Monday, March 18, 2024

Roxy Music - Stranded (1973)

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of timpani, drums, bass, guitars, electric violin, oboe, saxophone, piano, keyboards, synths and vocals.

A handful of guests added bass and a full male choir.

The band returned again. This time without Brian Eno who went onto doing his own things. Mostly ambient music.

The music is a lot lighter and more positive than on their previous album. The music is still a bit dark as in the obvious VDGG influences here. Nevertheless, there is also some sun and happiness on this album.

The label "eclectic art-rock" is the one to be used here. There is also a lot of pop here. The use of oboe and saxophones, used quite often throughout this album, saves the music from being commercial.

The music is decadent and very much centered around the fleshpots in London. That shines through the album and it is enforced by the rather dirty vocals of Bryan Ferry. A husky voice which is pretty essential for the music here. 

There is a weird, good ambience throughout this forty minutes long album. The music is pretty good too and the vocals is the x factor that makes this a good album. Barely but still a good album. I have yet to make up my mind about this band, though.

3 points



King's X - Dogman (1994)

The fifth album from this band from USA.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

A guest added percussion and keyboards.

This very underrated band soldiered on. Mostly without getting paid as their manager was hopeless and then ripped them off.... big time. Something that took a huge strain on each band member and their families/marriages. 

But they still soldiered on. That means a soulful, grungy mix of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Rush. 

The big name producer Brendan O'Brien was the producer here. A producer with a past from the grunge and heavy metal scene. A man known to remove any waste from albums he produced.

The result is a much leaner, harder and slimmed down sound and music. A lot of the eastern feel has gone. The funk is still there but the songs are harder and more angry.

The band still managed to write some really good songs. Even the Jimi Hendrix cover track Manic Depression, forced on them by their record label Atlantic, sounds good in their version. 

Their own songs are also good. But this does not disguise that this album is their weakest, least great album so far. Nevertheless, great bands mostly always comes up with the goods.

3 points

 

 


Sunday, March 17, 2024

Minas Tirith - Mythology (1993)

The debut release from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

There are some really hidden gems in and from Norway. Bands from where Norway was a white spot on the metal and music map. Bands like Minas Tirith.

Hidden gem as it was released before the whole black metal scene, with murders, arsons and genre defining albums, really kicked off. Many of these black/doom/death metal and prog rock bands were indeed to lesser or a large degree influenced by this EP. Minas Tirith is indeed Norway's answer to King's X. Very popular among musicians & mostly unknown among the general record buying public. 

We get sixteen minutes and four compositions/songs of totally off the wall prog metal, thrash metal, jazz and eclectic prog. References are Gentle Giant, King's X, VDGG, Voivod, Radiohead, Cynic and King Crimson. 

The four compostions are twisting and turning like an crocodile after attacking an electric eel. There is lots of weird and atonal stuff here. Not at least the vocals. Most of the music here defies belief.

This EP is indeed a hidden gem and a very good EP. It also deserve a re-release.

3.5 points

 

Btw It seems like I reviewed this Ep for ProgArchives 15 years ago. Nevermind....


7th Overture - These Words Remain (2020)

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band released this album themselves and it sold some hundred copies before the band gave up the ghost.

The music is progressive metal with a lot of heavy metal and some speed and thrash metal influences.

The six songs, make that compositions, are pretty long. The longest one is twenty-seven minutes long. The album is clocking in at over seventy minutes.

The ambitions of the bands were sky high. Their ability to carry out their visions for this album was pretty poor.

The sound, vocals and guitars are pretty poor. The ideas are decent. Half of the compositions are decent enough. 

The result is only a half decent, half-baked album. If you fail..... give up. They did.

1.5 points



Moongarden - Christmas Night 2066 (2023)

The tenth album from this band from Italy.

The band is a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violins, piano, mellotron, keyboards, samples, taurus pedals and vocals.

Moongarden has been and still is the leading Italian band in the neo-prog scene. They album debuted thirty years ago and is still alive. Mostly as a studio project, I suspect. I have yet to spot any gigs and tours they are undertaking this year.

The music is a mix of pastoral and epic neo-prog. 

Their take on neo-prog is pretty much in the middle of the road, standard neo-prog. The music is still very effective and showcases this genre.

We get a forty-three minutes long journey through this genre, done with both elegance and power. 

The songs are good and ditto for the sound and the vocals. The violins is adding some spice and quality here.

This is a good album and one to check out.

3 points



Saturday, March 16, 2024

Rubber Tea - From a Fading World (2023)

The second album from this band from Germany.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute and vocals.

They had help from some guests who provided strings and woodwinds.

Their 2020 debut Infusion was a bit of a revelation and the band was tipped as one of the better talents in the scene. 

The follow up has retained the best from the debut. That means German neo-prog with a lot of art-rock and some folk rock influences. There are even some jazz and RPI influences here.

The folk rock and RPI elements has been added as the band has expanded their horizons a bit and incorporated new ideas into their songs and music.

The music is lush and flowery. This is a lot due to the saxophones. Vanessa Gross vocals is also a big plus in their sound and music. Her English vocals are very good.

The result is forty-five minutes with some very good music. Check out this band and both their albums. 

