Spacelords. The - Unknown Species (2021)

The seventh album from this band from Germany.

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

I have really liked their first six albums. It therefore saddens me that this album, Unknown Species, is their last album. Hopefully, the band will release some more albums. 

We are again in the middle of an classic outer space landscape.

This means thundering drums and bass as the platform for a, preferable, groovy guitar melody line. 

We get that here. What we also get is some subtle departures from this formula where some unorthodox guitar sounds is also present here.

That is the difference on this album between a half-baked album and a good album. The music is OK, but it is still very much enhanced and improved by those small subtle changes in the guitar sound.

This is another good album from this band and one everyone into space rock should check out.

3 points

Magenta - The White Witch (2022)

The tenth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band is now a trio with a lineup of a conductor, vocalist and a guitarist.

The band had help from three guests who provided oboe, flute and narrations. A symphony orchestra added the main music on this album.

Christina Booth, Chris Fry and Robert Reed is back again and is Magenta. That's twenty-one year after their debut album. I have the feeling that Magenta no longer is their main priority and that the band has lost the great position it once had.

We get fifty minutes of music on this album. That divided into three parts. I, II and III. Yes, this is a concept album.

The band has always reminded me about Renaissance, this great British band from the 1970s and who is still touring. 

Magenta has moved lock, stock and barrels a lot closer to Renaissance on this album. The music is a lot more symphonic. As most of the music is performed by a symphony orchestra, that is pretty natural. Christina Booth sounds a lot more like Annie Haslam this time around too.

The sound is warmer too and Magenta has borrowed a lot of what made Renaissance's music so warm and inviting.

The music is also very good to great on this album. 

Magenta has indeed served up their best album for a long time with this album. It is indeed a great album and I hope, but do not believe, this album will resurrect their good name and career. Anyway...

4 points

 

 

Rain - Singularity (2020)

The debut album from this band from England. 

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

The band, not to be confused with numerous other bands with the same name, was formed by members of Frost*, Jadid, IQ and Arena. It was formed during the covid pandemic as a stop-gap band. 

The band has so far released two albums. A review of their new album is upcoming next week.

The music on Singularity is a mix of neo-prog and some more eclectic progressive rock. There is also some more mainstream rock here. Some of the music has an undertone of jazz too.

The first half of this three quarters of an hour long album is both dynamic and melodic. The music sounds fresh and straight from the studio. The album is tailing off and withering away at the end.

This is still a good album with some really good vocals.

This is an album well worth checking out.

3 points

Zappa. Frank - Lumpy Gravy (1968)

The third album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa is the composer and conductor of the numerous members of this orchestra recording this kind of musical piece. The lineup is drums, percussion, woodwinds, bass, guitars, harpsichord, celesta, piano and some spoken words.

This piece of music is a mix of weirdo talking and some semi-classical ditties and pieces.

It is half an hour long and it is in two pieces.I and II.

The music is extreme poor and offers next to no value to sober listeners. 

This album is a turkey. 

1 point

Tabletom - 7.000 Kilos (2002)

The fifth album from this band from Spain.

The band was a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, flute, saxophones, keyboards and vocals.

Tabletom has proven on their first four albums that they are a band far off the well trodden path.

Their music is a mix of avant-garde rock, jazz, quirky Latin - American prog and rock music. All of this with a Spanish take on it and with a lot of Spanish folk rock underpinning the music.

That again is the case for 7 000 Kilos.

Some off kilter vocals is on the top of all this above music.

It feels like this is madness. But this is not madness. This is quirky music somewhere between jazz, Latin rock and Spanish folk music.

The result is a decent to good album. I am not won over by this album and it is not their finest hour. I would still recomend this album due to it's sheer weirdness.

2.5 points

 

Battisti. Lucio - Anima Latina (1974)

The seventh album from this artist from Italy.

Lucio Battisti did the guitars, keyboards, piano and vocals here.

He had help from numerous guests who provided drums, percussion, bass, guitars, woodwinds, keyboards, piano and backing vocals.

Lucio Battisti was an artist in the singer/songwriter tradition who album debuted in 1969 and released altogether eighteen solo albums. He wrote songs for many other artists and bands. Bands like Hollies, Amen Corner, Formula 3, I Dik Dik and many other bands.

He was one of the most prolific artists in Italy before he sadly passed on in 1998.

His music was not particular progressive. It was more mainstream pop and rock. Italian pop and rock, that is.

Anima Latina is a meeting between his Italian background and the music from Brazil. It is indeed a meeting between those two nations.

The music is folk rock based Italian and Latin pop music.

The vocals is good and the music is flowery poppy. 

