21st Century Schizoid Band - Live in Italy ($10.99)
Titles marked [co] have slots or holes punched in the case, or in some
cases, just a hole punched in the barcode area of the traycard. Latest
additions are highlighted in yellow. Quantities limited
– if mailing your order, please specify alternates.
21st Century Schizoid Band - Live in Italy ($10.99)21st Century Schizoid Band is a group of ex-King Crimson musicians from the early lineups, initially Michael Giles, Peter Giles, Ian McDonald, Mel Collins, and Jakko M Jakszyk. Michael left, replaced by Ian Wallace (who passed away in 2007). Their repertoire includes not only Crimson tracks but a few tracks from the members’ solo/duo albums and the odd new track.
Live in Japan was recorded in Tokyo in November
2002. The CD includes the tracks Schizoid Intro, A Man A City, Catfood, Let There Be Light,
Progress, In the Court of the Crimson King, Formentera Lady, Ladies of the Road, I Talk
to the Wind, Epitaph, Birdman, 21st Century Schizoid Man. The Live in Italy CD
was recorded in March 2003 and includes the tracks Schizoid Intro, A Man A City, Let There Be
Light, Court of the Crimson King, Ladies of the Road, Improv - Sailors Tale, Birdman, Epitaph,
Catley’s Ashes (studio version). Both CDs come in a jewel box plus slipcase.
Alias
Eye - A Different Point of You ($8.99)A Different Point of You (2003)
is the second album from a very good German neo-prog band that shares lead
singer Philip Griffiths with the band Poor Genetic Material. Philip’s father
Martin was the singer for Beggars Opera, a Scottish early-70’s prog band.
The music has some of the laid-back Pink Floyd atmosphere, also a bit of Kansas,
Saga, and Spock’s Beard, and like the great 1970’s prog bands, the musician’s
skills serve the song rather than a technical exercise. A Different Point of
You is particularly well recorded and is quite arty and
finely crafted. Because both Alias Eye and Poor Genetic Material rely heavily on
Griffiths’ excellent voice, fans of one band will probably like the other as
well. Alias Eye is a bit more mainstream than PGM, but the appeal is similar.
Check for the other Alias Eye CDs here.
Alquin
- One More Night PAL DVD ($6.99)This DVD from Dutch progressive rock band Alquin is from
their 2003 reunion tour, which included most of the original members. This DVD
features much of their best 1970’s material, notably Mountain Queen
(16:35) and The Dance (17:03), 11 songs and 89-minutes total. The DVD
also includes a 57-minute documentary with interviews (both new and old) that
features footage from Alquin’s 1974 tour of Great Britain. 16:9 widescreen, DTS
5.1 surround and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround & 2.0 stereo audio.
This all-region DVD is in the PAL (European television) format. North
America and Japan use the NTSC format. PAL DVDs will not play on the majority of
North American DVD players (a PAL-to-NTSC converter is required), though they
should play on a computer DVD drive. We will NOT accept returns of this product
because it will not play on your NTSC player.
Altair - Fantasias y Danzas ($8.99)
Altair is a Spanish band that released their 2nd album Fantasias y Danzas in
the early 1990’s, at that time only available on cassette, thankfully reissued
on CD with a 10-minute live track appended. This is instrumental
classical/progressive keyboard rock with ELP or Triumvirat as primary
influences, plus a touch of Genesis. Housed in a mini-LP style paper
sleeve, it counts as only one-half CD for shipping.
Amazing Blondel - Restoration ($9.99)1997 reunion album following a 22 year break. This is the original trio plus
two guests, playing genteel acoustic minstrel music on guitars, flute, recorders,
woodwinds, harpsichord, organ, dulcimer, mandolin, percussion and occasional
drums, with all three members singing. Amazing Blondel update English
traditional music in a very different manner than Fairport Convention and
Steeleye Span, taking courtly renaissance music as their source as opposed to folk songs.
Amon
Düül II - Vive La Trance ($9.99)Amon Düül II was one of the pioneering Krautrock bands. Even when
singing in English, they were uniquely German, playing a light progressive style
with avant-garde elements. Vive La Trance (1974) was their 6th studio
album and saw the band turning to more song-based structures and mostly
shorter tracks, reining in their excessively avant-garde and psychedelic
tendencies. It’s still unconventional enough to belong in the progressive realm,
as even the more straightforward material tends to have a veneer of electronic
or psychedelic effects. This is the 2002 edition on Repertoire, with one bonus track.
Ankh - Ziemia i Slonce ($9.99)
This is the 2004 re-edition of the 1995 2nd Ankh
CD, with two bonus tracks. Ankh is a Polish band featuring violin, guitar, bass
and drums, plus male in Polish. They released three
albums during the 1990’s that should be of great interest to King Crimson and Anekdoten fans and to fans of rock violin. Their sound is often dark, with the
much more active violin a more than adequate replacement for Anekdoten’s
Mellotron. It’s the contrast between the heavy rock of the guitar, bass & drums
and the sweetness of the violin that gives them their appeal and their
uniqueness. Classical and folk elements are introduced by way of the violin. More Ankh CDs here.
Art in America - same ($6.99)An overlooked 1983 progressive pop/rock album from a trio of family members
including a harp player. Eddie Offord produced and Steve Morse co-arranged the
songs with the band (and contributed a guitar solo), while the session
keyboardist was T Lavitz (The Dixie Dregs). This ends up in the vicinity of
The Alan Parsons Project with some Genesis and Yes influences.
Art
Rock Circus - Heaven’s Café Live ($9.99)
Mantra
Sunrise - same ($9.99)
These are all related projects centered around the talents of guitarist and composer John Miner. If you’ll dig out your copy of Progression Magazine issue 46, you’ll find a feature article on Heaven’s Café and an interview with Miner. Heaven’s Café is a musical theater production that has been staged in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and Art Rock Circus is the progressive rock band providing the music for it. Probably because of the theatrical production, Heaven’s Café Live has been the label’s best seller, though here Art Rock Circus is a trio with no keyboards. It definitely has that rock opera style, and Miner’s guitar playing frequently recalls Roye Albrighton of Nektar, though Art Rock Circus is not as symphonic nor as clever as Nektar on Nektar’s better albums.
