Wallenstein - Mother Universe (1972)

The second album from this German band.

Wallenstein was a crossover band who visited the symphonic prog, krautrock and other genres on their ten or so albums.

The band was a five piece band here with a lineup of piano, bass, drums, guitars, keyboards, Mellotron and English vocals.

Their 1971 debut album Blitzkrieg was a great album. So I was really looking forward to this album. Mother Nature follows in some of the steps from the debut album. Gone is the souther rock influences and in comes a lot of folk rock influences. Take symphonic prog and merge that with folk rock. That is this album.

The opening track, the title track, is very good. Unfortunate, the standards falls a bit after that song and the album becomes a bit too pedestrian for my liking. I am not sure what the band wanted with this album as it is a bit of a downer and a step in the wrong direction. Nevertheless; it is a good album and it is recommended.

3 points 

Tirith. The - Tales from the Tower (2015)

The debut album from this British band.

The band, a trio with a lineup of drums, guitars, bass and vocals, claims to have seen the light in 1971. I guess the band members then found out that life had to take priority and the band were disolved. One of the members here started Band Of Gypsies. Then The Tirith was reformed and the result is this album.

It is claimed that this seventy minutes long album was written back in 1971. Well, the main outlays of these songs, yes. But the sound is very much anno 2015. It is a mix of modern classic rock and prog rock. A mix of Cream, Rush and modern college rock. There are also some British rock anno 1980s here.

The music is pretty typic for a trio. It is not particular complex and it is pretty easy to take out on the roads. There are some good licks and melody lines throughout this album. Most of this album is on the more dull side though and I am not fully a fan of this album. It is somewhere between decent and good.

2.5 points

Rachel's Birthday - An Invitation To Rachel's Birthday (1996)

The one and only album from this German band.

Rachel's Birthday...... what a strange band name ! The cover art work too is strange. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to discover that this is not a RIO/avant-garde band....

The band was a five piece band with a lineup of keyboards, bass, drums, guitars and vocals. Male English vocals.

Germany has always had a bit of an oddball scene just surfacing next to the more normal prog rock scene. Yes, the krautrock scene. The music on this seventy minutes long album is nominally neo-prog though.... Yet, with some odd curve balls thrown in. The music is odd and a bit avant-garde too. Very German, in fact. German humour. Yes, they do laugh in Germany too. I am not sure if I am really getting the jokes here. Read: I am not getting these jokes.

The music is everywhere and a bit eclectic neo-prog. It is not good either and I am not really enjoying this album at all. There is no good songs here. The album is decent enough though. And that is all I can say about this album.

2 points

Rag i Ryggen - Rag i Ryggen (1975)

The one and only album from this Swedish band.

This Stockholm based band was a short lived band, forgotten by almost everyone but given a new lease of life through the almighty brilliant ProgArchives and a good writeup in the Heavy Prog genre by them. And rightfully so.

The band was a six piece band on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, Hammond organs and vocals. The vocals is a mix of Swedish and English.

The music is said to be almost a Uriah Heep ripoff. I am not sure about that as I, shamefully, does not know Uriah Heep that much. But the music on this one hour long album is pretty hard rock. Hard rock with a great progressive edge. I like organ a lot. The sound too is great.

The songs are a bit of a mix of cringe worthy and very good. The overall quality is good though and fans of good ole hard rock should check out this band and album. I am enjoying it as it is an unashamed hard rock album.

3 points

Wapassou - Wapassou (1974)

The debut album from this rather strange French band.

Wapassou released six albums before they were disbanded sometimes in the late 1980s. It was a band without bass and drums. On this album, the band is a trio with a lineup of guitars, violins, keyboards and female vocals. The vocals is most often than not atonal and by purpose off key.

This band has more often than not been labeled as a RIO/avant-garde band. A label I agree with. This album is very much off the beaten track with a heavy emphasis on avant-garde psychedelic and space rock. The vocals is disturbing and the other instruments also paint a disturbing bleak landscape where nothing really grows and lives.

This is not easy listening and this album is not easy to describe. I quite like this album although it has some pretty big faults. The lack of any really good tracks for example. The trippy space rock is good though. I rate it somewhere between decent and good.

2.5 points

Nucleus - Alley Cat (1975)

The tenth album from this British band.

The band had again evolved and was now a seven piece band with a lineup of guitars, bass, saxophone, horn, drums, percussions, trumpet and keyboards.

The band had moved on from their early start as a Soft Machine like band. The band now both included woodwinds and guitar solos. Ian Carr was still at the helm and he still sounded like Miles Davis. Ken Shaw's guitar solos was pretty impressive too.

Alley Cat is as charming and playful as a cat.... an alley cat, in fact. Although I would more compare it to a smaller cat, a moggy, than the cat on the artwork. You get my drift.

The music on this forty minutes long album is good enough. I feel that Ian Carr is perhaps running on old fumes here and there is not much developments around. Nevertheless; this is a good album from a band which is starting to show it's old age.

3 points

Anamor - Imaginacje (2003)

The one and only album from this Polish band.

Anamor was a six piece big band with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and female vocals. Polish vocals. Jacek Zasada from Quidam contributes with flutes as a guest musician.