The result is a decent to good album. The good things is the many interesting details on this album.

This is an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Olympus - Exordium (2020)

The one and only album from this band from Mexico.

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

I have never heard about this band before. The pictures of them on Facebook is full of theatrics and face paints.

The music is slightly theatrical too. The music is a mix of neo-prog and progressive metal. Add a lot of goth rock too and you get it.

The vocals are in Spanish and they are OK. Youthful, but good.

We get fifty minutes of music here. Mostly guitar driven music. There is also some piano and keyboards here.

The quality is decent enough. It is not good and it is not bad.

This is an album the band can build a local fanbase on and it seems like the band has done just that. They are gigging and the band seems to make the most of those gigs.

2 points

Liquify - Beyond the Frozen Horizon (2022)

The fifth album from this one man band from USA.

Tanner played bass, guitars and programmed drums on this album.

Five Bandcamp albums so far and I have reviewed four of them.

Tanner does space rock light. Well, space rock based on the very few resources he have. I guess this means a rather primitive home studio... or a PC. 

There is a lot of ambience and mood in his music. What the music does not have is the beefy sound you only get from a drummer and a band. Not to mention a proper studio.

The songs on this album is not bad at all. The music feels a bit like run of the mill space rock. Nevertheless, space rock fans should seek out this album and indeed...... Liquify. If Tanner release more albums under this name, I will get them.

2.5 points

Spacelords. The - Spaceflowers (2020)

The sixth album from this band from Germany.

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

Three guests added zurna, didgerodoo, organ and moog.

The band continues in their journey in outer space. Yes, we are getting space rock here.

Three compositions. Two of them clocking in at just short of quarter of an hour and the longest one, a space rock suite, is clocking in at just short of half an hour.

The sound is pretty polished and the music is pretty melodic. It is not very brutal.

Nevertheless, this is space rock and space rock from outer space. It is a groove based and is living on moods and hooks.

The quality is again good and this band and this album proves why space rock is such a great genre. 

This is another good album from this band.

3 points

Magenta - Masters of Illusion (2020)

The ninth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Three guests added uilleann pipes, saxophones and vocals.

I have been following this band on and off for the last ten to fifteen years. I have recently reviewed and enjoyed a couple of albums from Cyan, the band who later morphed into Magenta.

I also got Magenta's new'ish album for review next week.

Masters Of Ilusion sees Magenta back to being Magenta. That means some very good vocals from Christina Booth and the usual song writing from Rob Reed.

The music is big and epic. Melancholic and melodic. 

This one hour long album sees the band delivering some good music which should please their fans, but not gaining them many new fans. It is an album where the band is threading water.

Although satisfying, Magenta can do better than this.

3 points

Damanek - Making Shore (2023)

The third album from this band from United Kingdom.

The band is a trio with a lineup of percussion, bass, bouzoki, mandolin, guitars, saxophones, keyboards, synths, programming and vocals.

Numerous guests added drums, bass, guitars, picolo, trumpets, flutes and backing vocals.

Damanek is fronted by Guy Manning, an artist with a background as a solo artist and leader of his own band Manning. He was also a member of The Tangent and 90 Degree for a long time.

Damanek has retained a lot of what Guy Manning did in Manning. There is also some hints of what Sean Timms did in Unitopia, his old bands.

That means some melancholic neo-prog with some laid back jazz and pomp pop. There is almost some gospel over some of the songs.

Guy Manning's vocals is very good. These seventy minutes of music is also full of interesting details. 

The quality is barely good. This album is a step backwards in quality compared to the first two albums. Nevertheless, this is still a good album and one well worth checking out.

3 points

 

Amon Düül - Collapsing (1969)

The second album from this band from Germany.

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

I reviewed their debut album and their third album ten years ago before I gave up on them due to the abysmal bad quality of those two albums. 

My attention was then drawn to the far superior band Amon Duul II and I reviewed all their albums instead. 

The original Amon Duul split into two bands before the release of their debut album. This band and Amon Duul II. This band did release five albums, and I am reviewing the three remaining albums this winter, before they split up and reformed again in Great Britain under the same name in the 1980s. Confused ?

It is claimed that the band did one long jam session, split the tapes into three parts and released three albums from this session.

That explains the total lack of quality control. This half an hour long album has a few minutes of piano, vocals and guitars. The rest is mindnumbing percussions.

The result is horrible and the reason why I waited ten years to complete my reviews of their albums. This album is a waste of time like the other two albums I have reviewed too. It is a turkey.

1 point

Tea Party. The - Transmission (1997)

The fourth album from this band from Canada.

