Trollheart's Fortress of Prog

[Trollheart]

Those from Music Banter will know I'm a total proghead (no, I'm sure it's proghead they call me!) and run this section there, featuring, well, basically all the aspects of progressive rock and metal I can. This is not a copy of that - at least, not a direct copy. The same sections may be here over time, and probably will, but in general I will try to ensure that there isn't any, or much, crossover between the two, so that you can, if you want to and are that bored, read the two threads in both forums without reading something twice. Maybe. For those unfamiliar with MB, well, just watch this space.

Gonna kick it off with as usual a few basic reviews, beginning with one of my favourite bands, and, in my opinion, one their best albums.



Title: Storms Over Still Water
Artist: Mostly Autumn
Nationality: English
Sub-genre: Prog Folk
Release year: 2005
Chronology: 6 of 14*
Familiarity: 10


Well, I say one of the best albums released by Mostly Autumn, but then there has yet to be a bad record by this band, at least to these ears. Like previous albums by the band, it's a heady mix of rock, prog-rock and folk, which blends together cleverly and effectively to become a sound which is trademark Mostly Autumn.

I'm reliably informed that Mostly Autumn have a tradition of opening their albums with the ending of the last track on the previous one, and here they duly fade in the end of "Pass the Clock, Part 3", which ended 2003's Passengers, before the opener to this album powers its way in, great keyboards, squealing guitars and the double-vocal of Bryan Josh and Heather Findlay carrying "Out of the Green Sky" to the ears, and marking the return of the band after a two-year absence. It's a powerful opener, and sets the scene for a great album. Next up is "Broken Glass", punching up the tempo with an almost Wham!-type beat (sorry, but that's what it reminds me of!), the vocal primarily taken by Josh on this one. Great keyboard work from Iain Jennings, who would depart after this album.

Like the previous track, this ends abruptly and we're into "Ghost in Dreamland", with an urgent piano intro and great vocals from Heather, Mostly Autumn keeping up the pressure with another fast-paced song, the melody of which could be used for any number of car-chase scenes in a hundred movies. The first really special track though doesn't come until "Heart Life", slower but no less heavy than the three that have gone before, with Heather again on vocal duty. It's Angela Gordon's flute and recorders that really mark this track out though, and allow the first of the gentle folk influences that have characterised many earlier MA songs to come through.

It's a powerful ballad, sung from the heart, with some nice acoustic guitar from Bryan Josh, and effective backing vocals, and also some serious electric guitar. "The End of the World" is a weird little song, introduced on a harpsichord-sounding keyboard, very reminiscent of early Genesis circa Nursery Cryme, as Heather sings the story of an old married couple, going about their normal day, until Bryan ups the ante with the dark announcement of impending disaster as the world comes to an end, while the old couple continue about their business, unaware they have but minutes to live. The juxtapositioning of the two vocals, one relating a simple tale of old lovers, the other  harbinger of approaching doom, works extremely well, as Bryan sings, not without some black humour "Molten drops fell everywhere/ Flashed Birmingham to flames/ Screaming into Yorkshire/ Kind of helped us on our way/ All at once she levelled all the stores/ Nothing to pay!" I'm not clear on what the actual disaster is - I think it may be the moon going out of orbit possibly, but it's a little hard to make out. Nonetheless, MA paint a disturbing picture of Armageddon at Teatime!

"Black Rain" is another fast song, this one warning of the dangers of ignoring climate change, Heather again taking vocals, with Bryan providing backup: "Did no-one tell you there'd be thunder?/ Oh we're heading for black rain/ If we don't change!" It's a real rocker, great guitar and powerful drums with a really nice hook too. Three of the last four songs on the album are long ones, and they're preceded by "Coming to...", a nice little instrumental, sounding a little mechanical or industrial before it bursts into a seriously powerful guitar riff which takes it to its short conclusion.

"Candle to the Sky" is one of those MA songs that although it's over eight minutes long, has a relatively short singing section, picked guitar backing Bryan as he sings the lyric. The song picks up speed and power, guitar battling with flute as it progresses, then with about three minutes yet to go, it slows right down and settles into a Pink Floyd-esque guitar groove, on which the track fades out.

Of the three tracks remaining, "Carpe Diem" is without doubt the standout. A haunting, unsettling remembrance of the Asian Tsuanami of 2002, it's introduced by uileann pipes, melancholy and lonely, then carried on a very simple but effective repetitive piano melody that begins right under the pipes at the opening and keeps going to the end, with Heather's anguished voice rising above it like a lost soul, or a banshee, or indeed, the personification of the loss and sadness of those who lost loved ones in the disaster. Again, for a track lasting over eight minutes there is certainly an economy of lyric, but it works very well, leaving the lasting impression that of the powerful musical closing section. This in fact carries on for a full five minutes, the piano joined by bass, then guitar and drums to form a truly majestic and haunting ending to the song. Quite likely some of Bryan Josh's best work to date on guitar. I would not be afraid to say that this song is in my top ten favourite Mostly Autumn tracks, and certainly in my top 100 of all-time songs.

That leaves the title track, another long one, but it's going to be hard to top "Carpe Diem", which should perhaps have closed the album. But "Storms Over Still Water" is a worthy successor to that standout track, even if it never stands a hope of eclipsing it. Beginning with some nice acoustic guitar backed with electric, and some flute, it's again a folky tune, sung by Heather. It starts slow and balladic, but picks up pace as it goes, the electric guitar coming into its own, as again Bryan Josh shows why he is noted as one of the most underrated rock guitarists in the business. Halfway through, he takes over on vocals, Heather switching to backing, and the tempo of the song increases as the drums get going properly. After the brilliance, but melancholy, of "Carpe Diem", this reignites the optimism and you just can't stop your feet from tapping, and all seems again right with the world, for now.

Again, this could have been the closer, and perhaps it would have been, but they chose to write one more little track, simply entitled "Tomorrow", to fulfil that role. It's an instrumental, with a drum and guitar melody that puts me in mind of Peter Gabriel's "Biko". Perhaps they wrote it just so that they would have something to fade in from for the next album? Can't deny it's a great little coda to the album, though.

Once I had heard Mostly Autumn for the first time, I found that despite myself, I could listen to nothing else for months. I had albums backed up that I wanted to listen to, but every time I tried I just kept sticking on my MA playlist. It was a happy time, which eventually I had to force myself to break out of , but for a while there was for me no other band than Mostly Autumn. I don't know if you will feel the same way, if this is the first time you've heard the band and they have the same effect on you, but if so, take heart: there is help available for your soon-to-be addiction.

Yeah, but .... you don't want help, do you...?

TRACK LISTING

1. Out of the Green Sky
2. Broken Glass
3. Ghost in Dreamland
4. Heart Life
5. The End of the World
6. Black Rain
7. Coming to...
8. Candle to the Sky
9. Carpe Diem
10. Storms Over Still Water
11. Tomorrow

[Janszoon]

What is up with the woman in the clouds? Why does her neck look like it's at such a weird angle?

[Guybrush]

What is up with the woman in the clouds? Why does her neck look like it's at such a weird angle?

As far as album covers go, this one is fugly.

I'll give it a spin, Trollheart 😊

[Trollheart]

What is up with the woman in the clouds? Why does her neck look like it's at such a weird angle?

Hey, who knows? It's art, I guess. Kind of looks like the artist is trying to make her shoulders form a heart shape? Or maybe he was just drunk. Good colours though.

As far as album covers go, this one is fully.

I'll give it a spin, Trollheart 😊

Uh, fully what? Hope you enjoy it anyway.

[Guybrush]

Autocorrect!!

I meant fugly

[Trollheart]

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Chapter One - Hostsonaten - 2012 (AMS)


A complex undertaking indeed, and a brave one, but then, Italian symphonic progressive rockers Hostsonaten are known for these grand sweeping concepts, their last four albums being based on the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. This time out they're tackling, as you can see, the classic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Of course, that's a long poem, so they're doing it over two albums, of which this is the first.

