and their excellent live performances. The rest of the album was decent enough indie rock.

The band was not happy about the direction on Pablo Honey. So they changed direction and went for art-rock. The same direction and genre later populated by the likes of Marillion after their change of vocalists. 

Art rock it is.... despite of thei band being thrown into the same piece of musical territory as Oasis, Blur, Verve adn Suede. Yes, Britpop. Radiohead hated this label. They still do. The reason is that they never ever was a part of that scene.

The music on The Bends is sophisticated, well crafted and intelligent art-rock. The album includes a couple great songs too. Street Spirit and High And Dry is these two songs.

The overall quality of the songs are good. The music is pretty complicated at time and this is by no mean an indie rock album. The band really delivered some art on this album. Art copied by many bands in the neo-prog genre too.

Check out this album.

3.5 points

 

 

Doors. The - L.A. Woman (1971)

The sixth album from this band from USA.

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

Two guests added bass and guitars.

The Doors was and will always be associated with the flawed genious that was Jim Morrison. A vocalist whose charisma shines through on everyone of their songs. Their other musicians was brilliant musicians and song writers. But they did not have that charisma and The Doors was all about charisma.

Jim Morrison was by now a fat alcholic. When this album saw the light of day, he was a dead alcoholic, succumbing to alcoholism in a seedy bathroom in a seedy bar in Paris, France. He is buried in Paris and it says alot about Jim Morrison and indeed the six The Doors albums he took part in that his grave is one if the most visited tourist attractions in Paris, one of the greatest cities in the world.

The music on this album contains of nine decent blues and rock songs and then the final, great songs ever to come from the band and Jim Morrison. Yes, it is Raiders Of The Storm.

Although the title track was a minor hit, it is not a good song. Neither is this a good album.

This is the final Jim Morrison album. The rest of the band staggered around for two more albums, both to be reviewed next month, before they gave up the ghost. Jim Morrison then got a sainthood status and Oliver Stone cemented this status with the hit movie The Doors.

This album is....

2.5 points 

 

 

Combination Head - Progress? (2008)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added drums, percussion and vocals.

Their 2006 self-titled debut album was an ELP and Triumvirat worship album. It was not a good album.

The band has totally changed direction on Progress?. 

Take neo-prog, add some electronica, some pop/rock, some ELP worship remnants and a whiff of folk rock. This is what we get on these forty-five minutes.

The vocals is both male and female. They are good. The sporadic organs are very good. The sound is good and the guitarists does a good job.

There is not many interesting details here and the quality is not up there yet. I do understand why this band did not get any breakthrough with this album. The music is not good enough.

This is still an improvement on the debut album and one to check out.

2.5 points

Maypole - Maypole (1971)

The debut album from this band from USA

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

This band was quite popular around the release of this album. It got plenty of airplay around the world and sold well. A second album was then recorded. But the band then broke up and the second and final album was released by small record label some years ago. 

The Real has also seen some re-releases and is also called just The Real on one of the many re-releases. 

The music is a mix of psych rock, blues and hard rock. References are Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin and Iron Butterfly.

Most of the songs are heavy. There are some more mid-paced and slow pace music here too. But not many. 

The music is pretty good too and this is an album fans of old hard rock should check out. There is no good songs here but the album is nicely ticking over and it is an entertaining album. 

Fans of good old 1970s rock should check out this album.

2 points

MaterialEyes - Inside Out (2023)

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

I reviewed their first three albums in # 2 of this blog and was not overly impressed by their music. The music was a bit too uncomplicated art rock bordering to standard rock/pop. 

The band returned again with some more live friendly music. The band has also taken a couple of steps towards neo-prog.

I would now label the music on this album as melodic neo-prog. Yes, there are still some pop/rock here too. But the band has gone in the right direction here. And there is even some pieces of more eclectic instrumentals who are breaking up what could have been a too straight forward sounding melodic album.

We are not talking about complicated music. The quality has improved too. The vocals are good.

The band is nowhere near the elite of British neo-prog bands. Nevertheless, this one hour long album gives the listener some melodic cleverly crafted neo-prog. 

Check out this album.

3 points

Moongarden - Songs from the Lighthouse (2008)

 

The fifth album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, chapman stick, mellotron, keyboards, piano and vocals.

Andy Tillison did the vocals on one of the songs.

Moongarden is very probably the best neo-prog band from Italy. They have released ten albums.

The members of this band, which has evolved to a some sort of a super-group over the years, also run their own RPI bands too.

Moongarden has always had this British take on progressive rock and neo-prog. There are some RPI influences here though. 

The songs are between three minutes and eleven minutes long. The album clocks in at seventy minutes too.