The music on this one hour long album is neo-prog. Neo-prog with a lot of art-rock influences and some folk-rock influences. Add some symph prog influences too. The sound is good and the band knows what they are doing.

There is a strong presence of guitars here. In particular a 12 strings guitar. That sets them a bit a part from the rest of the scene. There are the usual cascades of keyboards, piano and guitar solos here. The nine songs are not particular long.

Marta Glowacka's vocals are very good at times. She was a good choice and I hope she is still around in the music business. I also very much like the ambience here.

Although the music is very cosy and nice, it is never really great. I am a bit unsure how to score this album on my awards ladder. But it is a good album which will find a lot more favour among bigger fans of melodic neo-prog than myself. Check it out as it is a good album.

3 points

Quantum Jump - Quantum Jump (1976)

The first of in total two albums from this British band.

The band is most knows as where the famous producer and solo artist Rupert Hine cut his teeth. OK, had released some albums before forming Quantum Jump together with Mark Warner (guitars, vocals), Trevor Morais (drums) and John Perry (bass). Rupert Hine did all the keyboards and lead vocals here.

The end result is this thirty-seven minutes long album. An album which it is not easy to label. ProgArchives has gone with the Canterbury prog label. It is not a bad label and it is not only because John Perry also played in Caravan at that time.

The music is pretty Canterbury style polished here. The music though is a bit Caribeen like jazz and fusion. Add a lot of funk and some mad English pop too.

The end result is a pretty mad and strange album. It is very melodic though. It is also very jazzy. It is pretty obvious Kevin Ayers has been an influence here.

The end result is a good album though and one well worth checking out. Something you should do. The jazzy guitars and keyboards is the best thing here while I have my reservations against some of the overtly pop music themes and melodies here. But check it out.

3 points

Thanatopsis - Requiem (2015)

The fourth album from this US band.

I have next to now clue about this band, but a Wiki feature can be found here.

The band consist of this mythological Buckethead on guitars, Travis Dickerson on keyboards and Ramy Antoun on drums.

The music is a mix of ambient, fusion, funk, metal and rock. This thirty-seven minutes long album is entirely instrumental too.

The driving force here is Buckethead's guitars. Guitars which is not that really interesting. Nothing here is interesting. It is frankly a bit hard to keep awake with this album around. The band really knows their stuff, yes. They are a bit wasting their breath and talents with this poor material. I am a kind person and think this is a decent album. It is not worth checking out, though.

2 points  

Julian Julien - Terre II (2015)

The third album from this French musician.

I very much liked the first installment of this series of Terre albums. That album was released fifteen years ago. He released his second album Strange in 2006. In the meantime, he has been active in other bands and with other things.

Julian has got help from seven other musicians here. Mostly violins, vocals, piano, bass, woodwinds and some percussions.

They are not present on all the thirteen tracks here. This forty-five minutes long album is very much a stripped down RIO album. A stripped down avant-garde album, it is indeed. A couple of instruments drives each tracks on. The emphasis is on mood and ambience. A bit of a mad trumpet and some keyboards with some vocals inbetween.

This is indeed pastoral music and not easy to get into. I have been struggling a lot with this album and I am pretty sure Julian Julien is wondering if I will ever review this album. It has been a struggle indeed....

.... But I quite like this album. It is an album very far from the beaten track. Even far away from what I am used to review. So I have been struggling and I have finally started to like this album in it's own right. There are some very good stuff here and some not so good stuff. The end result is a good album which I recommend to those into RIO and avant-garde music.

3 points

Algaravia - Breve E Interminável (1996)

The one and only album from this Brazilian band.

The band was a five piece band with a lineup of keyboards, percussions, guitars, bass, drums and the occasional vocals. Most of this album is totally instrumental.

The album is just over seventy-five minutes long and I guess this is a compilation of everything they have done although it feels like a proper studio album. Well, I guess this is a proper studio album.

The music is a bit strange. Take King Crimson and add a lot of jazz and folk rock to the mix. The music is eclectic to put it mildly. The lenght of the album also makes listening to this album a sweaty experience. It is difficult to fully get all the many twists and turns on this album. Which there is a lot of ! Yes, King Crimson is a good reference.

Algaravia does it their own way, the Brazilian way with a lot of local colours and rhythms. And most of this album is good to very good. It is a good album indeed and one those into more eclectic music/progressive rock should check out. Check it out.

3 points

Agharta - Agharta (1980)

The one and only album from this Canadian band.

Agharta was a five piece band with a lineup of drums, percussions, keyboards, bass and woodwinds. And yes, there is no vocals on this thirty-eight minutes long album.

Canada had a great jazz and fusion scene back in those days. It was based around Quebec and has rightly been labeled as the Quebec scene. I love that scene and bands like Malibran.

That sound was based on a mix of jazz, prog and folk. Aghast is not among the bands who had that sound. Instead, the band's sound is very similar to Weather Report's own sound.

Aghast music is heavy dominated by great keyboards and saxophone duels. It is like hearing Shorter and Zawinul again. The concept is the same and the music is at times riveting.

Aghast is not copying Weather Report as they have their own take on jazz. They are far more keyboards orientated than Weather Report. There are also drums solos here. And their music is not as good either. But this is an enjoyable album who only comes up a bit short on the song writing skills.

Nevertheless; this is a good album well worth checking out.