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

The Tea Party was still rumbling on with their heavy rock which used Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and King's as references. 

The Pearl Jam references very much comes to the foreground on this album. The vocals is very much in the Eddie Vedder vein. There is also a bit more grunge around this time.

There is also a lot of Led Zeppelin like blues here too.

The music is very muscular and heavy at times. The music is retro and in the 1970s style and sound.

The music is pretty good too. It is another good album from this band who is claiming the throne Rush has vacated as the best band from Canada.

Check out this album.

3 points

Bad Dreams - Deja Vu (2016)

The second album from this band from Argentina.

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

Steve Rothery added a guitar solo on the title track.

This band has so far released a handful of albums. They debuted in 2015 and their albums are self-released. 

The music here is neo-prog. That is epic neo-prog with some prog metal and a hint of AOR influences.

The vocals are really good and ditto for the guitars. The sound is good and the music has some interesting details.

This is indeed a good three quarters of an hour long album. It has most certainly made me aware of this band and I will seek out the rest of their albums.

Neo-prog fans should do the same. 

3 points

Osiris Club. The - Blazing World (2014)

The debut album from this band from England.

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

This band has so far released four albums. Blazing World was released on the Norwegian label Indie Recordings and I should had reviewed it nine years ago. 

This review is long overdue, in other words.

The music on this album is a mix of post-punk, psych rock, extreme metal and some indie rock. There are also some pretty well hidden progressive rock influences on this forty minutes long album.

The music is pretty dark and at times; brutal.

The vocals are good and clear. No extreme metal vocals at all.

The quality is OKis and I may come back to the band later on, in another year, to review their more recent albums.

2.5 points

Turcotte. Guillaume - Anomalies (2022)

The debut album from this artist from Canada.

Guillaume Turcotte did the bass, guitars, synths, piano, organ and vocals himself.

He got help from a handful of guests who added their drums, percussion, guitars, violin, piano and backing vocals.

This artist is new to me. His album was released as a name-your-price Bandcamp album and that itself makes it attractive for both a reviewer like myself and anyeone else into music in these hard times. 

The vocals are in French and the music is somewhere between chanson, folk rock and progressive rock. 

That makes me automaticly think about this great Canadian band who gave us the same blend; Harmonium. And that is not too incorrect. Harmonium was rooted in the 1970s and chanson. Although there is elements of the same music, that cannot be said about Guillaume Turcotte and his music.

Guillaume Turcotte's music is more polished and more melodic.

His vocals is great. The three quarters of an hour of music is not particular great. The problem is the missing great or even outstanding piece of music. The music is plodding along towards the end and really never take flight.

That said, this is a good album. Mostly because of the vocals and the sound. The art of great songs has evaded this album, though.... Download the album if this sounds interesting.

3 points

XII Alfonso - Djenné (2016)

The seventh and so far last album from this band from France.

The band was now a duo with a lineup of bass, xylophone, percussion, guitars, synths, keyboards, samples, computers and vocals.

The duo had got help from female vocalists and some other guests.

Phillipe and Francois Claerhot lost the third member of the band, the drummer Thierry Moreno, after they had finished their previous album Charles Darwin. 

I guess they lost the drive to create big and complex music.

Djenne sees the band reverting to more of a folk progressive rock band.

There is a lot of African music here. Well, this is album is a seventy minutes long album full of African - Arabic folk music meeting up with symphonic prog.

There is some tribal music here and there is some French symphonic prog influenced music here. There is a lot of female and male vocals here too.

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

2 points

 

 

Liquify - Lost in Time (2021)

The third album from this one-man-band from USA.

Tanner Ratcliffe is the name of the artist here and he does all guitars, bass and electronics on this album and the other albums.

I got three of his Bandcamp albums and is reviewing them this winter.

We are again in the middle of a stoner rock landscape.

The music is at times very gentle. It is broken up by some outburst of post-metal guitar cascades.

Some of the music here is like post-rock meets stoner rock. There are also some space rock and krautrock in the music here.

This Bandcamp album is just over forty minutes long and it is based on mostly half-acoustic guitars. That without moving into jazz.

The quality is decent to good. 

It is well worth checking out this album and artist if melodic instrumental stoner rock floats your boat.

2.5 points

Ronfetto. Davide - Enlightening Nights, Darkening Days (2023)

The debut album from this artist from Italy.

Davide Ronfetto did the bass and vocals himself.

He had support from a lot of guests who provided drums, guitars, bass, mellotron, keyboards, synths, organ, sax and female vocals.

Colin Edwin, Heather Findlay and Elise Montaldo was involved in this album with their vocals and instruments.