The music is pretty complex but yet pretty melodic. Andy's vocals on one of the tracks is noted and pretty funny, make that very good. The overall quality of the vocals is also very good. 

There is no outstanding great songs here. This is a good album throughout and one to really please all neo-prog followers. Even fans of the 1970s symphonic prog scene will really enjoy this album.

3 points

Modern Rock Ensemble - Night Dreams & Wishes (2019)

The second and so far latest album from this project from Ukraine.

This is a one man band where Vladimir Goraschencho did the percussion, guitars, synths and keyboards. He also composed everything here.

He had help from around twenty guests who provided drums, woodwinds, strings, bass, timpani, guitars, synths, choirs and vocals.

For some reasons, this band has been labeled as neo-prog. Nothing could be further from what comes out of my speakers. And there is nothing wrong with the speakers in my office. 

As with their debut album, the music is a mix of neo-classical music and musicals. Off Broadway musicals, that is....

The musical bits has a mix of grim male vocals and some melodic female vocals. Their songs are down the folk rock end of the musicals spectrum. Les Miserables kind of musicals.

The neo-classical music is big, bold and not particular interesting. This eighty minutes is a bit bereft of original thinking and ideas. 

It is a decent album, though. 

2 points

Big Big Train - Ingenious Devices (2023)

The 16th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was an eight piece big band on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, strings, accordion, mandolin, keyboards, flute and vocals.

This album was released after the sad, indeed tragic passing of the vocalist David Longdon in a car accident last year. One of the more more tragic events in the progressive rock scene this century. 

The music is three re-arranged songs plus a short eighty seconds long instrumental and then a live songs with another vocalist. 

It is not a proper, proper studio album with brand new stuff. But this stuff is still unique enough to be new for everyone outside the band. 

David Longdon's vocals are beautiful, beautiful and brings a tear to this reviewer's eyes. 

The music is pastoral symphonic prog with a lot of neo-prog influences. There is lots of strings here, underpinning the vocals.

The music is very beautiful and elegant. It is also very good.

I am not sure what their plans are. But if this is their final studio album, they are going out on top.... although as the result of a tragedy.  

3.5 points

 

Zappa. Frank - One Size Fits All (1975)

The 16th album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the guitars and vocals here.

He got help from some guests who added vibes, percussion, marimba, drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, synths, flutes, harmonica, saxophones and backing vocals.

Every time I am confronted with another Frank Zappa album to review, I wonder what this album will take me. 

Frank Zappa has mainly left his puberile era behind him and started to release albums with musical merits. Some of them in the jazz genre and some more in the rock genre.

On this album, Frank Zappa has taken the best from every genre and era he has visited and put it into a forty-three minutes long album. He has finally mature... Just like a bottle of fine wine.

The music is funky, bluesy, a bit whimsical and a bit jazzy. There are some very, very good guitar solos here. It is most of all a solid rock album. A bit whimsical and quirky, but still a solid rock album.

The vocals is really good and the music is flowing. In retrospective, it is obvious that Prince has been listening to this album. A lot, is my guess. The inspirations is scattered all over his music. 

The songs here are really good. Very good, in fact. I have been told that a lot of people has this album as their favourite Frank Zappa album. I am not surprised.

3.5 points

 

 

Elder - Lore (2015)

The third album from this band from USA.

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

I am continuing my reviews of all their albums. Seven albums, that is.

Elder is a very active band on the tour scene. They had a breakthrough with this album... sort of a breakthrough. Even I became aware of them.

Their music is a mix of stoner rock, space rock and psych rock. The music is not as fiendish cold as stoner rock and it has adopted some of the warmth of from the space rock.

The music is pretty epic too. Epic and bold.

It is also pretty melodic, despite of it being a bit harsh and heavy.

The vocals is good and the music is very complex at times too.

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

3 points

Combination Head - Combination Head (2006)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Two guests added drums on various tracks.

This band released three albums between 2006 and 2011 before they split up.

The band got my attention when I discovered that they were listed as a neo-prog band in ProgArchives. Hence, I got their albums and they are up for reviews this fall.

There is nothing that reminds me about neo-prog on this, their debut album. The band has gone down the road of ELP, Triumvirat and Trace worshipping here. 

Instrumental symphonic prog with some neo-classical music influences in other words. 

The music feels a bit calculated and cold. It is mostly performed by a mix of keyboards and guitars. 

There is no fireworks or fire on this forty minutes long album. This is a decent album but nothing more than that.

2 points

Trojka - I Speilvendthet (2017)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

Some guests added percussion, vibraphone, strings, flute, saxophone and synths.