3.5 points

 

 

Friday, March 15, 2024

Permian Incident - All The Things No Tomorrow Brings (2020)

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band is building on the platform they build on their 2015 debut album. A more than acceptable debut album in the good old hard rock and hard prog genre.

The band is still to be found in this genre on the follow up album. On the fifty minutes long follow up album, that is.

The vocals is still impressive. Yes, I am talking about your pipes, Johannes Hulleberg. 

The band has cleaned up their sound and expression a lot and become more self assured in the 1970s hard rock and heavy prog genre. Uriah Heep is a big influence.

The sound is modern, 2020'ish. The ambience and the music is the 1970s hard rock scene. The music have a mix of ballads and hard rockers.

Most of the album is mid-tempo and hard rockers. The music is also complex and at times epic and bold.

The quality is good throughout and this is an album for those who loved this genre. This is so far their last album but I hope that the band will return with some more albums.

3 points



Yobrepus - A Rhizome Revolution Part 1

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, synths, loops, saxophone and vocals.

A handful of guests added guitars, violas, violins, cello, loops and piano.

This is one of the new'ish bands from Norway who has bypassed me as I am writing these lines from an office many hundreds of miles from Norway. Hence, my radar has it's faults. 

The band released their debut album in 2020 and I have just ordered it for a review sometimes later this year. 

A Rhizome Revolution is an album in two parts, released with a six months split between part 1 and 2. 

The music is art-rock. Very quirky art-rock. 

Take a mix of The Beatles, Gentle Giant and A-Ha. Add in some King Crimson and Yes too. You get thirty-five minutes of music which is running in all directions. It is like herding a flock of wild cats. The music is that diverse. 

The music is elegant, though... Very elegant but not sweet or sugary. 

The music is most of all quirky. It is not particular dissonant or even eclectic. But it has a lot of twists and turns.

The result is a very good album indeed. It is an album that surprises me. Part 2 will be released 18. October. I cannot wait.

3.5 points



Thursday, March 14, 2024

Zappa. Frank - Them Or Us (1984)

The 27th album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did guitars and vocals himself.

He had help from numerous guests who provided drums, percussion, bass, guitars, woodwinds, piano, minimoog, keyboards and vocals.

Frank Zappa had stopped writing and recording new material long time ago. What remained was albums with rehashed material.

This seventy minutes long album serves up a wide variety ranging from bebop, doowop, pop, guitar solos and some jazz.

Some of the old songs has been rearranged and reworked. Some of the material has poor sound. 

The result is a barely decent album which has some whiffs of rip-off. Albums like this is not good for his reputation.

2 points



My Dying Bride - For Lies I Sire (2009)

The tenth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards and vocals.

The band had been around for twenty years by now and they had not changed much. Yes, there had been the album where they flirted with grunge and stoner. But most of their output had been epic, slow doom metal.

That is also what we get here..... mostly. There are some flirtations with goth rock and more mainstream metal. The music is not overly epic and slow doom. The speed is a bit faster than that.

The vocals is mostly clean vocals and there are some violins here. The guitars are also mostly clean and in their usual sound range.

The music is pretty epic though and most of the songs and pieces of music is pretty good.

This is not one of their finest albums. Nevertheless, this is a good album.

3 points

 

 


Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Finjarn & Jensen - Finjarn & Jensen (1970)

The debut album from this duo from Norway.

The duo was Svein Finjarn on guitars and vocals plus Leif Jensen on drums, guitars and vocals.

They got help from a trio who provided bass, guitars and backing vocals.

This duo was the result after the Norwegian supergroup Jumbo lost all their members, with the exception of these two musicians. The result was this album which the band members, both the duo and those who left Jumbo, has described as half-baked.

Svein Finjarn was Norway's first super-guitarist and a big name. Hence his face as the big face on the album cover. Leif Jensen, the small face on the album cover, was more a studio musician who took part on a lot of albums, including most of Svein Finjarn's solo albums and bands.

The music here is a mix of blues, hard rock and rock. The inclusion of the pretty good hit Lady Windsor adds a decent song to some material which is only saved by Svein Finjarn's great guitars. 

The result is still only a half-decent album and one better forgotten. It is one of the many albums who has been re-released on CD during the last years on the NAK series. My opinion is therefore not shared...

1.5 points

 

 


3rd World Leader - Picture Imperfect (2015)

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

This band from Ohio has released two albums without making any waves in the progressive metal ocean.

Yes, this album is a sort of a progressive metal album. Sort of as there is some post-punk and djent here too. The sound is a bit light and fluffy. Hence a bit confusion about what the band is trying to do here.

The vocals are OK. The sound is light and teenybopper like.

Yes, there are some teenybopper post-punk here and that is not a good thing.

The band tries to get some going with some sub-standard songs. This throughout this forty-three minutes long album.

The result is only half decent and I think I will bypass their second album. This is not a talented band.

1.5 points



Pourpre - Pourpre (2023)

The debut album from this band from Canada.

The band is a seven piece big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, violin and vocals.

This is a new group in the Quebec scene. This scene has given us some really interesting bands like Maneige and Harmonium. The scene is still very active with some new bands popping up.

