Per.... Un Mondo Di Cristallo (72)

Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno's Per....Un Mondo Di Cristallo is one that I've found very difficult to get into personally which intrigues me to no end. Crimson is evident here, especially with some of the dissonance that resounds throughout the album, but again this album is unquestionalbly Italian.

When the band dissolved, Luciano Regoli (Vocals, Guitar) and Nanni Civitenga (Guitar) went on to play in Samadhi.

Very italian, this six-piece blends some elements of Jazz, King Crimson type rock (although I'm seldom reminded of KC while listening), the early folk sound of PFM, some north African/Arabic influences, classical, and a little of the type dissonance found in the music of Area. Very tasty, with lots of dynamic stretch, excellent vocals, flute, sax, piano, this is possibly one of the best italian reissues around, certainly one of my very favorites, I'd put them right up there with classics like Il Balletto Di Bronzo, Area, Arti+Mestieri, Opus Avantra, and others. I don't know of anyone who was aware of this albums existence back in the seventies, seems like its reissue came right out of nowhere.

[See Samadhi]

Discography

Handwriting (92) Music for Egon Schiele (94) The Sea and the Bells (94) Selenography (97) Full On Night (00, split EP w/ Matmos) Systems/Layers (03)

Reviews

Rachel's Yet another band that's often found in the alternative section and labeled as post-rock. I've never quite gotten the meaning of that term as it includes bands as diverse as Tortoise, Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Low. Tortoise is a lot like jazz, Godspeed has long complicated sound structures and Low has songs which sound a lot like Tool on valium. Where's the similarity? Case in point here, as Rachel's are seemingly an alternative band that eschews standard rock instrumentation for classical instruments. Guitars are present in abundance, though mostly as a texture element, and drums ensure that the music is never confused with classical fare, but the bulk of the instrumental work is performed here by piano and string instruments. The core of the group is Rachel Grimes (piano), Jason Noble (guitars) and Christian Frederickson (viola). They are accompanied by a mini-orchestra of about 14 individuals playing mostly brass, strings and woodwinds. For people into prog the albums Handwriting, Selenography and Full on Night would be time well spent but ultimately sound just like an alternative band playing with classical instruments. The compositions themselves aren't really headbending. Two of their releases do stand out, however. Music for Egon Schiele is a near-classical work using just piano, cello and viola. It's the music for a play and actually has no leanings towards rock whatsoever but the compositions are top notch and very emotional. Without a doubt however the concept album The Sea and the Bells is a masterpiece of progressive writing and song structure. It was inspired by the book of the same name by Pablo Neruda. It is by turns pastoral, rousing, emotional, teeth grinding and is always engaging. As with most of their work it's entirely instrumental but does include a book of poetry which loosely lays out the thoughts of a mariner dying at sea after a shipwreck and dwells on the subject of love, regret, lost hope and salvation. Although this is not a set of lyrics it clearly is meant to accompany the music on the disc. Elements of classical, jazz, rock and ambient music are all present from the first track "Rhine & Courtesan" but don't actually stand out as separate components. Every facet joins together to form a larger whole. Two tracks "Tea Merchants" / "Lloyd's Register" form a ~15 min epic, the first part being a piano / vibraphone duo that starts as bare whispers of sound and becomes something majestic. With the second part slow strings enter the mix and tempo begins the pick up as the drums begin to dominate the pace. Then with the introduction of horns the piece suddenly becomes a fanfare full of bombast and sudden stops before collapsing back to a more ambient state. Many of the compositions flow from one into the other, some are just ambient drift between the more melodic tracks: the sole instrument on "To Rest Near to You" is "fireworks". One moment on the CD is used to great effect, but unfortunately it's very grating: the song "Sirens" uses way too many screeching violas to simulate a siren song (a part that lasts over a minute). Drums are quite sparse on the second half of the album giving tracks like "Cypress Branches" and "The Blue Skinned Waltz" a very classical feel, albeit still with ambient stretches. Without a doubt the crowning achievement of this recording is the final track, "His Eyes". It's everything you'd expect the ending of a concept album to be: grand, majestic, emotional. It conveys a sense of longing that's hard to forget even after the CD has finished playing. This is really one of those CDs that won't leave your player for weeks. -- Markus Derrer

