AllCost - Punto Di Raccolta (2012)

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 album was released as a free download album through Bandcamp. Hence, I picked up the album many years ago. The Bandpage biography does not say much unless Italian is your language.

The music is psych rock. That means a mix of Gong like silly songs and more straight forward psych rocking songs. There are also some post-punk and grunge in their music.

The vocals are Italian and the music is mid-tempo.

Some of the songs are performed as a joke..... Well, it has that feeling.

There are some decent stuff here. This is a half-decent album and just that.

1.5 points

 

Moon Safari - Himlabacken Vol. 2 (2023)

The fifth album from this band from Sweden.

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

A guest added saxophone on one of the tracks.

I reviewed their first four albums back in 2018 for # 2 of this blog. 

Himlabacken Vol 1 was a good album with their mix of rock, folk rock and Swedish symphonic prog.

It should not come as a big surprise that the band continues down the same road on Vol 2. Add some psych rock too and you get it. These days version of Kaipa springs to mind... no, not their fusion album. The albums before that again. 

The band has always had this sweet, sugary sound. The same goes for this album too. Besides of that, this seventy minutes long album is very complex and multi-layered.

The vocals are good and the album has this Swedish symphonic prog sound. It is also a good album and one well worth checking out.

3 points

Kvazar - Kvazar (2000)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

A guest added cello.

This band released two albums before they gave up the ghost. A review of the second one will be published in some days time.

The music on this album is a mix of heavy prog and symphonic prog. Anekdoten is a good reference.

The music is pretty epic at times. It is also melodic and it has some of this Swedish symphonic prog feel and sound.

The vocals fails to impress and the quality of the songs on this one hour long album is also lacking a bit. Some of the music is a bit dull and wishy washy. Other stuff is good though.

The result is a decent to good album. One to build on as this is their debut album. I hope they did....

2.5 points

Kinetic Element - Powered By Light (2009)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

I reviewed their new album last year and I noted that I still had two unreviewed album from them. Hence, I put them aside for reviews this week. The second will follow this weekend.

The band has so far released four albums with US symphonic prog. That genre also goes for this album.

Most of this album is rooted and indeed has the British neo-prog sound from the 1990s. Most of the album has this sound and music.

The band cannot deny that they are Americans and hence........ the music is big, bold and epic. 

The vocals is really good and most of the music is good... with some elements of some very good music and some decent music. This album is a bit too much all over the place.

It is still a good album and one enjoyable one too. This from a band well worth checking out... one of the best US symphonic prog bands, no less.

3 points

Connect The Circle - Blinded By The Violence (2023)

The third album from this band from Norway.

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

This band has released their three albums on their own label and has been flying under my radar until someone adviced me that this album is pretty progressive.

They were wrong, I found out after half an hour into this album. Nevertheless, I decided to get on with some more listening sessions and then publishing a review.

The music is more or less pretty standard modern heavy metal. Power metal, I think is the right label here.

Yes, there is some prog here. Ditto for stoner too.

The vocals is good and the music is pretty catchy.

This album should give the band a solid breakthrough in the heavy and power metal scene. I am not won over due to not being a fan of those two genres. Nevertheless, this is a decent to good album.

2.5 points

Origens - Origens (2016)

 The debut album from this band from Brazil.

The band was a one man band with Alessandro Mendonca doing bass and vocals.

Some guests was adding drums, percussion, guitars, bagpipe, keyboards, piano and vocals.

This band released three albums before they gave up the ghost and I am reviewing them this winter.

The music is Latin hard rock with the local language and some local instruments too. There is also a lot of hard psych rock here too.

The vocals is good. The sound is good. 

The songs are not particular good or even decent. 

The result is a half decent album but nothing more than that. It is a name your price album and should be of interest to everyone collecting prog and rock from South America and or Brazil.

1.5 points

King's X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska (1989)

The second album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, sitar, guitars, dulcimer, wooden flute and vocals.

A guest added piano and pump organ.

I am by publishing this review breaking on of my rules. It says never ever publish a second review of an album. As I reviewed this album fifteen years ago for ProgArchives, I am doing that. But I want to get all my King's X reviews in this blog and to get a fresh set of ears on everyone of their albums. Hence this review..

It is also a good excuse to listen to this album again. It is one of my favourite albums from the 1980s. 

King's X music on this album is a mix of The Beatles, Rush and Led Zeppelin. Add some soul and funk too. 

My introduction to this band was through Rush. Another power trio band with clever, intelligent music is something I was seeking and King's X has always fitted this bill. In particular on this album where we get clever vocal harmonies and melodies throughout this one hour long album.

The music is also infectious clever.... and melodic. My favourite song, one of my alltime favourite songs, is Pleiades. 

The result is a superb album from a band who never really had their breakthrough. The reason is perhaps that their record labels and the music press did not know how to handle this band. Nobody can blame them for that. Nevertheless, everyone should check out this album.

