MesaVerde - All is Well (2024)

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

 This band was once marketed as a mix of Led Zeppelin and XTC. On the debut album, that was not far from the truth.

All Is Well sees the band ditching everything Led Zeppelin. There is a lot of XTC left in their music. Some Marillion has been added but not much. Gazpacho is a more relevant comparison.

The music is a mix of 1980s indie and these days art-rock.

Lots of harmonies of all sorts here and the music is mid-tempo.

The music is pleasant and pretty good. It is still a bit of a let down compared with their debut album. I am not impressed.

2.5 points

 

 

Hackett. Steve - At the Edge of Light (2019)

The 26th album from this artist from Great Britain.

Steve Hackett did the guitars, charango, sitar, oud and some vocals.

He was helped by some guests who added percussion, drums, bass, didgeridoo, violin, viola, keyboards, duduk, programming, sax, flute, clarinet, sitar and vocals. 

The inclusion of oud and sitar tells us that Steve has visited India and the Middle East this time. He has often done that on his latest albums. Either those areas or the Mediterranean Sea. 

These influences has added a lot of spices to this fifty minutes long album.

We still get a lot of his guitars here. He is one of the better guitarists on today's planet. Mostly because he knows his instrument's limits and how to apply it in a song or piece of music. 

There is plenty of his superb guitars and vocals here.

The songs and other pieces of music is also good. Even the choirs and the more neo-classical pieces.

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

3 points

Gnarbot - Origin (2021)

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

Two guests added percussion and keyboards.

This band has so far released two albums through Bandcamp. A review of their second album will follow later this week/weekend.

The music on this fifty minutes long album is mostly instrumental hard rock with a lot of fusion and some jazz incorporated.

The music is fast, hard and furious at times. There are also a couple of more normal rock songs on this album.

The musicians does a good job. The music.... the band has yet to discover how to write some engaging music or even some good tunes.

The music is decent enough but just that. Check out this album if you want some heavy instrumental prog.

2 points

Le Orme - ...And Friends (2023)

The 22nd album from this band from Italy.

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

The band had got help from some guests who provided piano, mellotron and vocals.

Le Orme was one of the leading bands in the RPI scene in the 1970s. They has still released some albums up to this year. Some of these albums has been classical music versions of their songs. 

...And Friends is three CDs and well over two hours of unreleased leftovers from their many studio sessions plus their take on other bands songs.

It is hard to label this as a full worthy studio album from this band. Is is more a leftover compilation album.

The music is decent to good though. The band does their best on this album which is very likely the last ever studio album from this band.

2.5 points

 

 

Grand Funk Railroad - Closer to Home (1970)

The third album from this band from USA.

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

The band returned again with their second album.

The band started out as a rhythm'n'blues band. They then moved into becoming a hard rock band. Just like Led Zeppelin and many other bands. 

The music is indeed hard rocking. There are also some more slower pieces here where the band stretches their legs and proves that there is more to this band than just hard rock.

The music is more riffs and rhythm based than guitar solos based. The vocals is pretty good.

The result is a decent albm indeed and one hard rock fans should check out.

2 points

Voivod - Target Earth (2013)

The 13th album from this band from Canada.

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

They band was helped by two guests who provided oud and throat singing.

Jason Newsted has now left the band and been replaced by another bass player. 

Voivod is an unique band who has a pretty unique take on metal, psych and prog rock.

The key on this album is speed. The music is ultra-fast and based on speed metal. Voivod started out as a speed metal band and that is obvious here. The vocals is in that vein too.

There is a lot of psych rock here too. 

This mix sometimes and sometimes does not work on this album. This is not one of their better albums as it has too many flaws.

2.5 points

Lalu - Oniric Metal (2005)

The debut album from this band from France.

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

This band has so far released four albums and they are all up for review this winter in this blog.

These four albums was pitched to me as clever, eclectic progressive metal. 

That may be true for their new album, released a couple of months ago. This, their debut album, has a mix of heavy metal and progressive metal.

Mostly heavy metal, though. There is not much prog metal on this fifty-five minutes long album. 

The music sounds modern and the balance between the guitars and the keyboards is good. The vocals is decent enough.