... an important correction. You have a band listed called "The Rachels." The actual name of this group is "Rachel's" (i.e., no "The" and an apostrophe). See: [their all-music guide entry]. As minor as this difference may seem it is important: there is another band called "The Rachels" w/ a different musical style. See: [their Amazon.com entry]. -- Bill Pernell Thanks, Bill! I've corrected the entry as you recommended. Interestingly, the Amazon entry indicates that "people who bought The Rachels also bought Rachel's". I doubt it ... I think their database program is confused. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Rachel's web site

Discography

An Invitation to ... (96)

Reviews

Compare to Echolyn and Spock's Beard.

Discography

Frozen North (95) Republic (96) Burned and Frozen (97, CDR) Knutsford In May (97) Diabolica (97, CDR) Organ Harvest (97) Gulf (98, CDR) A Bridge Too Far (98, CDR) Borrowed Atoms (98, 2CD) Bothered Atmos (99, CDR) Been There Done That (00, CDR) Upstairs Downstairs (00) Zabriskie Point (00) The God Of Electricity (00) Planets In The Wires (01) Startide (01, CDR) Maelstrom (02, CDR) Greenhousing (03, CDR) Solid States (03, 2CD) People Would Really Like Space Rock If They Would Only Give It A Try (04, CDR) E-Live 2003 (04, CDR) Walking On The Sea (04) Hog Wild (05, CDR) Emissaries (05, 2CD) Septentrional (06) Lost In Space (06, 6CDR Box Set) Rain Falls in Grey (07) Blacker (07, CDR)

Reviews

Radio Massacre International - Gary Houghton (guitar, synthesizers), Duncan Goddard (keyboards, electronics, bass) and Steve Dinsdale (keyboards, electronics, drums) Original Entry, 10/15/07: Where have these guys been hiding out? I've only heard their newest release on Cuneiform, Rain Falls in Grey, but this may be the best album of space rock I've ever heard ... and I've heard a lot of space rock! Rain Falls in Grey is dedicated to the memory of Syd Barrett, the infamous former Pink Floyd guitarist who passed away in 2006. I would describe the sound as a mix of early Floyd and early Hawkwind with a fair amount of Rubycon-era Tangerine Dream (because of the way they use Mellotron) and Gong thrown in as well. Only the recording is far better quality than any of these guys could muster up in the late '60's and early '70's, which makes this album a real treat for those of us who love this kind of music. But it's all instrumental and highly improvised. The lack of vocals will be a problem for some and a plus for others, but I must say the instruments alone are plenty to hold my interest. And don't let the "highly improvised" part throw you ... this isn't a bunch of pointless, aimless noodling, but well worked-out songs with lots of room for improv, but always moving the listener forward in a particular direction. The direction is always somewhere in the neighborhood of the Andromeda galaxy, but you can't say it's directionless. Simply superb! As a slight aside, the reason this album reminds me of Gong is because of the excellent Daevid Allen type glissando guitar which makes many appearances on these pieces. But, Allen writes in some of the promotional material for this album that he learned this technique by watching Syd Barrett play guitar this way at a concert when he was young. Barrett used a zippo lighter as his slide to create the glissando effect, and Allen used metal implements he found in an old gynecologist's medical kit (I wouldn't make that up!), but the technique is essentially the same. Allen pays homage to his one-time teacher by creating the artwork featured on the album cover of Rain Falls in Grey (right). It will look very familiar to those who've been following Gong for as long as I have. For those who have been following RMI for a while, it should be noted that this album is a radical departure from their previous synth-based albums. This album is based around guitar, bass and drums in the typical late '60's psychedelic style, though there's plenty of electronics to be had on top of that. I really want to know more about this band, so I'll be looking into some of their earlier, more electronic output in the near future. I'll let you know when I do. In the meantime, Rain Falls in Grey is a must for any space rock fan's collection, or for anyone who thinks Pink Floyd was never really the same after Syd Barrett left the band. -- Fred Trafton Addendum 11/13/07: After hearing Rain Falls in Grey, I wanted to hear what some of RMI's more "usual" style sounds like. I noted that they had put their second album Republic online for download (also Zabriskie Point, see link below), so I bought it. Republic was described as being one of the "Three R's" ... no, not "Reading, 'Righting and 'Rithmatic", but Rubycon, Ricochet and Republic. If those first two titles don't mean anything to you, they're among the more famous of Tangerine Dream's albums. But if you've read this far into an RMI entry, you already knew that, didn't you? ... and Republic is frighteningly close to them in sound and quality, only the recording quality is better on Republic, notably the lack of tape hiss. Maybe a bit more like Phaedra, but then you wouldn't have been able to do the "Three R's" gag. If you like '70's Tangerine Dream, you'll love Republic. It's got all the same stuff ... spacey electronic timbres, Mellotron choirs and jamming over rhythmic sequencer patterns. Much better than recent Tangerine Dream albums, and just about as good as Rubycon, which is one of my all-time favorite albums (I'm not actually familiar with Ricochet). ... AND not very similar to Rain Falls in Grey at all. -- Fred Trafton Addendum 11/20/07: I just heard that RMI will be playing at NEARFest X in 2008! Man, I hope I can be there. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Radio Massacre International's web site Click here to order Emissaries or Rain Falls in Grey from Cuneiform Records Click here to download Republic or Zabriskie Point in MP3 or FLAC with album graphics from MusicZeit

