Winter Tree. The - The Winter Tree (2011)

A kind of a new start from this band who previously called themselves Magus. They released five albums under that name. I am not sure why they changed name. But I guess a new lineup is the reason. I also believe they have changed musical direction. Magus was often mentioned as a Porcupine Tree copycat. That is not the case with this album.

Andrew Laitres is still the driving force in The Winter Tree as he was in Magus. The music is a mix of AOR, neo prog and folk rock. Very melodic and very pop-rock at times. The lyrics is also down to earth with love and hate as themes. No outer space experiences on this album.

The music is pretty much drenched in keyboards with guitars playing supporting role. The vocals are good. The sound is good and so is the melodies here. That makes some pretty enjoyable listening sessions and I find a lot of small details I appreciate. The keyboards are pretty rampant and threads where few keyboards dare to thread.

In short, this is a good new start for this band and I am looking forward to listen to their brand new album.

3 points

Consorzio Acqua Potabile - Nei Gorghi del Tempo (1992)

The debut album from one of the better Italian symph prog bands from the 1990s.

Consorzio Acqua Potabile's history goes back to the 1970s though. Which may explain the rich, classic Rock Progressivo Italiano sound on this album. Think Banco and think PFM here. Also think Le Orme. The holy trinity of Rock Progressivo Italiano, in other words. Consorzio Acqua Potabile has taken up their sound and style.

That means a lot of intricate melodies with flowery, strong Italian vocals. Excellent vocals, to be more precise. They are supported by keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and some violins. The sound is a bit dry, though. A bit warmer sound would had been a good thing.

The album is great from start to finish. The songs are rather long. The mighty thirteen minutes long In un Vecchio Castello is a superb song which takes in the best of the  Rock Progressivo Italiano genre.

This is in short a great  Rock Progressivo Italiano album which is a must have for fans of this genre.

4 points

Guru Guru - Don't Call Us We Call You (1973)

The fifth album by this German band.

Guru Guru was a member of the space and krautrock scene in Germany. They are one of the pioneers in that scene. They always had a lot of other influences too on their albums. On this album, they have gone a bit off tangents into rockabilly, rock, fusion and Indian music. Not to mention; into the Hare Krishna music. The result is a pretty disjointed affair with no real good songs and a lot of various genres sitting side by side on this album. At times, they sounds like Gong. That is Daevid Allen's Gong, btw. They does not pull that copycat off, though.

In short, this album is barely a decent album and not one I really enjoy. A weak decent rating is awarded.

2 points

Van Der Graaf Generator - H To He, Who Am The Only One (1970)

Hmmm.....

Their third album. Their darkened eclectic prog style has been set in stone. Ditto for their classic lineup. The band are in full flow on this album.

This album starts with the classic Killers. A superb song and some strange lyrics. So far, so great. The next songs are a big let down, though. Neither Lost, House With No Door and The Emperor In His War-Room resonates with me. The majority of the final song Pioneers Over C is very good though.

I am not a big fan of this album. It has one superb song and that's it. It is nowhere as good as the follow up to this album; Pawn Heart. This album is still a good album though and well worth checking out.

3 points

Corvus Stone - Corvus Stone (2012)

The debut album from an online band with members from BunChakeze, Road to Avalon, Raven and a couple of other bands. Corvus Stone is therefore more a project than a band. To my knowledge, the bandmembers has never met each other, face to face. There is no plans to do gigs.
Welcome to the prog world anno 2012. The world of broadband and gigabytes.

I was mentioning this because this album is influenced by the wonders of long distance writing and recording of an album. That means an eighty minutes long album like this.

The instruments used here is guitars, keyboards, bass and drums and some vocals. The sound is OK, digital and not organic. The music here is very much a digital band release with a lot of ideas spread over eighty minutes. Good ideas which could and should have been distilled/edited down to much more suitable lenght. There is a lot of aimless wandering around on this album. It feels like waiting around in a living room for your woman to get dressed up for a night out. Not the most sparkling passionate time in a relationship.
The aimless wandering around is mainly done in a landscape between fusion and symphonic prog. The album is sailing very close to being a bit lounge music at times. And that is not a compliment.

The best song on this album is the Black Widow cover You’re So Wrong. That song feels a bit misplaced on this album which seriously drifts a bit rudderless on an open ocean. Get a producer or a serious editing programme next time.

In short; a lot of good ideas spread too thin throughout eighty minutes. A good attempt and something to build on.

3 points

Mangala Vallis - Microsolco (2012)

The third album from this American sounding Italian symph prog band.

Mangala Vallis does not sound like an Italian band at all. They very much sounds like a mix of Genesis @ Wind & Wuthering and in particular; Spock's Beard throughout their career. Their sound is based on multiple layers of keyboards, guitars, bass and drums. That and some vocals.

The music is intelligent, symphonic and very well crafted. Roberto Tiranti's excellent vocals sounds like he has lived in New York all his life. Heavy metal vocals, they are too. The rest of Mangala Vallis is like a supergroup with members from various bands and projects. That explains the very professional sounding album.

Professional sounding it is. Short on that extra spark and surprise, it is too. The title track is a great track. The rest is well crafted symph prog, and only that. This album does not have this x-factor and life. But it is still a very good symph prog album which should be an automatic purchase for fans of Spock's Beard and other symph prog fans.

3.5 points

Mr. So & So - Compendium (1994)

The second album from this British neo prog band. A band still gigging hard around the UK and Europe. A new album has just been released.

Great Britain and the rest of Europe had a lot of pretty dodgy neo prog bands and their releases in the 1990s. Mr. So & So is not one of those bands. They are one of the better neo prog bands.

Their setup is the normal guitars, keyboards, bass, vocals and drums setup. The sound on this album is the typical 1980s to 1990s sound. The vocals pretty laboured and stressed out. The songs are pretty good though. There is a nice, naive freshness in their songs. There are also some really interesting details here. I am by no means won over by this album. But it still have some qualities I appreciate. Check it out.

3 points

Focus - Ship Of Memories (1973)

A compilation of unreleased songs from their whole career dressed up as a studio album. A pitiful way of treating the Focus brand, really.