This half an hour long album gives us a mix of heavy prog, folk rock, eclectic prog and some jazz. 

The female vocals are partly soprano. They are also great.

The music is lush and flowery. It has a homely, cosy feel. The music is also complex and eclectic at the same time.

In addition to the vocals... the music is also pretty much benefiting from the half-acoustic guitars and the violins. The drums is also really good here with the bass underpinning the good songs.

Pourpre is very much an album that promises a lot and I hope we will hear a lot more from the band in the future. 

3 points



Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Rubber Tea - Infusion (2020)

The debut album from this band from Germany.

The band is a sextet with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, sitar, guitars, mellotron, keyboards, saxophone, flute and vocals.

Some guests added saxophone, percussion, vibraphone and trumpet.

This is a new band, new talents from Germany. Their music is neo-prog with some art-rock influences.

The music is very much German neo-prog and in that tradition. What sets this band a part from the other German neo-prog bands is the use of woodwinds and female vocals.

Ms. Vanessa Gross is the one who sets this band a apart from the other bands. Her flute, saxophone and female vocals. All three contributions is good to very good. Her vocals is understated but still very good. Very suitable to this music. I get the feeling, from the music, that she is indeed the creative force in Rubber Tea. 

The music is mellow and pretty pastoral. The music has also a lot of Marillion influences. There are a lot of good guitars here too.

The album is clocking in at forty minutes. It is indeed a good album which throws a punch and it lands on those who like melodic, mellow neo-prog. 

The band released their second album last year and it is up for review later this week. I get the feeling that may be something to look forward to, reviewing that album.

3 points



Monday, March 11, 2024

Permian Incident - Songs of Solitude and Sorrow (2015)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet on this album with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band has released two albums so far and I have got both of them up for review.

The band and other reviewers has named Uriah Heep as the reference for the music on this and their other album. That is not a bad reference.

The music is what we can call heavy prog. That is.....with a mix of today's sound and the 1970s sound. 

Johannes Hulleberg vocals is very good and has this classic hard rock sound. The organ and guitar sound is also good.

This album is almost eighty minutes long. All the songs are pretty good.

It still falls a bit short. Nevertheless, this is a more than acceptable debut album and one well worth checking out.

2.5 points



Runaway Totem - Creators (2023)

The 12th album from this band from Italy.

The band has been reduced to one man, Roberto Gottardi and he does the guitars, synths and electronics.

He got help from numerous guests who has provided keyboards, piano, saxophones, flutes and vocals.

This is a band I really like and I have reviewed all their albums. I was not impressed at all by their previous album, the 2019 album Multiversal Matter. So I had no hope for Creators.

The album is one hour long and include some prominent guest musicians like Nik Turner, David Jackson and Sophya Baccini. A bit quality...

The music is a mix of some really eclectic, but still melodic music ranging from full on zeuhl to a bit more avant-garde rock and cinematic rock.

The references is as diverse as Magma, Pink Floyd and Goblin. Which is almost impossible...but this is what we get here.

The music goes from atonal zeuhl and avant-garde to some really melodic psych and cinematic rock.

The quality is very good on the zeuhl pieces. It is not as good on the more ambient cinematic rock pieces. This is still a good album which has a good blend of guitar solos, saxophones and soaring female voices. 

This is an album fans of this band and more ecletic prog will enjoy. I am delighted that the band is back in good form again. 

3 points



Sunday, March 10, 2024

Grand Funk Railroad - All the Girls in the World... (1974)

The ninth studio album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, organ, keyboards and vocals.

Some guests added strings and woodwinds.

The band continued on as a quartet. The band had also mellowed a lot since the last album. Their sound and music, that is. 

There is a lot of brass on this album. There are also some strings here. 

A lot of their hard rock has been dropped. What's remaining as an US rock band/album. An album which has also incorporated some soul and southern rock too.

The quality of the music is decent enough. 

This is not their finest album. It is a child of it's time. A time now forgotten.

2 points



Wyatt. Robert - Cuckooland (2003)

The seventh album from this artist from Great Britain.

Robert Wyatt did the vocals and some piano, keyboards, percussion, cornet, trumpet and drums.

He had help from a lot of guests who did drums, bass, guitars, woodwinds, accordion, harmonica, keyboards and backing vocals.

Seventy five minutes long..... Seventy five minutes with mostly droning vocals. That is this album in a nutshell.

There are a lot of trumpet and some other instruments here too. There are also some instrumental pieces here.

The music is at times also pastoral. The tempo is slow to very slow. Droning in other words.

Robert Wyatt's vocals is very good and he has managed to come up with a couple of good songs here too. But most of this album is failing to really capture the attention of the listener. There is too much of barely decent songs here.

The result is a decent album and so far his weakest album. For fans and collectors only, I am afraid.

2 points

 

 


Saturday, March 9, 2024

Moose Loose - Live At Kongsberg Jazzfestival 1973 (2023)

The live album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, electric piano and organ.

I never review live albums and this is probably the first ever live album I have reviewed in this blog, all the three editions, since it was launched in 2012. I have no plans to review any other live albums.

This album is a bit special and I bought it from the NAK series where it was released. I am sniffing around the edges of Norwegian jazz these days and this review is the result of that.

