Cirrus Bay - A Step Into Elsewhere ($11.99)
Cirrus Bay - A Step Into Elsewhere ($11.99) Cirrus Bay is led by American multi-instrumentalist Bill Gillham. On Cirrus Bay’s 2008 debut The Slipping of a Day, Gillham is joined by a drummer/bassist, several singers (male and female), and two musicians providing tenor sax on two tracks. Gillham plays electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, bass, mandolin, recorder, and percussion. Our opinion of Cirrus Bay’s first album changed completely about a third of the way through its 77-minutes, and this is because the album was recorded in different sessions spanning a number of years. The first third of the CD contains a lot of pastoral, folky progressive, reflecting the fact that Cirrus Bay began as an acoustic duo. There are pitch problems with some of the vocals on the early tracks that are not present on the later tracks. The CD then transforms into much more powerful, more instrumental symphonic prog. Gillham’s biggest influences are Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, Jade Warrior, and Bo Hansson. We can state this confidently because it says as much in the booklet. (Among younger bands, he mentions a fondness for Big Big Train, The Flower Kings, and The Watch.) There are tracks here that would have fit on Banks’ A Curious Feeling and have been the second-best track (after the song You, if you must know). Overall we’re reminded of Canadian Ken Baird. Read reviews here.
The second Cirrus Bay CD A Step Into Elsewhere (2009, 55-minutes) is the CD they really wanted to make, a significant improvement over Slipping... and a cohesive musical statement. It’s female vocals only on this one, from two singers, and the easiest way to describe the album is a blend of Genesis circa Wind and Wuthering and Renaissance. Renaissance because the vocals are in an Annie Haslam style, and there is that breezy folkiness blended with classical piano. Genesis because Gillham is a musician who gets what Tony Banks does. It isn’t about how fast one can play scales, it’s about the chord progressions. There is plenty of electric and acoustic guitar in addition to keyboards, so it sounds closer to Genesis than a Tony Banks solo album, and there are influences of other progressive artists as well. Instrumentally, the appeal of this album is similar to the Willowglass albums, on top of which you get the beautiful vocals. “Had Genesis replaced Peter Gabriel with Annie Haslam instead of Phil Collins in 1975, the band might have sounded something like this. Cirrus Bay... so closely echoes the crisp prog sound of Wind and Wuthering-era Genesis it could double as a tribute band... Most tracks feature lush keyboard swells, delicate guitar-and-flute passages, strong soprano vocal melodies, tricky meter changes and classically-inspired instrumental breaks that would give Tony Banks and Steve Hackett a run for their money.” [Progression]
IZZ - The Darkened Room ($11.99) 
IZZ - Ampersand ($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. 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. Note Sliver of a Sun is currently out-of-print, but hopefully a new edition will be available in the future.
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 Echolyn sound of this same timeframe, 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, 66-minutes). 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 don’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.
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.
The Darkened Room is their 2009 studio CD. IZZ have their own quite original style, and if anyone still wants to compare them to other contemporary bands, we’ll take IZZ. Instrumentally, IZZ have become so sophisticated that the more mainstream end of the prog fan base is in danger of not keeping up. Yet IZZ balance their challenging side with their strongly melodic side, so their music remains accessible. The piano work that is the foundation of many sections is particularly impressive, incorporating jazz and contemporary classical influences that elude most of their prog peers. Tracks can be previewed at CDBaby.
Laura Meade - same (CD-EP, $7.99) 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 warm, beautiful, 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.
Ajalon - This Good Place ($13.99) Seattle’s Ajalon was ‘discovered’ by Rick Wakeman, who released Ajalon’s first album on his own indie label. On the Threshold of Eternity (2005) is Ajalon’s second, and Rick contributes keyboard solos to two tracks, while Neal Morse contributes vocals to the title track and Phil Keaggy guests on another. If you’ve noticed what all these musicians have in common, then you may have guessed that Ajalon’s lyrics are Christian-oriented. Their music is very professional, most influenced by Yes but with an American style that also relates to Kansas, Ambrosia, and Glass Hammer, with tight harmony vocals. The shorter songs have elements of pop and AOR and are sometimes simply grand arrangements of acoustic folk ballads. The epic tracks are pure melodic progressive rock. The 16-minute title track especially will leave no doubt that this is a first-rate progressive rock band. This 69-minute CD contains a bonus track, a cover of The Moody Blues’ You and Me.
This Good Place (2009, 60-minutes) is their third, and a new high-water mark for the band. This is the classic American take on symphonic prog, executed with proficiency and class by seasoned musicians. Highlights include the instrumental Abstract Malady, on which Fred Schendal (Glass Hammer) guests, and the 19-minute Redemption.
Castle Canyon - Gods of 1973 ($9.99) Castle Canyon are an unknown early-1970’s American instrumental progressive rock band. Two short tracks on Gods of 1973 (2009) actually were recorded in 1973-74. Four were composed in 1973-74 but not recorded until 2008, and three are new but sound consistent with the others. There is some guitar, but this is keyboard-dominated symphonic prog using vintage sounds. While ELP is the most frequently-heard influence and Trace is often a good reference point, the music ranges wider than that and is fairly original, including some excellent impressionistic soundscapes. Close your eyes and imagine it’s a lost classic from 1973, because in a way it is.
Bondar & Wise - A Live Legacy ($10.99) This is the only existing recording of a previously-unknown American progressive duo from Michigan. Allen Bondar played Hammond B3 & C3, ARP 2600 and bass pedals, while Bob Wise played drums. The music of Bondar & Wise is instrumental and very ELP-influenced, with just as big a sound. This CD is of an early-1970’s concert that was originally recorded on reel-to-reel tape. The band spent 60 hours of studio time restoring it, and the sound is now quite good. This is wild, virtuosic progressive keyboard rock that, like the hair styles pictured in the booklet, is not likely to come back. In addition to the audio available on the Bondar & Wise MySpace page (mp3 icon above), here is an mp3 of the song Quintessence.
Planet P Project - Levittown: Go Out Dancing Part II ($13.99) 
Planet P Project - same ($13.99)Planet P Project is Tony Carey, one-time keyboardist for Rainbow, with help here and there from other musicians. While recording more commercial albums under his own name, he reserved the Planet P Project name for his progressive output, and his two Planet P Project albums in the 1980’s resulted in some chart success. This CD edition of the self-titled 1983 Planet P Project debut includes four bonus tracks, alternate versions of album tracks. “Their eponymous 1983 debut was defined by the synthesizer-laden style of the day with a nod to the progressive rock of the prior decade.” [All Music Guide] Pink World (1984), the second, was originally a double-LP and was often compared to Pink Floyd’s The Wall. These are the Renaissance Records editions.
1931, released in 2005, is the first part of a planned trilogy entitled Go Out Dancing. While some of the recording for this album dates back as early as 1992, it is a product of the 2000’s in terms of music technology. The subject matter of 1931 is the radical right, from the rise of Nazism to present conditions in the U.S. This is the ProgRock Records edition. Levittown (2008, 66-minutes) is Part 2, which uses post-WWII America as its departure point. These conceptual works will draw comparisons to Pink Floyd and Roger Waters’ work from The Wall on. They also exhibit a Peter Gabriel or Francis Dunnery flavor. Levittown in particular is an exceptional work that so far is getting overlooked -- try to locate a review of it on a prog rock review site.