I reviewed their 2019 second album Tre Ut three years ago for # 2 of this blog and was pretty surprised when a Norwegian progheads forum published a link to their first album too. I promptly got this album too. The reason is that I really liked Tre Ut and it's Canterbury prog.

The band is indeed a Canterbury prog band and that is also very much the case on their debut album too. A good reference is Supersister and their first two albums.

The nine songs here are really quirky and underpinned by some really good Norwegian vocals and the exceptional elegant use of vibraphone. 

This give the band and indeed this album it's very own identity. 

There are some not so good songs here inbetween a couple of very good songs. This is still a good album and one you can get from their Bandcamp page. I am really looking forward to their new album to be released early next year. Add this band to the long list of very good Norwegian progressive rock bands.

3 points

 

 

Soft Machine - Other Doors (2023)

The 13th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, saxophones, fender rhodes piano, flute and electronics.

A guest added bass on two tracks.

This band started out as Soft Machine Legacy before they reverted back to Soft Machine again. This because most of the band members had been members of the good old Soft Machine many decades ago. Soft Machine Legacy should have kept the Soft Machine name from the very start too. This in hindsight. 

The "new" Soft Machine, and indeed Soft Machine Legacy, has seen the band become a more jazz band than a fusion band. 

The jazz is dense and it is at times pastoral and the music is not as melodic. The music is also pretty avant-garde at times.

The music is also good throughout. The musicians does a great job on this album who sadly became the Nucleus/Soft Machine drummer John Marshall's final album before he passed away some weeks ago.

3 points

 

Moongarden - Moonsadness (1994)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

Three guests added guitar, flute and lead vocals.

Moongarden has just released their new album, their tenth album. I have, to my shame, only reviewed three of them and is reviewing three of their albums this fall. Starting with this one....

The band is one of the bigger neo-prog bands in Italy. They have been, and rightly so, associated with the RPI scene too although their music is not RPI. Their music is more British influenced neo-prog.

The band took their first steps, babysteps, on this album. A forty minutes long album.

The sound is very much a mix of the 1980s neo-prog sound and some 1990s neo-prog sound. The songs are pretty poor.

There are some good details here though. Nevertheless, this is a decent album and one they could improve on.

2 points

 

 

Modern Rock Ensemble - Touch The Mystery (2016)

The debut album from this project from Ukraine.

The band is a one-man-band with Vladimir Gorashchenko on electric sitar, guitars, synths and vocals.

He got help from around twenty guests who added drums, bass, percussion, strings, guitars, woodwinds, synths and piano.

This is a bit of a ambitious project who has so far released two albums. Both are up for review here, starting with this album.

There are two vocals tracks here. That is one English and one Russian language version of the opening track who then closes the track again. 

We get a mix of cinematic music and neo-classical music between these two tracks. 

The album is one hour long and it is a bit wishy-washy. There is not many interesting details here and the music is not good.

This is a decent enough album, hiding behind some cover arts who are promising more than the music can deliver. 

2 points

Southern Empire - Another World (2023)

The third album from this band from Australia.

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

Half a dozen of guests added woodwinds, violin, flute, guitars, vocals and narration.

This band was formed by Sean Timms, the leading light in the Australian prog rock scene, after the demise of Unitopia, one the best ever bands from down under.

Southern Empire has on the first two albums claimed this crown and their claim has been a strong one.

Another World gives us a mix of pomp rock and neo-prog. There is also some AOR, art-rock and progressive metal here.

It is my understanding that this is a rock opera and there is indeed some musicals sounding music here. This album also includes a pretty long neo-classical piece. 

The music is very epic and bold. It has a symphonic prog feel too.

The music is also very good and it ticks most of the classic album boxes. Some of the songs could have been better. Nevertheless, this is a very good album from the best band down under.

3.5 points

Drudkh - A Furrow Cut Short (2015)

The tenth album from this band from Ukraine.

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

This band got the prog rock community's attention for their mix of black metal, folk rock and progressive rock on some of their albums.

That was some albums ago.

What we get on A Furrow Cut Short is black metal.

The black metal is fast and furious. It is also pretty epic. The vocals is raw and screamo.

We get one hour of black metal here. The music is not bad at all and this band is among my favourite black metal bands. This is not a long list, though. But their take on black metal is one I can live with.

This is a decent album. But beware, this is not an album for prog rock purists.

2 points

Voivod - Voivod (2003)

The tenth album from this band from Canada.

The band is a quartet on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

The band is celebrating their tenth album with this, a self-titled album. Releasing ten albums is a major achievement. In particular in the genres this band is jumping between.

The original vocalist Snake has returned again and the band has recruited the ex Metallica and Flotsam & Jetsam bassist for this album. You can even hear his bass on this album. 

