Presto Ballet - The Lost Art of Time Travel ($12.99)
Presto Ballet - The Lost Art of Time Travel ($12.99) Presto Ballet is the new band of Kurdt Vanderhoof, guitarist of Metal Church, which we’re going to guess is a metal band. But Peace Among the Ruins (2005) is old-school progressive rock, with only a wee bit of metal influence poking through, manifesting more as a touch of stadium rock rather than metal. The band has consciously gone for the classic 1970’s feel, as the album is full of analog synths, Hammond organ, Mellotron, tasteful guitar, and rich harmony vocals. And it is an analog recording. Presto Ballet’s main influences are probably Kansas and Yes, plus a little ELP or Deep Purple. Vanderhoof summarizes his new band as “a modern 70’s progressive/rock band”. Sounds about right.
After their very successful debut, Kurdt Vanderhoof and Presto Ballet return in 2008 with their second CD, full of the same analog synths and everything else as the first album. The Lost Art of Time Travel is an even stronger album though, most influenced by Yes, but with an American approach that naturally suggests Kansas. There are again touches of ELP and Deep Purple, and this time a little pastoral Genesis. If the time travel referred to by the album title is back to the 1970’s, then the lost art may be lush-sounding symphonic prog such as this. Digipack. Read the DPRP review.
The Pineapple Thief - Tightly Unwound ($15.99) The Pineapple Thief is the band led by Bruce Soord, a very creative musician who was the guitarist in Vulgar Unicorn. The Pineapple Thief (TPT) combine 1970’s progressive styles and sounds (Mellotron, Rhodes, analog synths, orchestral instruments) with a mélange of modern pop/rock styles, recommended to fans of Radiohead (though TPT are much proggier) and especially Porcupine Tree, though TPT generally avoid the heavy elements that Porcupine Tree have gravitated to of late. TPT have more in common with the bittersweet, song-oriented side of Porcupine Tree, and have a similarly spacious sound and that sensual melancholy.
After a half dozen CDs on the indie prog label Cyclops, TPT signed with Snapper’s K-Scope label, so now they are label-mates of Porcupine Tree’s. Tightly Unwound (2008, digipack) has much in common with the previous album What We Have Sown, as both albums were written during the same session. The foundation of TPT’s sound here is strummed acoustic guitar mixed with electric leads, while the keyboards are generally Mellotron strings and synths used as pads. Much of the material is in atypical time signatures, frequently seven, but TPT pull it off without drawing attention to it, adding a layer of complexity without sounding contrived. Tightly Unwound can only add to the reputation of this remarkable band. 60-minutes. What’s left of the other TPT and related CDs are on our British page; grab them now because they’ve all been deleted.
Rubber Universe - Parliament of Fooles ($11.99) Rubber Universe is a band from the American Midwest that grew out of an Alan Parsons Project tribute band called Projectronics, as unlikely as the existence of an APP tribute band may seem. The band consists of eight musicians (three female) plus guests, with both male and female vocals. Their debut album Parliament of Fooles (2008) features contributions from APP members Ian Bairnson, Godfrey Townsend, and Eric Woolfson. The music is unique amongst current progressive rock bands, most similar to APP’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination, impressionistic and European-sounding, often with a Floydian spaciness and pacing and sometimes similar to the more peaceful Eloy tracks. The production is excellent. As the band says, Parliament of Fooles is a concept album about dreams from cultural, psychological, and historical perspectives, and includes ideas and narrative text from Edgar Allan Poe, Geoffrey Chaucer, Freud, and Dante, among many others.
Ephrat - No One’s Words ($14.99) This is another new band that has received the Steven Wilson stamp of approval; in fact, Wilson mixed and mastered the album (while still holding down several other jobs). Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain Of Salvation) and Petronella Nettermalm (Paatos) guest as vocalists. Ephrat are a progressive rock band from Israel. As the album opens, it sounds like they might be just another metal band who listened to some progressive rock at some point, but the listener soon realizes there is something special here. Ephrat achieve a unique balance between contemporary and traditional progressive elements, the latter stretching as far back as The Beatles. On the one hand, they are a contemporary prog band because they don’t have a true keyboardist. The guitarist adds the keyboards in his spare time, so electric guitar gets much more to do than keys, but more significantly, the writing is that of a guitarist. But on the other hand, there is a rich tapestry of classic progressive rock influences here too. Using acoustic guitar, flute, Mellotron and synths, these long tracks include pastoral passages and many other 1970’s-style progressive elements, lots of atmosphere, and a slightly different character that is likely the result of the ethnic makeup of Israel. Fans of Porcupine Tree and Blackfield are the most closely targeted, but even Genesis and Yes fans can appreciate this.
Demians - Building an Empire ($14.99) Porcupine Tree fans, pay attention. Demians began as the project of Frenchman Nicolas Chapel, who you can call the French Steven Wilson. Chapel sings and plays everything on this CD, and yet the end result is indistinguishable from a full band. For live performance, Demians is a full band, with three additional members. Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson has consecrated Building an Empire (2008) thusly: “One of the most assured and accomplished debut albums I’ve ever heard, the textures and dynamics within the music are breathtaking. A must for everyone that appreciates the art of epic and ambitious 21st century rock music.” That quote ought to triple the sales of this CD, and it will be deserved. Read the Sea of Tranquility review. This initial pressing is a digipack with one bonus track.
Charles Brown - Journey in a New Land (CD-R, $9.99) Denver Guitarist Charles Brown plays instrumental symphonic progressive that combines hard rock riffs (think Ritchie Blackmore) with soaring guitar synth melodies and lush, acoustic and classical guitar textures and interludes. Few guitarists make progressive rock as lushly orchestrated and epic as this, as the synths and guitar are actually of equal weight here, and it even gets bombastic (just the way prog fans love it!). Brown has seven albums to his credit; Journey in a New Land is from 2007 and Thru the Flames is from 2003. Start with Journey in a New Land. Note these are CD-Rs with inkjet-printed booklets/inlays. Here are reviews of Journey in a New Land and Thru the Flames from an English-language Polish review site.
Evolve IV - Decadent Light ($12.99) This is the 2008 debut CD by a Los Angeles progressive rock band whose lead guitarist Peter Matuchniak is British and was a member of the early 1980’s neo-prog bands Mach One and Janysium. Kudos to you if you remember those bands -- Mach One managed only one vinyl release along with a couple cassettes, while their alter-ego Janysium had only two cassette releases. Evolve IV may not be the most progressive band on earth, but their songs combine catchiness and lush vocal harmonies with prog rock stylings and arty twists and turns. Evolve IV blend a number of different styles and influences, even an American sound vaguely resembling the Eagles. It’s a collection of songs that grows on you. Read the Jerry Lucky and DPRP reviews. “Intense, inventive and melodic, Decadent Light is a triple-threat tour-de-force of solid musicianship, strong songcraft and remarkable production quality. Highly recommended.” [Nick Tate, Progression] This is the new ProgRock Records edition.
Various Artists - A Reflection ($10.99) Subtitled Music Inspired By and In Tribute to Gentle Giant, A Reflection (2008, 77-minutes) is the fifth CD in a series that began in 2004. The earlier CDs are currently out-of-print. Musicians from around the globe, all members of the On Reflection Gentle Giant mailing list, created original music inspired by Gentle Giant. The degree of GG influence varies, and the music does extend beyond the GG universe, but GG were nothing if not eclectic. It all remains within the progressive rock universe though, it’s all quite professional, and the amount of creativity and talent showcased here exceeds all expectations. This isn’t just for Gentle Giant fans then but for most prog rock fans, an excellent prog album that stands on its own. While the earlier albums in the series were CD-Rs, A Reflection is a polywrapped replicated CD, and professionally mastered. Alan Kinsman, who wrote liner notes for some of the Gentle Giant CDs, wrote the liner notes for A Reflection, which you can read at the CD’s MySpace page (click mp3 icon above). “It is not very hard for good musicians to copy others, but to learn from them, then convert this knowledge and experience to create something as unique and innovative as this work, that's a different story.”
Ad Astra - Ad Astra ($12.99) New York-based guitarist Joe Nardulli’s debut CD (see below) inspired and intrigued a bunch of local progressive rock musos. After jamming with a few, Joe finally found the right keyboardist, bassist and drummer for his live band who have now become Ad Astra. Their 2008 debut CD takes the style of Nardulli’s solo album to another level, with the compositional contributions of the other musicians and a full band recording. This is top-notch guitar-led symphonic prog with touches of fusion, featuring a fluid, thematic playing style and soaring, uplifting melodies. Nardulli is also guitarist in the prog rock band Celestial O’euvre, whose second CD is due soon.
Joe Nardulli - same ($11.99) Now when you read that this is a guitarist’s solo CD, a large percentage of you are going to yawn. We made that mistake too. Joe Nardulli’s 2003 debut CD is in a class with Steve Morse. Nardulli doesn’t attempt the stylistic diversity of a typical Morse CD, but that works to the prog fan’s advantage, as this album is nothing but the good stuff. Nardulli has the skill, tone, and melodic sensibility of an Eric Johnson, and while he has soloing skills on a par with the usual cast of guitar gods, Nardulli doesn’t just blast away over a few chords in 4/4 time. The odd and shifting time signatures and the chord progressions make this so much more engaging, and that he can keep the energy level so high and still leave you wanting more is a feat in itself. Soaring melodies and exceptional compositions and arrangements set this apart from most guitarists’ CDs.
Static - Patterns ($11.99) Static are a New York City band based around drummer David Penna and guitarist Mike Fortin, with other musicians lending a hand on bass and keys. Penna is also the drummer in Ad Astra. In Static’s own words, they play “heavy instrumental progressive rock fusion”. Keyboards play only a minor role; this is a guitar-god album in which the drummer gets equal billing. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know, this DPRP review will.
Amaseffer - Slaves for Life ($14.99) Amaseffer is the first Israeli band signed by InsideOut Music. Slaves for Life (2008) is the first volume of a planned trilogy about the history of the Israeli people as portrayed in the Old Testament. The music is a unique progressive metal featuring an orchestra adding the style of an epic film score and incorporating Middle Eastern elements.
The Timedivers - Timedivers ($11.99) We haven’t heard the earlier albums of this English band from Shropshire, but from their website, The Timedivers appear to be a pub band who got more ambitious. If the cover art on this 2007 CD looks like Pawn Hearts, it is by Paul Whitehead, and the band does list Van der Graaf Generator as one of their influences, also Genesis, Jethro Tull, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, and a host of bands from other genres. The music could be termed ‘semi-progressive’. It sounds straight out of the British early 1970’s scene, and The Timedivers sometimes sound like a proggier version of the 70’s prog-folk-rock band Decameron. If you don’t know Decameron, Strawbs is the next best approximation.
Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart - Earth Born ($16.99) 
Spirits Burning - Reflections in a Radio Shower ($11.99) SALE!Spirits Burning are an ad hoc space rock collective led by keyboardist Don Falcone, a member of Trap and Spaceship Eyes. On Reflections in a Radio Shower (2001, 72-minutes), other participants include guitarist-singer Daevid Allen (Gong), drummer Paul Williams (Quarkspace), Karen Anderson (Spaceship Eyes), and Kurt Gerwers (The Moor). Many other guests contribute to this adventurous space rock extravaganza, revisiting the influences of its participants. The miracles of technology allow the participation of the late Robert Calvert (Hawkwind).
Found in Nature (2006, 65-minutes) is their third album. The list of other participants is huge and can be found here. The music on this one is instrumental and more on the atmospheric and ambient side of space rock, with a lot of variety and an incredible wealth of sonic detail. Alien Injection (2008, 79-minutes) is their fourth CD, released on the Black Widow label. It is heavier than Found in Nature, with vocals on many of the tracks. Read the Aural Innovations reviews of both CDs. Read the Sea of Tranquility review of Alien Injection.
The fifth Spirits Burning album Earth Born (2008) features Bridget Wishart, best known as the only female singer for Hawkwind. She was part of that crew from 1989-1991, appearing on four albums and one DVD. Earth Born involved 29 musicians including Simon House, Daevid Allen, Richard Wileman (Karda Estra), Cyndee Lee Rule, members of Cartoon, Jefferson Starship and more. Click the mp3 icon next to this title to go to a website dedicated to this album, where in addition to audio samples there are reviews and all the info you need.
Mawwal - This Is All There Is, There Is No Other Place ($12.99) |     |
Terramara - Dust & Fiction ($11.99) Minneapolis-based Terramara are a progressive pop band that, on their second album Four Blocks to Hennepin (2005), sound like the second coming of Steely Dan blended with Sting. It’s a very intelligent, jazz-tinged, large and lush-sounding pop-rock that, were this the late 1970’s, would be all over the radio. Whatever “it” is, these guys have it. There actually is one instrumental and another mostly-instrumental song where they do play progressive rock and fusion, but for most of this 60-minute disc, you are treated to first-rate songwriting and production, warm vocals, rich harmonies, and tight musicianship. The songs are the work of keyboardist and lead vocalist Rob Meany, with the rest of the band (guitar, bass, drums) contributing to the piano & synth based arrangements. “Jazz-tinged” in this context really means that the band use an expanded arsenal of chords, adding a complexity that elevates their music above typical pop and rock.
Terramara return in 2008 with Dust & Fiction (digipack), which shifts away from the Steely Dan style and toward XTC. At times Terramara could be the American equivalent to older English progressive pop bands such as Stackridge, 10cc, or City Boy, with their quirky art-pop of Beatles lineage. With Terramara, the progressive aspect comes from the keyboard-centric arrangements, the clever harmonic twists and turns, lush harmonies and layered sound. Simultaneously intelligent and incredibly catchy, they might just single-handedly save pop music.
Never Wasn’t - same ($12.99) Never Wasn’t is a U.S. symphonic prog band made up of seasoned musicians, debuting in 2008 with this self-titled 67-minute CD. Their primary influence is Yes, to which they add some AOR flavoring, as the American prog bands have always been inclined to do. Singer Ronny Lapine has a powerful voice which is more typical of rock singers of eras past, and he is a huge Yes and Jon Anderson fan. The best tracks here are the most Yes-like, along with the more Tull-ish Leprechaun. If pressed for time, listen to the mp3's of the tracks Undertow and In Tune with the Moon. Overall an excellent progressive rock CD oriented toward the late 1970’s into the early 1980’s, and further evidence that Yes had the greatest impact in the U.S. of any progressive rock band. (ELP was close, but Genesis received no substantial airplay in the U.S. until Follow You Follow Me, at which point it was too late.)
Blackmore’s Night - Secret Voyage ($14.99) 
For those few yet unaware, this is what guitar hero Ritchie Blackmore has been doing since 1997 and with great success. His partner Candice Night provides the beautiful vocals. Blackmore’s Night do a ren faire / medieval minstrel style of symphonic rock, electric but using early music instruments and a lot of other acoustic textures. There are influences of renaissance music, Celtic and East European folk. Blackmore himself concentrates more on acoustic guitar than electric, playing in the style of Gordon Giltrap. This is the most complex progressive music that Blackmore has ever played, and not at all what a Deep Purple or Rainbow fan would expect.