Davide Ronfetto has been involved in the Italian progressive rock scene as a producer and as a general helping person before he recorded and released this album.

The music is elegant art rock. There are some progressive rock references. They are more like British neo-prog references than RPI - Italian rock references.

There are some Italian sounds here. But they are more towards art rock and that is the label to put this album under.

The Pink Floyd references are also here.

There are tonnes of elegant harmonies here on this one hour long album. Not all songs are winners. Nevertheless, this is a good album and one to check out.

3 points

 

 

Enslaved - Riitiir (2012)

 The 12th album from this band from Norway.

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

A guest supplied bass pedals and percussion.

Enslaved had by now established their own universe. An universe noone else was anywhere near able to replicate.

The sound is organic. It is also very, very brutal. This is progressive rock meets extreme metal. 

The mix of extreme black and death metal vocals with clear vocals is very good and creates it's own dynamic world.

The music is pretty epic. It is both warm pastoral and very brutal.

The result is another good and another interesting album from this band. It is also a fascinating album.

Enslaved never really disappoints.

3 points

Spacelords. The - Water Planet (2017)

The fifth album from this band from Germany.

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

A guest added synths and keyboards on the first couple of tracks.

The band is a the band name says....... a space rock band. 

After a couple of albums where the band has been a bit side tracked, the band is back again as a one hundred percent space rock band.

Three tracks. Total running time of forty-three minutes. 

The space rock is both outer space and very much dirty space rock. There is lots of distorted guitars and there are even some sitar sounds here. I guess that one is synths generated.

The music is also very groovy and rocking.

This album is just like space rock should be. Dirty, groovy and outer space. 

It is indeed a very good album and one to enjoy.

3.5 points

Light Year - Reveal the Fantastic (1974)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

This album was recorded and a partly released in 1974 although the full release was not before 2010 through their Bandcamp page. The band released another album in 2020. 

The band was loved and reviled. Loved by their contemporary bands and reviled by concert promoters and record labels. Hence, they have had done everything themselves.

The music is a mix of fusion and pure jazz.

Sharon Pucci's vocals, sometimes shrieking vocals, floats over the music. Music with a lot of marimba incorporated.

There is a lot of Mahavishnu Orchestra in their music. The music is dynamic and pretty fast. It is also very technical. 

The music is indeed pretty eclectic and not everyone's idea of a good fusion album. It is much more a jazz album than a fusion album. 

The quality is pretty good. It falls somewhere between decent and good.

Check out this album if fusion and jazz floats your boat.

2.5 points

Oriental Sunshine - Dedicated To The Bird We Love (1970)

The one and only album from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio with a lineup of sarod, bamboo flute, sitar, tablas, guitar, sitar and vocals.

Three guests added drums, percussion, bass and organ.

Norway has given us some strange albums and music. This album is one of the more strange ones... if not the strangest one.

Two Norwegian students in Bergen, the second largest town in Norway, meets a student from India. The result is this band.

The result is also raga-rock.

Take Indian instruments like sitar and tablas. Add them to some folk rock and you get raga rock albums like this album.

An half an hour long album, no less.

And this meeting between India and Norway in this small town called Bergen really works. There is plenty of sitar and vocals here. Both male and female vocals. 

This album is one heck of  a charmer and a good album. It is an album which sits neatly in a collection of Norwegian progressive rock. Fans of this scene should really get this album.

3 points

 

 

 

Vituperator - Byzantine Beauty (2022)

The third album from this band from Spain.

The band is a duo with a lineup of guitars, synths, programming and vocals.

This is a new band to me and the album is a Bandcamp album. Just as their first two albums.

The music is being marketed as a mix of classic rock and progressive rock.

Hmm.......

Take a bit post-punk, add a lot of funk and some classic rock. Add some eclectic prog (King Crimson) too and you get this album.

The album is clocking in at well over seventy minutes. 

The music is not particular well performed and it is also a bit badly mixed. The vocals is good.

The music is decent enough but just that. 

I am not won over by this album.

2 points

XII Alfonso - Charles Darwin (2012)

The sixth album from this band from France.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, theremin, glockenspiel, xylophone, bass, guitars, mandolin, bouzoki, ukulele, ocarina, synths, programming and vocals.

The band got help from fifty other guests who supplied woodwinds, strings, accordion, keyboards, programming, bass, guitars, narration and vocals.

Gosh.... This album clocks in at over one hundred and eighty minutes..... three hours. It is one of the most ambitious albims I have ever encountered. 

The band is not exactly a multi million albums selling band either. I would be surprised if they have ever sold five thousand copies of one of their titles. Actually, I would be surprised if they have in total sold as many as five thousand albums.