His bass is indeed adding a lot of value to a much changed landscape from the previous two albums. We are back in grunge and stoner rock again. There are even some heavy metal influences here.

The music is pretty avant-garde. This is still Voivod and the same philosophy. 

The music is pretty melodic though. But this is not a melodic album. The music is still quirky and eclectic. This also very much helped by the snarling vocals.

The music is also very hard at times.

The result is a good album. It is not one of their best ones. But it rocks and there is enough details here to really make this album both interesting and good.

3 points

Führs & Fröhling - Diary (1981)

The third and final album from this duo from Germany.

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

Detlef Wiedecke was the drummer on this album, taking over from Eduard Schicke.

The Schicke & Fuhrs & Frohling released altogether seven albums. Four as Schicke & Fuhrs & Frohling and three as Fuhrs & Frohling. The last one was released in 2011. All of them in the krautrock, neo-classical and symphonic prog genres.

The forty minutes long Diary sees the band in a landscape somewhere between neo-classical music and symphonic prog. 

There are a lot of Eloy influences here. But most of all does the Mike Oldfield influences shines through on this album. Tubular Bells is an album which must have inspired this album a lot.

The result is a decent enough album and perhaps their weakest album. 

This trio, even as a duo, called Schicke & Fuhrs & Frohling is still well worth checking out. Start with their first two albums, their two best albums. 

2 points

 

 

Malesh - Hermitage (2020)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

A guest added tabla on one track.

This band has so far released two albums through their Bandcamp page and they are now a quartet.

The music is Middle-East folk rock influenced post metal. And there is not a single RPI tone or influence in their music.

The music is very cinematic and has a lot of space-rock influenses too. It is also medium heavy and hard.

There is some light and shade on this album..... contrasts. Most of this thirty-five minutes long album is cinematic with some space rock filling in the gaps. 

The result is a good album and one to check out. It is a Bandcamp album and some time on their webpage is well spent time.

3 points

ArcaMiri - Spine (2022)

The second full length album from this band from Italy.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, synths, minlogue synth and vocals.

I have in # 2 of this blog reviewed their EP and their 2019 debut full length album. I noted that their music was a mix of eclectic prog, RPI and jazz.

The band has still the same lineup.

The band has made a subtle change when it comes to the music.

Most of the eclectic prog, the King Crimson and the Piccho Dal Pozzo and Stormy Six influences has gone. 

The band has instead gone down towards a mix of RPI and vocal jazz. That means female vocals.

The band is far from being a run of the mill RPI band and most RPI fans will find this music a bit outside their musical preferences.

The music is pretty good though. My only gripe is that there is not enough good music on this one hour long album. It is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Hanlon's Razor - Stockholm (2023)

The second album from this band from The Netherlands.

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

I was not particular impressed by their 2021 debut album Paradigm. Art-rock meets King Crimson. That and some pretty decent but still disappointing music.

Dutch neo-prog and progressive rock has a pretty good name & reputation in my office. Hence, I normally get albums from The Netherlands only based on their good name. 

Hanlon's Razor has moved on from Paradigm and their music is more a mix of art-rock and neo-prog on Stockholm. There are some heavy prog here too and some Porcupine Tree influences are very evident here.

The music is very muscular. This forty-five minutes long album is an improvement on their debut album... but not by much. The quality is somewhere between decent and good.

It is still an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Cross - Da Capo (2014)

The tenth album from this band from Sweden.

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

A guest added more keyboards.

This is not really a new studio album with new songs. Song 1 has been taken from their second album and songs 2-5 is from their third album. They are re-arranged and re-recorded.

Hence the Da Capo album title..... and I discovered it too late. If I had seen this in the beginning, I may have given this forty-six minutes long album a miss.

The music is a mix of art-rock, pomp rock and AOR. There is also some 1980s neo-prog here.

The vocals and the sound is good. 

The quality of the music is decent enough without really impressing me. The music is too anonymous and too much like most of the songs in this genre.

This also concludes my handful of reviews of this band. Their best album by many country miles is the 2009 album The Thrill Of Nothingness. The rest of the albums falls a bit short.

2 points

Acid Rooster - Flowers & Dead Souls (2023)

The second album from this band from Germany.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitar, sitar, synths and mellotron.

This band from Leipzig album debuted in 2019 and then took a long break. Perhaps a pandemic break. The band then returned with this Bandcamp album and LP.

The music is, as most people would have guessed by now, a mix of kraut, acid and space rock. 

There is a lot of half-acoustic guitars in their music and that gives this album a pretty good organic feel. This also gives the music a great deal of an acid rock feel. Even some psych rock feel.

Most of this forty-five minutes long album takes place somewhere in space. Not in outer space, but still in a space rock setting.