The Tea Club - General Winter’s Secret Museum ($8.99) The Tea Club are a young band from New Jersey who play ‘modern’ progressive rock in the sense that, for the most part, they do it with only vocals, guitars, bass and drums, a la Oceansize and others. This naturally gives them a more alt-rock sound than a classic prog band. But they get a very full and varied sound that includes influences of King Crimson (all eras), Nektar, and Echolyn, full of the intricacies required of prog, unafraid to be delicate at times. The predominant mood is melancholy and slightly psychedelic. More keyboard pads could be added without rewriting the songs, but as it stands, this is a surprisingly good debut album, without any tracks we’d want to exclude for being non-prog. Here are lots of reviews.
The Source - Prickly Pear ($12.99)All Along This Land is the 2006 debut CD by a young Los Angeles prog band whose surprising sound is in many ways very early-1970’s retro, with elements that include early Yes, The Beatles, a little Pink Floyd and dreamy psychedelia. But beyond that, they don’t sound much like anyone else today. Much of their sound derives from the low-distortion jazz and country tones favored by guitarist Harrison Leonard, similar to Peter Banks and Steve Howe. Vocalist, principal songwriter, and keyboardist Aaron Goldich favors grand piano, with some Hammond and analog synth sounds. There’s a good balance of vocal and instrumental passages, and like any good prog album, there’s a five-part suite. Charming, to say the least. Read the DPRP review.
All Along This Land was a good start, but Prickly Pear (2009) is a significantly proggier and more ambitious album, with three epic length compositions. The Source’s sound is still early-70’s, with more Hammond and more electric guitar leads this time, everything taken up a couple notches. Amazing that this record has come out of Los Angeles in 2009. Here is an mp3 medley of excerpts from Prickly Pear. Read the DPRP review.
10T Records: Undercover ($12.99) This is a various artists tribute CD from the 10T Records stable. The songs are by King Crimson, A Perfect Circle, Led Zeppelin, Japan, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Duran Duran, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Kevin Gilbert. “The concept behind Undercover is simple. The label asked each of its artists to select a song by another artist that was influential in the development of their own musical identity; a composition that might not sound exactly like what that 10T Records artist has evolved into, but one that significantly inspired their creativity at some point in their musical past. The mission was then to not simply do a faithful cover of that song, but to reinterpret the tune such that it represented where the artists musically find themselves currently.” Read the reviews at Sea of Tranquility and Ytsejam.
TCP - The Way ($12.99) TCP, short for Temporal Chaos Project, are a promising new U.S. progressive band, a collaboration between several east coast musicians with a number of guests helping out on The Way (2009), their 74-minute debut. The music draws primarily from classic early 1970’s symphonic prog but doesn’t strongly resemble any one band. The dark, slightly Gabriel-esque vocals are one element that suggests early Genesis, and the keyboard sounds (mainly organ, piano, Mellotron strings) tend to be of that vintage. The music features extended instrumental passages with layers of keys and guitars over shifting and complex rhythms. OK, we cribbed some of that last sentence from the press release, but it’s accurate. The Way could be grouped with the first Deluge Grander CD. Read the DPRP review.
Zingale - The Bright Side ($12.99) Zingale are the most famous Israeli progressive rock band; their album Peace (recorded in 1975, released in 1977) is usually considered to be the best progressive rock album to have come out of that admittedly small scene. The Bright Side (57-minutes) is their 2009 comeback CD. Zingale now are founding members Ephraim Barak and Udi Tamir, both playing electric guitar, bass and keyboards as well as singing, with a new drummer. There was some Yes influence on Peace and there is even more on The Bright Side, but Zingale’s sound has changed, now more modern sounding, more reliant on synths, with a lot of sonic elements competing for space in the mix. Musically and spiritually though, Zingale still have their hearts in the 1970’s. Lyrics in English. The CD comes in a lightweight mini-LP sleeve and counts as only one-half CD for shipping. In addition to the audio clips on the band’s MySpace page (mp3 icon above), here is an mp3 of the song Sooner or Later.
Orphan Project - Spooning Out the Sea ($12.99) Maryland-based Orphan Project debuted in 2003 with Orphan Found and followed with a four-song EP in 2008. Spooning Out the Sea (2009) is their second full-length album. Orphan Project clearly fall into the ‘modern prog’ camp, meaning their music is really a blend of prog rock, contemporary rock and metal, with the mix greatly favoring heavy guitar over keyboards (though Orphan Project do have a dedicated keyboardist). Their greatest strength is the passionate and powerful lead vocals of Shane Lankford, while they also have a very good melodic sense and solid musicianship. As Progression magazine (issue 57) says: “These 10 mid-length tracks mine hard-edged progressive/symphonic rock that stops just shy of metal, due in part to its predominantly upbeat, positive tone.” Well, they could have applied the brakes earlier, as each track has some metal riffs and the tone is not without gloom; this will undoubtedly find its way onto countless metal review sites. But Spooning Out the Sea is sure to impress those who worship at the altar of Riverside and other contemporary heavy prog bands.
The Vital Might - Red Planet ($11.99) The Vital Might are a Boston-based guitar/bass/drums alt-prog trio with all members singing. This is the remastered edition of Red Planet (2009) on 10t Records, who describe it thusly: “On their second full-length CD Red Planet, The Vital Might’s unique sonic palette is on full display with a winning mixture of hard-hitting melody and monster chops that doesn’t shy away from mixing pop-rock with metal, funk with prog, and good old-fashioned songwriting with psychedelic breaks. Although the music on Red Planet has been compared to such modern trailblazers as Radiohead, The Mars Volta, and A Perfect Circle, Red Planet showcases a band that has fully come into its own as a powerful new voice that will soon be exerting its own influence on the modern progressive rock scene.” Read reviews here.
Elf Project - Mirage ($12.99) Mirage (2009) is the third CD by a U.S. prog band from New York State who get high marks for keeping melody and songcraft to the fore and for not going down the same well-beaten prog paths. There are a variety of influences at work here. The more energetic numbers come first, often resembling Rush with more keyboards and a (multi-tracked) Moody Blues vocal style, while a Yes influence is more apparent on some tracks. The latter part of the disc is more peaceful and mystical, with more acoustic textures, including a cover of The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood and a traditional Irish instrumental. A late-1960’s psychedelic vibe appears with the use of electric sitar within a song framework (as opposed to a rambling raga). But the album doesn’t sound retro, rather a creative modern work where different threads from earlier eras are woven into a compelling tapestry. Open your copies of Progression magazine Issue 55 to page 56 for a feature article on Elf Project, and read the reviews at Ytsejam.com and Sea of Tranquility for a better description than our lame tapestry metaphor.