3 points

Walfad - An Unsung Hero, Salty Rains & Him (2014)

The second and most recent album from this Polish band.

I was not that impressed by their 2013 debut album Ab Novo. A bit too pedestrian neo-prog. So the band tries again to impress/please me.

The band is again a quartet with a lineup of bass, drums, guitars, keyboards and vocals. The usual neo-prog lineup in other words.

The album is forty minutes long and it takes in a lot of symphonic prog and more modern art-rock into it's base of neo-prog. Pretty basic neo-prog based on Marillion.

This album have a few good melodies and a lot of generic music. It is by no means a good album and it is very easy to get bored during these forty minutes times x amount of listening sessions before the listener finally get the feeling there is nothing here to feel great about.

This is not a disaster. But it is a decent album. Don't give up the dayjobs, guys.

2 points

Ricocher - Chains (2004)

The second and final album from this Dutch band.

I was not at all happy with their 2002 debut album Cathedral Of Emotions. So I was not looking forward to this one.

The band is still a five piece band with a lineup of keyboards, piano, bass, drums, guitars and vocals. And we are still talking neo-prog of some sorts.

It is pretty obvious that the Canadian giants Saga has been a heavy inspiration for this album and band. There is a lot of pomp-prog on this album. The album also draws heavily on both Marillion like neo-prog, Pendragon and some prog metal.

The art of good song writing is something this band never really mastered. There is no really good songs here. The ideas is there, but the songs are half-baked at best.

The end result is a decent album but nothing more than that. I am a bit bored by music like this. This album has bored me a lot.

2 points

Pearls Before Swine - One Nation Underground (1967)

The debut album from this US band.

Pearls Before Swine was one of the better folk-rock bands from USA. One of the best ever folk-rock bands from USA, in fact.

This is not Americana or Mexican infused folk-rock. This is folk-rock influenced from the apple orchards filled English folk-rock scene. OK, there are some Bob Dylan here too. But mostly English folk-rock.

The band was a five piece big band on this album with a lineup of guitars, mandoline, bass, drums, woodwinds and vocals. Tom Rapp's vocals. He was the mainman and owner of this band.

This album consists of thirty-five minutes of pretty spacy folk-rock with good melodies and a lot to be cherished for those of us who does not like too primitive folk-rock. This album is both rocking and melodic. And the overall quality is good indeed. I like this album and it comes recommended.

3 points

Kotebel - Concerto For Piano And Electric Ensemble (2012)

The sixth and so far latest album from this Spanish band.

Kotebel has always taken symphonic prog and prog rock to it's extremes. Extremes as towards contemporary classical music.

Concerto For Piano And Electric Ensemble is indeed a seventy minutes long symphony. A chamber symphony as it was recorded by only six musicians. The lineup is guitars, bass, drums, percussions, grand piano, keyboards, saxophones.... Yes, only those instruments. There is no vocals here.

There is no rock or pop here. Not even progressive rock. Neither is it particular classic music either. It is contemporary classical music as composed and recorded in this millenium. There is no obvious great melody lines here. This is music based on the principles of complex classical music.

And to a large degree, this album works out fine. There are some very good pieces here and some not so good pieces. It ebbs and flows. It goes high and low.

It is an aqcuired taste though and not an instant piece of music for the restless ones. It takes time, this album. But I still likes it a lot. Check it out.

3 points

Piezo - Nova (2015)

The second album from this Canadian band.

I really liked their debut album Scene 1: Harlequin from 2012. Really good prog rock. So I jumped on this album when I got the chance.

The band has developed over the last three years. A lot in fact. They are still a five piece band with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, piano and vocals. English vocals, that is. Canada is both French and English speaking.

The band has incorporated pretty standard college rock and pop into their version of post rock and a bit prog rock. The songs are both short and a bit trying to be catchy. They don't succeed in that.

The band has embraced the college rock scene on this album and I don't find this seventy minutes long album particular good. It really lacks any good tunes although the arrangements and the sound is really good. This album is a bit of a let down. Mine and Piezo's journeys now ends here and we parts on good terms with this album.

2.5 points

Wara - El Inca (1973)

The debut album and I believe the only album from this band from Bolivia.

Yes, this blog takes me to many different scenes and countries. Music wise, that is. Bolivia is quite an exotic country in South-America.

Wara was a three piece band with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums and vocals. Spanish vocals. Wara should be included in the west coast South-America scene which includes some bands from Equador, Chile and Peru too. They got the same style of music and sound as the other bands from that area and scene.

Take a chunk of folk rock and add a lot of psychedelic and hard rock. There is a lot of hard rocking blues here too on this half an hour long album.

The sound is not particular good and the music sounds a bit generic and dated. This was the music of those times and this was proper rock'n'roll. There is no pampering to the pop and rock crowd on this album. No compromises is the ethos here.

There is not any good songs either. It is not an interesting album either. The band and this album shows some flashes of good things here and there. Hence my rating.

2 points

Sensitive To Light - From The Ancient World (2008)

The second album from this French band.

I did not like their 2006 debut album Almost Human at all. I labeled it as a cure against insomnia in my review from October 2009 in ProgArchives. But I decided to give them another chance.

The band is a six piece band with saxophone, drums, keyboards, bass, guitars and female vocals. English female vocals with some French accents.