The music is cleverly crafted and groovy at the same time. There is a lot of melodic sensibility in the music too.

The synths and mellotron is mainly backing up the guitars. A wall of bass and drums is underpinning the grooves and the music.

The result is a good album and one to check out if kraut and space rock floats your boat. 

Check it out.

3 points

Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt (2004)

The third album from this band from Sweden.

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

Five guests added drums, violin, saxophone and vocals.

The band continued with their third album. Someone told me that this is their best album... their masterpiece. Well....

The music here is mix of folk rock and Scandinavian symphonic prog. Add on some punk, a bit neo-classical music and a considerable amount of eclectic prog.

There is some Kaipa influences here. But most of all, Dungen is themselves and their own genre. A genre later also occupied by Agusa, a new Swedish band.

The vocals is very good and the main theme in this largely conceptual fifty-five minutes long piece of music is good to very good.

The overall quality is very good. A masterpiece.... nope. Nevertheless, check out this album.

3.5 points

 

 

Ghost - Opus Eponymous (2010)

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

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

This band has become one of the bigger rock bands in the last ten years and that has awakened my curiosity. Hence, I got their five albums for review this fall.  

Is this band as hollow and cartoon like as Gwar ? That was my first question. I had no idea what to expect.

This album was self-released and became a sensation. The lyrics are satanic and the stage personas a bit over the top. Well, far over the top. 

The music is a mix of indie rock and heavy metal. There are some goth here too. 

Ghost has not reinvented the wheel with the music on this album. It comes across as a bit heavy metal light, although with satanic lyrics. 

The quality of the music is decent enough. The band is a cleverly marketed and their stage personas is what made this band such a force to be reckoned with in the music business. The music.... nope.

2 points

Schicke & Führs & Fröhling - Ticket To Everywhere (1979)

The third album from this band from Germany.

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

This trio was to a certain degree pretty similar til ELP and can be labeled as krautrock's answer to ELP. Which is a pretty precise label too.

The music is a lively mix of kraut and symphonic prog. Eloy is a good reference too.

The music is mid tempo with a lot of neo-classical and German folk music references. A lot of the beer kellers in Munich during the festival springs to mind.

It is well performed and just proves that this is a band who deserve a lot more attention and credit.

This is an enjoyable, although not always a good album. Check it out.

2.5 points

 

 

Montes - Cuando Brille El Tiempo (1974)

The one and only album from this band from Argentina.

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

Three guests added drums, electric piano and bass.

This is a very obscure band focused around the guitarist Jorge Montes. He was a member of various bands in Argentina before he went solo and recorded this album. The band then relocated to Bolivia and Equador where they split up and vanished without a trace.

This is the story I have heard and I have therefore included it here.

The music is a mix of hard rock, rock and progressive rock. Early Rush anno their debut album is a pretty good reference. Budgie from Wales also springs to mind.

The vocals are Spanish male vocals and they are rather good. The sound is far better than expected and rather good too.

The music is pretty hard throughout. There are a couple of pastoral ballads here and they are interesting. The guitars are hard and there are some interesting solos here.

The quality of the music is decent enough. It is not hard to understand why this is a forgotten obscure album. It is still an album well worth checking out from wherever it is available.

2 points

BrokenMan - Songs in the Absence of Light (2023)

The debut album from this band from Liverpool, Great Britain.

This is a duo and the lineup is guitars, bass, electronics and vocals.

This album was pushed to me as a progressive rock album..... I quite like the art-work and wanted to include it in this blog, making it more arty/an art gallery.

It is one of the many art-rock albums who are dipping into both indie rock and post-rock. It also has some neo-prog influences. A progressive rock album ? Not in a strict sense.

The music is melodic and fresh. The post-rock influences shines through here. The music is not a million miles away from Anathema. 

In short, Anathema fans must check out this Bandcamp album. Both bands are from Liverpool, btw.

The music is not very complex. The vocals is good and there are some good details here.

The result is fifty-five minutes of decent to good music. Music that will find a lot of friends if the band manages to get this album known and well marketed in an overcrowded marketplace.

2.5 points

 

 

Hanlon's Razor - Paradigm (2021)

The debut album from The Netherlands.

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

A guest added his bass to this album.

Hanlon's Razor is a bit of a strange band..... At least on this album. The band released their new, second album earlier this year and I will review that album later this week.

Back to their music.... Let's start with art-rock and add a lot of eclectic prog. Eclectic prog in the vein of King Crimson anno their Beat album. 

There are also some pretty strong americana and psych rock influences here.

This album is a bit of a challenge. Challenge because it falls way short of the quality level I foolishly expected from this album. Dutch progressive rock normally has some pretty high standards.