Secret Voyage (2008, digipack) contains 12 new tracks plus a bonus video. It is another fine album at Blackmore’s Night’s consistently high level, with Blackmore dusting off his electric guitar on several tracks. Read the reviews at ProgArchives.
The Village Lanterne (2006, 71-minutes) is our favorite Blackmore’s Night album to date. Not that they’ve changed their style much but simply that they’ve perfected what they do. It also has the biggest symphonic rock sound of their albums to this point. This is a good price on Past Times With Good Company, a 2CD live set from 2002, the first live album by Blackmore’s Night and a good summary of their first three studio albums. Check our DVDs page for the Blackmore’s Night DVDs.
Din Within - Awaken the Man ($11.99) Released late in 2007, Awaken the Man is the 63-minute debut CD by an American symphonic prog band that will no doubt elicit comparisons to Spock’s Beard, mainly because that’s the easy reference these days when a variety of British progressive rock influences are run through an American filter. It’s not a bad reference though, as Din Within have that same huge symphonic rock sound, technical skills and crisp production married with catchy melodies. Kansas is also a good reference, Rocket Scientists to some extent, and the one reviewers below a certain age will miss, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia (more so vocally and in the ballads). In addition to the Yes and ELP influences, Din Within have more of a Genesis influence than Spock’s Beard, while one song is quite Floydian. There are loads of instrumental passages. Din Within’s singer is not on a par with a Neal Morse when the lead vocals go it alone, but when backing vocals have been added, it produces the Utopia effect of average singers combining to create powerful ensemble vocals. Maybe the best reason to compare Din Within to Spock’s Beard is that one gets the same feeling listening to Awaken the Man that one got when listening to the first Spock’s Beard CD, that it will be difficult to keep this band a secret much longer.
Farpoint - Cold Star Quiet Star ($11.99) For all the computer-generated sci-fi imagery and the Star Trek connotation of their name, South Carolina-based Farpoint actually have quite an organic sound, a blend of folky art-rock and mellow progressive. Their first two CDs appeared in 2002 and 2003. For the first incarnation of the band, it all comes together best on their third CD, the 65-minute From Dreaming to Dreaming (2004). The band’s first live performance was at Yescamp ’98, where they played several Yes covers. There is an early, pastoral Yes influence present at times on their CDs and an overall positive vibe, but it would be misleading to make too much of that. The lineup has changed since then, and Farpoint’s music is too diverse. There is both an American as well as a British Isles folk influence present, and their instrumentation includes the standard rock instruments (electric & acoustic guitars, bass, drums, keys) augmented by classical guitar, mandolin, flute, and various types of percussion. They have a male singer with a voice like Ritchie Havens and a female singer with an angelic voice, an interesting contrast. Kansas and the first edition of Renaissance are probably better references.
Farpoint had actually disbanded late in 2005 but put things back together soon after with several personnel changes. Their fourth studio CD Cold Star Quiet Star (2008) is the result and it is probably their best yet, appealing from start to finish, with quite a bit of instrumental content. The Yes style is there at times, but Farpoint still display a much wider range of influences, and the result is that they don’t sound like anyone else.
Magellan - Innocent God ($15.99) 
Symphony for a Misanthrope (2005) is the sixth CD for Magellan. By now most prog fans should know what to expect, a heavy symphonic rock along the lines of a heavier and more bombastic Kansas. So perhaps not surprisingly, Steve Walsh guests on keys. The ubiquitous Robert Berry also puts in a guest appearance. When Magellan first began, a valid criticism was that you could break up their long tracks into small sections, rearrange them in any order, and it would make no difference. By now their writing skills have improved and their compositions flow more logically, including the epic piece on ...Misanthrope, the 18-minute Cranium Reef Suite. This is the special edition of Magellan’s previous CD Impossible Figures (2003), which comes in the hardcover digibook format and includes the bonus track Hallucination. Sure it gets overblown at times, but it wouldn’t be Magellan if it didn’t.
On Innocent God (2007), Trent and Wayne Gardner are joined by Robert Berry throughout. Trent states that Innocent God is a transitional album and that Magellan is in the process of moving out of traditional 1970s-style progressive rock. But have no fear; this is still very obviously a symphonic prog album. The only thing they’ve done is keep the song lengths under 10 minutes and moderate the heavy, overblown style of their past. It works, as Magellan’s ideas were sometimes overstretched on their longer tracks, and now the song ideas are better developed. This is the Musea label edition.
Invisigoth - Narcotica ($12.99) Alcoholocaust is the 2007 debut CD from this New York State duo, between prog-metal and art-rock. Basically it sounds like what usually results when metal-minded musicians try to be arty. Not that they don’t succeed -- there is a lot of creativity here -- just that it helps a lot to be a fan of metal in order to truly enjoy it, even when the music is not heavy. Think of a darker, more metallic Magellan.
Narcotica (2008, 70-minutes) is a big step forward. There is only a little metal here and the music, while dark, is not relentlessly so. It’s an impressive symphonic prog album with somewhat of a psychedelic rock opera feel. There is a wealth of detail in the music, layer upon layer it. The lack of a human drummer sometimes holds the music back just a little, but also gives it a modern feel, and this is definitely a modern progressive record. Magellan having an hallucination may be the best reference.
Rocket Scientists - Looking Backward (4CD+DVD, $49.99)The American prog band Rocket Scientists, led by keyboardist Erik Norlander, debuted in 1993 with the CD Earthbound, and first gained international recognition with their 1995 CD Brutal Architecture, which was released on the Kinesis label. After a live CD, the heavier Oblivion Days appeared in 1999, but all three of these studio CDs had gone out-of-print. The beautiful Looking Backward boxset (2008) remedies this in a big way. It contains 2007 remastered editions of Earthbound, Brutal Architecture, and Oblivion Days. Oblivion Days contains both the Japanese edition bonus track and the two European edition bonus tracks. Brutal Architecture contains the Japanese edition bonus track, and Earthbound contains one previously-unreleased bonus track.
(And like a late-night TV commercial for a kitchen gadget...) But wait, there’s more! There is a fourth CD entitled The 2007 Sessions (76-minutes), which contains new recordings of classic Rocket Scientists songs reinterpreted by the band live in the studio in 2007, including some unreleased material. Now how much would you pay for this set? Before you answer, the set also includes the Looking Backward DVD (NTSC, all-region). The main feature is video of the 2007 sessions (102-minutes). There is also a 25-minute featurette An Afternoon with Emmett Chapman, and 21-minutes of A Brief History of Rocket Science, which includes studio footage from 1993-2007. The main feature was recorded by an HD video crew, though of course it has been down-res’d for the DVD. The DVD includes 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround audio. All of the original artwork is included in the package as part of an enormous 64-page full-color 5x7" booklet. Counts as 3 CDs for shipping. For more information on the first three Rocket Scientists CDs, visit the dedicated Rocket Scientists section of our website, where you’ll also find Rocket Scientists’ 2006 double-CD Revolution Road.
Little Atlas - Hollow ($12.99) 
Little Atlas is a Miami-based progressive rock band whose lineage is certainly Genesis, Yes, or Kansas, but they are not retro. Their songs seemingly are built up around a core of piano and voice, giving the music that organic, natural sound of the 1970’s prog bands. Songcraft is one of Little Atlas’s strong points. Surface Serene (2003) is an engaging musical journey that harkens back to those classic progressive songs, but with lots of new twists and energy. Wanderlust (2005) represents a more adventurous and mature work than Surface Serene, which was already quite a good prog rock CD. All the songs on Wanderlust were fully co-written by the four band members, the compositions filled with vocal-driven melodic passages punctuated by thrilling instrumental flights. Little Atlas is a working, live band, so the songs feel like they were fleshed out by playing them live before entering the studio and enhancing them with studio wizardry. If Surface Serene led some to dub Little Atlas as “Spock’s Beard Jr.”, then Wanderlust may reverse that relationship – we would take Wanderlust over Octane. Frogg Cafe’s Bill Ayasse contributes violin to the final track. As a bonus, the CD contains a multi-camera live video of the band performing one song, playable on a computer.
Hollow (2007) is Little Atlas’s masterpiece, at least until their next CD. Their sound has evolved significantly. While it still resembles Spock’s Beard or Echolyn at times, the music here is more intense and moody. And yet the dark passages are in perfect balance with the uplifting passages, and the contemporary prog style is balanced by classic prog stylings and vintage keyboard sounds. An exceptional record.
Spiraling - Time Travel Made Easy ($11.99) + free CD-EP Spiraling is the band of keyboardist/singer Tom Brislin, who has played with both Yes and Camel and is a contributing editor at Keyboard magazine. Brislin is a tremendous keyboardist and apparently a very quick study. We haven’t actually listened to Spiraling’s previous CDs, because all indications are that they are primarily indie pop. But Time Travel Made Easy (2008) can easily be called modern progressive (you were expecting Yes or Camel?) with strong pop songwriting. Keyboards have the central role and are responsible for nearly all the proggy elements, while the guitar is usually in the modern rock style. Many of the tracks are not far from The Pineapple Thief, Porcupine Tree, and their ilk. This is catchy stuff with enough going on musically to satisfy the progressive rock fan. Digipack (soft hub, no plastic tray). While supplies last, we are including Spiraling’s 2004 four-song CD-EP Challenging Stage at no extra charge!
Odin’s Court - Deathanity ($12.99) Odin’s Court are a Maryland-based prog/prog-metal band signed to ProgRock Records who debuted in 2008 with Deathanity. Click the first mp3 icon above to read all about them while listening to samples from each track.
Oblivion Sun - same ($14.99) |    |
Galahad - Empires Never Last ($16.99) 
Galahad - Sleepers ($15.99) 
Lee Abraham - View from the Bridge ($15.99) out-of-stockBritish neo-prog band Galahad have been at it for a while, with their debut CD being released in 1991 and, prior to that, cassettes dating back to 1985. There is a correlation between longevity and quality. Empires Never Last (2007) is worth the wait of five years since the previous CD. This is Galahad’s heaviest, darkest and most intense album. If their earlier albums were comparable to Pendragon, ENL is more in the direction of Arena, IQ at their heaviest, and Fugazi-era Marillion. There is more guitar and a metal influence, though it stops short of being prog-metal, staying in the heavy symphonic realm. Galahad also make good use of samples and electronic effects to enhance the proceedings. The album was recorded at Thin Ice Studios and engineered and mixed by Karl Groom, so the shift toward the huge Arena and Threshold sound is not surprising. Groom, Clive Nolan, and Tina Booth (Magenta) guest. This was voted 2007 Album of the Year by the British Classic Rock Society. 62-minutes. Check our DVDs page for Galahad’s Resonance DVD.
With Year Zero (2002), Galahad made their best album to that point, as it expands in new directions, blending traditional progressive rock with modern elements. With the band in control of engineering and production for the first time, they finally achieved the album they wanted to achieve. John Wetton guests on vocals.
Following Ghosts (1998) is Galahad’s fourth proper studio album. It had been out-of-print for some time but is now available in this 2007 remastered edition on the Polish Oskar label.
Sleepers (1995) is Galahad’s third studio album, which made great strides from their previous albums. This is the 2005 reissue. Following a number of cassettes, Nothing Is Written (1991) was Galahad’s debut CD. This is the 2007 reissue on the Polish Oskar label, which adds one bonus track. Not All There (1995) is a side project featuring new songs plus reworkings of older Galahad songs that are not on their earlier CDs. It includes most of the Galahad lineup of that time plus another musician on flute and clarinet, unplugged but also more orchestral, a shift in the Galahad sound towards that of The Strawbs. Reviews of most Galahad CDs can be found here.
Lee Abraham is currently Galahad’s bass player and a resident of prog town Southampton, home of IQ, Jadis, and Rob Aubrey’s studio. View from the Bridge (2004) is a very fine neo-prog concept album featuring Lee on vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards and bass, and other musicians on guitar, bass, drums, vocals, flute and sax. Martin Orford (IQ) contributes a keyboard solo, and Karl Groom phoned in a guitar solo. Over its 73-minute length, the music varies from acoustic ballads to prog-metal, but the predominant feel is along the lines of Neal Morse and IQ. Read in-depth reviews at DPRP and The Hairless Heart Herald.
Jaugernaut - Contra-Mantra ($12.99) Jaugernaut are a U.S. band who released albums in 1980 and 1982 before calling it a day. They returned in 2008 with Contra-Mantra, a blend of symphonic progressive (Genesis, Yes) and pomp-rock/AOR (Rush, Queen, Journey, Styx). If you had your FM radio on in the U.S. in the late 1970’s, then you’ve heard the pomp-rock side of this. Jaugernaut have an excellent singer, and more than anything else it’s his lead vocals combined with the harmony backing vocals that give this the feel of that era. No short radio-friendly songs though; the tracks here are long, with two multi-part suites. It may be a nostalgia trip, a guilty pleasure, or just a satisfying listen.
Kramer - Life Cycle ($16.99) 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. More Dutch progressive CDs.
Zoldar & Clark - The Ghost of Way ($13.99) This is a CD reissue of a very rare American progressive rock album that had previously only been bootlegged, first as an LP, later as a Japanese CD. No one in this band was named Zoldar or Clark, but one member was named Jeff Cannata, whose later work appears below. Zoldar & Clark is in fact the Connecticut band Jasper Wrath. There are seven tracks that appeared on the LP plus four previously-unreleased tracks, 58-minutes total. The year is not given, but these are early-1970’s recordings. The audio quality is quite good. Some of this material went on to become Jasper Wrath and Cannata tracks, and Jasper Wrath’s official lifespan is 1969-1976, so that bounds it. This is outstanding symphonic prog featuring flute and keys (including Mellotron), with lots of Yes influence but also of most of the other early-70’s British progressive bands. Given half a chance, this would have been an American progressive rock classic the first time around. That treasures like this can still be unearthed in 2008 is pretty remarkable. Digipack.
Cannata - Mysterium Magnum ($14.99) Few musicians blend AOR and progressive rock as well as Jeff Cannata. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Jasper Wrath, which was active from 1969-1976. The 1983 album by his band Arc Angel was a hit in Europe, and the albums Images of Forever and Watching the World under the name Cannata followed in 1988 and 1993, respectively. These albums are all out-of-print. The 68-minute Tamorok (2002) features six new compositions, three songs from Images of Forever, three from Watching the World, a rerecorded Arc Angel track, and one Jasper Wrath track.
The 60-minute Mysterium Magnum (2006) is the more progressive of the two and can comfortably be called AOR-flavored symphonic prog. There is no more AOR here than in 1980’s Yes, Conspiracy, World Trade, the first Asia album, or Robert Berry, all of which Cannata’s music resembles at times, and it occasionally gets even proggier than that. Two of the tracks are reworkings of Arc Angel songs. Gorgeous tri-fold digipack with 16-page full-color booklet.