Hostnsonaten are generally known for more instrumental works: their last four albums, as mentioned, interpreted in new ways Vivaldi's most famous work, and indeed their first two albums were mostly instrumental, with some vocal parts. Weirdly, both these albums featured tracks entitled "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", with part 1 on the debut self-titled and part 2 on the followup, Mirrorgames, so its genesis can be said to have been on those two albums, albeit less well fleshed out, but this is the full thing, split into five parts.

But who are Hostsonaten? Well, their name comes from an old movie and means "autumn symphony" in Norwegian. However, Hostsonaten are Italian; in fact, the band is a kind of a project for the bass player from prog rock group Finisterre, one Fabio Zuffanti, and like his English contemporary, Alan Parsons, he recruits bandmembers and surrounds himself with the cream of Italian prog rock to record these albums under the name of Hostsonaten. Fusing classical, progressive rock, folk, jazz and many other genres and subgenres, Hostsonaten are a little hard to quantify, but their music speaks for itself.

Although there are five tracks there are only four parts, as the opening track is called "Prologue" and begins, as perhaps you might expect if you know the poem, with the sounds of bells and the surf washing against the side of a ship. Then heavy keys and drums cut in and powerful choral vocals add to the mix as the scene is set musically. Very progressive rock opening, with insistent keyswork which then drops away abruptly to soft acoustic guitar and flute, the latter taking the lead in the melody, while the sounds of waves sussurates in the background, then tinkly little piano flourishes join cello and violin before bass cut in and the melody begins to fill out a little more. At seven minutes exactly, this is in fact the shortest track on the album, so you have some sort of an idea what to expect from the rest.

Electric guitar joins in and the shape of the melody begins to change a little, getting rockier and a bit more dramatic, the sounds of surf now drowned out by the rising guitar, the thumping drums and the soaring keyboards. About two minutes from the end the guitars and percussion kick into high gear and the tempo goes right up, everything getting very frenetic and rowdy as I expect the idea of the Mariner's ship going off course and getting caught in the ice is conveyed. If you don't know the poem, I'll encapsulate for you, very briefly. Anyone who knows the work is free to skip on to the next paragraph.

Coleridge's most famous poem tells the tale of an old sailor, the "Ancient Mariner" in the title, who is never named, and who takes passage on a ship which gets blown off course into the icy Antarctic. When an albatross appears and begins following the ship, the Mariner, believing the bird to be a sign of bad luck, shoots it down. In revenge (presumably by God) the ship, although breaking free of the ice,  is driven again off its course and finds itself entangled in windless doldrums, becalmed and unable to move. Things become a bit more surreal then, as Death approaches and begins taking the sailors, killing them one by one, but his mate, Life-in-Death, claims the Mariner and decides to allow him to live, to see his friends die. Now of course this is more than likely an anthropomorphisation of the cruel death of thirst and hunger, but it's scary in the poem. Anyway, eventually the Mariner is saved as the winds begin to blow and he finds his way back to his home country, where he relates his story at a wedding. It doesn't sound much, but you really should read it. What I've just written is a totally oversimplified and basic sketch ofthe storyline. Here's a link The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in case you want to check it out for yourself.

And so, part one begins, with Allesandro Corvaglia, sounding uncannily like Peter Gabriel, on vocals as the poem is begun. Against a backdrop of flute and acoustic guitar, with some breakout guitar and synth parts, part one runs for just under twelve and a half minutes, with a great violin solo and some excellent guitar work too, soprano sax from Edmondo Romano adding a burst of panic into the proceedings. It seems that Zuffanti has gone for the literal approach with regard to lyrics, in other words reciting the entire poem against the music, which is an interesting idea, and a courageous one. Some lovely piano and flute, the former played by Luca Scherani, the latter by Joanne Roan, take the midsection until the vocal comes back in, and the music becomes slower, sort of triumphal with thick synthesiser and midpaced drums, choral vocals. Some discordant piano then, some shuddering vocals before the acoustic guitar comes back and it all slows down in a pastoral melody, ending in a sonar-like sound, the same that began the prologue, but somehow this time foretelling doom and woe for the heinous thing the mariner has done by shooting the albatross.

That sound continues into part two, fading away under gentle acoustic, as the sailors blame the Mariner for killing the bird, as fog closes in around them, but when the fog begins to clear and the winds begin to blow again, they forgive him and agree it was the right thing to do. A soft quiet vocal describes the gathering of the fog as the sailors wait for a sign. A rippling piano joins the melody, then gets a little discordant before heavy guitar rocks everything up, the piano turning jazzy and adding funky organ. However, no sooner have they entered the unknown sea  than the winds fall silent and drop completely, and their ship being a sailed one cannot move without the aid of the winds. Becalmed and unable to move, they see, or fancy they see, strange creatures coming out of the still sea and crawling towards them. The sun, beating mercilessly upon their heads at night without any wind to mitigate it, is only matched in its misery by the coldness of the nights with no sound of waves or wind, and the horrors, imagined or real, that lurk in the darkness.

To mirror the becalmed ship, the music turns lighter, more pastoral yet with an edge of hopelessness, led by light guitar and piano, the guitar getting harder and louder in progression, organ joining in with choral vocals and measured percussion. The track ends with a climax as the sailors, angered at the bad luck the Mariner has brought them by his actions, hang the corpse of the bird around his neck like a millstone.

Part three then opens on powerful guitar and drums; the longest track of the five, it runs for just short of seventeen minutes, and relates the events that take place as the ship sits trapped in the windless cove. Gentle flute and ethereal piano float like the winds that will not appear to move the ship, suddenly supplanted by wild organ and raging guitar as Corvaglia on vocals goes into something of a histrionic fit, as a ship is sighted in the distance.

But if the sailors think this is their salvation they could not be more wrong, for the ship is captained by Death and his mate, Life-in-Death. A thick bassline leads the melody which slows to a more ominous pace as the sailors realise that something is very wrong on this skeletal ship that approaches them. Some ethinic sounding violin and cello adds to the mood, then everything stops for a second before a big guitar and organ solo pumps everything back up, ramping the tempo again. Fiddle joins in and then the pace slackens again, perhaps to mirror the dread of the crew as they see that Death and his mate are casting dice for their very souls. Death winning all but that of the Mariner, causes the sailors to drop down dead, but Life-in-Death forces the Mariner to remain alive while he watches his friends die. A great guitar solo ends this, the third part of the story, and indeed brings to a close the third part of the poem.

When we next meet the Mariner, he is back on land, telling his story, but only for a moment, as the scene shifts back to his lonely vigil, as he, alone, survives and is forced to look into the dead eyes of his crewmates for seven awful days and nights. Like a lonely sentinel - which in ways the Ancient Mariner is - a single bagpipe starts part four, with sounds of surf and a chiming guitar backing it. Then soft yet brittle piano carries the melody alone as Simona Angiloni takes the vocal role of the wedding-guest (although it's meant to be a man in the poem: poetic licence?) with mournful violin counterpointing the piano. Then folky acoustic guitar joins the violin as we return to the Mariner alone on his ship.

In a waltzy sort of rhythm, the narration continues, and it seems clear now that Signora Angiloni is going to take the role of the Mariner too, which is even more confusing, considering his voice has been sung by a male up to now, and he is, after all, a man. But no matter. Her voice is certainly angelic and easy on the ears, and perhaps we're meant to be hearing the softer, more repentant side of the Ancient Mariner. The guitar gets a little harder and bass joins in, as the Mariner contemplates his situation and watches the living things in the sea, no longer seeing them as evil or ugly, but as beautiful creations of God. The bagpipes return as Angiloni's voice gets a little more ragged and intense as the Mariner wonders what is going to happen to him, why he cannot die?

Tinkly piano is all that's left then as the final section of part four begins, and the Mariner's redemption is at hand. Heavy organ and choral vocals drive the ending, pounding but measured and precise drumming as Allesandro Corvaglia comes back in, duetting with Simona, as the albatross suddenly falls from the Mariner's neck and sinks into the sea, taking with it his sin, his guilt and the awful evidence of the crime that caused the deaths of two hundred sailors.

