Friday, May 31, 2013

05/31/13 - I Brought my Pencil

Intro:  Hey folks, it's been a while.  I wasn't certain what I was going to listen to today, nothing was quite moving me and I remembered the project I started last year.  Now is the time to start this bad boy up again.

The Albums:
  • The Dreams of Man - Pallas
  • Drops of Jupiter - Train
  • Dub My Funky Groove - Timewarp Inc
  • Dubnobasswithmyheadman - Underworld
  • Duke - Genesis
  • Dulcenia - Toad the Wet Sprocket
  • Duran Duran (the first self titled one)
The Wrap Up:  


The Final Tally:
  • Winner

  • Growers

  • Keepers

  • Wibblers (no opinion one way or another)

  • Moodies (Albums for a certain mood)

  • Bleh

    Thursday, January 10, 2013

    01/10/13 Review - Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited II



    Artist:  Steve Hackett
    Album:  Genesis Revisited II
    Rating:  2 Stars
    Link: http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=39001

    Review:

    So I love Genesis, new, old, blue, bold you name it, I'm a fan.  There have often been times that I've thought to myself that I'd love to hear updated versions of some of the old classics, seriously, who wouldn't want to hear Apocalypse in 9/8 with a Heavy Devy (Townsend) style wall of noise holding down the bottom as Clive Nolan soars through the keyboard solos with something other than a forty yer old organ.  

    Ok, I get it, maybe not everyone has that hope, I did though.  

    The one thing that I didn't want was a recreation of the original recordings as true to their initial recording as possible.  I believe that Phil Collins was considering doing an album recreating fifty's standards note for note.  He received a certain amount of ridicule from the prog community for this endeavor.  Unfortunately, for me this is the same basic concept, only with better starting music.  If I just wanted an updated recording of the music, I'd have bought the original 5.1 remasters that were reissued a few years ago . . . oh wait, I did.

    I don't mean to sound terribly bitter, but I was so excited about this release prior to buying it, when it came out, it sounded like another version of the originals rather than a remake.  The Mellotron was a fantastic keyboard in its time, it was a pioneering instrument, cutting edge.  That was forty years ago.  Same with the Hammond B3, it was fantastic and fresh in the heyday of progressive rock, but when today's keyboard players rely almost exclusively on these keyboards it sounds like they haven't moved on in forty years.

    We've moved past the electronic toms and Jan Hammer keyboards of the eighties.  If this album was to be an updated version of the seventies classics that I love so much, it failed.  It wasn't as much an update as it was a rerecording.

    Now, with that being said, there are still some highlights.  Some of the songs do have additional vocal harmonies which somewhat satisfies my 'time to do something different' twitch.  The Musical Box and Eleventh Earl of Mar both have harmonies added by Nad Sylvan that were welcome additions to my ears.  In addition, the expanded chorus in Ripples featuring the mixed choir of voices is absolutely beautiful.  The addition of the female voices adds a wonderful touch.

    I do realize that this album is partially a showcase album designed to create excitement about an upcoming tour of the material with Mr. Hackett's new band.  I am excited to see the tour and would even buy a live album from the tour.

    In the end though, I have to give this CD a two star rating.  While I would give five star ratings to many of the albums that these tracks originally appeared on, this release did not do enough to distinguish itself from the original songs and give it merit on it's own worth.

    Wednesday, January 9, 2013

    1/9/13 Review, Corvus Stone -


    Artist:  Corvus Stone
    Album:  Corvus Stone
    Rating:  3 Stars
    Link: http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=39547

    Review:  

    When looking at the top albums of the year on The Prog Archives, I noticed "Corvus Stone" as a common choice among my fellow collaborators.  As it turns out, Corvus Stone was formed through the power of the internet and it's ability to bring people together.  I was intrigued and found it on Spotify.

    The CD starts out wonderfully with a worldly sound building the tension through a series of effects and noodling weaving a soundscape that had me eager and ready for more.  I would love to say that the rest of the album lived up to initial soundscape.

    Both Pasi Koivu's keyboards and Colin Tench's guitars sound fantastic and they get a lot of time to shine on the mostly instrumental CD.  This is both a good and a bad thing.  While they're both phenomenal musicians, they did not start the project with a drummer or vocalist.  This makes the album sound mostly like a showpiece / jam album.  The majority of songs are relatively simple chord progressions with extended jams over lack luster drum programming.

    One of the highlights of the album gives an exciting picture of what is to come, "Ice King" features vocalist Blake Carpenter, a late addition to the band.  Mr. Carpenter's voice is a wonderful fit to the spacey atmosphere that they create, again hearkening back to the ambient soundscape that led the album off.  The addition of drummer, Robert Wolff, to the band, unfortunately came too late to save the album from the doldrums of the drum machine.

    Another highlight is the production, for an album that was recorded all around the world, the production sounds amazing.