Discography

Tesseract and Monuments (92)

Reviews

These guys may have several albums on cassette or LP, but I'm only familiar with Tesseract and Monument, which was recently released on CD. Three piece of dual keyboards and drums, mostly instrumental, their music might be described as three parts Canterbury, three parts Zappa, and four parts totally original. Some of the album's 17 tracks are well developed, others just seem like noodling with an idea but not taking it anywhere - which isn't necessarily bad in this case (Edhels' Oriental Christmas is guilty of this, but it works also ...) because the songs are short enough to hold your attention. A very satisfying album overall.

This was released by ZNR (who released Mastermind and Easter Island), and marks a departure of sorts from other bands on the label. The music on Tesseract and Monuments is on the fusion edge of progressive rock, with strong influences from the Canterbury style, updated with the eighties-keyboard sounds. Mostly instrumental, the compositions are possibly comparable to Hatfield, National Health and the like, with oblique passages and variant time-signatures. The dominant instrument is the keyboard, manned by two of the three members, plus percussion. However, this does not limit their style in any way, and the result is a well-crafted example of the genre.

Radio Piece III are another contemporary US band released by ZNR. The 17 songs packed into the 56 minutes of music on this disk are a slightly varied form of jazz fusion with only two songs with vocals. The opening song, "Walking Through Filters" reminded me of Steely Dan. The remainder of the songs hint at various times at ELP, Roger Powell, Zappa, and The Residents. Unfortunately Makucevich and Benigno apparently do not explore their synths beyond the factory presets resulting in a sameness in sound from song to song. The best spots on the disk are "Chimerical Crustacean," "#12 from the Old Book," and "Wes' Wonder of the Week" where they emulate The Residents' quirky song titles, rhythms, and zany instrumentation. Even the CD inset photo of Radio Piece III jumping down steps in tuxedos brings to mind The Residents sans giant eyeballs. Not a bad release, but the uniformity of the music failed to excite my interest beyond one or two listenings.

