The 500 Best Prog Albums - Ever!

[Saulaac]

That is one heck of all album. It just keeps building with all sorts of majestic influences. And your review was spot on bootiful btw 

The part which really got me was on 43:39, during "The Face Behind The Eyes". A really jazzy interlude. Reminded me of Dave Stewart's Egg in many ways.

But the whole album was a superb journey.

[Trollheart]

Album title: Shrine of New Generation Slaves
Artist: Riverside
Nationality: Polish
Sub-genre: Prog Metal
Year: 2013
Position on list for that year: 9
Chronology: 5 of 8
Familiarity with artist: I've heard a lot of their material
Familiarity with album: Yes I've heard it
Gold Rated track(s): We Got Used to Us, Feel Like Falling, Escalator Shine, Coda
Silver Rated track(s):
Wooden Rated track(s): New Generation Slave
Comments: Riverside are another band I'm never quite sure about. In the same camp as both Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard, I like some of their songs but not all of them, and quite often I find myself getting bored listening to them. I couldn't say there's a Riverside album I enjoy listening to all the way through, but I seem to remember liking this when I did originally listen to it. I must admit, when doing the chronology I thought they had more albums - eight doesn't seem that many, but then I note they've only been going since 2003, so that's close to one a year, which isn't bad really.

I think it's fair to say that Riverside fly the flag and lead the charge for Polish progressive rock; they're certainly the best-known of their genre to come out of that country. The album opens on the title track, essentially (it's actually titled "New Generation Slave") and it took me a little while to realise that the title of the album is in fact an acronym: Shrine Of New Generation Slaves = SONGS. Clever. The opener is driven on pretty hard almost metallic guitar, but again that old problem with this band resurfaces, and even though the song isn't even five minutes long, I've already lost interest. Next up is "The Depth of Self Delusion", introduced on thick bass and guitar; there is more of a memorable melody here, and a hook, and I find the vocal better, more engaging. "Celebrity Touch" goes a bit wild on the guitar though, getting almost metal for most of its run, can't say I'm mad about it really. I've never seen Riverside as a prog metal band, but on this album they definitely seem to be leaning more in that direction, and personally, I don't feel it suits them. The song does improve as it goes on, riding on that really catchy hook.

The obligatory ballad comes in the shape of "We Got Used to Us", opening rather oddly with what sounds like phased or echoed vocals, then it falls back to a basic piano line until the rest of the band comes in, and at times it reminds me of fellow Polish proggers Millenium, which is not a bad thing in my book. I don't particularly like the ending, I have to say: very abrupt and a bitterness in it I would prefer not to have heard. "Feel Like Falling" meshes a hard guitar line with a pretty lush organ to create a very solid melody, and has a commercial feel to it, a candidate for a single I would have thought, with certain touches of 1980s Genesis about it. There's a much more introspective guitar opening "Deprived (Irretrievably Lost Imagination)" which gives the song a reflective, sort of lonely feel to me, and somehow the vocal puts me very much in mind of Marillion circa Afraid of Sunlight or Marillion.com. It's very much a song that's driven by guitar though, both electric and acoustic. The addition of sax is, well, interesting. Certainly took me by surprise (been a while since I listened to this). I think it works more than it doesn't, but again it invites comparisons with Millenium, who, I think, have been going longer. Yes, four years longer. And yet they have eighteen albums compared to Riverside's eight. Hmm.

The big epic closes the album, almost, and "Escalator Shine" opens with a big bass and guitar piece and then plunders the Doors playbook for its introduction, but to be fair for a track that runs just over twelve minutes it doesn't seem like it, definitely not stretched out or unnecessarily long. There's a certain sense of blues about it, the guitar figuring quite prominently, then about halfway through I have to say they rip off both Floyd on "One of These Days" and their Polish stablemates Millenium on "Dark Secrets", though in fairness not the latter, as I see Millenium's Ego came out the same year as this. The whole tempo speeds up almost in a southern boogie manner, but is then cut off at the pass by the advancing organ, which then takes things in a slightly different direction. But oh dear! Also grabbing the closing riff from Lizzy's "Chinatown" is not good, guys.

Not to deride them too much, there are some lovely ideas in this track, especially a quite superb building guitar and keys passage in the 8th minute which is damned special. I just would prefer they hadn't grabbed so many obvious influences, ripping off actual melodies. I think they're better than that. The album ends on a short little coda called, well, "Coda", which briefly revisits the main theme of "Feel Like Falling" and closes proceedings well.