    I truly look forward to their next release, the addition of vocals and live drums to the majority of the band will represent a huge leap forward.  In addition, additional musicians should help add some diversity to the song writing process.  Honestly, this is a good debut album and shows a huge promise of things to come.



    Thursday, December 27, 2012

    Review - 12/27/12 - SoulenginE - Mind Colours

    Artist:  SoulenginE
    Album:  Mind Colours
    Rating:  4 Stars
    Link:  http://www.progstreaming.com/_wb/pages/play-album.php?activeAlbum=00294%20-%20SoulenginE%20-%20Mind%20Colours

    Review:


    Well this is a pleasant surprise.

    So, I arrived at work this morning and wasn't sure what I was going to listen to, pulled up Progstreaming and saw an option for a band that I'd never heard.  The cover looked cool so I gave it a whirl.

    Holy smokes, Mind Colours is fantastic. Five minutes into the album I realize that I've stumbled onto a gem.  Every musician in this band is top notch and the rhythm section melds together fantastically.  The first song, Polheim, has moments of Genesis interspersed with moments of Return to Forever.

    Fabio Mancin is obviously a virtuoso keyboard player and has a fantastic sense of backing rhythm vs solo madness.  He can do both and the important thing, is that he knows the right one to play at any given time.  Ettore Salati's guitar blends perfectly with Mancin's keyboards.  I would describe his style as a combination of Carlos Santana, Steve Hackett and a modern shredder (sorry, no one comes to mind at the moment).

    The rhythm section of Nando de Luca and Giacomo Pacin are firing on all cylinders and sound like they've been playing together for years.  Pacin, in particular is incredibly intricate, the cymbal work in No Rewarding made me sit up and say wow.

    All in all, this is a great addition to anyone's collection.  It's a tight combination of Symphonic and Fusion with an amazing rhythm section to balance out a pair of vets on the lead instruments.

    Saturday, December 22, 2012

    Review - 12/21/12 Perhaps

    Well the good news is that the world didn't end today!  Here's my review of Boston's Perhaps:

    Artist:  Perhaps
    Album:  Volume 1
    Rating:  2 stars

    So I was asked to write a review of the album by the band, and honestly I struggled with the request for a week or two, mulling my thoughts and opinions. Honestly, I waffled, at times I thought that it would be better for all parties involved if I didn't write a review, other times I felt that I should write one. Finally, I decided that good or bad, I was going to give my feedback.

    The production and sound of the album is very good, even more so when you consider that this was a live recording. I would have preferred that the bass was mixed a little hotter, but again, in a live setting, you often don't get everything that you want.

    The musicianship is phenomenal and utterly chaotic. Major props to the chops (see what I did there) of drummer Don Taylor for playing the drums like he was in a knife fight. For the majority of the piece, he doesn't as much keep the beat as he augments the melody with one of the longest drum fills on record. Jim Haney and Sean McDermott are equally aggressive and chaotic on their various guitars.

    For me though, this was a little too chaotic. With all three musicians synced up throughout the piece, there was very little to keep me grounded amid the waves of notes. There were parts that I started to enjoy, but just about when I latched onto them is exactly when something exploded and went off in a different direction.

    I struggled with the rating but finally settled on two stars based on the guidelines of this site; 2 stars = Collectors / Fans only. The truth is that I'm not a huge fan of chaotic music and while this CD certainly has moments of amazing musicianship, it did not transcend the chaos and connect with me. If you're into Lark's Tongue and similar music, I recommend that you give it a whirl. For me though, it just wasn't my cup of tea.



    Thursday, December 20, 2012

    12/20/12 Progstreaming


    Intro:  So today I'm puling albums from www.progstreaming.com, this is a great site if you're looking to discover new Prog Bands.  I'm starting from the bottom and working my way up:

    The Albums:
    The Wrap Up:  


    The Final Tally:
    • Winner

    • Growers

    • Keepers

    • Wibblers (no opinion one way or another)

    • Moodies (Albums for a certain mood)

    • Bleh

      Wednesday, December 19, 2012

      12/19/12 Christmas Time is here


      Intro:  Today is the first of three or four days of Christmas carols.  Yes, it's that time of year.  Without further ado, let's get the holiday season started!

      The Albums:
      • Progressive Rock Christmas - Various
      • Barenaked for the Holidays - Barenaked Ladies
      • The Best of Christmas - The Starlight Choir
      • Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits - The Vince Guaraldi Trio
      • Christmas - Manheim Steamroller
      • The Christmas Attic - Trans Siberian Orchestra
      • A Christmas Concert - The Vienna Symphony Orchestra
      • Christmas Eve and Other Stories - Trans Siberian Orchestra
      • Christmas Favorites - Nat King Cole
      The Wrap Up:  


      The Final Tally:
      • Winner

      • Growers

      • Keepers

      • Wibblers (no opinion one way or another)

      • Moodies (Albums for a certain mood)

      • Bleh