The first songs are pretty much fusion orientated and seems like leftovers from their previous album Mother Focus. The second half of this album sounds like good old Focus from their first albums. It is still leftovers and it is pretty obvious why this material did not make it into one of their albums.

This album feels like a bit of a rip off and undeserving both Focus and their fans. Fans like myself. This is a decent album, but nothing more than that.

2 points

Thumpermonkey Lives - Chap With The Wings, Five Rounds Rapid (2006)

The second album from this English band.

Thumpermonkey Lives style is a stew of everything from Napalm Death to David Bowie. Art music with some grindcore elements. Post punk, post grindcore, post rock, post jazz, post art, post music, post everything, post that package. This band is everything above.

Chap With The Wings, Five Rounds Rapid is not as hard and grindcore focused as their first album Pigheart. It is a much more ambient and refined album. It is not as much in my face as Pigheart. Unfortunate, the cascades of guitars and vocals is not as interesting as Pigheart was. Neither is it particular original either. Their adoptation of post rock has killed of their freshness.

This is by all means a decent album and worthy the download. I am not that impressed although Memory Fat is a good song.

2.5 points

Lacrimosa - Revolution (2012)

Lacrimosa is still alive and this is their eleventh studio album, I believe. I was a big fan of them around their 1995 album Inferno. That album is still their best album by miles.

Lacrimosa is the brainchild of Tilo Wolff from Germany and the first Lacrimosa album was released twenty years ago. They are rightly regarded as a cult band in the Goth Rock/Metal scene and one of the originators in this scene. They have more or less kept to their original formula throughout. The Lacrimosa formula is tonnes of sampled symphonic instruments, a plastic fantastic sound, Tino's rasping vocals and Anne Nurmi's female vocals. That and the black and white cover art paintings.

I have to admit I have grown tired of Lacrimosa's formula many years ago. Revolution is as much revolution as status quo can ever be. Fans of Lacrimosa can safely purchase this album. An album with the usual stuff. There is no great songs here and nothing that really interest me. This is a decent album, but nothing more.

2 points

Heptagram - Lucidity (2012)

The debut album from this project from Bulgaria. A project lead by Daniel Ivanov. I feel that I am on a bit thin ice when I am reviewing albums like that. Albums with the new prog rock sound.

The basis of this album is the sounds of Porcupine Tree. Then you can add some electronica, post rock, indie, space and folk rock. The basis is half acoustic guitars and vocals. They are helped out by drums and bass. The music is dreamy, ambient and flowery. It is flower power anno 2012. Flower power with totally different instruments than in the 1960s. But still post rock flower power. Very much contemporary with a modern sound.

Daniel's vocals and guitars are really good. In particular the guitars which is more like wall of sound than guitar solos. That is a great sound. My gripe is the lack of great songs. As a debut album, this is a great effort. I am though missing some great songs.

This album is a free download and almost an obligatory download too. See link below.

3.5 points

Grobschnitt - Fantasten (1987)

The ninth and final album from this rather strange German band who operated somewhere between kraut, symph and eclectic prog.

On this album though, they went down the German pop-rock music route with the usual 1980s sound. That and German vocals. I got no issue with the German vocals which is the best about this album. The music is horrible, light heart pop music with some horrible synths and child rhymes like melodies. This album is a reason why I detest that pop-rock genre with a burning passion.

Grobschnitt also fails to make it big in this genre as the songs are pretty poor and fails to hit the Mr Mister and Simple Minds market by many miles. This album is horrible and a terrible way for Grobschnitt to leave this planet. They are still gigging, I have heard. But probably not on this album.

1 point

Moody Blues. The - In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)

The Moody Blues is back to a more pop-rock themed landscape after exploring the symphonic orchestras on the previous year's Days Of Future Passed. It is obvious that they have moved away from the beat music on their 1966 album The Magnificent Moodies. They have become the famous band The Moody Blues.

In Search of the Lost Chord is heavy based on what The Beatles did. Even the sitar are included here. Justin Hayward's vocals is miles better than anything John and Paul did. The emphasis is still on orchestral arrangements. Clever orchestral arrangements with mellotron, keyboards and flutes. The Moody Blues was still sowing the seeds of progressive rock on this album as they started with on Days Of Future Passed.

The result is a very good flowery album which is very pleasing to the ears. The arrangements are excellent. The songs really not that great. The sound is very good too. Justin Hayward's vocals is brilliant. Ditto for the flutes. In Search of the Lost Chord is still a step backwards from Days Of Future Passed. But it is still a very good album from a band I am getting more and more into in my journey through their discography. A very pleasant journey and one I recommend.

3.5 points    

Anglagard - Buried Alive (1996)

Their live album which followed their first two albums. The band had split up by then and Musea released this album as their farewell. Anglagard reformed though for this year's Viljans Oga album and triumphant return at a big US prog fest.

Buried Alive is a good run through their first two albums. The sound is pretty poor though and destroy what could had been a great album. Their best song Jordrok starts the proceedings and one hour of Anglagard at their best and worst follows. I am a big fan of their scene defining first album, but not such a great fan of their second album. The poor sound also does not help this album. The music looses a lot of it's dynamics due to the poor sound.

If you can find this good album somewhere for a reasonable price, purchase it. If not, you are not loosing out on something great. This is a good album, period.

3 points

Treni All'Alba. I - Folk Destroyer (2008)

The debut album from one of the oddities from the Italian prog rock scene. This album is indeed an oddity in itself.

I Treni All 'Alba has chosen to go down the folk music route on this album. Mostly instrumental folk rock based on acoustic guitars and piano. There are also some violins and bass here. Not to mention; tijuana trumpets as in Mexican and Spanish folk music. The music on this album most definate has a Spanish flavour. It also has a RIO flavour with good references to the likes of Aranis. There are also some jazz and Italian prog rock influences here. In particular in the piano playing. In short, this album is everywhere.

I don't find many good melodies or much of what I find interesting on this album. I feel it operates slightly in cliches and takes music and ideas from various sources, mixes it together and presents it as this album. This album is highly regarded but I simply don't get it. The music is half baked in most regards. It tries to much and fails.

This album is a decent album, but nothing more. It is not in my taste, though.