Jolly - Forty-Six Minutes Twelve Seconds of Music ($13.99) Jolly is a New York City band signed to the Swiss Galileo label, whose albums are released in the U.S. on ProgRock Records. Jolly’s 2009 debut CD (46:12 for short) shows a modern dark and melancholy prog band in the vein of Riverside and, to a lesser extent, Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, Oceansize, et al. Jolly have the expected guitar-centric sound, but they do have a keyboardist, and the beauty is in the details behind and surrounding the aggressive guitars: keyboards providing elegant soundscapes and haunting ambiences, the intriguing melodies, the richly textured sound; in short, all the elements that make the modern prog style appealing.
Rare Blend - Sessions ($11.99) 
Rare Blend is a band from Cleveland playing killer instrumental fusion, very rock-oriented and frequently spilling over into progressive rock territory. A good clue to their music is their list of influences, which includes Tribal Tech, Santana, Steely Dan, Yes and Genesis. Cinefusion (1995) and Infinity (2000) were first, followed by Evolution Theory (2002), featuring a guitars/keys/bass/drums lineup, fusing symphonic prog with jazz-rock.
Stops Along the Way (2006, 60-minutes) is generally comparable to Evolution Theory. There are three live-in-the-studio improvisations in which Rare Blend come across as a progressive jam band. There are two tracks with (female) vocals from Bobbi Holt. These vocals are of the soulful/bluesy variety, so these two tracks are probably not going to be the highlight for prog fans. Rare Blend keep the tracks on this CD at six minutes or under, so even the improvs are not long-winded or rambling, making for an entertaining disc that can hit a lot of styles in its 13 tracks.
Rare Blend’s fifth CD Sessions (2009) is a 14-track disc of live instrumental recordings from stage and studio. Unlike their previous CDs, Sessions highlights Rare Blend’s ‘one takes’ and ‘in the moment’ jam-fusion instrumentals. It features new songs and improvisations from shows in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Baltimore, and studio improvs recorded at Odyssey Studios in Cleveland. Also included are selections from a taping for the Crooked River Groove television program as well as performances during their 2008 Bridging the Gap music/film series against the backdrop of such classic films as Phantom of the Opera and Metropolis. “Sessions varies from tasty fusion to spacey improv and occasional symphonic prog flourishes... While Samalot’s guitar shows occasional bite, these tracks exhibit the band’s knack for agreeable pacing and smart use of breathing space. In competently mining the heady realms of Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, etc., Rare Blend joins exclusive company.” [Progression] Also read the ProgNaut review.
OHMphrey - same ($15.99) OHMphrey is a band comprised of three members of proggy jam-band Umphrey’s McGee (keyboardist Joel Cummins, guitarist Jake Cinninger and drummer Kris Myers), OHM guitarist Chris Poland, and bassist Robertino Pagliari. The Magna Carta label describes their 2009 debut as “improv-heavy, a record that assimilates not only disparate musical genres but the individual playing styles of everyone involved. Fortunately for OHMphrey (and the rest of us), this project cuts against the grain in so many ways, not the least of which is by eschewing the pitfalls of modern production techniques in favor of a straight-ahead live recording setting. These extended instrumental jams are exciting and cohesive statements. The band seamlessly weaves together elements of metal, jazz, blues and prog rock.” Digipack.
Hour of the Shipwreck - The Hour is Upon Us ($10.99) The 2008 debut by this Los Angeles band is dark progressive rock with the modern aesthetic of grandiose melancholy, deeply mystic, frequently beautiful, and not quite like anything else. It touches upon the styles of Anekdoten and Radiohead, with fuzzy-around-the-edges vocals lending a surreal quality. There are many refined and delicate elements in these dense and unpredictable arrangements, revealing more detail upon each listen. In addition to the expected instrumentation, there is a large choir, 12-string guitar, pump organ, cello, French horn, glockenspiel, and more. With music this inventive, it’s essential to listen to the clips on the band’s MySpace page (mp3 icon above) and read the review excerpts there. Read the review at Ytsejam.com.
Jimmy Hotz - Beyond the Crystal Sea (CD-R, $9.99)This 1980 album is one of the great unsung American progressive rock records, and somewhat legendary among those actually aware of its existence. It was originally released on vinyl but was never easy to find. (If you want an LP, you can get one now for $100 at Hotz’s website.) Hotz has been selling these for $15 on his website and at CDBaby, priced even higher on other sites, most of which don’t mention that this is a CD-R. The cover looks good, the rest of the printing is not at a professional level. The audio however sounds great -- buy this for the music, not the physical package. Hotz sings, plays guitar, and shares keyboard and bass duties with several other musicians, while still other musicians handle drums and backing vocals. The major influence here is Yes, though Hotz’s voice is in a more typical range than Jon Anderson’s. There is a good balance between keys and guitar, with some fantastic synth work. Apparently it’s a Christian album, but unless you sit down and read the lyrics (which don’t come with the CD), you’re unlikely to be aware of it. CDBaby has audio samples and more info. The good people at jimmyhotz.com will replace discs that mistrack at any time for free.
Echo Us - The Tide Decides ($15.99) This is the 2009 second album by Echo Us, the work of Ethan Matthews, keyboardist of American prog-metal band Greyhaven. However, the music of Echo Us bears little resemblance to Greyhaven. Instead it is a beautiful blend of progressive rock and new age, with Matthews on keyboards, electric guitar and vocals, and other musicians contributing harp, viola, bass and drums. The term ‘new age’ can mean different things; here we refer to the more musical side of new age represented by Andreas Vollenweider, a good reference given the harp and preponderance of plucked sounds and the overall mood. The more Asian-sounding samples also suggest Vangelis circa China. But the new age elements are integrated into vocal progressive rock songs that include occasional heavy guitar riffs. Our one criticism is that, over a playing time of 69-minutes, there is room for more variation in tempo and mood, but otherwise this is an original style, and very well done.
Fractal - Sequitur ($11.99) Sequitur (2009, digipack) is the second full-length CD for Fractal, a prog rock quartet from San Jose, California whose members include two Americans, one Brit and one Dutchman. The San Francisco Bay area bands have tended toward the more adventurous, less conservative side of prog, and Fractal are no exception. As the band says, Sequitur both compares and contrasts with their first CD Continuum – the repertoire is still rife with odd and compound-meter riffs, metric manipulation and complex song structures, but adds vocal, lyrical and contextual dimensions since the instrumental trio debut. It de-emphasizes improvisation in favor of composition and conceptual cohesion. King Crimson is the biggest influence, but Fractal stretch well beyond that. Significantly, there are varied, symphonic textures that elevate this above guitar-only bands. Adventurous and innovative yes, but structured, musical, and with one foot in classic prog. Read reviews here. 66-minutes.