4.5 points

Cobra Kraft - The Baptism Of Pedro Del Zorro (2023)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

This band was put together for a festival and a piece of music was commisioned and paid for by the government of culture and education of Norway. This piece of music was then recorded in studio and the result is this album.

The music is jazz. The first couple of music gives us some very strong Soft Machine @ Fourth feelings. The music then moves on to sounding pretty close to the same band on the Six and Seven albums.

The bass is thundering and the saxophone and the guitars creates some good harmonies. Ditto for the keyboards.

The music is a mix of eclectic and melodic. A very nice mix indeed. The music has a lot to offer for both heart and brain. 

It is a reminder how great jazz and fusion can be. How much a proghead too can enjoy these two genres.

This is indeed a great album and my candidate for the best album of 2023. I am really, really impressed by this album.

4 points

Acqua Fragile - Moving Fragments (2023)

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

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

Some guests added drums, guitars, saxophone and flute.

This band album debuted in the early 1970s and released two pretty good albums back then. They returned again in 2017 with a decent album and has again returned with what must be their final meeting in the studio. 

The musicians here are getting on a lot and most of them are in their seventies and their eighties. 

Acqua Fragile is a legacy band in the RPI scene and Italian progressive rock is what we get here. Forty minutes of RPI somewhere between symphonic prog, eclectic psych rock and good old Italian rock and pop.

The music is pretty complex and not so much run of the mill melodic as I expected from a legacy RPI album. 

The vocals are both in Italian and in English. They are reasonably good. 

This album is a good effort and the quality is somewhere between decent and good. I am not impressed but I am glad that they went to studio for one final hurrah. 

2.5 points

Agitation Free - Momentum (2023)

The fifth album from this band from Germany.

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

The band has returned, a quarter of a century since their last album. A very unexpected return. 2023 was the year of comebacks and unexpected returns.

The good old Agitation Free sound and or soundscape has not returned, though. This century's Agitation Free has chosen a slightly different route from their original version.

We are still in and around space rock. Trippy space rock, that is. Ozric Tentacles is a good reference for what we get here.

The samples used also takes us into a jungle. A sample that really sets the scene and is effective in that respect. The many weird percussion sounds is also setting the scene.

There is some long guitar solos here and they are the highlights on this almost one hour long album. The ethnic soundscape is also good. The vocals not so good although they are voices and not proper vocals.

The result is barely a good rating but the guitar solos has won me over. This album is still not this band's finest hour.

3 points

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)

The ninth and so far final album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added drums, strings and a female choir.

This album seems to be the final Radiohead album. The band members are occupied with other bands and has declared that Radiohead had run it's course with this album.

I understand what they say by running it's course. The once so groundbreaking band now sounds like their copycats and other bands who has pushed the indie rock envelope. 

A Moon Shaped Pool sees the band go a bit more minimalistic than before. A bit more indie rock too although there is some electronica left in their music.

The music is mostly pastoral and melancholic. It is a bit shoegaze too. Yes, Radiohead also gave new life to this genre too. In many respects, they were a shoegaze band. That is evident on this album.

Most of this album is good. This album is better than their previous two albums. If the band is no more, has ceased to be, they have left us with a good final album. I got tonnes of respect for this band and their albums.

3 points

 

 

 

Can Can - European Rainbow (1986)

The second and final album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, banjo, mandolin, guitars, piano, keyboards, harmonica and vocals.

Some guests added synths, woodwinds and backing vocals.

Their debut album En Lek I Forhold was a good album. It should have been a platform for the band as their music was pretty eclectic. 

European Rainbow sees the band changing to English lyrics. The band also changes to some far more eclectic vaudeville rock. There is a lot of tango and Eastern European folk and rock in their music. Ditto for some German rock... although not krautrock. Add some weird Edith Piaff chansons too and you get the picture.

Easy listening and commercial, it is not.

Anne Grethe Preus vocals is good. The songs are very eclectic and dissonant at times.

The result is still a decent enough album, saved by a handful of songs. The band split up after losing their guitarist and bassist. 

This album is a weird album but also mostly a failure. Check it out if eclectic rock is your thing.

2 points

Vecteur K - Stratigraphie (2023)

The third album from this band from Canada.

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

A guest added some vocals on two tracks.

This band is one of the later additions to the Quebec scene. A scene that has given us some really good bands and albums. 

I was not too fond of their first two albums, which I reviewed back in 2016 for # 1 of this blog.

Harmonium from Quebec is a good reference for this band and album. Their classic 1975 Si On Avait Besoin D'Une Cincuieme Saison album is a very good reference. Stratigraphie is a more rocking and a modern sounding album, though.

The music is also pretty melancholic. There are some Rush influences scattered around this album. The French vocals is very good, indeed. 

The result is a good album and one to check out. The band has finally got it together and delivered on their promise.

3 points

Zappa. Frank - You Are What You Is (1981)

The 23nd album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the guitars and vocals here.

Frank Zappa had help from some guests who provided drums, percussion, bass, guitars, woodwinds, keyboards, harmonica and vocals.