2 points

Desert Wizards - Desert Wizards (2011)

Desert Wizards is an Italian band who released their debut album Dos in 2009 on their own record label and re-released it through Black Widow two years later as this album.

Desert Wizards plays psychedelic rock. Not as in hard  psychedelic rock though. Their music is.... eeh.... as cold as a sunset in the desert. Cool  psychedelic rock in other words. The music is performed with guitars, keyboards, drums and bass. That and both female and male vocals. The sound is early 1970s and most definate retro with the Hammond organ taking us decades back in time. Ditto for the rather downtunes sound too. Not a bad sound, but a retro sound fitting their music.

The music is decent enough. I am not won over by the vocals and the quality of the music. There simply enough not much good music on this album. These fifty minutes are decent enough though and fans of  psychedelic rock should check out this album.

2 points

Springsteen. Bruce - Born In The USA (1984)

Bruce Springsteen..... Born In The USA..... That is a quandary for me. I was a big fan of Mr. Springsteen for a long time until I started to find his music and rock'n'roll in general too simple and too boring for my tastes. There is nothing here to inspire and stimulate me. Melody and music wise, that is. I strongly sympatize and agrees with his lyrics. The poor working class man trying to get a decent living against all odds. The outsider trying to earn a decent living and to get accepted. That is my own life in short and Bruce Springsteen has mostly always been my voice. Lyrics wise, that is.

Born In The USA was his biggest commercial success. It was also claimed as their own by the people this album was against. Which is ironic. But when you put the name, Born In The USA on an album or any products, it will attract the morons. Bruce Springsteen learnt that lesson on this album. He has not repeated this mistake.

Born In The USA is also an oddity in his discography. The title track is against the Vietnam war which was still in the forefront of people's minds, ten years or so after USA had left Saigon. The rest of the songs are about broken dreams and lost illusions. Still, it sold tonnes of albums and this was regarded as an uplifting album. Strangely enough, it was an uplifting party music album. It is also the uplifting oddity in Springsteen's pretty dark discography. Born In The USA was the follow up to the very darkened acoustic Nebraska album.

Born In The USA is also an icon of the 1980s. It has not particular survived the test of time like his best albums The River and the iconic Born To Run has. Born In The USA is much more commercial and slick. It is an album which floats on the surface and hardly ever goes deeper than that. Only the title track, Darlington County and My Hometown has really survived the test of time. The other songs are not that interesting. This album is by all means an enjoyable listen and a good album. But I much prefer the real Bruce Springsteen albums to this album which I feel was and is too slick. It is an oddity. I give it......

2.5 points

Mogador - All I Am Is Of My Own Making (2010)

The second album from this Italian symph prog band who has chosen to sing in English instead of their mother tongue.

Their sound and music too is in the US & British vein. Tonnes of keyboards supported by guitars, bass, drums and some very good vocals. That and some sporadic flutes, glockenspiel and alt saxophone. Style wise, this album comes across as somewhere between neo prog and symph prog. An area occupied by a lot of bands. The sound is excellent and I got no complaints. Comparrissons are numerous. Pallas, Genesis, Pendragon....... the list is long.

The music is very pleasant and this is an album I mostly enjoys. The quality is very good. The music is a bit too slick for my liking as I prefer some teeth. This album is all about elegance and style. There is no great songs here though and this album blends in nicely with the many albums I got with this blend of neo and symph. Fans of both genres should really check out this very good album.

3.5 points

Acid Mothers Temple - Pataphisical Freak Out MU!! (1999)

The second album from this Japanese space rock band. The second album in around 52 studio albums. Which says a lot about this band. 52 albums and the band even charges money for their albums. They also tours a lot.

This album is a 70 minutes long jam where we find a lot of distorted guitars and not much else. The distorted guitars is supported by some sort of drumming and bass. Both all over the place and not much thinking has been put into this. My guess is plug in, run the tape and release the result. No second takes and no structure.

I got their latest album Son Of A Bitches Brew and I get the feeling that this is the same album. There are some pieces of corn among the sand during this 70 minutes long album. But not many enough to feel that I have been a bit cheated. Unless space jams from outer space with distorted guitars is your thing; avoid this album.

1 point

Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell - Dont Hear It…Fear It!! (2012)

Gosh, this retro wave is throwing up some funny albums. Funny as in gritty, name this band games.

Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell is an UK band signed on Rise Above Records (run by Lee Dorian from Cathedral and ex Napalm Death) which seems to be playing gigs around UK. Just like the two bands they sounds like. Budgie and Black Sabbath. Even their image, clothes and hairstyles is a throwback to 1970s. Ditto for their sound too. Not the cleanest sound I have heard. But that too is a part of this package. The band name, taken from an English admiral with the same name. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell is a great package and a very welcome addition to the music scene.

Their music is as stated above, a mix of Black Sabbath and Budgie. Add a large dosage of space rock (Hawkwind) to the sound and you get this album. The sound is dirty as mud. The vocals distorted. The drums and bass is rampant. The guitars very dirty. In short; a thoroughly well done retro package.

The music is good too. No great songs has made it onto this album though. But still a very enjoyable album which should get fans of the above mentioned bands and their scene a lot of joy. If this trio ever visit your town, their gig should be a highly enjoyable experience. I hope we will hear more from them in the future.

3 points

Magnolia - La Zona D'Ombra (2012)

The flow of new Italian art/prog bands with their debut album is very impressive. Pasta on my plate, but I think this is the fifteenth or so debut album from Italy this year. That is impressive !

Magnolia is from the eternal city Rome. The music is dominated by Chiara Gironi great, sometimes jazzy female vocals. She adds a lot of soul and colours to a pretty standard folksy jazzy art rock sound. Music performed with keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and piano. The music almost have a chamber orchestra feel.

There is no denying that the music is dominated by the vocals and that the other instruments are nicely providing the ambience for the vocals. If this was her solo album, I would not has been surprised. The songs are rather somber too and downcast. I don't speak or understand a word of Italian so I may be totally wrong here. But this sounds somber to me.

The end result is another good debut album from Italy. There is no real great songs here. Neither does this album have anything I find disagreeable. Magnolia is a band I have put on my talents list and I will follow their development with great interest. The album is streamed on Progstreaming now and make sure you check it out.