A Passage to Clear has some keys and female vocals throughout and
a generally languid feel. The double-CD Tell a Vision is the most fully-realized of the Art Rock
Circus CDs, with even more keys and several guest musicians. Mantra Sunrise was
Miner’s band prior to Art Rock Circus, though it’s unclear when this CD was
recorded – no dates appear on any of the CDs.
Mantra Sunrise is also a predominantly languid album, fairly psychedelic, with
male vocals that suggest Jim Morrison/The Doors. The 20-minute suite Land of
Sprinagar may remind one of the first Nektar album. At times the production on these CDs is not
exactly state-of-the-art, though that makes these CDs sound even more like the product of an early
1970’s band. Most though not all of the music falls within the boundaries of
progressive rock, and as mentioned, there is a degree of psychedelia as well. There is so much
music here that it is difficult to summarize it, but there are extensive audio samples provided.
Asia - Classic Rock Legends DVD ($6.99)This 2001 Asia DVD (NTSC, all-region) is from Classic Rock Legends, who have
probably repackaged it several times since. This is the John Wetton, Geoff
Downes, Carl Palmer and Pat Thrall lineup. Great track list: Sole Survivor,
Don’t Cry, Voice of America, Time Again, Praying for a Miracle, The Smile Has
Left Your Eyes, Only Time Will Tell, Days Like These, The Heat Goes On, Heat of
the Moment, Open Your Eyes. Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, 80-minutes.
Atto
IV - A Parte ($13.99)
On their 2005 debut A Parte, this Italian band exists between
progressive rock and prog-metal. There is no doubt Atto IV play
prog-metal, but they have an excellent keyboardist and are capable of playing
PFM and Banco style Italian symphonic progressive at a very high level. Apart
from the generic metal riffing, they have great technique and ideas, and they sing in Italian
to boot. Would this be better without the heavy guitar and occasional
double-pedal from the drummer? Is Brunello di Montalcino improved by adding
Budweiser to it? Philosophical questions aside, this is a good one.
Autumn
People - same ($11.99)This is the legit CD reissue of a hyper-obscure 1976 album by a
guitar/keys/bass/drums quartet from Arizona. Little is known about the band. The
music is progressive rock that, apart from a cheesy string synth, actually
sounds several years earlier than 1976, with a hippy vibe and basement
production, charming in its lack of pretension. There are elements of the
American rural rock sound of the era. Collectors of rare early-70’s prog will
enjoy this.
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Tony
Banks - Still ($7.99) [co]While this 1991 album is one of Tony Banks’ bland pop albums, with no
instrumentals, it does feature Fish singing two of the songs, of which the
9-minute Another Murder of a Day is quite good and is the highlight of
the album. Nik Kershaw is among the other singers handling the vocals on the
other songs, while Daryl Stuermer takes care of the guitars, with other
musicians on bass and drums. Note these CDs are unsealed. The reason is that
this CD actually comes in a shrinkwrapped longbox. (Longboxes were phased out
shortly after). We’ll save you the trouble of discarding the longbox, but if you
really want it,
use this link instead to buy this CD with the longbox -- it’ll cost you an
extra CD’s worth of shipping.
Barclay
James Harvest - Welcome to the Show ($12.99)These are the 2006 Eclectic Discs editions remastered from the original master tapes, with Eclectic’s usual superb sound quality. Barclay James Harvest are a British band who released their first album in 1970. They are known for creating a unique brand of soft symphonic pop.
BJH’s 1987 studio album Face to Face was
praised by critics as a return to form. This reissue adds three bonus tracks,
including a rare German extended 12-inch single remix of Panic.
Welcome to the Show is their 1990 studio album with the addition of three
bonus tracks recorded live in 1992.
Robert Beriau - Falling Back to Where I Began ($9.99)
On the Ipso Facto label, this 2005 CD is the work of French-Canadian Robert
Beriau on piano, synths, acoustic & electric guitar, bass, and drums/percussion.
It is an instrumental work somewhat similar to the first Clearlight album,
spacey and classically-influenced, with biting electric guitar leads, generally
ponderous and serious-sounding. 63-minutes.
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Brand X - The X Files (2CD, $11.99)Subtitled A 20 Year Retrospective, Disc 1 of this double-CD consists mostly of live
tracks from various performances between 1976-1997, while Disc 2 draws mostly from various
projects John Goodsall and Percy Jones have been involved in outside of Brand X
(Fire Merchants, Tunnels, Wilding-Bonus, etc.). There are some surprising guest appearances
in this set, including Bill Bruford, Chester Thompson, and Pierre Moerlen.
Brother Ape - On the Other Side ($8.99)
On their debut On the Other Side (2005), Swedish band Brother Ape is a
quartet (guitars/vocals, keys, bass, drums). The band describes themselves as a unique blend of
progressive rock and fusion and mentions Weather Report and Brand X. The truth?
Brother Ape is a mainstream progressive rock band with excellent vocals in
English. They are somewhere between Saga/Rush and Genesis/Yes, but don’t take
that too literally as Brother Ape doesn’t sound much like any of those bands,
except for the title track that ends this album. This 8-minute track is the
highlight, a wonderful slice of Yes and Genesis-inspired euphoria.
Interestingly, this track was recorded ten years earlier than the others and
excavated from the vault for this CD. Are there any others like this in there?
As for the fusion, in a few spots they integrate chord changes and sounds that
derive from 1970’s fusion bands. It’s a great idea that they execute well, but
it’s really a minor aspect of their sound, and at no point are they actually
playing jazz-rock. But who cares. Brother Ape is another great Swedish prog band
that doesn’t sound like any of the other Swedish prog bands. The Windows Media
icon above links directly to a single .asf file that contains excerpts from all
of the songs on the album. Read
reviews here. Check here for
Brother Ape’s 2nd CD Shangri-la.