Frank Zappa had reached his commercial and creative top on Sheik Yerbouti and the Joe Garage albums. Those albums was the end of his creativity. The remaining albums was some more or less smart recreations of old ideas.

You Are What You Is is seventy minutes of rap and vocals on the top of some funk, jazzy pop and doo wop. A lot of the spoken words and vocals is what is these days known as rap music.

The lyrics is best forgotten and best ignored. He lived his life in a bubble, his own world and that shows in the lyrics. His vocals is good.

There are some sporadic guitar solos and instrumental parts here. There is not enough of them as the instruments are drowed out by the vocals and the rap.

The result is a decent to good album. It is not an album I would recommend in this day and age.

2.5 points

In The Woods - Strange in Stereo (1999)

The third album from this band from Norway.

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

Some guests helped out on guitars, viola, keyboards and vocals.

The band is such a highly rated band in both the metal and the prog rock scene. I was around the black metal scene in the 1990s and In The Woods was one of the bands back then. I never really got the chance to listen to their albums before now. So far, I have been deeply unimpressed by their debut and the follow up album Omnio.

Strange In Stereo is their third album. The music is a mix of goth rock, brooding Anathema like post-metal and psych rock. The music is pretty epic and floating symphonic at times. Symphonic gloomy goth rock.

The vocals is a mix of wailing female vocals and male vocals. The male vocals is slightly dissonant and mostly brooding.

The guitar sound is clearly stucked in time warp and pretty bad. The songs are all decent. The quality is simply not there. This is an album I would love to rate higher than this. Shame...

2 points

Pluto And The Planets - 360 Degrees of Wonder (2011)

The one and only album from this band from Norway.

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

This band was started by Petter Espen Guthe who ran and recorded two albums under the name Pluto. Both of them really good and both of them has been reviewed in this blog.

The band recorded this album who was then released through Musea Records twenty-five years later... 2011. The band is still gigging around Norway, mostly in the Oslo area. 

The music is very different from what Petter Espen did under the Pluto name. It is still some sort of progressive rock. It is though much more commercial and it is a mix of folk rock, psych rock (Pink Floyd) and art-rock. Add some pop and rock too.

The music is mostly dominated by Sandra Josefine's vocals. Female vocals and they are very much in the celtic/Irish folk rock tradition.

There are also some instrumental pieces on this one hour long album. Pieces where you hear some Pluto influences.

The result is a decent album. It has no good pieces of music though and that is my main gripe with this album. Hence.....

2 points

Alma - Sobre Fantasías (2008)

The one and only album from this band from Argentina.

The band was a duo with a lineup of guitars, harpsichord, mellotron, organ, piano and vocals.

Two guests added violin and keyboards.

The duo is the Nexus guitarist Carlos Lucena and the vocalist and pianist Ms. Roxana Truccolo. 

The album and band was Nexus side project who did not get any further than this album released on an obscure record label. An album who sold next to nothing. It has just recently got some attention through ProgArchives. 

The music is soft, melodic art-rock and psych-rock with a lot of Latin folk-rock influences.

The music is built around Roxana Truccolo's vocals. Her vocals are good. 

These forty minutes are pastoral, meandering and decent enough. Some of the music is good. The rest is decent.

This is an album well worth checking out for those into female vocals and pastoral prog.

2.5 points

Trk Project. The - Odyssey 9999 (2023)

The seventh album from this band from Poland.

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

Some guests added drums, guitars, saxophones and lead vocals.  

The band is also called The Ryszard Kramarski Project and you may find their albums under that name. The band is an offshot of the still active band Millenium. That is another neo-prog band from Poland. 

The genre is neo-prog. Neo-prog from Poland. Their neo-prog scene has given us lots of great music and the scene normally means quality.

The music on Odyssey 9999 is a mix of neo-prog, Pink Floyd and pop music. 

Very melodic music in other words. It is nice on the ears and a bit wishy washy. There is not much, if anything, that sets this album apart from the many other albums with the neo-prog, Floyd and pop formula.

The music is fairly good though and this is an album for the many fans of neo-prog from Poland. A bit better songs would have elevated this album up to a good rating. But...

2.5 points

Radiohead - The King Of Limbs (2011)

The eight album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added symphony flugelhorn and strings.

The band returned again for their eight album.

The music is a mix of trippy electronica and indie pop.

This is indeed how Radiohead had sounded for the last albums. Normally with some good ideas, details and songs.

This time around, the band sounds like they had run out of ideas. 

The King Of Limbs is forty minutes of Radiohead being stucked in the third gear and never really getting up to speed. It sounds unfocused.

There are a couple of good ideas here. But they are not good enough.

This is a decent album and just that. Decent.

2 points

 

 

Can Can - En Lek I Forhold (1984)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

A guest added accordion on one track.

This band was formed by Anne Grethe Preus after the demise of Veslefrikk. They released two albums before they split up and Anne Grethe Preus went solo and then became one of the best and most loved artists in Norway before she passed on some years ago, far too young.