We get three hours of vocals dominated songs. There are some orchestral symphonic prog pieces also here. But the vast majority of these three hours is vocals about the life of Charles Darwin. 

I feel this is nothing more than a book with some music added. 

The vocals and lyrics is OK but on the simplified end of the spectrum. The band had courage and a lot of insanity to manage to put out this album. An album with a triple booklet. 

The instrumental pieces are rather good. The songs are half-decent.

I am not won over but this is still a decent album.

The band deserve a lot of credit for their bravery, though.

2 points

Liquify - Liquify (2020)

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

Tanner Ratcliffe is the name of the artist here and he does all guitars, bass and electronics on this album and the other albums.

I got three of his Bandcamp albums and is reviewing them this winter.

The music is a mix of stoner and space rock. Add some krautrock too and you get this music.

The music is a bit too gentle to be stoner. There are some wild guitar solos here but they are pretty much in harmony and more hippie style than black stoner.

There is a lot of sun on this album and not so much hurricanes. 

The music is decent enough. It is a decent debut album and I am looking forward to reviewing the two other Liquify albums I got.

2 points

Solstice - Light Up (2022)

 

The seventh album from this band from UK. 

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

The band album debuted in 1984 with the Silent Dance album. The releases has been infrequent since that year. But we are now at number seven.

The band has always been regarded as a neo-prog band. The second wave of british neo-prog bands is what they are a member of.

The music on Light Up is a mix of neo-prog and sunny folk prog. 

The music is melodic. Jess Hollands vocals are great. I also very much liked the band founder Andy Glass guitars. Both the more subtle guitars and the guitar solos.

The result is a good album. It is not their best album but it is still an album who will please their fans. 

Check out this album !

3 points

Psicolorama - Nómadas (2017)

The 10th album from this one-man-band from Spain.

Psicolorama did the electronics, vocals, guitars and keyboards here.

He got help from a female vocalist and two drummers.

Gosh, have I really reviewed nine albums ? It has been quite a journey and the journey will go on and on.

His albums has been a bit of hit and miss. 

The music is mostly ambient music and that is also the case here. There is a couple of proper songs here, delivered in Spanish.

The theme on Nomadas seems to be the nature. The floating female voices takes us deep into a forest. Ditto for the folk rock songs.

The ambience is really good and there are some good details here too. The songs are also good.

This is his best album for some time and a good album too.

Check it out and get a surprise.

3 points

Alpha III - Spectro (1974)

The debut album from this band from Brazil.

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

This is the debut album from this band who has so far released over thirty albums. I got a dozen of them and will review them this year.

The band was keyboard player Amyr Cantusio Junior's band and vehicle for his music. He was born in Egypt but ended up in Brazil.

A debut album the first stage on a long journey... in the case of this band. The debut album, as in the case of Genesis, may not be representative for what the band later recorded.

I hope this is the case of Alpha III's debut album.

The music attempted is symphonic prog in the vein of Ekseption and ELP.

The sound is very poor. So is the keyboards sound too and the melodies is very poor too. 

This debut album is a failure and a turkey. There no other things I can say.

1 point

Symphonic Slam - Symphonic Slam (1976)

The one and only album from this band from Canada.

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

Timo Laine, the main man in this band, emigrated with his parents from Finland to Canada. Years later, Timo formed this band and this album saw the light of day.

The music ranges from fusion to symphonic prog.

The music is always epic and glam rock'ish. 

There is still some pop sensibilities in their music.

The result is what we can almost label as bubble gum progressive rock. Progressive rock for kids. A lot of those who got this album as kids has become lifelong progressive rock musicians and fans.

The music is good though and this album deserve the classic album status it has got.

Check out this album.

3 points

 

 

Orient d,Ô. L' - L'Orient d,Ô (1978)

The one and only album from this band from Canada.

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

Two guests added vocals on one track.

This band were from the French speaking part of Canada, the Quebec province. 

L'Orient d,O were also a progressive rock band. It is therefore natural to mention the great progressive rock band from this province;...... Harmonium. 

That is not far from hitting the right tone. Ange from France is though a much more natural comparison as this album gives us theatrical symphonic prog. Three quarters of an hour with theatrical French symphonic prog.

The vocals is very good and so is the music.

There is a lot of vintage organs here and vintage guitars too. The music is a tad folk rock influenced too. A bit influenced by Harmonium too.

This album is a true hidden gem from the symphonic prog scene and one to really seek out and enjoy.

Check out this album.

3.5 points

 

 

Great Wide Nothing - Hymns for Hungry Spirits, Vol. II (2023)

The third album from this band from USA.