I have reviewed the two Moose Loose studio albums and I have never really been impressed by them.

This live album has a mix of material from these two albums and some cover tracks. Weather Report and Miles Davis covers, that is.

The album was recorded at the annual Kongsberg Jazzfestival in Norway. That one, Vozzajazz and Molde Jazzfestival is the three big ones in Norway and pretty big in Europe too.

The guitar and organ solos are really cool here and those are the ones that attracts me most to this album. The material is not the best and the music is pretty complex. The music is a mix of fusion and jazz too.

This album is one hour long and it is a good album. Barely a good album but the guitar and organ solos elevates it to a good album.

3 points



Hora Prima - L'uomo Delle Genti (2020)

The debut album from this band from Italy.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band has stated that the purpose of the band and the music is to honour and play RPI from the 1970s. This with their own self composed original music.

Hence this forty minutes long album.

The package comes complete with some good Italian vocals. The music is of the more pastoral end of the RPI spectrum.

The music is both pastoral and symphonic. It is also melodic and complex at the same time.

And yes, the music is both their own and a tribute to the RPI bands from the 1970s Italy.

The sound is modern, the vocals is very good and so is the music. RPI fans should get this album.... those who has not already got this album. What a gem of an album !

3.5 points



 


Friday, March 8, 2024

Miller. Rick - Altered States (2023)

The 17th album from this artist from Canada. 

Rick Miller did the programming, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals himself.

He got help from six guests who added drums, percussion, guitars, violin, cello and flutes.

I have reviewe around ten of his first albums back in 2022 for this blog. He is now releasing a new album so it is about time to get myself updated on his albums.

Altered State was released one year ago. 

The music is the usual fare we can expect from him. That means soft rock with some ambient pieces, neo-classical pieces and some soft symphonic prog pieces.

His vocals is very good. The music is slow to ambient.

The music is not particular technical or full of details. The guitars are good though. The melodies are good and memorable.

Altered State is one of his better albums and it is indeed a good album. Do not expect to be knocked over by musicianship, dynamic music or uber-intelligent life on this album. 

3 points




 

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Meer - Playing House (2021)

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band is an eight piece big band with a lineup of glockenspiel, drums, percussion, bass, guitars, mandolin, violin, viola, keyboards, electric organ, piano and vocals.

Their debut album was pretty good, A bit uneven but still acceptable.

Playing House sees the band being, and rightly so, signed by Karisma Records, one of the biggest indie companies around. A label with a great progressive rock roster.

Meer's music is more a blend of elegant pop and art-rock. A-Ha meets Marillion.

And that blend is what we get on Playing House.

The vocals are a mix of female and male vocals. They are both good and not at least.... lush. That also in line with the music on this album. The music is really lush and lively. It has a wide variety of tasteful instruments and the arrangements are really impressive. 

The result is a good album. My only gripe is the lack of some really great pieces of music. But this is a very talented band, capable of becoming one of the great bands of our time.

3 points

 

 


Marekvist - Varde (2023)

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band is a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I am not a big fan of their 2021 debut album Solrenning. Nevertheless, the band showcased a band with a lot of talent. Talent I was hoping we would see a lot more of on this, their second album.

The music on this forty minutes long album is a mix of post-rock, post-metal, psych rock and...... Norwegian folk music. An odd blend which gives the band their own identity.

The use of some very good female vocals, is a good thing here. It serves as the cream on the cream cake.

Before we have arrived at the cream, the band also does a good job over some melancholic, atmospheric music.

The vocals are in Norwegian and there is some proper songs here too. The best parts of this album is the more post-rock stuff. Nevertheless, the mix on this album is clever, good and original. 

This is a band well worth keeping an eye on. They may go far. 

3 points




Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Vrajitor's Tenebrarium - E.N.L.D. (2023)

The debut album from this band from Finland.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, bouzouki, synths, clarinet and saxophone.

This album has been described as a symphonic prog album and that made me jump and get this album.

That is not entirely what we get here. Yes, there are some classic sounding symphonic prog here. But most of the music here is cinematic rock in the same vein as Goblin, Jacula and Devil Doll as symphonic prog bands.

The mix of symphonic prog and cinematic horror movie soundtrack is obvious during the first half of this forty minutes long album.

The musis is pretty dark and the band says their music is very inspired by horror movies. A genre I am not familiar with. But that make sense. Goblin did a lot of horror movie soundtracks and some of this album feels like that. The majority of this album has a horror theme running through the music.

It does not come as a surprise to learn that the band members also has been involved in the metal scene. It has some metal undertones.

The music is pretty good and this is a debut album they should be happy with. I hope we hear a lot more from this band in the future.

2.5 points



 

Motorpsycho - Demon Box (1993)

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, sitar, violin, mandolin, synths, organ, piano, samples and vocals.

Some guests added bass, sitar, mellotron, piano, organ, vocals and narration.

This album was a big album and big news when I lived in a student dormitory back in Oslo, Norway. Very popular, but I had my head fully buried in the death/doom metal scene and totally ignored this album.

My first ever listen to this album was therefore last weekend. 

This seventy minutes long album is a box with lots of various demons. 