Caravan - Better By Far ($12.99)
Caravan - All Over You...Too ($9.99)In 2005, the last Caravan studio album left to be released on CD finally was, by Eclectic Discs. It isn’t the equal of their early classics, but Better By Far (1977) is still a good album that has been overlooked, probably because it was never that easy to find in the U.S. and hasn’t been available at all for 20 years. In addition to fine examples of Pye Hastings’ songwriting such as Nightmare (still a favorite of the band’s live act), Better By Far and Behind You, this album also features the Geoffrey Richardson classic The Last Unicorn and Jan Schelhaas’ Man in a Car. Digitally remastered of course, with extensive liner notes and unseen photographs.
Cool Water contains songs recorded in 1977 for inclusion on the follow-up album to Better By Far but never used. They are all Pye Hastings songs. Pye found the 2" multitracks and had the songs mixed for this 1994 CD. The final four songs are from a different source and have lesser sound quality.
All Over You and All Over You...Too are two CDs of classic Caravan songs re-recorded by the band in the late
1990’s. Travelling Ways, subtitled The HTD Anthology, is a
double-CD containing 24 tracks. Seven tracks are taken from Caravan’s The
Battle of Hastings album, while four are live versions of classic material.
The rest are versions of earlier, classic Caravan tracks re-recorded in 1996 and
1999, taken from the All Over You and All Over You...Too CDs.
Celtus
- Live 2000 ($10.99)Celtus is an Irish Celtic-pop ensemble consisting of John McManus on vocals, low
whistle, bodhran & bass; Pat McManus on guitars, fiddle, bouzouki & backing
vocals; and Dan Axtell on synthesizers and backing vocals. The songs are usually
driven by programmed percussion. Live 2000 is a live
greatest hits, the songs compiled from various concerts throughout that year,
plus two bonus studio tracks. Celtus combine Irish folk and rock in a manner
similar to later Clannad, though with excellent male vocals rather than female.
Some songs feature the Celtic instruments prominently and other not so much. Celtus is much more about top-notch songwriting than Irish folk per se, and
all the electronic textures and drum loops should keep the trad folkies
away. Those into Karnataka and Iona may find much that they like here, as these
guys are good! You can find
audio samples at amazon.com.
Chain - Reconstruct ($8.99)
Chain appears to be a German quintet, though their singer is probably American.
Their band leader is Henning Pauly, also responsible for the Frameshift albums
and who now resides in the U.S. Chain is a band that does play progressive
metal at times, but there is so much pure prog rock on their albums that it
would be unfair to saddle them with the prog-metal tag.
Chain’s debut Reconstruct (2003) is notable not only for being 79-minutes long but
for featuring lines from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
throughout, and in fact the album is dedicated to Adams. It’s a
powerful prog-rock/prog-metal blend that also strikes us as being very clever.
Recommended especially to fans of Ayreon.
Cross -
Playgrounds ($8.99)
Cross is a Swedish neo-progressive/neo-symphonic band
with excellent English vocals and an accessible style. Playgrounds (2004)
is the place to start. This album further develops the style heard on Secrets
(2000) but relates even more closely to the Spektrum CD, and all the Spektrum members guest on Playgrounds. The
mid-to-late 1970’s Genesis influence is present, particularly in the keyboards,
and Cross’ style is now close to Galleon as well as Jadis and other melodic
symphonic prog bands. Gaze was originally released in 1996 and remastered
in 1999. Here is a 4.6 MB mp3 from Playgrounds.
Read
reviews here.
Spektrum is a 2003 CD by a Swedish all-star quintet, featuring Hansi Cross (the main man
in Cross), key members of Galleon and Grand Stand, and a very good
female singer in Lizette von Panajott. In other words, a lot of
talent. And this album is one of the best neo-Genesis albums to appear in a long time, as Spektrum
draw most of their inspiration from Genesis circa Wind and Wuthering. But
the female vocals add a very different twist, and Spektrum manage to make it all
sound fresh and exciting. You can hear influences of all three parent bands as
well, so fans of those bands as well as fans of The Flower Kings, IQ, Twin Age,
and melodic symphonic prog in general should be thrilled to hear this. Here is a
1.0 MB
mp3 from the album. Read
reviews here. More Cross CDs here.
Francis Dunnery - Let’s Go Do What Happens ($6.99)
1998 album from the former It Bites singer/guitarist, now residing in New York City.
Dunnery is a huge Genesis fan, but this work is close to
Peter Gabriel (minus the world music elements), sophisticated and intelligent pop/rock.
And how many singer/songwriters use Mellotron these days?
East of Eden - Snafu
($12.99)This is the Eclectic Discs remastered edition of this classic prog album. Snafu (1970)
is the second
album by East of Eden, a British early progressive band. Their sound fused
rock, jazz, psychedelia, and Eastern-influenced world music, lead by violin and
hard-rock guitar. (Their violinist Dave Arbus later played the famous violin
solo on The Who’s Baba O'Reilly.) This CD has been taken from the
original master tapes and has an extensive booklet and
seven bonus tracks totaling 34-minutes!
Eden Burning - Mirth & Matter ($3.99)
[co]1994 CD by an English progressive, folky rock band who make frequent use of Celtic instruments and melodies.
There is a weight and air of seriousness to most of their songs, analogous to latter-day Marillion; it’s part of what gives them progressive
credibility. Which is not to say Eden Burning sounds like Marillion; they don’t. The band had a cut on the Geoff Mann tribute CD Mannerisms.
Egg -
same ($12.99)These are the latest remastered versions of these classic prog albums on Eclectic
Discs. Both have been mastered from the original master tapes and feature
extensive liner notes. Egg was Dave Stewart’s first band with a recording
contract, a trio with Mont Campbell on bass and Clive Brooks on drums. Drawing
inspiration from The Nice and early Soft Machine, Egg were more adventurous.
Stewart was already fond of the odd meters that would characterize his later
work in Hatfield and the North, National Health, and Bruford. Organ dominates,
except for the occasional Mellotron abuse. Their self-titled debut (1970) now
features three bonus tracks, The Polite Force (1971) has two.