And with a final flourish on guitar and choral vocals, falling away to one last booming, echoing synth note, that's where we leave the hapless Ancient Mariner, stranded on a boat full of dead men in an unknown land, facing his demons and unsure what his fate is to be. Zuffanti has promised there will be a second chapter, presumably finishing the story - there are three more parts to go - but we're going to have to wait until next year* for the conclusion of this epic musical poem.

TRACK LISTING

1. Prologue
2. Part I
3. Part II
4. Part III
5. Part IV

Seldom have I seen a project on this scale. Yes, people have interpreted literary works before - I'm thinking in particular of Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman's retelling of the story of the "Hound of the Baskervilles" - but I can't ever recall anyone transcribing the work, word for word, into their lyrics. It's also done with such care, and reverence for the source material, and with such expertise that if it's the first time you've heard the poem it could be something you will forever hear when you read it, as those who came to the work via Iron Maiden's version will always hear that low bass and creaking timbers, with the sonorous voice intoning the stanzas.

A true collision of arts, the best of both worlds, not the only way to get into Coleridge certainly, but a very enjoyable and rewarding one, and the artiste should be commended and congratulated on succeeding beyond perhaps even his wildest dreams in managing not only to bring to life a story over two hundred years old, but to make it sound relevant and current.

* Sadly, it's now 11 years later and we still have not seen Chapter Two; I doubt we ever will.

[Trollheart]

See Right Through You - Jadis - 2012 (Jadismusic)


Turns out 2012, or at least the second half of it, is looking like being a good year for new releases from progressive rock bands. We've had new albums from established artistes like Marillion, Big Big Train and Neal Morse, among others, now comes the first new Jadis album in six years. Sadly, it only has eight tracks on it, and none of them are particularly long, certainly no epics. So are we being shortchanged, or is it a case of eight perfect tracks are better than twenty below-par ones, as I've alluded to before?

Well, rippling keyboards open the album, though it's new guy Arman Vardanyan who's behind the keyboard, then the signature guitar sound of Gary Chandler cuts in, soon followed by his vocals and the first track "You Wonder Why" is underway, with all the usual hallmarks of Jadis: great hooks, a soft but strong vocal line and great melodies. I've never fully been able to put my finger on why I like Jadis, I just do. Their music is very recognisable and has a sound all its own, and of course you have bandmembers who play, or have played, in the likes of Frost*, Arena and IQ, so there's great pedigree there. Chandler's guitar has always been an integral part of the overall Jadis sound, and it's put to great use here in a pretty mid-paced opener, leading into the harder, more rocky "Try My Behaviour", with a great little bassline from Andy Marlow and some quite funky guitar, supplemented by rolling keyboard lines from Vardanyan.

There's something almost magical about the music of Jadis; it just seems to leak into your soul and float around in there, filling your heart with warmth and good feeling. Central to this is the clear voice of Chandler, founder member and indeed only remaining original member, whose quintessentially English voice gives this band a sort of Big Big Train/Marillion sound, while yet retaining very definitely their own identity. There's one of many lovely solos on the album to be found here - in fact, the track fades out on one such - as well as some great vocal harmonies, another of Jadis's strengths. But the keyboards have their time in the sun too, and though I prefer the work of original keysman Pete Salmon, Vardanyan's intro to the next track. "What If I Could Be There" is a perfect backdrop for Gary Chandler's soulful vocal, with Marlow's bass slowly thrumming its way into the melody until suddenly it all bursts into a big uptempo rocker, taking off indeed on that bass pattern, locked in by Steve Christey's measured drumming and running alongside the powerful guitar line.

Great interplay later between the guitar and keys, then Chandler unleashes another smooth solo, chased by Vardanyan's bubbling keys, the whole song slowing down unexpectedly in the last minute for a beautiful little interlude on keys and soft guitar to take it to its conclusion. "More Than Ever" starts on a sort of tribal drumbeat with high keys and piano then hits a David Grayesque melody, and you have to hand it to Vardanyan here for his fine piano work as well as ethereal synthplay, then almost out of the blue Chandler knocks off a mad, dirty rock solo on the guitar, bringing in more interplay with the keysman, kind of Yes-style. It's more great guitar work though that sees out the song in style, with some final piano notes, then we're into a nice echoey guitar to takes us into "All is Not Equal", pretty much the ballad on the album, where Chandler again displays his prowess behind the mike, impassioned and yearning as the keyboards paint a soundscape behind him, these selfsame keys setting up an almost electronica introduction to "Nowhere Near the Truth" until Chandler's guitar re-establishes the song's rock credentials; a great little instrumental, showcasing the band's prolific talents as it grooves along in a sometimes funky, sometimes electronic and sometimes rocky manner.

"Learning Curve", then, opens on a light little acoustic guitar against Chandler's vocal, with soft synth slowly swelling in the background, some digital piano finding its way in too, quite laidback and almost minimalist, a little Spanish guitar solo in the middle then the electric kicking in as the percussion gets heavier and the sound begins to fill out a little more. Jadis are a band who take their music seriously, and it's another smooth guitar solo that fades out this track rather perfectly, taking us to, already, the final track.

It's the title one, and indeed the longest at just over eight minutes, another mid-paced track. It's fair to say that there's no out-and-out rockers on this album, but then, that's not Jadis's way. They tend to do more thoughtful, introspective songs, songs that mean something, and each album is always more than the sum of its parts. As ever, Chandler's guitar is to the fore here, backed by Marlow's quiet and steady bass: Marlow's no John Jowitt, but he does know his way around a fretboard. Another great instrumental section in the middle, quite reminscent of 1980s Marillion really, climaxing in one last superb guitar solo and taking us almost to the last minute before the vocal comes back in for the final time as the song fades out on hard rock guitar.

TRACK LISTING

1. You Wonder Why
2. Try My Behaviour
3. What If I Could Be There
4. More Than Ever
5. All is Not Equal
6. Nowhere Near the Truth
7. Learning Curve
8. See right Through You

It's been, as I said, six years since the last Jadis album, Photoplay, and since then the band has changed, with bass player and keyboard player leaving to join Arena and IQ respectively, but Gary Chandler has always been the heart of the band and like Gary Hughes in Ten, it's he who pulls everything together, writing most of the material and producing yet another fine album for this UK progressive rock band. My only complaint is that it's got so few tracks: I mean, six years and we get eight tracks? That's a little more than one song per year we've waited. Doesn't seem a fair return somehow.

Yet, although I said at the beginning none of the tracks were long, well they're not short either, the longest being as I mentioned just over eight minutes, but the shortest clocking in at five and a half, with a few over seven. And each track is just great, including the instrumental. It's a great album from a great band, with really no bad tracks and almost every one a standout. I just hope we don't have to wait another six years for the followup!

Note: Not six but four - No Fear of Looking Down was released in 2016, with the so-far last album, Starting Point hitting the shelves the next year.

[Trollheart]

 A Tower of Clocks - This Winter Machine


One of my favourite albums from 2019, this really took me by surprise. You can tell by the cover that it's going to be prog in the mould of seventies Genesis and maybe a little Rush, but it's pretty hard to prepare yourself for the majestic qualities of this, the sophomore offering from British band This Winter Machine.

I thought it quite brave that a band from the UK who were pushing out only their second album in a career spanning a mere four years (at time of writing) would consider opening on an eight-minute plus instrumental, but that's prog for you, and "Herald" has all the hallmarks of great neo-prog. Warbling keyboards, intricate guitar passages, time signature changes, all that good stuff. A big, dramatic, orchestral-style opening gives you a real sense of portent and the first time I heard it, I was waiting for the vocals. They of course never come, as I found out soon enough. A clock begins ticking (geddit?) joined by chimes and then rippling piano slides in as the synth kind of fades out, Gary, sorry Mark Numan ushering us into the album on waves of keys before  whining guitar from Graham Garbett and Scott Owens takes the tune.