En Lek I Forhold controversally won the Norwegian Grammy in 1984 and I have always wanted to get a copy of this album. An out of print album for far too long. I finally got my copy last year. Yes, I am slow in the uptake. The reason is that I have worked too hard and have hardly had any money to spend until the last years. My interest for non-prog has also not been there. Hence....

The music here is not progressive rock. It is a mix of modern rock and pop. The music has influences from Simple Minds, tango and French/German rock. It is music and a scene I am not familiar with at all.

The music is pretty eclectic at times. The music is always quirky and is bypassing a lot of the traditional rock and pop conventions.

The music is still pretty melodic and the vocals is very good. The guitars, bass and drums is quirky.

There are three very good tracks here. Tango, Oppenheimer and Våt. Songs that gives this album it's own identity. The rest of the songs are OKish and not bad.

The result is a good album. It is not a progressive rock album. But it's quirky music should also give progheads a lot of joy.

3 points

Morse. Neal - The Restoration Joseph # Two (2024)

The 31th album from this artist from USA.

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

He got some help from a handful of guests who added narration, keyboards, guitars and vocals. 

This is part 2 of this series about Joseph. Joseph from the Bible. 

Neal Morse is using these two albums to merge his take on symphonic prog and the Bible. Which is fair enough as there is so many other bands who are and were deep into Tolkien etc etc etc.

Part 1 was a good album where Neal Morse were threading water and repeating himself. It was an album of stagnation. Hence, I did not have much hope that Neal Morse would move on and into more unchartered water on part 2.

I am mostly right here. This seventy-five minutes long album brings us some new music. Nevertheless, the soundscape is more or less the same. It is a rock opera with narrations and vocals on the top of some big, bold and epic US symphonic prog. 

He is delivering music to his fans and music the fans would like to hear. He is threading water.

This is still a good album and I rate Neal Morse as one of the best progressive artists on our planet. This is an enjoyable album and a step up from part 1. So much that this is indeed a very good album.

3.5 points

 

 

Grand Funk Railroad - Phoenix (1972)

The sixth album from this band from USA.

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

Two guests added harpsichord, clavinet, piano, organ and electric violin.

This band was working tiredlessly on a schedule of albums-touring-albums-touring. No holidays and no rest. Work, work, work..... And they were pretty succesful in breaking the various markets and scenes in USA and Canada. They even got fans in Europe and in Asia. Not to mention Australia.

The non-stop work schedule saw the band visiting a studio again. An internal change in the band management saw the band take a more commercial, pop and rock direction.

There is still some good hard rock here. But most of the album has a more melodic flavour, with soul, pop and rock being pretty dominant.

The vocals is good and the band rocks out. There is a lot of tangents, that is mostly organs, on this album. The sporadic harpischord adds a lot of flavour to the album too.

The result is pretty good. Somewhere between decent and good, in fact.

If you want to check out this band, this is an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Wyatt. Robert - Old Rottenhat (1985)

The fourth album from this artist from Great Britain.

Robert Wyatt did all the instruments, that is an organ and the vocals himself.

His wife helped out on vocals on one of the songs.

Robert Wyatt is a veteran in the scene from bands like Wylde Flowers, Soft Machine and Matching Moles. Then he went solo and I am again trying to review all his solo albums. A task I commenced after a ten years long break between the second and third album. 

Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard was a fine album where he cooperated with other musicians. Old Rottenhat is only his vocals and a droning organ. 

Robert Wyatt is in a strange sense and way one of the best vocalists around. His voice is very untraditional. But they are still great.

Put that on the top of an organ who drones out pieces of music which is pretty much non-melodic and is leading nowhere. The result is eclectic.

There is no good pieces of music here and not even the vocals elevates this album up to a higher level than decent.

This is a decent album. It is also one to check out. It has to be heard to be believed.

2 points

Pluto - Ouverture (1982)

The second album from this artist from Norway.

Pluto is Peter Espen Guthe on guitars, keyboards and vocals.

He got help from a trio of guests who provided drums, percussion, bass synths, synths, saxophone and flute.

His debut album, the 1980 album Voyage Into A Dreamers Mind, was a pretty much Anthony Phillips, Camel and early Genesis dominated album. There was still some hints of Mike Oldfield on that album.

Two years has passed and Pluto's follow up album sees a subtle change more towards Mike Oldfield. His music is the biggest influence on Ouverture. 

It is perhaps a bit too cheap and nasty to say that Peter Espen Guthe is Norway's answer to Mike Oldfield on this album. Nevertheless, the similarities are there. Mike Oldfield fans; beware & check out this album.

Even the more pop and vocals pieces of music here is influenced by Mike Oldfield's pop era.

The music on Ouverture is still original and still retains a lot of Camel and Anthony Phillips influences. It is guitars dominated with some electronica and woodwinds incorporated.

The quality is good throughout. Both his albums should be included in any decent collections of Norwegian progressive rock.

3 points

Aragon - The Angels Tear (2004)

The sixth album from this band from Australia.

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

Two guests added female backing vocals.