Little King - Legacy of Fools ($14.99) Little King, from El Paso, Texas, is a Rush-influenced band who really have their own distinct style. They do have the Rush trio format, and Rush remains the major influence, but vocally the feel is usually different, and they add different instrumental textures and styles. Their fourth CD Legacy of Fools (2008, 39-minutes) is released on the Canadian Unicorn Digital label. It features guests that add backing vocals, keyboards, violin and cello, making this their most satisfying release to date. Virus Divine (2005, 36-minutes) is their self-released third CD (later licensed to Unicorn), which was mixed by Terry Brown.
Ghost Circus - Across the Line ($12.99) Ghost Circus is a collaboration between Dutch musician Ronald Wahle (guitars, keys, drums) and American Chris Brown (vocals, guitars, bass, keys). Cycles (2006, 56-minutes) is an intelligent and impressive debut with a full-band sound. It is melodic modern progressive rock with touches of prog-metal and sophisticated pop/alternative. Brown has a slightly gruff voice that is very much in-vogue, while the instrumental passages are unmistakably symphonic progressive. If you crossed Marillion’s Marbles with the Polish band Riverside, you’d probably end up pretty close to Ghost Circus.
Across the Line (2008, 70-minutes) is their more fully-realized follow-up, a concept album “following one man’s path from death to the hereafter”. Wahle and Brown again prove that distance is no impediment to producing an album that sounds the same as a full band. Aside from a little metal, this is creative symphonic prog with a contemporary edge and a melodic sense that is not so common these days. They use modern music technology to full advantage. (Anyone who thinks that means cut-and-paste, loop-based music is not keeping up.) The ten-minute title track that concludes the album may be the highlight, as it builds to a Mellotron-and-all climax.
Expedition Delta - same ($12.99) This 2008 release on ProgRock Records is a bombastic prog-metal album from Serbian musician Srdjan Brankovic, one of the founders of Alogia, which is apparently the biggest selling prog-metal band in all of Serbia. This album is sung in English and, like an Ayreon album, features a large cast of musicians from around the globe, including Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery, Amaran’s Plight) and Erik Norlander (Rocket Scientists, Lana Lane). Click the mp3 icon above to view the full list of musicians. Relative to most prog-metal albums, this one has a 1980’s arena rock flavor to it.
No Nation - Illumine ($13.99) Illumine is a progressive rock opera originally released in 2005 by the band, now available in this 2007 Renaissance Records edition. No Nation are three Americans augmented by many guests. Keyboardist Stevie Roseman is best known for his recordings with Journey and Neal Schon. Drummer John Hernandez has worked with Journey, Yes, Peter Gabriel, and Neal Schon. Singer Ed Ulibarri had a major label release in 1977 with the band Alexis and has been a studio musician for years. Among the guests are Jon Anderson (vocals), Mike Pinder (narration), and Ross Valory of Journey (bass), plus others on guitars, violin, and some Japanese and Chinese instruments (the kind made of wood, not Korgs and Yamahas). Vaguely in a Kansas or Americanized-Yes style, the approach is a little more streamlined but never goes too far to the ballad side before being pulled back by proggy instrumental sections. Overall it is a finely-crafted work sharing Jon Anderson’s optimistic worldview.
Might Could - Wood Knot ($11.99) Originally formed at the University of Maryland, Might Could is an instrumental group of three crafty acoustic guitarists and a bassist, the latter being Luis Nasser of Sonus Umbra. The title of their 2005 debut CD All Intertwined (51-minutes, digipack) gives away their style, and 2007’s Wood Knot (49-minutes, digipack) is in the same style. 1980’s King Crimson’s interlocking guitars style may come to mind, but Might Could’s approach is more classically-influenced, emotional, melodic and bounteous, less of a mathematical exercise and not confined to pentatonic scales. There is a rock sensibility to it even if it isn’t rock. We’re reminded of Swiss guitarist Thomas Diethelm, but since that’s probably not much help, just rest assured that this is about as exciting as acoustic guitar music gets, and a sure bet for fans of the California Guitar Trio. Read reviews here.
Cathedral - The Bridge ($12.99) Stained Glass Stories, released on LP independently in 1978, is generally considered to be one of the top American progressive rock albums of all time. This CD reissue is from 1991. This Cathedral was influenced by Yes, King Crimson, and maybe Genesis. They use lots of Mellotron, and their sound is close to that of Änglagård, who came along much later. Read the review at Progressive Ears. This was the only album by this New York band until...
Cathedral returned in 2007 with The Bridge, with only one lineup change, guitarist David Doig taking the place of Rudy Perrone. The band have not changed their style, but neither have they made the same album, and this one is sonically different. For one, the drummer is triggering samples. (The problem is not with the technology -- there are drum sample libraries today where it is possible to get a realistic sound with a bit of mixing -- but Cathedral are catching up with 30 years of music technology.) Cathedral’s songwriting and melodic sense were never on the same level as their influences, but that is true of most second-generation prog bands. The Bridge is however full of the same drama, bombast and other essential elements that made Stained Glass Stories a minor legend, and Mellotron strings are still used heavily. Just seven tracks span 59 minutes; one is a showcase for Doig’s Hackett-like nylon string playing/composing. Digipack.
Port Mahadia - Echoes in Time ($9.99) This is the 2007 debut by a metal-ish American prog band at an introductory price. Damian Wilson (Landmarq, Threshold, Ayreon, Rick Wakeman, etc.) provides the bulk of the vocals, though there is quite a bit of instrumental content as well. David Ragsdale (Kansas) and Hugh McDowell (ELO) guest on violin and cello, respectively. The band describe the CD purely in terms of progressive rock, and yet there’s a lot of metal here. The primary composer is the guitarist, and one often must forgive guitarists below a certain age for confusing metal and progressive rock. Ragsdale always elevates tracks he plays on. One hopes the second Port Mahadia album now in progress will focus more on the style of the tracks featuring Ragsdale or McDowell, which are usually the most symphonic and refined, and less on the generic metal riffing sometimes used to fill in the gaps between ideas. A promising debut nonetheless.
Tony Castellano - The Red Hour ($10.99)Tony Castellano is known for playing bass and keys in Holding Pattern, and his earlier CD-EP Fun Size received a little attention, but the 70-minute follow-up The Red Hour (recorded 1997-1999) seems to have fallen between the cracks. It’s criminal negligence, because this is a fantastic progressive rock CD, actually closer to the original Holding Pattern style than the current Holding Pattern. For the most part, it is very Genesis-influenced, but not a sonic clone as with The Watch; The Red Hour shows a distinct personality and far more charm. Some of it reminds us of Stefan Zauner, a reference that is sure to help two or three of you. Castellano sings and plays everything including drums, with help from another drummer on several tracks and many different guitarists contributing guitar solos, including Tony Spada. It is indistinguishable from a full band. Here are excerpts from the tracks Recurrence, Cyclops, and The Big Bang in Windows Media Audio format.
Holding Pattern - Breaking the Silence ($12.99) One of America’s great symphonic prog bands Holding Pattern has reunited with original members Tony Spada (guitars), Tony Castellano (bass, keys), and Mark Tannenbaum (keys), plus drummer Rob Gottfried, who played on Spada’s The Human Element. Original drummer Robert Hutchinson appears on the bonus live version of Honor Before Glory from the first Holding Pattern album, this version recorded live in Japan in 2005. Breaking the Silence (2007) is a more symphonic development of the style of The Human Element. It is instrumental and sounds like the Dixie Dregs at their most symphonic, and every bit as good. Some influences of 70’s King Crimson and Happy the Man are also present. Essential instrumental progressive rock. Paul Whitehead provided the cover art.
Holding Pattern’s four-song, 29-minute debut album was originally released on vinyl in 1981, back when you could get away with calling that a full-length album. This is a classic instrumental symphonic prog album. The first two tracks are heavily influenced by Genesis (Mellotron and all), the third by Camel, and the fourth by Happy the Man. More great music in a half hour here than on most of today’s 70-minute CDs. Holding Pattern’s Majestic may get reissued in the not-too-distant future.
Tony Spada - Balance of Power ($12.99) American guitarist Tony Spada is known to prog fans for his band Holding Pattern but also for his 1993 album Balance of Power. The first edition of Balance of Power was on the Art Sublime label but had been out-of-print for a long time. This new edition on the Cypher Arts label comes in a wide-format cardboard sleeve (same dimensions as a digipack) and counts as only one-half CD for shipping. The album is instrumental except for one vocal track. Spada is backed here by most of the members of the final incarnation of Holding Pattern, most notably bassist/keyboardist Tony Castellano. It is an excellent album of guitar-oriented progressive rock, with nods to Steve Hackett and Steve Morse.
Spada returned in 2005 with The Human Element, which features Tony on guitars and guitar synth, ace session man Rob Gottfried on drums, and Tony Castellano on bass and keys. This could pass for a prime period Dixie Dregs album. The violin and bluegrass are absent, but otherwise Spada covers every style you’d find on a Dregs album and a bit more. Spada has played quite a few shows with Steve Morse, and includes one Morse composition on this album.
Matthew Parmenter - Horror Express ($13.99) |     |
Acuity - Skyward ($12.99)Skyward is the 2004 debut for this American band or project out of Michigan, and it is a terrific one, with an aesthetic similar to Discipline and Eyestrings. Acuity is well aware of those other Michigan bands, seeing as how Matthew Parmenter guests on violin on one track. After a somewhat out-of-place first track of heavy and fast guitar rock, this settles into magical 1970’s-style progressive rock with complex, long tracks full of atmosphere. Mellotron is key to the album’s feel, and other vintage-sounding synths are also employed. Like Discipline, the style comes closest to Van der Graaf Generator, but there is also some Genesis, Rush, and Led Zeppelin in there. The lyrics are in the verbose Peter Hammill vein, and the vocal style fits well with the music. 68-minutes.
Ryan Parmenter - The Noble Knave ($12.99) Ryan Parmenter is the leader of the band Eyestrings. One can hear songwriting chops and a melodic sense underlying Eyestrings’ dark, brooding progressive rock that is absent in many prog bands, and on The Noble Knave (2007), Parmenter makes that songwriting ability abundantly clear. The Noble Knave is a wonderful progressive pop album, a collection of songs written by Parmenter over the past ten years. There is a strong Beatles influence, songs reminiscent of City Boy, some Beach Boys-level vocal harmonies, and much more. It is lively, fun, and very English. How a guy from Michigan can make such English-sounding music is a mystery. It's all very clever and carried off with an obvious progressive sensibility, and the album is not as self-consciously retro nor as derivative as some other modern attempts at bringing the spirit of The Beatles forward. This is a must for fans of Fritz Doddy’s The Feeling of Far album, which is quite similar.
Abigail’s Ghost - Selling Insincerity ($12.99) After two warm-up CD-EPs, this New Orleans-based band formed by two Berklee alumni released their first full-length CD Selling Insincerity in 2007. Abigail’s Ghost are extremely close in sound to Porcupine Tree circa Deadwing or the one before that. Porcupine Tree get used as a reference for a lot of modern bands, but Abigail’s Ghost come closer than any other. Not only that, they demonstrate the same high level of arrangement and production finesse, which is saying a lot. Porcupine Tree fans will fall in love with this band, as they are a rare example of an imitator that is in no way second-rate, with so much musical skill and creativity that it feels they are adding to the P.Tree canon and helping define the modern progressive style. 56-minutes, digipack.
Mind Furniture - Hoop of Flame ($15.99)Mind Furniture are a progressive rock quintet from the San Francisco bay area that share members John Mabry (vocals, guitar) and Greg Miller (drums) with the band Metaphor, and lead guitarist Christopher Scott Cooper with the band New Sun. Rounding out the band are Brett Barnett (keys, vocals) and Michael “Doc” Ray (bass). Hoop of Flame (2007) is their second album, following the self-released The End of Days (2000). Hoop of Flame consists of two long suites (23:25 and 29:40) of generally 1970’s-style prog with some Marillion influence. Mind Furniture’s sound is similar to Metaphor’s but shifted slightly toward Kansas or Jethro Tull, not surprising given that Mind Furniture and Metaphor have the same singer and Hoop of Flame was recorded in the same studio using the same engineer as Metaphor’s The Sparrow and Entertaining Thanatos. Add Mind Furniture to the first tier of current U.S. progressive bands. Here is a 1:20 mp3 excerpt from the song Between Two Voids.
Metaphor - The Sparrow ($12.99) 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 second 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.
Metaphor’s 2007 third CD The Sparrow is a 71-minute rock opera about the first Jesuit mission to another planet, based on the best-selling novel by Mary Doria Russell and with the author’s cooperation. The music continues within the territory mapped out by the previous two CDs, with an even stronger individual identity emerging. Note the mp3 icon next to this title above links directly to a single mp3 containing several short clips from different songs on The Sparrow CD. More mp3 samples can be found at CDBaby.
Fernwood - Almeria ($10.99) Fernwood is the duo of Gayle Ellett of Djam Karet and Todd Montgomery, playing contemporary instrumental acoustic world music. The instruments are all made of wood and are from the Irish, Greek, Chinese, Moroccan, Indian, and Balinese traditions. Despite all the exotic instruments, the music is often conventionally western and therefore familiar, sometimes even suggesting Anthony Phillips. Overall the music is haunting and strongly cinematic. Read the DPRP review.
Colin Mold - Water of Divinity ($14.99) 
“Fans of Iona, October Project, Clannad, Mostly Autumn and Magenta will now be able to add the name Kara to the fold of Celtic-inspired progressive folk-rock bands that have become increasingly popular recently.” Thus begins the review of Kara’s 2005 debut CD at the Sea of Tranquility review site. We would add Karnataka to the list. On this CD, Kara is a trio of Colin Mold (guitars, keys, vocals), Kirsta Johnston (lead vocals, recorders, flute, keys), and Steve Barfoot (drums, vocals). They have the sound of a larger ensemble, and the band have since expanded to a quintet with a new female lead singer. The term “folk” is often used in reviews, but Kara are no more folk than Mike Oldfield or Renaissance, which most folkies don’t recognize as folk music. Mike Oldfield is an especially good reference for Kara, because of the excellent electric guitar leads as well as acoustic work of Colin Mold, while the atmospheric synth pads that underpin it all are reminiscent of Clannad. Yes, Kara does cover one English traditional song, the ever-popular She Moved Through the Fair, but Kara’s arrangement is instrumental and would have fit well on the Robin of Sherwood soundtrack. Wonderful music hidden beneath a pedestrian cover. “This is an excellent album, all the members are multi-instrumentalists, and of the nine tracks on the CD, there really is not a weak one among them. As a musical reference, think early Mostly Autumn with their Celtic influence but without the longer epic tracks.” [Classic Rock Society Magazine] Read the in-depth review at Musical Discoveries.
