Wood. Roy - Boulders (1973)

The debut solo album from Roy Wood.

I recently bought an Original Albums box with Roy Wood which included one The Move, one Wizzard, one Electric Light Orchestra and two solo albums from him. That describes this man in a nutshell. He was one of the founding members of both The Move and Electric Light Orchestra.

He is most known for his big hit I Wish It Was Christmas Every Day which is one of the most popular Christmas anthems of all time. Roy Wood is also called the grandfather of glam rock.

Nothing of all this can be found on this album, though. An album which includes a mix of The Beatles like pop music and a bit of quirky naive pop tunes. A bit vaudeville like working men clubs like songs.

There is a lot of British humour on this album. Both in the lyrics and in the music itself. This album most definate has a novelty value. It is not particular good though and has not survived well the test of time. It is a decent forty minutes long album.

2 points  

Iconoclasta - Reminiscencias (1985)

The second album from this Mexican band.

I really liked their debut album and was looking forward to getting tucked into this album. The band was a five piece band on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, synths and keyboards.

It is pretty obvious that ELP has been a big inspiration for this band. And so has the fusion movement. The music on this thirty-five minutes long album is pretty much bombastic symphonic prog with a lot of fusion influences.

The synths and guitars are both taking the melodies forward here. They interchange and plays together. The bass and drums is all holding it together.

The music is also flamenco inspired with some really cool flamenco acoustic guitars breaking up the onslaught of bombastic guitars and synths. Ditto for some operatic choirs too.

There are no really great music here. But the music is by all means good enough for me to enjoy large parts of this album. Check out this album if you can.

3 points

Solaris - Nostradamus Book Of Prophecies (1999)

The third album from this Hungarian band.

Solaris was and still is quite a popular and respected band from Hungary. Their debut album is regarded as quite a classic album by everyone except from myself.

The band was a six piece on this album with a lineup of synths, keyboards, Moog, bass, flutes, guitars and drums. The music is instrumental.

The art work on this album is quite a great classic album cover. The music on this sixty minutes and one second long album is a mix of classic music, fusion and symphonic prog.

Take Camel's instrumental work and make them a much more classic music and jazzy orientated. Then you both get this band and this album.  

There is a lot of good old keyboards sound here in addition to some gothic monks singing and doomy guitars. The album is pretty dark and in line with Nostradamus prophecies. They were not particular uplifting prophecies. Hence this pretty dark album.

Unfortunate, there is no great music here. It just meander away, the music. It does not really make any favourable impressions on me and I wonder what all this fuzz about this band is all about.

This is a good album from a good band. And that is all I can say.

3 points

Avalanche - Perseverance Kills Our Game (1979)

The one and only album from this Dutch band/project.

This band was/is the multi talented musican Jan Blom's vehichle. He was an organist in several churches and cathedrals before he got together five other musicians and recorded this album. The lineup is flutes, bass, drums, piano, keyboards and mandolin. That and some vocals.

The music is not easy to define. ProgArchives has defined this as prog folk. Which is probably right. But this is not cider thumping English folk rock or even rhythm based South American folk rock. This is something entirely else again.

Take acoustic guitars and piano in a pretty ambient acoustic setting. Then add some vocals and some of the other instruments here too. Most of the music on this forty minutes long album is sheer minimalism.

Minimalistic but a bit bereft of any good songs. There is none. Still...... this is not a bad album. It is indeed a very decent album with some good handiworks and sporadic interesting stuff. Check it out if you can find it.

2 points 

Karnataka - Secrets of Angels (2015)

The fifth album from this British band.

Karnataka has been one of the best female vocals fronted prog rock bands for the last years. Even with a new vocalist in the form of Hayley Griffiths, the band is still going on strong.

Her vocals is supported by four other musicians and a lineup of guitars, keyboards, drums and bass. The usual, in other words.

The band were leaning quite heavy on the keltic folk rock on their previous albums. On Secrets Of Angels, the band ditched that sound and gone for a mainstream and pretty commercial style. A style bereft of any keltic music.

The first forty minutes and seven songs are pretty dull and not particular great. Some of the music is dull and far too soppy and sugar coated. The band has gone ABBA for most of those forty minutes.

Then we get the twenty minutes and four seconds long closing album title track. The keltic influences are back again with a vengeance and the result is a very good song. It is dynamic and epic. It is what the rest of the album should had been. It is what this band was all about before this album.

The end result is a good to very good album. Or as I am falling down on; a good album. I very much prefer the old Karnataka.

3 points 

Gazpacho - Demon (2014)

Album number eight from this Norwegian band.

It is fair to say that this six piece band is Norway's best kept secret. They are famous abroad and unknown in Norway. We norwegians does not know what we are missing out on. Well, I am one of the few one norwegians who have heard about this band.

Their lineup is mandolin, accordion, violins, bass, drums, guitars, keyboards and vocals. Jan Henrik Ohme's vocals is as usual great.

I have really enjoyed their previous albums. Progressions has been made in leaps and bounds, album by album.

The good old Gazpacho is still here. They have adopted a much more bohemian and Balkan theme this time around. And it does not really work.... mostly, it does not work. The opening tracks and most of the nineteen minutes long closing Death Room is somewhat working. But they are not great tracks and that is what is missing here.

Demon is by all means a good album. But stagnation has set in here. I hope their brand new album is better than this album.

3 points  

Agusa - Två (2015)

The second album from this Swedish band.

Agusa is a five piece band with a lineup of flute, Hammond organ, bass, guitars and drums. The music is entirely instrumental.