We're now halfway into the piece and to be honest it hasn't really come to anything yet, but all that is due to change. Percussion kicks in thanks to Andy Milner and we're away. I like instrumentals, mostly, but I find the longer they are the harder it can be to keep them interesting. That's not an issue here, as This Winter Machine channel the best of Marillion, Yes and Pendragon to create their own nevertheless distinctive sound, and the result is a piece of music that, quite possibly, might have been spoiled by vocals, so it looks like they made the right call. Brave though, as I say.

Still, this is a band whose debut album, released in 2017, opened with a sixteen-minute suite, so I guess TWM are not exactly going for the pop single market! Compared to The Man Who Never Was, this album is shorter and snappier, with the longest track on it being the nine-minute closer "Carnivale", a minute shorter than the closer (but not, as I already said, the longest track) on their debut, "Fractured". It is, however, over ten minutes longer overall, with TMWNW coming in at shy of fifty minutes while ATOC runs for just over sixty.

After the epic opener we have two short tracks, "Flying" and "Spiral", both of which could have been released as singles, but I don't think were. The former quickly became one of my favourites, a soulful ballad which introduces us for the first time to the vocals of Al Winter (after whom, presumably, the band is named), led on the gentle keys of Numan, synth and piano meshing to form a beautiful backdrop to Winter's gentle voice. There's a gorgeous hook in the song, and I feel it could have been quite the hit had it been released, but as I say I don't think it was. One jarring thing is the sudden abrupt stops in the song near the end, then "Spiral" is a busier, more upbeat affair, again brought in on Numan's Mark Kellyesque romping keyboards, and it really ups the ante.  The shortest song on the album, at just over two minutes, it's another instrumental (long instrumental, ballad, short instrumental? Taking some chances here guys) and leads into the seven-minute "Symmetry & Light" which almost continues the instrumental theme begun in "Spiral" and lets in some harder, almost progressive metal guitar from Owens and Garbett, though much of it reminds me of Genesis on their last outing but one, and the last with Phil Collins, We Can't Dance. Snippets, at times, too of It Bites.

I alluded at the beginning tothe artwork, courtesy of one Tom Roberts (no I don't know who he is either, but with work of this calibre I feel he'll never be short of commissions) which is a real prog rock album cover, reminiscent, as I mentioned, of Gabriel-era Genesis or early seventies Rush. That fox reminds me of a certain release from 1972 and the wings look like the owl off Rush's Fly by Night. Echoes, too, of certain album covers by Blind Guardian. Certainly leaves you in no doubt as to what to expect when the laser hits the CD. But back to the music, which is why we're here in the first place. Well, I am. I don't know about you. Maybe you're just here to read my flowing, overblown prose. Yeah. Well, you could do a lot worse than give this album a listen, I can tell you. So like I say, back to the music. Another sumptuous ballad in "Justified", and yes, again it runs on the delicate piano lines of Mark Numan, who must surely be seen as an emerging talent in the admittedly crowded world of progressive rock keyboard players. I'm not saying he can stand beside a Clive Nolan or a Jordan Rudess, much less a Mark Kelly or (heaven forbid!) Tony Banks, but he's damn good.

The guitar lads are not forgotten here though, and add some really nice touches with some fine soloing, but it's the piano that makes the tune, that and the soft almost tortured vocal of Winter. "In Amber" sees the band continue in the same vein, another piano ballad, and if you don't like ballads, or pianos, or both, then this may not be the album for you, as though there is plenty of rocking out (prog style) and guitars, it's pretty replete with soft piano moments and yearning vocals. I, however, love all that stuff, so I'm in hog's heaven. "The Hunt" then has a vaguely folkish feeling, reminds me at times a little of Jethro Tull, a band I don't rate personally. It quickly punches up though into a slowburning rock cruncher, as I like to call them; one of those songs that kind of marches along with a sense of menace and determination. It does pick up speed later on though, and this rising power and energy informs "Delta" as the album heads towards its close.

Some very new-wave-ish keyboards here from (ahem) Numan, with the guitars really getting in on the act, growling along as Garbett and Owens exult in being let off the leash, while Winter himself does a very passable Gabriel as the song slows down on piano around the midpoint before the hook comes in, and it has been well worth waiting for, as Winter and Numan again show what a great team they can be almost on their own. Great flourishes added on the guitars, but the song here belongs to the two guys as Winter gives the vocal performance of the album. I'd probably have to choose, overall, this as my favourite from the album, though there's a lot to choose from, and it's not quite over yet.

One more supremely beautiful reflective ballad, this time for once driven on mostly the acoustic guitar of Scott Owens, some truly sumptuous synthesised flute from Numan and another fine vocal from Winter, on "When We Were Young", the only caveat for me being a rather abrupt ending, then we hit the closer, which as mentioned, is the longest track, nine minutes and ten seconds of "Carnivale", which, appropriately enough, opens on a carnival organ, reminding me of the best of The Dear Hunter before soft piano and crying guitar take the tune. Percussion kicks in and the whole thing ramps up on heavy guitar and synth, giving Winter a chance to really stretch his vocal chords. Rippling piano here reminiscent of "Raingods Dancing", part of the suite "A Plague of Ghosts" from Fish's album, Raingods with Zippos. And speaking of Marillion, there's some very liberal borrowing from Steve Rothery and indeed Mark Kelly on Fugazi here in the sixth minute, before the whole thing comes to a very satisfying and powerful end.

Tracks Listing
1. Herald
2. Flying
3. Spiral
4. Symmetry & Light
5. Justified
6. In Amber
7. The Hunt
8. Delta
9. When We Were Young
10. Carnivale

[Trollheart]

Black Holes and Revelations - Muse - 2006 (Helium 3)


Do what? You've never heard Muse? Pull the other one mate! Laugh? I nearly paid my television licence! And so on.

No, I freely admit that although I've heard of the band (and caught a few short minutes of a live performance on TV) I have never yet listened to a full song, never mind a full album. This one - probably their most popular and successful, if I read things correctly - has been sitting on my hard drive for over a year now, patiently awaiting its turn, and that turn has now come. Hey, I'll probably hate it, or be totally disappointed with it, but comes with the territory. Course, I could be completely blown away by it, become a big fan of Muse or at the least not regret having downloaded the album.

Let's see how it pans out, eh?

Need I recount who the band are? Oh, all right then: formed in 1994 in the picturesque county of Devon by three schoolfriends, Muse were successful right from the off, with their debut EP scoring high on the indie charts, though it took an American label to have faith in them and release their first album, which failed to set the charts alight, just scraping into the top thirty. It was the second album, Origins of Symmetry, that got them a top three hit, with the following Absolution hitting the coveted number one spot and confirming them as a hot property, so that by the time this, their fourth album was released, comparisons with the likes of Radiohead which had dogged their early days and first album were forgotten, and Black Holes and Revelations again took the coveted top spot.

It's said Muse integrate many types of genres and styles into their music, such as progressive rock, electronica, jazz and heavy metal, but this album extended that influence and broadened their musical spectrum to pull in classical, Latin and Italian music. It's also heavily political, with some fairly angry lyrics and a decent grounding too in science-fiction themes.

So it opens then on fast, frenetic keyboard with backing synth as "Take a Bow" accuses unnamed (but hardly unknown) political figures of corruption and evil, and of spreading their dark message beyond the borders of his own country, the vocal of Matt Bellamy low and understated but loaded with contempt. The keyboards get faster and more electronic, almost moving into trance territory (is it? I'm not certain what trance is to be honest, though I have an idea) as Bellamy's raw guitar cuts into the mix, and Dominic Howard gets tougher on the drumseat, pounding out the rhythm as the song heads towards its powerful climax, Bellamy warning "You will burn in Hell/ For your sins!"