Colin Mold’s first solo CD Water of Divinities (2007) is every bit as good as the Kara CD and has many similarities. It began as a collection of instrumental pieces designed around the story of Saint Alban and has ended up as a mix of vocal pieces and instrumentals. Mold sings and plays acoustic and electric guitars and synths. Jo Marriot plays flute on two tracks and Steve Barfoot plays drums on one, meaning the rest of the drums are programmed, but this detracts little from the music. It is soft progressive rock with similarities to Camel, Gordon Giltrap, Mike Oldfield, Steve Hackett, Clannad and others. This is one of the loveliest and most seductive soft progressive CDs we’ve heard in some time. Here are mp3’s excerpts of The Dying Tree and Beautiful Place and a Windows Media file of A Life Through New Eyes.
Greg Wollan - Deep Calls 2 Deep ($12.99) It’s always a pleasure to come across an unknown progressive rock artist. Deep Calls 2 Deep (2007) is actually the sixth CD for American Greg Wollan. His five earlier CDs stretching back to 1997 sometimes flirted with progressive rock, but Deep Calls 2 Deep is a full-fledged melodic prog rock work. Wollan always had a passion for 1970’s progressive rock and grew up playing it. Guitar is his primary instrument, and he lists his guitar influences as Andy Latimer, Steve Hackett, George Harrison, Mark Knopfler, and David Gilmour. Wollan plays several instruments and sings, but the album has a full-band sound, as a number of other musicians contribute bass, drums, keyboards, vocals, violin and flute. The style on Deep Calls 2 Deep is often reminiscent of Yes and Kansas, with a bit of Genesis or Pink Floyd here, Gentle Giant or Jethro Tull there, and a mellower vibe on average. It is not derivative however, and as with the music of Kevin Gilbert, Todd Rundgren, and similar prog-minded individuals, a singer-songwriter influence can sometimes be heard at the music’s core. While modern rock, prog included, often seems aimed at angst-filled, disaffected youth, Wollan’s music is intelligent, majestic, and heartfelt, with Yes-like beauty and hope. 68-minutes.
Yoke Shire - The Witching Hour (2CD, $17.99) 
Yoke Shire are a Boston-based progressive rock band that are difficult to describe because, for the most part, they sound like no one else. They are 1970’s-oriented in style and have an organic sound. They only sound like Jethro Tull on a few tracks, but overall they are similar in that they blend 1970’s hard rock and instruments such as flute, mandolin, and acoustic guitar into their prog rock. Singer Craig Herlihy has a unique lower-register voice, and there are some great vocal harmonies somewhat in the style of the British band Haze.
The Witching Hour (2007) is a double-CD and is Yoke Shire’s most accomplished work, not only the culmination of many years of work, but the product of a band that gigs relentlessly. While there is no major change in style, the compositions are Yoke Shire’s most ambitious, the acoustic and electric instruments are integrated better than before, and the vocal harmonies have been perfected. Also the audio fidelity is very high. This comes in the old-style double-wide case with a 16-page full-color booklet and counts as two CDs for shipping.
A Seer in the Midst (2002) is a 58-minute retrospective of sorts, though there is no overlap with their previous CD Masque of Shadows. Seer... contains two new 2002 studio tracks, an expanded half-hour live version of the Maiden Voyage trilogy from Masque of Shadows with excellent sound, and remastered versions of the four songs from their 1995 first EP, which has been out of print for years. Notably, the 20-minute live version of The Brook, the Mirror and the Maiden is very different from the 9-minute studio version on Masque. The live version is full of virtuosic piano that turns it into a progressive epic, probably the best thing Yoke Shire had done to date.
After a short proggy intro, the first song of Masque of Shadows (1999) is a mix of 1970’s hard rock and Santana. But halfway through the next song, the prog rock kicks in and doesn’t let up for the rest of the album. Two tracks are reminiscent of Jethro Tull, one because of the use of mandolin, the other flute. They succeed in creating atmospheres to match the album’s imagery, and shift effortlessly from hard rocking songs to delicate medieval folk.
D’arcana - Premonitions (2CD, $15.99) 
California-based D’arcana is a progressive rock band fronted by Jay Tausig, who has also been a member of E-Motive, Lunar Sea, and Solid Space. With their ambitious 2007 double-CD Premonitions (147-minutes), they have put themselves on the prog rock map in a big way. The tri-fold digipack features Ed Unitsky’s artwork throughout. The title track is broken into two parts totaling 42-minutes that bookend the album. Yes is the dominant influence on this piece, but the rest of the album is more diverse and equally impressive. D’arcana take most of their cues from the British 1970’s progressive bands, and you can throw The Beatles in there as well, specifically their psychedelic side. But D’arcana aren’t dogmatic about excluding more modern elements, so the whole affair is not simply a recreation of a bygone era. There is a little spaciness, a little folkiness, and a little hard rock influence, but none of the metal that plagues younger prog bands. About all one can conclude is that D’arcana have their own unique style, and that this is one of the essential progressive rock albums of the year.
D’arcana’s self-titled 2004 debut (58-minutes) sounds like it came straight out of the early 1970’s British scene, with a Peter Hammill / Van der Graaf Generator influence apparent on several tracks. There is a dreamy/spacey psychedelic feel throughout, ample acoustic textures, and warm, melancholy, soft-focus vocals. The album has great depth and the purity of that bygone era. As Worlds They Rise and Fall (2005, 64-minutes) is their second CD and is between the style of their first and Premonitions. D’arcana add some Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson influence to the style of their debut, increasing the Peter Hammill / Van der Graaf feel and expanding their sound palette with Mellotron and a little Tangerine Dream-style electronics. This album also has great depth and a magical, surreal atmosphere. Can’t recall another American band making records like these.
Azureth - The Promethean Syndrome ($11.99) Azureth is a progressive rock band that began as the project of two Americans and one Norwegian. Their 2004 debut CD Yesterday’s Future, Tomorrow’s Past showed influences of Yes, Genesis, Camel, and Pink Floyd, but executed with a more American approach, the overall appeal similar to The Flower Kings. While their debut was good, The Promethean Syndrome (2007) is brilliant. The new Azureth lineup adds a bassist/singer and a lead vocalist. You will hear Genesis, Yes, Camel, and ELP certainly, maybe Pink Floyd, Barclay James Harvest, and a half dozen other first-generation British progressive bands. It is all more vintage and epic than their first CD. Azureth are a band using modern software and hardware to create classic symphonic prog, and there was no better 70’s British-style prog CD to come out of the U.S. in 2007, and maybe not for some time to come. Read the DPRP review.
Alpha Wave Movement - The Mystic & the Machine ($12.99) Alpha Wave Movement has been the solo vehicle for electronic musician Gregory Kyryluk, and the Alpha Wave Movement CDs until now have been electronic music works. On The Mystic and the Machine (2007), Kyryluk shifts to progressive rock and is assisted by British musician Steve Hillman on electric guitar and “vintage authenticity”. Hillman himself is well-known for working in both the electronic music and progressive rock genres. Kyryluk describes this CD thus: “...melds the beautiful melodic orchestrations of classic prog giants such as Genesis, Camel, ELP with a sprinkle of cosmic rock by virtue of synthesizers, samplers and a tasteful splash of electric guitar. The Mystic & the Machine is a sonic road-trip into the fairytale land where melodic progressive rock instrumentals meet modern day electronica.” It’s a great crossover work that carves out a unique niche, like a blend of the ethereal side of early Genesis with Tangerine Dream, with touches of the aforementioned Camel and ELP. Be sure to check out some of the other Alpha Wave Movement CDs here, along with the related Thought Guild CDs.
Jordan Rudess - The Road Home ($15.99) On this 2007 CD, Jordan Rudess pays tribute to progressive rock itself with his full-length renditions of Dance on a Volcano (Genesis), Sound Chaser (Yes), Just the Same (Gentle Giant), Tarkus (ELP); a piano medley with bits of Soon, Supper’s Ready, I Talk to the Wind, And You and I (you know damn well which bands wrote these); and one original composition. Guests include Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard), Neal Morse, Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Ed Wynne (Ozric Tentacles), and more. Digipack.
Dreadnaught - High Heat & Chin Music (2CD, $14.99) Based on their 2001 album The American Standard, Dreadnaught’s music earned the tag progabilly (“King Crimson at a hoedown”, “Zappa meets Yes at Willie Nelson’s BBQ”) for their mix of progressive rock and Americana, vaguely along the lines of The Dixie Dregs. But Dreadnaught have made a habit of not making the same album twice, covering more stylistic ground between two albums than some bands cover in a career. Musica en Flagrante (2004) is their fourth, a 54-minute album of sophisticated instrumental progressive marking a further expansion of the band’s musical palette with the addition of orchestral strings and brass, electronics, and loops. There’s still some of the progified rock & roll that has made them such a fun and energetic act, but a wide range of other influences also come into play: modern classical, jazz-rock, you-name-it, giving the album a more serious and cinematic feel. With skills born of extensive gigging, they do it all well.
High Heat & Chin Music (2007) is a 28-track double-CD compilation covering the albums Dreadnaught (1998), Una Vez Mas (2000), The American Standard (2001), Musica en Flagrante (2004), and Live at Mojo (2005) and adding four previously-unreleased studio tracks. Read the Progressive Ears review.
John Curtis - Short Songs About Affordable Food ($9.99) The rather simple artwork on this CD almost caused us to ignore a great album. Portland, Oregon’s John Curtis has been playing keyboards since the 70’s. Lyrically this CD is in the American satirical tradition of Frank Zappa and The Tubes. Musically, Curtis must be familiar with Dave Stewart, as many of the songs sound like an American Hatfield and the North. Curtis is not kidding when he says “short songs”. There are 43 of them on this one hour CD! Curtis seems to have an endless supply of songs, if not the desire to flesh them out. He rarely repeats a verse. The longest songs get through a verse, chorus and instrumental bridge before moving on, and others are only a verse. Curtis feels that if you need to hear a verse or chorus again, play the song again! It's not a drawback -- the song fragments are really good, and the listener has no time to get bored. There are multi-part suites that last a minute. The songs are about 90% progressive, and the rest are welcome humorous ditties. A few of the songs resemble Jadis, mostly vocally, while most have the Canterbury type harmonic vocabulary. With the use of real drums and a number of guest musicians assisting on guitars, vocals and more, it sounds like a full band effort, and the audio fidelity is very good. Radio Piece III is a good if obscure reference.
Pentwater - Ab-Dul ($12.99) 
American progressive semi-legends Pentwater, who formed in 1970, have returned in 2007 with a new 60-minute CD, a mix of new material, newly recorded versions of vintage songs, and recently restored/remastered unreleased songs from the 1970’s. If you can find a better old-school progressive rock (Yes, Gentle Giant, Genesis, ELP) album released in 2007, buy it. Digipack.
The Pentwater Album is Pentwater’s 1977 album remixed and remastered with rare bonus tracks added, released in a digipack CD. Out of the Abyss was released on CD in 1990, consisting of tracks recorded between 1973-1976. Read reviews here.
Third of Never - Moodring ($9.99) This is a short CD at 31:37, hence the low price. The first three tracks (12-minutes) of the CD are why this is here. John “Rabbit” Bundrick, keyboardist of The Who, plays on seven tracks on this CD, but his presence is felt most strongly on the first three. He plays Mellotron on the first track Mystic Slide, which is a Mellotron wet dream and will startle those old enough to remember the days of bands such as Spring and Fantasy. It sounds like something from 1970, from the period when psychedelic pop was becoming progressive rock. Slathered with powerful Mellotron strings, it is a style you probably thought you’d heard the last of. The next two tracks Bag of Boxes and DJ are almost as good. The rest of the CD is power pop, a modern, high-energy take on The Beatles, The Kinks, and The Who. If only the whole CD had stayed in the British proto-prog style, we’d be talking retro masterpiece. If you have an affinity for the power pop style too, then this is a no-brainer.
Sergey Dudin - Mirage ($14.99) 
Despite the fact these CDs are released on the Moscow-based MALS progressive rock label, most of the musicians have Russian names and Dudin’s website is partially in Cyrillic, Dudin lives in Philadelphia! So it may be that the musicians are from the Russian diaspora in the U.S., or perhaps the albums were recorded in Russia. The title of Guitar Ballads is misleading, since most people seeing “ballads” are probably bracing for the worst sort of commercial dreck. Guitar Ballads really just contains Dudin’s more lyrical compositions, all instrumental except for one vocal number in English. Many of the tracks are close to Camel, with the expressive lead guitar and symphonic keyboard backdrop. A couple tracks get a little too close to jazz-lite, and the drums are programmed, but overall this should appeal to fans of melodic guitar-based prog instrumentals. The music dates from 2002 but this CD edition is from 2006 and contains a bonus video track.
Eternal Call dates from 1999, reissued by MALS in 2006 with a bonus video track. This album is a different animal. Dudin employs a human drummer along with several other musicians. This is for all intents and purposes the Russian Pink Floyd (circa Dark Side of the Moon / Wishing You Were Here), with lyrics in Russian. Dudin does his best David Gilmour impersonation, but all of the essential Pink Floyd elements are there. 62-minutes of guaranteed bliss for the Floyd fan.
Mirage dates from 1995; this is the 2007 re-edition. A bassist and drummer are listed, but at least some of the bass and drums are programmed. Whether or not the title is an intentional reference to Camel, there is some Camel influence, but the music is much closer to the progressive rock albums of Jeremy (American Jeremy Morris, who released two albums on the Kinesis label, one on MALS, and a slew of them on his own label). Dudin and Jeremy have similar lead electric guitar tones and styles -- Dudin is a bit more demonstrative, but just as lyrical -- and they both usually play over a bed of symphonic keyboards and straight-forward rhythms. The album is instrumental except for the majestic last track, which features a guest vocalist (English lyrics). Maybe not the last word in melodic guitar-centric prog instrumentals, but definitely one that hits the spot. 63-minutes.
Dyonisos - An Incidental Collection ($14.99) Hidden behind the Dyonisos moniker is American musician Dan Cowan, who handles all instruments and sings. The 74-minute self-titled CD was released in 2005, though it isn’t certain when the music was recorded. An Incidental Collection (61-minutes) was recorded between 2003-2006 and released in 2007. The music is firmly in the spacey Pink Floyd style circa Dark Side of the Moon. Cowan’s Gilmour-esque lead guitar is the highlight, the keys are expertly layered and provide all the necessary textures, the songs are well-written and the production is very good. The vocals sound a bit like Camel’s vocals up through Moonmadness. The drums are programmed, but as the songs mostly stick to standard Pink Floyd tempo, the drums aren't as important as they might be. Fans of early-to-mid 1970’s Pink Floyd owe it to themselves to check out Dyonisos.