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

I was not particular impressed about their mix of Rush like heavy prog and melodic US neo-prog on their first two albums.

My gripe was the omission of any really good songs and stuff.

The band has returned again.... with a mix of US neo-prog and heavy prog. The likes of Rush is again a good reference.

The music is very melodic and is full of good vocals and vocal harmonies.

The music is sunny and bright. There is no darkness in this music despite of the rather gloomy art-work. There is even some flower-power here. On reflection.... make that a lot of flower power.

The quality has gone up a notch and that is a good improvement.

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

3 points

 

 

Twombley Burwash - Grak II Blak (2022)

The second album from this father and son band from England.

This band is a new band in the British progressive rock scene and they have so far released two albums. Both albums reviewed this winter in this blog.

Kevin McDade and his son Bruce McDade is the core of this band and this album. They did the keyboards, electronics and most of the vocals. 

They got help on guitars, bass and drums.

Their 2014 debut album Grak was a good album. The music was all over the place from symphonic prog to electronica and techno. It was still a good album where the son and the father's respective worlds collided and new life was formed.

Father and son has on this album retreated towards Kevin's world of melodic progressive rock on this album. Melodic symphonic prog, that is. 

The music is not very technical. It is pretty epic and melodic. The vocals and some of the music reminds me about the Dutch band Us. 

This album, a Bandcamp album, clocks in at over one hour and it is a good album.

I would recomend the McDade family to release more albums and develop their music further along the way. I like what their two albums.

3 points

 

 

Tea Club. The - If / When (2019)

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

This is so far their last album. I hope the band will return again as they have a lot to offer.

We get an hour worth of art rock here somewhere between Marillion and Radiohead.

The music is pretty nostalgic, soft, melancholic and elegant.

The vocals is very good throughout. 

What is missing here is some more good songs. Half of this album has some good songs. The other half is pretty decent.

This is not their best album and that is why I hope they return again. The Tea Club can do better than this album.

2.5 points

Arkitekture - Rationalis Impetus (2022)

The debut album from this band from South Korea.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, violin, viola, saxophones, flutes, electric piano, piano, Mellotron and synths.

This is a new band to me. And this album is the fourth album from a band who were called Superstring once upon a time. That is the name they are and this album is registered with in the likes of ProgArchives.

The music on this album is a mix of chamber rock and symphonic prog. It is like Aranis going down the symphonic and cinematic prog road while still retaining some chamber rock/RIO music. 

RIO meets symphonic prog and teams up with some cinematic music. That is perhaps the best description here. 

The mix of tangents, woodwinds and strings is really good on this album. Noone of these three different types of instruments has been pushed in the background. 

This three quarters of an hour long album is therefore a good album and a surprise. Progressive rock from South Korea is not something I often encounter. It is my guess this is my first ever review of an album from this country. I will seek out the three other Superstring albums, though.

3 points

 

 

Zappa. Frank - Absolutely Free (1967)

The second album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the conducting, guitars and vocals. 

The Mothers Of Invention was a seven piece band with a lineup of drums, percussion, tambourine, guitars, saxophone and vocals.

Ten other musicians added clarinet, trumpet, violin, viola, bass, sound effects and vocals.

It is claimed that Frank Zappa's first albums is classics. I was not impressed at all by the debut album Freak Out which sounds unhinged and not particular good.

I was therefore approaching this album with some dread. 

Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention continues on from Freak Out. The music is psych pop with a lot of theatrical, weird vocals. 

The music is weird too.

The madness is more restrained and the ideas are better than on Freak Out. The progression is not very significant though.

This is a decent album and not more than that. I am not won over.

2 points

Tabletom - La Parte Chunga (1998)

The fourth album from this band from Spain.

The band was a nine piece with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, drums, piano, keyboards, saxophones, flute and vocals.

The band is back again with a cover art-work which I guess is taken from a spaghetti western movie. Which is setting the scene for this album....

Take some brass rock, add some fusion and some ska. 

This with Robert Gonzales good, but pretty wild vocals.

There are some Latin - American and a lot of Spanish rock here too. There is also a lot of influences from ska bands like The Specials.

We get three quarters of an hour of this and the music is not bad. Untraditional is the word. 

The result is a decent to good album. It is an interesting and an untraditional album from a very interesting band. A band who does not follow the wide, easy going path.

2.5 points

Sustain - Sustain (1978)

The debut album from this band from Holland.

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

This band released altogether two albums before they gave up the ghost. The main reason may have been that their type of music was as fashionable as rabies back in those days. Punk and barbarism had taken over the scene.

The music on this album is a mix of symphonic prog, brass rock and fusion.