The result is a decent enough album which does not bring anything new to the scene. Heavy metal fans may check out this album.

2 points

Full Moon - Euphoria (1992)

 

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

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

A guest added some extra drums.

Their 1989 self-titled debut album was a good mix of psych rock and hard rock. It was an album well worth checking out.

Three years has gone and the same lineup goes into the studio and release this album on a small label. 

The music is heavy metal. No less and no more. It is not the most heavy metal I have heard. But we still get all the hallmarks of a heavy metal album. All the cliches.

The vocals is pretty bad and ditto for the music.

The result is a turkey. It is an album best forgotten. Taken the debut album into consideration, that is a shame.

1 point

Baccini. Sophya - Runnin' with the Wolves (2023)

The third album from this artist from Italy.

Sophya Baccini did the piano and vocals.

She had help from five other female musicians who provided drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards, saxophone and vocals. 

Sophya Baccini is quite a prolific contributor to other bands and artists albums in Italy. She was also the vocalist in the Italian dark prog band Presence until they broke up. Her debut album Aradia was released in 2009. 

The music on this forty minutes long album is female Italian vocals dominated pastoral rock with some folk rock and RPI influences. 

Well, many would label the music as RPI. The music is not complex and eclectic enough to be labeled progressive rock, though. But this is not a major or even a minor issue.

The music is pastoral and warm. The quality is somewhere between decent and good.

It is an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Elder - Innate Passage (2022)

The sixth album from this band from USA.

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

Two guests provided keyboards and vocals.

This band started out as a stoner band before they explored the space rock genre and then finally landed in the psych rock genre.

The band has developed their sound and music in other words.

There is still some space rock and some metal in their music. But most of the music here is mid-tempo grungy psych rock. 

The music is good throughout and it is obvious why this band has got their status as big band in the scene. This album is well worth checking out.

3 points

 

 

 

Mangeur De Rêves - Vivre et Mourir (2023)

The second album from this band from Canada.

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

This band is from the French speaking part of Canada, the Quebec province and I noted in my review of their debut album that they should be included in the Quebec scene genre. 

Their new album has not made my change my mind. On the contrary, it has just enforced my view and their place in the Quebec scene genre.

They still sound a lot like Harmonium. There is also some of the teeth from the British folk rock scene here. Cano is also a band with references on this album.

The vocals is very good and the music is very pastoral.

This is a good album and one which will find favour among both the Quebec scene and the folk rock fans.

3 points

Ozric Tentacles - Lotus Unfolding (2023)

The 22nd album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A trio of guests added drums, percussion and flute.

The band has returned again with a new album and a lot of gigs.

Their music is pretty unique and it is fair to say that this band is a trailblazer in the ambient space rock genre. They more or less invented this genre.

There is a lot of guitar solos on the top and in addition to the electronic, pulsating rhythms and details. 

The band has again managed to come up with the goods. It is not one of their best albums. Nevertheless, this is a solid, good album from one of the better bands in today's Great Britain.

3 points

Dungen - Skit I Allt (2010)

The sixth album from this band from Sweden.

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

A guest added female vocals.

The acid folk rock band continued on and this time on their gradual move away from folk rock.

This move had started a couple of albums away and the band was heading for some cosmos jazz and psych rock. Spaced out music, in other words.

There is still a lot of acid folk rock hanging around on this album. It is acid folk rock where the band is repeating themselves and their first couple of albums. Not impressive......

The new more spaced out psych and jazz is not hitting the tones here either and this album is a bit of a let down.

It is still a decent album, but still a failure.

2 points

 

 

Help Yourself - Help Yourself (1971)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band released four albums between 1971 and 1973. They also released an album in 2004 with some comeback songs and archive material from 1973. These five albums are up for reviews this winter in this blog.

I love the cover art-work on this album and that made me purchase this two albums for one double CD. Then I got the rest of their albums. 

Their recording career and the first song on this album, their debut album, starts with a song about seeing Jesus. The music is slightly gospel and with a country'n'western folk rock feel. That song comes as a surprise..... It is a decent enough song. It does not represent the rest of this album.