I mean.... various musical expressions. From outlaw country to thrash metal. The opening minutes, weird minutes, makes the listener wonder if the wrong album has been purchased. Weird folky outlaw country. The music then moves to psych and space rock.

The common thread for the music here is garage psych rock. That means wild psych rock with some post-punk influences and metal influences. That in addition to some folk and retro-pop influences.

The music is good throughout the album. It is a strange record but the quality shines through. It is an album I have come to really like and enjoy.

3 points



Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Mythic Sunship - Ouroboros (2016)

The debut album from this band from Denmark.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass and guitars.

This band has to this date released six albums and they have got themselves a good fanbase. I am going to review all their albums during the next six or seven weeks.

The band is a space rock band. Their music is from outer space. 

That means the music is hard and dirty. A good reference is Electric Orange from Germany. 

The music is pretty distorted during these forty-six minutes. It is also groovy... well, trying to be groovy.

The music is pretty melodic and the sound is good.

The music is pretty good and the band shows a lot of promise here. The overall quality is somewhere just short of being good and this is a more than acceptable debut album. I am really looking forward to dip my ears into the rest of their albums.

2.5 points

 

 


Gafseth. Ivar - Solo Album (1978)

The one and only album from this artist from Norway.

Ivar Gafseth did the vocals in additon to playing clavinet, accordion, piano, organ, keyboards, vibraphone, tambourine and synths.

He got help from some guests who provided drums, bass, guitars, banjo and saxophone. A female vocalist added additional backing vocals and a choir added their voices too.

Ivar Gafseth was a member of Difference, a band with moderate success who played Procol Harum like art-rock and progressive rock.

Someone gave him a solo contract and the result was this album.

The LP, and last year's CD re-release through the NAK series, is divided into a Norwegian and an English vocals part. On the LP, that means side A and B on this forty minutes long album.

The Norwegian part has some disco and overblown inoffensive pop/rock. It is a pretty dire side A.

The music is a slight improvement when the language are English. Some Procol Harum influences are evident. There are still some funk here and some very pedestrian pop/rock.

The vocals are decent enough and ditto for the musical contributions.

The result is a half-decent album which is better left as a piece of Norwegian pop/rock history. It is an album only for record collectors.

1.5 points



Quasar - Fire in the Sky (1982)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, synths, moog bass pedals, organ and vocals.

Three guests added drums, minmoog and keyboards.

This band released three albums before they split up and then reformed as Landmarq. I have just completed my reviews of the Landmarq albums and have also reviewed the final two Quasar albums in my three blogs with the same name.

The music here is neo-prog and the sound is the 1980s plastic fantastic sound. A sound based on some very poor synths. The vocals is also somewhere in the background, trying desperate to find some air before it get drowned out in a poor soundscape.

The songs are OK. There are not many interesting details and some of the songs are pretty poppy and straight forward melodic. The vocals are decent enough.

The result is a decent album and a reminder that some of the productions from this era has not survived the scrutiny of today's day and age.

2 points

 

 


Monday, March 4, 2024

Cloud People - Simulacra (2024)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and saxophone.

One guest added vocals on one track.

This band has been quite extensive promoted during these first weeks of this year and I was getting my hopes up. I wanted to find another sensational good band and album from Norway.

The music on this album is, with the exception of one song, instrumental.

The music is a mix of cinematic rock, electronica, psych rock, post rock and fusion.

The idea is good. The result is.... pretty bland.

In short, this album is in need of some better tunes and better ideas.

This is an acceptable debut album which needs to be followed up by a better second album.

2 points

 

 

 


Sunday, March 3, 2024

Meer - Meer (2016)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was an eight piece big band with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, viola, violin and vocals.

This band has so far released two albums. There are rumours of a third album later this year. I got their second album too and will review it next week.

Meer is a progressive rock band. Their music is a mix of art-rock, art-pop and progressive rock.

The music is both melodic and elegant with lots of female and male harmonies. The viola, violin and guitars also adds a lot of harmonies to the pretty pastoral, melodic music.

The music is not hard, let me put it like that.

What is missing is some more good songs on this fifty minutes long album. Half of this album is decent.... the rest is good. 

This is a more than acceptable debut album and I am glad that the band was signed on Karisma Records for their second album. A smart signing.

2.5 points

 

 

Marekvist - Solrenning (2021)

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band is an eight piece big band/project with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organs, electronics and vocals.

This is a new band to me who released their second album last year. I will review that album too later this month.

Their music is a bit difficult to describe. It falls into the experimental category. 

OK... let's start with, as this album starts with, some Norwegian folk tones, then add some jazz, avant-garde progressive rock and some post rock. 

The music is rather understated and softly spoken. There are some sporadic cascades of guitars.... post-rock style. But most of this album is softly spoken and gentle.

The voices, females, adds a lot to this album. The mix up of Norwegian folk tones and jazz on a couple of the tracks are special, yes. It gives this album an identity and sets the tone for this band.

The quality is decent enough and it an album well worth checking out.

2.5 points




Saturday, March 2, 2024

Overworld Dreams - Geography (2024)

The third album from this band from USA.

The band is a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests added vocals on some tracks.