Radio Piece III are a three piece (no, not radio) band from somewhere in the US. The apparently have several albums but only Tesseract and Monuments has been released on CD. The band consists of two keyboardists and a drummer. As you'd expect with four hands playing the 'boards, Radio Piece III have a relatively lush sound with several layers of different keyboard textures. The seventeen (!) songs average about 3.5 minutes each which doesn't allow for much thematic development. There is a Canterbury feel to many songs and a fusionesque edge to some. The keyboards used are all digital. Combining these last bits of information, you might guess that Radio Piece III sound a bit like a fusiony National Health playing adult contemporary music. You wouldn't be far off. There are a few nice moments but out of seventeen songs that's not enough. Look elsewhere.

Links

[See Sonic Music]

Discography

Arc Measuring (88) Sightseeing (89) Elevation (92) Severe Test(93, as Geoff Serle) There Is No Peace (95) Civilizations (00)

Reviews

Radius 1992 - Geoff Serle (Electronics, Drum Machine, Percussion, Keys, Samples), David Cross (Electric violin, ZETA midi violin), Simon Murrell (Bass), Sheila Maloney (Keyboards, Synths, Samples), Tim Crowther (Guitar) Radius--formed in 1988, after Low Flying Aircraft, a promising project by two ex-Crimson virtuosos Keith Tippett and David Cross, had been disbanded--can easily be called the most obscure among the great bands. During the past twelve years the band led by all but the best-known electric violinist in the prog world and his friend, an outstanding multi-instrumentalist Geoff Serle, was issuing an album every second year, and still it had remained in the shadow next to complete oblivion. AMG and UBL seem to know absolutely nothing about this band. It is very rare for music catalogues to even mention the name. It is hopeless to try and find their music at CDNOW or Amazon. Once a year on average one of their albums appears at eBay, and then it is sold for the starting bid of a buck unless the seller is one-cent-CD's. To be brief, if it is permissible to rank a band according to music quality/promotion rate, Radius has no competitors as their corresponding value approaches infinity. The closest runner up, Keith Tippett, is half way back. Although I firmly share Frank Zappa's opinion that writing on music is much like dancing on architecture, I will try to put together a couple of words on their music. There can be no two opinions on the fact that this is prog. Definitely and undoubtedly! Generally, it varies in quality from very interesting to brilliant. At the initial stage it was entirely instrumental, more or less melancholic mixture of jazz, ambient and oriental tunes performed on mostly electric instruments with a slight but discernible hint at Canterbury style. Their first issue, Arc Measuring (Ear-Rational Rec, ECD 1006), reminds me of a fresh autumn evening: sun is already down but it's light is still there, it's going to rain but you don't have to open an umbrella (if I add a word about fog, it will be an almost exact depiction of the first album cover). By the time of Elevation (Ear-Rational Rec, EAR 1036) their music became more energised but never to the point of aggressive. Oriental tunes are even more discernible, even dominating as on their classical piece "Pagoda". To be frank, Geoff Serle's drum machine programming at times approaches the point of obtrusiveness. Luckily the sequence of tracks was chosen properly. Sheila Maloney on keyboards, the third permanent member of the band, came closer to the front being allowed to rule the scene occasionally. The almost ten minute long track "Ultramarine", in my opinion, would be the number one ambient mega-hit if the band was promoted in the way the Spice Girls are. Their fourth album, Severe Test (Systems Collusion, SCCD 8001) for reasons known only to the Radius members came out as a Geoff Serle solo effort (on a different label), although the line-up and musical style matched Radius closely enough. Although there are slow pieces on this album, the preceding melancholy has disappeared without a trace. This album is best described as avant-garde prog, like Keith Tippet's Mujician, but developing in another direction. Severe Test was their first work to feature vocals or rather voices for which purpose a French singer Francine Luce and a Japanese performer Chiemi Nagata had been recruited to utter unexpected but nice sounding monologues and whispers. The album also contains eccentric sound effects. Another point is an audiophile nightmare, a DIGITAL (sic.) guitar by Mark Hewins. How did it sound in reality? A rhetorical question, of course, but it sounds not too bad after all. (If you listened to this album you might judge differently but you have to believe me. Your chances to obtain this album are less than to stumble upon a golden sovereign on Oxford Street. However, I believe in miracles ...) The following album, There Is No Peace (VP155CD) was issued on a comparatively "major" label, Voiceprint, so the chances of obtaining this album are relatively high. The music on this album is an amazing fusion of minimalist jazz, prog and... (please, sit down if you are standing up) rap. Rap sucks, as they say. Even mentioning this music -- if it is music altogether -- style seems inappropriate here, right? Wrong! Progressive rap? Yes, even rap may sound brilliant and be progressive when it comes from a talented composer. Two versions of the title track included on the album are evidence. But please, don't take me wrong, there are only two tracks of this kind. All in all, the review of this album is the most complex dance on architecture. To be brief, this album had been long my fav: until their sixth album appeared. I've listened to Civilizations (Noisy 002) five times before attempting to write, still ... I don't see how I can describe it. You'd better listen on your own, especially as it is generally available from David Cross's Noisy Records. -- Eugene Poliakov