The music here is acid folk rock with some psych influences. The music is pretty melodic and not so vocals focused as most folk rock albums are. The musicians are given plenty of space. Ditto for the good vocals.

The quality of the music is somewhere between decent and good. I do understand those who rates this album as a cult album. It is indeed a pretty unique album. 

2.5 points

Go. Victor - In a Trap of Anticipations (2023)

The sixth album from this artist from Ukraine.

Victor Go did the guitars, keyboards and vocals himself.

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

Victor Go has on his so far six albums given us music in the area between neo-prog, symphonic prog and neo-classical music.

Very melodic and cinematic. 

On this one hour long album, there is also a couple of neo-classical pieces in addition to the more cinematic, vocals orientated pieces of music.

The music is.... not particular interesting. There is no interesting details here and there is not much to really enjoy on this album. Victor Go has more or less become stale and it is about time either develop or accept that there is no point in develop the concept any further.

This album is too much of a run-of-a-mill to really engage the listener.

2 points

Full Moon - Full Moon (1989)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band from London released two studio albums before they gave up the ghost. A review of their second album will be published early next month.

This album was released through the Norwegian label Voices Of Wonder and I have some vague memories of it. That is.... I remember the cover art-work. This is my first chance to go behind the cover and explore the music.

The music is a mix of hard rock, psych rock, punk, pub rock and a bit progressive rock. The music is a mix of flower power and cynical hard rock.

Hence, the music on this fifty minutes long album is pretty eclectic. 

The quality is pretty good too. Somewhere between decent and good. 

Those who like hard psych rock should check out this album.

2.5 points

Spacelords. The - Nectar of the Gods (2023)

The eight album from this band from Germany.

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

A guest added keyboards.

The Spacelords has always been a band who has churned out raw and pretty primitive space rock. A couple of their albums has also featured some more melodic space rock. 

Nectar Of The Gods sees the band retreat to a much more groovy, basic space rock landscape. This is where this band is one of the best bands today.

The music may not be the most exciting out there. But it is groovy and very effective. There is enough interesting details on this forty-five minutes long album to keep the listener interested. This despite of the music being instrumental.

This is indeed a good album and an album fans of space rock should check out.

3 points

Eldovar - A Story of Darkness & Light (2021)

The one and only album from this band from USA and Germany.

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

Two guests added slide guitars and vocals.

This band is a cooperation between the two bands Elder and Kadaver. A cooperation forged through the Covid pandemic. It is listed as Elder's sixth album and also in Kadaver's discography.

But Eldovar, it is.

The music is a meeting of two minds and the result is a mix of a psych, space rock and krautrock album. There is some ambient stuff here and a lot of good melodies. Ditto for the good vocals.

Most of the music is trippy space rock. It is almost hypnotic.

The quality is good throughout and this is an enjoyable album. Check it out if melodic space rock is your thing.

3 points

Mangeur De Rêves - Histoires à l'envers (2019)

The debut album from this band from Canada.

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

This band is a new addition to the very impressive Quebec scene. They have just released their second album and I will review that sometimes soon.

The vocals are in French on this folk rock album. French folk rock with some progressive rock influences, that is.

Bands like Harmonium is a very good reference, indeed. The mix of acoustic and electric guitars are good. 

The quality of the songs on this just over half and hour long album is pretty good. Some are decent and some of the songs are good.

This is a very much welcome debut album, indeed.

2.5 points

Course Of Fate - Somnium (2023)

The second album from this band from Norway.

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

This band is new to me and I was told they are playing a mix of prog and progressive metal.

That may come as a piece of news to the band.

The music is pretty much straight forward heavy metal with some keyboards and a lot of guitars and vocal harmonies.

The music is pretty hard and straight forward heavy metal. It has a lot of progressive rock influences too.

The music is not too bad and I can live with this album. It is a run-of-the-mill progressive metal/heavy metal album though.

2 points

 

 

Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Some guests added strings, woodwinds and programming. 

The band returned after some straight, melodic indie and art-rock albums with this album.

The music here is something else compared with their first three hit albums. It is like the band has re-programmed themselves and come out of the process as a trippy, indie band.