Stencil Forest - The Abyss ($12.99) Stencil Forest is an American progressive band originally from Indiana and now in Colorado. They have an tremendous singer in Doug Andersen, whose voice is similar to Barry Palmer (Triumvirat). Opening Act was originally released on LP in 1983, then remixed and remastered in 2004 for this CD. It is instantly-likeable symphonic progressive with some pomp rock and AOR, suggesting Starcastle, Kansas, and early Ambrosia. Two bonus tracks (only one is listed). 23-years after Opening Act and we have The Abyss (2006, 72-minutes) from the reformed band. While its impact may not be as immediate as Opening Act, The Abyss is the one with greater staying power, as the band demonstrate greater maturity. The ballads and softer passages are sometimes reminiscent of Kayak. The 24-minute title suite is the highlight, almost a lesson in class and understatement. This is the way bands such as Sebastian Hardie and Supertramp used to make music, tasteful to a fault, and it has otherwise been lost. The production is completely professional, as is the CD booklet. Read the Sea of Tranquility review of The Abyss.
Puppet Show - The Tale of Woe ($12.99) It took a while after their 1998 debut Traumatized on the Kinesis label, but Puppet Show are back in 2007 with their 60-minute second CD The Tale of Woe. All the band members return, except the new Puppet Show drummer is Chris Mack (Iluvatar, Oblivion Sun). The recording quality has improved, and the album was mixed by Terry Brown of Rush fame. Otherwise the music will be familiar to fans of Traumatized. Puppet Show don’t play neo-prog and, except for a few spots, don’t play prog-metal. They just take the classic symphonic prog style and do it with the modern aesthetic: more aggressive, heavier, higher-energy. Mike Grimes’ keyboards are always at the center of things, favoring vintage sounds, and the instrumental passages are of considerable complexity. Worth the wait. Read the DPRP review. (It’s probably worth pointing out that the band’s name is most likely a Spinal Tap reference. Watch the movie, you’ll see it on a marquee.)
Amaran’s Plight - Voice in the Light ($12.99) We’ll spare you the use of the term “supergroup” and just say that Amaran’s Plight is a new band comprising Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery), DC Cooper (Silent Force, Royal Hunt), Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard), and Kurt Barabas (Under The Sun). Michael Sadler (Saga) sings on two tracks. From that list of parent bands, one can get a good idea of the style on Voice in the Light (2007), which is bombastic symphonic prog and prog-metal, in the style often associated with the Magna Carta label, Magellan included. Ayreon is another reference point. An excellent album, but clearly one with more appeal to the Dream Theater set than the classic 70’s progressive set. 79-minutes.
A Chinese Firedrill - Circles ($12.99) Circles (2006) is a project of veteran bassist Joey Vera, who has been involved with Fates Warning and a bunch of other metal bands, OSI, and Chroma Key. Vera sings and plays guitar, bass, and keys, while Greg Studgio handles the drums, and between them they achieve a full band sound. This is quite a nice modern progressive rock record in the (recent) Porcupine Tree, OSI, and Chroma Key camp. This is the 2007 ProgRock Records edition. Note the mp3 icon above links directly to a 3:19 audio sampler of the album.
Persephone’s Dream - Pyre of Dreams ($12.99) Pyre of Dreams (2007) is the fourth CD of female-fronted progressive rock for western Pennsylvania’s Persephone’s Dream. In addition to vocalists Colleen Gray and Heidi Engel, DC Cooper (Silent Force, Royal Hunt) sings lead on two songs and backing vocals on several others, the first use of male vocals for the band. The female vocals range from beautiful to sultry to powerful, while the music is contemporary-sounding progressive with gothic overtones, with some proggy organ tying it to the past. This is prog with crossover appeal to rock and metal, but it is very arty, with a luxuriant sound and themes inspired by fantasy, sci-fi, and mythology, mainly Once and Future King stuff. (In addition to Cornwall and Brittany, Pittsburgh now lays claim to the King Arthur legend.) 71-minutes.
Resistor (Steve Unruh) - Resistor ($11.99) Resistor is the new electric band formed by Steve Unruh; this is their 2008 debut. Steve calls Resistor his “high-energy rock/prog/jam band”, and it’s where much of his musical energy has been going in 2008. Resistor is a quartet of two guitarists, bass and drums. Unruh sings lead and also adds some flute and violin. Not surprisingly, the tracks with flute or violin are the most progressive, the flute tracks sounding like Jethro Tull with louder guitar (one such track is named Jethro Fran). Otherwise it is guitar and more guitar, often with a grungy sound, though some tracks use cleaner jazz tones. If you’ve heard Steve Unruh’s solo albums, then some of the Resistor style will sound familiar. Some of it has a Rush La Villa Strangiato thing going on. Read the DPRP review.
Steve Unruh - The Great Divide ($11.99) out-of-stock 
Steve Unruh - Invisible Symphony ($10.99) These are progressive folk-rock albums from multi-instrumentalist/singer Steve Unruh. We don’t use the term progressive here lightly. The rock passages are high energy, and Unruh favors epic length tracks. Believe? (1997), his first, consists of two continuous suites, while most of the other albums are full of very long tracks. Unruh’s music is highly orchestrated and full of changes, and he’ll readily admit to being a major Yes and Dream Theater fan. While Unruh’s main instruments are acoustic guitar and drums, he also adds bass, violin, mandolin, flute, and percussion. His lyrics are insightful, intelligent, and entertaining. The dynamic range on these albums approaches that of classical music, a refreshing change from today’s overcompressed pop and rock music. There are few artists working in this style; we’d mention Guy Manning, Kevin Gilbert, and perhaps Neal Morse as reference points.
Prog fans should especially be drawn to Two Little Awakenings (TLA), sonically the densest of his albums, some of the pieces recorded on 48 tracks. Two Little Awakenings was originally released in 2001 as a handmade double CD-R. In 2005, Unruh edited TLA down to a single CD, remixed and remastered it using technology and experience he lacked in 2001, and had it properly manufactured. So consider this the “TLA official edition”. The tracks that Unruh has left off were the assorted short songs and the lengthy improvisations, yielding a much more cohesive album containing some of Unruh’s best work.
Invisible Symphony (2002) is a slight departure from the others in that it is instrumental and less aggressive. Here Unruh emphasizes his “secondary” instruments more, especially the violin. It’s his warmest album, blending American folk melodies (themselves descended from Scottish and Irish folk music) with his progressive approach.
Out of the Ashes (2004) is simultaneously Unruh’s most rock-oriented and most personal disc to date, very fiery, with a more aggressive tone than the others. We’re again reminded of Guy Manning, though Out of the Ashes is more guitar-oriented. Here Unruh focuses on acoustic, electric, classical, and electric classical guitars, electric bass and drum kit, with flute and violin in secondary roles, and just a bit of synth and electronic percussion. And vocals of course. With the guitar orientation, some of this crosses over into modern rock territory, except that they don’t allow 40-minute suites there, and Out of the Ashes is just too challenging and progressive.
Unruh’s describes Song to the Sky (2005) stylistically as a cross between The Beginning of a New Day (1998) and Invisible Symphony. Aside from electric bass, the textures here are all acoustic. The album is less angry and more reflective than Out of the Ashes, and Unruh’s production skills are at their peak. 62-minutes. Read ProgressiveWorld.net reviews of Song to the Sky, Out of the Ashes, Invisible Symphony, Two Little Awakenings, and The Beginning of a New Day.
The Great Divide (2007, 59-minutes) is now our favorite of Unruh’s albums, solidly progressive and yet, acoustic! This album may change your perception of what acoustic music can be. There are bass and drums, the music is complex and powerful, even heavy at times. Call it heavy wood. Unruh plays everything with consummate skill: steel and nylon-string acoustic guitar, violin, drum kit, 4 and 5-string bass, flutes, mandolin and percussion, but this in no way sounds like a solo project. At times, this album suggests an American equivalent of Jethro Tull (maybe it was the flute that made this apparent), substituting Americana for Tull’s Englishness and whimsy. The centerpiece of the album is the 36-minute title suite. As Unruh says in the liner notes: “I love odd time signatures, uncommon scales and harmonies, and ambitious subject material. I tried to make The Great Divide an album that people like me would love.” There’s an entire free, downloadable sampler CD here which includes one track from The Great Divide.
Dave Kulju - Abstract Expression ($9.99)Dave Kulju is the guitarist of the band Electrum, who have released two CDs of instrumental progressive rock. Abstract Expression (2007, digipack) is also an instrumental progressive rock album, and if it was advertised as the third Electrum album, none would be the wiser. While Kulju plays electric & acoustic guitars, bass, drums, guitar synth, keyboards and programming, a number of talented guest musicians contribute drums, organ, theremin, and violin. Guitar has most of the lead work, but there are a lot of keyboards adding symphonic and spacey textures. In this way, the music is similar to Rush during their prime, though Rush is only one of several influences. This album is more imaginative than most guitarist’s CDs, more richly textured and symphonic. In fact, forget it’s a guitarist’s CD and just think of it as a very enjoyable instrumental progressive rock album at an attractive price. Here is an 5:20 mp3 sampler of the whole album.
White - same ($13.99) This is the 2006 debut from Yes drummer Alan White’s side band, which includes Geoff Downes on keyboards and three Seattle-area musicians on vocals, guitar and bass. Now anyone that expects a Yes side project to produce a great progressive rock album in this day and age must feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. This album is a mix of prog and AOR. Singer Kevin Currie sounds like Fish or Peter Gabriel... with a cold. Recent Fish albums are a reasonable comparison in terms of progginess, and there are a few Yes-isms here. So some decent tunes, but the appeal is along the lines of Yes at their most commercial, Asia, GTR, Saga, etc.
Wetton • Downes - Icon II: Rubicon ($13.99) |     |
Torman Maxt - The Problem of Pain: Part 1 ($10.99) The Problem of Pain: Part 1 (2007) is the third CD by this U.S. band, consisting of five suites. Torman Maxt were initially influenced by Rush circa 2112, but like Rush themselves, they refined their music into a more sophisticated progressive rock. Though Rush remains the dominant influence, Torman Maxt diverged from Rush, adding some Yes influence and making good use of acoustic guitar. The vocals are in the mid-to-high range, with a passing resemblance to Geddy Lee. The vibe is positive, and the musicianship is sensitive rather than technical. Though the arrangements are complex, there is plenty of melody.
Vertical Alignment - Signposts ($12.99) Signposts (2007) is the first full-length (and then some) CD for U.S. symphonic prog band Vertical Alignment, who are one of a loose coalition of prog bands mostly from the southeastern U.S., united by their Christian-oriented lyrics and themes. This is very accomplished progressive rock with Yes as the dominant influence, Genesis as another, as well as the more American flavor of Kansas and Glass Hammer. Among the guests on the CD are Randy George and Wil Henderson of Ajalon; Steve Babb, Fred Schendel and David Wallimann of Glass Hammer; Carl Groves of Salem Hill; and Kevin Jarvis of Farpoint. With Vertical Alignment’s strong vocals and melodies and the CD’s playing time of nearly 80-minutes with no weak tracks, this is highly recommended to fans of classic symphonic prog. Get on board with this band now, as they’ve already mapped out plans for their next three CDs!
Shadow Circus - Welcome to the Freakroom ($12.99) This is the debut by a New York City band who go for a classic 1970’s progressive rock sound (Yes, Rush, Kansas, Pink Floyd, Led Zep) with a somewhat more contemporary guitar style and energy. Vocalist David Bobick has a degree in musical theater and brings some of that feel to these songs. The first five tracks are more vocal-heavy, but the album culminates with the 12-minute Journey of Everyman suite, which is the progressive tour de force and is loaded with instrumental fireworks. There is something similar in Shadow Circus’s approach to that of Puppet Show, the way both bands have absorbed mostly British 70’s progressive influences but add a contemporary energy and American flavor. Other modern reference points might be Transatlantic and The Tangent. This album was first released on CD by the band in February 2007, but this second edition on ProgRock Records has been remixed and is a significant sonic upgrade.
JEBO - Sinking Without You ($17.99) Sinking Without You (2006, digipack) is the debut CD by British quintet JEBO, who are on the melodic rock or classic rock side of progressive. Their music is built around the passionate and thoughtful songwriting of guitarist Rob Allen and the lead vocals of James Hollingsworth, both of which are first-rate. Keyboardist Nicholas O’Neill concentrates on organ and piano which, along with a fair amount of acoustic and clean guitar tones, gives JEBO an organic sound. Excellent production on this album courtesy of John Burns (Genesis) and Ben Findlay (Peter Gabriel). By “classic rock”, we don’t mean to suggest that JEBO sound like a 1970’s band. Their sound is contemporary, but the lineage of all the great British rock bands can be heard on this CD.
Daryl Stuermer - Go ($14.99) 
Daryl Stuermer - Waiting in the Wings ($14.99)Daryl Stuermer is known for being Genesis’ live guitarist following the departure of Steve Hackett, also as a member of Phil Collins’ band since 1982, and a member of Jean-Luc Ponty’s band from 1975-78. Rewired is a compilation of Daryl’s personal favorites from his own back catalog, newly edited and completely remastered. These are great guitar-centric rock/fusion instrumentals, all on the melodic progressive side of things. Other musicians are used on keyboards, bass and drums. The keyboards in particular often show an 80’s/90’s Genesis/Tony Banks influence.
Go is Stuermer’s 2007 release and one of his best, full of feel-good fusion, heavy on the rock, melody and energy. Bass duties are split between Leland Sklar and Eric Harvey, John Colarco handles the drums and Kostia plays keys. One can hear influences of Stuermer’s time with Jean-Luc Ponty, with Phil Collins, and the smooth jazz underpinnings of Stuermer’s past work.
The other titles are from Stuermer’s back catalog: Retrofit (2004), Waiting in the Wings (2001), Another Side of Genesis (2000), and Live and Learn (1998). Sweetbottom was Stuermer’s 1970’s fusion band and a legend in his hometown of Milwaukee. The Sweetbottom Live CD was recorded at their December 2002 reunion gigs with the 1970’s lineup plus keyboardist Kostia. This is top-notch melodic/symphonic fusion.
Another Side of Genesis contains instrumental versions of Genesis songs from the 1978-1992 era when Stuermer was with the band. Needless to say, these arrangements are quite different from the originals and cast new light on the compositions, which is the point of recording someone else’s songs, but it is clear that Stuermer loves and respects the songs. Stuermer jokes that this is his only album that ever made money. His solo albums demonstrate that he deserves much better.
Starcastle - Song of Times ($12.99) 
Starcastle was a very Yes-influenced American band of the mid-to-late 1970’s and one of the best American progressive bands, now active again. They released three good albums during the 70’s before bowing to record company pressure and finishing with the commercial Real to Reel (which even the band feels should never have been released). Fountains of Light (1976), their second, is their best album. Citadel (1977) is their third.