A quick scan down reviews on PA show me I'm in the minority here, as everyone is raving about this and saying it's Riverside's best yet. Maybe it is. I don't know. I'm not, as I said at the beginning, there with this band yet. Have I heard better? Possibly not. Have I heard worse? Definitely. But my opinion is my own, whether it may be right or wrong, and I stand by it. Lads, you have yet to get me on (River)side yet. Keep trying.

Oh, and may I just add a note of amazement and disgust that the far, far superior Ego is not even on the list for 2013? Not even in the top 100? What the fuck is wrong with  you guys? No, seriously: I want to know!

Personal Rating: 7.5/10

[Trollheart]

That is one heck of all album. It just keeps building with all sorts of majestic influences. And your review was spot on bootiful btw 

The part which really got me was on 43:39, during "The Face Behind The Eyes". A really jazzy interlude. Reminded me of Dave Stewart's Egg in many ways.

But the whole album was a superb journey.

It's amazing, isn't it? One album, and the guy produces such a majestic masterpiece. I am totally stunned. Also can't believe it wasn't higher for the year. But glad it wasn't 11, or I would have missed it out totally. Glad you enjoyed it, and glad you're along for the ride. Good to know I'm not talking to myself.

[Trollheart]

Album title: Passio Secundum Mattheum - The Complete Work
Artist: Latte e Miele
Nationality: Italian
Sub-genre: Rock Progressivo Italiano
Year: 2014
Position on list for that year: 8
Chronology: 7 of 8
Familiarity with artist: None
Familiarity with album: None
Gold Rated track(s): Almost every single one.
Silver Rated track(s):
Wooden Rated track(s): "Toccata per Organo"
Comments: From what I read, these guys have been around for a few years. Formed in 1971, broke up after 1973, reformed 1976, broke up again and reformed in 1980, reformed... well, let's just say that with all the disbandings and comings back together, they've only managed to get eight albums out over what covers a period of almost fifty years. They also seem to be, perhaps not the Italian ELP, but of the same mind, in that they use classical compositions in their music. Whether they re-interpret them or absorb them into their own music, I guess we're about to find out. I'm going to make a guess and say their name means coffee and milk? Not sure, probably not important, but latte is surely coffee. Anyhoo, on we go. This is a long one.

Well now, we may have a problem. This appears to be a reissue/re-recording of their debut album, released in 1972 (hence the suffix "The Complete Work") and I can only find that one on  the Y, so I guess we're stuck with that. The original album only had 12 tracks, the new one has 19, so essentially we're missing nearly a third of the album, but what can I do? I imagine I should be able to get a decent enough sense of the album from the original, anyway. Let's see what we got.

Oh no wait, there it is. Cool. I just had to add in the suffix and it found the full thing. So we open on "Introduzione" (which is not surprisingly the introduction, and it's pretty damn impressive, like something out of a movie soundtrack perhaps, choral voices, synths, strings, horns, the lot. Nice piano and powerful guitar cutting in. I'm going to just assume this will all be instrumental? "Il giorno degli azzimi" is driven on a soft acoustic guitar, and no, I'm wrong, there are vocals, and of course they're in Italian, but very nice. Ooh that choir is just gorgeous! It's only just over a minute but it seems to merge directly into the next track, "Ultima cena" - I say seems to, because as has been happening with annoying frequency, some fucking dickhead has stuck an hour-long "introduction to trading cryptocurrency" video in the middle of the playlist, and I have to skip past it. Cunt. Anyway, when I do, I hear the same melody as it flows onto the third track, so I'm assuming it segues. Sounds like a soprano vocal, I think, taking this, and guitar and strings mesh wonderfully. Love this already. There's a spoken vocal, then superfast piano and then the choir is back - both male and female - and you definitely get the idea of some sort of stage production. I hear Hammond there, don't I? Oh yes I do. Certainly retains the seventies sound of prog rock.