3 points

King Crimson - Live at Jacksonville 1972 (1998)

This is one of the many fan club live albums King Crimson has released. A very interesting series of live album. They are off course essential for any KC fan. For the rest of us... well. Anyway, I got a lot of them as I consider KC as one of the most important bands of all time. Reviews to follow during the next years.

This album was recorded during the Islands tour. The sound quality is pretty poor. It is passable, though. The line up was Robert Fripp, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace. The band loosely delivers the songs according to how they were released on their respective albums. There are a very good guitar solo and some good saxophone playing here. The rather poor sound quality destroys the rest of the enjoyment.

This is a decent to good live album though which should be checked out. Also by others than KC fans, that is.

2.5 points

Montefeltro - Il Tempo di Far la Fantasia (1992)

The Italian symph prog rock scene is alive and well. Montefeltro is one of those bands who proves this point with this, their debut album.

Their name is taken from an Italian duke from the renaissance era and the cover art itself alludes to this era. One of the better cover art works from the Italian scene and a painting I would love to own. A replica, that is. The original would probably set me back some millions of euros. A bit outside my redecoration budget.

The music too alludes to the past. Not by hundreds of years, though. More like a couple of decades, or four decades anno 2012. The music is a throwback to Le Orme, Banco, PFM and those bands. The music also has some very strong Genesis influences. The instrumentation is the Genesis setup with keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and vocals. The vocals is their weakest point, though. A bit more forceful vocals would had been better than the ones here.

The album opens with the very ambitious twenty two minutes long Canto No. 1. An epic they just about manage to pull off. It has some good melody lines and the greatness of Genesis. The rest of the album is not as good, though. There are sporadic greatness throughout this album. That makes this album well worth the purchase. It is a good album and a good excuse to get their second album too. In particular if you love Genesis and Italian symphonic prog.

3 points

Simple Minds - Once Upon a Time (1985)

Oh gosh. Simple Minds seventh album is a brash, yuppie album with a massive sound produced by the 1980s most used and now much maligned star producers Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain. The list of albums they produced back in the 1980s are very long. I blame them for the plastic fantastic sound from that decade. A sound I am no fan off.

Simple Minds was a Scottish band who was born only a few miles away from where I write these lines. Most of the members still live in my local area, I have been told. Which off course has nothing to do with this review. I discovered them through their live rendition of Don't You Forget About Me on Live Aid in 1984. A # 1 US hit single, their only # 1 US hit single which strangely enough is not included on this album. Something I to my dismay discovered when purchasing a cassette version of this album. Something which still angers me a bit, more than 25 years later.

Disappointment over, I soon discovered an album with a very big sound. A sound based on those days keyboards and synths. The guitars was mostly absent here. The bass and drums sounds plastic like. Jim Kerr's vocals sounds real though and is the human touch on this album. This album has a very Let's-Break-USA sound and this ex new-wave and art rock band duly broke USA with this album which spawned some MTV videos and hit singles. Just to fill up the bank account and drive home the sale, they released a double live album

When it comes to surviving the test of time, the title track is still a great track. Alive & Kicking, much used by BBC even today, has also survived the test of time. Wish You Were Here, Jungleland and Sanctify Yourself sounds a bit lame today. The sound is also great. This is one of the few  Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain albums which has survived the test of time.

I still like this album a lot and think it is a very good album. But I am still mad at the non inclusion of  Don't You Forget About Me though.

3.5 points

Beak - Beak>> (2012)

Their second album and the follow up to their debut album from 2009. An album I have yet to hear.

Beak is a krautrock band from Bristol, England. Beak consists of one or more Portishead members. I got no idea who Portishead is, though. I don't have a finger on today's pop/rock scene pulse.

Beak does a minimalistic form of krautrock which can be compared to Can, Kraftwerk and Neu. I would also add; Churn Milk Joan. Minimalistic rhythmic krautrock, in other words. The indie rock and electronica elements is also very much present in their music. There is also a couple of more pastoral tracks on this album. But minimalistic krautrock with understated vocals, bass, drums and keyboards is the sound devices Beak use to create their music.

The result is surprisingly good. To my surprise, this is a good album and I really enjoy it. Well, in rather small dosages, though. I am much more drawn towards much more lush music than what Beak comes up with. The track (and single) Wulfstan II is a very good track though with some hypnotic rhythms and vocals.
Those into krautrock should and must keep an eye on Beak.

3 points

Eulenspygel - 2 (1971)

Their debut album under the name Eulenspygel. The band had released their debut album under another name.

Eulenspygel was an interesting German band who released four studio albums and one live album. Their music is pretty much krautrock with a blend of space rock and blues. That and some German humour. Krautrock in other words.

The music has this classic krautrock sound with hammond organs, electric guitars, some sporadic flutes, bass, drums and German vocals. The flutes makes them sound like Jethro Tull on some songs. The basis is blues rock, though. The music is pretty meandering along during the fifty minutes this album lasts.

The quality is pretty decent throughout. I cannot say I am impressed by this album though. The songs are pretty mediocre. This album does not speak to my legs and my brain. I am afraid this album is not for me.

2 points

William Gray - Silentio (2012)

The second album from this Argentine band.

Their 2006 debut album Living Fossils was universally acclaimed and the band is hoping to follow up that with Silentio. This is a very ambitious album which ranges from Beatles like pop via symph prog and AOR to Dream Theater like prog metal. The instrumentation is the usual keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and vocals. The vocals are both in Spanish and English.

This album is trying to cover all bases. It does indeed cover all bases. It is a very melodic album and it has a concept album and musical feel. The music is good and the band knows their stuff. But I am having problems really getting into this album. The two opening tracks Prelude and Crisis is really good. The rest is pretty average stuff.

William Gray is a very ambitious band and Silentio is a very ambitious album. It is a bit a hit or miss album. But it is a good album though which does not moves me in either direction.

3 points

Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record (1976)

Their sixth studio album.