Mads Eriksen - M.E. ($7.99)
[co]
Mads Eriksen has been called the Norwegian Steve Morse. Not only is he a
gifted guitarist, he also combines country-style picking with classical,
progressive, and hard rock. M.E. (1994) is
possibly Eriksen’s best. His band includes a keyboardist, bassist and drummer,
who he leads on melodic instrumentals with his guitar in the forefront. His music has similarities to Morse and the
Dixie Dregs, though not to the point of being derivative. It’s more a case of
having similar skills, being similarly eclectic, and rarely sacrificing melody
for guitar pyrotechnics.
Fish - Uncle Fish & The Crypt Creepers (2CD, $8.99)Yin and Yang are companion CDs, compilations spanning
1980-1995, but most of the songs have been re-recorded. Yin features two
Marillion songs recorded by Fish’s band while Yang includes four. Yin
also includes Time and a Word recorded with Steve Howe (despite the fact
the song predates Howe’s joining Yes). Uncle Fish & The Crypt Creepers
is an official live 2CD recorded in December 1991.
The Flower Kings - The Rainmaker ($7.99)
If you’ve been paying any attention to progressive rock for the past decade
or so, you know that The Flower Kings have established themselves as one of the
most accomplished, prolific, and popular symphonic progressive bands currently
working. The Rainmaker (70-minutes) is from 2001.
After several releases on the Kinesis label, Upper Level Open Space
(1999) was released on the French Musea label and is now sale-priced.
Details here.
Fraktal -
Ask the Rabbit ($11.99)
Fraktal is an Argentine quartet singing in English. Their 2005
debut Ask the Rabbit is in the Radiohead vein.
With its pervading melancholic mood, it is also reminiscent of Porcupine Tree or Anekdoten’s Gravity, though Fraktal’s sound generally
lacks symphonic elements. Their guitar-dominated sound is closer to that of
Brazilians Violeta de Outono. Read the
Proggnosis and
DPRP
reviews. There are videos and more reviews on
Fraktal’s site.
Mini-LP sleeve.
French TV - 1: French TV ($9.99)French TV is an instrumental band from Louisville, Kentucky that has been around in various incarnations for
quite some time now. This is the CD reissue of their debut album, which was released on vinyl in 1984. Their
music is complex, blending Canterbury-ish progressive rock, fusion, and some
avant rock stylings. Recommended to fans of Grits, However, A
Triggering Myth, Happy the Man, and The Muffins, all American bands of a similar persuasion,
not to mention Frank Zappa, Samlas Mammas Manna, and Univers Zero.
Giles, Giles & Fripp - The Cheerful Insanity of ($12.99)This 1968 album is where it all began for King Crimson. Robert Fripp and Mike
Giles went on to form King Crimson the next year, and Peter Giles resurfaced
there later. This album is a brilliant example of late 60’s psychedelic pop and
proto-prog, sometimes recalling Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd or The Moody Blues,
but with its own style and a very English sense of humor. Fripp’s guitar work is
already in top form. This is the remastered reissue on Eclectic Discs. It sounds
great and adds six bonus tracks to take the total time up to 59-minutes, with
an enhanced booklet including extensive liner notes.
Gnidrolog - Live 1972 ($11.99)Gnidrolog are the British band who released two albums at the beginning of
the 1970’s that often elicit comparisons to early Gentle Giant and Van der
Graaf Generator, albeit with a more folky/blues sound. This is a 70-minute official live album
with decent audio quality, released in 1999.
Pamela Golden - Happens All the Time ($6.99)On her sole album from 1991, Pamela Golden comes across in part like a female Peter
Gabriel, not surprising given that the musicians backing her include Jerry Marotta,
Tony Levin, Larry Fast, and Sid McGuiness. There is also a strong resemblance to Happy Rhodes, Jane Siberry,
and Kate Bush.
Jerry
Goodman - Ariel ($9.99)
After his stints with The Flock and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, electric
violinist Jerry Goodman recorded two studio albums and one live album for the
Private Music label in the 1980’s. Ariel (1986) is the second and much
superior of the two studio albums. Goodman leads a full band (electric guitar,
keys, bass, drums) playing symphonic rock with classical and new age flavors.
The new age flavor is consistent with other releases on the label; remember
Private Music released the first Yanni CDs (when Yanni was more progressive than
lame). Note Goodman appears on several of Derek Sherinian’s CDs.
Steve
Hackett - Guitar Noir / There Are Many Sides to the Night (2CD, $14.99)
Steve Hackett - Bay of Kings ($5.99) [co]
Guitar Noir / There Are Many Sides to the Night is a 2CD set combining two Steve Hackett albums at a single-CD price. Guitar Noir was originally released in 1993, one of Hackett’s full electric band, vocal albums. The version here has been remastered and the previously-unavailable recording Theatre of Sleep has been added. There Are Many Sides to the Night is an acoustic live album recorded at the Teatro Metropolitan in Palermo, Sicily in December 1994, with Hackett joined by keyboardist Julian Colbeck. It presents material from Hackett’s two acoustic albums together with some Genesis favorites, plus acoustic versions of other Hackett songs and a selection of previously unheard material.
Till We Have Faces (1984) is one of Hackett’s best albums, notable for the inclusion of Brazilian musicians, with the sessions taking place mainly in Brazil. Patrick Moraz had done a similar thing with his first album, and so progressive rock musicians were doing world music before the term even existed, the mainstream media oblivious to it as always. This is the 2002 edition on InsideOut which adds two 1987 bonus tracks.
Time Lapse (1991) is a live album drawn from shows in New York City and
Nottingham which span ten years and two band lineups. Bay of Kings (1983) is Steve’s first acoustic album, a
beautiful work with help from John Hackett on flute and Nick Magnus on keys.
This is the 2003 edition on InsideOut, which includes three bonus tracks plus
additional mp3 tracks. Check our British CDs page for more
Steve Hackett CDs.
Claire Hamill - Voices ($6.99)English vocalist Claire Hamill released her first album at the age of 17,
toured the U.S. with Procol Harum and Jethro Tull in 1972, and has worked with
Mike Oldfield. On her 1992 album Voices, she multitracks her voice in a
manner similar to Enya, though without as much supporting instrumentation. The
basis of the sound is the layering of Claire’s voice to form cascades and
textures of music, with some rhythmic accompaniment. The result is a beautiful
and unique sound. The music featured in a BBC program called The Domesday
Book.