Links

[See Cross, David | King Crimson | Tippett, Keith] Click here for David Cross' Noisy Records web site

Mascaras Urbanas (92)

Let's say you take Fish era Marillion and tell them to write bonus tracks to Genesis' Selling England by The Pound and you'll have this album! Another Genesis-type band out of South Amercia who also bring in many elements of thier own. Very strong Tony Banks keyboards and Mellotron, Steve Hackett guitar and even stronger lyrics (some in Spanish), The song Icarus is especially impressive! If you're into Genesis sound-alike bands (like I am) check out Rael! -- Phil Slatterley

Nooks (76)

Very good symphonic prog band.....well worth the hunt.

The only prog band from New Zealand that I know of. Ragnarok's Nooks shows a variety of influences, ranging from Yes to David Bowie to the Beatles. Some comparisons could also be drawn to Australia's Sebastian Hardie. There's ample moog work and plenty of Mellotron and enough complexity to delight the average Prog fan. There's also electric guitar (including classical guitar) and some folk-like vocal harmonies. Some of the synth work is spacy ala Eloy or Pink Floyd. Between some songs you'll hear a variety of sound effects, including planes crashing into flushing toilets or waves lapping the beach with seagulls wheeling overhead. Overall, a unique symphonic outlook and not too bad.

Discography

Ragnarok (76) Fjarilar I Magen (79) Fata Morgana (81) 3 Signs (83) Well (91)

Reviews

Ragnarok circa 1976 Swedish band that combine folk, fusion and symphonic prog. Bits of King Crimson, Gong and other Scandinavian bands can be pointed to has possible influences, but Raganrok don't really sound like any of the above overall. They take a very pastoral approach to fusion/prog, eschewing high-tech studio trickery, using just pianos, gently tolling electric guitars, flute, bass and percussion. The first album is beautiful mood music, great to drift off with at night. Fjarilar i Magen surprises everyone with its leading track: "Adrenalin". True to its name, it's a metallic hunk of blazing guitar that nearly makes King Crimson's Red look tame. The rest of the album is much more subtle, but in its own way is more like "Adrenalin" than the first album. All right, that's taking the analogy a bit far, but the band do inject more intense passages neatly interwoven among the gentle fantasias. Overall, probably better than the first. -- Mike Ohman

One of the first concerts I saw in my life was with Ragnarok, and I recall that I liked it. Nevertheless it's not a band I'm overly enthusiastic over. I've got one album. Pleasant listening, and although not cliche-ridden, like much other instrumental music a bit anonymous.

Fairly well known Scandinavian band with several albums to their credit. for the latest album Well, they are down to a trio of woodwinds, drums and keyboards, and have assumed a more low-key new agey feel to their music, while still remaining provocative and inspired.