The vocals is decent, the narration is laughable horrible and the musicians has done a decent job.

This three quarters of an hour long album has got a faint smell of turkey. Or a more than faint smell of turkey. The smell is pretty strong. 

Nevertheless, there are some decent music here too and that saves this album from being included in my extensive collection of turkeys. This is not an album well worth chasing.

1.5 points

 

 

 

Orchestre Celesti - Transition of Power (2011)

The third album from this one-man-band from Italy.

Federico Fantacone does the keyboards and drums machines here.

I have been aware of this band since the beginning of this project. A project who has by now released eight albums between 2007 and 2022.

Back in August 2011, I did a review of the second album Black And Red. I was not impressed and noted that the album was an instrumental prog album without any really good melodies.

We are now in February 2023 and I am listening to the follow up album.

The music is somewhere between neo-classical music, a bit gothic electronica and a bit or RPI. The music is still instrumental.

The music is ok'ish but never really good. 

I am again left unimpressed by an album from this project. It is a decent album but just that.

2 points

 

 

Natt - Natt (2023)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

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

The band consists of the drummer from Enslaved and some other local musicians from Bergen. The album is out on Bandcamp label I believe is run by the same Enslaved drummer.

The music on this three quarters of an hour long album is post metal with a lot of doom metal and post rock influences.

There is a great ambience in this music. Music which is set out to describe an arctic night in their country. 

There are some almost atonal guitar solos here and a lot of keyboards who drives the music. The music is still surprisingly organic.

It is also dynamic too.

I am not a post-metal fan. But I recognise some of what Enslaved does here and a lot of post rock and sludge here.

The result is a surprisingly good album and one to check out. The band is onto somethng here I will return for more if the band release some more music.

3 points

Twombley Burwash - Grak (2014)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a eight piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, bodhran, violin, guitars, mandolin, keyboards, programming and vocals.

This band is a new band in the British progressive rock scene and they have so far released two albums. Both albums reviewed this winter in this blog.

Kevin McDade and his son Bruce McDade is the core of this band and this album. 

Kevin McDade took his songs and experience from his hippie and classic progressive rock days and merged them with the experiences and music from his DJ son and his electronica background.

Two generations & their worlds collides on this album. And that is exactly what we get here. Collisions galore and some sort of unity too. This album takes us from symphonic prog via various genres to electronica and the dance floors in rave clubs.

The songs are pretty long and the vocals is decent. Decent but not good. The guitars and the other instruments are good, though.

This album has such a variety of genres and so many wild, quirky and interesting details that most will find this album bewildering.... in the beginning. That's before it starts to grow on the listener.

This album deserves a lot more attention. It is also a good album and well worth the Bandcamp purchase.

3 points

Tea Club. The - Grappling (2015)

The fourth album from this band from USA.

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

The band continues with their mix of The Mars Volta, Genesis, Rush, The Dear Hunter and Gentle Giant. Add a lot of bohemian americania too and some jazz and you get their music.

The band is back after changing some of their members. The McGowan brothers are now the only remaining members from their first albums.

The band is from USA but they have been listening to the likes of The Flower Kings too. There are some pretty evident similarities of the mid-era The Flower Kings and most of the stuff on this album.

A three quarters of an hour long album, btw.

The vocals is as always very good and there is a lot of interesting details on this albums. The songs are all good.What is missing is the dot over the i..... a cracking great song or two. Songs that sets the band apart and above their competitors.

Nevertheless, this is a good album.

3 points

 

 

L'Impero Delle Ombre - L'Impero Delle Ombre (2004)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

I got this album presented to me as a this year re-release of the 2004 album. I have yet to find any evidence for it and that dawned on me while I was well into the listening sessions.

The band has released three albums. The second one in 2010 and the third one in 2020.

I reviewed their second album I Compagni Di Baal and was not particular impressed. Doomy heavy metal.

The band delivers indeed metal somewhere between doom and heavy metal. More towards doom metal. There are also some hints of progressive rock in their music.

The sound is good. The vocals are acceptable and the music on this forty-sevent minutes long album is OK and not offensive.

The result is a decent album and just that.

2 points

XII Alfonso - Under (2009)

The fifth album from this band from France.

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

I had given up on reviewing their albums ten years ago before I decided to review the last handful of albums I got with them. The fourth album was reviewed last month and I was no fan of that album.

The band is listed as a symphonic prog band. That is a genre rarely visited by this band. 

On this album, we get a blend of minimalistic jazz and ambient music. 

There is a lot of samples here and softly spoken music. These sixty fife minutes feels like one piece of music.