The band has latched onto the English female fronted prog rock scene with this album. Touchstone is a band I would compare them with on this album. Lots of female vocals and pretty heavy music too.

The saxophone adds some French avant-garde originality to this album. It is not that much used on this one hour long album though. It adds some colours to the music.

This album is a bit messy. In particular on the final half where the band is trying to be epic. They fails a bit as this half of the album is messy and does not yield any great music. Not even good music.

The end result is a decent to good album. I am not won over by this band but will give the new album a chance too.

2.5 points

Ramses - Eternity Rise (1978)

The second album from this German band.

I liked their debut album La Leyla so much that I were talking about a new find. A forgotten jewel was this band to me. So I was looking forward to this album.

The band is still a five piece band with a lineup of guitars, bass, keyboards, drums and heavy accented English vocals. They also got help from the string section of the Nurnberger Symphony Orchestra.

The music is again somewhere between symphonic prog and krautrock. There is a strong presence of keyboards and Hammond organs here. The strings also adds dept and colours to the songs.

The songs on this album is not particular great. They are good though and this makes it an enjoyable album and a band well worth checking out. That means through this CD which also includes La Leyla and through their 2014 album. Check out this band if you like German prog rock and symphonic prog.

3 points

Krokofant - Krokofant (2014)

The debut album from this Norwegian band.

Krokofant is a trio with a lineup of saxophone, guitars and drums. A real powertrio.

Powertrio because this music is very powerful. We are somewhere in fusion land. Add some avant-garde and lots of eclectic prog in this fusion soup. Names like King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Kraan springs to mind here. I have also noted that one of the songs here, I believe it is Superman, starts with huge chunk from the Soft Machine classic Facelift.

The music is very intense with a very intense saxophone blowing the earwax out of my ears. The saxophone is at times totally dissonant. The guitars is pretty harsh too and the drums supports all this mayhem. This album is mayhem indeed.

There is method in this mayhem and the music is at times very good. It is not all out jazz and fusion. It is not all out eclectic prog either. Those who loves a blend of those genres would really like this album. I rate it as a good album indeed.

3 points

Korekyojin - Tundra (2011)

The fourth album from this Japanese band.

This band is listed as a RIO/avant-garde band in ProgArchives and I was looking forward to a slab of avant-garde again. The band also consists of Ground Zero, Bondage Fruit and Ruins members. Great names in my world.

This band is a trio with a lineup of guitars, bass and drums. A stripped down band, in other words.

My hopes for some real avant-garde was soon dashed. What I got was some hard fusion. Hard fusion bordering to progressive metal. Take a bit fusion and add power metal to it and you get the picture.

The innovative and melodic nature of fusion and jazz is sorely lacking here. What we get is instrumenal power metal with some hints of fusion. There are also some hints of rockabilly here.

The end result is decent enough. But fifty-five minutes of this...... Well, there are some decent music here and that is what this album is all about. I would not recommend this album to anyone, though. It mostly falls flat on it's face.

1.5 points

Kraan - Diamonds (2010)

The fourteenth album from this German band.

This band debuted back in 1972 with a great debut album and has kept it going on and off since then. I have heard that the standard of their albums have been reasonable good throughout. Their first albums are their best, though.

The band is down to a trio here with vocals, guitars, drums and bass. The music is pretty stripped down here.

Stripped down and very funky. A bit Prince and Stereo MCs at times. Very much stripped down Stereo MCs, though. Thus without any rap.

The guitars are the best thing about this album. They are not full on electric. They are much more half-acoustic and is played in a funky, jazzy way. Almost like keyboards at times.

The music here is pretty good. It is also pretty bland too. Most of the time, I am afraid. There are a couple of good pieces of music here inbetween some rather uninteresting blandness. Hence my verdict. But full credit to this trio for this album.

2.5 points 

Glass Hammer - Cor Cordium (2011)

The thirteenth album from this US band.

Glass Hammer had been keeping it going for many years with mixed success. Their latest albums had been very good though and I had high hopes for this one.

Maybe the introduction of the new vocalist Jon Davison is what this band needed. He is listed among the four Glass Hammer members on this album. An album with the usual lineup of vocals, bass, drums, guitars and tonnes of keyboards.

Jon Davison joined Yes a couple of years ago. I guess this album is one of the reasons why he was invited to join Yes. The band takes a long step towards Yes on this album. And that is not only because of Jon Davison's very Jon Anderson like vocals. The band still have one foot in the Genesis and the ELP camp, though.

This album is one hour long and offers up a lot of classic 1970s like symphonic prog. And the music is very good to great throughout. A couple of rather bland songs leaves me a bit cold though. Jon's vocals is great and the band has really produced one of their best, if not their best, albums with this album. It is a great album which will enthuse fans of symphonic prog.

4 points 

Exodus - Nadzieje, Niepokoje (2006)

The third album from this Polish band.

This album was recorded in the dark days of 1977 when Poland was still occupied/"protected" by the Soviet Union. But I don't think that was the reason for the delay of releasing this album.

Exodus was a five piece band on this album with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and Polish vocals. A typical lineup.

The music is a bit difficult to label though. Take a bit hard rocking bluesy prog, add lots of Genesis and some Gentle Giant. This album is both pretty melodic and eclectic at the same time. There is a lot of Italian symphonic prog like music on this album. It is actually as close a Polish band can come to releasing an Italian album.