There is a lot of gloomy ambient music here and the music is pretty avant-garde throughout.

It is also big, bold and epic. And it is progressive and really pushing the envelope. 

The music and vocals is also fascinating. It does not take any prisoners.

This is indeed a very good album from a band who has broken all barriers and has made their own rules. The band deserves lots of respect for releasing this album. 

3.5 points

Hackett. Steve - The Night Siren (2017)

The 25th album from this artist from Great Britain.

Steve Hacket contributed with oud, charango, sitar, guitars, harmonica and vocals.

Numerous guests added drums, percussion, bass, uillean pipes, strings, woodwinds, keyboards and vocals.

Steve Hackett has in the last years changed between his solo career and tours where he has been playing his old Genesis songs. That in addition to playing on other artists albums. He has so far contributed on more than one hundred albums. 

His solo albums is a mix of rock and neo-classical albums. Some of the albums has not been rock albums at all. 

The Night Siren is a mix of rock and neo-classical music. It is a typical Steve Hackett album. There is a lot of musicals influenced progressive rock here. The vocals is really good. Ditto for the guitars. Steve Hackett found his formula decades ago and this album is in that formula.

The music on this album is fairly good. Steve Hackett's vocal and guitars elevates this album a couple of notches. Hence, this is a good album but not a remarkable album. Steve Hackett can do better.

3 points

Go. Victor - Tales from McIntyre Lake (2021)

The fifth album from this artist from Ukraine.

Victor Go did the bass, guitars, keyboards, computers and vocals himself.

Two guests added drums.

Victor Go continues on his own and his blend of neo-prog, symphonic rock and psych rock.

There is lots of his good vocals here and some guitars. The tempo is pretty slow.

There is not many interesting details here and the songs on this one hour long album tend to float over into each other. It feels like the music is one long piece of music.

There is not much here who creates contrasts, shades and lights. 

That said, the music is not bad. The quality is again somewhere between decent and good. Just like the previous album.

2.5 points

 

Fungus - Premonitions (1973)

The one and only album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This album is a pre-release version of the Seventh Wave album Things To Come. That album, a more modified and cleaned up version of the Fungus version was released in 1974. My review of that album can be found here.

I got no idea why a pre-album version of a pretty obscure album, even back then, was released as a white cover album. Nobody else understand this and this album is surrounded by disbelief. 

The music is a basically an attempt of copying ELP. That as a duo and with their own music. 

There are a lot of neo-classical music mixed up with some symphonic prog. There are even some vocals here.

The result is a decent album. Fans of ultra-obscure symphonic prog should check out this album. I guess that is the reason why I got this album. 

2 points

Christina - Bar Stool Prophet (2023)

The second album from this artist from Great Britain.

Christina Booth did the vocals here.

She had help from around ten other musicians who added drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, harmonica and backing vocals.

Christina Booth is the vocalist in Magenta, one of the best British prog rock bands in the last twenty-five years. 

She is still a member of Magenta. She has though released two solo-albums inbetween her work in Magenta and helping out other bands and artists on their albums.

Her solo-albums brings us a lot more vocals focused music and less progressive rock instrumental workouts. That is the difference between her solo albums and the Magenta albums.

The music is therefore more singer/songwriter than progressive rock. 

Her superb vocals is the dominating factor. The title track is a very good song though and perhaps her best song ever as a solo artist. 

The rest of the songs are good. The use of instruments are supporting the vocals and does a good job here.

This is a good album and well worth checking out. Christina's vocals is alone the reason to get this album.

3 points

 

 

Ghost - Impera (2022)

The fifth album from this band from Sweden.

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

Some guests added drums, guitars, piano, organ and choir.

This very much hyped up band has released four albums who has failed to impress me. Hence, my expectations was pretty low when I put on this fifty minutes long album.

The band has taken basic heavy metal, melodic hairy heavy metal, and updated it with a lot sharper, smarter sound. 

Behind the updated sound and the Catholic and occolt/satanic imagery, melodic heavy metal is what you get.

The music is not even good. 

Lots of hype....... not a lot of substance. That is my take on Ghost. I am disappointed.