I really liked their 2014 debut album Hogtid which was a very refreshing take on instrumental folk rock influenced prog rock.

The band has continued down the same path on this album too. Two Swedish folk tunes is getting long workouts. Eighteen to twenty-one minutes long workouts, to be precise.

The first song here, Ganglat Fra Vintergatan has a great start before it starts to repeat itself throughout the twenty-one minutes. It sounds great to begin with. But as it is mostly a folk rock tune, it outstays it's welcome by at least five minutes.

The second song Kund Bores Dans is not that immediate. But the acid space part halfway through these eighteen minutes is pretty good.

I am not sure these two folk tunes was the best choice either. I have heard them in their original versions as they are common fare in Scandinavia. Any version of them are old news and does not feel fresh. More obscure folk tunes would had been a better idea.

Nevertheless, this is a good album well worth checking out. Agusa is a band well worth following.

3 points  

Alluminogeni. Gli - Scolopendra (1972)

The debut album from this Italian band.

I reviewed their second album Geni Mutanti some time ago and was not impressed by that album. So I was not overly happy before giving this one a try.

The band was a trio with a lineup of keyboards, bass, drums, guitars and Italian vocals here. So far, so good....

The lineup and setup is in the 1960s beat style and that is what we get here. Hard and heavy beat with a lot of psychedelic twists. The keyboards evokes Procol Harum. The rest of the instruments are far more straight on heavy. The vocals pretty emotional and soulful.

This album was released at least five years too late. The music is beat and not the more fashionable progressive rock back in 1972. This forty minutes long album is by all means a decent album. And that is all. Most of the albums from Italy released in 1972 was far better than this album. Anyway....

2 points 

Twin Age - Moving the Deckchairs (2000)

The third and final album from this Swedish band.

Their first two albums Month Of The Year (1996) and Lialim High (1997) was two enjoyable neo-prog albums in the good old Genesis tradition.

Three years later, they returns again with a new album and a new style. Gone is the overly Genesis style. In comes a much more diverse neo-prog style. The band is a five piece band here with a female vocalist as a guest musician. The lineup is cello, guitars, synths, bass, drums and male vocals.

The band very much has tried to copy the Flower Kings success formula. The twin vocals is adding a lot of soulful textures here. The band has also adopted a bit of a Swedish folk rock sound too. Most of all; the band has added this Flower Kings sound.

I am not entirely won over by this one hour long album. The music is a bit generic. It does not hold many surprises, these songs. It is an elegant album by all means. But the band has bitten over a bit more than they can swallow, I feel. The good songs is missing too. The vocals is not impressive either.

This is by all means a decent to a good album which has some good and some bad stuff. If Swedish prog is your thing, check out this album from this largely forgotten band.

2.5 points

Jethro Tull - Under Wraps (1984)

The fifteenth album from this English band.

Jethro Tull is legends in the music world. They have released numerous stunning albums. So it is always a pleasure to sink my teeth into one of their albums.

Ian Anderson and Martin Barre got help from a keyboardist and programmer on this album. Or "help" as I would call it. His name is Peter-John Vettese. Dave Pegg on bass completes the band.

Many would rate this as their worst ever album and I can understand why. There is a lot of 1980s pling-plong from the synths and programming here. Ian Anderson's vocals is still very much here and in good form. But the music is almost abysmal. Well, it an abysmal bad album. Something the cover art work alludes to.

This is a 1980s pop version of Jethro Tull where the synths and programming has added nothing but disgrace to their name and music. I would add half a point for some of the music here and Ian's vocals. But it is a turkey in all but it's name. It is an utterly horrible album.

1.5 point

Comus - First Utterance (1971)

The debut album from this British band.

Comus was an unknown band during their lifetime. A lifetime where they released two albums. Decades later, they are now regarded as a legendary band. Mostly due to this album which is regarded as one of the true classic albums of the folk-rock genre.

The band was a six piece back then with a lineup of female and male vocals, woodwinds, guitars, violins, viola, percussions and bass.

I was expecting this usual folk rock fare. Well, that is not what I got. The opening track and their single Diana is reasonable melodic. The six other songs is not.

First Utterance is fifty minutes with dark and deranged acid folk rock. And it is far more acid than folk rock. Dissonance is a major factor here. So much that this album is very hard to digest. Some of the music also reminds me about the acid psychedelic music from California. Jefferson Airplane and so on. But this album is not that melodic. This album is not melodic at all. It has a pretty substantial krautrock feel.

And strangely enough, this album works in many respect. It has it's qualities and Diana is a very good song. There are also some music here I am having difficulties getting into. The legend status is justified as this is one heck of an album. But not necessary quality wise. It is still a very good album though and one to check out.

3.5 points

Kenso - Kenso III (1985)

The third album from this Japanese band. A band who has so far released ten albums.

Kenso was a five piece band on this album with a lineup of woodwinds, synths, bass, drums, mellotron, kalimba, autoharp and guitars. There are some wordless vocals here too. The band also got help from numerous guest musicians on this album.

This is my first ever exposure to their music. I have heard about this band for a while. They are one of the leading jazz/fusion bands in Japan, I have heard. And that may be true.

What we get here is melodic fusion in the 1980s slick and stylish vein. Plenty of funky bass and synths is driving the music forward. The piano is busy and the guitars adds a lot of textures to the music.

This is by no means particular exciting music. But it is good music and this is a good forty minutes long album. A bit more bite and quality would have been preferred. Nevertheless, this is what it is and it is a good album.

3 points

Arlekin - Disguise Serenades (2014)

The first and so far only album from this Ukraine project.