I really liked their first two albums. Good, solid and melodic US neo-prog.

So I jumped on the chance to review this album too as they are one of my favourite US neo-prog bands.

The band has moved towards symphonic prog on Geography. US symphonic prog, that is.

The vocals are both male and female. The music is big and bold with some musicals influences. It is also very complex and it is not always easy to see where the melodies and music is going during these fifty minutes.

The music is pretty pastoral throughout. This despite of being bold and pretty epic. The band has found a good balance between pastoral, epic and boldness. 

Not everything is good here. The vocals and the details is really good though. But the overall impression is that this is another good album from this band. A band whose albums is well worth checking out.

3 points



Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure (1973)

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, guitars, tapes, synths, keyboards, oboe, saxophone and vocals.

A guest added bass.

I started to review all the Roxy Music albums last month and quite liked their debut album. Weird vaudeville rock/pop.

Reviewing their eight album is a challenge and that is true for their second album too.

We still have some vaudeville art rock. But where their debut album had a nice, sunny mood...... For Your Pleasure has taken us to a pretty dark place.

It feels like we are in the underbelly of popular music on this album. It is not a nice place to be. This is not necessary a gloomy place. It is just an unnerving experience, these eight songs/forty-two minutes. 

Bryan Ferry's vocals are pretty spooky and dark. The rest of the band joins in too. 

The quality is pretty good though although not everyting here is good. But the quality of the band, their presence and their artistic endevours shines through. Ditto for the many interesting details on this album.

That makes this album a step in the right direction from their debut album. It is indeed a good album.

3 points



Friday, March 1, 2024

King's X - King's X (1992)

The fourth album from this band from USA.

The band is a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, dulcimer, sitar and vocals.

Two guests added cello, piano and organ.

This very underrated band continued on from their first three albums more or less in the same vein.

That means a soulful, grungy mix of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Rush. 

Their three first albums really impressed me and reminded me how much I have always liked this band, even after a two decaded long pause from their music. 

The music on this album, whose album title sounds like they wanted to reset the band for a reason I do not understand (I need to get to that chapter in their biography), is both groovy, catchy, highly intelligent and full of good harmonies.

Lost In Germany is the outstanding track here. The rest of the album is a great album too.

This is another great album from a great band and it is a mystery to me why they never got the breakthrough they and their music deserved. I do not understand.... I do not understand.

4 points



Hawk On Flight - In Time For Hawk On Flight (1979)

The debut album from this Norwegian-Swedish band.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and keyboards.

This band released two albums under this name before they changed name to Matz Nilsson & Hawk On Flight. 

The band was a fusion band. A true fusion band in the same vein as Weather Report, Return To Forever and Miles Davis. Though without the woodwinds. Hence, the band very much sounds like Weather Report.

The music is laidback and the bassist is the star here. There is a lot of interesting details on this three quarters of an hour long album. 

This and their second album, which I have just ordered, has been re-released on CD, the NAK series and is well worth checking out.

This is indeed a good, solid fusion album. 

3 points

 

 


Thursday, February 29, 2024

Artefactron - Artefactron (2022)

The debut album from this band from Mexico.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This album was released two years ago through their own webpage. It has been released both on CD, LP and off course as a stream.

The cover art work is very attractive and draws the viewers. The hope is that this is a symphonic prog album..

.. And that is not far from the truth.

Take a lot of RPI - Progressive Italian Rock, and then add some neo-prog and symphonic prog.

The vocals are in Spanish and they are great. 

The music is very lush and colourful. The album has a very good balance between some pretty melodic music and some far more complex music.

The balance between the keyboards and guitars are good. The album is at it's best when the cascades of keyboards is running through some more complex music.

This is easily one of the best albums from 2022 and a very good album in it's own right.

Get this album.

3.5 points



Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Faveravola - Castrum Zumellarum (2024)

The second album from this band from Italy.

The band was a nine piece big band on this album and the lineup was drums, bass, guitars, violin, flute, saxophone, organ, piano and vocals.

This band released their debut album Contea Dei Cento Castagne back in 2006. I reviewed this album back in November 2011 for ProgArchives and was pretty impressed by it.

I also noted that their folk rock label was slightly misleading as the music was also RPI - Progressive Italian Rock.

We are in 2024 and I have to agree with myself. The music on both albums is both folk rock and RPI.

The music is mostly half-acoustic and based on some good vocals. Most of the music is pastoral and not particular eclectic or complicated. There are a lot of violin here and some of the music is leaning towards acid folk. 

The use of organ is rather good and adds a lot of quality.

The reason is that RPI has a lot more folk rock incorporated than progressive rock in England and USA ever had. The progressive rock from France and Spain too had a lot more folk rock incorporated than the English speaking world.

Castrum Zumellarum is sixty-six minutes long and has a mix of decent and good songs.

It is an album which would interest RPI fans. Check it out.

2.5 points



Looking Glass Lantern - The Country House Weekend (2021)

The fifth album from this one-man-band from Great Britain.

Graham Dunnington did all the computers, guitars, synths and keyboards here.

Graham Dunnington has with this project got a good reputation and position in the scene. I have reviewed all the albums and I have quite enjoyed them.