This band album debuted in 1988 and I reviewed most of their album some years ago for # 2 of this blog. The band released a single two years ago and I hope this means a new album this year. 

The music on this album is neo-prog. This as on their first five albums.

There is a lot of Marillion, Pendragon and Genesis influences here. Lots of lots of them.

The songs varies in length from four minutes to thirteen minutes.

The sound and the vocals is really good. Ditto for the guitars.

The songs are both elegant and good. Hence my rating. This is a band neo-prog fans should check out.

3 points

Ellesmere - Stranger Skies (2024)

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

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

Some guests added acoustic guitars, flute, woodwinds, keyboards, minimoog, melotron and vocals to this album.

The band has operated with various personell since the beginning. The second album had Ellesmere as a one man band with Roberto Vitelli as the only member. He is the brain behind this band at it is his creation, his band. 

Stranger Skies sees the band fully embracing a modern symphonic prog soundscape.

There is some neo-prog and electronica here too. But these two genres has been incorporated into Ellesmere's idea of how this day and age symphonic prog should sound.

That means with a lot of elegance, boldness and epic melodies.

The six pieces of music here is pretty long and the ideas is fully explored. None of the ideas is in the RPI tradition, though. Their take on symphonic prog is fully in the British tradition.

The result is a very good album indeed. An album which will set the bar pretty high for this year's prog rock albums from Italy and the rest of the world. This year arrived with one heck of a symphonic prog album. 

3.5 points

Høst - Hardt Mot Hardt (1976)

The second and final studio album from this band from Norway.

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

The band returned to studio and the record shops two years after their good debut album.

The debut album was a mix of folk rock and hard rock. So more of the same... ?

The folk rock element has largely gone. It has been replaced by symphonic prog. The hard rock element is still there and there is also some eclectic prog here.

There is no denying that the addition of guitarist and flautist Fezza Ellingsen (St Helen and Akasha) has added a lot to this band. It has given their music a lot of solos and harmonies it did not have on the debut album.

The music is also much more complex, much more symphonic and eclectic. It is also a lot more quirky and has added tonnes of more debt and details to their music.

There is a lot to be enjoyed here. It is indeed a very good, bordering to a great album. 

This album is essential for those who loves the Norwegian progressive rock scene.

4 points

Cid. José - Vozes Do Além (2021)

The 21st album from this artist from Portugal.

Jose Cid did the vocals and keyboards here.

He got some help from some guests who provided drums, bass, cello and guitars.

This album is his fourth progressive rock album, he and this record label has claimed.

This album comes as a double CD and clocks in at over ninety minutes.

The music is...... a mix of pop, rock and psych rock. Mostly pop and rock. This with a pretty decent vocals in his mother-tongue. It is clear that the vocalist is old and that the his voice is pretty much shot and about to cease to be. There is lots of lots of vocals here as this album is totally dominated by vocals. It is impressive that he has managed to get one and an half hour out of his diminishing voice.

There is one thing you will not find on this album and that is progressive rock. A couple of psych rock songs, yes. But that is not progressive rock.

The quality of the songs are very poor and this album is a borderline turkey. A handful of half decent songs saves it from that destiny. Nevertheless, those into progressive rock should give this album a wide berth. 

1.5 points

Fish On Friday - 8mm (2023)

The sixth album from this band from Belgium.

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

Three guest added flute and female vocals.

I was not too impressed by their 2020 album Black Rain, reviewed some days ago. The band had lost their focus and the songs were not good enough. Hence my disappointment.

Three years later and Belgium's finest are back again.

The band has developed from a pure neo-prog band to a much more art-rock band. The band now sounds like crossbreed between Pink Floyd and Marillion.

The music is also melancholic. The flute, provided by the guest Theo Travis, and the female and male vocal duets and vocal harmonies adds a lot of melancholy. 

It also add some quality to the songs who are mostly much better than the ones on Black Rain. 

The result is a good album, indeed. Check it out.

3 points

Longhare - Radio Rebelde! (2018)

The debut album from this band from Croatia.

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

Two guests added bass and extra vocals.

This band has so far released four name your price (?) through Bandcamp and I am reviewing these albums this winter.

I am not used to get albums from countried like Croatia and I therefore grabbed the chance when I was offered these three albums.

The music is a mix of post-punk, hard rock, stoner rock and space rock. 

The sound and the guitars are dirty. And they should be dirty too. The vocals are ok. The samples adds some colours to this album.

The music is decent throughout this almost one hour long album. It is an album well worth checking out, indeed.

2 points

Landmarq - Solitary Witness (1992)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain. 

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

The band originated in Quasar, another band who released two albums in the 1980s and one in 2016. I reviewed their 1989 album The Loreli ten years for # 1 of this blog and has recently aquired their debut album. I intend to review that album later this winter.

Landmarq released five albums and I will review all of them this winter. 

Quasar and Landmarq was both involved in the British neo-prog scene. None of them were particular successful. But they did their best while the likes of Marillion hit gold.

The music here is a mix of Genesis and more melodic prog and rock. Neo-prog in other words. 