It is wrong to call this a band as it is a one man project. Igor Sidorenko plays everything here. That means drums, guitars, bass, synths and vocals. His vocal is somewhere between Peter Gabriel and Fish. Acceptable, they are. His English too is acceptable.

Music wise, we are talking early Marillion here. Marillion with Fish. We are also talking Genesis. But the music is very much neo-prog and not symphonic prog.

The music is very melodic throughout on this one hour long album. Melodic but still missing that xtra little bit which is the difference between a good and a great album. And it is a good, enjoyable album. It is not a classic album though. But fans of Marillion and Fish should get this album.

3 points

Quinteto Armorial - Sete Flechas (1980)

The fourth and final album from this Brazilian band.

This band had previously released some decent to good albums. All of them has been reviewed in this blog.

The band was a five piece band here and the lineup was all kinds of local folk music instruments plus acoustic guitars and violins. This twenty-five minutes short album is mostly instrumental.

This is very much a folk music album where all instruments are acoustic and there is not much electricity going on. The sound is not the best either and the band did not use many dollars on electricity in the studio.

The band sounds very tight here and the music is very intense throughout. I am not a big fan of folk music. So this album passes me a bit by.

There is not any good songs here and the music does not really resonate with me. Fans of folk music should really check out this album though. In my estimations, this is a decent album and nothing more than that.

2 points

Nucleus - Under The Sun (1974)

The eight album from this UK band.

Nucleus was the trumpeter Ian Carr's band. It also served as a proving ground for musicians who later joined Soft Machine. Hence my first initial interest in this band. I later moved on to becoming interest in this band because of their music.

Ian Carr has been the described as the white Miles Davis. There is some truth in this. Ian Carr is a more than capable trumpeter and composer. One of the finest British jazz musicians of all time. If not the finest British jazz musician of all time, that is. Sadly, he passed away a couple of years ago and is much missed.

Ian Carr has got with him seven musicians on this album. The lineup is guitars, bass, drums, synths, trumpet and other woodwinds.

The music on this forty minutes long album is both pretty funky and jazzy. Add a lot of fusion too and you get this blend. It is a typical British jazz album where an eye is constantly viewing the prog rock and blues scene.

The title track is a twenty minutes long suite and is the best piece of music here. The rest is not up to that standard and feels a bit stale. The end result is a good album which is not among their best. It is still a good album.

3 points 

Kraan - Kraan (1972)

The debut album from this German band who released fourteen albums between 1972 and 2010.

Maybe Kraan is still alive. Their latest album has not got good reviews. Their first five albums is regarded as their best albums.

I reviewed their Andy Nogger album, their third album, some years ago and really liked that one. Good prog fusion.

The band is a quartet on this album with a lineup of alto saxophone, guitars, bass, drums and some vocals. A highly dynamic lineup.

The music on this thirty seven minutes long album (seventy minutes on the CD) is space psychedelic jazz with a lot of krautrock influences. It is by all means krautrock they are playing and I would label this as krautrock. The infusion of some German mad humour also makes this a krautrock album. Ditto for some subtle Indian rhythms too.

The five songs are all dynamic. The longest piece here, Head, clocks in at nineteen minutes and is a very good piece of music.

Most of all, the music on this album is very intense and straight in your face. It still has a lot of very good melodies and details too.

I am a bit fascinated by this album and rate it as a very good album. I need to hear more from Kraan.

3.5 points

Graal - Chapter IV (2015)

The fourth album from this Italian band.

I quite liked their previous album. Good honest metal/rock. So when this album came up for review in my lottery, I was quite happy.

I don't much about their members and who plays what. I guess the lineup is keyboards, organ, guitars, bass, drums and English vocals.

The band is clearly influenced by the 1970s as this one hour long album is packed to the rafters by hard rock anno the 1970s.

Take a bit southern rock, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Bad Company. Then you get this album. The sound is still both elegant and up to date anno 2015.

The album has a couple of very good songs and a lot of interesting details. There are also some substandard tracks too. The sound is very good though. That makes this an enjoyable good album well worth checking out.

3 points

Kaizen - Gargula (1994)

The one and only album from this Brazilian band.

Brazil has given us a lot of great music throughout the last fifty years. In particular in the prog rock genre. This five piece band has contributed with this album.

Their lineup is violins, guitars, keyboards, drums and bass. Four guest musicians contributes with woodwinds.

A bit of an untraditional lineup, this one. The music too is untraditional. This one hour long album is instrumental. The leading instrument here is Kleber Vogel's violin. The music is.....

Well, a mix of rock and classical music. Classical music light. The music tends to lean pretty heavy on baroque classical music. It is bordering to RIO and chamber prog at times. But it is far too commercial and melodic for that.

It tries to be commercial and melodic. Although it is stealing some melody lines from some classical composers. But mostly everything of the material here is their own music.

......Which is the problem here. The music here is not particular good. It is pretty bland, although the violin is adding colour to the music. But an hour with this album is a bit on the dull side of life. This is a decent album, but nothing more than that.

2 points

Glass Hammer - Culture Of Ascent (2007)

The ninth album from this US band.

Glass Hammer has been around for many years and has been flying the flag for symphonic prog with some success. Both artistic and commercial.

Glass Hammer is essentially Fred Schendel and Steve Babb with friends and guest musicians. Which sounds like a great idea as they are very much in tune with what they want.

I am a bit baffled by the first song of this album. A cover of the great Yes song South Side Of The Sky. Why ? I got no idea. It is a great cover version though, but still pretty different from the rest of the album. This one hour long album glides over in familiar Glass Hammer territory. Elegant and great sounding US symphonic prog where nothing is spared to create great symphonic prog.

