5bridges - The Thomas Tracks ($15.99)
Titles are arranged alphabetically with the latest additions highlighted in yellow.
5bridges - The Thomas Tracks ($15.99) To find a new Dutch band playing real progressive rock, not neo-prog and certainly not prog-flavored metal, is little short of amazing. 5bridges take their name from the album by The Nice, but their influences are a little Gentle Giant, a little Renaissance, more Yes, and a lot more 1970s Genesis. They are skilled musicians who have first-hand knowledge of classical music and who grew up listening to Yes and Genesis. The Thomas Tracks (2009) is their 74-minute debut CD, parts of which had been released earlier as a demo, but this is the finished product. A wonderful album with no weak tracks, highest recommendation. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Alquin - The Mountain Queen ($17.99) These are the 2009 editions on Esoteric Recordings, known for their superb remastering jobs. These are the first two albums for Alquin, also their best two. Along with Focus, Golden Earring, and Supersister, Alquin was one of a handful of early 1970s Dutch bands to gain exposure in Britain and throughout Europe. To quote the bio at Prog Archives: “With a mixture of rock, jazz and classical music, [Alquin] show elements of Soft Machine, Caravan, Pink Floyd, and Curved Air, with tinges of Roxy Music.” Marks was originally released on the Polydor label in 1972, followed by The Mountain Queen in 1973. This Esoteric reissue of Marks features the entire album on CD for the first time (Mr. Barnum Junior’s Magnificent and Fabulous City was omitted from a previous CD issue) and includes the bonus track Hard Royce. Both booklets feature fully restored artwork and a new essay.
The Aurora Project - Shadow Border ($13.99) The label’s description: Shadow Border (2009) is the second album from Dutch progressive rock band The Aurora Project. Their 2005 debut Unspoken Words brought them much acclaim in the worldwide progressive rock community. The band has twice been invited to perform at the prestigious ProgPower Europe festival. TAP create atmospheric progressive rock with a metallic edge. Liquid keyboard solos duel with heavy, crunch-filled guitar riffs. Vocals take a theatrical approach reminding us that this is after all a prog band. Strong appeal to fans of Riverside, Rush, Arena and Porcupine Tree.
Ayreon - 01011001 (2CD, $16.99) 
Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle (2CD, $14.99)
Ayreon (alias Arjen Lucassen) is by now well-known for his large-scale rock operas featuring lots of well-known prog and metal musicians. Ayreon’s 2008 release 01011001 is another massive prog-metal rock opera featuring the usual large cast of contributors, particularly vocalists. Most are household names in the metal/prog-metal world, though Phideaux Xavier and Tomas Bodin also appear. To call this a magnum opus as the marketing materials do is silly because Ayreon attempts a magnum opus on every album, and they’re all equally large-scale (or overblown). The acoustic instrumentalists are a welcome addition, contributing violin, cello, recorder, and flutes. By now Ayreon’s style is well established, so no surprises here.
The Human Equation (2004) is a double-CD, and as Ayreon albums go, this one is a return to his symphonic progressive side, though there are still metal elements throughout. A lot of vocalists are used, many from metal bands including James Labrie (Dream Theater), but also Heather Findlay (Mostly Autumn) and a couple other female singers. Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep) adds a great Hammond solo, and there are also guest spots for Martin Orford (IQ) and Oliver Wakeman. To offset the metal elements, additional musicians on flutes, recorders, bassoon, violin, and cello raise the tenor. The album has some folky/Celtic-flavored tracks, which are close to Jethro Tull when the flute appears. There are some Pink Floyd-ish passages as well, plus touches of Tangerine Dream-style electronics and the odd Beatles-influenced melody.
Universal Migrator Part 1 & 2 is a special edition double-CD that combines two CDs originally released separately in 2000. The heavy stuff has been confined to the second disc Flight of the Migrator (65:36), which often sounds like a more symphonic, big-production version of Rainbow, with many metal musicians guesting. Ayreon fans know the style. The first disc The Dream Sequencer (70:14) is our favorite of the two, as it contains most of the more song-oriented, melodic, and atmospheric material. But it’s not exactly lightweight. Ayreon achieves that huge “weight” a la Pink Floyd, and much of the material on both albums does have a Floyd influence, with some Beatlesque melodies as well. The title of the first disc may also be a double entendre, as there is a lot of Tangerine Dream sequencer-style electronics appearing throughout, reinforcing the sci-fi theme. Erik Norlander plays keyboards on both, while guest singers include Lana Lane, Mark McCrite (Rocket Scientists), Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard), Damian Wilson (ex-Landmarq), Edward Reekers (Kayak), and several others.
This is the 2004 second edition of the double-CD Into the Electric Castle (1988). The third Ayreon release, it has the usual huge cast of guests including Fish, Thijs van Leer, Clive Nolan, Ton Scherpenzeel, Edward Reekers (Kayak), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) and Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation).
Actual Fantasy was the second Ayreon album, recorded in 1996. Lucassen went back in 2004 and added real drums to it, re-recorded some other parts and remixed the whole thing, yielding Actual Fantasy Revisited. Now enamored with surround sound, Lucassen did a 5.1 mix of the 2004 version, and so the CD now comes with a bonus DVD (NTSC, all-region) that includes the 5.1 mix of the entire album, the original 1996 version of the album, a videoclip of one song in both 5.1 and 2.0 (stereo), and a 2004 featurette.
This is the 2005 Special Edition reissue of The Final Experiment, the first Ayreon album, originally released in 1995. It includes a bonus second CD with nine semi-acoustic versions of songs from the album.
Stream of Passion / Ayreon - Live in the Real World DVD ($17.99) 
After Dutch guitarist/composer/producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen finished the Ayreon rock opera The Human Equation, he wanted to do two things: showcase the talents of Mexican female singer Marcela Bovio, one of the vocalists on the Ayreon album, and form a band for the first time in ten years. The result is perhaps not as different from the symphonic side of Ayreon as the press releases would have you believe. Stream of Passion play heavy symphonic progressive rock and metal, epic in scope, but the beautiful (enchanting, intoxicating, angelic,…) vocals of Marcela Bovio are front and center and are the major difference. For those who love female vocals and prefer the symphonic side of Ayreon to the overblown metal side, Stream of Passion is likely to be the best thing Lucassen has ever been involved with. Embrace the Storm (2005) is their debut CD. This special edition adds a DVD (NTSC, all-region) and comes in a slipcase. The DVD contains a making-of documentary, a video of one song (5.1 Dolby Digital), behind the scenes footage, demo versions of every song on the album, and more. See also the Elfonia CD, Marcela Bovio’s regular band.