The music is pretty good throughout. The quality is somewhere between decent and good. As a debut album, it is an acceptable debut.

Check it out.

2.5 points

Chronicles of Father Robin. The - Book 2 (2023)

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band was a sextet on this album with a lineup of drums, percussion, glockenspiel, bass, mandolin, guitars, piano, organ, keyboards, synths, flute and vocals.

Three guests added clavinet, mellotron, synths, strings, electric piano, piano, organ and keyboards.

This album's full title is The Songs And Tales Of Airoea, Book 2: Ocean Traveler (Metamorphis) and it is part 2 of the three parts long epic piece of music The Songs And Tales Of Airoea. We will get the final part later this year. 

This trilogy has been on the planning stages since the 1990s. But their regular bands like Jordsjø, Samuel Jackson Five, Wobbler and Tusmørke got their full focus instead.

Book 1 (see review, October 2023) was a full on mix of folk rock, symphonic prog and eclectic prog. The same goes for Book 2, indeed. It two parts of a trilogy...

The music is very complex, wild and untamed. There is a lot of flutes here and the music is very much unmistakenly Norwegian symphonic prog.  

The quality is again good, although not as high as on Book 1. I suspect this trilogy will get a cult status when the dust has finally settled and the scene has recovered from the shock this trilogy no doubts has given it. 

3 points

Armalite - The Position of the Sleepers (2007)

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

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

The band was a sort of a supergroup with members from the likes of Nathan and La Coscienza Di Zeno. Under the name Armalite, they released this album and took part in a lot of tribute albums. I guess the band is no more.

The Position Of The Sleepers is a kind of a journey back to the British neo-prog scene in the 1980s. It is a kind of a tribute to this scene. 

That means some poppy songs and some more long suites pieces of music. This with some pretty heavy accented mediocre vocals and the thin and wet 1980s sound. 

There is a couple of decent to good stuff here. Most of the stuff is decent.

This is an album from and to fans of the 1980s neo-prog scene and it should be purchased and loved by them although the quality of the songs are not the best.

This is a decent album, well worth checking out.

2 points

Fish On Friday - Black Rain (2020)

The fifth album from this band from Belgium.

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

One guest added female vocals.

I had almost forgotten this band until a copy of their new, released last year, album dumped into my inbox. That's when I discovered they had released two albums since the 2017 Quiet Life album I reviewed for # 2 of this blog some years ago. A good album.

Hence I now have their two latest albums and a review of their latest album will be added in some days time. 

Black Rain is an hour long album. The music is a mix of neo-prog, art rock and commercial psych rock. The latter one means Pink Floyd.

There are a mix of male and female vocals here. There is a lot of vocal harmonies here. The music is packed around these vocals and harmonies. That means not so many interesting details and instrumental melodies.

The music sounds too wishy washy. The quality is not on par with their previous albums.

The result is an album somewhere between decent and good. I hope their newest album is better but I fear this is not the case.

2.5 points

 

 

Høst - Pa Sterke Vinger (1974)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, strings, clavinet, piano, organ, mini moog and vocals.

Høst released two studio albums. Both of them are classic albums in the Norwegian scene and there is indeed an argument that this band is the best Norwegian progressive rock band of all time. That is not my view, but I have heard this argument many times. Not at least from the leading musicians in today's prog rock scene in Norway.

I got both their albums up for review this week and is off course starting with the debut album.

The music is a mix of hard rock and folk rock. In this respect, they sounds like the more obscure Norwegian band Hades whose one and only album I reviewed some days ago.

There is also some progressive rock on this album in addition to the folk and hard rock. The musicians showcases their great skills and most of the songs are both catchy and has a lot of interesting details. The vocals is also good.

The title track is indeed very good and the highlight of this album.

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

3 points

Cid. Jose - Pelos Direitos Do Homem (1996)

The 13th solo album from this artist from Portugal.

Jose Cid did the vocals here and got help from a band/some guests who added drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and female vocals.

Jose Cid is the biggest local artist in Portugal and he debuted in the 1970s. He was mostly a Latin pop/rock vocalist. But his 1978 opus 10 000 Anos... is a good prog rock album and I reviewed last week for this blog. See review. 

Pelos.... is not a prog rock album. It is a Latin pop/rock album. 

The melodies and vocals is sugary sweet. The quality is poor. 

This is in short a turkey. I have one more of his albums to review and I have heard it is a progressive rock album/opus. I hope so. Sincerely.

1 point

Fifth Note - Here We Are (2023)

The debut album from this band from India.

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

A Christian band from a very remote part of India.... I never thought I was ever going to write these lines. But this quintet and their record label Frontiers Records has proven me wrong.

It has to be said that their Christian beliefs has been toned down on this, their debut album, and that the band is now a more secular band. The band also deserve a contract with a multi-national record label like Frontiers as they are a very talented band. Young and talented.

Their music is a mix of old, 1970s hard rock and these days progressive metal. References are as varied as Rainbow, Fates Warning and Dream Theater.