Well, it is not a great album. It is though a good to very good album where the many small details really makes me enjoy most of this album. The occasional female vocals adds a lot of spice to these long and epic songs. The longest is clocking in at twenty minutes.

What is missing here is some really great music. There is none despite of the many great details. Nevertheless, this is a very good album.

3.5 points 

Kaamos - Deeds and Talks (1977)

The one and only album from this Finnish band.

The band was a four piece band with a lineup of synths, Moog, bass, drums, guitars and English vocals. The usual.......

Their music is not particular usual though. The vocalist comes across as a Paul Rodgers copycat. Some of Kaamos sound and songs also sounds a bit like Bad Company too. There is also Jethro Tull connotations here. No, there is no flutes here. But some of the music sounds like latter days JT.

Add some funk and jazz to the proceedings too and you get this album.

The musicians here are good and they must have been good as they were moving onto other Finnish bands after this album and the dissolution of Kaamos. The art of good songwriting was lost on them, though. At least when writing and composing this album. It is a decent enough album, but only that. I am slightly disappointed.

2 points

Jumbo - DNA (1972)

The second album from this Italian band.

Jumbo was a six piece band with a lineup of mouth harp, flutes, woodwinds, guitars, bass, drums and Italian male vocals. The vocals are raspy, bluesy.

Jumbo started out as a blues band as many from the Italian prog rock did when they started out. On DNA, the band adopted the Italian prog rock sound and genre. The music is still heavy with a lot of heavy drums, bass and guitar solos. But there is a lot of more pastoral melody lines too. The music is also very folky with some very solid nods towards the likes of Jethro Tull.

It is pretty correct to use Jethro Tull as a good reference on this forty minutes long album. But Jumbo has a lot more contrasts in their music.

I am struggling to really find any great pieces of music here. Nevertheless, this is a good album and one to check out from this genre. This band is for me a new and enjoyable find from this scene.

3 points

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls (2015)

The sixteenth album from these masters of true heavy metal. A band from London, England.

I have been a fan of the band since 1985 and my favourite Iron Maiden album is Powerslave. I am also a fan of the band post Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson's return to the band on Brave New World.

Where bands with the wealth and fanbase like Iron Maiden would become slackers and release sub-standard albums in the knowledge that the fans would buy them anyway, Iron Maiden has actually gone the other way and released high standard albums. Their attitude towards their fans, people like myself, is highly appreciated.

Their lineup is unchanged since Brave New World and Bruce Dickinson has survived a potential fatal meeting with cancer. Why he is not Lord Dickinson is beyond me. He is hideous talented and a great ambassador for United Kingdom. When he speak or sing; you have to listen.

The lyrics on this album is of a hideous high standard. Let that be said. There is a lot of stories here which deserve to be told and Iron Maiden does that. They are great story tellers.

Which brings me over to the music. On reflection and after a long digestion period, this is not their best album. It is one of their most ambitious albums though, clocking in at ninety minutes. Their music is again very proggy. I am not sure if Iron Maiden is a progressive metal band or just a heavy metal band. Frankly; the band blows the metal and prog genres to pieces with this album.

The band has at least one leg in the heavy metal genre where they are shoulder and head above the rest of the other bands in this crowded genre. At last one half of their leg is in the progressive rock genre with some solid nods towards Wishbone Ash and Yes.

... And then to the songs. There is a lot of great and superb melodies here. There are also some metal for the sake of metal melodies here which is a nice nod back to their past, but not necessary great pieces of music.

After seventy odd minutes of great music, we arrives at their most ambitious piece of music to this date. Although; I am not so sure about that. I still think Rime Of The Ancient Mariner is their most ambitious piece of music to this date. But the piece of music I am talking about here; the eighteen minutes long Empire Of The Clouds is still very ambitious...... and the band pulls it off. The most untraditional song of Iron Maiden's career and a great piece of music. Piano and Bruce's vocals then followed by some traditional Iron Maiden guitars after some minutes.

That ends a truly great album. One of Iron Maiden's many great albums. Oh boy am I proud of this band after listening to this album !! I love this band because of their standards and their music.

Get this album !

4 points

Jelly Fiche - Symbiose (2011)

The second album from this Canadian band. A band from the French prog powerhouse Quebec, no less.

I reviewed their debut album for ProgArchives some years ago. I really liked that album. 

The five piece band Jelly Fiche is following in the same paths as Harmonium and other great French speaking Canadian band from the same city. Their lineup is the standard keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and off course; French vocals. A fine lineup. In particular the vocals.

This one hour long album starts out as a Harmonium album before it goes much more into a power prog territory. Rush sometimes springs to mind. But the Harmonium references are always there. There are also some laid back jazz on this album. That and some more powerful stuff.

The result is a good album which is only lacking a great track or two. In that respect, it is a slightly disappointing album. Nevertheless; check it out.

3 points

Karnataka - The Gathering Light (2010)

The fourth album from this British band.

Karnataka is one of the few bands who sprung out of the female vocalist fronted prog rock scene around the millenium. The pioneers was the likes of Magenta and in particular; Mostly Autumn.

That is female vocals fronted celtic music inspired progressive rock. The Gathering Light is an album in that genre.

Karnataka was a five piece band on this album with a lineup of mostly guitars, bass, drums, synths, piano, Celtic instruments and Lisa Fury's female vocals. Some excellent vocals too.