Aethellis - Aethellis remastered ($8.99) Aethellis is a Baltimore-area progressive rock band, but this CD was recorded solo circa 2003 by bandleader Ellsworth Hall, the band assembled later for touring. This is the 2008 remastered edition. This sounds like the album Tony Banks should have made after A Curious Feeling. In fact a lot of this would fit well on Genesis’ 1980s albums as proggier pieces. The Aethellis album is keyboard-dominated (though there is electric guitar), and there is some Banksian playing and chord progressions, but like Banks’ albums, the emphasis is more on songwriting. And Hall is a quality singer. Whereas Banks headed off in a pure pop direction, Aethellis maintains a good balance between pop songwriting and progressive rock. All but one track exceeds seven minutes, and the nearly 12-minute Final Affinity is darker and requires no qualifiers; it’s just prog rock. Oh, and the chorus of Saint Augustus is a mind worm. The CD comes in a cardboard sleeve and counts as only one-half CD for shipping. Read reviews here.
Ancient Vision - Lost at Sea ($15.99) The American band Ancient Vision released two Jethro Tull-influenced CDs in the early 1990s. After 15 years, the band resurfaced with the original lineup and a new CD Lost at Sea (2008). This work is much more eclectic and diverse. The Tull influence can still be heard at times, but there are also similarities to Camel, Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, and Kansas. All of these are just approximations though. While the music remains faithful to the 1970s progressive rock aesthetic, it is not a retro album. The use of plucked sounds, Celtic folk, and ethereal female voice may suggest Clannad; in any event, such touches take the music into more original territory. This is Ancient Vision’s best and most mature album.
Product - Earth ($9.99) 
Product is primarily the work of Arman Christoff Boyles (vocals, guitar, keys), with help from Scott Rader (drums, bass) and guests. Their first CD On Water (2000) tells a surreal story from the viewpoint of a drowning young sailor, set against the backdrop of the American Revolution. The level of originality is high; the closest comparisons are Porcupine Tree, No-Man, and Hogarth-era Marillion, specifically their moodier tracks. Vocally, Boyles has a deep voice with some suggestions of Peter Gabriel and some of Steve Hogarth’s style. Songs usually start off in acoustic singer-songwriter mode, with dry, close-miked vocals, then blossom into lush, majestic progressive rock. A wealth of subtle production effects warrants repeated listens. There’s a Ring of Myth connection, as Danny Flores contributes bass, classical guitar, and mandolin, and Scott Rader is currently the Ring of Myth drummer. One customer described this as “brilliant... the album Porcupine Tree hasn’t made yet”.
Product’s 2003 second CD Aire is currently out-of-print, but the band plans to reissue it. Their third CD The Fire (2005, 63-minutes), released by the British Cyclops label, is based on the life of Nero and restores some of the fire that was missing from Aire. This album sounds like a meeting of Hogarth-era Marillion and Pink Floyd with touches of King Crimson, generally quite dark and moody as always. Product complete their water/air/fire/earth tetralogy in grand style with Earth (2008, 67-minutes), their most fully-realized work. Earth is based on the life of Nikola Tesla and reflects on our relationship with technology. Read the DPRP review.
Jack Foster III - JazzRaptor’s Secret ($12.99) SALE!
Jack Foster III - Evolution of JazzRaptor ($13.99) Jack Foster III’s third CD Tame Until Hungry (2007, digipack) is billed as “Jack Foster III with Trent Gardner and Robert Berry”. Trent Gardner is of course Magellan’s mastermind, and Robert Berry should be well-known from his stint with Emerson and Palmer in the short-lived 3, his solo albums, and working with most of the acts on the Magna Carta label during the 1990’s. These three musicians are of like mind, and although Foster is firmly in control here, the result will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Magellan and Robert Berry, and probably Spock’s Beard as well. Tame Until Hungry also suggests a John Wetton who had been born later; Foster’s music is more contemporary and higher energy than Wetton’s, with far fewer ballads. There is a serious singing and songwriting talent at work here, and fortunately for us, Foster frames his songs in adventurous arrangements. There is a strong pop/rock sensibility, surrounded by plenty of symphonic prog elements. 61-minutes. Read the DPRP and Prognaut reviews.
Gardner also produced, arranged, and played on (keys, vocals, percussion) all of Foster’s first album Evolution of JazzRaptor (2004). It was recorded at Robert Berry’s studio, and Berry plays on almost every track (bass, drums, guitar). Ignore the word “jazz” in the title. It’s a very good album that covers a lot of territory and integrates it all into a proggy whole. As with Tame..., Spock’s Beard fans as well as Magellan fans will probably enjoy this album a lot. This is the Musea edition.
On Raptorgnosis (2005, 62-minutes), Foster again gets a lot of help from Trent Gardner and Robert Berry. This one is less progressive, coming closest to 1990’s Rush, with a bit of early Chicago here, a bit of Queen there, that sort of thing. As you’d expect from these guys, it’s very professional and competent, but more of an energetic AOR album than a symphonic progressive one.
Jack Foster III’s 2008 CD JazzRaptor’s Secret again features Robert Berry on every track and Trent Gardner on all but two tracks. This one is as good as contemporary American-style progressive rock gets. Think of Echolyn with some latter-day Yes stirred in and you’ll be very close. Many prog fans will pass on albums that are under an individual’s name while snapping up albums by, say, Magellan, though Magellan is no more and no less a band than Jack Foster III is. And this album sounds every bit as much like a band as Echolyn does. So at this stage, prog fans ignore Jack Foster III at their own peril. What else can we say, JazzRaptor’s Secret is really, really good!
John Orr Franklin - Transformation ($11.99) Transformation (2009, digipack) is the second CD for guitarist/singer/songwriter John Orr Franklin from Austin, Texas. Franklin also adds keyboards and bass and is assisted by other musicians on bass, drums, and backing vocals. His guitar style is close to David Gilmour’s, and Transformation is a melodic progressive rock album that may remind listeners of Gilmour’s solo albums at times, with a predominance of songs rather than instrumentals, the work of a guitarist more interested in establishing himself as a songwriter. The Gilmour style is blended with something resembling The Alan Parsons Project or Duncan Browne, that end-of-the-1970s aesthetic (though there are modern elements), rhythmically straightforward but with world class songwriting. Many of the songs here have exceptional choruses, and the two instrumentals are gorgeous, concise symphonic rock pieces. The production is excellent. There are prog fans who won’t give consideration to a CD under an individual’s name unless the individual is from a well-known band, regardless of how an album was actually recorded; in this case it’s their loss.
Deluge Grander - The Form of the Good ($12.99) 
Deluge Grander sprung from the ashes of Baltimore progressive band Cerebus Effect. It was the addition of keyboardist Dan Britton that made the final Cerebus Effect CD their most symphonic, and on their 2006 debut August in the Urals, Deluge Grander continue in that same direction, more symphonic and, well, grander. Britton is the primary composer here, and he is a tremendous keyboardist. The pieces vary from long to really long, so that only five tracks comprise the 71-minute CD. No one will be able to digest this music in one go. It is complex symphonic prog in a 1970’s style, with some vocals but no attempts at songs per se, as instrumental content clearly dominates. The 27-minute first track is the closest to Cerebus Effect, the most angular and dissonant of the pieces, though the dissonance is used more for contrast than as the sole style. The other tracks are more melodic and symphonic. There are many possible reference points, including King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Fireballet, Genesis, and Yes, but the music rarely suggests any other band for long. There are times when Britton’s piano playing suggests John Tout and Renaissance, times when his organ playing suggests Rick Wakeman, and lots of times when he uses Mellotron strings. This album has turned a lot of heads among the fan base for classic progressive rock.