2 points

Jovenabuelo - Ni​ñ​o Sol (2009)

The second and final album from this band from Chile.

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

Their Ya Listo Chao debut album from 2007 caught my attention with their Latin - American take on post rock. It indeed a good album.

The band returned again two years later with this name-your-price Bandcamp album.

The music is still post-rock. The music is a bit more ambient and the band has taken a more mainstream direction here. It is still post rock.

There is plenty of piano here and the tempo is pretty slow and pedestrian at times. Far too pedestrian. The music is pretty dull and uninspiring throughout these forty-two minutes.

There is not a single minute of good music here and this album is a major step backwards from the debut album. 

This album is a borderline turkey but a couple of decent details and melodies saves this album from being the object of a stuffed turkey dinner.

1.5 points

Weite - Assemblage (2023)

 The debut album from this band from Germany.

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

Another band who plays instrumental music....

This time, we get a band who plays music somewhere between space rock, psych rock and krautrock.

There are some modest use of synths here. Tasteful use of synths, let me add. Most the music is guitars driven.

This means both half-acoustic and electric guitars. 

The music is melodic with some sporadic trips into avant-garde land. 

Elder from USA is a good reference throughout this album.

The quality is fairly decent and this is a more than acceptable debut album.

2.5 points

Zappa. Frank - Studio Tan (1978)

The 18th studio album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the percussion, guitars and vocals here.

As usual, he had lots of guests here who provided drums, bongos, percussion, bass, keyboards, synths, yodeling and vocals. A symphony orchestra provided woodwinds, strings, piano and a conductor.

This album takes Frank Zappa firmly into the avant-garde territory.

It opens up with a twenty minutes long waste of time where Frank Zappa expresses his hatred towards trends and all who are into trends. This in a dialogue over a decent melody line. It is still twenty wasted minutes.

The three other tracks are both better and more interesting. Revised Music For Guitar And Low Budget Orchestra is a quite good composition, clocking in at almost eight minutes. The two other compositions are fairly decent.

The result is a decent album. It is not one of his better albums though. It feels like this album is half-baked and nothing more than that.

2 points

Elder - Omens (2020)

The fifth album from this band from USA.

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

A guest added extra keyboards.

The band started out as a primitive stoner rock band before they started to develop into a more psych and space rock band.

There are still some stoner rock here. But most of this album gives us plenty of grungy psych rock.

There are five compositions here. They are on average just below eleven minutes long. Hence, this album clocks in at just below the one hour mark.

The music is both complex and melodic. The vocals is pretty good too.

There is no real great compositions here. They are though full of interesting details and the band has taken another step in the right direction, towards stardom, with this album.

3 points

 

 

Go. Victor - The Leap (2020)

The fourth album from this artist from Ukraine.

Victor Go does the keyboards, guitars, programming and vocals himself on this album.

I quite liked his debut album but has not found the following two albums. Hence, I am at his fourth album now. I will also review the fifth and the sixth album too.

The music on The Leap is melodic symphonic prog and neo-prog.

The music is a mix of instrumental and vocals tracks. 

The vocals is good. The music is not intricate and it has this one-man-band feel. The music is neither complex or full of interesting details, in other words.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. It is fairly interesting but not that taxing on the brain.

2.5 points

 

 

Furyu - Cio Che l'Anima Non Dice (2011)

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

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

This band is unknown and that is a shame. This album is an obscure album and that is even a greater shame.

This album starts out as a quity thrashy metal album. Then it starts to invade other genres. But the likes of Metallica is always there in the bottom.

Take Metallica at their most thrash metal, add some Italian avant-garde jazz, some eclectic Italian prog and some post-punk.

The Italian vocals is both clean and distorted. It is also a bit rap and narration wise too.

The music on this half an hour long album is all over the place. It is not always good. Nevertheless, there is some good and some less good stuff here. It is an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points

Forever Twelve - Neighborhood of Spirits (2023)

The fifth album from this band from USA.

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

This is a band I have only a bit vague knowledge of. They debuted back in 2002 and I have reviewed only one of their albums.