The music on this seventy minutes long album is both symphonic and dramatic. The band is painting a lot of pictures in my speakers. The sound is big, bold and colourful.

The fifteen minutes long title track is great. The others seven tracks are good to very good too. I really like this album a lot and should and must get more albums from this band.

3.5 points

Ancient Veil. The - The Ancient Veil (1995)

The one and only album from this Italian band.

The Ancient Veil was the continuation to Eris Pluvia, a band with some moderate artistic and commercial success. They released two or three albums as far as I remember. All of them reviewed in this blog.

That band was pretty much Genesis influenced. This duo + a lot of friends = The Ancient Veil, has some moderate Genesis influences. The main influence is medieval, baroque folk music. There is some woodwinds and percussions here in addition to a lot of flutes and percussions. Add acoustic guitars, bass and vocals to the blend too and you get this album.

The end result has come as a surprise to me. Surprise because this one hour long album is a blend of symphonic prog and folk music. Also as a surprise because this pretty modestly sounding and pastoral album is a very good album. It has a vibe I really like and the music too is very good. A great track would have elevated this album to a higher level. Nevertheless; this is a very good album. Check it out.

3.5 points 

Zen Carnival - Lucid Dreamer (2015)

The third album from this US band.

The band is a six piece band and the lineup is the usual keyboards, bass, guitars, drums and vocals setup.

The band got a good name for themselves by combining Canterbury prog, fusion and progressive rock. That combination is always a winner in most prog rock reviewers hearts and minds.

On Lucid Dreamer, the jazz and the Canterbury elements has been toned down despite of them still being here. But this to a lesser degree. The album is much more a one dimentional rock and prog rock album. There is a lot of vocals here too and the instruments does not get much breathing space either.

I feel the band has dumbed down a lot with some pretty basic, simple song structures. A lot of soul has been induced too in the melodies. Which is not a bad idea.

The songs are not that good. I like the remnants of the jazz and Canterbury influences the band once had. They are the saving grace on this album. It is not a bad album, which btw is clocking in at forty minutes. It is just that it is not that interesting. Hence my rating.

2.5 points

Jump - The Black Pilgrim (2013)

The twelfth album from this English band.

The band is a six piece band on this album with a lineup of bass, keyboards, drums, guitars and vocals.

I distinctly remember Jump as a neo-prog band. One of those bands who followed in the wake of Pendragon and Marillion without really making any headway with their albums. The first of them was released back in 1991. I reviewed their 2001 On Impulse album some weeks ago and did not like that album that much. Plodding second rate neo-prog is the best I can say about that album.

So I was not overjoyed when this album appeared for review. That changed after the first listening session when I discovered that the band had changed direction and that in a much better direction.

Forget neo-prog. The Black Pilgrim is not a neo-prog album. Mainly not a neo-prog album, that is. I have no idea what has prompted this change of direction, but what I get here is a warm, lush folk-prog album.

A forty minutes long warm and lush folk-prog album, that is. Jethro Tull springs to mind in addition to the many other great folk-rock bands from the 1970s. So does Manning too. What is lacking is violins and flutes. That though is not something this album is missing as they have been replaced by great vocals from John Dexter Jones, lush acoustic guitars and a great pub-rock feel. And yes, some neo-prog too.

And yes, I would gladly pay to see this band doing this album live in a pub near me. This album is a perfect beer & steak in the local pub piece of music. And it is a very good album too. A killer track is missing and that is my only gripe with this album. Besides of that.......

3.5 points

Jono - Silence (2015)

The third album from this Swedish band.

Jono is a five piece band with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and English vocals. 

I believe I reviewed their previous album, the 2013 album Requiem. And I quite liked it too.

This album comes across as a mix of Rainbow, Flower Kings, Supertramp and a bit pop music. There is a lot of heavy metal in the vein of Rainbow and the Swedish prog rock sound. There is also a lot of pomp pop here too.

This forty minutes long album is full of upbeat songs and music. The guitars are soaring and ditto for the vocals.

This is not really my cup of tea. But I quite like this and find this a good album because of the obvious references to the above mentioned bands. Their music is pretty original and not a bad at all. This is indeed a good album and one well worth checking out.

3 points  

Moody Blues. The - December (2003)

The sixteenth album from this groundbreaking English band.

Their previous album Strange Times from 1999 was sheer horror and a pop music pastisj. It was not even good pop music. It was truly horrible third rate pop music.

So the band returned again four years later as a four piece with a lineup of keyboards, guitars, bass, strings, drums and vocals. Justin Hayward and John Lodge is still involved here.

This time, the band is taking a stab at....... Christmas ! Yes, December is a Christmas album. And no, the band has not improved on Strange Times. They have actually made a worse album.

The lyrics are turkeys in themselves and the music is not any better. This is pop music and a stab at releasing a Christmas album. Jesus, you don't deserve this album ! The music is sugar sweet throughout. The songs are horrible too. This album screams CLIFF RICHARDS throughout these painful forty-one minutes. And that is not a compliment. This is all but name a Cliff Richards album. It is as bad as that. It is as kitschy and bad taste as that. This is a turkey. One of the biggest, fattest turkeys in my turkey yard.

1 point 

Kinetic Element - Travelog (2015)

The second album from this US band.

I believe I have reviewed their debut album Powered By Light too for this blog. I cannot remember the review though and the alphabetic index is down at the moment. Anyway, I have kept an eye out for this band and I guess there must be a reason for that.

Kinetic Element is a four piece band with keyboards, guitars, bass and drums. The band has hired in three session vocalists for this album. One female and two male vocalists.