Embrace the Storm went into the Dutch charts and Stream Of Passion toured Europe in early 2006. On the Live in the Real World DVD and companion double-CD, the band perform eight of their own songs plus a selection of Ayreon classics including several from The Human Equation. For the Ayreon material, the band was supported by Damian Wilson, the original Landmarq singer. The DVD (NTSC, all-region) includes 19 songs, all shot in widescreen 16:9 with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo audio. There are quite a few extras, including the Out in the Real World video. The 2CD contains the same 19 songs.
The Barstool Philosophers - Sparrows ($12.99) Sparrows (2009, 59-minutes) is the debut for Dutch band The Barstool Philosophers. It’s a blend of Marillion-style neo-prog and metal, but not Dream Theater, not the usual cold, brutal, ugly stuff of modern metal but rather the Queensrÿche and Fates Warning styles. So some call it prog-metal, while others call it heavy prog or neo-prog with metal influences, and we lean toward the latter. In his normal range, singer Leon Brouwer has a voice a bit like David Bowie, and he occasionally does the high-pitch, underpants-on-fire thing. The symphonic keyboards are nearly omnipresent, so unlike most prog-metal records, the music rarely devolves to just metal. Read the Background Magazine and Ytsejam.com reviews.
Bittertown - Scenes from the Box ($14.99) Scenes from the Box (2008) is the debut CD by a Dutch melodic prog band on the Festival Music (formerly F2) label (Credo, Ezra, Solstice, Manning, also introduced Magenta to the world). It’s an elegant 73-minute concept album using three lead vocalists, two female and one male. There is quite a bit of instrumental work as well, the playing generally not demonstrative, more along the lines of the later Camel albums, with some spacey atmospheres. (Should the mp3 icon link stop working, just head to www.bittertown.com and click on the CD title. There are additional clips on the Band tab.)
Bonebag - Noli Me Tangere ($11.99) Bonebag is the other band of Arno Menses, the singer for German prog bands Sieges Even and Subsignal. This is Bonebag’s 2007 debut. Ironically, Menses is not the lead singer here; he is the drummer. The music is modern progressive, that is, a song-oriented blend of alternative and prog rock with grungy guitars filling up the sonic spectrum. The vocals and vocal harmonies are very good and are the key to Bonebag’s appeal.
Casual Silence - Vertical Horizon ($15.99) 
Dutch prog band Casual Silence formed in 1993 but called it quits not long after the release of their 2011 sixth CD Vertical Horizon. Even after 18 years they aren’t well known to prog fans on this side of the Atlantic, but better late than never. Lost in Life (2007, digipack) is their fourth, Once in a Blue Moon (2003) their third. (As for their other releases, their 2009 CD contains acoustic cover versions of other bands’ songs, their 1999 CD was only a 21-minute EP, and their 1997 debut had no keyboardist.) Read reviews at Prog Archives and the DPRP review of Lost in Life. Check below for the related band Medea.
Chris - Making Sense ($17.99) This Chris is Dutch multi-instrumentalist and singer Christiaan Bruin, who is also a member of the band Sky Architect. His 2009 debut A Glimpse Inside on Musea is nearly as good as Kayak (who Christiaan admits he’d never heard!), the gold standard for Dutch progressive rock with a strong pop element. Bruin has created excellent multi-tracked vocal arrangements, sometimes with Beach Boys type harmonies. He loves to use Mellotron strings and choir, lending a Genesis or IQ feel as well. A bouncy song or two reminds one of early Queen, but the piano and melodic lead guitar keep bringing back thoughts of Kayak. Bruin has since assembled a live band -- remember that Porcupine Tree got started this same way.
Making Sense (2010, 70-minutes, digipack) is Chris’ follow-up, moving to the Swedish Progress label, who liken the album to IQ, The Beatles, Yes, and Klaatu, all of which can be heard at different times. The Kayak style is still present, but on balance there has been a shift toward the style of IQ or Carptree, the music somewhat darker and more intense. Christiaan is correct in saying that “the symphonic arrangements and typical vocal layers of the debut are still there, yet further developed into a richer, more versatile sound”. Here is an mp3 of the entire 9:28 track Eve of Destiny, which will make that very evident. (The same song is available on YouTube, in case Progress correct the spelling of the mp3 filename and thus change the link.) There aren’t many one-man projects of this caliber, and if you allow yourself to just fall under the spell of the music, you’ll forget one man is responsible for it all. Read reviews.
Cirkel - The First Goodbye ($14.99) The sole album from a Dutch melodic progressive rock band, this was recorded in 1984, when little was happening in progressive rock. This CD reissue includes two bonus tracks from the same sessions. Not exactly the greatest progressive rock album to come out of The Netherlands, but it has its moments, mostly in a Camel-lite vein.
Cliffhanger - Dug Out Alive! 1993-2001 PAL DVD ($20.99) This Dutch progressive rock band go for a pure 1970s sound, with vintage keyboard sounds, guitar, bass pedals, Rickenbacker bass, and drums. More complex than the other Dutch prog bands to appear during the 1990s, Cliffhanger draw from Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, and King Crimson. Circle (2001) is their fourth studio album.
Dug Out Alive! 1993-2001 requires some explanation. It is a DVD-Video disc, but the content is primarily audio. In fact, there is almost 10 hours of content here! Putting this material on a DVD was a wise decision by the band, because the alternative was a 7CD+DVD set for which we’d be charging a frightening price. And the audio is 48kHz, 16-bit PCM stereo, a step up from CD audio. The content here is mostly live material spanning Cliffhanger’s career, plus some studio audio: a five track 1993 demo (remixed in 2011) and an unreleased 1997 song. There is some video: a 48-minute 1994 concert shot with multiple cameras. With a 16-page booklet, this is quite a package. Read the Sea of Tranquility review for more info. The DVD is PAL all-region, though some NTSC-only players may still play the audio-only content, while other NTSC players will balk at loading.
Dial - Synchronized ($12.99) This Dutch band includes one Swede, Kristoffer Gildenlöw, ex-Pain of Salvation. Synchronized is their 2007 debut. The press release says that there is a sense of Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, Dalbello, Blackfield, Queen and Peter Gabriel in the music, while others have described it in terms of Porcupine Tree, later Marillion, and a mellower Pain of Salvation. Both are true to some extent. Lead vocals are shared between Gildenlöw and Liselotte Hegt. Hegt is no Kate Bush, though there is one song obviously influenced by Kate. Most of the music has a subdued, late-night energy and is in that modern nether region between progressive rock and ‘alternative’.