The songs here are not particular good. Neither is the vocals and the guitars. The result is a decent album but nothing more than that.

2 points

Cross - Wake Up Call (2012)

The ninth album from this band from Sweden.

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

Some guests added violin, electric violin, keyboards, male and female backing vocals.

This band's album art-work and nationality has drawn me in and so much that I have so far reviewed half a dozen of their albums. It has seldom been a satisfactory experience.

I really liked and highly rated their previous album, The Thrill Of Nothingness from 2009. I had some high hopes for Wake Up Call.....

The music on this album is a mix of art-rock, pomp-rock and some neo-prog.

The music is pretty elegant and bold. 

There is some hints of the Scandinavian symphonic prog sound here too. But only hints as the production and sound is thoroughly in the pomp vein.

The songs on this fifty-five minutes long album is decent enough and just that. This band does not give me much joy, I am afraid.....

2 points

Alpenstock - Boudu Story (2023)

The debut album from this band from Switzerland.

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

A guest added narrations on the first and final track.

This is another album given to me as being a progressive rock album. Hmmm.........

The music is not too far away from the holy grail, though.

Take art-rock, add some psych rock and a lot of mainstream rock. There is some of the wailing Pink Floyd background vocals here too. 

The music is mid-tempo and pretty pedestrian. 

The quality is not that good either. There is no good piece of music here.

This is a decent album and just that. It is available on Bandcamp and those interested can check it out there.

2 points

Radiohead - Pablo Honey (1993)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Radiohead may be a band too "big" for this blog. Nevertheless, they have been a highly influential band for a lot of genres, including progressive rock, since they album debuted with this album. Or to be more precise, since the release of their second album. I am therefore going to review their nine albums in this blog.

Pablo Honey is most known for the hitsingle and Beavis & Butthead (MTV series) favourite song Creep. A song the band feels has been a millstone around their neck. I am not so sure about that. But it lumped them into this Britpop genre and that was not a good thing. 

Creep is a great song and one of the highlights of British pop and rock from the 1990s. 

The rest of the album is a mix of indie rock with some loud rockers and some more pastoral indie pop songs. The title track is the second best song here. The rest of the songs are very introverted and does not blossom into flowers at all. In short, they are only half decent songs.

The result is a decent album and an album which made the scene take notice. And rightly so.

2 points

Doors. The - Morrison Hotel (1970)

The fifth album from this band from USA.

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

A handful of guests added bass, harmonica and moog to the album.

The band was still a going concern despite of Jim Morrison and his eratic behaviour. His vocals was still great though.

The band's debut album, Jim Morrison's elevation from an abusive alcoholic to a saint by the rock culture and then the big movie about the band has made it difficult to really give the rest of their album the respect they deserve. 

Morrison Hotel is a mix of blues, psych rock and stadium rock songs. 

The best songs here are the psych rock songs. The Doors was and still is one of the best ever psych rock bands. They had their own style. When they went down the psych rock path, songs on this album like Waiting For The Sun and Ship Of Fools is good songs.

The rest of the songs are only saved by Jim's vocals and the rest of the band as the quality is not particular good or even decent.

The result is a decent album. An album overshadowed by the reputation of this band.

2 points

 

 

Führs & Fröhling - Strings (1979)

The second album from this duo.

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

This duo worked on and off together with Edward Schicke as Schicke & Fuhrs & Frohling. The trio split into a this duo for three albums and this is the second of these albums. 

Their debut as a duo was Ammerland from 1978 and that was a decent album. See my review posted earlier this year.

The music on Strings has a lot in common with Mike Oldfield in his most pastoral, acoustic moments. The music is mostly made by piano, keyboards and acoustic guitars. It is pretty ambient and pastoral. The music is pretty slow too. Very slow at times.

The music can be labeled as neo-classical or ambient music. 

The quality is decent enough and this album should find an appreciative audience. Check it out.

2 points

Moongressive - Wings of Time (2015)

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 band was formed in the Vicenza area of Italy and had members from some local progressive rock bands. Bands who never made it out of their rehearsal studios. 

Moongressive played a mix of heavy prog and progressive metal. This mix is 50/50.

The music is pretty heavy but not always as in the metal genre.

The music is also pretty slick, epic and slightly neo-progressive.

The vocals is good and the band does not do many mistakes here.

The music is not particular original or good. It is a run of the mill album in this genre. This band from Italy did not bring anything new to the table with this three quarters of an hour long album.

2.5 points

 

 

Approaching Gold - Gloaming (2023)

The second album from this band from USA.

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

The Bandcamp album debut was released two years ago and this New York based band is now back with the follow up album.

This album is very short, clocking in at twenty-seven minutes. So it has to be good....