Birds and Buildings is Dan Britton’s other band and is fairly similar. The two bands also share a bass player. Bantam to Behemoth (2008, 69-minutes) has some vocals by Britton and a female singer on one track, but they are so buried in the mix that this still feels like an instrumental CD. The major difference between this and Deluge Grander is the presence of a woodwinds (sax, flute, clarinet) player in the band. The flute tends to be used in the gentler, pastoral passages, while the sax is used in the more energetic passages. The sax style is similar to David Jackson or Mel Collins, ranging from melodic to frenzied. The presence of sax leads to comparisons with King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator, and Gong, and there is more of a Canterbury influence here than in Deluge Grander. There are still gobs of Mellotron strings and choir, and highly-skilled ensemble playing. The production is a little bass-shy, but overall this is a tremendous CD in the tradition of the complex side of British symphonic progressive.
The Birds and Building CD was recorded between the two Deluge Grander CDs, and the second Deluge Grander CD The Form of the Good (2009) seems to have more in common with Bantam to Behemoth than August in the Urals, perhaps not surprising given that B&B’s woodwind player guests here. The Form of the Good is entirely instrumental and has more of the sonic maelstrom approach of the French band Clearlight. Here the core quartet of keys/guitar/bass/drums in augmented by a large number of guests contributing clarinet, flute, sax, violin, cello, trumpet, trombone, and oboe. Clearlight had Didier Malherbe’s woodwinds and either David Cross’s or Didier Lockwood’s violin, so Deluge Grander usually have a sonic counterpart to those in the mix here. As with B&B, this is blended with a more symphonic style highlighted by Mellotron.
Cerebus Effect - Acts of Deception ($12.99) That’s how this band spell their name, even though the three-headed watchdog Cerberus appears on the traycard. Acts of Deception (2005) is the second studio CD for this Baltimore-area instrumental band. There is a small amount of “vocals”, but it is not singing as we understand it, and the vocals are very low in the mix. With the addition of keyboardist Dan Britton, Acts of Deception contains a unique blend of symphonic progressive and heavy fusion. Cerebus Effect like to play it fast and furious and in odd time signatures. They’ve been listening to their progressive rock, and you can catch influences of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Djam Karet, Volaré, Happy the Man, Kultivator, Van der Graaf Generator, Magma, and Genesis, to name just a few. Actually, the Genesis and Magma occur in the same song, which is typical of their eclecticism. The tracks that won’t allow you to catch your breath are broken up by a few more peaceful tracks, one suggestive of Steve Hackett’s acoustic pieces and another of Happy the Man’s slower tracks. There are enough bands that impress with technical skills while making for a fatiguing listen, but Cerebus Effect blend in enough structure and symphonic textures to make this an album to return to.
The Fractured Dimension - Towards the Mysterium ($9.99) Toward the Mysterium (2008, 60-minutes) is the debut by an American band of musical mad scientists, playing intricate instrumental progressive rock and symphonic fusion on the avant-garde side. The musicianship is high caliber, with synths and piano to the fore, giving the band a symphonic sound. It’s not only the playing that is dazzling in its complexity, but the compositions themselves, which are highly structured and influenced by contemporary classical. As the band describe themselves: “not technical for the sake of being technical, but extremely musical for the sake of transcending normality”. Frank Zappa would be impressed. Note there may have once been a CD-R version of this, but this is a replicated CD. Read the Proggnosis review.
The Other Side - A Higher Vantage Point ($11.99) The Other Side are a Colorado instrumental progressive trio led by composer/keyboardist/saxophonist Alan Mallery, who is also a member of the fusion band Zed. The other members of The Other Side play bass and drums, so this is classic keyboard progressive rock. The first song blends Egg and Happy the Man. The second song is Genesis style, joyous and bombastic. Later tracks introduce an American fusion-tinged style, a little ELP, a little heaviness, and so it goes. The final track is dedicated to Peter Bardens and has a strong Camel feel. The Genesis symphonic style is probably the strongest of the various influences. Mallery uses piano, organ and Mellotron, but doesn’t restrict himself to retro sounds -- the variety of keyboard sounds is one of the album’s strong points. The sax is used sparingly but is always played melodically. Certainly a contender for best keyboard prog album of 2008.
Zed - You Are Here ($11.99) The Colorado-based fusion quartet Zed includes guitarist Scott Cleland, also a member of prog band Singularity, saxophonist/keyboardist Alan Mallery, also a member of The Other Side, bassist Jeff Smith and drummer Ian Keldin. You Are Here (2008) is Zed’s debut, on which they play Weather Report-style fusion. Lightweight digipack, counts as only one-half CD for shipping.
3RDegree - Narrow-Caster ($11.99) 
Narrow-Caster is the 2008 CD from New Jersey progressive rock band 3RDegree, whose first CD was 1996’s Human Interest Story CD, following a 1993 cassette-only release. 3RDegree disbanded in 1997 but reformed more recently, finding their new singer and playing their first live shows in over ten years at the NJ Proghouse in 2007. The DVD+2CD The Reunion Concerts (counts as 1.5 CDs for shipping) contains their traditional electric show plus an unplugged show. The show was recorded in 1080i HD (downres’d for the DVD) and 24-bit audio (downres’d for the CDs), 16:9 widescreen. These are recordable CDs and DVDs housed in an Amaray case. The DVD is NTSC, all-region and includes some behind-the-scenes and interview footage.
Narrow-Caster is a contemporary-sounding prog rock record, with some similarities to Echolyn or Izz. While lead singer George Dobbs has a voice that reminds us of Dave Lawson of Greenslade (though Dobbs is a better singer), 3RDegree’s greatest strength may be their Yes-like harmony vocals. The result is sometimes similar to the band Ring of Myth -- 3RDegree use more keyboards and are more melodic but lack the Howe-like guitar. Narrow-Caster comes in a lightweight “Eco-Wallet” and counts as only one-half CD for shipping. Read reviews at DPRP, Sea of Tranquility, The Prog Files, USA Progressive Music, and Rock Report. Human Interest Story (72-minutes) is also an excellent album of Ameri-prog, sounding like a cross between Rush and Echolyn.
Electric Forgiveness - Echoes & Booms ($12.99) While recording keyboard tracks for the band Third of Never, The Who keyboardist John “Rabbit” Bundrick began a collaboration with Third of Never guitarist Jon Dawson. They brought in Jeremy Morris of Pilgrim’s Journey and Celestial City fame to play guitar on many of the tracks of this 2008 CD. The resulting material is nothing like Third of Never or The Who. What it is like is Porcupine Tree’s Voyage 34, flowing spacey instrumental tracks where progressive rock meets electronica, with similar found vocals from an old record about LSD or something. Call it Voyage 34A, another great trip. The song titles also provide clues to their inspirations, e.g., Tangerine Dreams, Gilmour Was Pink, Eno the Disco, Valentine from a Porcupine, Syd Barrett Blues, Dark Side of the Sun, and an alternate mix of the last song referred to as the “Looking for Hackett mix”. 77-minutes.