Song of Times is the 2007 comeback CD from Starcastle and includes all the original members: the late Gary Strater (bass, vocals), Matt Stewart (guitars, vocals), Steve Tassler (drums, vocals, keyboards), Herb Schildt (keyboards), Steve Hagler (guitar, vocals), and Terry Luttrell (vocals), alongside new lead vocalist Al Lewis (Alaska) and guitarist Bruce Botts. Keyboardist John O’Hara, the other half of Alaska (see below), plays on three tracks. While Song of Times is not the equal of the first two Starcastle albums, it does recapture much of their classic sound, including the vocal harmonies. Overall it’s a little more direct than those first albums, but about as good as one could expect in a 2007 comeback album. Beautiful artwork throughout by Ed Unitsky. Gary, thanks for the parting gift. Read the Sea of Tranquility review.
Planet X - Quantum ($14.99) 
Whether with his band Planet X or under his own name, ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian makes some of the best heavy instrumental keyboard rock and fusion you’ll hear, with virtuosos on each instrument. As always, Sherinian recruited a number of name musicians for his sixth album Molecular Heinosity (2009, digipack), namely Virgil Donati (Planet X), Tony Franklin (Whitesnake), Brian Tichy (Foreigner, Billy Idol), Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society), and some new talent.
The guests on Sherinian’s fifth album Blood of the Snake (2006, digipack) include John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony Franklin, Simon Phillips, Jerry Goodman, Billy Idol, and others. This is fusion-prog-metal because it says so on the sticker on the cover. The emphasis is usually on demonstrative playing, but Sherinian does slow things down on several tracks for some sensitive and melodic music. There are two vocal songs, which won’t be the highlight for prog fans, but the instrumentals more than make up for them.
The fourth Planet X studio album Quantum (2007, digipack) features founding members Sherinian and Virgil Donati plus a number of guest musicians including Allan Holdsworth on two tracks. This again is fusion-prog-metal. There is enough heavy guitar to satisfy the headbangers, but the music has much more in common with Allan Holdsworth and the first UK lineup than Dream Theater, particularly in the harmonic sophistication. Yes, you can add metal guitar to anything and it blends like oil and water. If Sherinian would like to make an album that can stand with those of UK and Holdsworth, he’ll have to omit the metal. Probably not going to happen though.
Speechless - Time Out of Mind ($12.99) Speechless is an Atlanta-based instrumental quartet (guitar, keys, bass, drums) playing a typically American style of progressive rock that is a melting pot of many different influences. Their debut Time Out of Mind (2006) eschews drama in favor of a groove-oriented, flowing style, always melodic and emphasizing ensemble playing rather than soloing. They have the sound palette of a jam band, but everything is highly-structured. There are flashes of Yes, ELP, Dixie Dregs, Rush, and a healthy dose of fusion. Think of Djam Karet at their most melodic and when they aren’t making it up as they go along.
Osiris - Visions from the Past ($15.99)
Osiris - same ($15.99)Osiris is a progressive rock band from the tiny Arab emirate of Bahrain, though some of the musicians attended university in the U.S. Their music is closest to Camel, and they sing in English, though the music is heavily instrumental. They published two LPs in the 1980’s: Osiris (1982) and Myths & Legends (1984), later issued on CD by Musea, with one bonus track on Myths & Legends. Their third studio album Reflections was recorded between 1987-1989. It’s a sure thing for Camel fans, predominantly instrumental with some good English vocals. One bonus track.
It was a long wait for Visions from the Past (2007). This is a concept album about an old man who rejects the modern Bahrain and mourns the loss of the innocent and simple ways of the past. This is Osiris’s most original album and probably their best, as Camel is now just one of several influences, and no one influence stands out. Most of the music has the refinement and tastefulness of 1970’s progressive rock, and one song sports some strong early Marillion influence. What vocals there are are still in English, but here Osiris use some traditional Gulf Arabic poetry (English translations in the booklet) and occasional Arabic rhythms and traditional instruments to put their own stamp on things. The recording quality may be a notch below western pro standards; nevertheless this is brilliant melodic progressive rock vaguely in the Camel and Genesis vein.
Anton Roolaart - Dreamer ($13.99) Released on the same label as Chris Squire’s band The Syn, Dreamer (2007) is the first album by Dutch-born American Anton Roolaart, who happens to also run ProgRockRadio.com. He wrote, engineered and produced this album, handling guitar, keys, vocals and programming. While this is Anton’s baby, he wisely brought in other musicians including a bass player and keyboardist Rave Tesar of Annie Haslam’s band. Drum duties are split between two drummers, one of whom is Rich Berends of Mastermind. It is a meticulously crafted symphonic rock album in which one can spot various influences, certainly Yes and Pink Floyd. Many of the songs were written years earlier, and Anton’s main sources of inspiration are the 1970’s masters of the genre, but his Internet radio station exposed him to newer progressive artists who have had an influence on his style. The album lacks the spark or energy of a band playing together, but if thought of in the same terms as, say, Jon Anderson’s Olias of Sunhillow and similar multi-layered works, Dreamer is an impressive achievment. Read reviews here.
Glass - Live at Progman Cometh ($15.99) Glass, an American trio centered on the brothers Greg and Jeff Sherman, dates back to the 1970’s, though it took them 25 years to release their music. The brothers handle keyboards and bass while Jerry Cook is the drummer. Illuminations is their 2005 studio album, 63 minutes of flowing keyboard instrumentals emphasizing organ, piano, and Mellotron (in that order). It’s definitely 1970’s styled, but closer to the Canterbury style than to ELP. There is also a psychedelic or experimental element present in several tracks. Soloing is kept to a minimum and the instrumental arrangements, while not overtly complex, focus on a rich sound canvas. Hugh Hopper guests on the track Isle Of Dyslexia, while Gaia features Richard Sinclair and Phil Miller.
Live at Progman Cometh (2007) features live recordings from the first and second Progman Cometh festivals in Seattle in 2002 and 2003, plus a bonus track from Baja Prog 2002, 66-minutes total. Among the guests are Elton Dean on sax, Hugh Hopper on bass, Richard Sinclair (vocals), and Bill and Paul Kopecky on bass and snare drum, respectively. Read the Sea of Tranquility and DPRP reviews.
The Third Ending - same ($12.99) This is the 2006 debut by a modern-sounding prog rock quartet from Tasmania (Australia). They have some similarities to Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater, but their style probably comes closest to Spock’s Beard, more the song-oriented side rather than the technical or flashy side of the Beard. There are some great pop hooks embedded in these tracks, and the occasional metal and grunge guitar is more than offset by richly-textured symphonic passages and open, acoustic guitar-driven songs. 54-minutes. Read the DPRP review.
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band - Solar Fire ($14.99)
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band - The Roaring Silence ($14.99)Manfred Mann’s Earth Band frequently get overlooked in discussions of progressive rock, perhaps because they’ve had a long career that has covered more styles than just prog rock, and their commercial success came from doing covers. Mann himself should at least be mentioned alongside the other pioneering prog rock keyboardists. These CDs are the latest remastered editions with bonus tracks.
Solar Fire and The Good Earth, both originally released in 1974, are the two proggiest MMEB albums. They will surprise those only familiar with the MMEB radio hits. Solar Fire has two bonus tracks, the hit single Joybringer, which was based on Holst’s Planets suite and did not appear on the European vinyl release, plus an alternate 45 edit of Father of Day, Father of Night. The Good Earth has three bonus tracks which are single versions of album tracks.
Nightingales & Bombers (1975) kicks off with the hit Spirits in the Night, the first of several Bruce Springsteen covers for MMEB. At its best, the album is true progressive rock, and at its worst, it’s still pretty good, a blend of progressive and blues-based rock. The two bonus tracks include the single edit of Spirits in the Night and the cover of Bob Dylan’s Quit Your Low Down Ways, which was only on the U.S. vinyl release.
The Roaring Silence (1976) gave MMEB a whole new level of fame, opening with the 7-minute Blinded by the Light, another Springsteen cover and one of only a handful of progressive rock songs to become classic rock radio staples. The rest of the album is on the same level. The two bonus tracks include Spirits in the Night sung by Chris Thompson (he first appears on this album) and the single edit of Blinded by the Light.
The MMEB sound generally changed with the times, so Watch (1978) is still fairly proggy but more song-oriented. The songs here are really strong, as this album is the best-selling of Mann’s career. It contains the UK hit Davy’s on the Road Again and a reworking of the big hit The Mighty Quinn. The four bonus tracks are single versions of three of the album tracks, plus one non-LP. One of these bonus tracks is the single version of The Mighty Quinn, which is a different recording than the album version.
Chance (1980) again sees MMEB updating with the times to a more high-tech pop sound, with lots of keyboards. Lies (Through the 80’s) was a hit, as was the cover of Springsteen’s For You. Both are terrific if forgotten songs that are great to hear again. Trevor Rabin was the associate producer and contributed some guitar. The four bonus tracks include a rare B-side and three single versions. The booklets are generally excellent, with extensive liner notes. Check our DVDs page for Manfred Mann’s Angel Station In Moscow DVD.
Spock’s Beard - Live DVD ($17.99) |     |
Alan Morse - Four O’Clock and Hysteria ($14.99) The 2007 first solo release by Spock’s Beard’s lead guitarist. Alan’s brother Neal plays keyboards and acoustic guitar on the album, all recent Spock’s Beard members make an appearance, and Jerry Goodman plays electric violin on two tracks. It’s a very fine album of expertly-played instrumental guitar fusion (more rock than jazz), varying from fast and furious to melodic and symphonic. Several tracks call to mind Jeff Beck’s brand of fusion, some verge on Mahavishnu Orchestra style, while the more melodic tracks overlap with Daryl Stuermer’s style. Since a lot of the Spock’s Beard fan base is too young to have experienced the heyday of fusion, this album may be an education for some. 64-minutes.
Dimension X - Implications of a Genetic Defense ($13.99) Milwaukee’s prog-metal band Dimension X debuted in 2005 with So… This Is Earth. Their strongpoint is an excellent, classically-influenced keyboardist, and the guitarist even plays tastefully much of the time. The whole thing is, depending on your perspective, either marred or enhanced by a drummer who, in true metal fashion, overplays almost from start to finish, and has a hard time laying off the double pedal. So best to listen to the extensive mp3’s. In an era where most pop albums are front-loaded, So… This Is Earth gets stronger (i.e., proggier) as it goes on. Implications of a Genetic Defense (2007) is their second, with a new drummer and guitarist. It’s a prog-metal sci-fi story, and the music is dark, heavy, and ugly, all desirable properties for metal.
Sympozion - Kundabuffer ($14.99) This young Israeli quintet has produced a debut album of stunning quality. Mostly instrumental, Kundabuffer (2006) is in Gentle Giant, Canterbury, and Zappa territory, but highly original. It is complex symphonic prog with most of the keyboard work done on piano, but it remains melodic and not particularly ‘difficult’. Rather, it’s fun to listen to. The intricate guitar work varies from relatively clean jazz tones to an incisive electric lead tone that may remind the listener of Fireballet and other 70’s prog bands. While not overtly Gentle Giant-ish, there is a lot of melodic counterpoint, and two of the band members play recorders at times. Thanks to the Canadian Unicorn label for re-releasing this outstanding album after an initial release by the band. Lots of reviews here.
Jim Steele - Neptune Rising ($10.99) Though under keyboardist Jim Steele’s name, this 2006 recording is by a trio with a bassist and drummer. Steele is from Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was also home to Ethos, one of the best U.S. progressive rock bands. Neptune Rising is instrumental keyboard progressive rock, but different than that produced by any other such trio. There are some similarities to keyboard trios such as Egg or Le Orme, but the music is more floating, ambient, and spacey, influenced most likely by Tangerine Dream circa Phaedra and Rubycon. There are also elements of fusion, making for a creative and very entertaining blend. See, it’s still possible to make old school progressive rock that isn’t derivative, or that at least combines the established styles in a novel way. Read the reviews at Progscape.com and Progressive Ears.
Glass Moon - Glass Moon / Growing in the Dark remastered ($11.99) Glass Moon was a band from Raleigh, North Carolina that may have begun as a progressive rock band, but by the time they got a record deal, they had become a proggy AOR band. Their 1980 debut is their best, containing really catchy songs, and the band’s progressive heritage is easy to hear. The prog fans who bought this LP probably did so to hear Glass Moon’s cover of Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill. Glass Moon followed with 1981’s Growing in the Dark, which is somewhat more pop-oriented, closer to the likes of Toto. Glass Moon / Growing in the Dark is a 71-minute CD on Renaissance Records that reissues both albums on one CD. The first edition of this was a CD-R mastered at the wrong speed -- the 71:32 album was stretched to 77:24! Renaissance has corrected this in 2007 with a replicated CD at the correct speed, so finally the first two Glass Moon albums are available on CD in their entirety with decent sound.
Bandleader Dave Adams has remastered some of the Glass Moon tracks to digital on the 79-minute Moon Hits & More CD, and the audio quality here is still superior to the Renaissance Records CD. This compilation covers more than the first two Glass Moon albums. There was a third Glass Moon entitled Sympathetic Vibration (1984), followed in 1986 by Dave Adam’s solo album Dancing In My Sleep, which features some of the Glass Moon members. The Moon Hits & More CD features tracks from all four of these albums plus four previously-unreleased tracks. Well, the 1984 and 1986 albums didn’t get any more progressive, but they are still clever, catchy, keyboard-dominated pop songs that have more of an eighties sound. We can’t really fault the song selection, as the songs taken from the first two albums are the best ones (Solsbury Hill is included), but of course we would have liked more songs from the first album and fewer from the later ones. So the Glass Moon fan needs both CDs, one to get the complete first two albums, and the other to get the best songs sounding their best, plus the rarities. At least both CDs are very long and not expensive.
Advent - Cantus Firmus ($12.99) This is the same New Jersey-based progressive rock band whose self-titled 1997 CD was released on Mellow Records. Advent’s long-awaited second release Cantus Firmus improves on their debut in just about every way. The band is heavily influenced by Gentle Giant, which is apparent within the first few seconds, even more so on this album than on their debut. But while Advent has some of the medieval feel and similar-sounding vocals, Gentle Giant isn’t the end of the story. There is some Genesis influence present, maybe a little Yes as well, so Advent’s style is often more majestic and regal than Gentle Giant. The album features wonderfully elaborate arrangements, beautiful guitar work (including a substantial amount of classical and acoustic guitar), and tight vocal interplay. The CD also includes previously unreleased 24-track recordings of two songs from the band’s debut CD as bonus tracks. As explained in the liner notes, Advent recorded 24-track versions of five songs in 1992, but due to various constraints, only one received a proper mix and appeared on their debut CD. The other four songs from those sessions ended up on the album in their original four-track cassette versions. So as you can imagine, the improvement in the 24-track versions is immense, and one of the bonus tracks has also had new drumming added recently. Maybe the best U.S. progressive album of 2006. 69-minutes.