The music is a mix of art-rock and neo-prog. There is some moog and melotron sounding keyboards here and some Marillion, Fish era, neo-prog melody lines. 

The music is pretty complex and eclectic at the end of this album too. This is not a run of the mill album.

The band had some great ambitions and ideas on this album. The result is does not live up these ambitions. The first part of this album falls a bit flat on it's face.

The result is a decent enough album. The band has a lot of talent and I hope they will return with a far better, and longer album in the future. 

2 points

Sfaratthons - Odi Et Amo (2023)

The third album from this band from Italy.

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

A guest added flute throughout this album.

This band is one of the more eclectic bands in the RPI scene. The new scene. There are clear references to the likes of Biglietto Per I' Inferno, Ianva and Picchio Dal Pozzo in their music. Three different bands but still bands who did some very eclectic progressive Italian prog.

The music on the one hour long Odi Et Amo varies from neo-classical music through RPI, symphonic prog and more heavy folk rock.

The music is very complex and it has taken me some time, a long time and pretty intense concentration to really get this album.

Do not expect an easy listening album. 

The flute is everywhere and it is tasteful. So is the piano and organ too. The vocals is very good.

The end result is a very good album which really establish this band as one of the more exciting bands in the RPI scene. It is also their best album, so far. Their three albums should be purchased by anyone into complex, eclectic symphonic prog and RPI.

3.5 points

 

 

Psicolorama - My Name is Guggenheim Vol. 4 (2022)

The 24th album from this band from Spain.

Psicolorama is a one-man-band run by Manuel Casado who did all the electronics on this album.

This is my next to last album from Manuel to be reviewed. I will review his latest album, this year's album, before the end of the year too.

Manuel Casado has used Psicolorama as vehicle for ambient music and a bit more crossover prog with vocals. The music has been pretty basic.

Some of the albums has fallen flat on their face too.

There are two pieces of ambient soundscapes here. Both of them has no features and is leading nowhere.

The Psicolorama discography has some turkeys. This album is one of them. 

Check out this turkey on the Bandcamp page if you feel for it. This album is now wandering around among the other turkeys in my turkey farm.

1 point

Metallica - 72 Seasons (2023)

The 12th and so far latest album from this band from USA.

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

I really liked their Death Magnetic and Hardwired albums. Albums who were a sort of return to form again. The good old thrash metal days of this band.

72 Seasons therefore got my approval and a purchase. 

Strange..... I always mentioned Ride The Lightening, Master Of Puppets and And Justice For All when I are mentioning their old albums. These three albums was their second, third and fourth album...

Their debut album was Kill Em All, though. Why do I mention this album ? It is this album I find as an obvious reference when it comes to 72 Seasons. The difference is that Kill Em All is a better album.

The music on 72 Seasons is pretty primitive speed and thrash metal. It sounds like the band has given up as the music sounds forced and not so inspired.

It feels like the band is living on their old albums and is selling out the arenas based on old songs and albums. The songs on 72 Seasons, all of them, falls well short of their acceptable standards.

Hence, I am not particular impressed by this album.

2 points

Zappa. Frank - Apostrophe (1974)

The 15th album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the vocals, bass and guitars here himself.

He got help from numerous guests who provided percussion, drums, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards, woodwinds and vocals.

Fifteen albums into his discography, and I am probably half way through my reviews of all his studio albums, and I am not really sure who Frank Zappa was. He is an artist you cannot really label. Although avant-garde rock seems like a good fit.

You never really know what you get when you put on a Frank Zappa album.

This album sees Frank doing some rap and almost scatting like vocals. There is vocals here and the lyrical themes is weirdo and avant-garde strange. OK, it just occured to me that the vocals here is be-bop..... Indeed, they are.

They are backed up by some tasteful, sparse instrumentation and choirs. Tina Turner added female backing vocals.

The final part of this album is pure jazz and really good jazz. The vocals parts of this album is also good and this is one of his better albums...... so far.

This is an album I recommend.

3 points

Elder - Dead Roots Stirring (2011)

The second album from this band from USA.

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

I will review their seven albums this fall. My review of the debut album was published last month. A decent enough album but nothing more than that.

The basis in their music is still stoner rock. But the band has also incorporated some pretty gentle progressive rock in this album to make some contrasts, light and darkness. 

The sound is still stoner'ish muddy and that is how stoner rock sounds and should sound. The vocals is also pretty dark.

There is still a lot of melodies here and the band's soundscape is pretty expansive. 

The result is a fifty minutes long album and a good album too. 

I do understand why this band has such a big following. There is something special about them.

3 points

Schicke & Führs & Fröhling - Symphonic Pictures (1976)

The debut album from this band from Germany.