Annie Haslam -
Live Under Brazilian Skies ($9.99)Live Under Brazilian Skies was recorded live in 1997 and features seven Renaissance songs, seven songs
from Annie’s solo albums (including her cover of Mike Oldfield’s Moonlight Shadow),
and the Yes song Turn of the Century. Blessing in Disguise is her
1994 studio album featuring 14 new songs.
The Illustrated Band - The Forever of Now ($10.99)This 2004 CD is the debut from The Illustrated Band from Austin, Texas. They
have a very American sound palette similar to Phish and the other jam bands, but
they aren't a jam band. Well, on one track at least they are, but the rest of
the album is highly composed. Their music is littered with progressivisms, with
touches of Rush, Genesis, and Yes (more so the acoustic side of the last two)
here and there. There is a pop/rock element, but the same can be said of
Echolyn, whose style they sometimes brush up against. There are some psychedelic
flavors, and above all, well-defined melodies. It’s all a very
creative mix that draws the listener in and doesn’t let go. 63-minutes. There
are listener reviews and
audio samples at
CDBaby.
IQ - Tales from the Lush Attic ($8.99)
[co]Along with Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws, IQ’s
The Wake (1985) and Tales from the Lush Attic (1983) are the best albums to come out of the 1980’s
progressive revival in Britain. Tales... includes the bonus track Just
Changing Hands. This version has a small slot cut in the spine. Only one
copy left.
The rest of the IQ CDs are here.
Jack Yello - Thorns of Anger ($8.99)
Jack Yello is a German quintet that includes former members of German
neo-prog bands Darius and Jagiello. No one in the band is named Jack though. You
could argue that their influences include Arena,
Marillion, Spock’s Beard, and Dream Theater. More precisely though, Jack Yello
is playing in the classic early Marillion style, only with a really huge sound
and a touch of the modern metallic sound.
Singer Dirk Bovensiepen has a fair amount of Fish in his voice, and the lyrics are also
in that typically verbose style. As Marillion-influenced bands go, Jack Yello is
among the most complex and interesting. 78-minutes.
Kayak - Classics ($6.99)14 track compilation from our favorite Dutch band, covering 1976-1981. It
picks up after the band’s two best albums (their self-titled second and
Royal Bed Bouncer), though it includes two live renditions of songs from those
earlier, more progressive years. While it does favor some of their more
accessible tracks, it’s still a decent overview, and Starlight Dancer
and The Last Encore were still very good albums, while Merlin has its moments.
Pete Laramee - Alone But Not Lonely ($8.99)Pete Laramee is the guitarist from Kurgan’s
Bane, but his first solo CD is a different animal. It’s a guitarist’s album,
instrumental and influenced by the usual guitar-hero suspects. In addition to
electric guitar, Pete adds jazz and classical guitar in several places and plays
some keys plus bass on a couple tracks. Luis Nasser and Pete’s brother Jeff
(both of Sonus Umbra) handle bass and drums, respectively.
Three other musicians appear on a few of the tracks. While there are plenty of
flying fingers, Laramee’s material is tasteful to a fault and his focus on
melody rarely wavers, and so this album is able to engage the listener on other
than a technical level, unlike certain chops-fest albums. There are
RealAudio samples at amazon.com.
Laserdogs
- Frankenclown ($9.99)
Laserdogs is largely the work of Greg Lounsberry, who on Frankenclown (2005) handles vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, bass, mandolin, and drum programming, with the assistance of a drummer on one track. Lounsberry says that he tried to avoid any sounds or effects that occurred after 1974, using mainly tremolo, Leslie, and Echoplex. The multitracked vocal harmonies are noteworthy. The result is a progressive rock/pop with an early 1970’s sound that resembles Haze on their guitar-dominated tracks, especially since Lounsberry’s voice is so close to Paul McMahon’s. Or think of Phil Manzanera circa Listen Now and K-Scope teaming with Todd Rundgren. There is a sense of humor in the songs, one of which is 18-minutes long.
The Rocket4357 Project is Lounsberry’s band circa 1998,
with other musicians on guitar, bass and drums, and Lounsberry playing
guitar-synth in lieu of keyboards. It’s a most enjoyable progressive rock album with some pop flavoring, with superb
songwriting and excellent warm vocals, driven by electric & acoustic guitar and guitar
synth. This is reminiscent of Phil Manzanera’s best works, with touches of later
Marillion (one song is entitled Mr. Hogarth) and 1980’s King Crimson. Seven
tracks, the odd-numbered tracks are instrumentals. This one is a
shrinkwrapped CD-R with the label thermally-printed directly on the disc and
inkjet-printed graphics on photo paper. Short length (32-minutes), hence the
low price. Click for streaming (lo-fi, mono) RealAudio excerpts from the tracks
Mr. Hogarth and
Flower Pot Hat.
Levellers -
same (3rd) ($4.99)
[co]The Levellers is an English quintet playing Celtic folk-rock with the
emphasis on the rock. Recorded in 1993, mostly at Real World Studios, this is
the band's third album. The Levellers sometimes get associated with punk, but
that is only because the singer’s English working class accent is sometimes
apparent, otherwise there is little here besides the energy level that has much
to do with punk. These guys can play their instruments. The fiddle and their
full sound make them attractive to progressive rock fans, and they can write
songs.
Liquid Scarlet - same ($8.99)
Another Mellotron-laden Swedish prog sensation. On their self-titled 2004
debut, Liquid Scarlet sound like a cross between
Anglagard and Landberk, with influences of 1970’s King Crimson and pastoral
Genesis, but also some modern influences such as Radiohead. (The band members were
all in their twenties at the time of this recording.) A liquid sound indeed!
Check here for more Liquid Scarlet
CDs.
Lucas,
White & Edsey - LWE ($9.99)
The trio of keyboardist Frank Lucas, drummer Chuck White and bassist Steve
Edsey play a highly-melodic brand of instrumental progressive rock that
showcases stellar technique within highly-structured compositions. They’ve made
no concessions to modern trends on LWE, their 2006 debut, meaning their
music is neither angry nor depressed. Most of the music has the bright,
exuberant style of early John Tesh, but more overtly progressive and virtuosic.