The music here is symphonic and not particular easy listening. It is also a good album which is sorely lacking a piece of great music or two. That is my only gripe with this album. It comes recommended from me.

3 points

Jethro Tull - Crest Of A Knave (1987)

The seventheenth album from this British band.

This album will forever be remembered as the album who won the first ever hard rock Grammy. A Grammy Metallica's excellent Justice For All album should have won. To everyone's dismay, this Jethro Tull album won it. Noone from the band was present that night and it ended up as a scandal.

I have no idea why this album and this trio version (Barre, Pegg and Anderson) of Jethro Tull was regarded as hard rock. It is a total mystery as this album is anything but hard rock.

What we get here is almost an hour of country and folk rock inspired pop-rock. The songs are pretty standard with some flutes, Ian's vocals, some good guitars, bass, drums and some very nasty synths involved.

The music here is pretty bad though and not worthy of a Jethro Tull album. I can feel the Jethro Tull DNA just wanting to burst out. But it is being kept under lock and key throughout. This is a decent album and just that. And it did not deserve a Grammy.

2 points 

Wallenstein - Blitzkrieg (1971)

The debut album from this German band.

Wallenstein went on to releasing nine albums. It is only their first four albums who is regarded as being any good. I got all of them.

Wallenstein was a four piece band on this album with a lineup of Mellotron, keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and vocals. English vocals.

Wallenstein was covering a lot of ground on this and their other albums. On this album though, they are primarly in the symphonic prog genre. Symphonic prog with some influences from southern rock, fusion and krautrock.

This forty-two minutes long album has four songs. It opens the twelve minutes long Lunatic which is true to the title. A lot of wild guitar solos from Bill Barone over a symphonic prog melody structure. Structure provided by the Mellotron. I really like this a lot. After this wild song, the more pastoral and very beautiful The Theme takes over. Still with some guitar solos and Mellotron. But also with some ethereal vocals and a superb melody.

Unfortunate, the two final tracks Manhatten Project and Audiences is of the same standard. They are still very much symphonic prog tracks and still very good.

In short, this is a great album which has given me a lot. I love the guitars and the Mellotrons on this album and cannot wait until I sink my teeth and reviews the three other albums too.

4 points

Komintern - Le Bal du Rat Mort (1971)

The one and only album from this French band.

This band had it's roots in the band Red Noise. They split and this band was one of the bands who then emerged.

The band was a five piece band and they got help from five other guest musicians. The lineup is accordion, woodwinds, bass, drums, guitars, organ, piano and some French vocals.

The band was most definate a RIO/Avant-Garde band. Mostly avant-garde. This is a genre I am writing far too few reviews of in this blog. I like the genre, but is a bit too much of a coward to give it much attention. This is difficult music. Difficult.

There is a lot of very weird happenings on this album. From weird vocals to some tuba and harsh RIO like avant-garde. The final half of this half an hour long album also includes some melodic stuff. More jazzy and straight Ange like prog stuff. The first half is weird avant-garde.

This is indeed a weird album. It is strangely enough a melodic album too. I really like this album and it is a reminder that I should give this genre a lot more space on this blog.

This is a good album and I recommend it.

3 points

Iconoclasta - Soliloquio (1987)

The third album from this Mexican band.

Their first two albums was pretty good. The band is still seeking out a home among the many music styles. That shows.

On this thirty-five minutes long album, the band has hired in two female opera vocalists and they are dominating the music here. Music which is very gothic and darkened. Very gothic indeed.

The sound is pretty poor and the guitars has gone goth metal. The bass is pretty lively while the keyboards is hanging back a bit.

This album never really gets going. When it does, it dips into a lot of cliches. Goth metal cliches. The end result is a pretty poor album. It is decent enough, but not an album I like.

2 points 

Walfad - Ab Ovo (2013)

The debut album from this Polish band.

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

It is not really easy to label this band. But take some Radiohead and add Marillion. This forty-two minutes long album consists of eight songs. Eight reasonably short songs.

The songs are quite melodic and laidback. There are the occasional heavy guitars. Most of it is keyboards and light guitars based, supporting the vocals.

This album is a bit on the pedestrian side of the spectrum and is pretty good. Decent to good as there is no really good songs here. Nevertheless, this is something to build on for the band.

2.5 points

Kozmic Muffin - Nautulus (1994)

The debut album from this Spanish band.

Nautilus was the first of in total two albums from this band. Their second album was released in 1997 and named A Space Between Grief And Comfort.

Kozmic Muffin was a no less than a seven members big band. Their lineup was drums, Hammond organ, bass, guitars and vocals. English vocals.

The music is psychedelic space rock. There are some long guitar solos here and a lot of thumping Hammond organs. This album is forty-seven minutes long and contains six more or less spacy tracks.

The music is a mix if Pink Floyd'ish space rock, a bit more melodic psychedelic rock and some pretty hard and heavy space rock workouts. All of this competently played.

There is no real great pieces of music here and that is my main gripe with this album. It is a good album and just that. Check it out.

3 points

Jumbo - Vietato ai Minori di 18 Anni (1973)

The third album from this Italian band.