Earth and Fire - To the World of the Future ($16.99) 
Earth and Fire - Earth and Fire ($17.99) Earth and Fire was an outstanding Dutch symphonic prog band featuring the beautiful and distinctive vocals of Jerney Kaagman. Apart from the Universal compilation, these are all the 2009-2011 remastered editions on Esoteric Recordings, known for their superb remastering jobs. This edition of Earth and Fire’s self-titled 1970 debut features the Roger Dean artwork used on the UK edition of the LP. The CD contains two bonus tracks, the B-sides of their two earlier singles. This album contains more of the psychedelic rock typical of the time period, but shows the promise of what would follow.
Song of the Marching Children (1971) was Earth and Fire’s second album but their first fully progressive one; it is soaked in Mellotron and generally considered to be their best. They followed with two similarly excellent progressive albums: Atlantis (1973) and To the World of the Future (1975), though each tailed off slightly from the previous album. 1977’s Gate to Infinity was a transitional album, after which Earth and Fire’s music became quite commercial. Two bands that are often compared to Earth and Fire are the French band Sandrose and the English band Julian’s Treatment. This reissue of Song of the Marching Children includes six bonus tracks, the A and B sides of three singles. To the World of the Future has five bonus tracks: two non-album single A-sides and three single B-sides. These Esoteric CDs feature the typically lavish Esoteric booklet with fully restored artwork and a new essay. Prog Archives has at least one mp3 along with lots of reviews.
The 17-track The Universal Masters Collection compilation CD is drawn entirely from Earth and Fire’s progressive period on Polydor (1969-1977) except for one track from 1979’s Reality Fills Fantasy album, by which time they were well into their Abba disco style. It focuses on the band’s shorter songs and includes their early pop singles that predate their first LP.
Flairck - Sleight of Hand ($12.99) Flairck is for many the top acoustic progressive band of all time, incorporating classical chamber music, folk and jazz. They began as an instrumental band playing guitar, bass, violin and flute. Later they expanded the number of musicians and instruments (including percussion and drums) and added more diverse world music influences. Sleight of Hand is from 1986, De Gouden Eeuw from 1996.
Flamborough Head - Looking for John Maddock ($15.99) out-of-stock 
Flamborough Head - Unspoken Whisper ($15.99) out-of-stockUnspoken Whisper (1997) is the debut from this Dutch prog quintet singing in English. It is good neo-progressive rock with a strong Genesis/Camel influence, felt predominantly during the instrumental sections, of which there are many. Sweeping synths and piano from the two keyboardists give ample room for emotive guitar breaks in the Steve Hackett or Gary Chandler style.
On their third studio album One for the Crow (2002), Flamborough Head expand their neo-progressive style with new female vocalist Margriet Boomsma, who also adds flute and recorder, and by adding a little Pink Floyd influence. Some of the vocal melody lines now resemble those of Renaissance. Instrumental sections continue to outweigh vocal sections though, with good use of acoustic guitar, so there is plenty here for fans of melodic progressive to sink their teeth into.
Live in Budapest (2008) is a 79-minute live CD of Flamborough Head performing at the 2007 Miniprog festival in the Hungarian capital. They play ten songs from their previous three studio CDs.
Looking for John Maddock is Flamborough Head’s 2009 studio album, continuing with the same line-up as 2005’s Tales of Imperfection (which is out-of-print) and One for the Crow. Flamborough Head were well on their way on Tales of Imperfection, and now they’ve completed the transition from neo-prog band to classic prog band. Looking for John Maddock is hands down their best work. It is primarily instrumental and primarily Camel-like during the instrumental passages, highlighted by organ, flute, and lyrical guitar leads. When Margriet Boomsma sings, the music takes on the character of Earth & Fire or Renaissance. Keyboardist Edo Spanninga uses vintage sounds including Mellotron -- the passages with Mellotron resemble Genesis more than Camel -- while the music is full of the lyrical, melodic guitar leads of Eddie Mulder, whose style is close to Andy Latimer’s. It seems that the work in the related band Trion has paid off, and Flamborough Head and Trion now have a similar instrumental style.
Focus - 8 ($9.99) SALE!Against all odds, a new Focus album appeared in 2002. The original Focus disbanded at the end of the 1970s with the departure of their famous guitarist Jan Akkerman. The story of this incarnation of Focus begins with three young musicians who decided to pay tribute to their idol and form a Focus tribute band called (of course) Hocus Pocus. After perfecting their cover versions, they invited keyboardist/flutist/madman Thijs Van Leer to a jam session. Thijs was not prepared for such devotion to the original group’s spirit, nor this high a quality level. The combined band was so good that Thijs jumped on the opportunity to reform Focus with fresh blood. And that’s exactly what Focus 8 is about. This is vintage Focus, played with enthusiasm, renewed vigor, and Van Leer’s unique sense of humor. And yodeling.
For Absent Friends - Square One ($15.99) This is the 2006 release by a Dutch neo-prog band that has been in existence since 1988. While FAF may have taken their name from the 1971 Genesis song, their sound is closer to 80s and 90s Genesis. Fortunately the music on Square One is quite a bit more progressive than the pop Genesis, and darker too, but it has the leaner, more contemporary sound. Christian Decamps, the singer of Ange, guests on the final song, which is an Ange composition.
Gandillion - Perrenette Gandillion ($15.99) This is the 1998 debut CD (following several demos) from a Dutch prog band with beautiful female lead vocals. Gandillion combine symphonic rock, prog-metal, and gothic rock, along the lines of Dunwich and The Gathering.
Ice - The Saga ($15.99) Despite the sword on the cover, this is not a metal album but rather a sophisticated neo-prog album from former members of the Dutch band Maryson. Ice is the best Dutch neo-prog band since Egdon Heath, a band they resemble. This 61-minute concept album from 2005 is also similar to Pallas’ The Sentinel, with its blend of pomp and melody, as well as to later Kayak, Camel, Pendragon, and Pink Floyd. A major album for neo-prog lovers.
Illumion - Hunting for Significance ($15.99) This is the 2009 debut by a Dutch prog band that not only features female vocals -- Esther Ladiges has previously sung on albums by Ayreon and Ixion -- but is led by female guitarist/composer Eveline van Kampen and also includes a female keyboardist. They describe themselves as a symphonic prog band even though the guitar playing is more often in the metal idiom. References include older The Gathering, Magenta (but heavier and less refined), and Ayreon (but less overblown). But there is a bit more than that here. When Illumion omit the metal guitar and thus open up the mix, there are passages where the vocals show some of the artiness of Kate Bush, other passages where the keyboards are free to create more sophisticated textures. 59-minutes. “If ever a band showed promise of really going somewhere, it’s Dutch group Illumion via this stunning debut. Playing a medieval-tinged light prog-metal hybrid, Illumion offers a sound firmly entrenched in old-school classic prog.” [Progression issue 57] Read more reviews here.