It also touches on the styles of David Sancious, Niacin, and The Rudess
Morgenstein Project, the latter not surprising given that Lucas has studied with
Jordan Rudess for many years. One track has a Latin feel, another incorporates
bluegrass. Lucas can play lightning fast and favors piano layered with strings,
while the excellent rhythm section navigates through the many metrical
minefields. There is little soloing; instead, the music is carefully composed
and full of catchy melodies. Edger Gabriel, a principal violinist for Cirque du
Soleil, guests on violin on three tracks.
Maestoso - Fiddling Meanly ($12.99)
These CDs are on the Eclectic label, known for their meticulous remastering jobs and extensive booklets. Woolly Wolstenholme was the keyboardist and Mellotron man in Barclay James Harvest and was responsible for their more epic and symphonic pieces. He left BJH in 1979 and in 1980 released his first solo album Maestoso. Wolstenholme is joined by several other musicians, and later he used “Maestoso” as the name of this band. This is a quality album that will please most fans of early BJH. This CD edition adds two bonus live tracks.
Fiddling Meanly (2005)
is a live CD recorded at The Mean Fiddler in London in 2004, recorded
straight to DAT from the mixing desk. It features a mix of Wolstenholme’s solo
material and BJH material. The warts and all recording actually gives the
listener more of a feeling of being there, especially with the between song
banter left in, and the increased energy of the live performance makes some of
the versions on this disc superior to the studio versions.
Magna Carta - In Tomorrow (2CD+DVD, $7.99)This folky British band, formed in 1969, is familiar to many fans of 70’s
progressive for their early 70’s albums, the best of which blended folk and
progressive elements and featured such sidemen as Rick Wakeman and Nic Potter,
among many others. For the last 20 years, Magna Carta has been Chris & Linda
Simpson and a variety of supporting musicians. This is a rather good price on
this 2005 set consisting of two CDs and a DVD in a fat digipack and containing
all previously-unreleased material. The first CD (68-minutes) consists of mainly
studio material and includes contributions from a wealth of musical talents, including
Wakeman and drummer Paul Burgess (Camel). The second CD (61-minutes) is mostly
live and is mainly Chris & Linda Simpson, two voices and two guitars, although
some tracks also feature violin and bass. The DVD contains four songs from the
2001 Magna Carta concert DVD Ticket to the Moon. Those who enjoy Acoustic
Strawbs will find similar music here. Counts as 1.5 CDs for shipping.
Manning - A Matter of Life and Death ($8.99) A Matter of Life and Death (2004, 54-minutes) is a concept album based upon a character Guy
Manning created on his 1999 debut
Tall Stories For Small Children. This album is darker than previous albums
and is more centered on Guy’s voice, with a sense that this is his most profound
work to date, both lyrically and melodically. Guy plays many of the instruments himself
but is assisted by Laura Fowles and Gareth Harwood along with Rick Ashton on bass.
Among the guests on this album are fiddler Ian Fairbairn and Andy Tillison. The
production is top notch and the artwork throughout the booklet, courtesy of Ed
Unitsky, is exceptional. More information and more
Manning CDs on our British page.
Phil Manzanera - Vozero
UK edition ($11.99)Phil Manzanera should be well known to most prog fans, as a member of Roxy Music, Quiet Sun, and 801, and for his numerous solo albums and collaborations from the 1970’s to the present. Vozero (1999) was Manzanera’s first solo album in 10 years. This is the UK (jewel box) edition. All the tracks were written by Manzanera, and in addition to Phil’s distinctive and eclectic guitar work, Vozero also prominently features Robert Wyatt, a guest spot for Andy Mackay on oboe, and a cast of other musicians and singers. Despite the passage of time, this album seems to logically follow 1977’s Listen Now and 1978’s K-Scope, a bit mellower perhaps (something to do with aging) and with a more multi-cultural sound as is the fashion of late. (Manzanera did spend his childhood in South America, so Latin touches come naturally to him.)
The Wasted Lands
CD (1999) was compiled from the soundtrack of the film of the same name. It’s
Manzanera’s most ambient and relaxing album, but that’s not to suggest the music
is of the abstract, boring sort. It remains melodic and often rhythmic and easily stands on its
own apart from the film. 74-minutes.
Bob
Margolis - Impetus ($9.99)
This instrumental guitar CD is the third release from
Baltimore/Washington-area guitarist Bob Margolis, and his best to date. Margolis
is backed on most tracks by a bassist and drummer. Primarily in the jazz-rock
vein, the disc opens with the dreamy urgency of the title track, followed by a
rendition of Jeff Beck’s classic Freeway Jam. Impetus offers a
wide array of guitar sounds, from fat, distorted electric tones and punchy Strat
licks to silky nylon classical and steel-string acoustic colors. All the cuts
display Margolis' innate sense of melody and compositional prowess. A great
admirer of Pat Metheny, Margolis avoids the pointless shredding of so many
guitar albums, and so with the ample clean tones and acoustic textures, this is
perfect Sunday morning fare.
Marillion and The Positive Light - Tales from the Engine Room ($7.99)Interesting remixes of six songs from This Strange Engine in the
electronica style.
Mastermind -
Angels of the Apocalypse ($7.99)
Mastermind is an American heavy progressive band but, at least originally, not a metal band. They are very bombastic and ELP-like on the early albums, with Bill Berends’ guitar synth playing the role of Keith Emerson’s keyboards. Their debut Volume One is from 1987.
Mastermind changed their style on Excelsior! (1998), which is
entirely instrumental and was the first to feature keyboardist Jens Johannson (Stratovarius).
This is a superb album that adopts the Mahavishnu Orchestra fusion style while
retaining some of Mastermind’s former melodic bombastic symphonic style. After
that, Bill Berends must have decided that
metal was where the money is, as Angels of the Apocalypse (2000,
70-minutes) changes style again. Mastermind added
singer Lisa Bouchelle, and this album
combines progressive rock, fusion, and metal. Mostly metal. Apparently drummer Rich Berends got a double pedal
for Christmas because he uses it seemingly
non-stop. Every song. Every bar. (There’s a reason drummers rarely use a double
pedal outside of the metal genre...) The CD features a cover of ELP’s
The Endless Enigma (12:18) as one of two bonus tracks. The double pedal intrudes even into this song.
