Reviews

»Fairyport« is still a classic of the parallel worlds of jazz rock fusion and symphonic prog today, and the most ambitious achievement in Wigwam's entire discography.

»Act One«, a fascinating debut, still stands as one of the key works of Scottish progressive rock, and it's the first of three very good Beggars Opera albums with Martin Griffiths on lead vocals.

"The songs Keeping Me Alive, She, One of a King and These Eyes are the real workhorses that keep Tygers of Pan Tang tightly bound to the first half of the eighties, which makes this album well worth your time."

»Walpurgis« was a valuable achievement for Swiss proto-prog, but as a whole it's a thoroughly average album, and its lack of adventurousness has made it age poorly.

Of course, the tracks Keeping Me Alive, She, One of a King and These Eyes are the real workhorses that keep Tygers of Pan Tang's bond with the first half of the eighties rock-solid, which makes this album plenty appealing.

After »Seven Weeks: Live in America« from 2004, this is the band's second officially released live document, and luckily it's on Frontiers Records, so it's available on the European market too

With »Music In A Doll's House«, Family created one of the cornerstones of early progressive rock, before the label for the new musical movement had even caught on.

With »Framework«, Work Of Art have honed their grasp, translation and delivery of the AOR legacy to such perfection that right now they have almost no equal on the planet when it comes to revivalism.

Beefheart's debut can stand shoulder to shoulder with the early albums of Zappa and his The Mothers Of Invention when it comes to the innovation of its individual musical ideas, if not its provocativeness and eclecticism.

»Revolver«, one of the best and most important albums in the history of rock music, marked the start of a new era for the Beatles. Artistically, it was beyond doubt priceless, and it had a gigantic influence on countless generations of…

»The Magnificent Moodies« was a not-so-distinguished effort that, apart from the single »Go Now«, never even got the commercial success everyone expected. So over the next two years The Moody Blues went for a complete stylistic overhaul and…

"My Generation" was one of the first heralds of a new musical era. It briefly put The Who at the top of the heap as the voice of the brand-new rebel generation born at the turn of the sixties, after the peak and slow decline of the mod…

»Thick As A Brick – Live In Iceland« is a solid live document, but it's really only for the die-hard fans of the life and work of prog rock's best-known 'prancing little fella'.

»Live In Rome« is a fun live warm-up ahead of the release of Rothery's studio debut »The Ghost of Pripyat«, due out on September 22, 2014, and it also gives a good few answers about how the individual tracks will sound.

The revived magic of primal metal from the NWOBHM days, courtesy of yet another set of legends!

Every track on »Tracks From The Alps« is played and arranged to perfection, and maybe Genesis would be making something similar if they were forty years younger again and picking up right where they left off in 1974, which might be the…

»In the Red« cements the band's spot as one of the most exciting all-female rock 'n' roll outfits on the planet, delivering the most mature songwriting of their career and a bunch of new potential live favorites.

»4 Destinies« is a thoroughly pleasant album, and it'll appeal most to fans of old-school symphonic prog rock with a strong melodic stamp, where Italian and English influences are felt in equal measure, even though Alex Carpani doesn't…

Mr. Hackett has absolutely no intention of letting up on spoiling his devoted followers. »Live At The Royal Albert Hall« is already the second terrific official live album from the 'Genesis Revisited' tour.

»Live at Sea« is easily the best official live recording of the current Spock's Beard lineup so far, peaking with the unexpected and emotional stage appearance of Neal Morse.

»Relaunch II« is another showcase of the exceptional arranging finesse and sonic craftsmanship of these Scandinavian AOR and melodic rock revivalists.

Kotzen is a musician who keeps the music world in awe with his inexhaustible creativity. At 44, he has released a whopping 18 studio albums, and number 19 is just in the works. "The Essential Richie Kotzen" closes the circle of his musical…

"North Star" is first and foremost an album for the nostalgics who miss the romantic days of the mid-seventies, when Curved Air broke the ice as one of the first prog rock bands with a female vocalist and a violin. The band doesn't even try…

Somewhere deep in a Gothenburg forest, three sonic pagans led by a whirlwind of a guitar madman cooked up »Cooking With Pagans«, one of their most provocative and bonkers achievements to date.