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.
Hermetic Science - These Fragments I Have Shored Against My Ruins ($15.99) Ed Macan is the author of Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture, the definitive scholarly tome on progressive rock, and Endless Enigma: A Musical Biography of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. He also has his band Hermetic Science, who released their first three CDs between 1997-2001. Macan’s biggest influence seems to be Keith Emerson, especially harmonically.
These Fragments... is the 2008 Hermetic Science CD, their first for Musea, and their first studio album since En Route in 2001. Paul Whitehead provided the cover art. Here Macan divides his time between piano, Hammond, mallet percussion, and synths, with Jason Hoopes on bass and six-string guitars and Angelique Curry on drums. The music is sophisticated classical rock, with ELP still the closest reference. The difference is in the execution and feel. ELP sound like a rock band when they play classical-rock, whereas Hermetic Science perform it more in the manner of classical music, with a feel closer to that of a chamber ensemble.
Emily Bezar - Exchange ($12.99) 
Emily Bezar’s music is breathtaking, magical, and defies categorization. As Exposé magazine said, “Bezar is a genre unto herself”. Emily is a northern Californian who spent time living in Europe. It’s impossible not to think of Kate Bush when hearing Emily sing. She is a classically-trained pianist, and her virtuoso piano playing is at the center of her music along with her incredible voice, which has similarities to Kate’s but is more operatic. While Emily’s music flirts with pop, it is much more progressive and less pop-oriented than Kate’s. But each of her albums is distinct, making it difficult to generalize about them. Her 1993 debut Grandmother’s Tea Leaves (out-of-print) was her most intimate and, at times, experimental, but the style established here is at the core of all her following albums. Emily formed a band (adding guitar/bass/drums) to record Moon in Grenadine (1996) and Four Walls Bending (1999). Her bandmates are also stellar players. Of her first four albums, Four Walls Bending is the most (progressive) rock-oriented.
Angels’ Abacus (2004) is a long one at 73-minutes. Here she uses a varying lineup of musicians rather than the fixed band of the previous two albums, and there are more electronic textures. While it isn’t as rock-oriented as the previous album, Angels’ Abacus is more sophisticated and ambitious. As Emily describes it, “This is music as architecture, as crystalline objects in time, with no agenda but its own sensual and complex beauty.” Is it progressive rock? To our way of thinking it is, but every genre from fusion to cabaret to rock will undoubtedly want to claim Emily as their own. The production and recording quality are exceptional, and this CD as well as Four Walls Bending are HDCD-encoded.
Patience pays off, as Emily’s 2008 album Exchange (72-minutes) is stunning, merging all aspects of her previous work into her most progressive album and perhaps the most live-sounding. On this CD, Emily again has a more than capable band with her, including saxes, trumpet, trombone, violin and cello in addition to guitar, bass and drums. There is a lot of jazz influence in the sophisticated harmonic vocabulary, but the result is closer to Hatfield and the North than jazz per se. Emotionally these songs have a depth and intimacy that reminds one of Peter Gabriel, but with feminine rather than masculine energy. Kate Bush is the better pop songstress, but Emily’s work is musically more intricate and challenging. Forget about pretenders like Tori Amos – that is pop, this is art.
Moth Vellum - same ($12.99) Moth Vellum’s 2008 debut CD (digipack) introduces a Los Angeles-based symphonic prog quartet heavily influenced by Yes and committed to classic 1970’s progressive aesthetics, albeit with modern production. They resemble Yes both vocally and instrumentally, often using similar guitar and bass tones as Howe and Squire, and generally staying near the Wakeman keyboard style, Mellotron washes included. There’s enough room in the Yes universe to fit several bands heavily influenced by Yes that sound little like each other, as for example no one will confuse Moth Vellum with Starcastle. There’s also a little Genesis in Moth Vellum’s style. Six tracks cover the 58-minutes of this CD that will surely excite many prog fans. For a genre that was supposed to be long dead, there sure is a lot of activity.
Days Between Stations - same ($13.99) This is the 2007 debut CD by Days Between Stations, a Los Angeles band formed by guitarist Sepand Samzadeh and keyboardist Oscar Fuentes, with a large number of other musicians assisting. The music is instrumental (with some wordless vocals), certainly influenced by mid-period Pink Floyd but more surreal, ambient, and cinematic. Some of the material could be compared to so-called post rock bands such as Godspeed You Black Emperor, and there are many other progressive elements as well. The lush soundscapes and rich sonic detail reveal an uncommon talent. Read the Proggnosis and Sea of Tranquility reviews, or just see this compilation of reviews. Also see the feature article on Days Between Stations in Progression Issue 54 (Summer 2008) for more info. 56-minutes, digipack.
Rich Casey - Shadowblack ($11.99) 
Boston’s (the city, not the band) Rich Casey has quietly been producing some stellar keyboard-dominated symphonic prog CDs, and making steady progress with each release. No Way Out, Casey’s 2006 debut, divides its time between progressive rock and symphonic/melodic/rhythmic synth music. Apart from a drummer who plays on three tracks, a female singer on one track and a soprano sax player on another, this is Casey’s show. While it’s a keyboard-dominated album, Casey also plays electric guitar on nearly half the tracks. His primary influence is Tony Banks, and even the synth music tracks often sound like Tony Banks doing solo synth music. 69-minutes.
House of Cards (2007, 59-minutes) is a keyboard-centric progressive rock album and is more band-oriented than his first CD. Casey still handles keys and electric guitar but has brought in a drummer on seven of the tracks, a female singer on five tracks, a male singer on one, and a guest guitarist. 1970’s Genesis/Tony Banks remains the dominant influence, while a few tracks have more of a Goblin or Il Balletto di Bronzo feel.
Shadowblack (2008, digipack) is Casey’s best to date. There are two tracks with vocals by Gabrielle Agachiko; the rest is instrumental. His other guests are Walter Stickle (guitar solos, sax solo) and Tony Caliendo (drums) from Pink Floyd tribute band Pink Voyd. The aforementioned influences are also present on this album, along with one excellent Tangerine Dream-ish track. Some beautiful Mellotron strings and choir on this one. “Dark, atmospheric explorations is the name of the game here. Symphonic layers with a focus on mood exploration in mostly slow-paced compositions is the main feature throughout, more often than not setting up multiple layered pompous sonic tapestries with one dominant and one or two additional underscoring melodic layers. Bass and drums provide rhythms, acoustic and electric guitars are added sparingly; the latter mostly in the form of atmospheric guitar soloing. Nothing really complex on this production, but fans of symphonic rock inspired by Genesis of old, and in particular those enjoying music in this style at its most lush and mellow, may find this one intriguing, especially if dark, melancholic moods are of general interest.” [Prog Archives]
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.