Frogg Café - The Safenzee Diaries (2CD, $13.99) |     |
Iona - Open Sky ($16.99) |     |
Dave Bainbridge - Veil of Gossamer ($16.99) Dave Bainbridge is the main creative force in the band Iona. Iona as a band had been in a period of inactivity for a few years, allowing its members to work on solo projects. Bainbridge’s Veil of Gossamer (2004) is stunning, as good as any prior Iona release and better in some respects. While Iona singer Joanne Hogg sings on every track except for the instrumentals, Bainbridge also employs two more incredible female voices: Rachel Jones (Karnataka) and Scottish singer Mae McKenna (at least three albums of her own). Jones and McKenna are used extensively; usually all three vocalists are present on the same track, with McKenna handling the Scottish Gaelic vocals. Also playing on most tracks are Iona bandmates Troy Donockley and Frank van Essen, as well as Tim Harries, Nick Beggs, and others. The album strikes the perfect balance between vocals and instrumental work, ranging from soaring progressive rock to orchestral splendor to that plaintive, yearning beauty that characterizes the best Celtic music. 64-minutes.
Troy Donockley & Dave Bainbridge - When Worlds Collide ($16.99) Troy Donockley and Dave Bainbridge are members of the band Iona. When Worlds Collide (2005, 59-minutes) features five tracks recorded live in November 2003 plus five newly-recorded studio tracks, a mix of traditional tunes and new versions of tracks from Iona’s and Troy’s albums. It isn’t all relaxing music, as some of the playing is spirited and some of the tunes reach majestic heights. The duo plays acoustic guitars, electric guitars, E Bow, keyboards, percussion, Uilleann pipes and low whistle, and Troy sings on many of the tracks. It’s a mix of traditional folk and progressive rock, but the way these guys arrange trad folk is unlike anyone else. What may surprise some is how good a singer Troy is, and how good an instrumentalist Dave is. We knew he could play guitar, but his piano playing on the track Unconscious is stunning. Too much talent in these two guys.
Troy Donockley & Dave Bainbridge - From Silence CD ($16.99)From Silence is a recording made in October 2004 by the two Iona members in the huge reverberant acoustic space of Lincoln Cathedral. It is largely improvised and serene, ambient music that uses folk instruments but also electronics. Troy is on low whistle, tin whistle, Uileann pipes, vocals, and acoustic guitar; with Dave playing keyboards, electric guitar, and bouzouki. It’s recorded in binaural stereo, which when listened to on headphones yields surround sound using only two channels. This is available both as a CD and as a DVD (NTSC, all-region, 16:9 widescreen). The DVD adds interviews with Troy and Dave and Dallas Simpson on the session and on binaural recording. Mp3 sample and a review of the CD here.
Troy Donockley - The Pursuit of Illusion ($15.99) Troy Donockley may be best known to progressive rock fans as a member of Iona, though he is also in Maddy Prior’s trio, has played on albums by Mostly Autumn, Magenta, Mermaid Kiss, The Enid, Alan Stivell, Maire Brennan, Jennifer Cutting, and many others, toured with Midge Ure,... the list goes on. He is a multi-instrumentalist capable of playing just about anything stringed or blown, but his main instruments are Uillean pipes and low whistle; he also sings quite respectably. The Pursuit of Illusion (2003) is his second solo album. The album’s guest performers include Peter Knight (violin, from Steeleye Span), The Emperor String Quartet, The York Cantores Choir, Iona friends Joanne Hogg (vocals), Terl Bryant (drums & percussion), and Nick Beggs (Chapman Stick), plus several others. It’s a gorgeous album and a mammoth production, very orchestral, atmospheric, and evocative, with Anglo-Celtic flavoring throughout. At its most atmospheric, it is reminiscent of some of Danny Elfman’s scores. Troy has been influenced as much by classical music as by rock and traditional folk, especially by English composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams. In fact, Troy has a piece on a various artists orchestral music CD entitled Celtic Classics and has the distinction of being the only composer on it not dead.
This is the 2006 remastered edition of Troy’s first solo album The Unseen Stream (1998). A large number of musicians assist, among them Terl Bryant (percussion), Joanne Hogg (voice), Tim Harries (bass), and The Emperor String Quartet. The music is instrumental with occasional wordless vocals, propelled by percussion rather than a rock drum kit but showing a rock pedigree. The same statements regarding The Pursuit of Illusion apply here. This is gorgeous stuff that should be used in films. Not to imply that this is background music that doesn’t stand on its own -- far from it -- but it is so evocative and cinematic.
David Cross - Closer Than Skin ($16.99) Most know David Cross as the one-time King Crimson violinist. Since the late 1980’s, Cross has been releasing quality progressive albums with his own band. Closer Than Skin (2005) is the most cohesive album he’s done. As Robert Fripp says: “Good album! It continues a line of the work we did together in 1973 that no-one else has quite followed.” Cross is still working with lyricist Richard Palmer-James, and his excellent band consists of a vocalist, guitar, bass and drums, while Cross handles electric violins and keyboards. While there are many 1970’s King Crimson elements, there is a much wider range of material here, as Cross has taken those Crimson influences into the 21st century. Read a review by King Crimson biographer Sid Smith.
Robert Fripp - Exposure limited edition (2CD, $17.99)Robert Fripp’s solo debut Exposure was originally released in 1979, following work Fripp had done on Peter Gabriel’s second album and Daryl Hall’s Sacred Songs. Gabriel and Hall both appear on Exposure, along with Phil Collins, Peter Hammill, Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Brian Eno, and others. This new 2CD edition includes the original 1979 version of Exposure on disc one and the 1983 remix of Exposure on disc two. Disc two also contains five alternate mix bonus tracks, three of which have previously unreleased Daryl Hall vocal tracks. Everything has been remastered from the original master tapes by Simon Heyworth with Fripp’s approval. This is the limited edition gatefold mini-LP version with 24-page oversize booklet.
Giles, Giles & Fripp - The Cheerful Insanity of ($15.99)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.
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King: Original Master Ed. ($13.99) |            |
Nektar - Book of Days ($14.99) |     |
IZZ - Live at NEARfest ($11.99) 
IZZ - I Move ($11.99) Sliver of a Sun (1999) is a great American progressive rock album. Imagine a heavier and more complex version of Ambrosia during their progressive phase (first two albums). IZZ combine that whimsy, playfulness, and constant invention with some serious chops, on a par with Echolyn and Spock’s Beard. Unlike many current prog bands, IZZ have a keen melodic sense and are capable songwriters, yet their songs twist and turn in unexpected directions. Over the album’s 59 minutes, there is quite a bit of diversity. Elements of Yes and Genesis crop up without IZZ ever coming close to being copyists. Excellent vocals too! Fans of Spock’s Beard especially should jump on this.
IZZ show a lot of growth on I Move (2002). They still produce a lot of melodic Ameri-prog, the song-oriented material having moved closer to the current Echolyn sound, often with acoustic textures balancing the electric. But the playfulness of their debut has given way to a more serious and ambitious sound. While this 73-minute CD begins very song-oriented, that gives way to intense instrumentals and majestic symphonic rock workouts with superb playing all around. The final series of linked songs is particularly impressive and should erase any doubts that IZZ is one of the top progressive bands around.
The 56-minute Ampersand (2004) is somewhat of an interim album for IZZ, though it’s every bit as good as their others. As the band says: “The songs contained in this album span virtually IZZ’s entire career. A few have been with the band almost from the beginning, often in a dramatically different form. Others have been recorded during or between sessions from Sliver of a Sun, I Move and IZZ’s next studio album. In short, these songs have all shared the common bond of homelessness. With this release, they have now found their home.” Ampersand also includes the first live tracks from IZZ.
It’s hard to say enough good things about My River Flows (2005). Each IZZ album has been more ambitious than the last. While some of this album overlaps with the current styles of Echolyn and Spock’s Beard, IZZ demonstrate that they are far more of a classic symphonic progressive band than either of the others is now. There are more elements of IZZ’s style that relate to Genesis and Yes, but as has been the case all along, IZZ doesn’t come close to being derivative. They now have two female vocalists in the band, though they don’t appear together on the same song until the incredible 22-minute Deafening Silence suite that concludes the album, where the harmonies are sometimes similar to The Northettes of Hatfield and the North. Should be on every Top Ten list for the year. 66-minutes.
Live at NEARfest (2007, digipack) is IZZ’s first live CD, recorded June 2007 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tracks are drawn from Sliver of a Sun, I Move, and My River Flows. This is IZZ’s seven-person lineup including Laura Meade and Anmarie Byrnes on vocals. Read the DPRP review.
Laura Meade - same (CD-EP, $8.99) This is a 5 song, 15-minute CD-EP from singer/songwriter Laura Meade. Meade made her songwriting debut on IZZ’s Ampersand CD in 2004 and was featured prominently on their 2005 CD My River Flows. Meade multitracks her vocals and plays piano and is backed by IZZ’s Paul Bremner on electric guitar, Brian Coralian on drums, and John Galgano on bass & acoustic guitar. This is a warm, beautiful album of intelligent and sensitive female-vocal pop, with some progressive flavoring via the instrumentalists. It’s as good as anything in this genre on a major label, somewhat suggestive of recent Kate Bush, and you’ll be able to say you knew Laura Meade when she was just starting out.
Paul Bremner - Wombsong ($11.99)Paul Bremner is IZZ’s guitarist and Wombsong (2004) is his first solo CD. This is a refreshing change from the typical guitarist album, a very intimate and emotional disc with a late-night ambience. While a few other musicians lend a hand including two other IZZ members, this is primarily Bremner on electric and acoustic guitar, keyboards, and percussion, with lovely female vocals on three tracks. Bremner, a native of Glasgow, injects Scottish folk into several tracks, while others feature electric guitar laden with effects, soaring over an ambient synth backdrop. Lush and always tasteful, Wombsong has that ability to leave the listener spellbound.
Porcupine Tree - Coma Divine 2CD digibook ($15.99) |                 |
Glass Hammer - Culture of Ascent ($12.99) Culture of Ascent (2007, digipack) is the 10th Glass Hammer album (not counting Live at NEARfest). It’s hard to believe the band could top the last few CDs, but this is the strongest Glass Hammer lineup yet. Joining Fred Schendel, Steve Babb, and Matt Mendians are French guitarist David Wallimann, the best guitarist GH have had, and Carl Groves (Salem Hill) on lead and backing vocals. Susie Bogdanowicz also supplies lead and backing vocals, and the band is augmented by a string trio. Guests provide backing vocals and acoustic guitar. One of these guests is Jon Anderson, who sings on two tracks. The CD opens with a cover of Yes’ South Side of the Sky. Rather than a pointless clone, this is a beautiful new arrangement featuring a trip-hop loop in some sections. The effect of arranging a Yes track seems to have carried over into some of the other tracks, which show a lot of Yes influence, nothing new for GH, but more work than ever seems to have gone into the vocal arrangements. More often though the music is closer to Song for America-era Kansas, especially when violin is in the mix. While we’re unlikely to ever say that any modern band is on the same level as classic Yes, we do feel comfortable saying that this album is on the same level as the best Kansas, and more consistent than any Kansas album. Six tracks span 69-minutes, with fully-professional production and mastering.
Glass Hammer - The Inconsolable Secret (2CD, $17.99) see note below 
Glass Hammer - Lex Rex ($12.99) 
Glass Hammer - On to Evermore ($12.99) 
Glass Hammer - Journey of the Dunadan ($12.99) out-of-stock Check our DVDs page for Glass Hammer’s DVDs. Glass Hammer should be well-known to most prog fans by now. They specialize in glorious symphonic prog epics heavy on the keyboards, with loads of Hammond, Moog, and Mellotron. Their music is full of Yes-like positive energy, and the band does borrow heavily from Yes (vocally and instrumentally) as well as ELP and Kansas, with many other influences cropping up along the way (Camel, Focus, etc.). Most of their CDs are concept albums telling a story, most often of a fantasy nature.
No epic is too epic in scope for the epic lads of Glass Hammer, and they pull out all the stops on their 2005 digipack double-CD The Inconsolable Secret. The core of the band has always been Fred Schendel (keys, guitars, vocals) and Steve Babb (keys, bass, vocals), back this time with the classic lineup of Walter Moore and Susie Bogdanowicz on vocals and Matt Mendians on drums. This album features a lot of guest musicians including a symphony orchestra, a string trio, and a choir. While the first disc stays pretty much in Glass Hammer’s familiar ELP-meets-Yes style, things really open up on the second disc where Glass Hammer explore new territory, including some dark orchestral material, and make good use of the choir. It’s another concept album, and the enhanced CD includes video from the recording sessions. Oh, and Roger Dean did the artwork. How can they possibly top this one? Note Glass Hammer intend to remaster and re-release The Inconsolable Secret sometime in 2009; it is unavailable until then.
Prior to The Inconsolable Secret, Shadowlands (2004) vied with Lex Rex (2002) for the title of best Glass Hammer album. Shadowlands opens with three long tracks which are unremarkable only in the sense that Glass Hammer have set the bar so high with their prior work. The fourth track, Longer, is a treat, a radical 10-minute rearrangement of Dan Fogelberg’s 1979 hit. You read that correctly. Glass Hammer have done with this song what Yes did with Paul Simon’s America. The fifth and final track is the centerpiece of the album, the 20-minute Behind the Great Beyond, where Glass Hammer pull out all the stops -- this may be their finest (one-third) hour.
Live at NEARfest is a 73-minute live CD recorded by the 2003 Glass Hammer lineup, featuring the Glass Hammer choir and a guest appearance by Rich Williams of Kansas performing Portrait He Knew. Live and Revived contains live rehearsal recordings plus songs from the “Lost Album of 1994”, a second album that was scrapped in favor of Perelandra. The Middle Earth Album (2001) is a departure from the rest. It picks up where the songs The Way To Her Heart and The Ballad of Balin Longbeard on Journey of the Dunadan left off, acoustic music in a boisterous pub atmosphere, obviously Tolkien-inspired.
David Wallimann - Deep Inside the Mind ($10.99) David Wallimann became Glass Hammer’s guitarist in 2005. However, he was born and raised in France, the son of a French father and an American mother, and the musicians on his 2006 debut CD Deep Inside the Mind appear to all be French. They contribute guitar, bass and drums, while Wallimann handles lead guitar, synths, and vocals. This is a concept album with heavy Christian content. Musically, this is no ordinary guitarist album. While there is a strong Steve Vai-style hard rock element, this is much more progressive and much more arty than most guitarist CDs. The album is mostly instrumental; the storyline is executed with spoken word, often of a dramatic nature, a bit reminiscent of Utopia’s Singring and the Glass Guitar from the Ra album what with the occasional helium voices. Regardless of how one feels about the narrative, this is musically very creative, a unique blend of progressive and guitar rock.