With »The Mountain«, Haken have taken a big step forward in evolving their sound and shaping a sonic identity of their own, and they've also made one of the best prog rock albums of 2013, which means they've realized one of their big…

Even on their seventh studio album, and despite solid songwriting and sound work, the Swedes remain a die-hard replica.

Beardfish wanted to try something different, something refreshing on »The Void«, so they started experimenting with prog metal, and it turned out better than most people would imagine.

With »Nine Paths«, Knight Area have made an album that's endlessly listenable and stylistically all over the map, showing off nine sides of this superb Dutch neo-prog band across nine tracks of equally high quality.

The hardcore punks from Ljutomer are back! More alive than ever, they're about to give your ear canals a serious scrubbing!

It would be unfair to accuse Glass Hammer of becoming just a very good but soulless American Yes clone with "If," since the album is a blend of plenty of other symphonic prog and jazz fusion influences plus thoroughly original…

»Arena: Live« is the ultimate live experience for fans of the latest incarnation of the cult neo-prog heroes.

Yet another textbook Dragonforce record, with three or four detours that bring a bit of freshness to a staked-out template that refuses to change. Apparently they can chill out for a moment or two.

If I may add a bit (more) of a personal note to this gorgeous record, I sincerely wish that authentic, full-blooded, one-of-a-kind creations like this would show up more often on the Slovenian music scene.

The Norwegian oddballs have fired up the time machine again on "Afterglow," winning us over with their devoted recreation of the authentic sound of 1970s progressive rock.

"Black Moon Rising" is a quintessential Falconer album! A return to the vibe of "Among Beggars And Thieves" (2008), it delivers the heaviest and darkest record of the band's career!

»Doomsday Afternoon« is a masterpiece of modern progressive rock and the album that finally catapulted Phideaux Xavier into the ranks of the most exciting prog rock artists of the 21st century.

»The Great Leap« wasn't a great leap forward in terms of sonic evolution, but for Phideaux Xavier it was definitely a leap forward in developing ambitious concept ideas, which put him light-years ahead of most other contemporary American…

With their new studio album, Xaxaxa keep cementing their status as one of the most interesting bands to emerge in southeastern Europe in recent years!

»Muse« is a different kind of album as a whole, then. Even though it sounds familiar and kindred, and calls to mind acts from the progressive corners of the genre, it effectively paves the band's way to a spot of authorial uniqueness and…

»The Bedlam in Goliath« was the most bruising, atonal and dirty album in The Mars Volta's (thus far) discography, meaning Omar and Cedric took a step back this time in arrangement variety and melodic sensibility, putting more emphasis on…

»The Difference Machine« was a thrilling start to the new and most successful era in Big Big Train's history so far.

With their debut, Tinyfish haven't made anything especially thrilling or even innovative, but they've delivered an exceptionally listenable, stylistically varied, atmospherically rich and melodic art rock record. It's interesting even for…

On »Present«, Van Der Graaf Generator rose from the ashes like a phoenix. They seized their last chance to return to the scene after almost three decades, and against all expectations made an album that stands shoulder to…

»Songs From November« is classic Neal, straight from his less prominent pop rock side: sung and played with the enviable polish you'd expect, while its all-round feel-good vibe will warm even the most hardened heart among those who couldn't…

With »Marbles«, Marillion created a modern prog rock classic and one of the finest moments of their colorful career, proving that even the 'dinosaurs' can shake things up at the top of the modern commercial charts.

With their debut, State of Salazar signal that this is a band with plenty more great melodic rock up its sleeve. Among their fellow Swedes, they're closest in style to Work of Art, so Toto and Queen influences are far from off the table.

Adrenaline Rush, with Taye Wanning's sweet little lollipop on vocals, are a manufactured creation and an obvious attempt by Frontiers Records to make a bit more cash than usual with a tried-and-tested formula!

»Damnation« was a radical but hugely successful break from Opeth's sound up to that point, catapulting Åkerfeldt's ambitious crew straight into the world of progressive rock, at least for a while.

Yet more resurrected dinosaurs of the N.W.O.B.H.M. movement are back from the dead with an excellent new studio record!

»Notes From The Past« was clear proof that the creative magic between Lundin and Stolt, despite a collaboration gap of more than twenty years, was stronger than ever before in Kaipa's history up to that point.