Strong opener, and it gets better with the very new-romantic "Starlight", a lovely buzzy bassline from Christopher Wolstenholme leading the song, the keyboards (also courtesy of Matt Bellamy) very poppy and upbeat, and the song contains the album title as he sings "All of our hopes and expectations/ Are black holes and revelations." After the slowburning opener it's a decent shift in tone, and shows that Muse are certainly capable of a lot of variety in their music, and this continues into "Supermassive black hole", with a real hard rock guitar sound and a falsetto vocal from Bellamy, some sharp electronic drum patterns from Howard giving the song a very artificial feel, while the vocals are almost soul in their style, the song keeping the tempo high and upbeat. The style veers back into electronica/dance territory for a while with "Map of the Problematique", Bellamy sounding like a wounded Bono, sharp staccato synthesisers stabbing the melody from all sides, as the song slides more towards a rock theme now, though retaining the new wave style synthesisers that characterised the sound of so many bands of the late eighties.

Everything slows down, and indeed is stripped down for the blues ballad "Soldier's Poem", with Matt this time sounding to me like Fran from Travis (he'll probably hate that, if he ever reads this, which will never happen), with a sort of swirly, swaying chorus of backing vocals, coming close to Queen territory, and with some fine double bass from Wolstenholme. It's only a short song, but very effective, then we're into low humming synth and high-pitched (maybe hi-strung?) guitar with heavy organ and rolling drums to take us into "Invincible", some wobbly and weird keyboard effects (maybe pitch-bent?) rising like the cry of a banshee over Matt's passionate vocal. Howard's drums beat out the rhythm in a military style until about halfway in, when he kicks into a more natural rhythm as the song progresses.

"Assassin" then takes us into a faster, more rocky vein with some good electronic elements, with a sort of moaning, crying style vocal and some great hard guitar work, then "Exo-politics" scales things back a little, still hard rock but not as fast, with a pretty angry edge to it, especially the guitar. Great backing vocals on this song, and a very catchy hook. "City of delusion" has a lovely fast acoustic guitar intro, with a great bassline and then some powerful strings as the song kicks into high gear. An excellent bass solo in the second minute, joined by talk-box guitar and then more guitar and synth really opens up the tune as the strings slide back in, then a fantasically mariachi trumpet from Marco Brioschi is a star turn, making this one of the most interesting tracks on the album.

That has got to be Spanish guitar at the start of "Hoodoo", although it's not mentioned, then some lovely slide takes the song in as Matt's understated vocal is so low it's almost indiscernible for a few moments, as beautiful strings merge with gorgeous piano, which then fires up on all cylinders in a real classical way, hard rolling drums coming in and Bellamy's vocal rising like an avenging angel, the whole thing putting me in mind of the very best of the Divine Comedy. The song then ends on the fragile, beautiful guitar on which it began. Stunning.

The album closes on the sounds of horses galloping against a synthy background before heavy drums start slow then increase in tempo as "Knights of Cydonia" gets going with an almost old-western-movie melody, trundling along on the back of whirring synth and rolling drumbeats. Electronic dancy rhythms are counterpointed by sharp guitar stabs and choral vocals, with Bellamy's own vocal ranging from the low, quiet to the loud and passionate, even desperate, at one point only backed by the bass, with vocal harmonies coming to join him as the song ramps up for its end, drums rising like smoke out of the mist and guitar punching in to take control.

So, what was the end result of this album? Did I get into the music of Muse? Sorry, let me just check my download of their discography ... thirty percent. Good. Soon be able to listen to more. And I need to listen to more! Hey, I may be late to the party, but at least I've arrived!

TRACK LISTING

1. Take a Bow
2. Starlight
3. Supermassive Black Hole
4. Map of the Problematique
5. Soldier's Poem
6. Invincible
7. Assassin
8. Exo-politics
9. City of Delusion
10. Hoodoo
11. Knights of Cydonia

[Trollheart]

Although it's not by any means the only genre to utilise instrumental music, I think it would be fair to say that, with the possibly exception of related genres such as electronic and ambient and so on, progressive rock is the only genre that allows musicians to exist, even thrive, without the benefit of vocals. In other words, if you want the best instrumental music, prog rock is the place to go. If only because the music is so densely layered and intricate, long and involved, and goes through so many changes during pieces, it mirrors for me anyway the idea of classical music, which is reflected of course in the many well-known suites in prog rock (not all instrumental) such as Rush's "2112", Van der Graaf's "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" and of course the ultimate, Yes's album-long "Close to the Edge". I can't really see too many other genres getting away with a) pieces of that length or b) pieces that long without vocals, but prog rock has been doing it since almost its inception.

Mostly led by the likes of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Camel, Tangerine Dream, Mike Oldfield and the experimentation of people like Brian Eno and, later, Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis, the idea that someone would sit for an hour or more and listen to instrumental music was certainly nothing new. Jazz is probably 70 - 80% instrumental, classical of course is almost completely without vocals of any sort except for masses and some choral compositions, and people had been listening to "easy listening" renditions of pop classics for decades. Instrumental music is by its very nature either very relaxing or something you can  have on in the background and don't need to pay too much attention to, something Tom Waits once laconically referred to as "shopping music, nothing too interruptive".

But that's all very fine for easy listening, perhaps even classical. Maybe jazz too, I don't know. But progressive rock music always demands to be heard, listened to, appreciated, even understood. Nobody ever put on a Camel or Enid album and went about their business. Or maybe they did. But prog rock attracted serious fans - they did, after all, begin a trend of buying albums rather than singles, as already noted - and they wanted their music to mean something. I can only speak for myself, of course, but to my mind, if someone went to the trouble of creating a masterpiece on a musical canvas, then the least I owed them was to stand and admire it, not just chatter aimlessly while standing beside it.

But how do you make purely instrumental music that interesting, enough to grip the attention and keep you listening without anyone singing to explain what's going on in the, um, song? For the answer to this, you only have to listen to the great instrumental albums. Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. SKY 2 by SKY. The Snow Goose by Camel. Phaedra by Tangerine Dream. It doesn't even have to be a whole album: many progressive rock bands include - usually quite long and extended - instrumental tracks on some of their albums. The difference, I believe, between prog rock instrumentals - be they albums or just tracks - and those in other genres is that in prog rock the idea of telling a story is endemic to the genre, and even without words the music can reflect moods, phases, paths and feelings that can somehow give you the impression of what's going on. It's not always easy to explain, but it's usually there. That's why, I believe, personally I tend to remember the structure of even a prog rock instrumental track versus, say, an electronic one.

The idea here, then, is to introduce some of the best known progressive rock and metal bands who either don't use a vocalist, or use one very sparingly indeed, and can be called to all intents and purposes instrumental bands. Not only the best known of course; there are many smaller and less famous bands out there that I'll be looking into, and given the language barrier, instrumental bands from other countries are a lot easier to get into, so I'll also be crossing borders, especially into the southeast of Europe, where the phenomenon of Rock Progresivo Italiano (itself the subject of a separate feature) has produced some of the very best instrumental prog bands, along with ones who use vocals.

Naturally, it's harder to review an instrumental album than one with a singer on it, so don't expect the reviews to be that deep. But nevertheless, I'll be doing by best to try to get an overall flavour of how the band uses their instruments to paint those surreal and amazing aural soundscapes that conjure up images of far away lands and strange peoples, or whatever the music evokes.



Artist: Willowglass
Album title: The Dream Harbour
Nationality: British (English)
Year: 2013
Label: Self-released
Tracks:
A House of Cards Pt 1
A Short Intermission
A House of Cards Pt 2
Interlude No 2
The Dream Harbour
Helleborine
The Face of Eurydice
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Mostly a solo act
Initial impression: Is it 1973 again?
Best track(s): I like pretty much everything here.
Worst track(s): See above
Comments: The first word that will come instantly to your brain when you hear the opening track is Genesis: there's just no getting away from the comparisons with that wibbly, uptempo, bouncy keyboard, which takes you right back to 1973 and the very best of Tony Banks. But Willowglass has only been around since 2005, though its driving force, composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Marshall, has been playing in bands since the early eighties. And when I say multi I mean multi: here he plays guitars (electric, acoustic, Classical and twelve-string), keyboards and bass! He's ably assisted by Hans Schmitz on drums and Steve Unruh helps out by adding flute, violin and more guitar.