The music is also pretty melodic. The screaming vocals is a bit annoying and far over the top at times. The rest of the band does a far better job on their respective instruments.

Not all the music is good here. The vocals is also barely decent. That said, there is a lot to enjoy on this album. The band is talented and they may go far. This band is one of the very few new prog metal bands worth keeping under observation. I hope we will hear a lot more from them in the future.

2.5 points

Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A guest added extra vocals and a string ensamble added lots of strings. 

The band had by now settled into their role and sound as an art-rock band.

The music is a mix of trip hop, electronica and art-rock. Hence.... the art-rock label.

There is lot of very interesting details in their music on the top of some pretty simple, but still stylish and elegant melodies/songs.

That adds a lot of quality to this album.

The songs are not particular good if the trip hop and electronica is stripped away from them. But all the details makes this album a really good album. I am pretty impressed by this band and they are one of the most interesting, genre defining bands who has come out of Great Britain in the last thirty years.

3 points

King's X - Out Of The Silent Planet (1988)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

King's X.... why they did never had a solid breakthrough was a mystery to me when I was a big fan of them back in the 1990s. A view shared by a lot of my fellow music journalists back then.

I am now returning to the band and will review their so far thirteen studio albums this year. 

The band was signed on the same label who gave us Led Zeppelin and Rush. The label thought they had another Rush on their hand. And they were rigth. They had indeed a...... cult band on their label. Not a best selling band, though.

The music on this album is highly influenced by the likes of The Beatles, Rush, Led Zeppelin and even Black Sabbath. Add some funk, raga and soul too and you get the drift. 

The musicianship is superb and the vocals is good. The band was still developing on this album. They had yet to arrive at their sound and music. 

The result of is a good debut album but there was still work to be done. This is still a good album, though.

3 points

 

 

Hades - Hades (1992)

The one and only album from this band from Norway.

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

This band appeared, gigged, recorded some of the gigs, released a twenty-four minutes long album with studio and mostly live tracks and then disappeared again. Then they got a bit of a cult status and their LP was then re-released on CD last year on the crowd funded NAK series.

This series has a lot of really good albums. This album is not one of them.

We get twenty-four minutes of a mix of folk rock and hard rock. Jethro Tull meets Atomic Rooster. 

The flutes is everywhere and the vocals is fairly good. The music is raw and as untamed as a wild stallion. The music is hard in other words.

The songs, mostly of them presented as live tracks, is decent enough. The sound is pretty dire.

This is an albm with a cult status and no matter how this album sounds, this band and album will always have a cult status. This despite of this only being a half decent album.

1.5 points

Aragorn - The Suite (1975)

The one and only album from this band from Australia.

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

The phrase "hidden gem" is rarely more true than in the case of this album. It was printed in 50 x and then bootlegged on CD by a company in South Korea. It is still a pretty unknown album.

Shame.

The music on this album is a sixteen piece big suite. Hence, the music is primarly symphonic prog.

Take a bit of ELP, add Eloy and some more krautrock, symphonic prog and then jazz and progressive folk rock. Yes, that includes some influences fromJethro Tull and their Aqualong album. Pretty strong at times, too.

The music is a bit heavy at times too with a lot of flutes. It is also pretty epic.

The vocals and the sound is good throughout.

The result is indeed a good album who deserve the attention from symphonic prog and other prog rock fans. This is indeed a hidden gem. Dig it out.  

3 points

Barrdo - Jour inouï (2023)

The sixth album from this band from Canada.

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

A handful of guests added woodwinds and strings.

This French speaking quintet from Quebec in Canada is one of the latest addition to the Quebec scene. A scene where Harmonium is the most known band. And the best band.

Barrdo's music has always been quite close to Harmonium's music.

This means lush, colourful folk rock with some symphonic prog and jazz influences. 

The music is also pretty eclectic with some dissonanse and quirky details.

The vocals is great and the music is lush. The songs are pretty good. This is not their best album, though. Nevertheless, this is still a good album from a band who deserve a lot more attention and fans.

3 points

 

 

Help Yourself - 5 (2004)

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

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

Two guests added guitars.

Most of this album, eight out of the eleven songs, were recorded in 1973. Three more songs were written and added in 2003. 

The band members had left the ship and this album were released and bought by the fans of this band. It is one of these many albums released after the demise of a band and/or an artist.

The music is left overs from recording sessions and would probably never see the light unless some fans wanted everything this band has recorded. They got their will here.

The music is folk rock with some acid folk and whimsical pop/rock thrown into the mix too. The vocals is good and the band does their best on some sub-standard songs. 

The result is a half decent album and nothing more than that. For fans only, I am afraid.

1.5 points

Ikarus - Plasma (2022)

The fourth album from this band from Switzerland.

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

The band's take on zeuhl is very original, indeed. Their take on music is even more original and the band has managed to carve out their own niche in the music scene.

Voices based zeuhl with a lot of piano. That is what we get here.

The music is intense and full on. It is not hard or heavy. It is just intense and very much in the zeuhl genre.