John Lennon famously branded Electric Light Orchestra as the sons of Beatles in a radio interview. A view I would not disagree with. Neither me or John means that as an insult. Far from it. Electric Light Orchestra is very much continuing on the same path as before. That is intelligent art rock songs with cello and the Beatles sound. The songs are verse-chorus-verse. Jeff Lynne's vocals are as good as ever. The music is sometimes helped out with a symphony orchestra sound. Other songs are as simple and naive as early Beatles songs, pre Revolver.

The music is pretty commercially orientated on this album. There is no real great songs here though. The sound is great though and I am really getting more and more into Electric Light Orchestra. This album cement their status as a good band in my view. It is not a great Electric Light Orchestra album though and I don't have any favorite songs from this album. It is ticking over nicely. A good album.

3 points

Lest - Odysseus (2011)

The debut album from this French power trio who is currently working hard on the follow up to this album. This according to their Facebook page.

Some excellent artwork is enveloping this album. A nice introduction to their music. Music they claims is a throwback to the good old days of progressive rock. That is where I am not entirely in agreement with them.

Lest and their music most of all sounds like a rocked up version of Gazpacho and Marillion. From that platform, they have gone back in time and picked the brains of Rush, Genesis and Yes. Their sound is very much anno 2011 though. That with some added vintage sound like mellotrons, moog and other vintage keyboards. But this album still has a very contemporary sound (most notably the guitars) and Lest has sound wise hit the right balance. The music is very much epic and sometimes very heavy too. The bass, drums, keyboards, guitars and vocals sometimes kicks like an angry horse. The good vocals are in the Gazpacho/Marillion vein.

Odysseus is somewhat lacking in the songs department though. Their material is a bit short on goodies. Their sound more than makes up for this shortcoming. This is indeed a good debut album and I am looking forward to their new album too. If the band can reproduce their sound on stage too, the festival promoters around Europe should take note.

3 points

Budgie - Budgie (1971)

Budgie is a legendary heavy rock band from Wales which is claimed to have had a very big influence on the development of heavy metal. They were mentioned in the same breath as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin in a two hours long BBC documentaries about heavy metal. That made me invest in some Budgie albums.

Budgie has always been a cult band I have heard about since Metallica did some covers of them on their first EP with Jason Newsted. The legendary $ 5.95 EP. But I have ignored this bird until now.

Budgie has a reputation of doing intelligent hard rock. On this, their debut album, this clearly comes through. It is full of hard blues rock as per usual at that time. The music also boogies a lot. The vocals is a bit Rush like. The music entirely bass, guitars, drums and vocals based. The music is very cleverly crafted though with some great bass and drums. Best of all; Tony Bourge's guitar licks. Very smart guitar licks which gives the normally pretty stale blues rock new life. This is his album and the reason why this album is a good album. It has also survived the test of time.

This is quite a good and charming album in the Led Zeppelin and Rush mould. It is well worth checking out.

3 points

Maschera Di Cera. La - Il Grande Labirinto (2003)

The second album from this Italian band.

La Maschera Di Cera is another one of Fabio Zuffanti's bands. Or rather, a band he plays bass and guitars in. I believe he also does most of the songwriting here.

I am a fan of the 1970s Italian symphonic prog scene and sound. No wonder that my grin almost went 360 degrees when I heard the opening minutes of this album. This album is a throwback to 1972 or there about. It has this rich, lush sound you get from moogs and mellotrons. The vocalist Alessandro Corvaglia does a great job in the vintage Italian symph prog vein. He delivers the words with passion, passion, passion and passion. Passion as in Italian lyrics and vocals. The flutes is in the right place. Ditto for the bass, piano, drums and guitars too. This album is one heck of a journey and I really enjoy what I hear.

Not everything here is brilliant. But both part 1 and 2 of Il Viaggio Nell' Oceano Capovolto is superb. The title track too is superb. The rest of the album makes me lean back in my chair while I enjoy my life and this album.

Il Grande Labirinto lacks a trademark brilliant track or two. It is not a masterpiece. But it is still a great album which is full of class, passion and Italian symph prog. Enough said.

4 points

Iron Maiden - En Vivo (2012)

En Vivo is the last of many Iron Maiden live albums. It was recorded in Santiago, Chile during the tour supporting their latest album The Final Frontier.

All Iron Maiden live albums tends to be compared to the genre setting monumental Live After Death from 1985. That is by far their best live album ever. They have also released some very little satisfactory live albums along the way. They also had a pretty bleak time around the turn of the century. Their albums from Brave New World and to their most recent one has been brilliant though. Their live albums from this period has also been very good.

En Vivo has a very unpolished live sound. The band also does some alternative takes on some of the songs and varies them around a lot. Most of the material is from The Final Frontier and this live album is a good oppurtunity for the fans to get live versions of those songs. The other material is also good and I am always up for another version of Hallowed Be Thy Name. Running Free is a song I can live without, though.

En Vivo is Spanish for "live" and this album is exactly that. A live album. It is a good live album too and I enjoyed the listening sessions. I am an unrepentent Iron Maiden fan too so this album has found a happy home in my flat. This is a good album. It is not one of their best live albums. Neither is it one of their worst live albums too. Middle of the road, it is.

3 points

U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)

The Joshua Tree was their fifth studio album. It was also their biggest selling album and perhaps also their downfall.

Their previous album The Unforgettable Fire was a brilliant album which elevated U2 to the status as the best band in the world. A status cemented by the follow up album, The Joshua Tree. The album was announced by their first single and video; With Or Without You. A revolutionary video and song back then. A song that has survived the test of time. Not every song on this album has survived the test of time.

The next thing to appear was the epic cover artwork. A new standards setting artwork and one of the icons from the 1980s. Then we got the music itself. O boy were we in for a treat. U2 and their producer had ditched the remaining art bits from the previous album and gone commercial. Commercial on U2s own terms. Many hit singles followed. Side 1 of this LP/cassette, that is the five first songs on the CD/MP3 file, is a hit parade. It is also their creative peak. A peak they did not climb on side 2 and on the following albums.

Side 1 is U2, full frontal and in your face. Side 2 is much more withdrawn and pastoral. Much more like the previous album  The Unforgettable Fire.

The Joshua Tree was hyped up and the band was hailed as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Unfortunate, the band started to believe the hype. Their following album, a semi live album called Rattle And Hum had some severe messiah complexes. It was not a good album either. Neither was their following albums. The duo The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree was U2s finest hours. A band who still release albums and does extensive tours. I highly recommend The Joshua Tree as it is a great album. One of the best albums from the 1980s, no less.