Jumbo is one of those many almost-great bands from the Italian prog rock scene. The band was a six piece on this album with a lineup of keyboards, woodwinds, guitars, bass, drums and some very good Italian vocals.

The music is of the more dark symphonic prog variant. There is a lot of blues here, yes. But not as much as I think other reviewers has made of it. There is some dark guitar solos here. There is also a lot of pretty complex symphonic melody structures here too.

The mood is dark and brooding. The vocals a bit over the top theatrical. This band really had something going and it is a pity they did not really included a couple of great pieces of musich here.

The end result is a good album and just that. Please check it out as you may like it better than I do.

3 points

Nucleus - Snakehips Etcetera (1975)

The ninth album from this English band.

Nucleus had produced some good albums with various personell changes inbetween. Ian Carr was the only original member left and very much the leader of the band. He gets help from five other musicians here. The lineup is trumpet, Moog, percussions, woodwinds, bass, guitars, keyboards and drums.

Ian Carr has often been described as Europe's answer to Miles Davis and that also shines through on this album. The jazz here is very funky with some good trumpets, woodwinds and guitar solos on the top of some really funky beats.

The music is American in it's style and very much from the hoods and ghettos. Dreary English weather, town and villages does not come into it....... The album also got plenty of sun and light.

The music is good throughout without really impressing me. I quite like this album though. It is a good one.

3 points

Ricocher - Cathedral Of Emotions (2002)

The debut album from this Dutch band. The first of in total two albums from this short lived band.

The band was a five piece band with a lineup of drums, bass, keyboards, guitars and vocals. English, male vocals.

The artwork is a total mismatch taking the music here into account. No, this is not metal. Not even progressive metal. This is neo-prog and off the more kind and rocking poppy kind of neo-prog. Pendragon is a very good reference here.

The music is pretty commercial. The vocalist has his limits although I have heard far worse vocals than this one. The songs are not particular good on this one hour long album. They sounds a bit immature and formula based. They are also too pop orientated for my liking.

I rate this album somewhere between decent and good as I am not convinced this is a good album.

2.5 points

Exodus - The Most Beautiful Day (1980)

The debut album from this Polish band.

Exodus is reputed to be the best ever prog rock band from Poland. I am not so sure about that....

They were a five piece band on this album with a lineup of keyboards, bass, drums, guitars, synths and Polish vocals. Not an unusual lineup.

We are deep into symph prog land here again. Take early Genesis around Trespass and add some Polish rock and pop from the behind the Iron Curtain era. Some ELP and not at least; Yes can be added too.

The vocals and the language feels a bit unusual as I am not that exposed to Polish. But I have gotten used to it.

The music is very melodic and has some great ideas and details. There is no killer tracks here though and that is a minus in my books. This is very much an enjoyable album which deserve a listen or two.

3 points

Kramer - Life Cycle (2007)

The one and only album from this Dutch band.

Kramer was a four piece band with the usual keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and English vocals lineup.

And yes, this is neo-prog. Sort of.

The music is very melodic and at times a bit sickly sweet. There are some strings like keyboards sounds and angelic moods now and then. The vocals is very elegant and restrained. The guitars are not going totally overboard in their guitar solos. The keyboards is very good.

The music is laid-back and mid-tempo. This is not prog metal influenced neo-prog.

The music is good throughout these sixty minutes this one last. It is a bit too middle of the road neo-prog. Nevertheless, this album is recommended to everyone into neo-prog.

3 points

Solaris - Martian Chronicles II (2014)

The fourth studio album from these Hungarian legends.

Legends they are, but I have never really been a fan of their albums. The band is now down to a six piece band with a lineup of flutes, guitars, keyboards, drums, bass and the occasional vocals.

This album is part 2 is supposed to be the follow up to their 1984 debut album Marsbeli Kronikak. The music is brand new as far as I know. Hence, this is not 30 years old music.

The music is in the same vein as their three other studio albums...... with a bit of a change. In short; instrumental symphonic prog.

The band is now much more leaning towards Pink Floyd in their use of wailing female vocals. They are not dominating on this album. They are just on of the tricks used here. Other influences here are again the likes of Camel. The flutes also adds a lot of folk music elements here. The guitar solos adds again a bit of Pink Floyd. The violins reminds me about Hungarian folk music.

The music is good, but it is still lacking the xtra melodic greatness and the details that makes a great album. In this case, a forty-five minutes album. I am yet to be won over by this band.

3 points   

Knight Area - Hyperdrive (2014)

The fifth album from this Dutch band.

Knight Area debuted in 2004 with the The Sun Also Rises album. The band has released albums on a regular basis in addition of their five members being very active in other bands and projects too. Knight Area is a very central piece of the Dutch prog jigsaw puzzle.

The lineup on this album is the usual one. Guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals. Arjen Lucassen from Ayreon is guesting here on guitars.

The music on this fifty-two minutes long album is somewhere between prog metal and neo-prog. It is leaning far more towards soft prog metal than neo-prog. Maybe the label "melodic prog metal" would fit them best ?

The music is elegant and not particular hard. Their neo-prog roots is obvious with references to Marillion. The melodies and songs here are good. I am not particular fan of prog metal. It is actually a pet hate I have got, that genre. Nevertheless, this is a good album with a good balance between cascades of guitars and keyboards. The vocals are also very good. I cannot find anything bad to say about this album, besides of it being a bit too formula based. But it is not a great album either. Hence my rating.