Great guitar solo now, then "Il Pane e il Sangue dell'Alleanza" has a different vocal against another powerful guitar and orchestral melody, slow and stately with a real sense of passion (sorry) in it. This time the spoken vocal is that of a woman, not the slightest what she's telling us though, and now the Hammond gets back in on the act as things start to rock up again and the singer gets more intense and upfront, bringing the choir back in. I think I need to go checking some reviews, to see if I can get some idea of what this is all about, some sort of concept I imagine at the very least. Hope they're in English! Okay now I know. The "Passio" of the title is The Passion of Saint Matthew, which I assume is a religious work. Oh, hell with assume: let's look it up. To the Wikimobile! What do you mean, it's in the shop with a busted gearbox? Didn't I warn you about doing donuts in it? Very well then, ready the bicycles! It's a long ride. Back as soon as I can.

Now it all makes sense. The St. Matthew Passion was originally written by some unknown hack called Bach, way back in 1727, and is an account of, indeed, the last days of Jesus Christ, as told in the Gospel of Saint Matthew. This is Latte e Miele's version of that, their second in fact, with added new material. You can read about Bach's original here if you wish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Matthew_Passion

So now I can make some guesses on previous titles. "Ultima Cena" I knew was last something, now it's obviously Last Supper, "Getzamani" has to be Italian for Gethsemane, the garden in which Jesus is said to have spent his last hours before being taken by the Romans to be crucified, and where he was betrayed by Judas. I must admit, I would have expected a quieter, more pastoral, peaceful piece, but it rocks with hard electric guitar and organ; perhaps Latte e Miele are trying to illustrate in music the conflicting emotions raging within Jesus as he faced his doom? Either way, it's not as laid back as I had expected, not at all, but the choir coming in near the end is fucking beautiful. I think I heard a voice betray Jesus there, definitely heard "maestro", which is master, so that must be Judas kissing Jesus to identify him to the guards. Sumptuous synth outro, just mesmerising.

Acoustic guitar then brings us into "I falsi testimoni", which I think even I can translate, a beautiful piece of Spanish guitar with a choral vocal, which is different to a choir how? Well, for me, a choral vocal in this case is one person singing while the rest sort of back them up, which is what happens here. A great Hammond solo, more talking, as, I assume, Jesus is brought before Caiphas? Can't be sure, but I think that's the sequence, isn't it? He'll be off to Pilate eventually, but not before his own people have a chance to tell him how blasphemous he's being. Very seventies prog keyboard solo here and some incredibly impassioned guitar. Into a beautiful female (I think) vocal on "Il pianto", with piano and synth accompanying her, a mournful, slow lament, then things take a sharper turn for "Il Rinnegamento di Pietro", which I have to assume is the denial by Peter, swirling keys and punchy guitar with some slow, expressive violin or possibly cello. Some strange, quasi-military sounds, presumably on the synth, represent, I think, Peter's fear and doubt as he is accused of being a follower of this Christ chap, and flat-out denies it. Il Prezzo del Sangue Then sees a slower, more mournful tune as violins, cellos and violas join guitars, and a powerful performance by the choir, which I read is the Coro Polifonico Classe Mista della Spezia, while the orchestral sounds of violin, viola, cello and flute are provided by the GnuQuartet. Together they really weave the atmosphere of this most important story in the lives of Christians into something memorable and magical.

"Guida" can only be Judas, a soliloquy as the man who betrayed his master realises his mistake, and rather oddly, despite being just barely over a minute long, it's got a kind of swinging blues rhythm on piano, paired with a punishing guitar that would not be out of place on a heavy metal album, and this powers on into "Il re dei Giudei" (King of the Jews, I imagine) which has some narration but is basically instrumental, another short one but containing a fantastic guitar solo, and on into another short, one-minute track in "Barabba", which I think we all can work out. Droning synth and flute run this, against the female narration, and a rising choir before we're treated to "Toccata per organo" (well, being Bach, it would be, wouldn't it?) which I have to say actually doesn't do much for me; sounds very limp and not deep or throaty enough. I prefer Sky's version. Or Bach's.

"Il Calvario" doesn't need translating either, and no, it's not the cavalry coming, Life of Brian style, to rescue Jesus. Appropriately enough, there's a dark rumbling sound of thunder, and then a rapidly-spoken narration which could be anything, but could be Pilate pronouncing sentence on the saviour? Not sure. The choir rises again (no pun intended, Christians) and it's a slow, doomy beat on guitar and synth as I presume Jesus takes his final walk, literally carrying his cross. Another beautiful, painfully emotional guitar solo, as slow and morose as the rest of the tune, and we're on Golgotha as "Aria della Croce" might mean speech from the cross? Really not sure, giving it my best shot but my Italian is terrible, which is to say all but non-existent, capische?