This is exactly how a heavy metal album should sound: it pulls inspiration from the old-school textbooks of speed and thrash metal pioneering and ravenously translates it into a statement for a new era.

»The Cross & The Crucible« was one of the best things Pallas had done up to that point, so it's fair to call it a neo-prog classic, one that helped cement their cult status.

The Swiss guitar virtuoso's second studio album blends the mastery of some of progressive metal's and art rock's biggest names into one tastefully packaged musical conglomerate.

On »Lightbulb Sun«, Porcupine Tree reached a new level of artistic evolution and cleared their own path to the top of modern progressive rock.

»(r)Evolution« goes back to classic sounds and arrangements. That means it delivers a product that's supposed to light up the band's followers every time. But does it really?

Yes managed to make their best studio album of the nineties with »The Ladder«, if you don't count both parts of the live-studio hybrid »Keys to Ascension«.

With »Underworld«, Tuatara have made a stylistically wildly varied instrumental adventure, packed with enough lucid arrangements and unpredictable rhythmic twists to hook even the pickiest musical explorers.

With "Demo 2014", Slovenia's Underground prove that a new force is climbing onto the scene, one that has wholeheartedly soaked up the primordial spirit of the pioneers who shaped heavy metal back when it was still young and innocent

»Into The Electric Castle« was the landmark work of the one and only Arjen Anthony Lucassen, setting brand-new standards for the modern rock/metal opera and helping revive interest in a concept-album genre that had all but been buried.

"Into The Electric Castle" was the defining work of the one and only Arjen Anthony Lucassen, setting brand-new standards for the modern rock/metal opera and helping revive interest in a concept-album genre that was all but buried.

»Falling into Infinity« is probably the most overlooked album in Dream Theater's discography to date. It actually ranks among the best things they've done, even if it asks for a bit more time and genre open-mindedness.

Label: Elektra RecordsRelease date: 23.09.1997Producer: Kevin ShirleyAlbum length: 78.12 minGenre: Progressive Metal "Falling into Infinity" was a troubled fourth album that nearly tore apart one of the key and most exciting rock…

A deeply personal confessional story that couldn't embody Trobentar's musical philosophy and creative depth any better. Whether as a singer-songwriter or as the former driving force of the legendary music eccentrics Na lepem prijazni (NLP).

With »Beware of Darkness«, Spock's Beard cemented their status as the leading revivalists of the so-called third wave of progressive rock and proved that they would keep growing as songwriters and arrangers from one album to the next.

It makes no sense to call Clear a top-tier release, but it nails the identity of each individual member, which is an achievement in its own right.

"Unvarnished, sincere and heartfelt. A rich, deeply moving and confessional “gift” of art in the truest sense of the word, one that wears a metaphorical mask of mocking jabs, while underneath it hides a message so powerful it will shake you…

With »Back In The World Of Adventures,« The Flower Kings delivered a splendid debut that set plenty of standards for their future studio efforts, and it was also one of the key albums of the third wave of progressive rock in the…

Swedish heavy metal revivalists Wolf have delivered the most mature work of their career with their new release, passing the tough test of holding the quality bar set by its predecessor "Legions of Bastards" with flying colors.

Hardly anyone dared to predict that »The Division Bell« would become one of the best albums of the last decade of the 20th century and one of the deepest achievements in the entire Pink Floyd discography.

Album »Hope's Beautiful Daughters« is definitely something special. Under the watchful baton of Katarina and Dejan, this Scottish-Slovenian team-up comes together harmoniously, charmingly and concisely.

The concept-album manifesto »Wounded Land« wasn't just one of the best debuts by any prog metal band. It's rightly considered a genre classic, and it launched Threshold into the ranks of the most exciting acts on the modern prog scene.

Gary Chandler's ambition, and that of his technically and arrangement-wise brilliantly skilled Jadis bandmates, knew no bounds right from the start. »More Than Meets The Eye« was one of the best achievements in the band's…

Galahad may not have been among the most ambitious names on the British neo-prog scene, but with "Nothing Is Written" they delivered a solid debut, held back mainly by its weak production.

The rock opera »Freudiana« was an incredibly ambitious project from the dream team of Parsons and Woolfson, and it would rank pretty high even next to the rest of The Alan Parsons Project discography.