Intentions - Place in Time ($15.99) Place in Time is a fine 2009 debut by this Dutch melodic prog band. Intentions play the modern style of neo-prog (neo-neo-prog?), darker and melancholic while still lush and melodic, along the lines of today’s Sylvan, the darker RPWL songs, or most of the current crop of Polish prog bands (but without the metal of Riverside and their ilk). Read the DPRP review.
Ixion - Garden of Eden ($16.99) Ixion is a project created by Dutch composer/bassist/keyboardist Jankees Braam. Braam also does live sound for Knight Area, S.O.T.E., Ulysses, and Illumion, and members of all these bands plus several other musicians play and sing on his albums. So Braam is following the Ayreon model, and similarly the third Ixion CD Garden of Eden (2009, 56-minutes) is a concept album with an original story. The music is bombastic modern progressive rock featuring a number of different vocalists, both male and female. There is some heavy guitar, and the music is generally dark, which may be enough to interest most prog-metalheads. But it’s primarily richly-textured symphonic prog, with classical touches at times, especially when violin and cello are used. Garden of Eden is the most fully-realized of the Ixion albums.
Kayak - Anywhere But Here ($19.99)Kayak are our favorite Dutch band, based on their first five albums (1973-1977), after which things got a bit dodgy. The reformed, post-2000 Kayak is not the equal of the first incarnation of the band, nor are they anywhere near as unique, but we’re fortunate Kayak is going at all, still adding new fans who hopefully work their way back to the early albums (some of those CDs need to be reissued). Letters from Utopia (2009, 2CD in super jewel box) was the final album with founding member Pim Koopman, who unexpectedly passed away shortly after.
Keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel is the only original member remaining on Anywhere But Here (2011), and these are mostly his compositions. Kayak’s second vocalist Edward Reekers is still the singer here. YouTube has a promo video for this album and the songs Life Is Good and Behind the Scenes.
King Eider - Somateria Spectabilis ($15.99) Dutch band King Eider is Derk-Evert Waalkens on keyboards/drums/vocals and Hans Gerritse of the band Nice Beaver on guitars/vocals, plus three guests on drums and vocals, including Rinie Huigen of Cliffhanger and Knight Area. The album contains five instrumentals and four vocal songs. Instrumentally, the music is primarily in the Camel and early Genesis vein, betrayed only by a tiny amount of heavy guitar. The vocal passages are harder to categorize but fit well with the instrumentals. It’s a really beautiful progressive rock, much more 1970s influenced than neo, with much of the sophistication and subtlety of the classic progressive bands. To play the mp3’s on King Eider’s Flash-based site, click the first mp3 icon above, then click the eggs at the lower left.
Kingfisher Sky - Hallway of Dreams ($13.99) Kingfisher Sky is a Dutch band formed by ex-Within Temptation drummer Ivar de Graaf and classically trained vocalist Judith Rijnveld, adding two guitarists, a bassist and keyboardist. Their debut CD Hallway of Dreams was released in 2007; this is the 2008 U.S. edition. As the band bio says, the band’s style results from the merger of Ivar’s progressive rock and traditional folk influences and Judith’s classical conservatory background. Judith’s voice is certainly beautiful and is the most important feature of the music. You can safely ignore the influences listed in their bio and on their MySpace page. This is a more progressive and refined, less metallic take on the Within Temptation style. The bio didn’t mention anyone’s metal influence, and yet there is metal guitar on most of the songs, leading one to wonder whether Ivar and the legions of metal fans understand the difference between metal and progressive rock. However, the incongruous, generic metal riffing is not the main facet of this music, and this is a fine symphonic album that should prove to be very popular.
Knight Area - Nine Paths ($13.99) 
Knight Area - The Sun Also Rises ($13.99) The Sun Also Rises (2004) is a stellar debut from a Dutch neo-prog band combining the old (Genesis, Camel) with the not-quite-as-old (IQ, Pendragon) progressive rock styles. Actually, The Sun Also Rises is more “modern” than that, as one of the guitarists sometimes plays in a metal style, something the aforementioned bands never did. It doesn’t help the music any but it does help get the album reviewed in the countless metal magazines/webzines. That’s a minor criticism though, as this is a very good neo-prog album. While the first half of the album is heavier and will appeal to fans of Arena, Ayreon, Rocket Scientists, or Enchant, the second half of the album is in more of the classic prog style.
Knight Area’s second album Under a New Sign (2007) improves on this. The first album was a studio project that lead to the formation of a touring band. The second album is the work of a true band. The music is firmly in vintage IQ/Pallas/Marillion territory, full of symphonic bombast, the Genesis influence seemingly filtered through those second generation bands. There is still a little heavy guitar, but the music gets no heavier than Arena. Their third CD Realm of Shadows (2009) is their best yet. With only traces of metal now remaining, Knight Area may be the best Dutch neo-prog band ever. Lots of reviews at Prog Archives.
Nine Paths (2011) is Knight Area’s fourth studio album. Read the Sea of Tranquility and Dangerdog reviews.
Kramer - Life Cycle ($15.99) Kramer is a Dutch prog band debuting at the end of 2007 with the 71-minute Life Cycle, which contains the typical Marillion-influenced continental European style of neo-prog, with elements of Pink Floyd and IQ as well. It is lush, dramatic, and romantic, close to the style of Clepsydra and similar continental bands, and essentially similar to all the other Dutch neo-prog bands. This is neo-prog in the style of 15-20 years earlier, free of metal and excessive melancholy. So while there are no surprises, it is very well done and sure to please fans of this style. And there really isn’t much neo-prog like this being made today. Digipack.
Lady Lake - Unearthed ($15.99) 
Lady Lake is a Dutch progressive rock band formed in 1973, taking their name from the Gnidrolog LP. They released the album No Pictures in 1977, primarily instrumental and in the Camel and Caravan veins. This CD reissue adds six bonus tracks recorded in 1997 that sound like the band just picked up where they left off. This mini-LP edition is the 2010 limited edition released by the MALS label under license from Musea; it comes in a heavyweight cardboard sleeve.