Someone please confiscate it.
Metaphor -
Entertaining Thanatos ($9.99)
Maybe all you need to know about this San Francisco-area band is that
Metaphor spent two years as a classic-era Genesis tribute band. Their 2nd CD Entertaining Thanatos
(2004, 57-minutes) is a finely-crafted 1970’s-style symphonic prog album with
Genesis as the primary influence, replete with vintage keyboards (including
Mellotron) and long dramatic tracks. Relative to their debut, the music
incorporates a wider range of proggy influences (Gentle Giant, for one),
expanding beyond the Genesis base. Fans of the Ad Infinitum CD especially should
take note. Check here for the other Metaphor CDs.
Millennium - Self ($5.99)1998 Polish techno album on Polygram. No relation to the neo-prog band.
Musica d’Repuesto - aV abuC (Variaciones en la Cuerda Vol. 5) ($8.99)This is a very good, mostly-instrumental King Crimson style band from Cuba,
also reminding one of the French band Tiemko at times. There are also touches of
Present or Univers Zero. The album is a collection
of their best music, recorded in 1993. 53-minutes.
Naranja Mecánica - 1993-1995 ($9.99)A surprisingly good album out of Cuba. Naranja Mecánica play a 1970’s style
progressive rock sounding closest to a mix of Jethro Tull and Banco, with
influences of King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator, and various other 70’s
Italian and South American bands. There are vocals in Spanish but instrumental
passages dominate. In addition to the standard keys/guitars/bass/drums lineup,
they use flute extensively.
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Nodo Gordiano - Alea ($9.99)
Alea (2005) is the 2nd CD for this Italian prog band, released on Mellow
Records. Here Nodo Gordiano is a trio,
with bass player Andrea De Luca the only person in common with the lineup that
recorded their 1999 debut. Alea is a collection of instrumental
improvisations for synthesizers, bass and drums. The tracks are generally
spacey, using electronic-sounding analog synth patches, and evolve in a linear
fashion as most jams do.
Mike Oldfield - Five Miles Out ($5.99) Five Miles Out and Heaven’s Open are the editions released in 1996 on the Dutch Disky label.
More Mike Oldfield CDs here.
Ozric Tentacles -
Pyramidion ($9.99)
Ozric Tentacles - Floating Seeds Remixed ($9.99)
Ozric Tentacles -
Curious Corn ($9.99)
Ozric Tentacles - Strangeitude ($9.99)Since they began in the mid-1980’s, Ozric Tentacles have been the premier
progressive psychedelic space-rock band. They have a large discography. This is
the jewel box edition of The Hidden Step (2000) on the defunct Phoenix
Rising label. There Is Nothing (1986) and Live Ethereal Cereal
(1986) were first released on cassette and are now available on this jewel box double-CD
on the Recall (Snapper) label. The rest are the digipack reissues on Snapper
Classics: Erpland (1990), Strangeitude (1991), Live Underslunky
(1992), Jurassic Shift (1993), Curious Corn (1997), Spice Doubt (1998), Waterfall
Cities (1999), Floating Seeds Remixed (1999), Swirly
Termination (1998-2000), and Pyramidion (2001). Floating Seeds Remixed contains Ozrics
tracks remixed by various people who do that sort of thing.
An Ozrics discography is here. Check our DVDs page for
Ozric Tentacles’ DVD.
Ozric
Tentacles - The Floor’s Too Far Away ($15.99)
OK, the Ozric’s 2006 CD The Floor’s Too Far Away (60-minutes,
digipack) is normal-priced, but may as well keep all their CDs together in
one place. Ed Wynne is the only original member now, and he’s the primary creative force here. It’s
another very good album for the band. It’s hard for Ozric Tentacles to break a
lot of new ground as they’ve been doing the same style of music for something
like 23 years to this point, but their sound does evolve due to personnel
changes at least. There are some tracks on The Floor’s Too Far Away that
are nearly fusion!
Pale
Beneath the Blue - Hologram ($6.99)We’re aiming this CD-EP (26-minutes) squarely at Kate Bush
fans. Pale Beneath the Blue is the moniker used by Rhonda Everitt (voice,
piano), helped by other musicians, primarily the Human Factor production team of Blake
Althen and Paula Bellenoit. Rhonda has six great songs here, with all the
hallmarks of Kate Bush’s eccentric style, including the clever backing vocals.
As he has shown on the Human Factor CD, Althen is quite adept at using the tools
of modern music production (loops, samples, software) and making
the end result not just palatable for prog fans, but full of subtle and tasteful
details (such as guitar samples from Peter Maunu of Group 87 fame.) OK, the
final song is targeted for radio and is danceable, but even that one’s pretty
interesting with its twisting bass line. Best place to find audio samples is at
CDBaby.
Pallas - Arrive Alive ($7.99)
[co]
[co]
Pallas - Beat the Drum ($7.99)
[co]
Pallas - The
River Sessions 2 ($14.99)Pallas is a Scottish band usually mentioned in the same breath as Marillion, IQ, Pendragon, and Twelfth Night as leaders of the 1980’s progressive revival in the UK. The Sentinel (1984) remains Pallas’ crowning achievement. Produced by Eddie Offord, this is one of the essential neo-prog albums. This CD includes the B-sides that were not on the original LP, the studio version of Heart Attack, plus a CD-ROM track with rare video footage of the band. Arrive Alive is the CD reissue of their 1981 first LP (which was live) plus bonus tracks, plus their later 3-track studio EP Paris is Burning. For no apparent reason, the CD omits the song Heart Attack from the Arrive Alive LP. After the shorter title track, the Arrive Alive LP consisted of epic progressive tracks that, while a bit rough, were Pallas’ best material aside from The Sentinel. The Wedge (1986) was the follow-up album to The Sentinel and the band’s last for EMI. The CD includes the 3 songs from the preceding Knightmoves EP plus a CD-ROM section that includes a TV performance of an early version of Win or Lose. This album and EP were the first to feature Alan Reed on vocals. With a new producer, the Pallas sound changed with this album, less symphonic than The Sentinel, but there are still many fine songs here. Beat the Drum is their 1999 comeback album and while more polished, it is also more mainstream. The Cross and the Crucible (2001) is a much better album than Beat the Drum, a return to Pallas’ neo-progressive roots. Like The Sentinel, it is an ambitious concept album with all the power and glory Pallas displayed in their early years. The cutouts here have a slot sawed through the jewel box spine.