It's a slow lamenting vocal, which I imagine is Jesus, soft piano and synth accompanying him, then the string section comes in to add its mark, and the emotive power of this song just has to be heard to be believed. Another solo as the guitar winds up, then we're powering into "La Spartizione della Tunica", which I assume is where the Roman soldiers play dice for the tunic Jesus was wearing. Quite why Roman legionnaires would need a robe that has been stained with blood and sweat and, um, other bodily fluids is beyond me, but that's the Bible for you. I'm sure it's very allegorical, to show how inhuman the Romans were. Boo. Hiss. Anyway it's a much more uptempo, rocky and powerful piece until near the end when it slows down on a heartfelt rendition by the choir and a restrained guitar.

This one I can't even take a stab at. Something about gold, but other than that, not a clue. A moaning, mournful synth opens "Dall'Ora Sesta all'Ora Nona" and then narration against a high guitar line, just a minute before we're into "Il Velo del Tiempo" with a droning synth, more narration accompanied by wind noises as, I assume, Jesus dies on the cross and the storm begins. Hard, punchy guitar accompanies the return of the choir and gives this piece a sense of panic, fear, confusion as it bounces along, and the whole thing comes to a triumphant end finally with "Come un Ruscello Che..." against a soft guitar riff, more narration and lush keyboard with a final lamenting vocal, one more passionate performance from the choir, and a huge flourish to bring the curtain down on what can only be called a total masterpiece.

I honestly have never listened before to an album of 19 tracks and wished there was more. What there was gave me a lot to write about, but I'd be more than eager to just listen to this album again for pleasure. It's so well put together, with such passion and dedication, such artistry and such attention to detail - yes, I can see that, even without understanding the language it's written in - that it certainly deserves to be a whole lot higher than it is on the list, and once again I can do nothing but award it top marks. They hardly seem sufficient.

Personal Rating: 10/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3x9wJE5oJo&list=PLrYU-STSUmp2Px8WgRUGSSB4AiedFTGfo&index=20

[Trollheart]

Album title: Love, Fear and the Time Machine
Artist: Riverside
Nationality: Polish
Sub-genre: Prog Metal
Year: 2015
Position on list for that year: 7
Chronology: 6 of 8
Familiarity with artist: See previous
Familiarity with album: I've heard it
Gold Rated track(s): I don't think it's fair to populate any of these categories, since my attention wandered so much during the album, and really, I couldn't differentiate good from bad, though I don't think there were any terrible tracks.
Silver Rated track(s):
Wooden Rated track(s):
Comments: Oh lord we're back with Riverside already! And it's their next album. Well, not that surprising really, as I am moving up through the years here - it's hardly likely to be their first, now is it? The oddly-named "Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened of a Hat?)" - why indeed? - starts off with a lush organ against the vocal before rippling guitar comes in, a slow and gentle introduction to the album, unlike the much harsher, uptempo beginning to the last Riverside one I listened to. Picks up now on the harder guitar as it gets going, and the song has some sort of odd semi-gospel feel to it. A good start, and the next track, "Under the Pillow", has a nice little echoey and introspective guitar line leading it in, generally seems to be a relatively laid-back piece with some nice peppy keys and a driving guitar running through it at times, echoes of Sabbath in there somewhere.

It's bass and what sounds like pizzicato strings for "#Addicted", which lopes along at a fine pace, harder guitar again driving the main melody, definitely the most uptempo of the tracks so far, with a sort of jangly, poppy guitar alternating with the stronger, metal-style one. Pretty good, I must say. It ends quite low-key on acoustic guitar and organ outro, and gives way to "Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire" (where do they get these song titles, seriously?) with a sort of muted military drumbeat accompanying a thick bass line, nice acapella part in the midsection, while "Saturate Me" looks back to early to mid 1970s progressive rock for its main melodic theme, some really nice Hammond organ in there, though they do throw in, for some reason, the main riff from "Paranoid". Hmm.