Most of this seventy minutes long album is instrumental with the occasional vocals chiming in at the right places. The five compositions are all over ten minutes long. The longest one is over twenty minutes long.

And yes, the music is very symphonic. I would label this album as a symphonic prog album. Add some neo-prog and a lot of fusion to the mix too and you get this album. The sound is very good throughout. The music is majestic and soaring most of the times.

The music is good to very good throughout. The closening nineteen minutes long track Vision Of A New Dawn has some great melodies and vocal lines. That is the best composition here.

The end result is a very good album well worth checking out.

3.5 points

Khatsaturjan - Beast, Machine & Man (2015)

The third album from this Finnish band.

Khatsaturjan is a four piece band with a lineup of violin, keyboards, guitars, bass, cell, drums and vocals. A pretty unusual lineup...

Their music is not that unusual though as I noted in my review of their debut album. Take a good chunk of rock, funk, theatrical rock, neo-prog and symphonic prog. Then you get this album.

The vocals is both male and female vocals. Both of them are good enough. Good enough on this one hour long album.

An album I have problems working up some enthusiasm for. The sound is by all means very good. The album lacks a great song or more. Even a great melody would not go amiss on this album. There is none of that here. What we get is good prog rock. I am not won over although this is a good album.

3 points 

Iconoclasta - Iconoclasta (1983)

The debut album from this Mexican band.

Iconclasta has so far released ten albums or so. I got a handful of their albums and will review them in this blog before the end of this year.

Iconclasta was a five piece band on this album with a lineup of guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, synths and strings arrangements. There is vocals on one of the songs.

That this is a debut album is pretty obvious as it is full of styles and genres. A bit of pop and classical music, a lot of symphonic prog and prog metal combined with a lot of fusion. The band later evolved into a fusion band, according to ProgArchives. This album is not a fusion album although it is an instrumental album.

It is obvious on this forty-five minutes long album that the band is something special. The music is good throughout. Good but not the most exciting music I have heard. There is no real great music here either. It is still an interesting album and an album well worth checking out.

3 points

July - July (1968)

The first and only proper studio album from this Ealing, England based band.

July is most known as the band where the Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) producer and solo artist Tom Newman started his career. July also had three decently charting singles from this album too.

The band was a five piece band with a lineup of organ, bass, drums, flutes, guitars and vocals. A proper normal lineup in 1968.

The music too was pretty normal. That means psychedelic rock/prog. The songs, even the singles, are pretty weird and unusual after today's standards. A bit avant-garde indeed with distortions and feedbacks throughout. The songs are also pretty naive and innocent sounding too.

The sound and music is very much beat anno the 1960s too. This is hippies and flower power music. It is also a pschydelic trip in a garden of flowers. 

This album is regarded as a classic album in the psychedelic prog/rock genre and rightly so. It does sound dated though and there is no really great or even good tracks here. It is a decent album though and well worth checking out.

2 points 

Jethro Tull - The Broadsword And The Beast (1982)

The fourteenth album from these English masters of folk rock progressive rock.

Jethro Tull released some excellent albums in the 1970s and is still a big name in the world of rock and pop. The 1980s was not a nice decade for rock and progressive rock. The 1980s sound was pretty horrible all around.

The previous album A was not a good album at all. So I was not looking forward to this album at all....

Martin Barre and Ian Andersson is still here. So is most of the Jethro Tull blueprint too. Yes, some of the ills of the 1980s sound and music has sneaked into this album too. The songs are a bit simple and not so symphonic progressive and folky as JT was on their best. In short, this album is a bit too commercial minded for my liking. There is still good enough songs here to make this a very interesting album indeed.

The best song here is Broadsword. The rest of the songs are still good enough songs. The end result is a very good album which is by no means shaming the Jethro Tull name.

3.5 points

Zhoda - Manic Fantasies (2015)

The debut album from this Texas, USA band.

Zhoda is a new name to me. One of the many new bands and debut albums this year. Zhoda is a five piece band with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and female vocals.

Ashley Kethley's vocals are very good and floats nicely over Zhoda's blend of prog metal and neo-prog.

The band has defined themselves as a prog metal band. The use of piano and the vocals also brings in a lot of softer elements to their music. There is not as much chugging metal guitars as I expected from this album. Hence my neo-prog tag too on their music.

There is a lot of good ideas on this album and some references to the female vocals bands from the 1970s too. There are also references to the female vocals bands from UK too.

The album is a free album from Bandcamp (but please donate $ 5 or more) and a nice download too. I like this good album and would recommend it.

3 points

Finneus Gauge - One Inch Of The Fall (1999)

The second and final album from this US band.

They continues on from their 1997 debut album More Once More. Which means..... Well, I will come back to that...

Finneus Gauge was a five piece band with female vocals, bass, drums, guitars and keyboards.

On this and their debut album, their sound and music is a blend of laid back bohemian jazz, pop, symphonic prog and folk rock. The music has a great New York feel to it. Greenwich Village to be more precise.

Although a bit laid back, there are also some pretty intense bits of music here on this almost eighty minutes long album. A far too long album in my opinion. It has some very good moments and not so good moments.

In short, this is a good album which is a bit too long.

3 points 

Gazpacho - Tick Tock (2009)

The fifth album from this Norwegian band.

The six piece band with a lineup of keyboards, bass, piano, drums, guitars and vocals was by now developing their style and genre.

Their mix of elegant pop, ambient prog, Marillion like neo-prog and post rock was by now an own genre and other bands was following in their tracks.