The original master tapes of the two River Sessions CDs were remastered
by Niall Mathewson, and the artwork is based on images from the same time
periods. The first volume was originally recorded for Radio Clyde in 1982,
before Pallas were signed to EMI, and features original vocalist Euan Lowson.
The tracks: Queen of the Deep, Arrive Alive, Crown of Thorns, The Ripper, A
Little Bit Of Culture. The second volume was originally recorded for Radio
Clyde in 1985 as part of the last Rock Gig at the famous Glasgow Apollo. It
features Alan Reed on vocals. The tracks: Shock Treatment, Crown of Thorns, Imagination, Dinosaur, Sanctuary,
Stranger in a Strange Land, Eyes in the Night.
Check here for Pallas’s The Dreams of Men CD.
Check our DVDs page for Pallas’s DVDs.
Henning
Pauly - Babysteps ($9.99)
Henning Pauly is known for his bands Chain and Frameshift.
Babysteps is an ambitious 76-minute prog-metal concept
album featuring vocalists James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Jody Ashworth
(Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Matt Cash (Chain/Frameshift/solo) and Michael Sadler
(Saga). Ian Crichton and Jim Gilmour of Saga also appear on a few solos. While
the early part of the album has a lot of metal guitar, that does subside
somewhat. If Pauly ever outgrows metal, he will probably produce many great
75-minute progressive rock works. Until that time, think of this as a
double-album with one album’s worth of symphonic prog and one album of
orchestral prog-metal that will appeal to those who can watch Trans-Siberian
Orchestra without thinking of Spinal Tap.
Frameshift -
An Absence of Empathy ($9.99)
An Absence of Empathy (2005, 74-minutes) is the 2nd CD for Frameshift,
a band led by Henning Pauly, this time
with singer Sebastian Bach. This one is much more of a prog-metal album than the
first Frameshift CD, and Bach is a metal singer (they tend to howl a bit when agitated).
Perfume de Mujer - El
Monólogo de él Carocol ($8.99)El Monólogo de él Carocol is the latest from this long-lived Cuban
progressive band, recorded between 1997-2000, continuing their blend of
progressive rock and avant-garde tendencies, mostly instrumental, with some
decent vocals. Actually, if you ignore the 21-minute improv toward the end of
the disc, most of this is no more ‘difficult’ than King Crimson or Gentle
Giant, both of which are influences, but the level of originality here is very
high. Perhaps surprisingly for a Cuban band, there’s very little here that
could be called Latin, and the arrangements are as sophisticated as the best
European prog bands. With a playing time of 70-minutes, there’s still an
album’s worth of quality progressive rock here. The material on Pollos d’Granja
was recorded between 1995-1998 and uses Spanish vocals, violin, keyboards, guitars, bass and drums.
Surprisingly good! 75-minutes.
Popol Vuh - City Raga ($5.99)
[co]City Raga is the 1994 CD by Florian Fricke, Daniel Fichelscher, and new collaborator Guido
Hieronymus. Fichelscher is only on one song here. Fricke is primarily writer and
producer, while Hieronymus is responsible for much of the new sound. It’s
certainly different from Popol Vuh’s 1970’s albums, but still very good. This is
Popol Vuh’s attempt at a Deep Forest or Cirque du Soleil style. Each song is
driven by drums loops and programmed rhythms, with female vocals on most tracks
from Maya Rose. Her voice is used as an instrument. The world music here
suggests the Mayans or Aztecs. The sound is much more synthetic than earlier
albums, reflecting the ambient dance music popular at the time in Europe.
Product
- The Fire ($8.99)
Product is primarily the work of songwriter/producer Arman Christoff Boyles,
with help from musician/producer Scott Rader and guests. Product’s third CD The Fire (2005, 63-minutes)
is based on the life of Nero and restores some of the fire that was missing from their second CD Aire
(currently out-of-print). This album sounds like a
meeting of Hogarth-era Marillion and Pink Floyd, generally quite dark and moody
as always. Product by now have a clearly-recognizable sound, generally close to
Porcupine Tree before the latter became a metal band, and The Fire
is the most fully-realized Product CD. Check here for
Product’s first CD On Water.
Progday
2001 (2CD, $9.99)This is a double-CD containing live recordings from the 7th annual Progday
festival in North Carolina. The featured performers are Yeti, Sigmund Snopek
III, The Muffins, Polydactyl, Azigza, and Ars Nova.
Renaissance - Greatest Hits Live Part One ($8.99)
Renaissance -
The Other Woman ($9.99)Greatest Hits Live Part One and Part Two are reissues of the King Biscuit CDs previously titled Renaissance at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Part 1 & 2 with new artwork. This is all classic material recorded live in 1977 and may be even better than the Live at Carnegie Hall album. The track listing on Part One: Prologue, Can You Understand, Carpet of the Sun, Can You Hear Me, Song of Scheherazade (the whole thing!). Part Two: Running Hard, Midas Man, Mother Russia, Touching Once (Is So Hard to Keep), Ashes Are Burning, Prologue (different version without orchestra), You (a great previously unreleased studio recording).
Songs from Renaissance Days is a collection of previously unreleased studio tracks mostly from the 1980’s, after the classic period of the band, when commercial pressures had effectively ended their golden age. At this point, Terry Sullivan and John Tout were gone, appearing here on only one 1979 song. Included are a new version of Northern Lights, a cover of Paul Simon’s America, and the very fine 8-minute track You which is in the classic Renaissance style. There are several other musicians playing on these tracks, including Peter Gosling and members of Gordon Giltrap’s band: Ian Mosely, Rod Edwards, and Bimbo Acock.
The Other Woman and O