There is not much dynamic music on this album. It is mostly ambient, the music.

This album is not a turkey. There are a lot of decent stuff here. But most of this album falls a bit flat on it's face and does not really engage with the listener.

This is not an album I will recommend. 

1.5 points

Tea Party. The - The Edges Of Twilight (1995)

The third album from this band from USA.

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

There was some uncredited sitars and Middle East folk instruments too on this album.

The Tea Party was rumbling on with their heavy rock which used Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and King's as references. 

The band added a lot more blues on this album too. They moved a lot towards The Doors and Jim Morrisson on this album.

There is also a lot of Middle-East and Indian undertones on this album with some use of local instruments from that area. There are also some folk music from that area on this album.

The music is muscular and heavy at times. It is also pretty melodic.

The music on this one hour long album is good and established the band as one band to check out and follow. 

Check out this album.

3 points

 

 

Sunforest - Sound Of Sunforest (1970)

The debut album from this British - US band.

The band was a trio with a lineup of percussion, banjo, guitars, piano, pump organ, organ, harpsichord and vocals.

There is some uncredited woodwinds on this album too.

This is a much bootlegged album, after Deram/Decca released it first in 1970, who has never seen the light of day on CD. I guess that is just about to change.

Several of the tunes here has been used in commercials and by big corpororations. The rather catchy Lighthouse Keeper has been used in numerous TV programs and movies too.

The music on this album is a mix of acid folk and medieval progressive folk rock. 

The songs on this forty minutes long album is both catchy and quirky. They are also melodic and made by some very good musicianship.

It is tragic that this band only released this album. The band and this album has influenced numerous other bands who has gone onto becoming famous.

This is a good album and one of the better acid folk and medieval progressive folk rock albums ever released.

3 points

Of Petra - So Onto Itself (2018)

The second album from this band from England.

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

This album and their debut album has been released as a name your price through Bandcamp and the link can be found here.

As I stated in my review of their debut album; the band and music reminds me a lot about the bands Moonjune Records has released. There is even some good Soft Machine, the Allan Holdsworth era, influences. 

To this, the band has added some more avant-garde themes and added some samples. That include some female spoken words samples.

The music is an ounce more avant-garde as a result. It is not straight forward fusion.

There is plenty of fusion here to make the fusion fans happy.

The result is a good album this time around. I also hope the band is still around.

Check out this album.

3 points

 

 

 

Sunchild - Exotic Creatures and a Stolen Dream (2023)

The 8th album from this band from Ukraina.

The band was a ten piece band with a lineup of drums, bass, percussion, guitars, accordion, keyboards, saxophones, vocoder and vocals.

A guitarist added two solos to the first piece of music on this album.

Two pieces of music... The first one is half an hour long and the second one is one quarter of an hour long. OK, three quarters of an hour with the usual neo-classical music.

Wrong !!!

Yes, the two pieces of music is long. But they also got a lot of vocals and the music is indeed symphonic prog. 

Both Genesis and in particular Yes is a good reference here. Ditto for some of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals.

The music is really complex throughout. It is also a melodic and the music is collection of good melody lines who has been merged together.

The result is a great album and one of Antony Kalugin's best albums. He is a maestro and this album proves that.

This is an album which will bring joy anyone into symphonic prog.

4 points

Sub Rosa - 11:11 (2021)

 

The second album from this band from Brazil.

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

Numerous guests helped out on bass, guitars, keyboards, computers and vocals.

I had heard a lot of good things about this album before I got it. Their 2010 debut album The Gigsaw was a good album too.

We get onehundred and thirteen minutes of music here. That on two CDs. This sounds good.....

The music is a mix of psych pop and psych rock.

The vocals are pretty bad and at times; off key. 

The music is pretty decent and just that. The band sounds lost at sea and totally out of it. The organ sound is the saving grace here and ditto for the mostly decent melodies.

I am disappointed, to say at least. 

2 points

Spleen Arcana - The Light Beyond The Shades (2014)

The second and final album from this band from France.

Spleen Arcana was a one man band from Julien Gaullier who did the bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Two guests added drums and backing vocals.

The 2009 debut album The Field Where She Died was a pretty good goth prog album.

Julien Gaullier has on The Light Beyond The Shades gone more in the Mike Oldfield prog rock tradition.

Three long compositions in the Mike Oldfield, King Crimson and Pink Floyd vein. Add some Porcupine Tree too and you get this album.

The music is mellow throughout. It is also rather beautiful too. It has some good complexity and it knows how to keep the attention of the listener.

Some 1970s organ, mellotron and moog sound also helps the album to win friends. The guitars too are good.

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

3 points