4.5 points

Sigur Ros - Valtari (2012)

This album has been kicking around on my MP3 player since it was released and given some listening sessions. Neither this or any other Sigur Ros albums is easy listening. Let alone easy to write about. That as in a review.

Sigur Ros from Iceland is the most important band within the post rock/shoegaze genre and one of the most important bands in the music scene today. They have more or less re-written the rules for melodies and how to present sounds as in the form of music. Sigur Ros does not write music. They paint big soundscapes.

Valtari is their latest painting. A painting of desolate and lush Icelandic landscapes. Snow, ice and green pastures at the same time. The music is ambient and is painted with broad strokes. Well, I am not a painter so I have no clue about what a painter do. Best to stop it here. The music is mostly instrumental with some male vocals used as instruments. The music is pretty bleak and beautiful at the same time. This is music only Sigur Ros can make and it is beautiful. It is also a bit hit and miss, their music. They mainly hit me at home with this album. They are though making too much of each of their ideas. Ideas which is perfect as soundscapes in movies and TV programmes. On this album though, they sounds a bit flat. This is though a very good album. It is not their best album though.... I believe.

3.5 points

Daal - Destruktive Actions Affect Livings (2011)

Daal and this album, their second album, is one of those listening projects which does not pan out right.

Daal is a duo of experienced musicians from Italy. Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa plays in numerous other bands. All of them more straight prog bands than Daal. Daal is their studio avant-garde project which is more based on creating moods, multi layers and electronic journeys. That is what we get here. Faint melodies with double layers and studio experiementations. There are some references to The Flower Kings in their music. Music created by keyboards, drums and numerous studio wizardry.

The result is eclectic to say at least. Eclectic and far too much in one soundscape. There are far too much bass and a good speaker would get an overload of bass on anyone's listening devices. I have tried three different devices myself. The music is decent enough. But Daal has tried to swallow too much meat in one bite and the meat has become stucked during the studio session. That is what I get from this album.
This is a decent enough album which falls a bit flat on it's face in my view.

2 points

Scherzoo - 01 (2011)

Scherzoo is the brainchild of François Thollot, a French musician with two albums out on his own. He has now put all his efforts into the band project Scherzoo.

Listed as a zeuhl band, you would probably expect zeuhl. This is not exactly the case here. The music is driven by alto saxophone, bass, drums, piano and guitars. Despite of being an electric band, they still have this chamber and rio feel over them. The music is very tight and intense. The music is very intense. I mentioned chamber and rio above. I would also label the music jazz. Very intense jazz. It also has a faint zeuhl feeling.

The main instrument is alto saxophone. The other instruments is backing up the solos and this main instrument. The musicians does a great job. My main gripe with this album, their debut album, is the lack of any real great tracks. The music is good enough, but does not really capture my imagination. This is a good album and one to get if intense jazz and avant-garde is your thing. As a debut album, this album promises a lot.

3 points

Hidria Spacefolk - Astronautica (2012)

The fourth album from these Finnish space rockers. This band has been compared to Ozric Tentacles during their whole career. Luckily for them, I don't know that band or music. So I got no clue.

Hidria Spacefolk does a highly energetic, heavy form of space rock. The music on this album is not as spaced out as I expected. It is closer to instrumental prog metal and fusion than space rock, really. There are even some symph prog and electronica in their music. They also uses some keyboard runs I guess they have borrowed from symphonic black metal.

The music has got tonnes of guitars, keyboards, drums and bass. Some added vibrafone gives their music some extra textures. The music is instrumental throughout.

The music is very flowing throughout. So much that the fifty minutes of music passes through effortless. There is hardly any contrasts in this music. The music is good throughout. But there is not a single moment which makes the listener stop and think this is really something. This album feels like a soundtrack which is supporting the pictures and the storyline. This is not a soundtrack though. It is a good album, but nothing more.

3 points

Happy The Man - Happy The Man (1977)

The debut album from this US band.

Happy The Man has a legend status in the scene and this album has been hyped up a lot by my friends in the scene. When I finally gave in and got this album, I quickly found out that there is a lot of substance behind this hype.

It is fair to say that Happy The Man has their own sound and style. This is displayed on this album. It is not easy to describe the music on this album. I will do my best, though. Their base camp is in what Keith Emerson and ELP did. Then you add fusion as Return To Forever to the mix. Also add what Camel and Caravan did too. A bit whimsical bits from Gentle Giant should be added too. Add Cathedral to the mix, too. That should give you some indications of where you find Happy The Man.

The music is performed with keyboards, guitars, bass and drums. There are

This album starts with a majestic melody and it continues down that road throughout the fifty minutes. Majestic with a lot of whimsical solos and details. This is a very eclectic piece of music, indeed.

The music on this album is both fascinating and great. It is never dull or boring. It really has both this x-factor and the ability to surprise the listener throughout. When you think you have heard it all, this album proves you wrong. This is indeed one of the great US albums from the prog scene and highly recommended.

4 points

Echolyn - Echolyn (2012)

Their eight studio album since 1991.

Echolyn is an US band which has passed me by until I got this album. They are highly regarded with their albums making it into the top ten in the best albums of the year awards in most prog rock magazines. This is my first exposure to them and I have been listening to this album on and off for some weeks now.

Yes, Echolyn is a prog rock band. They play symphonic prog, they and their fans claims. Which is mainly spot on. This album starts of with the usual symph prog structures. The sound is also supported by some modern rock and art rock structures. Their vocalist Brett Kull partly sounds like Jeff Lynne in ELO though and I get a lot of ELO vibes on this album. ELO stands for Electric Light Orchestra, btw and they were a development of the Beatles sound. I would put a straight line of evolution from Beatles through ELO to Echolyn. That is an observation and is by no means a negative remark. Take that as a good thing.

The music on this album is performed by the usual keyboards, guitars, drums and bass. Brett Kull's vocals is excellent and so is the many vocal harmonies too.