»…But Seriously« was in many ways the peak of Collins' solo career, a monster success on every artistic and commercial level you can think of.

Label: Parlophone Records Release date: 16.09.1988 Production: Tim Friese-Greene Album length: 41.30 min Genre: Post Rock / Art Rock "Spirit of Eden" was one of the best albums of the 1980s. It unwittingly laid the groundwork for a new…

A masterpiece, "Spirit of Eden" was a revolutionary album, one that a whole legion of post-rock bands and alternative acts would later adopt as 'their own.'

Slash's second solo record marks a serious step forward from his previous album!

With »Pale Communion«, Opeth have made a serious contender for the best progressive rock album of 2014.

With »Nomzamo«, a hybrid of symphonic prog and new wave, IQ pulled off a fun but somewhat controversial sonic mutation that didn't pay off for them in the long run, while the album predictably tanked commercially.

You could say Wovenwar's debut picks up right where As I Lay Dying left off with Awakened. Maybe that's partly down to the same producer. As syrupy as this album can get, it's good to hear that the ex-As I Lay Dying members, who stood out…

"Criminal Tango" was a solid AOR album that cemented Manfred Mann's Earth Band as champions of crafting big, melodic-rock anthems with a virtuoso backbone, even though it earned them no real recognition.

Everything on »Blind Rage« is exactly where it should be. True to the band's tradition. They don't let up on modern production or on the inspiration of metal veterans, so their artistic bloom stays in full swing. Even in their golden years.

"Incremental IV" isn't an artistic step up from its predecessor. Instead, it's Tony Niva cementing his status as one of the finest songwriters in the modern world of melodic rock and Scandinavian-flavored AOR.

»Brother Where You Bound«, the last Supertramp album still worth the attention of every music connoisseur, marked the start of a new era in which things for this legendary band slowly started going downhill.

On Analog Man, Joe Walsh has conjured up a convincing back-to-basics rock sound, and his nasal, cutting voice delivers an astonishing variety of melodic lines.

Jade Warrior's return to the music scene with "Horizen" didn't quite land, though the album does have a few moments that recall their best days.

Mastodon? This time more of a "scrawny trumpeter". What we've got here is the least interesting and softest Mastodon record yet, one that actually (and this is quite the astonishing finding) cuts the umbilical cord with metal.

The Moody Blues slid completely into pop rock in the early eighties, which suited them down to the ground at the time, even if it cost them a big chunk of their artistic individuality.

"Enter K" was yet another superb Hammill studio achievement, one that still shakes you to the core today with its extraordinary emotional power and enviable atmospheric depth.

An interesting album for fans of mainstream rock.

Wishbone Ash boldly stepped into a new era with »Number the Brave«, an album that, despite its transitional nature, is undeniably an overlooked achievement.

Even though music of this kind was starting to look commercially shaky in the early eighties, Jean-Luc didn't lose any sleep over it. "Civilized Evil" was another very good jazz fusion effort.

After the band's reunion in 2003 in nearly the "Blow My Fuse" lineup, we've finally got a new Kix album. Made from extremely "sticky dough". Served up "slippery" and spun at "eleven".

»Florian« was a pretty fun and unique stylistic stunt with some seriously interesting results, even if Le Orme are barely recognizable in places, since this chamber-leaning effort has nothing to do with rock music.

If you're a fan of Helloween, Gamma Ray, Place Vendome or Pink Cream 69, listening to this album will make you feel right at home. On "Light of Dawn," Unisonic have tightened up their style even further.

After a lot of effort, Happy The Man finally put out their self-titled debut on Arista in 1977, and with its unpredictable, mostly instrumental nature it stands as one of the finest achievements in the history of American progressive rock.

At the peak of their powers, Cathedral were fully on par with the best of European prog rock. The proof is "Stained Glass Stories", one of the most often forgotten and lonely relics of the obscure American prog scene.

Cathedral's swan song is morbid, slow and dark. But it's also a surprisingly varied album, considering there's not much left to show in doom metal itself.

»Par les fils de Mandrin« lands in the golden middle of the classic Ange albums, meaning the band kept the sonic stability of their earlier work and came up with some of their best compositions yet.