“Influenced by the likes of Camel and to a lesser extent Focus and Genesis, Lady Lake offer extremely well-arranged and highly melodic progressive rock with a variety of moods and atmospheres. The ultra-sensitive guitar work of Fred Rosenkamp will definitely remind you of Camel’s Andy Latimer, presenting a very melodic style with nice harmonies, a slight Canterbury feel and even some bluesy touches. A few pastoral passages with calm guitar playing are very close to early Genesis, while some jazzier parts remind one of Jan Akkerman. Keyboards are an absolutely fascinating element of Lady Lake’s music, with superb atmospheric parts and lots of good solos... Top-notch melodic symphonic prog with slight bluesy influences, Latimer-like guitars, a great rhythm section, some groovy passages and tons of memorable melodies, Lady Lake’s return has to be a regarded as a fantastic discovery among prog fans. Everything here is amazingly well-crafted and perfectly executed.” [Prog Archives]
After Lady Lake got back together to record the bonus tracks on the CD reissue of No Pictures, eight more years passed before their outstanding second album Supercleandreammachine (2005, 55-minutes), the album name a reference to the highly influential psychedelic Dutch radio show. This is beautifully-recorded, vintage instrumental progressive rock that can be placed alongside the first three Kaipa albums, with strong influences of Focus and a little Camel as well.
Unearthed (2006) is a 66-minute collection of rehearsal recordings from the years 1975-1998, recently mastered for this CD. The nine tracks of the album proper are one-take rehearsal pieces from the 1979-1981 period, which for the most part would have been Lady Lake’s second album. Almost all are previously-unreleased. There are two bonus tracks, one a 1975 demo and one a 1998 live recording of a long track from No Pictures. The audio quality of the rehearsal recordings is a notch below professional studio level of that era, but there is nothing objectionable that interferes with the enjoyment of the music, and great care went into the mastering. The music itself is very good. It is again instrumental symphonic prog in the flowing Camel vein, with other influences creeping in. It’s faster-paced than No Pictures and is more representative of the live sound of the band. An excellent archival release.
Leap Day - Skylge’s Lair ($14.99) out-of-stock Awaking the Muse (2009) is the very strong debut by a Dutch symphonic prog band formed by members of Flamborough Head, Trion, King Eider, Nice Beaver, and Pink Floyd Project. Leap Day play upbeat, melodic neo-prog in the old Marillion, IQ, and Egdon Heath styles; The Flower Kings is not a bad reference point either. Simply ear candy for lovers of undiluted neo-prog. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Skylge’s Lair (2011) is their second, and it is less neo-prog than their debut, more of a sense of Kayak and to some extent Focus, less of Marillion. Well, Flamborough Head developed similarly, becoming more of a classic prog band on later albums, and King Eider and Trion always leaned more toward classic prog than neo. There are lots of vintage keyboard sounds -- enough Mellotron flute to suggest The Beatles, enough bouncy electric piano to bring Supertramp to mind. Greenslade is a good reference point since both bands have two keyboardists, and Camel must also be mentioned. Excellent melodic prog with a stately feel. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Life Line Project - The Finnishing Touch ($14.99) 
Life Line Project - Time Out ($14.99)Life Line Project is a project centered around Dutch multi-instrumentalist Erik de Beer. Modinha is listed as a 2008 release, though it says 2009 on the disc itself. The Finnishing Touch CD was released in September 2009. (The seeming misspelling is because the main theme of the album is based on a Finnish folk melody.) Some of The Finnishing Touch may predate Modinha, having been recorded between 2007-2009, but the earlier material was partially remixed and completely remastered for this CD, with three new tracks added. De Beer is primarily a keyboardist, cut from the same cloth as Rick van der Linden and Keith Emerson, and favoring vintage keyboard sounds. These two CDs are instrumental keyboard-centric symphonic prog. Many other musicians contribute, so not only are there electric & acoustic guitars, bass, and drums, but also flute, oboe, mandolin, and lute. The DPRP review of Modinha explains the Life Line Project style in more detail. To some extent, this is a modern version of Trace, not quite on the same level but very welcome nonetheless.
The King, released in 2009, is an album whose origins date to the late 1970s, but the music was not finished until 2006. It features a large line-up of musicians, including vocals by Maruschka Kartosonto. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Time Out is the 2010 CD re-release of a 1995 album with four additional tracks, 72-minutes total, highlighted by the 23-minute instrumental Behind the Curtain of Your Mind. This album includes vocals by Marion Stroetinga. Beyond Time is an instrumental album written during the late 1970s, first released in 1994 (probably on CD-R), remastered and re-released in this 2010 CD edition with two live bonus tracks added.
Mangrove - Live Beyond Reality DVD ($21.99) 
Mangrove - Facing the Sunset ($13.99) Touch Wood (2004, 66-minutes) and Facing the Sunset (2005, 57-minutes) are the first two full-length CDs for Dutch symphonic prog band Mangrove. Their primary influence is pretty clearly 1970s Genesis, with the keyboardist and guitarist displaying similarities to Tony Banks and Steve Hackett, respectively. But for every passage that recalls Genesis, there is a passage that sounds little like Genesis. So rather than being overly derivative, Mangrove have imprinted their own personality on an otherwise familiar style. They do use some sounds that are more modern than the 70s, and while it’s fair to say there is some neo-prog in Mangrove’s style, there isn’t all that much that sounds particularly influenced by the British 80s bands. These two albums are comparable and both are very good, but we’ll give the edge to Facing the Sunset. New lower price on both.
Coming Back to Live is Mangrove’s 2006 live double-CD, which includes songs from Touch Wood and Facing the Sunset plus two tracks from their deleted 2001 mini-album Massive Hollowness. Mangrove have steadily improved with each album and sound like a formidable live act, so these live versions are usually superior to the studio versions. Read reviews here.
Beyond Reality is Mangrove’s 2009 studio CD, with just six tracks spanning 68-minutes, their best to date. In addition to the strong-as-ever Genesis influence, one can hear Kayak in spots, and Mangrove again display characteristics of both classic and neo-prog. After 5bridges, Mangrove are probably the best of the current generation of symphonic bands from the lowlands.
The Live Beyond Reality DVD (2011, PAL, all-region) contains 13 live tracks (approximately two hours) performed during the Beyond Reality CD release party held in Apeldoorn (Netherlands) in 2009. Read the Background Magazine review.