When I get offers to review symphonic prog albums, I never decline these offers. This despite of not being a fan of their previous album.

Their music on this album is a mix of old US symphonic prog and some neo-prog from across the pond, Great Britain. There are also some art-rock in their album.

The album is fifty-five minutes long. The vocals is really good and the music is elegant and mid-tempo. There is also a lot of tasteful organ here and the sound is leaning towards the 1970s US prog rock sound.

The music here is really good and it makes me want to get more from this band. 

Fans of melodic but still intelligent prog will really like this album.

3 points

Ghost - Prequelle (2018)

The fourth album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band were supported by some guests who provided strings and vocals.

The band returned again in a fanfare of hypes and non-musical publicity. Ghost is this generation's answer to Kiss. A band who are supposed to challenge the authorities, but who are still releasing commercial, slick music.

There are still some Blue Oyster Cult in their music. There are also some Muse here. I have no idea why this music has been tagged as doom metal. There is no doom metal here.

The music is slick, very melodic and very much arena rock.

Their music has improved a lot since the last album. There are some good stuff here.... most of it is good. As I hate to admit, but this is actually a fairly album. I don't like their hype. I do not like the musical cliches who comes thick and fast on this album. There is some musicals commercial music here. But this album is finally, finally a fairly good album from Ghost. About time.

2.5 points

Jovenabuelo - Ya Listo Chao (2007)

The debut album from this band from Chile.

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

This band has released two albums on Bandcamp before they disbanded. I have meant to review both albums for the last years but someone else got my priority. The reviews of both albums are loooong overdue.

The music is post-rock.

That is post-rock with a slight twist. 

There is some Latin-American in their post-rock. Latin-American prog. The use of accordion and some local instruments is unusual, to say at least. 

This adds a lot of colours and flavours to what is pretty standard post-rock.

Their take on post-rock is also pretty good. 

This album is therefore one of the better post-rock albums I have heard for a while. I rarely review post-rock albums and this album is a nice reminder that I should visit this genre more often.

3 points

Jordsjø - Salighet (2023)

The seventh album from this band from Norway.

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

This band is one of the leading lights in the new progressive rock scene in Norway. 

Salighet gives us forty minutes with a blend of folk rock and symphonic prog. 

Most of the music is half-acoustic and it also has some jazzy influences. The music also comes across as pretty much a mix of Jethro Tull and Wobbler.

The sound on this album and the sound of Jordsjø is very much the Norwegian sound. Some will say this sound was laid down on the first Folque albums in the 1970s and then adopted by the new wave of Norwegian prog rock bands some decades later.

The music is melodic and has a lot of melancholy. 

The music is also very good and this album confirms why this band is regarded as one of the best bands in Norway right now.

3.5 points

Grand Funk Railroad - Grand Funk (1969)

The second album from this band from USA.

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

This trio were on the level just below the likes of Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin back in those days. They are mostly unknown today. 

This album was released in the same year as their debut album On Time. There is not much diffence or musical development either between these two albums. 

Their music on these two albums is US hard rock with a lot of blues influences. There are also some rock'n'roll and funk here.

The music is in short classic rock. 

The music is decent enough on this fifty minutes long album. It is indeed a decent album who tells you a lot about the bands who almost made it and almost became superstars like Stones and Zeppelin. 

2 points

 

 

 

Voivod - Infini (2009)

The 12th album from  this band from Canada.

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

This is the second album based on and inspired by some guitar demos left behind by the sadly departed guitarist Denis D'Amour. The previous album Katorz from 2006 was the first of these two albums.

Voivod were and still is a unique band who went their own ways. Something I and everyone else both respect and admire.

The music on Infini is not dissimilar to the first post D'Amour album. That means a mix of post punk, post metal, thrash metal, grunge and progressive metal.

The music is pretty hard and a bit harder than on Katorz. There are also some nice hooks here and the vocals is pretty good.

Not everything is good here and I am not entirely won over by this album.

This is another almost-there album. It is still a pretty respectable album.

2.5 points

Go. Victor - Going for the Sense (2018)

The debut album from this artist from Ukraine.

Victor Go did the guitars, bass, keyboards, drums programming and vocals himself.