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

These three musicians released around eight albums. This as either Fuhrs & Frohling or Schicke, Fuhrs & Frohling.

I have reviewed their second album Sunburst years ago and the 1978 Fuhrs & Frohling album Ammerland three months ago. I now intend to review the four remaining Fuhrs & Frohling and Schicke, Fuhrs & Frohling albums from my collection. 

Symphonic Pictures is almost forty minutes worth of a mix of neo-classical music, symphonic prog and space rock.

Eloy springs to mind as a reference. ELP is a more faint, remote reference. But it is there.

The music is pretty baroque and bold. Epic too. 

The music is indeed good throughout this album and it has some really tasty, good themes. 

This is an album well worth checking out from three undervalued musicians. 

3 points

 

 

Moravagine - Moravagine (1976)

The one and only album from this band from France.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, woodwinds, accordion, piano, electric piano and keyboards.

An obscure album re-released through a French re-release label based on Bandcamp. This label in itself, whose name is Replica, is a great, great idea. They have some good albums in the prog and jazz genre. I have indeed reviewed some of these albums during the last fifteen years.

In the case of Moravagine, we are deep into jazz land. There are some eclectic prog influences here. But the music is still jazz.

The accordion is a good addition to the keyboards and woodwinds cascades.

The music is a mix of pastoral poetic jazz and more dynamic, fast jazz.

There is a lot of solos here and the music has a great deal of appeal to those of us who are primary progheads. 

The end result is a decent album and one who deserve a lot more attention.

2 points

Astroverse Dimensions - Feeding on the Spirit (2023)

The debut album from this band from Germany.

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

This is a new band on the progressive rock scene.

The art-work gives a lot of Ozric Tentatacles vibes..... and with good reasons. 

Take space rock, add a lot of krautrock and electronics..... and the likes of Ozric and King Gizzard. There is even some Eloy and ELP lurking around on this album too. 

The music is spacy, groovy and pretty bold too. Not to mention epic.

There is some vocals at the end of this one hour long album. Most of the album is guitars and keyboards driven space rock.

The quality is really good and that makes this an hour of enjoyable music. It is great to see debut albums like this and I hope this duo continue to give us more of the same.

3 points

Sfaratthons - La Bestia Umana (2016)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

Three guests added flute, saxophone and guitars.

I reviewed their second album, Appunti Di Viaggio, some weeks after it's release in 2019. An album I felt fell flat on it's face. It was not an enjoyable album.

The band released their third album some months ago and I got their debut album too as a part of this deal. I will review their third album next week or so.

This band is a RPI band and they play folk rock influenced RPI. Italian progressive rock, in other words. References is, surprisingly enough, both Jethro Tull and Biglietto Per I' Inferno. Add some Picchio Dal Pozzo too here to get the jazz too. 

In other words, the music is a mix of folk rock, hard rock, prog and some jazz.

The vocals are good. There are some spoken, almost shouted vocals too. There is a lot of flutes here and some good saxophones. I am not a big fan of saxophones. But they are very good on this album and they have won me over.

The keyboards and guitars are also good.

The music is at times pastoral too and these forty minutes adds up to becoming a very good album. The songs are indeed very good and this is an album well worth checking out if RPI floats your boat.

3.5 points

 

 

Psicolorama - Dark IV: Bastards (2022)

The 23rd album from this band from Spain.

This is a one-man-band and Manuel Casado did all the guitars, vocals and electronics himself.

You never know what you get when you purchase a Psicolorama album from it's Bandcamp page. That is the freedom you have when you run your own label and career.

This album is forty-five minutes long. 

The first half of it has some electronica performed by an electric guitar. The sound is sometimes dissonant and the tempo is dirge like. There is also some electronics involved here.

There are some vocals and songs at the end. The vocals and songs are pastoral. The quality are pretty decent. 

Ditto for the whole of this album. The quality is half decent but nothing more than that. This is an average run-of-the-mill album from this project.

1.5 points

Retreat From Moscow - Dreams, Myths and Machines (2023)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests, including Robin Armstrong and Andy Tillison, added guitars, keyboards, male and female vocals.

I really liked their debut album and was hoping for something more from this band. I got my wish.

Neo-prog is the basis and base camp on this feventy-five minutes long album. Add a lot of art-rock and some psych rock too and you get this album.

There is a nice balance between vocals and instrumental music here. There are also some female vocals.

The music is pretty mid-tempo and in the British neo-prog tradition.

Seventy-five minutes..... Not everything works here and that is my main gripe here.

This is an OK'ish album with a mix of decent and good music. It is a slight disappointing album compared to the debut album. 

2.5 points