The opener is almost twenty-one minutes long, and the likes of mellotron, flute and woodwinds are prevalent all through the album. Just take the time to sit back and listen; you will hear a wealth of musical talent and gorgeous soundscapes here. Unruh's beautiful violin passages in "A House of Cards Part 1" alone are worth the price of the album, and there's so much more than that on offer. Marshall's skill on the various guitars is virtually unparalleled in the sphere of current prog rock.

There's some nice Supertramp-style piano work going on in "A Short Intermission" then Arabic influences on "A House of Cards Pt 2" with some really great guitar and violin and a very classical influenced approach, the tone getting a little darker. The album's over before you realise it, and it's been a hell of a journey.

[Trollheart]

Time to boot life into yet another neglected thread and force it to come

And of course, it's a prog one. No, I will not stop! Make me!  BWA-HA-HA-HA!!!

And what better way to celebrate the grand reopening of the Fortress of Prog than with a look at a real prog rock


I'm not really familiar at all with these guys, but apparently this is the point at which they began to diverge from their original sound, which was characterised by death metal leanings, into a more progressive metal and eventually progressive rock vein.


Album title: Blackwater Park
Artist: Opeth
Nationality: Swedish
Year: 2001
Chronology: 5th


Track Listing:The Leper Affinity/Bleak/Harvest/The Drapery Falls/Dirge for November/The Funeral Portrait/Patterns in the Ivy/Blackwater Park
Comments: This is the album that started to polarise fans of the band. Those who had been brought up on pure death metal albums such as Orchid and Still Life decried the "watering-down" of Opeth's sound as the band moved in a more progressive metal, and, as it has developed over the years, almost completely progressive rock direction, while those who wouldn't have been interested in a death metal band suddenly began to see there might be more to Opeth than at first met the eye. Mikael Åkerfeldt remains unapologetic about the direction his band took, more or less telling fans they can get on board or not, but he has no intention of reverting to their old sound.

Much of the progressive metal/rock sound on this album comes from their first, but not last, collaboration with prog wunderkind Steven Wilson, who produced the album and also plays a little on it. The death metal influences, which would fade as time went on, eventually being ditched altogether, are still strong here especially in the sharp guitar and the growly vocal. This latter soon drops out though and we get the sort of clean vocals which will be the norm for later Opeth albums, but you still kind of get the idea of the one style pushing against the other, each struggling for victory. There can be only one... Nice piano ending. More death vocals in the appropriately-named "Bleak", with a kind of Egyptian guitar riff running through it and some clean vocals from Wilson. Can't say I'm that impressed so far though.

"Harvest" is a lot better. I like the acoustic guitar motif, and the vocal is mostly clean, perhaps an indication of the path Opeth were forging into the future? Definitely more of a prog metal than death metal feel to "The Drapery Falls" (hold on: this was a single? It's over ten minutes long!) and it's worth every second of its length. Even the few death growls seem not to be out of place, and there's some great guitar work. "Dirge for November" has an almost blackgaze feel to it, starting acoustic and gentle and then breaking into a hammering riff, the death growls working really well here. I also like the almost medieval acoustic guitar fadeout.

A total change then for the very death metal "The Funeral Portrait", in your face, aggressive and plenty of growling and snarling. Not mad about this one. The vocal harmonies near the end almost save it, but meh, not quite. Settling down then for a nice little acoustic instrumental before we end with the title track, which is also the longest, over twelve minutes. It has a lot to recommend it, but for the length it is I find my attention drifting and there's still a little too much of the harsh death metal style guitars to it, plus the death growls.

Track(s) I liked: Harvest/The Drapery Falls/ Dirge for November/Patterns in the Ivy

Track(s) I didn't like: The Leper Affinity/Bleak/The Funeral Portrait/Blackwater Park

One standout: There are some good tracks, some very good tracks, but I can't pick one that really raises itself to the level of a standout.

One rotten apple: Same here; the amount of bad tracks is low and even they're not terrible

Overall impression: I think it's almost a visualisation of a struggle, as I said, between the "old" Opeth (with whom I am not at all familiar) and the new one, as the band attempt to throw off the shackles of the somewhat constricted style they've been playing for, at this stage, six years, while still mindful of the fans who got them where they are. It's a painful birth, but eventually they would pull away from the death metal altogether and head in a progressive rock direction. Here I think we hear the first labour cries, though the baby has yet to be born.

Rating: 7.5/10

Future Plan: I will be listening to more of their music, most likely from this point on. I have heard Pale Communion and Heritage I think.

[Trollheart]

In real terms, it's probably about fair to say that progressive rock is just about hitting its seventh decade now, having begun way back in the 1960s. To celebrate this, I'm going to be looking at prog through the years, taking one album from each decade and then, you know, starting again. In one way, in terms of progressive rock, you could say we are

though in another, more accurate way, of course, we are not, as time machines have not been invented at the time of writing. Nevertheless, let's pretend they have been, and hop in ours, which will take us all the way back to the 1960s, and the beginning of our journey, and indeed, the beginnings of progressive rock.

And while we're not exactly falling over prog albums in this decade, there are a few of note, and one I'd like to look at in particular. This one.

Although I came to their work relatively late, by way of The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon, there can be little argument against Pink Floyd having been one of the prime movers behind the rise of progressive rock. Their music on the albums mentioned, and continuing on into the second side of Meddle, Wish You Were Here,  to say nothing of Animals, typifies that refusal of the subgenre to conform to the norms of rock music at the time: albums must yield hit singles, singles must be such-a-length, the setup is guitar-vocals-bass-drums, and so on. Through the pioneering efforts of their seventies output, Floyd blazed a trail for others to follow, and could not more exemplify the term "experimental music" if they were all wearing white coats and working in a lab.

But their first few albums were not quite so progressive as psychedelic rock, though I'm beginning to realise that the two are, or were at that time, quite closely linked, if not inextricably tied together. In ways, what psychedelic rock began progressive rock either expanded on, absorbed into its own music or improved upon. In fact, for the next five or six years the two terms could almost be described as interchangeable, as bands like Tangerine Dream, Gong, Captain Beefheart and The Mothers of Invention tried out new sounds, tested the ground ahead and, even if it gave way and they fell through, always climbed out, nodding and taking notes. It's not an overstatement, I believe, to say that had we not had psychedelic rock we would in all likelihood never have had progressive rock.

And many bands, as mentioned, began in a sort of psychedelic direction but later changed to a more structured approach as they became more in the way of progressive rock bands. Pink Floyd were one case in point, and a vitally important one. At the time they started playing the local clubs there was literally nothing else like them on Earth; they were the only show in town and the one you had to see if you wanted to "get your mind blown," Even in my long-vanished youth, when our school shelled out for a rare trip to London and we were taken to the Planetarium, it was the music of Pink Floyd that accompanied the stars streaking across the sky, the visits to alien worlds and the whole voyage through the cosmos. Their music was almost tailor-made for such excursions, both of the eye and, I am reliably informed, of the mind.

But Floyd started off with a drag factor which was to lead to perhaps one of the earliest changes in a band's history that I know of. Bright as a burning star himself, and commemorated in the almost-album-long "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" eight years later, Syd Barrett was one of the founders of the band, then called The Pink Floyd Sound, though they quickly dropped the last word and fairly soon afterwards the first too, becoming ever after known as Pink Floyd. Barrett was a great musician and songsmith, but his battle with addictions would have detrimental and later, tragic consequences on his career, and lead to his being fired from the band he had created, to allow the others to shine as brightly. It was a tough decision for Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright, but not taken lightly and done because there really was nothing else they could do.

Before he left them though, Barrett was the creative genius and visionary who wrote their entire debut album, music and lyrics, and sung on almost every song. He even came up with the striking and memorable title, taken from a chapter of the children's classic The Wind in the Willows.