3 points

Wood. Roy - On The Road Again (1979)

The third solo album from Roy Wood.

Roy Wood is mostly known for the founding member of The Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. He also penned and performed one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time; I Wish It Was Christmas Every Day. He is also a rock'n'roll personality on his own here in the UK. A living legend.

His solo albums is not what he is remembered for, though. Which is a bit of a shame...... Sort of.

Roy Wood gets help from John Bonham from Led Zeppelin on this album which never saw the light of day in his homeland; Great Britain. It was only released in USA, BeNeLux and Germany. It is a part of that Roy Wood Original Albums though and finally available in the UK.

The album is not that good, though. It is leaning quite heavy on the music and sound of Electric Light Orchestra, The Beatles, some ditty English humour and rock'n'roll from the 1950s. Roy Wood is undeniable a very good songwriter. But not on/for his own albums.

This album sounds very dated these days. It is a decent album though and it deserves a listen or two.

2 points

Nuova Divisione - The Last Man In Europe (2014)

The debut album from this Italian band.

This new band consists of four young men with a lineup of synths, Mellotron, guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals. English vocals, that is.

This band is listed as crossover prog in Progarchives. That is hitting the bullseye, really. These four young guys really takes on the whole progressive rock universe from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. They visits and does a take on The Beatles, Supertramp, Barclay Harvest Band, Moody Blues, Genesis, ELP and Yes on this album. I have probably even forgotten some bands here too.

All of their visits is made with their own songs and sound. This album is a good tribute to our heritage, our music.

The music on this one hour long album is not particular original. Neither is it particular great. But it still gives the listener a good history lesson and a good hour in the company of some good music.

This is a good debut album and I hope to hear more from this band.

3 points

Biglietto Per L'Inferno - Vivi. Lotta. Pensa. (2015)

The fourth album from these Italian legends.

After a long break, the band has come together again for some gigs and a couple of new album. Although new albums is a bit of a disputed phrase here.

From being an electric band in the 1970s, the band has now become a much more acoustic band. There are still some electric guitars and keyboards here. Not to mention bass too. But the sound is mainly an acoustic sound with a lot of folk music instruments from Italy.

Mariolina Sala's raw and bluesy vocals is pretty much dominating this album. Her vocals is everywhere and her vocals is very good.

This forty-three minutes long album has one new song and four reworked version of songs from their two 1970s albums. Hence my dispute of this being a new album. Well, it is a new album but in a different way than most other new albums.

This album has retained a lot of the heavy rocking sound and music from their 1970s. Even the acoustic music is pretty heavy rocking here. There are no really great pieces of music here and this album does not really capture my imagination. This is a good album though and well worth checking out.

3 points 

Konchordat - English Ghosts (2009)

The debut album from this English band.

This band has so far released three albums. I have also reviewed their second album.

Konchordat is a duo consisting of Steve Cork and Lee Harding. They are helped out by three other musicians here. The lineup is the usual keyboards, piano, guitars, bass, drums and vocals.

This one hour long album takes us to a neo-prog dominated landscape. The title track is a twenty minutes long suite with ebbs and flows. The rest of the songs are pretty epic too.

The dry sound does not want me to label this as symphonic prog. There is a lot of instrumental symphonic melodies here. The sound though is neo-prog.

My main gripe with this album is the lack of any real good melodies and songs here. Even the title track falls a bit flat on it's face. Ditto for the vocals which is a bit substandard. There are a few good bits here and there. Hence my rating.

2.5 points

Comus - To Keep From Crying (1974)

The second album from this English band.

The band was nine piece big and it included the Gong member Didier Malherbe on saxophone. The other instruments was male and female vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and cello.

The band really never got any breakthrough in their lifetime. It was only during the second coming of progrock around year 2000 the band got a breakthrough, long after they had broken up. They released their third and final album in 2012 named Out Of The Coma.

To Keep From Crying is the follow up to their debut album and semi-classic First Utterance from 1971. It is also a total clean break from that album.

What we get here is fifty minutes of reasonable light psychedelic folk rock. A bit West Coast and a lot of folk rock is what this album gives us. The music is pretty decently covered by instruments and we are nowhere near simple, downtuned folk rock. The music here is actually pretty lush.

The female vocals is pretty much everywhere and they are a bit over the top. A bit insane and very psychedelic. 

Lush without really offering any good music at all. It is a decent enough album with some decent songs. Nothing here really interest me, I have to admit. Hence my verdict.

2 points

Kraan - Wintrup (1972)

The second album from this German band.

I really liked their debut album and was looking forward to this, the follow up album.

The lineup of four band members and sax, guitars, bass, drums and vocals was still there. The sound was also good and there was still a great deal of experiementations on this album.

This thirty-seven long album is much more melody and song based than the debut album. It has a psychedelic sound with the sax, guitar and vocals in the foreground. They works as a holy trinity on this album. That makes a bit of a strange sound. A bit of a jazzy sound too. There is a lot of jazz influences on this album, indeed.

The overall quality of the songs, the details and the melodies are very good indeed. It is one of the better albums loosely related to the krautrock scene. This is by all means a krautrock album and one I really rate very highly.