He had help from a guest who did cello and some keyboards.

Victor Go and Vladimir Goraschenko played together in a band before Vladimir formed Modern Rock Ensamble (see reviews of the albums) and Victor then formed another band and finally chose to go it alone as a solo artist.

He has so far released six albums and I got four of them up for reviews this fall.

Victor is very much inspired by the melodic rock masters ranging from The Beatles via Camel, Pink Floyd and Genesis to the likes of Steven Wilson.

The music is somewhere between psych rock, cinematic rock and melodic progressive rock.

The music on this one hour long album is well crafted and the vocals is good. The music is a bit generic and comes a bit short when it comes to quality. This album is still a pleasant listen and one he could build something far better on.

2.5 points

Future Elephants? - Future Elephants? (2017)

The debut album from this band from Sweden.

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

This band from Sweden has so far released three albums. This is the only one I got of them and I have no plans to get their three other albums.

The band gives us fifty-five minutes with a mix of classic rock and hard rock.

The music is pretty straight forward and does not have many interesting details Neither is it quirky or eclectic. Let alone progressive. 

The vocals is a bit heavy accented, but still good enough. They are actually good. The rest of the band does a good job too.

There is no good songs here. That said, this is a decent album and an album not to be ashamed of.

Check it out if classic rock is your thing.

2 points

Cinema Styge - Tra Di Noi (2023)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

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

The RPI scene is alive and well. It gives us some new bands every year.

Some of these bands even plays traditional RPI in the vein of the great bands from the 1970s. 

The music on this forty-two minutes long album is pretty complex with a lot of interesting rhythm patterns. The band is clearly somewhere between the more eclectic and the more symphonic end of the RPI scene.

The music is also pretty pastoral. It is never hard though and the music here will please those into the more melodic, gentle end of the RPI scene.

The Italian vocals is good and so is the music.

This band and album is a welcome addition to the scene and I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

3 points

Strawbs - The Magic of It All (2023)

The 25th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a trio with a lineup of accordion, acoustic guitars, dulcimer, mellotron, organ, piano and vocals.

Some guests added bass, percussion, drums, guitars and vocals.

David Cousins, the band founder and owner, cleared out some old veterans from the band and continued the band as a trio. A controversial move. 

The band has been around since the end of of the 1960s and is now winding down... from what I have heard. Life has an end, indeed. 

The soundscape is a bit stripped down on this album. But very few bands has done and still does folk rock like Strawbs. This is easily one of the five best bands ever to come out of this scene. The likes of Sandy Denny and Rick Wakeman started their careers in Strawbs.

The music is a bit light and fluffy on this album. This album is not their finest moment. Nevertheless, the quality is still somewhere between decent and good. 

David Cousins deserve a lot of credit for releasing albums as this in this day and age.

2.5 points

Morpheus Project - On The Edge (2023)

The second album from this band from Sri Lanka.

The band is Mustafa Khetty on vocals. He has also composed and arranged everything here.

He had help from a quintet of guests who added drums, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards and vocals.

Mustafa Khetty had slimmed down his ambitions and music since the big production on the 2021 debut album Mozaick. 

He had become more focused and gone a bit more narrow when it comes to music.

The music is a mix of progressive metal, hard rock and neo-prog. There are some guitar hero stuff here and some more neo-classical music too. Mustafa Khetty has clearly big ambitions but perhaps not enough resources to carry them through.

The vocals is good and so is the arrangements. There are some Rainbow influences here. Strangely enough, he chose to do a Deep Purple cover instead of a Rainbow cover. His version of Highway Star is not particular good.

The quality is again somewhere between decent and good. I trust we will hear more music from Mustafa Khetty and I hope the new music will be an improvement on his first two albums.

2.5 points

Bocca Della Verità. La - [Un]connected (2023)

The second album from this band from Italy.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, moog, mellotron, keyboards, organs, piano, synths and male Italian vocals.

A handful of guests added additional drums, guitars, vocals and musical direction.

Their 2016 debut album Avenoth was and still is a great album. An album in the best of the RPI genre tradition.