Pravda - Walking Through Walls ($8.99) Pravda are an American progressive band from Boise, Idaho whose two CDs are quite different from each other. Their 2003 debut The Echoing Sounds has vocals on the majority of tracks. There is a mix of symphonic prog and classic rock here, but the instrumental content is stronger than the vocals; the vocals just seem to be holding the music back. Which may be why Pravda abandoned vocals entirely on their 2006 second CD Walking Through Walls. Here they are more focused and aggressive, with guitar playing a larger role, while the rough production edges of their debut have been smoothed out. They are also heavier here, inviting comparisons to Liquid Tension Experiment or Djam Karet. There is little improvisation or jamming though, as everything sounds structured. One could also mention Rush, Umphrey’s McGee, and Dream Theater. There may actually be more symphonic keyboards on The Echoing Sounds, though unevenly distributed, but Walking Through Walls is the better progressive rock album.
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, Giant for an Hour (2006, 79-minutes) and A Reflection (2008, 77-minutes) are the third and fifth in a series that began in 2004. The other CDs in the series 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. These aren’t just for Gentle Giant fans then but for most prog rock fans, two excellent prog albums that stand on their own. Both were 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.” More info on this series can be found here.
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.
Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart - Earth Born ($17.99) 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).
Alien Injection (2008, 79-minutes) is their fourth CD, released on the Black Widow label. It is heavier than the previous Spirits Burning album Found in Nature, with vocals on many of the tracks. Read the Aural Innovations and Sea of Tranquility reviews.
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) 
Paranoise - Private Power ($12.99) Paranoise are the Deep Forest of heavy progressive rock. On eight of Private Power’s (1999) twelve tracks, the vocals are sampled artists from third-world cultures. Paranoise have reharmonized and rearranged these for western ears, and of course added aggressive rock timbres and rhythms. They also throw some ethnic instruments into the mix, creating one of the first progressive world rock albums. The prog rock underlying it all stands on its own, solid and infectious, dominated by guitar and violin and owing a debt to King Crimson. It’s the ever-present violin that elevates it from the ordinary to the extraordinary. All in all, a great idea that works, and unlikely to sound quite like anything you’ve heard before.
Ishq perfects the style established on Private Power. This one is simply astounding, as the band take traditional songs from Morocco, Afghanistan, Kenya, Bulgaria, and elsewhere and turn them into powerful progressive rock. In addition to the sampled vocals, Paranoise add their own vocals, including an appearance by a Slavic singing group from Yale. Several guest musicians on various percussion instruments shift some of the tracks into rhythmic overdrive. Even if you have no interest in “world music” per se, keep in mind that Paranoise is to world music as progressive rock is to ordinary rock.
Paranoise is now Mawwal. Black Flies (2007) is a further development of Paranoise, not as heavy but just as energetic, and probably more melodic. The ethnic percussion is stronger, but the major addition is the ensemble female vocals. Percy Jones (Brand X) plays bass on most of the tracks. For fans of Peter Gabriel’s brand of world music, Mawwal should be the next step, as this is the most advanced fusion of Middle Eastern and western progressive music we’ve heard. Percy Jones also appears on several tracks on the second Mawwal CD This Is All There Is, There Is No Other Place (2008), which continues the trend toward more acoustic timbres, ethnic percussion and vocals, at the expense of the rock side which was more dominant in Paranoise.
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.)
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) out-of-stock 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.
Invisigoth - Narcotica ($12.99) Narcotica (2008, 70-minutes), the second album from this New York State duo, is a big step forward from their debut. 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.
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.
Jordan Rudess - The Road Home ($16.99) 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.
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, and the production quality has improved with each CD. While the music still resembles Spock’s Beard or Echolyn at times, here it 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.
Canvas - Digital Pigeon ($11.99) American progressive rock band Canvas debuted in 2002 with the double-CD Avenues (currently out-of-print), about which we wrote: The band has a quintessential American 1970’s style, sometimes close to the U.S. Now or Under the Big Tree, though there are also occasional similarities to early Camel. You might even call some of this an American Canterbury style, in that it is slightly jazz inflected, has a generally relaxed vibe, and eschews bombast and drama. There is also a folk element in the vocal tracks, especially where acoustic guitar is prominent, probably owing something to both America and Kansas. Not all of the songs are out-and-out progressive, but at worst they are an intelligent, non-commercial pop with quality vocals, some reminiscent of the band Café Jacques (anyone remember them?). When Canvas do play out-and-out progressive, the results are very good, especially during instrumental passages. Perhaps if Steely Dan or Phish decided to play progressive rock, the result would sound something like this.
Digital Pigeon (2007) is a stronger sophomore effort, with more overt progressive stylings, though the essential style is the same, a blend of symphonic prog and a 1970’s pop/rock aesthetic. The band is strengthened by the presence of Greg Lounsberry (Laserdogs) on several tracks, contributing both vocals and guitar, and the addition of brass on a few tracks. The album is 77 minutes long, and of the 14 tracks, one is a cover of Saga’s Catwalk and one is Jaco Pastorius’ Teen Town.
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. Those albums are all out-of-print.
The 60-minute Mysterium Magnum (2006) 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.
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.
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.
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.
Carlton Walker - Avery: A Rock Opera ($12.99) Yup, it’s a rock opera. Avery is the 2007 creation of Carlton Walker from Tennessee, who assembled a full band to realize this 74-minute CD, the instrumentation including keyboards, electric & acoustic guitars, bass, drums, flute, violin, viola, cello and mandolin. Walker lists his influences succinctly as Peter Gabriel, Genesis, and The Who, and given that Walker’s singing voice is fairly Gabriel-esque, it’s easy to feel the Gabriel/Genesis influence. But Avery is executed differently, with the strings and other acoustic instruments having a big impact on the sound and style, perhaps Genesis in an alternate (less British, for one) reality. As Walker puts it, “Take one disc from Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and one disc from The Who’s Quadrophenia and shuffle them. I wore out several copies of both those albums and they’re still rotating in my brain.” No one is suggesting that Avery is the equal of those albums, but you get the idea. The Who influence manifests on a couple tracks where you can hear those characteristic power chords. The Avery story is a self-referential one, about a guy who writes a rock opera (based on the medieval morality play Everyman).
Matthew Parmenter - Horror Express ($13.99) 
Discipline - Push & Profit ($13.99) Matthew Parmenter is known for his narrative songwriting and costumed performances as front-man for the band Discipline, who have rightly been hailed as the American Van der Graaf Generator, and Parmenter as the American Peter Hammill. The first album under his own name, the 68-minute Astray (2004) is decidedly psychedelic in atmosphere and striking in its early 1970’s British vibe. Parmenter’s voice is smoother than Hammill’s and Astray is much more of a progressive rock album than any Hammill solo album. Parmenter was the main creative force in Discipline and came to dominate the band more and more, so in all important respects, this is the third Discipline studio album. Parmenter shows he is quite capable of handling the guitar and drums in addition to all the instruments he covered in Discipline. Discipline bassist Mathew Kennedy appears throughout the CD, the sole guest musician. Parmenter is modestly credited with “vocals, et cetera”, which includes piano, guitar, drums, saxophone, violin, organ, synthesizers, marimba, Theremin, and Mellotron. While Van der Graaf is the dominant influence, especially on the magnificent 21-minute finale Modern Times, there is also a substantial Pink Floyd influence as well as King Crimson circa 1973.