The quality of the music is great throughout. I have clearly made a mistake by ignoring this band until now and I will later make amends for that. I am pretty sure this album too will feature high on the album of the year's lists. Echolyn is a quality album from a quality band. Simples. Best song ? They got a killer song in the sixteen minutes long Island which both sounds as fresh as a celery stick and as refined as a bottle of well matured wine. That song alone is worthy the purchase of this album. I am very pleased with my own purchase of this album and I guess I will not be the only one with a happy grin on my face.

4 points

Finch - Galleon Of Passion (1977)

The third and final studio album by this Dutch band.

Finch always operated within the instrumental symphonic prog genre and this album is not any exception from this rule. There is a lot of fusion too in their music. Camel is a good reference.

The music is performed with the usual guitars, keyboards, drums and bass setup. Nothing unusual there. The music is pretty intense and in the fusion/symph border land. The music is also pretty hard at times. Intense and hard. The sound is great.

The music is good too. Unfortunate, it never rises above that level. Finch has a very good reputation and I am a bit disappointed that this and their two other albums is not to my liking. It is still a good album, well worth checking out.

3 points

Camel - Breathless (1978)

Their sixth album. The sixth album from which band ?

It says Camel on the tin. My speakers says Caravan, though. That is not only because Richard Sinclair is the bassist and vocalist again. It is also because the band has now turned into solid Caravan territory. Caravan at their worst, that is.

Gone is the long, lingering fusion and symph prog workouts from their first four albums. In comes a very commercial, calculated sound which is meant to give the band commercial success. Just like Caravan also did and that did not bring them much luck.

The songs on this album is pretty poor. Richard Sinclair's vocals is great. Latimer's great guitars has been pushed into the background and we have got some funky songs instead. Very commercial. Very much falling flat on it's face anno 2012. This is a decent album though. But it is hardly worthy of the Camel brand. This album is best ignored.

2 points

Colour Haze - She Said (2012)

Crikey !! I have never heard about this band before. I do not have any contact with the underground psychedelic rock scene. Colour Haze released their first album around 1995 and has released numerous albums since then. She Said is a double album and contains over eighty minutes of music. Mostly long suites.

Style wise, I would label their music as krautrock. Krautrock as in Amon Duul II and Agitation Free. Their sound and music is not as necro dirty garage as Aqua Nebula Oscillator's sound and it is not as clean as Agitation Free's either. The sound on She Said has a lot of garage feel though. It also has a lot of post rock feel too. This album is not a straight psychedelic space rock album either. It has taken some elements from indie and post rock too. Krautrock is the right label for this music.

The music is performed with tonnes of driving guitars who repeats and expands on the themes in the tracks. The drums and bass is also very much driving the tracks forward too. The instruments and the driving guitars gives this album a post rock sound. There are some vocals too on this album. But only sporadic. The vocals are good and adds added colours and textures to this album.

Most of the tracks are driven by driving, hard guitars. But some vocals and guitar harmonies, supported by keyboards, is really adding both more colours and quality to this album. Some of the guitar harmonies are stunning great. Wow...... is what they make me mutter under my breath.

This album is divided into some long suites. The title track is a nineteen minutes long suite (see Youtube) and shares Disc 1 with a small interlude and another long suite. Both of them are really great with a superb krautrock vibe. Disc 2 has some shorter songs and a couple of suites too. Disc 1 is by far the best disc on this album. The stunning at times pretty ambient title track is the best track on this album.

My only gripe with this album is the lack of a killer track or two. This album is a great album and I am almost ashamed of myself of not knowing about this band until three weeks ago. I need to move my antennas more in the direction of the underground kraut and psychedelic rock scene in the future. Do the same yourself and get this album. You will not regret it.

4 points

Blue Öyster Cult - Tyranny And Mutation (1973)

Their second album.

Blue Oyster Cult is a band I have difficulties really labelling. Their sound is very thin and pop-punk like. Their music is in the hard rock vein with some art rock influences. At least on their first albums. I suspect their studios was not the best. The result is a sound which I don't think suits their music. A bit more beef and punch would had been an advantage.

Their music is guitar based and supported by some good vocals. Bass and drums also comes included in the package. That and some keyboards. But the guitars and vocals is pretty much dominant here.

The catchy, pretty heavy Hot Rails To Hell is a great song. The other songs are pretty good on an album which neither disappoints or impresses me.

3 points

Maiden United - Across The Seventh Sea (2012)

The second album from this Dutch novelty project. Novelty project because they do lounge rock versions of Iron Maiden songs. Their versions of well known Iron Maiden songs are mostly acoustic and very nice on the environment. The vocals are good. The performance is good.

Maiden United has been praised for their untraditional approach to these excellent songs. Whether you praise or loathe their versions is a matter of taste. I find it strange, very strange to hear their piano based version of one of the most epic songs from Powerslave; the excellent Flash Of The Blade. Excellent on Powerslave, that is. I am too shocked to decide what I really think about Maiden United's version, though. This even after several listening sessions. The other Powerslave standard, 2 Minutes To Midnight, also gets a solid mauling. As you have sniffed out by now, Powerslave is my alltime favourite Iron Maiden album. My alltime favourite metal album, no less. Maiden United's version of the ballad Children Of The Damned is good, though. The same can be said about Infinite Dreams.

The reason I am perplexed and shocked is that Maiden United has stripped down these songs and built it up again in their own sound and personality. Gone is Iron Maiden's own personality and sound. Something I find very strange.

Maiden United is dead serious about what they are doing and they and their releases is getting rave reviews everywhere. There is no doubts their versions of Iron Maiden songs is a tribute and an acknowledgement of these great songs. As an unashamed Iron Maiden fan, I am not entirely sure how to react to this album. I love Maiden United for proving to us that Iron Maiden's songs are truly great. I am not a fan of their versions of these songs, though. I very much prefer Iron Maiden's versions, the original versions and the live versions.
Maiden United's versions falls a bit flat on their face. They are decent though. That is all I can say. If you are an Iron Maiden fan, this album is must-buy though. Make up your own mind.

2 points

Sunchild - The Wrap (2010)

The third album from this Antony Kalugin (Karfagen, etc etc) lead band from Ukraine.