The opening track Desert Flight is perhaps the most obvious track on this four tracks long album. A forty-eight minutes long album where the title track clocks in at over twenty-two minutes.

There is no really obvious great tracks here and I would not rate this album among their finest moments. The music is still very good and has a lot of very interesting details. Check it out as you will not feel let down.

3.5 points

As Follows - The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015)

The second album from this US band.

As Follows is a power trio with a lineup of bass, drums, synths, guitars and vocals.

I quite liked their first album so I got this album as a result. And that is when my problem started..... That is; when I was trying to review this album. This is my sixth attempt of writing a review of this album.

The narrations in the beginning speaks of a concept album. An hour long concept album. I was settling in for some neo-prog or perhaps some symphonic prog. What I got was some head scratching instead.

The basis here is rock and the band includes a lot into this style. A lot of Rush like music and some more college rock. Take some heavier prog too and you get this album.

The music is very lively and rocking. Unfortunate; the music is also pretty dull. I have problems finding things I really like here. There is nothing good here and the album feels like a vacuum, bereft of good music. The band has some right ideas, but has not carried them out. The art of good song writing is missing here. Hence my verdict.

2 points

Twin Age - Lialim High (1997)

The second album from this Swedish band.

Twin Age was a five piece band with a lineup of keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and English vocals. And I don't have a clue about the album title.

Their first album was very close to Genesis from their Selling England period. It was a very good album too. At least for those of us who adore that Genesis album and melodic symphonic prog.

Twin Age has moved on with time on this album though and also included a lot of neo-prog in their music. They are still pretty close to Genesis and the Selling England album. In short; they have not moved far away from their first album.

The sound is very good here and the likes of Anglagard also springs to mind when I hear the Mellotrons and Moogs here. I wish it had more of the same instruments.

The songs on this fifty minutes long album are all good. The six songs are also very long. The longest one clocking in at fifteen minutes. And yes, the band offers nothing new to the scene as the music here is very, very retro symphonic prog. This album and this review is one of my guilty pleasures as I am rating this as a very good album. This is my type of tea, indeed.

3.5 points

Solaris - Solaris 1990 (1990)

The second album from this Hungarian band.

Solaris has got a legendary status in the prog rock community and that with good reasons. They were one of the best kept secrets from behind the iron curtain during the cold war. This and their debut album stunned the prog rock world when they became available also here in the west. 

Solaris was a seven piece band with a lineup of flutes, keyboards, bass, drums and guitars. 

Progressive rock from behind the iron curtain had a tendency to be more symphonic and classical music influenced than progressive rock from the western world. The musicians came from the many state sponsored music academies in the east. That goes for the musicians in Solaris. A band formed in one of the music academies in Hungary. Something very evident on this album.

Take a bit of Camel and ELP. Add a big chunk of classical music and you get this album. It is 50/50 symphonic prog and classical music. Traditional classic music, that is. The flutes and keyboards is pretty dominant here. The guitars adds some colours and contrasts. 

That is basically this 100 minutes long album. A good album which does not shine that brightly, but is still well worth checking out. There is no great pieces of music here and the band has lost some of it's way from the debut album. Besides of that, this is a good album.

3 points

Mad Puppet - Cube (2000)

The fourth and final album from this Italian band.

The band reverted to a six piece band here with a lineup of guitars, bass, synths, drums and English vocals.

The output from this Italian neo-prog band had been patchy, to say at least. Their previous album King Laurin was a very good album. Their first two album not so good.

The band was a bit unstable when it comes to music too. On this album, they sounds like a crossover between Insx, Beautiful South and Duran Duran. A third rate version of those three bands. The music is pop-rock with some funky influences.

This is not even good pop-rock. It is abysmal bad pop-rock. This album is as bad as the cover artwork and a nice addition to my collection of turkeys. Avoid !!!!

1 point

Inior - Hypnerotomachia (2014)

The debut album from this Italian band.

Inior is a five piece band with a lineup of keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and English vocals. The vocals is pretty heavy accented and Italian vocals would had been a better idea.

The band is labeled as a neo-prog band in ProgArchives. But they are a lot more than that as the music wanders between indie rock, post rock and prog metal a lot. Yes, there are neo-prog here too. But don't expect a traditional neo-prog album. Add some symphonic prog and psych too and you get the full picture.

It is my impressions that this album is a concept album. Something which explains the many styles and changes of styles on/in this album. This forty minutes long album is a bit bewildering to say at least.

Neither is this album particular good either. There are only some sporadic pieces of good music here. Most of the album is so and so. It is not my cup of tea, I am afraid. Nevertheless; check out this album.

2.5 points

Cos - Swiss Chalet (1979)

The fourth album from this Belgium based band.

The band's previous three albums was all great Canterbury and zeuhl jazz albums. They were pretty avant-garde too. So the band emerged again in 1979 with more or less the same lineup, but with a different music style.

Gone is the jazz and we get heavy reggae influences punk pop. The music reminds me a bit about Clash and Talking Heads. The music has a 1980s feel and it mixes in some avant-garde too from the 1980s.

Pascale Son is still doing the vocals and she is pretty dominant here together with some reggae bass, guitars and drums. 

The album works in one respect. But I am not a fan of reggae. It is a music style I don't understand. There are still some zeuhl elements here which I really like. In short, this is a decent album.

2 points 

Join In - Kentalope Island (1974)

The one and only album from this German band.

Join In was a five piece band who was joined by numerous guest musicians on this half an hour long album. The LP was half an hour long. The CD re-release is seventy minutes long. Please note that my review is of the half an hour long original album.