The music on this album is entirely instrumental.

The music is both cinematic and pretty much neo-classical. There are some symphonic prog here too.

If this album is meant to be an instrumental concept album around a quiet, some will say dull, weekend in a country house, this album has really hit the spot here. There is not much excitement going around on this almost one hour long album.

Parts of this album is really dull. A bit too much muzak too.

This is a decent enough album and just that. This is so far his least interesting album.

2 points

 

 

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Landmarq - Entertaining Angels (2012)

The fifth and final album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, viola, violin, keyboards, piano and vocals.

Some guests added saxophone, cello and backing vocals.

The band left us behind with this and a couple of live albums, DVD and CD. The band has reformed for some selected gigs and may have plans. I do not know.

Tracy Hitchins joined the band on vocals on the previous album and is still at the microphone on this album.

The music is a mix of 1990s neo-prog and psych rock. Pink Floyd comes into mind when it comes to psych rock.

Most people will label this album and music as female fronted melodic progressive rock. And that is a very accurate observation. It is what it is.

The quality is good throughout this seventy minutes long album and the band went out on a high. Check out this album.

3 points



Lucifer Was - En Fix Ferdig Mann (2024)

The eight album from this band from Norway.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, organ, piano, flute and vocals.

A choir added their voices too on one of the tracks.

Lucifer Was is the band of Thore Engen and he and Lucifer Was has been around for decades. Mostly asa band somewhere between folk rock, blues and hard rock.

There has also been a couple of projects where Thore Engen has left those genres. This is one of them.

Norwegian vocals and lyrics who sounds like we are in the middle of a rock opera. The music is rock opera and musicals orientated.

There are some folk rock and Jethro Tull influences here too.

But most of this forty-five minutes long album is in the musicals/rock opera vein. Although with some strong folk rock influences.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. This album is not Lucifer Was finest moment. Nevertheless, this an OK album.

2.5 points



Monday, February 26, 2024

Zappa. Frank - The Man From Utopia (1983)

The 25th album from this artist from USA.

Frank Zappa did the vocals, drum machine, guitars and synths.

He had help from an army of guests who provided drums, percussion, bass, woodwinds, guitars, strings, keyboards, mandolin and backing vocals.

Frank Zappa was now at the end of his life and career. His output of new studio albums had ended long time ago and what remains is albums with old songs in new sound and configurations.

This forty minutes long album is a compilation of weirdo, sarcastic and hateful observations of his surroundings and the world at large delivered as some comedy songs.

The first song Cocaine Decisions is a pretty good song and raises the hope for this album.

Hope quashed on the next songs. 

The remaining nine songs are somewhere between poor and decent.

This album is not among his finest albums.

1.5 points



Sunday, February 25, 2024

My Dying Bride - The Dreadful Hours (2001)

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

Two guests helped out on keyboards.

I have reviewed their first six albums and some EPs in ProgArchives and in # 1 of this blog. The last review was published around ten years ago and it is about time to complete my reviews of all their albums.

My Dying Bride's debut EP hit me and a lot of others like a tonne of bricks. We became hooked on their mix of death, doom and avant-garde classical music. I have since then had an on and off interest in the band and I regard them as one of my favourite bands.

So it is about time to review the half a dozen albums yet to be reviewed.

I got to know some of the songs from The Dreadful Hours on their 2002 live album The Voice Of The Wretched. Songs I liked.

So the blend of doom and avant garde rock we get on this seventy minutes long album does not come as a surprise to me.

The vocals is a mix of death grunts and clear vocals. The music is pretty harsh but still melancholic. The band has their own genre, their own music carved out on their debut album and this album is a return to this genre after a sidestep into grunge and stoner on their 1998 album 34.788% Complete.

The music here is good throughout and it is a nice reminder how good and unique band this is. Oh yes, they are one of my favourite bands.

3 points

 

 


Høgt Gras - Frihet (1982)

The one and only album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, congas, guitars, flute and vocals.

This album got a very regional release in Norway and was mostly only sold on the north-west coast of Norway. This is where the band comes from. The album was then re-released on CD last year through Norske Albumklassikere and I got a copy of it.

To call it an album is wrong. It is clocking in at barely seventeen minutes and I feel a bit short-changed. But the album was very popular on Discogs, selling for small fortunes and a re-release was and is in order.

The music is a mix of folk rock, funk, punk, Frank Zappa and Jethro Tull. The vocals are in Norwegian.

Half of the songs are decent and the rest of songs are best forgotten. The Frank Zappa influenced songs are a bit lost if Norwegian is not your language.

In short, this is a half-decent album and I am not impressed. 

1.5 points




Saturday, February 24, 2024

Afenginn - Lux (2013)

The fifth album from this band from Denmark.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, contrabass, mandolin, violin and clarinets.

A trio of guests added percussion, vibraphone, marimba, grand piano and trombone.

This band released seven albums between 2004 and 2019. I am not sure if they are still around as a band.

The band can best be described as a chamber rock orchestra. The music is avant-garde/RIO and a good reference is Aranis from Belgium. But Afenginn has carved out their own niche on their own. 