Yeah, I just don't know what it is about Riverside. Their music is fine and their songs are good, mostly, but I just find it hard to keep interested, and to find things to write about their albums. "Afloat" is a nice little reflective ballad, but "Discard Your Fear" just drifts by (no pun intended) and only the sort of weirdly atonal ending catches my attention, while "Towards the Blue Horizon" is pretty much Marillion-lite. Not that in itself that's a bad influence to have, but really, switch out Marius for Steve and you have a Marillion song, and that is bad. The main melody reminds me very much of "The Sky Above the Rain", which I just listened to a few hours ago. Well, that's not really fair: it does eventually settle down and become its own thing as they break the guitar riffs out, but it's a bit of an odd beast, a sort of Jekyll/Hyde amalgam of the two bands. It also seems to me that most of these songs don't need to be as long as they are.

Maybe it's just me, but I am bored and just waiting for this to end now, as it will in two more tracks. The first of these is "Time Travellers", which has a nice line in acoustic guitar and lilts along in a nice sort of slow blues manner, definitely one of the better tracks, while "Found (The Unexpected Flaw of Searching)", which I guess bookends the album with "Lost" being the opener, also rides mostly on soft guitar, and has a nice hook in the song.


To show my attitude and response to this album hasn't changed over nearly a decade, here is my much shorter track-by-track review from 2015, the year this album came out. You'll see I mention much of what I talk about above.

1. Lost (Why should I be frightened by a hat?):Leave it to Riverside to come up with the silliest title since "Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-starring the delicious talents of Gabble Ratchet)! Good moody opener; the vocals of Mariusz Duda are as always a joy to listen to. Lovely organ line from Michał Łapaj with soft percussion then a sharper guitar cuts in and the song's tempo picks up. Great start. Why should he be frightened by a hat, anyway? AAAAHHHH!

2. Under the pillow: Lovely soft guitar, almost acoustic then it kicks up into a nice sort of mid-paced rocker with some fine fretwork.
3. #Addicted: Slick little bass intro from Mariusz before it runs along on an uptempo line, great little hook. Actually reminds me a lot of a-ha. Beautiful gentle little guitar and keyboard outro.
4. Caterpillar and the barbed wire:This has a very Marillion feel to it, like something off Marillion.com perhaps.
5. Saturate me: Great keyboard intro from  Łapaj and screaming guitar then also from Piotr Grudziński, instrumental for two minutes before the vocal comes in. Sounds like mellotron there (does anyone still use them?) and again I find this quite Marillionesque, sort of like "The Invisible Man" maybe.
6. Afloat: Beautiful little ballad which runs on repeated guitar lines and a gorgeous little organ.
7. Discard your fear: Another good song, but there's a problem developing, something that happens to me every time I listen to Riverside, and that is that, the above apart, I'm not really getting that much into any of these songs. They're all good, in their way, but I doubt I'll remember any once the album is over*, which is a pity, as I feel on repeated listenings it might grow on me, or reveal some hidden depths I'm not seeing here. But on first listen, it's just not engaging me as I had hoped it would.
8. Towards the blue horizon: All right, this is eight minutes long. Let's make a conscious effort to describe it. See my problem though? If I was really into this album I wouldn't need to make a con --- anyway. Yeah. Lovely pastoral intro on guitar, with a soft and very endearing vocal which (sorry again) just plunders Hogarth's songbook for all it's worth. Lovely rippling piano. This may be another favourite. Sort of hear echoes of Spock's Beard in here at times too. Yeah, really enjoyed that.
9. Time travellers: There's nothing quite like a strumming acoustic guitar to start a song. Great, swaying ballad with a really upbeat message in the lyric. The organ again is amazing. Sort of Floydesque guitar around the midpoint. You know, maybe this album has a chance after all. Making a strong showing here at the end.
10. Found (The unexpected flaw of searching): Again though, what is it with the weird titles? What does this even mean? Yeah I know, they're Polish, but still. Well it opens with a lovely introspective guitar (oh come on! I haven't used that word in quite a while now!) and again an upbeat ballad to close, and indeed it would seem, bookend with the opener. Is this a concept album? Not sure, but I feel there's a common thread running through it.

Final result: I don't want to write this album off, as I feel it will grow on me**, but right now I'm not one hundred percent impressed with it, which is, as I said, a common reaction I have to Riverside. But I have hopes. The quality is there, maybe I just need to keep digging to find the buried treasure. ***

* I don't
** It didn't
*** Still digging


Personal Rating: 7.8/10