The band has ditched the Italian vocals and has moved much closer to neo-prog this time around. There is still plenty of RPI left in their music.

The vocals is very lyrical and good. The band use moog and melotron a lot on this seventy minutes long album.

The songs are mid-tempo, pretty long, epic and bold. 

Most of the songs are very good.

The result is therefore a very good album and another great Italian band. The future sounds great with bands like this.

3.5 points

 

 

Dungen - 4 (2008)

The fifth album from this band from Sweden.

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

Three guests added bass and backing vocals.

Dungen started out as an acid folk rock band. Their music was quirky. The band had on their fourth album developed more into a psych and a bit of a space rock band. 

That development is pretty much continued on 4. There are still some acid folk rock here. But that is just adding colours and a lot of substance to their mainly psych rock. Psych rock with some space rock influences.

There are also some avant-garde here and twisted disharmonic jazz on this album. 

The result is less melodic music and a bit more eclectic music.

The quality is good throughout this album and this album fits nicely in among their other good albums. 

3 points

 

 

Ghost - Meliora (2015)

The third album from this band from Sweden.

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

The band returned again after the very successful first two albums. 

The band plays again on the occult and some Catholic imagery in their image. 

The music is this time a mix of the likes of Queen, Blue Oyster Cult and some more hard rock and heavy metal sound.  

The music is never really hard. It is always slightly teenybopper and very pop and rock orientated.

The music is very melodic, in other words. Uncomplicated and melodic.

The music is again decent enough but never really rises above that level. I remain deeply unimpressed by their musicial output.

2 points

 

 

 

 

Juglans Regia - Neranotte (2023)

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

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

Two guests added flute and female vocals.

I have yet to be impressed by this band. Their first three albums are pretty substandard. Most of the music has been heavy metal with some faint prog influences.

Their music on Neranotte is somewhere between goth rock and prog metal.

There are also some more faint RPI influences here.

The music is rather melodic and the vocals is good.

This is by far their best album. It is still not particular impressive as the quality of these forty minutes is somewhere between decent and good. I am not a convert.

2.5 points

Magic Dragon - Fantasy Suite (1976)

The one and only album from this band from USA.

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

The band had help from a saxophone player and a choir.

Nothing is known about this band. They released this album on an obscure label and someone then put it out on Youtube and labeled it progressive rock.

Hence this review.

The music is a mix of pomp rock, disco and some ELP like symphonic prog.

It is a mixed bag in other word. The smell, make that stench of cheese is pretty well noted throughout this forty minutes long album. The music and the suite arrangements is.... well, cheesy.

The vocals is OK.

The result is a half decent album and one album who deserve to remain obscure. 

1.5 points

 

 

Rabin. Trevor - Rio (2023)

The 27th album from this artist from South Africa.

Trevor Rabin did the guitars, bass, keyboards, programming and vocals here.

He had help from a trio of guests who added drums and backing vocals.

Trevor Rabin is mostly known as a member of Yes on four albums, 90125, Big Generator, Union and Talk. He also did their hit single Owner Of A Lonely Heart.

Most of his albums has been movie soundtracks. Soundtracks without vocals and proper songs. Rio is his first songs and vocals based album since the 1989 album Can's Look Away.

The music on this album offers a wide variety of genres. These range from old rock'n'roll to vaudeville pop, musicals, straight rock and art-rock.

Trevor Rabin's vocals is good. Ditto for his guitars. The guests does a good job.

The songs are decent enough. His music is neither good or interesting though and this is not an album prog rock fans would enjoy.

2 points

Strawbs - Settlement (2021)

The 24th album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Three guests added bass and female vocals.

I have not had the chance to listen to a Strawbs album for many years...... not since I reviewed all of their twenty plus albums. I got their two newest albums in my hand now and that gave me the chance to listen to their music again.

The band is one of the best ever folk rock bands ever.... That means world wide too.

The band has always been crossing over to progressive rock on their albums. The Settlement is not an exception from this rule.

The music is at times pretty complex whilst it is still folk rock. Complex folk rock is what we get here. The folk rock is pretty acid too.

The songs are mostly good and that makes these forty minutes enjoyable and stimulating.

3 points