Their lineup was saxophone, Hammond organs, guitars, bass, drums and the occasional vocals. They are also helped by other woodwinds and piano on this album.

The music is fusion with a twist of krautrock and blues. The saxophone is pretty much everywhere. The bass too is dominant and I guess this is a double bass. The picking sounds like a double bass.

The music is both pretty laid back jazzy and bluesy. The music is good and I like what I hear on this album. It is a shame that this band only released one album. But it is a good album so no complaints.

3 points

Jhimm - Between The Waves (2014)

The debut album from USA's Jason Himmelberger.

Jason plays all instruments here and does the vocals too. He has ten years of experience in other prog rock bands. Mostly obscure local New York bands.

Doing an own project is very daunting. I am writing books where I do everything myself (coffee making, writing, production and marketing/promotion) and I find that daunting. The lack of editors and producers is in most cases a big problem for those of us who do everything ourself and that is my most common criticism of albums like this.

I have to say that Jason has steared well away from most of the pits on his journey in a landscape which reminds me a bit about Pink Floyd and Radiohead. The music is symphonic at times and pretty pastoral at times. The songs are not great. But the production with keyboards, synths, guitars, bass, drums and vocals are very good.

There is an ambience in this album I really like. It reminds me a lot about Gazpacho and Marillion at times. And the sound is the modern US prog sound. This is by no means a masterpiece and Jason should perhaps try to write some better songs. But this is still a good album, well worthy of your attention.

3 points

Moody Blues. The - Strange Times (1999)

The fifteenth album from these English legends.

John Lodge and Justin Hayward is still on board. They have got company of two others on this album. The lineup is keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and Justin's vocals. His vocals is a flicker of light on this album.

An album which gives us one hour of light hearted pop music. Where other bands are still striving to create great music on their final albums before the physical frailties and families finished of their career, cue Iron Maiden, Rush and Rolling Stones, bands like Moody Blues just goes for the final payday and releases albums which is so poor that it sullies their good reputations.

It sounds like they are trying a bit on Strange Times. Their sound is still a bit here. But the music is poor old housewives pop. It is music for those who has stopped living and want cheap and nasty music instead. They get that on this album. A truly horrible album with overly sugary pop music and cheap melodies galore. It is a turkey.

1 point  

Chalcedony - Chapter II (2011)

The second album from this English band. It is as I write also their last album.

Chalcedony is a young man who calls himself Chalcedony and a friend who is playing guitars. Chalcedony is doing everything else here. That includes all vocals, keyboards, piano, bass, drums and every other instruments. He is in short multi-talented.

This project is listed as symphonic prog in several archives. I disagree. The music is pomp pop with lots of theatrical pop songs and not much rock. Not to mention; prog. Progressive rock does not come into this album at all. Or for that matter; this project.

This album is eighty minutes long and it consists mostly of orchestrated pop with vocals on the top. The music is overblown and short on quality. The album reminds me a lot about these overblown pomp pop albums from the late 1970s.

Chalcedony is multi-talented in every aspects bar one aspect. The art of making good songs. There is none here and the eighty minutes here is not much fun. There are some sporadic goodies here and there. But most of the music is pretty much overblown and in the musicals veins. Barbra Streisand has a lot to answer for here. Avoid unless you like pomp pop and musicals.

2 points

Landskap - II (2014)

The second album from this London, England based band.

Landskap is a five piece band with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums, organs, keyboards and vocals.

II is a bit of a departure from their post-metal and stoner sound from their debut album I. The band is still embracing the 1970s sound. But they have moved very close to The Doors on this album.

A thumping Hammond organ sound is supported by some guitars and the vocalist who wants to sound like Jim Morrisson at times. The vocals is a bit limited, it has to be said. But it is great when retreating back to Jim Morrisson territory. A safe landscape for this vocalist.

The Doors has been mentioned here. I would also add stoner rock to the mix which is 50/50 of both. The music is both rocking and pastoral at times.

The end result is a good album which will appeal to everyone. The album is also a free download and one to enjoy. 

3 points

Jupiter Sunset ‎– Back In The Sun (1970)

The one and only album from this French band.

I know next to nothing about this album as I was recommended it from a website who claimed it was as good as the best The Beatles albums. Hence, I added this album to my large album collection.

The Beatles is a good start point here. To be more precise; Paul McCartney songs in that band. Moody Blues and Aphrodites Child also springs to mind here. This is in short orchestral pop music bordering to progressive rock.

The sound is overly bloated and the songs are bordering to being over the top overly dramatic. Strings and other orchestral instruments are adding a lot of colours and pathos to the guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and English vocals here.

The end result is a couple of good songs and some rather cringe worthy stuff. It is a decent album which is well worth checking out. It is not a masterpiece though.

2 points  

Kaukasus - I (2014)

The debut album from this Norwegian band.

Kaukasus is a Norwegian supergroup with members from Opium Cartel, Motorpsycho, Anglagard, White Willow and Jaga Jazzist. The three members are Rhys Marsh, Ketil Vestrum Einarsson and Mattias Olsson.

The lineup is mostly keyboards, guitars, bass and drums. That and a lot of vocals.

The project started out as a krautrock project before they moved towards modern prog rock. I would say; Gazpacho. The band sounds like Gazpacho as they are operating in exactly the same musical landscape.

There are some more trippy house and jazz here than we would get on a Gazpacho album. There are also some mellotrons here in the Anglagard vein.

And the music is good throughout these fifty minutes too. The songs are solid throughout. I hope we will hear a lot more from this band in the years to come. This is a good solid debut album.

3 points