Album title: The piper at the gates of dawn
Artiste: Pink Floyd
Nationality: British
Year: 1967
Chronology: Debut

Track listing: Astronomy Domine/ Lucifer Sam/ Matilda Mother/ Flaming/ Pow R Toc. h/ Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk/ Interstellar Overdrive/ The Gnome/ Chapter 24/ The Scarecrow/ Bike

Comments: "Astronomy Domine" is a great start, with really atmospheric, spacey effects, not to mention one of the coolest song titles ever, and shows the sort of direction Floyd would begin to move in, while "Lucifer Sam" is kind of more straightahead rock, though you can get an idea of Waters's prowess on the basslines here. "Matilda mother" is very psychedelic, nice kind of eastern tinges to the melody from Wright on the keys, and a sort of hissing, pumping sound that would later make its way into "Welcome to the Machine".

The psych elements continue into "Flaming", and it's clear by now that though Barrett was a competent singer, there's something missing from his delivery here. Maybe it's the bitterness or anger Waters put into his singing, or the more mellifluous tones of David Gilmour, when he joined later and occasionally got behind the mike. I can see why there was concern over Syd being too quiet to be heard; at times here the music just overpowers his voice. The first of two instrumentals on the album, "Pow R. Toc. H" presages some of the music from later album Animals, and gives both Wright and Mason their chance to really shine. It's quite uptempo and all a bit mad, but good fun, with some crazy effects that would become trademarks of this unique band.

Roger Waters's only vocal then comes in "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk", and even here you can see the difference in styles; Waters is more forceful, more in-your-face, louder than the mostly gentle Barrett. Wright also goes wild on the organ here as the song rushes along at a much more frenetic pace that any of the previous tracks. It is, to be fair, not as great as some of the rest of the album. Where Floyd really hit their stride though is with the nine-minute-plus "Interstellar Overdrive", which marries space rock, psych and the emerging progressive rock tropes really well. The echoes, the feedback, the effects. Hard to believe that a band starting out could put a nine-minute instrumental on their debut album, but Floyd from the beginning weren't interested in kow-towing to the charts. And they were right. As they set their own course and people bought into what they were selling, this would become a future classic.

"The Gnome" then is just silly, there's no way around that. I like the Beatlesesque sound of "Chapter 24", it's quite slow and dreamy with some nice keys effects, "The Scarecrow" is nice too, very laidback and pastoral, but I don't like "Bike", which closes the album. Seems totally out of place to me. Crazy lyric, I guess reflects Barrett's personality at the time. Actually, fuck  it, I've changed my mind. This is a fun song and I suddenly like it. Yeah, I can change my mind like that: it's my goddamn journal! Hey, totally weird-out ending!

Tracks I liked: Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Pow R toc H, Interstellar Overdrive, Chapter 24, The Scarecrow, Bike
Tracks I didn't like:Flaming, Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk, The Gnome
One standout: Interstellar Overdrive
One rotten apple: The Gnome
Overall impression: Not so much the World Tree of Progressive Rock as one of the major seeds that germinated and then spread across the music world, pollinating everything they touched, this album is a nod towards where Floyd were headed, a roadsign if you will on the journey they were about to undertake. While for pure progressive rock it's still not as much an early example as some bands of the early years, the impact Floyd would have on prog rock far outweighs that of most of the other bands, and for that reason alone this album needs to be heralded as one of the progenitors of the movement.

Not as simple rock as I had been led to believe, there are two seriously prog instrumentals on it and some lyrics that would be at home on any Yes or Camel album. Possibly. But the important  point is that Floyd were pushing, changing, evolving from this album on, transforming the face of rock into something that had really never been seen before, and which would birth some giants of the era. Progression: it's what drove Floyd for many years, and by association, many other bands who were to come.

Rating: 6/10
Future Listening Plan: Duh

[Trollheart]

And of course, what is the point in writing a journal if you can't indulge yourself? Though probably preferably in private: there are laws against those kind of things, you know!

Anyhow, this is one of

Trollheart's

Album title: El Dorado
Artist: Electric Light Orchestra
Nationality: British
Year: 1974
Chronology: 4
The Trollheart Factor: 10

Track Listing: El Dorado Overture/Can't Get it Out of My Head/Boy Blue/Laredo Tornado/Poor Boy (The Greenwood)/Mister Kingdom/Nobody's Child/Illusions in G Major/El Dorado/El Dorado Finale

Comments: Ah, I could review this album without playing it. I know it so well. ELO were the first ever band of any sort I got into, their albums were the first in my collection, the very first being Discovery, which I played on an ancient record player which was operated on a valve system, and heated up after one album so you had to shut it off to allow it to cool down before playing another. Got it for twenty-five pence at a garden fete in the 1970s. Ah, great days! This came in a triple boxset which I was presented with for my birthday, and delighted too (of course I had hinted very strongly at what I wanted) but of that set this was the one that caught my attention and interest, and even now it's one of my all-time favourite ELO albums.

Their first concept album, it concerns the daydreams of a bank clerk who is bored with his life, and imagines himself in faraway places performing heroic deeds. Well, who hasn't done that? In apparently a direct acceptance of a challenge from his father, a classical buff, Jeff Lynne wrote the whole thing and it still stands as one of their most cohesive and impressive albums, even earning them an unlikely hit single. It opens on a dreamy, ethereal introduction, a deep, dark voice intoning the opening monologue, then a big orchestral overture slams in, rising to a crescendo before falling gently away and leading us into that hit single, the ballad "Can't Get It Out of My Head".

It's a lovely song, but I have to admit I've never rated Lynne as a singer; here he just sounds a little, I don't know, drunk maybe? Still a great song, and it introduces something ELO would use in years to come, a choir and indeed an actual orchestra. A fanfare then introduces "Boy Blue", which is a hard rocker where the guitars really get to let loose, and into the much slower, melancholy "Laredo Tornado", which features nice pipes and a sort of staggered acapella vocal. "Poor Boy (The Greenwood)" then picks up the pace again, rocketing along with a reprise of the overture right at the end.

A very pizzicato strings opening then to "Mister Kingdom", where Lynne begins with a soft, tender vocal that rises as the music gets more intense, the whole thing ending on a big orchestral blast which gets louder and more intense until it all falls back for another ballad, again quite orchestral and strings-driven with sort of chanted vocals on the chorus. I've never been a huge fan of "Nobody's Child", but it's not the worst. Definitely the weak track on the album, for me, though, which stops it being perfect. Rock and roll guitars take "Illusions in G Major" as Lynne just basically rocks out and has fun, particularly with the lyrical matter, before we reach the title track, a heartfelt, empathic, stirring ballad with more than a hint of old Hollywood about it. And we close on the "El Dorado Finale", which reprises the overture, pumping it up to ten and just really going for it right to the end, when the voiceover returns, then fading away in a sparkle of scintillating sound like tiny marbles dropped on the floor.

Track(s) I liked: Everything other than "Nobody's Child" and "Illusions in G Major"

Track(s) I didn't like: Nobody's Child/Illusions in G Major

One standout: No; impossible to pick one that stands so high above the rest. Many could qualify, but I couldn't pick just one.

One rotten apple: No way.

Overall impression: Always one of my favourite ELO albums, beside Out of the Blue, Time and maybe Discovery, I find almost no weak tracks on this, and it hangs together so well. Given the previous albums' pretty sketchy construction, this is almost ELO coming into their own, and the ones to follow this would only show how they were going to grow and grow as time went on. Sadly, they kind of faded away rather than leave a powerful swan song, then Lynne resurrected the band, but it's not the same. This was from their heyday, though, and it will always be one of my top albums.

Rating: 9.9/10

Future Plan: n/a

[Trollheart]

All right then, time to check out the first album from my


and it's a band I only got into in the last three or four years, despite knowing of them for decades. Somehow, though they were always mentioned in the same breath as Pallas, Marillion and IQ, I never really checked out their music. Once I did, I was sorry I had not done so earlier and they have quickly become a firm favourite of mine. So let's delve now into the music of

Formed in 1978 in Gloucestershire in England, Pendragon were originally known as Zeus Pendragon, but quickly dropped the first part, in a similar way to how Silmarillion would become Marillion four years later. Their first album wasn't released though until 1985, and to be honest made a poor impression on me.