Medea - Room XVII ($15.99) Medea is a project of Henry Meeuws, the keyboard player of the Dutch symphonic prog band Casual Silence. Meeuws is also a guitarist. Room XVII (2005, 62-minutes, digipack) is a symphonic rock opera in the Ayreon sense, with a multitude of male and female vocalists as the various characters in the story, as well as a large men’s choir. The large cast of other musicians includes members of Casual Silence and other Dutch bands. There is metal guitar present, but the album is much more prog than metal, not as heavy nor as over-the-top bombastic as Ayreon. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Novox - Novox ($14.99) Novox is an instrumental project led by Dick Heijboer, who was the keyboardist of Dutch band Cliffhanger before they split in 2001. Others ex-Cliffhanger musicians contribute to Novox as well: Hans Boonk, Rinie Huigen, and Gijs Koopman (who was also involved in Knight Area). Heijboer has his reasons for not using the name Cliffhanger, but the music here could be seen as a continuation of that band, albeit without vocals. Novox are a bit more varied and contemporary, with one prog-metal track, another that is a drums and fuzz-bass workout, some classical piano, and touches of jazz-rock. The best tracks are usually the ones in the old Cliffhanger style though, sort of a more aggressive and more technical Genesis, relying on those good old analog keyboards, including Mellotron. 64-minutes.
PBII - PBII@Boerderij.org DVD ($17.99) The Dutch band Plackband was formed in the mid-1970s and was most influenced by Genesis. They took an 18-year holiday, reuniting in 2000. After 30 years, Plackband rebooted as PBII with three of the original members and the desire for a more modern sound. They had to find a new bass player, and keyboardist Michel van Wassem assumed lead vocal duties. Guests include John Mitchell and John Jowitt, two guys who never met a neo-prog band they didn’t want to play with, and singer Heidi Jo Hines. It’s not a radical change from Plackband, as the old Genesis influence is still present most of the time. PBII’s desire for a more modern approach has more to do with the use of modern sounds, modern production and the sound of the mix than a change in musical style. Frost is not a bad comparison in terms of that marriage of classic prog and modern execution.
In addition to a standard CD (69-minutes), this Dutch edition of Plastic Soup includes a DVD (PAL, all-region). (The U.S. version lacks the DVD.) The packaging bears the DVD-Audio logo in two places, the only problem is that it is not a DVD-Audio disc. It is a DVD-Video disc containing a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix of the entire album, plus two videos (16:9). The 2-disc package comes in a tri-fold eco-friendly digisleeve. Read the Background Magazine and DPRP reviews.
The PBII@Boerderij.org DVD (2011, PAL, all-region) contains the launch concert for Plastic Soup. PBII perform the entire album plus additional songs that include covers of Here Comes the Flood and Have a Cigar. The concert features performances by John Mitchell, John Jowitt, and Heidi Jo Hines. It was shot by six HD cameras. The band says: “You will enjoy this concert in High Definition picture and sound”, and of course you won’t because this is a DVD, which is standard-definition picture and sound. (There is no Blu-ray.) The extras include behind the scenes material and the trailer of the new PBII project 1000Wishes. 104 minutes, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.
Pythagoras - The Correlated ABC (2CD, $24.99) Yes, this is the same Pythagoras that released the albums Journey to the Vast Unknown (1980) and After the Silence (1982), neither of which has had a legitimate CD reissue, though they should be issued soon by Musea. The Correlated ABC (2011) is more or less the unreleased third album. The bulk of the material was recorded between 1983-1985 but not finished and mastered until recently. A few tracks from a 1983 live performance are interspersed, but it’s all previously-unheard music. You’ll find some info on the band’s website. Lest you be confused, this set was first released as a 7"+10"+12" vinyl set; we only carry the double-CD, which includes one additional track.
Ricocher - Chains ($13.99) Chains (2004) is the second full-length CD from Dutch neo-prog band Ricocher. The band’s appeal is pretty obviously to Fish-era Marillion and Arena fans, though continental bands like Clepsydra are a more accurate reference – for some reason a lot of the continental European neo-prog singers have a similar quality to their voice that invites this comparison. Chains is a marked improvement over their previous output. Recorded in the studio of German band Everon, Chains has a bigger sound, the music is more powerful, and the arrangements reflect a couple years more maturity. While Chains probably won’t convert neo-prog haters, a lot of others will be saying “now that’s more like it!” Mattias Norén provided the artwork. Read the DPRP review.
Seven Day Hunt - File This Dream ($14.99) Seven Day Hunt are the new incarnation of Egdon Heath, the dean of Dutch neo-prog bands, who existed for 18 years. By the early 1990s, there were a lot of Dutch neo-prog bands operating, but Egdon Heath, who released their first album in 1987, were the cream of that crop. Egdon Heath retired in 1999 after four studio albums and a live double-CD of their final gig. Jaap Mulder (keyboards, vocals), Aldo Adema (guitar), Marcel Copini (bass) and Maurits Kalsbeek (vocals) worked on new material with new drummer Erik Koning, a life-long Genesis fan. Karlsbeek quit the band, but the four remaining members continued without a singer for a considerable time, experimenting with new influences and styles. Eventually the band came in contact with Han Uil, singer-songwriter and former singer/guitarist of Antares (a symphonic prog-metal band), and with him on board, they fine-tuned the nearly completed compositions, with Han writing the lyrics. File This Dream (2008, 69-minutes, digipack) is their debut, and there are no radical changes to the Egdon Heath style, just a few more contemporary elements. It is a polished neo-prog album including the mandatory Marillion influence and the characteristic Dutch neo-prog style that Egdon Heath helped define.
Silhouette - Moods ($17.99) Moods (2009, 78-minutes) is the second studio CD by this Dutch band playing in the Dutch neo-prog style exemplified by Egdon Heath, For Absent Friends, Sinister Street, and various bands on the defunct SI label, which operated during the 1990s. Silhouette’s music is very melodic and symphonic, closest to Egdon Heath’s style, and sounds like it could have been recorded in the early 1990s in that there are no concessions to more modern trends. It won’t convert any neo-prog haters, but is easily recommended to fans of Marillion, Pendragon, et al. Moods was mixed and mastered by Gerben Klazinga of Knight Area, while guitarist Aldo Adema (Egdon Heath, Seven Day Hunt) guests. Read reviews.
Sinister Street - Trust ($14.99) Sinister Street are a Dutch prog band who have been around since the late 1980s. Trust (2002) is a typical neo-prog album in the Marillion/Saga vein, their first since 1992’s The Eve of Innocence. This is the MALS edition, produced under license from Musea.