Where Karfagen is an all out one man keyboards assault in the ELP vein, Sunchild is a band affair with guitars, bass, keyboards, drums and Antony's vocals. It is also very much neo and symphonic prog orientated and draws a lot from the likes of Marillion and Genesis. At least on The Wrap.

The album starts with some laboured vocals by Antony and a five minutes long, radio airplay orientated song (Day Of Destiny) which is not representative for the rest of the album. After another short song, we get the centrepiece of the album, the forty minutes long  Under The Wrap. A very elegant neo and symph prog piece with a lot of great keyboards and guitar runs. That and some sampled ambient symphonic orchestra bits. The album closes with some shorter songs.

The Wrap is a very elegant album which would make any neo and symph prog fan happy. Although elegant and with a great sound, it is a bit lacking in the great songs department. The Wrap is agonising close to being a great album. Fans of neo and symph prog will still love this very good album, though. I will get their other albums too.

3.5 points

Ego - Evoluzione Delle Forme (2011)

Finally, this band has delivered on their promise.

Their debut album MCM Egofuturismo from 2008 was pretty dire and was universally disliked and slaughtered in the reviews. That also includes my review. A generous two pointer. Far too generous, I was. Ego did not give up though. They has taken the best from MCM Egofuturismo and developed it on their Evoluzione Delle Forme opus.

Evoluzione Delle Forme is an instrumental album (with the exception from the final track) and it sounds like Le Orme going instrumental. There are a lot of ELP references here too. Not to mention church music and fusion. The music is performed with drums, bass, flutes and tonnes of keyboards. Despite of the cascades of keyboards, the music is still pretty organic.

My major gripe with this album is that there is no real great melodies here. The music also becomes a bit dull after some listening sessions. It's longviety is disputed. It is still a very good album though and well worth checking out.

3.5 points

Xhol Caravan - Electrip (1969)

Wow !!

Xhol Caravan, also called Xhol, released three studio albums and five live albums (three of them posthumous) during their far too short career. They are regarded as one of the fathers of the Krautrock genre. Much due to this album, their second album.

Krautrock is not the first thing I knotted down on my notepad when listening to this album. Soft Machine was the first thing I knotted down. All the music on this album, with the exception of a short blues rock interlude, has the typical Soft Machine intensity and mood. The intense keyboards and woodwinds reminds me a lot about Mike Ratledge and Elton Dean in Soft Machine. Then again, there is a lot of krautrock too on this album. The intense space rock runs is the typical krautrock trademarks.

All songs are instrumentals, with the exception of some vocals on the blues rock interlude and the short two bonus tracks Planet Earth and So Down. The main instruments here are woodwinds, keyboards, bass and drums.

Intense, spaced out and avant-garde is the three things I will remember this album for. The quality of the songs are great too. The first three tracks Electric Fun Fair, Pop Games and All Green is great workouts. The seventeen minutes long Raise Up High opens with a blues workout before reverting into avant-garde Soft Machine @ Third territory. Not copycats, but in the same spirit. From there on and out, the album is in the same vein. The two short bonus tack is the weakest tracks here by far.

This album is one of my alltime favourite krautrock albums. It is only let down by the two bonus tracks. But it is still a great album and one to check out.

4 points

Barclay James Harvest - Barclay James Harvest (1970)

"Which one of you is Barclay ?"

My first ever meeting with this band after buying ten of their albums last year. The albums then went into cold storage.

I have always had problems with really understanding where this band fits into the scene. After listening to this album, I guess art-rock is the right label. This, their debut album takes the baton from The Beatles and merge their music with the likes of The Nice. The opening fiddle and hard rock on the opening song/salvo Taking Some Time On is really only a distraction from the main theme on this album. It is a good track though.

This album has the vintage sound too. A sound I really like. From Taking Some Time On and onwards, there is a great chamber classical music and folk music theme on this album. That and some strong hints towards The Beatles. All this a big plus in my book. The minuses is the overly use of strings on this album which makes parts of this album sounds like elevator music. Another minus is the lack of a real killer track. But my overall impression of this album is really good.

This is a very good album which has made me really interested in this band.

3.5 points

Originally published in ProgArchives 11. November 2011.

Barclay James Harvest - BJH And Other Short Stories (1971)

Their third album and the follow up to the excellent Once Again album.

Barclay James Harvest has been described as a poor man's Moody Blues. I would describe them as development of The Beatles and their more mature songs. Stuart Wolstenhome's mellotron is very much the four corners of their sound. John Lees vocals is excellent.

Those who loved that album will find a lot of joy in this album too. Their BJH And Other Short Stories is not in the same class as Once Again, though. Very few albums is that, though. This album is again a grower and one which require some time. The orchestral sound is pretty big here. Songs like Blue John Blues and The Poet is the opposites to each other. The first one a hard hitting infectious excellent song. The last one a pastoral, poetic ballad like son with the full orchestral treatment. Before these two songs, the best of this album, we get treated to some excellent rock. And actually..... Ursula is the best song on this album. I am having problems deciding the best song on this album. A bit of a luxury problem. The rest of the songs are great too.

This is a great album which has convinced me that this is a band I should explore more.

4 points

Court - Frost of Watermelon (2007)

The third album from this Italian prog/art rock band and the come back after a ten years long break.

Court does not really fits into the Italian prog rock formula. They use English vocals and the sound is pretty much the usual English one too with some added, faint Italian progressive rock influences too. Well, add American too that sound too. To be more precise, I am referring to their mix of the Genesis sound and the folk rock sound combined the grungy college sound from the north-west coast of the USA (Pearl Jam springs to mind). Ditto for the music, too.

The music is performed by a variety of acoustic instruments (most notable; mandolin and flutes), electric guitars, bass, keyboards and drums. That gives the music a warm, glowing feel.

The sound is great and ditto for the vocals. Even after numerous listening sessions, I am struggling to really find some great songs here. There is none, in my view. The music is also too straight rock for my liking. The grungy Pearl Jam elements does not do anything for me here. I am by no means a fan of straight rock and there is far too much of that on this album. I also got problems remembering the music inbetween the listening sessions. That is not a good sign too.

I really like the sound though and the songs are good. So a weak good award is what I can get up with here. By all means, check out this album and their brand new album.

3 points