U I Blue - Songbird’s Cry ($12.99) Behind this new artist name are Fred Schendel and Steve Babb, otherwise known to the progressive world as Glass Hammer, plus Terry Clouse of Somnambulist on bass. The core of U I Blue is singer Laura Lindstrom, who has an angelic voice, and Jon Paul Davis, who plays primarily acoustic guitar and adds occasional vocals. While Lindstrom sings in English, Davis’s lead vocals are in French. The Glass Hammer guys handle keyboards, electric guitar, and drums, including lots of Mellotron, and guest musicians include a female string trio. The result on Songbird’s Cry (2005) is a unique blend of folk and symphonic progressive rock, more European than American in flavor. The only comparison that springs to mind is the Gandalf & Galadriel album from 1986, though Songbird’s Cry is more progressive and powerful. With the usual professional production of Schendel and Babb, this one is intoxicating. Read the Musical Discoveries review.
IQ - Frequency Sp. Ed. (CD+DVD, $17.99) out-of-stock Frequency is IQ’s 2009 album. This Special Edition comes in a digipack and adds a full-length DVD (NTSC, all-region, stereo, 16:9) of IQ performing live in Holland in 2007.
IQ - Dark Matter ($14.99) 
IQ - Subterranea: The Concert (2CD, $19.99)
IQ - Ever ($14.99)
IQ - Nomzamo ($14.99)
IQ - Tales from the Lush Attic ($15.99)Click here for IQ’s DVDs. Always our favorite of the second generation prog bands, IQ stayed the progressive course when Marillion pretty much abandoned it. When the spirit of Genesis left its first host, it may have ended up in IQ. Dark Matter (2004) is one of their strongest albums. It consists of just five tracks spanning 52 minutes, including the epic Harvest of Souls (24:29). Notably, Martin Orford uses more vintage keyboard sounds than ever. The Seventh House is IQ’s 2001 CD, a solid album but lacking the spark of their best work.
Subterranea (1997) is a 2CD concept album and a milestone for IQ. Much more so than their other albums, this one may require several listens before it clicks into place and its brilliance become apparent. Subterranea: The Concert contains a complete live performance of Subterranea, recorded at the same 1999 concert in The Netherlands as IQ’s DVD of the same name.
Ever was the 1993 album that saw singer Peter Nicholls return to the fold and the consensus is that this is one of IQ’s top three albums. The double-CD Forever Live (priced as a single CD) is a recording of the 1993 showcase concert IQ performed to coincide with the release of Ever.
Nomzamo (1987) and Are You Sitting Comfortably? (1989) were the two albums IQ recorded with Paul Menel as the singer. Partly due to Menel’s voice and partly due to external factors, the two albums with Menel are more pop-oriented than the rest, but there are still many excellent songs here. This edition of Are You Sitting Comfortably? contains a bonus track, a live version of Nothing At All, while Nomzamo includes three bonus tracks: the studio track Colourflow, a piano & vocal version of the album track No Love Lost, and a live rendition of Common Ground. J’ai Pollette D’arnu was originally released on LP in 1991, a collection of rare non-LP studio tracks as well as live tracks.
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, while The Wake has three bonus tracks: Dans Le Parc De Château Noir, The Thousand Days (demo), and The Magic Roundabout (demo). Living Proof is a live album recorded in 1985, featuring nearly all of The Wake plus Awake and Nervous from Tales..., It All Stops Here from Seven Stories into Eight, and the non-LP track Just Changing Hands.
Before Tales from the Lush Attic, IQ had released the album Seven Stories into Eight on cassette only, containing songs recorded in 1981-82. The double-CD Seven Stories Into 98 contains this original recording on Disc 2, cleaned up as well as possible. But in 1998, the band re-recorded the entire album, faithful to the original but with much improved production and audio fidelity, and this appears on Disc 1. Far from an archival release for diehard fans only, this album varies from very good to brilliant. Among the songs is the medley of two Christmas songs called For Christ’s Sake, done as only IQ could do them. An absolutely essential album for IQ fans.
The Lost Attic is subtitled A Collection of Rarities (1983-1999). This 77-minute CD is a collection of songs left off of earlier albums, plus a few songs from radio sessions that are of high quality. Like Genesis, IQ sometimes left songs off albums that were better than what went on the albums (and better than what some bands ever recorded). Some of these songs present a side of IQ not heard on their regular albums. For the IQ fan, this album is essential; for everyone else, still a quality prog album.
Martin Orford - The Old Road ($14.99) out-of-stock Martin Orford was of course IQ’s keyboardist but left the band in 2007. He was also a major component of Jadis and John Wetton’s band for a long stretch. His first solo album Classical Music and Popular Songs is from 2000 and features Gary Chandler (Jadis), Steve Christey (Jadis), David Kilminster (John Wetton band) and all of IQ including Peter Nicholls, who sings lead on one song. John Wetton sings lead on another. About equally split between vocal songs and instrumentals, it’s a hugely enjoyable album that shows that Orford may be cut from the same cloth as Tony Banks.
The Old Road (2008, 58-minutes) is even more of a band album than Orford’s debut, an all-star band that is, as the participating musicians include Gary Chandler (Jadis), Nick D’Virgilio and Dave Meros (Spock’s Beard), Andy Edwards and Mike Holmes (IQ), John Mitchell (It Bites, Kino, Frost, Arena), Steve Thorne, John Wetton, Dave Oberlé (Gryphon) and more. Most of the songs have vocals. As Martin says in the liner notes: “...you’ll hear a lot of the trademarks of the golden era of prog rock, but this CD is not about pushing back the boundaries of music, quite the opposite in fact... This is all about doing things the old way: songs with tunes you can whistle being played by incredible musicians at the very top of their game, a simple formula that never fails.” As Martin was a principal writer in IQ and made important contributions to the other bands he was in, one can easily hear IQ and Jadis and John Wetton in The Old Road. IQ’s strength is the balance between light and dark moods, but The Old Road has little if any darkness, so one of IQ’s other writers must be responsible for the pensive stuff. The Old Road is all class and quality. Read the DPRP review. See Page 2 for the IQ and Steve Thorne CDs.
Steve Thorne - Emotional Creatures part two ($15.99) |   |
Echolyn - The End Is Beautiful ($13.99) |       |
Brett Kull - The Last of the Curlews ($13.99) Brett Kull is Echolyn’s guitarist/vocalist, not to mention a member of Grey Eye Glances. He has continually honed his songwriting, production, and engineering skills, all of which are on display on his solo albums. These are songwriter’s albums, more personal and intimate than Echolyn but sharing a similar character. Orange-ish Blue (2002) was first, on which Kull had help from Echolyn’s Chris Buzby and Paul Ramsey, among others. It starts out very Beatles-influenced, then gets more modern and progressive, though the spirit of The Beatles is usually lurking nearby. Overall a very nice CD, sort of a folksier, friendlier Echolyn and perhaps an album to listen to right after Mei to balance things out.
The Last of the Curlews (2008, digipack) is Kull’s second solo CD, the result of three years of writing. Kull plays all the instruments except drum kit, which is handled by Paul Ramsey. There is more acoustic guitar than electric, and plenty of keyboards. There are also several guest vocalists. These 12 songs feature beautiful arrangements, understated musicianship, and powerful lyrics. The mood is generally languid, and the Beatles influence can usually be heard, though of course the execution is contemporary. Kull is clearly a very creative musician.
Land of Chocolate - Regaining the Feel ($12.99) Land of Chocolate is the youngest member of the growing Echolyn family tree, lead by keyboardist/singer Jonn Buzby, ex-Finneus Gauge and brother of Chris Buzby of Echolyn. Not surprisingly, Land of Chocolate has elements of both Echolyn and Finneus Gauge. While they don’t have the jazz aspects of Finneus Gauge, they apply the same intricacy, dexterity, and generally busy arrangements to more purely rock-based music. While Jonn’s lead vocals bear a slight resemblance to Gary Chandler of Jadis, the frequent harmony vocals owe a clear debt to Echolyn.
Regaining the Feel (2004) is Land of Chocolate’s second CD, with three new musicians joining Buzby, including guitarist John Covach. The music still seems to occupy a middle ground between Echolyn and Finneus Gauge, with a sophisticated harmonic vocabulary and no shortage of chord changes. Buzby does a good job fitting vocal lines over the complex chord progressions, and the band introduces more subtlety and atmosphere into the busy arrangements.
Finneus Gauge - One Inch of the Fall ($14.99) This is the second of two albums from Echolyn keyboardist Chris Buzby’s band that existed during Echolyn’s hiatus. This is a complex blend of fusion and progressive rock, with female lead vocals and the Holdsworth-like guitar of Scott McGill. This has hints of the first Bruford album. You will not want for chord changes!
Erik Norlander - Hommage Symphonique ($13.99) |       |
Don Schiff - Peering Over Clouds ($13.99) Don Schiff is probably best known as the NS/Stick player for Rocket Scientists and Lana Lane, though his résumé is rather more extensive than that. (He actually played with Elvis.) On the 71-minute Peering Over Clouds (2005), Schiff may shatter your conception of what the NS/Stick is capable of, in the right hands that is. Joined throughout the album by drummer/percussionist Greg Ellis, Schiff is an orchestra here – he’s mastered the variety of techniques that can be played on the NS/Stick and multitracks them so the sound is that of a full band. To quote Emmett Chapman from the liner notes: “Clouds is a roller-coaster ride through blazing two-handed lead solos, cracking bass lines that ‘speak out’, intricate patterns of clean string accompaniment, and brilliant slide guitar styled highlights.” This is no instrument demo though. Schiff is an accomplished composer, and this stands alone as a superb instrumental progressive rock album, one that would be called guitar-oriented except that there is no guitar per se. Rocket Scientists fans will find much that is familiar here, as Schiff is responsible for much of the rhythmic feel of that band.
Lana Lane - Red Planet Boulevard ($13.99) 
Lana Lane - Lady Macbeth ($13.99)
Lana Lane - Covers Collection ($13.99)
Lana Lane - Secrets of Astrology ($13.99) 
Lana Lane - Love Is an Illusion special edition (2CD, $14.99)We’re stocking the Lana Lane CDs because of Lana’s close association with Rocket Scientists and Erik Norlander. If we had to give a one sentence description of her many CDs, we’d say the energetic numbers tend to sound like a more progressive Heart, while the ballads have other influences, including The Beatles or Alan Parsons. Lana Lane’s 10th Anniversary Concert DVD (2006) contains the full concert from her final show in Tokyo on the Lana Lane 10th Anniversary Tour. Recorded on June 30, 2005, the 2-hour DVD (NTSC, all regions) contains all 19 songs from the concert along with a video tour diary containing candid behind-the-scenes footage of the entire tour from Europe to the USA to Japan. Both stereo and DTS 5.1 surround audio are offered. The package also includes a 78:54 audio CD that contains 17 of the 19 songs from the concert.
Red Planet Boulevard is Lana Lane’s 2007 studio album. Click the mp3 icon next to this title above not only for audio samples but for the full press release, which will explain all.
Gemini (2006) is an album of cover tunes, impeccably played and recorded. It contains classic rock covers from the late 1960’s and the 1970’s, sung by Lana Lane with Norlander on keys, Vinny Appice on drums, George Lynch on guitars, Mark McCrite on guitars and harmony vocals, and Kelly Keeling on vocals. Click on the mp3 icon next to this title above to see the track list and more info.
Lady Macbeth (2005) as usual features Erik Norlander, the other Rocket Scientists and Neil Citron, plus the Dutch musicians from Lana’s European touring band and the bassist from Pain of Salvation, not to mention Kelly Keeling (the singer from some of Norlander’s albums) on harmony vocals. Expect another heavy symphonic AOR album. This USA edition is identical to the Japanese and European editions and includes a bonus Quicktime video of one song.
Return to Japan is an over 2-hour double-CD that chronicles the vocalist’s last four Japanese tours from 1998-2002. Disc One contains full-band performances, while Disc Two contains acoustic duo performances of Lana Lane and Erik Norlander from 1998-2002 along with remastered full-band versions of Lana's renditions of the classics In the Court of the Crimson King and Long Live Rock 'n' Roll. Return to Japan includes a full-color 20-page booklet with extensive liner notes by producer Erik Norlander and live photos from the Japanese tours.
Winter Sessions is a 2003 release including eleven new recordings of both originals and select covers set in a moody and atmospheric style, with lush arrangements featuring both acoustic and electric instruments. Contributing musicians include drummer Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, ELO, etc.), guitarists Neil Citron, Mark McCrite (Rocket Scientists), and Peer Verschuren (Erik Norlander’s Music Machine), Don Schiff on NS/Stick, David Schiff on flute/oboe/sax, and of course keyboardist extraordinaire Erik Norlander.
Covers Collection contains 11 recordings of classic hard rock and progressive rock songs spanning the 1970’s through the 1990’s, as always produced by keyboard and studio wiz Erik Norlander. Guest musicians include drummers Greg Bissonette, Nick D’Virgilio, and Ed Warby, guitarists Mark McCrite, Arjen Lucassen, Neil Citron, and Gabriel Moses, and fretless bass icon Tony Franklin. Highlights include Kansas’ The Wall, Led Zep’s Kashmir, Argent’s Hold Your Head Up, and Uriah Heep’s Weep in Silence (co-written by John Wetton). Secrets of Astrology (2000) runs over 73 minutes and features Ayreon guitarist Arjen Anthony Lucassen and drummer Ed Warby on every track. Erik Norlander continues to handle keys and much of the writing. This is the new U.S. edition.
Love Is an Illusion special edition reissues both the 1998 remixed version plus the original 1995 version of Lana’s first album on a 2CD set, with three bonus tracks added. Ballad Collection special edition is a 2CD containing 24 songs. One disc comprises the 1998 Ballad Collection CD, a collection of Lana’s ballads including two Rocket Scientists tracks, but they were rerecorded, the new arrangements generally more progressive than the originals. A cover of Marillion’s Seasons End is added as a bonus. The other disc was recorded in 2000 and includes many covers of songs both well-known and obscure.
Curious Goods special edition is a 2CD reissue of Lana’s second album, originally released in 1996 in Japan only. The first disc contains the new 2002 enhanced version, while the second disc contains the original 1996 version. Lana re-recorded all of her vocals on the album in early 2002, and Erik Norlander undertook an extensive remix and remastering of the entire record. A bonus track is included, the James Bond theme You Only Live Twice, recorded with Vinny Appice, Don Schiff and Mark McCrite during the Project Shangri-La sessions.
The rest of the Lana Lane CDs are Japanese editions. Project Shangri-la continues her by now well-established style of progressive-tinged AOR/pomp-rock, featuring Erik Norlander, Mark McCrite, and Don Schiff from Rocket Scientists. This Japanese edition includes a bonus track written by John Wetton specifically for this album. The Best of Lana Lane CD runs 73 minutes and contains a 9-minute live version of King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King performed with Rocket Scientists.
The Think Tank Media Sampler Vol. 1 CD (1999) contains 11 tracks spanning 74-minutes from Rocket Scientists, Lana Lane, Erik Norlander, and Neil Citron. Sampler Vol. 4 (2005) contains 77-minutes of tracks from the Lana Lane and Erik Norlander catalogs. These are fully-packaged CDs in jewel boxes.
Page 1 
Page 3