This, however, their second, is a whole different animal.


Album title: Kowtow
Artist: Pendragon
Nationality: English
Year: 1988
Chronology: 2
The Trollheart Factor: 10

Track Listing: Saved by You/The Mask/Time for a Change/I Walk the Rope/2 AM/Total Recall/The Haunting/Solid Heart/Kowtow
Comments: I love the bouncy, almost "Market Square Heroes" nature of the opener, which fizzes with energy and enthusiasm, Clive Nolan's peppy keyboards driving the melody along, Nick Barrett sounding in exuberant form, everything about this giving me the impression of a band who have come back after three years revitalised and full of get up and go. I found their debut, The Jewel, flawed (sorry) and disappointing in many ways, and it looks like they're out to change that here. Great start, but then things kind of grind to a halt when we hit "The Mask", which is clunky, boring and just doesn't work for me anyway. "Time For a Change" then shamelessly rips off the main riff from Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield", another upbeat track which gets the album back on course mostly.

One thing I do find about Pendragon, though I love them, is their blatant plagiarism. I've seen them copy Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Genesis by filching often whole sections of melody, lyrics and arrangements, and I just don't see the need for it. They're a talented enough band without having to rip their peers off. Good stabbing keys from Nolan here again, and a lot of energy, then everything slows down for "I Walk the Rope", nice ballad with some smooth sax from Patsy Gamble, and this sax wails on into the next one, another but I think quite superior ballad, "2 AM", which I love everything about except the end; seems to be rushed and come to an abrupt halt as if Nick couldn't work out how to finish it.

For a moment it looks as if it's three for three, before "Total Recall" breaks out of its gentle intro and turns into a bit of a pompy stomper if you will. "The Haunting" has a very Genesis feel with some eighties Pink Floyd mixed in, oh and throw in a slice from Marillion's "Incubus" off Fugazi too. :rolleyes: Great Hammond from Nolan though, and the song being over ten minutes long goes through some considerable changes oh and look! The drum roll from "Assassing" too. Sigh. This is one aspect of Pendragon I just hate. Good guitar solo here from Barrett, and then it's more or less basic rock for "Solid Heart", which kind of looks back to "Saved by You"  before we end on the title track, which rocks us to a decent ending, with a great hook in the fadeout.

Track(s) I liked: Everything except "The Mask"
Track(s) I didn't like: "The Mask"
One standout: "Saved by You" (though it's a hard choice between that and "2 AM", and "Kowtow" nearly got in too)
One rotten apple: The Mask
Overall impression: A huge improvement on their debut. Not a perfect album by any means, but streets ahead of The Jewel and beginning to point the way to stardom for this talented and prolific band who would remain at the forefront of the prog rock movement
Rating: 8.8/10

Future Plan: Lifetime Pendragon fan now, me!

[Trollheart]

Ah you know how I love my randomness! So in this section I'll be rolling dem bones and seeing what comes up, using my favourite prog website to choose a prog artist at random, then see what album of theirs I come up with. If it's one I know I'll just roll again, but if it's an artist I know, but an album I don't, that's fair game. As the chances of me liking every album that comes up are small to say the least, I'll be looking back to a device I used to use, called the "Bail-out Clause", where, if after listening as far as I can endure, it's clear I'm not into the album and that opinion is unlikely to change, I'll stop listening, because, you know, it just ain't worth it. I've listened to enough shitty albums for my art in my time, and I'm done with it. I'll do my best to give every album a fair chance, but I won't keep listening when I know there's nothing there for me.

So what's my first roll of the dice give me? This.


Title: Danger Came Smiling
Artist: Ludus
Year: 1982
Sub-genre: Crossover prog
Chronology: 2 of 2
Nationality: English
Heard of the album? No
Heard of the artist? No

Okay, I would seriously doubt the logic of calling a band who had two albums in the 1980s, neither a hit, "semi-legendary", but that's how they're described in their bio, which for all I know could have been written by one of their children. Seriously though, how can you make such a claim when nobody seems to have heard of these guys and they seem to have disappeared below the prog pond without leaving so much as a ripple? Here's the closing comment on their bio on PA, just so you know: While Ludus in the few years of their existence became well known for being pioneers in what has since been dubbed post punk, their frequent musical flirts with jazz and avantgarde also saw them compared to bands active in the progressive rock scene, with Soft Machine and Henry Cow as two of the outfits they were compared with. It's also worth noting that a certain Peter Hammill was among the people in the music scene that took an active interest in this band.

What the truth of this final statement is, linking the Van Der Graaf frontman with them, I don't know. You could say someone took an active interest, but how did they express that interest? Did Peter Hammill produce the band? Write any of their music? Sing, play flute, arrange...? Well, no. Can't see anything, from the admittedly skimpy information there is on PA here on both their albums, and a quick shufty at Hammill's Wiki page shows no mention of them, nor did I expect there to be. I'm not trying to disparage these guys, but I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever wrote their bio is being a little too generous in their praise. It's entirely possible the VDGG giant once heard their music or attended a gig and thought, "That's all right, that is," and that was the end of his association with them. I suppose it's also possible, though less likely in my view, that he became their mentor and patron. In the end, doesn't really matter I guess. They're gone now, Hammill's still going strong, and all we have to judge Ludus on is their two albums, of which I'm only listening to one.

And here it is.

Oddly enough, the only full playlist I can get seems to add extra tracks (possibly from the other album? Quick check: no, doesn't seem so) and also appears to be titled Pickpocket/Danger Came Smiling. Was this an alternative title? Who knows, but I guess I'm stuck with what I got, so just have to plough on and see what we can make of it. Kicks off, despite the track listing on PA, with "Patient", which has a kind of seventies psychedelic feel to me, very jangly  guitar and not at all what I'd be prepared to call prog. Oh my god! When the vocal comes in it is AWFUL! Can barely make it out, and it sounds like some sort of vaguely comprehensible chant. Either terrible production or a terrible singer: I guess we'll see as the album goes on, but not a good start. More of the same really for "The Fool", very guitar driven, vocal more upfront this time, and I guess I can see, such as I understand it, the post-punk idea here. Certainly does nothing for me though.

The volume of everything seems to have decreased significantly as "Hugo Blanco" opens, and though there's said to be a pianist in the band I sure as hell haven't heard him yet, this being, as Steve Earle once put it, Guitar Town, and quite annoying, jangly, in your face guitar too. Seems to be an instrumental, not that I care, and am rapidly caring less. Next one is not - an instrumental, that is - and we get quite a frenetic vocal performance on the perhaps appropriately titled "Mutilate", which really doesn't sound all that much different from any of the other tracks I've heard so far, and all I can do is look at the long list of tracks before me and hope it will decrease quickly enough.

"Mouthpiece" is just as annoying as the one that went before it, and I see with sinking heart that these tracks, whether added on by the YouTuber for spite, or whether due to some special edition being pressed, only preface the album, and that, sadly, is only beginning now, so I have another eighteen songs to go, god help me. The stupid, manic, slightly unbalanced laugh at the end of "Mouthpiece" could be me, really, as my brain dissolves into mush. Thankfully for my sanity, the (arrgh!) opening track on the album, "Foaming at the Bit", in addition to being misuse of a phrase (it's champing at the bit, idiots - you foam at the mouth, as I am in danger of doing if this goes on much longer!) turns out to be just short of four minutes of free jazz, complete with crazed horns. Oh joy!

Ah fuck it. Life's too short for this shit. I'm clearly not going to enjoy this the longer it goes on and I'm not putting myself through torture, considering the likelihood is that nobody's even going to read this, or if they do, they won't thank me for putting myself through hell for nearly an hour listening to some obscure dead fucking band whom one person seems to think are "semi-legendary", whatever that even means, You're welcome to them, mate. Not for me. Time to hit that ejector button - I am OUT of here!

Prog rating:
Album rating: n/a