There are some more piano and more creative use of piano here than on previous albums. Some good melodies is the result. This as a small, but vital development of their music.  

The result is their best album so far and a good one. It is also one of the most unique albums in my large collection of progressive rock albums. Ikarus is a band I will keep my ears and eyes open for.

3 points

Soniq Circus - Chapter 2 The Accident (2023)

The fourth album from this band from Sweden.

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

This band from Sweden has really impressed me on their first three albums. Their music has been mostly symphonic prog. Swedish symphonic prog.

The band was on a more transitional phase on the previous album, the 2022 album Chapter 1 The Game Begin. 

The band was switching more to heavy prog and progressive metal.

That transition has been mostly completed here. There is not much symphonic prog left on this half an hour long album. 

The music has some good details and the vocals is good. The music is very hard throughout and very much in the progressive metal genre.

Some of the music is decent and some of the music is good. This album is mostly a step in the wrong direction and this album is one of the disappointments of last year. 

2.5 points

Zappa. Frank - Joe's Garage Act I, II & III (1979)

The 22nd album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the guitars and vocals here.

He got help from numerous guests who added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, harmonica, strings, woodwinds, keyboards and backing vocals.

Joe's Garage I, II & III is the double album which defines Frank Zappa as an artist and song-writer. The almost two hours of music here.

The music range from doo-wop to children rhyme like songs with offensive, stupid lyrics to more rock, jazz and long guitar solos.

The jazz pieces and the guitar solos is the best pieces here. The more cynical observations of the western culture is also expressed in some of the songs. The part of our culture where females are treated like pieces of meat. The problem with his lyrics is that they do not express if he approve of these views on women, just observe them or condemn them. Frank Zappa went to his grave without clarifying his views on women. That means some of the biographies has branded him as a sexist. 

The lyrics on this album does not really do Frank Zappa's reputation any favour.

Most of the music is good though and this is a good album. It is also his best selling album of all time and a minor icon of our western culture.

3 points

In The Woods - Omnio (1997)

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

A handful of guests added strings, keyboards and female vocals.

I was not impressed by their debut album. A out and out black metal album. But the band were soon to develop into something far more progressive.

Omnio is still a metal album, with a lot of goth and black metal influences. It is mostly a doomy goth metal album.

The sound is not particular good. But the band shows that there is something here.... talent. This album is too much of an oldstyle run of the mill goth metal album to be of any big interest to prog rock fans.

It is still a decent album and well worth checking out if goth and black metal album from last century is something you fancy.

2 points

 

 

Bridges - Fakkeltog (1980)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

Bridges is most known as the forerunner of A-Ha, one of Norway's most successful bands of all time. 2/3 of A-Ha is on this album Magne Furuholmen and Paal Waaktar. Bridges was their band with the bassist and drummer more like supporting members.

Fakkeltog is ironic enough one of the biggest flops/commercial failures in the history of Norwegian modern music. It was pressed up in 1000 x and it sold nothing. It was not until the breakthrough of A-Ha that this band and album became known in Norway and the world. 

The reason for the poor sales is the music. The poor quality of the music.

The band sounds like a very poor second hand The Doors copy. 

The vocals is dark and the music is pretty whimsical and all over the place. Unfocused is a nice word for it.

I find it hard to comprehend, as an admirer of A-Ha, how bad this album was. Morten Harket deserve more credit for A-Ha than I have previously given him. This because his two bandmates dropped a solid clanger, a turkey with this album. 

Avoid this album. 

1 point

Ave Tierra - La Razón De Las Almas (2018)

The fourth album from this band from Argentina.

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

Some guests added violins, piano, organ, synths, keyboards, trumpet, male and female vocals.

The band continues with their mix of folk rock and post-punk. Although with some subtle additions this time to their music.

The band has added a lot of jazz and some Latin pop with female vocals and catchy melody lines to their normal fare. The music has also been tightened up a lot and the music sounds a lot more structured.

This name-your-price Bandcamp album is therefore an improvement on their previous albums. It is indeed an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Kerzner. Dave - Heart Land Mines Vol. 1 (2023)

The sixth album from this artist from USA.

Dave Kerzner did the percussion, acoustic guitars, keyboards and lead vocals here.

He got help from numerous guests who added drums, bass, guitars, bouzouki, sitar, strings, horns and vocals.

I reviewed his fourth album, the 2017 album Static some years ago and that was a good album. His 2022 album The Traveler passed me by, though. 

Dave Kerzner had his breakthrough as a member of Sound Of Contact. He co-wrote their debut album together with Simon Collins, the son of Phil Collins. A great album and that gave him lots of other session work. 

The music on this album is a mix of americana and progressive rock. There is some Kansas and some Genesis influences on this album. There is also lots of mainstream rock on this one hour long album. Music that most of all reminds me about the last albums from Electric Light Orchestra.

The quality is decent to good. There is no sparkling great songs here and most of the music is meandering and pedestrian. 

It that floats your boat.....

2.5 points