The music is far, far away from what I normally review here. I have reviewed most of their albums, both in earlier versions of this blog and in ProgArchives and I have found their music pretty challenging and interesting.

That is the two words I would use here. Challenging and Interesting. It is also in the RIO tradition set down by the RIO festivals decades ago. 

The music is pretty much mid-tempo where the clarinets, the three types of clarinets, is playing the main role. Knowing what to expect and knowing what to look out for, the music is decent enough. I have heard better albums in this genre though. This is not one of their best albums either. 

Nevertheless, this is a decent album.

2 points



Green Lung - This Heathen Land (2023)

The third album from this band from Great Britain.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band label their music as occult rock.

I have yet to hear their first two albums. Neither do I plan to review them either. I got this album from a friend in the business.

The music is a mix of good old doomy heavy metal (Black Sabbath), heavy metal and stoner metal. Add in some catchy pop and rock too and you get this album. 

The vocals is good and the music is pretty catchy. It has a lot of Ghost influences and it is not a surprise that bands like Green Lung has jumped on that bandwagon.

The music is catchy and uncomplicated. It does not have many really interesting details. The songs are simply not that good. 

This is a decent album.

2 points



Friday, February 23, 2024

Looking Glass Lantern - A World of Great Invention (2020)

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band is a one-man-band with Graham Dunnington on computers, guitars, bass, synths and vocals.

I reviewed his newest album, the 2023 album A Victorian Christmas Compendium, back in December last year. Yes, I reviewed it last Christmas. 

As I have got all his albums and has reviewed all but two of them for my three blogs, I thought it was a good idea to also review the remaining two albums. The first one being this album.

The band and it's sound has always been sailing close to the sound and music of the Dutch duo Us. 

That means pedestrian, pretty slow paced neo-prog with a lot of symphonic prog influences.

There are some interesting details here and the vocals are OK. Most of the stuff here are decent enough, interupted by some good pieces of music.

I am not entirely won over by this album. Hence...

2.5 points



Landmarq - Science Of Coincidence (1998)

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths, piano and vocals.

Some guests added additional vocals, including children vocals.

Damien Wilson had left the band and the band replaced him with ms Tracy Hitchhings. That means a shift from male to female vocals.

Landmarq now sounded like Magenta on their first albums. That means neo-prog with female vocals. 

A bit of a change and shock for the fans.

The guitars and synths.... their sound has also lost some of it's muscles. The symphonic prog stuff has been reduced a great deal. There is not any symphonic prog here at all.

Tracy has a good voice and she is carrying the album. The songs are not particular good, I am afraid to report.

The result is an album somewhere between decent and good. It is an album mostly for the neo-prog fans.

2.5 points



Thursday, February 22, 2024

District 19 - Stay For The Ending (2023)

The fifth album from this band from USA.

The band is a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This is the follow up to their 2019 Screens album. An album I like a lot. 

I guess the pandemic and the cost of living has had some influence on this four years long break. These four years has been incredible hard for all of us.

The band continues down the same path as on their first four albums. That means some very complex and muscular music somewhere between progressive metal and neo-prog.

There was some goth rock on the Screens album. That has thankfully gone on Stay For The Ending. 

The female vocals is fitting and muscular enough for this kind of music. They are in fact very good vocals and ms Leslie Hunt is very much in full control over her voice. That is not always the case when it comes to vocals in this genre. 

The guitars are cutting and good. Ditto for the keyboards.

This one hour long album is therefore a good album and one to check out from one of the better bands from USA.

3 points



Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Grand Funk Railroad - Shinin' On (1974)

The eight album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, organ, piano, clavinet, moog, mellotron, harmonica and vocals.

The album's producer Todd Rundgren added backing vocals and guitar on one track.

The band were back again with their eight album.

The band became a quartet on the previous album after six albums as a trio.

The big hit on this album, and a song not representative for this album at all, is their cover version of The Loco-Motion. A song I wish we had been spared for.

The rest of the half an hour long album contains some pretty hard arena rock with some blues and southern rock thrown into the mix too.

The music is decent enough but this album is not one of their best albums.

2 points



Wyatt. Robert - Shleep (1997)

The sixth album from this artist from Great Britain.

Robert Wyatt did percussion, keyboards, trumpet, fiddle, bass and vocals here.

He had help from some guests who provided drums, bass, guitars, strings, woodwinds, synths and backing vocals.

His previous studio albums had been bare-bones solo album with only Robert Wyatt and a couple of helpers on the albums. Outside his own studio albums, he was also busy in other projects. There is a wide variety in style and genres on those projects.

Phil Manzera (Quiet Sun, Roxy Music) gave Robert free use of his studio. With a new studio and friends, Robert was able to merge his two musical personas into one persona. The first result of this merger is Shleep.

There is many instruments here. But they are tastefully used with the help of the producer Phil Manzera and Robert's musical visions.

The album starts with a pop song and then moves onto more jazz and folk based songs and pieces of music.

The tempo is mostly like dirges. Slow in other words. Robert's excellent vocals still shines through the many competing instruments. 

The quality of the songs may not always be good. But the vocals and the many interesting details makes this a good album. Robert Wyatt still manage to fascinate, bare-bones or on an album like this.

3 points