Sky Architect - A Dying Man’s Hymn ($15.99) After hearing the band 5bridges, we didn’t expect to learn of another Dutch band playing classic progressive rock so soon, since for the past 20+ years, Dutch prog bands have taken their cues from Marillion or, more recently, metal bands. Excavations of the Mind (2010) is the debut for Sky Architect, a quintet of relatively young Dutch musicians including three from a Rotterdam conservatory. They come right out and state that they are interested in reviving the symphonic progressive style of the 1970s. While 5bridges are more Genesis-influenced, Sky Architect are a bit harder-edged, a bit darker, quirkier and more technical. Maybe more original too, because beyond a vague sense of King Crimson or Gentle Giant, they don’t really call to mind specific bands. There are lots of vintage keys including Mellotron. It would have been nice to hear some suggestion of Focus, Kayak, Supersister, Trace, Finch, or any other Dutch 70s progressive rock instead of only British influences, but it’s not uncommon today to find young European progressive rock musicians unaware of their own heritage. (So is it any wonder music is more homogenized now?) Nevertheless, this is a very promising debut by a band who’ve gone back far enough in their listening to find the real, undiluted prog. Mark Wilkinson created the CD artwork. Note drummer and backing vocalist Christiaan Bruin is the guy responsible for the Chris CDs (check above).
Probably just coincidence, but Sky Architect’s 2011 follow-up A Dying Man’s Hymn does at times sound like the great Dutch prog band Finch! And how many later bands have ever been compared to Finch? A Dying Man’s Hymn is quite an extraordinary album, more mature than their debut. It is more instrumental than vocal, not without some contemporary aspects but primarily classic prog, with a dark, Van der Graaf Generator vibe. The band relocated to the woods of Sweden to record this album, woods known to be full of prog magic. Read the review at Dante’s Prog Blog Inferno.
Supersister - Iskander remastered ($17.99) 
Supersister - Present from Nancy remastered ($17.99) 
Supersister - Pudding en Gisteren / Superstarshine 2-on-1 ($15.99)The titles listed above as remastered are the Esoteric label editions. The 2-on-1 CDs are the 1990 Polydor editions.
In 2008, Esoteric reissued the first four albums by Supersister, with their usual first-rate remastering job, bonus tracks, and fully restored artwork. Present from Nancy (1970) contains four bonus tracks, the A & B sides of Supersister’s first two singles. To the Highest Bidder (1971) also contains four bonus tracks, the A & B sides of their two 1971 singles. Pudding en Gisteren (1972) has two bonus tracks, the B-side of a 1972 single and a 1972 live version of Wow. Iskander (1973) adds four bonus tracks, the A & B sides of their two 1973 singles.
Supersister were led by keyboardist/singer Robert Jan Stips and are one of the most important Dutch progressive rock bands. They signed to John Peel’s Dandelion label in 1971 and remained a favorite of his. Their music is a light, jazzy style of progressive rock in the Canterbury style, close to Caravan, Hatfield and the North, Egg and Soft Machine, but contemporaneous with or even a forerunner of them. Supersister had a woodwind player but generally no guitarist, and they delivered eccentric music with humor and all-around cleverness. Amazingly for a band that could be quite quirky, Supersister had chart success in The Netherlands, almost on a par with Golden Earring. Different times those were, and interesting to note that the Dutch bands developed earlier than most of the other continental European bands, possibly due to being within radio range of England? Probably best to start with Supersister’s earliest albums and work forward; it will all make more sense that way. Iskander was recorded in England and is more fusion-oriented and more instrumental than the previous albums, still Canterbury-ish (National Health and later Soft Machine), still extremely good if not as wacky. Read an overview of Supersister’s albums from one Dr. Progresso.
Released by Esoteric in 2009 is the remastered and expanded edition of the 1974 album Spiral Staircase by Sweet Okay Supersister. Sweet Okay Supersister was a side project of Supersister founders Sacha van Geest and Robert Jan Stips. As the label says: “This wonderfully eccentric album is musically unique, straying into territory blazed by luminaries such as Gong and Frank Zappa. Van Geest and Stips produced an album of musical virtuosity and eccentricity which also features guest appearances by Elton Dean and Supersister’s Ron Van Eck. This new CD edition replicates in full the limited edition book that came with vinyl copies and adds the bizarre single collaboration with Los Alegres: Coconut Woman b/w Here Comes the Doctor as two bonus tracks.” Read reviews at Head Full of Snow and Music-News.
Superstarshine was a compilation of single A and B sides. The 2-on-1 CD above omits two tracks from the LP in order to cram it on, but all the tracks that don’t appear on other Supersister albums are included.
Survival - Crusader ($15.99) Survival is the name of the project of Dutch keyboardist Jack Langevelt, who is no newcomer to progressive rock. Born in 1954 and initially attracted to classical music, Langevelt was most inspired by Ekseption, who after all were national legends, as well as Trace, The Nice, and ELP. It sounds very much like Langevelt has taken up the mantle left by Rick van der Linden (the keyboardist and leader of Ekseption and Trace). Like van der Linden, Langevelt does use modern synths, but his favorites remain Hammond organ and piano. Although a version of Survival existed from 1981-1997, that band split up. Following several CD-Rs, Crusader (2008) is their first proper CD and features tracks recorded between 2001-2006. Langevelt plays keys, bass and drums, with two guitarists assisting. Langevelt had been a drummer earlier in his career and provides a competent rhythm section. Crusader is old-school keyboard-dominated symphonic prog that is highly recommended to fans of Langevelt’s influences listed above, though it is often executed with higher energy and more guitar, yielding a more contemporary-sounding result. Note some of the audio samples on Survival’s MySpace and ReverbNation pages are not from this CD. The track list for Crusader is: The Holy Land, Beauseant, Lamentation, Crusader, Abide With Me, Baldwin, I Cried for You, Exceptional Friend, The Knights Templar, Montgisard, After All. Read the DPRP review.
Trace - The White Ladies ($15.99)
Trace was Dutch keyboard virtuoso Rick van der Linden’s 1970s progressive rock band, playing classically-influenced rock with appeal to fans of The Nice, ELP, and Yes. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1974 and sold very well. It was pressed in many European countries and even got a U.S. release. Marillion fans should note that Ian Mosley was the drummer on their second album Birds (1975). The White Ladies (1976) was the third and final Trace album, on which they moved away from the virtuoso playing toward a more melodic and symphonic style of progressive. All three albums are very good but Birds is the one to try first. Check our DVDs page for the Rick van der Linden/Trace DVD.
Trion - Pilgrim ($15.99) Trion is a project made up of members of Flamborough Head and Odyssice. The name Trion is a contraction of the words trio and tron (short for Mellotron). On their well-received first CD Tortoise (now deleted), the keyboards were limited to Mellotron sounds. On Pilgrim (2007), there is still a lot of tron, but also Hammond and pipe organ, piano, and vintage synth sounds. The result is a superior album, and a 76-minute one at that. This is 1970s-style instrumental symphonic prog whose strongest influences are Camel, Pink Floyd, Genesis, and Focus. There is also a smattering of Yes and Renaissance, the latter felt in the piano parts.