Parmenter handles everything on Horror Express (2008, 63-minutes): keyboards, violin, cello, guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, and of course vocals. The result is again very much like a full band and more suggestive of Peter Hammill than ever before. But while voice and piano are often at the core of the songs -- Parmenter plays an 1880 Steinway piano throughout -- this is like a Peter Hammill solo album with all Van der Graaf Generator musicians playing on it. As with Astray, Horror Express is much more of a progressive rock album, much more orchestrated than most Hammill albums. A world-class work. There are in-depth reviews at Progscape.com and DPRP.
Unfolded Like Staircase (1997, 65-minutes) is the second and superior of the two Discipline studio CDs, boasting three nearly 15-minute songs including the brilliant Canto IV (Limbo) as well as the 22-minute epic Into the Dream. Majestic and dramatic, it varies from soft and brooding to confident and aggressive, a classic of 1990’s progressive rock. While Unfolded Like Staircase is their masterpiece, Push & Profit (1993) is no slouch. In addition to the nascent Hammill/Van der Graaf influence, there are elements of Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Caravan. Discipline manage to sound British without it sounding like an affectation and without cloning anyone’s style. Check our DVDs page for the Discipline Live 1995 DVD.
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.
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) out-of-stock 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.
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, 68-minutes) 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. Note the disc is a CD-R while the disc label, booklet and traycard are professional quality.
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.
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.
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.
Amaran’s Plight - Voice in the Light ($13.99) 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.
Steve Unruh - Challenging Gravity ($11.99) 
Steve Unruh - Out of the Ashes ($11.99) 
Steve Unruh - The Beginning of a New Day ($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. This is the 2009 remastered and expanded edition, which adds four tracks.
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. This is the 2009 remastered edition, which adds a 6:21 bonus track.
Unruh’s describes Song to the Sky (2005, 62-minutes) 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. 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.
Challenging Gravity (2010, 51-minutes) continues the style of The Great Divide in a more song-oriented direction (no 36-minute suites), though there are still only two tracks under 5:30. The electric bass gets a waiver, otherwise it’s all acoustic: vocals, acoustic guitars, violin, flute, and drum kit. It is again acoustic progressive rock with strong singer-songwriter and American folk aspects, and weighty lyrics. The album has Unruh’s trademark dynamics shifts and odd time signatures, the sound so big during the high-energy passages that it’s easy to forget you’re listening to acoustic instruments. Here is a 3:28 mp3 album sampler.
Wetton • Downes - Icon II: Rubicon ($13.99) |     |
White - White ($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.
Derek Sherinian - Molecular Heinosity ($15.99) 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. Black Utopia (2003, digipack) features Steve Lukather, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Al DiMeola, Jerry Goodman, Tony Franklin, Simon Phillips, and Billy Sheehan.
Spock’s Beard - Live DVD ($17.99) out-of-stockSpock’s Beard - Live 2CD ($16.99) |           |
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.
Neal Morse - So Many Roads (3CD, $19.99) |       |
Transatlantic - SMPT:e ($14.99) SMPT:e (2000) is the album that started it all for Transatlantic, the prog rock supergroup of one-time Spock’s Beard leader Neal Morse, The Flower Kings’ Roine Stolt, Marillion’s Pete Trewavas, and Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy. This is the Radiant Records / Metal Blade edition.
Iona - The Circling Hour ($15.99) |        |
Dave Bainbridge - Veil of Gossamer ($15.99) out-of-stock 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, 64-minutes) 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.
Troy Donockley & Dave Bainbridge - When Worlds Collide ($17.99) Troy Donockley and Dave Bainbridge are members of the band Iona (at the time of this CD anyway). 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 - The Madness of Crowds ($15.99) 
Troy Donockley may be best known to progressive rock fans for his time in 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, Karnataka, 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.
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. 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.
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.
Troy’s third solo CD The Madness of Crowds (2009) comes in a fat digipack plus slipcase, but it folds out into an 18-panel piece of art that must have cost a fortune to manufacture. The cast includes Joanne Hogg (Iona), Nick Holland (Maddy Prior’s band), Brad Lang, Frank van Essen (Iona), Rosie Biss, Barbara Dickson, Heather Findlay (Mostly Autumn), as well as a quintet of harp, oboe, clarinet, flute, and bassoon. This is again cinematic Celtic progressive rock: atmospheric, majestic, sublime, and nearly unique. In some ways, this is an extension of what Clannad had begun circa 1983, taken into more classical and progressive realms. “If any modern music can shake off the ravages of fashion and hark back to a time when music was created and listened to as Art rather than as commodity and accessory, then by definition this does precisely that... the essence of that ‘lost world’.” Read reviews here.
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King: Original Master Ed. ($13.99) |            |
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.
Nektar - Book of Days ($14.99) |    |
Porcupine Tree - The Incident (2CD, $15.99) |                     |
Glass Hammer - Three Cheers for the Brokenhearted ($12.99) |           |
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.
IQ - The Wake: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition 3CD+DVD box ($39.99)Along with Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws, IQ’s The Wake (1985) is the best album to come out of the 1980’s progressive revival in the UK. This 2010 boxset includes three CDs and a DVD. The first CD contains the 2010 remaster of The Wake. The second and third CDs are chock full of bonus tracks, including demo versions, outtakes, rough and alternate mixes, a BBC Friday Rock Show session, and a live track. The DVD contains a 47-minutes live show from 1984, the oldest existing footage of IQ; album commentary from Paul Cook, Peter Nicholls and Mike Holmes recorded in April 2010; multitrack files for Corners for remixers; and another 2.5 hours worth of mp3 files of writing sessions, unused ideas, demos, and contemporary interviews. The 60-page full-color booklet features an in-depth account of the making of the album, illustrated with rare photographs and contributions from all band members. There is also a double-sided poster featuring the album artwork and memorabilia. Counts as 2 CDs for shipping.
IQ - Frequency Sp. Ed. (CD+DVD, $17.99) out-of-stock 
IQ - The Lost Attic ($14.99)
IQ - Forever Live (2CD, $17.99)
IQ - Are You Sitting Comfortably? ($13.99)
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 somewhat abandoned it. When the spirit of Genesis left its first host, it may have ended up in IQ. 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.
Dark Matter (2004) is one of IQ’s 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.
This CD reissue of IQ’s magnificent debut LP Tales from the Lush Attic (1983) includes the bonus track Just Changing Hands. 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.
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.
The Lens was the predecessor band to IQ. A Word in Your Eye contains new 2001 recordings of The Lens’ material and provides an insight into a missing link between 1970’s and 1980’s British progressive rock.
Martin Orford - The Old Road ($15.99) Martin Orford was of course IQ’s keyboardist but left the band in 2007 and has retired from music. 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, 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.
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!
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.
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