3.5 points

Kayanis ‎– Where Abandoned Pelicans Die (2007)

The second album from this Polish band/project.

Kayanis is the brainchild of a Polish composer and keyboardist with the same name. He has got help from a symphony orchestra and some more classic rock and pop musicians. We get bass, guitars, drums and keyboards in addition to the full symphony orchestra. We also get some male and female vocals here. Most of them are in the operatic vein.

This is an album with one and a half leg in classical music and the other half a leg in the rock and goth camp.

The classical music here is actually at times very good. The rock part is too much pomp and goth to my liking. But it has to be said that Kayanis has managed to do what few others has done. Namely to merge classical music and rock to a coherent unity.

The end result is actually a good album. I am no big fan of this. But I rather like this album. Check it out on their Bandcamp site.

3 points

Kollektiv - Kollektiv (1973)

The debut album from this German band.

Kollektiv was a four piece band with a lineup of flutes, saxophone, guitars, bass and drums. A bit unusual lineup.

This forty minutes long album is instrumental and the music is pure krautrock. Krautrock as in improvised spaced out space rock. Agitation Free springs to mind here if I have to make a comparison.

The flutes are pretty much everywhere and also gives this album a bit of a folky feel. There are also some very good guitar works and solos here which adds a lot to the album.

The Agitation Free references comes thick and fast. Kollektiv is by no means their copycats. I really love Agitation Free and this very dynamic album is just down my alley.

There are no really great pieces of music here though. Nevertheless, this is a good album and one every krautrock fan should lend their ears to.

3 points

Jethro Tull - A Classic Case (1985)

The sixteenth album from this British band.

That according to ProgArchives, that is. This is not really a JT album. This is Ian Anderson and his flute fronting London Symphony Orchestra.

On paper, this is a great collection of JT songs. Probably their best off. I would never really say that these songs are bad. But when you are adding a symphony orchestra to them and removing the rock bits, you are also removing the sting and the bite of these songs.

The result here is forty-two minutes of muzak which does not do any of these songs any favour. Neither does it do the great London Symphony Orchestra any favours either. This is a rubbish album and a pretty bad looking turkey too. Horrible, horrible....

1 point

Glass Hammer - Three Cheers for the Broken Hearted (2009)

The tenth album from this US band.

This album is a bit of an oddity in their discography. Steve Babb and Fred Schendel, the two mainmen in Glass Hammer decided to hire the female vocalist Susie Bogdanowicz. They did indeed base this album around her voice. They also got help from two guitarists too.

The end result is an oddity in their discography.... This album is very much female vocals focused and a stripped down version of their sound. We now get reasonable catchy short songs. The symphonic prog rock stuff which made Glass Hammer a household name has largely gone.

The music is not bad at all. They have even come up with a naive pop song here in the form of A Rose For Emily. This is a very good song.

The rest of the album is reasonably good to good. I am glad that this album is an oddity and did not become the norm. Glass Hammer returned to their old sound and format on their follow up albums.

This is a good album.

3 points 

Kong Lavring - Kong Lavring (1977)

The debut album from this Norwegian band who released two albums before they gave up the ghost.

The list of those involved in this project is too long to mention. The lineup is a mix of bass, drums, guitars, piano and traditional Norwegian folk music instruments. Instruments you probably have never heard about before. The bassist Geir Holmsen has later played with Terje Rypdahl and other jazz musicians. The rest is unknown names for me.

There are also numerous female and male vocalists here. 

King Lavring is forty odd minutes with rocked and popped up old folk music hymns from Norway. Mostly from the long valleys in Norway. The lyrics is naive and almost childish in their innocence. They are indeed lyrics from an innocent time in the Norwegian history.

I am not a big fan of rocking/popping up or even making old folk tunes a lot more melodic by the use of pretty female vocals, piano, bass, guitars and drums. You are taking a lot of the bite out of the tunes. Then again, I don't like Norwegian folk music.

The songs are decent enough and the musicians has actually done something with the songs instead of just adding electricity to these old tunes. This is by no means a good album and I will never play it again. But I have heard far worse album than this one.

2 points  

Ramses - La Leyla (1976)

The debut album from this German band who so far has released five albums. The last one not so many months ago.

Ramses was a five piece band on this album with a lineup of guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and English vocals.

No, this is not krautrock. But it is not that far away from being kraut. Take a big chunk of Eloy and mix it together with Jane and Novalis. That is where I have heard this band can be described as. Novalis is on my to do list before the end of this year and I am currently getting some Jane albums. Hence, I am not sure about these references.

For my own sake, I would compare them to a mix of Eloy and the British psych folk scene. Pink Floyd and Procol Harum also springs to me. Add some krautrock to the mix too and you get this album and this band.

The vocalist is very good and the musicians also does a very good job. This album has this typical 1970s sound and is perhaps a bit too dated for some. I very much like their sound. A very warm, cosy sound. The keyboards and the guitars sound deserves praise here. 

On this thirty-eight minutes long album, the five minutes long Garden is a great song with a great melody line. The rest of the songs are not that great. But this is still, surprising enough after the first listening sessions where I did not like this album at all, a very good album. The prog rock scene and my hunt for great music has again thrown up a very good band. Hence my happiness.

3.5 points