Ulysses - The Gift of Tears ($15.99) The Gift of Tears (2009, 62-minutes) is the second full-length CD for this Dutch prog band, six years after their first CD, switching singers in between. Ulysses are between neo-prog and prog-metal, the typical case of a European band with a progressive keyboardist and a metal guitarist. Read the reviews at JerryLucky.com and Music Street Journal.
Unwritten Pages - Noah (2CD, $17.99) The sci-fi concept album Noah is the 2010 double-CD debut by Dutch prog-metal band Unwritten Pages. The list of guest musicians gives a clue as to Unwritten Pages’ style: Damian Wilson (Threshold, Ayreon, Landmarq), Karl Groom (Threshold, Shadowland), Davy Mickers (Stream of Passion, Ayreon), Alejandro Millán (Stream of Passion, Hello Madness). Expect symphonic, epic, bombastic prog-metal employing multiple singers: three male and one female. Read the reviews at Spotisfaction and Danger Dog.
Us - The Road Less Travelled ($14.99) out-of-stock 
Us - Climbing Mount Improbable ($14.99)
Us - The Ghost of Human Kindness ($14.99)
A Sorrow in Our Hearts (2001, 60-minutes) is the debut by this Dutch symphonic neo-prog band that can trace its roots to 1975. As with most debuts, there are a couple weak spots (occasional simple major triad harmonies or awkward lyrical constructions), but these are isolated occurrences. We can only describe the vocal style on this album as ego-less -- all members are credited with vocals. Acoustic guitar is employed to good effect, bass guitar is often up in the mix, textures and dynamics are skillfully varied throughout these long tracks. Recommended to fans of Genesis’ offspring: Abel Ganz, Pendragon, Pallas, early Marillion, etc.
Eamon’s Day (2003, 64-minutes) is their second CD and a definite improvement on their debut. It is the usual melodic Genesis and Marillion/Pendragon-derived symphonic style with (slightly-accented) English vocals, long tracks with tempo and mood changes and plenty of instrumental content, stacking up well against the other Dutch neo-prog bands from Egdon Heath in the 1980s through to the present. You can tell that Us’s keyboardist is an admirer of Tony Banks. That’s not to say there isn’t a degree of originality present, and there is certainly something unique to the Dutch take on neo-prog here. There is greater use of acoustic guitar than is typical, and the bass is forward in the mix. A new singer, Stephan Christiaans, joined Us for this album, and his vocals are quite a bit stronger than those on the first album. The compositions are also better developed. There’s an epic 27-minute track, a 15-minute track, and one at a mere 10 minutes. We can recommend this without hesitation to fans of neo-prog, especially Pendragon.
The Ghost of Human Kindness (2004, 68-minutes) is the third CD for Us, continuing with Christiaans as lead vocalist. Us have again made great strides with this CD, the music more dynamic and powerful, and the instrumental passages more in tune with 1970s Genesis. Their vocal passages don’t sound quite like anyone else’s though, with a relaxed or gentle vibe that isn’t common these days. With this album, it is becoming less meaningful to call Us a neo-prog band, unless you take “neo” to mean anything with a hint of a song and a scrap of melody. Five long tracks ranging from 8 minutes to nearly 20.
On The Young and Restless (2006, 55-minutes), singer Christiaans is gone, so the vocal style reverts to that on A Sorrow in Our Hearts, though instrumentally Us have come a long way since their debut. There is a strong 1970s Genesis influence, down to Steve Hackett’s guitar tone and the 12-string pastoral style, but with a lot more of Us’s own style present than in Genesis clone bands such as The Watch. Better separation of instruments would work wonders in these dense mixes, but otherwise this is another fine effort by a band determined to keep symphonic prog alive in The Netherlands.
Reflections (2007, 61-minutes) and Climbing Mount Improbable (2008, 60-minutes) continue with the vocal style of the previous CD, while bandleader Jos Wernars handles pretty much everything by himself on Everything Changes (2009, 56-minutes), Feeding the Crocodile (2010, 62-minutes), and The Road Less Travelled (2011, 58-minutes). At present, the vocals remain the limiting factor in Us’s success, which is why Eamon’s Day and The Ghost of Human Kindness remain their best-selling CDs (for us at least). Instrumentally there is more Yes influence apparent now. It’s neo-prog that relies heavily on vintage sounds and influences of the 1970s prog bands, maintaining a positive vibe no matter how unfashionable that is in these dark and melancholy musical times. And these days, any indie artist that can manage a new CD just about every year deserves special mention.
The Use of Ashes - Firetree ($15.99)Firetree (digipack) is the 1996 CD from this Dutch band who have a fairly large catalog by now, but this was their only CD released on the Mellow label. The music is dreamy psychedelic folk. Read the review at PsychedelicFolk.com.
Thijs van Leer - Introspection IV ($15.99)
Thijs van Leer is the leader, keyboardist and flute player of Focus. These are the BGO label CD reissues of his four Introspection albums, from 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1979. The first two were released on this 2003 2-on-1 CD, while it took until 2011 to get 3 and 4 out. Introspection 3 and Introspection IV add a slipcase for the jewel box. Each album contains a mixture of original compositions and classical pieces by the likes of Bach, Händel, and Fauré. Rogier van Otterloo was responsible for all the arrangements and orchestrations and wrote some of the pieces. These are beautiful albums that showcase van Leer’s virtuoso flute technique. This is where van Leer comes from; he is classically-trained like many of the best first-generation progressive rock musicians. That may be the single biggest difference between classic and later prog -- relatively few of the current generation of prog musicians have direct knowledge and experience of classical music, or for that matter jazz, and it shows. For audio, You Tube has Pavane Op. 50 and Introspection and probably a few more.
Xystus - Equilibrio: A Rock Opera ($12.99) The Sensory label convinced us to carry this 2008 CD because it’s the least metallic release on the label. What it is is a Dutch prog-metal band with male and female vocals playing a rock opera with a symphony orchestra and a choir. The orchestral arrangements are highly sophisticated and are the progressive appeal here. While combining an orchestra with bands such as Renaissance or ELP made a great deal of sense, combining orchestra and metal just sounds goofy to us, but then metal bands have been combining metal with anything and everything no matter how ridiculous. Really though this is quite good, especially if you actually like metal. The music remains melodic throughout, and if you can listen to Ayreon’s most overblown, metallic pieces without giggling, then Equilibrio will be no problem. Digipack.