Absolutely brilliant LP [Ragnarok from '76] from Swedish jazzy, folk-progsters Ragnorok. A beautiful LP full of great instrumental pieces all dominated by an acoustical setting and chilled out jazzy electric pianos. Track Two "Promenader" is incredible, a lovely Mahavishnu like Rhodes piano but with a Scandinavian twist (like Bo Hansson) erupts into a Frippian sustained Guitar riff. It really needs to be heard to be believed. The whole LP is instrumental and rightly so as vocals would have taken away its purity. It's hard to try and find other bands who are similar as Ragnarok are so original. "Dagarnas Skum" is an 8-minute jazz folk beauty complete with prog-ish flute. It reminds me of British folk guitar genius Davy Graham or Bert Jansch. I suppose the best similarity would be fellow Swede Bo Hansson but this is wide of the mark really as Hansson was basically a one-man show where as Ragnarok were a band of veritable virtuosos. Really I have never heard such a genius blend of pastoral prog rock, folk and jazz, a truly awe-inspiring record. BUY IT!!! -- David Abel

Links

[See Bryngelsson, Peter | Triangulus]

Discography

Rahmann (77)

Reviews

One of French obscure zeuhl-influenced bands led by an Algierian guitarist Mahamad Hadi. Rahmann made only one self-titled album in 1977, but an excellent one! Overall, it's a jazz fusion similar to Mahavishnu Orchestra, with Middle-Eastern melodies and drums. But not only. I've written "zeuhl-influenced", because Rahmann's music has a lot in common with zeuhl: Didier Lockwood from Magma plays violin on this album, Liza Deluxe sings and Gerard Prevost from Zao plays on bass guitar. Musically it's an amazing hybrid album: imagine ethnic melodies connected with Present or Art Zoyd time divisions, polyrhythmic patterns prepared by piano (like in "Abu" track) - all made by perfectly prepared musicians. Among that thick, deep bass, complicated drummer rhythm - those are zeuhl touches. It is worth listening to avant-progressive fans certainly. Musea reissued this album in 1998 with four additional tracks (alternative versions) and this edition sounds very good. -- Dominik Kawa

Links

[See Lockwood, Didier | Magma | Zao] Click here to order from Musea Records

Discography

Cerulean Blue (04)

Reviews

Rain Cerulean Blue is one of those albums that isn't progressive by virtue of the quantity of notes or ultra-complex music. The songs are all relatively simple from a purely musical standpoint, but with lots of emotion, variation and symphonic orchestration to keep it interesting. This is among the best albums I've heard this year, and it has spent far too much time in my CD player while I've been ignoring other promo CD's. As several other reviewers have said, "This doesn't really sound like [name a famous old prog band], but it gives me the same feeling I had when I first listened to [name a famous old prog album]." Yeah, that's right. It's the feelings, not the actual sound of the music, that makes Cerulean Blue definitely progressive rock. For starters, this is a concept album. It's the story of a man who's following in the footsteps of a young man named Rick, who sent post cards during a spiritual journey he took "across the big pond" in the United States, where he had a number of transformational experiences. The post cards are read by an English voice actor with a string quartet playing in the background (this reminds me of the beginning and ending narrations from The Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed). The songs themselves are about the particular experiences Rick had, or maybe the experiences of the guy who's following him. There's a mystery involved which resolves itself in a surprise ending. It's well thought out and nicely executed. Rain's progressive background is obvious in several of the very different sounding songs. One of them is a clear homage to Pink Floyd, complete with Gilmouresque languid guitar solo, while another uses the opening two Mellotron chords from Genesis' "Watcher of the Skies" as the backbone of one section of the song (and, in case you thought it was an accident, a voice-over culled from the '50's sci-fi movie The Thing ominously advises the audience to "Keep watching the skies" at the end of the song). But Rain obviously has been listening to more than prog. Influences as far ranging as string quartets to modern post-rock are also in evidence on the album, making Cerulean Blue an album full of surprises. Each song has its own style, and it's this very variation that unites the songs into a single concept album. And just so you know that Rain is an artist and not just a musician, he's included a 5-minute movie called "Ashes" on the CD featuring the same voice actor as on the album and reprising many of the same themes. (Listen to the album first before watching the movie ... if you're observant enough, the movie could spoil the surprise ending for you). There's also a long discussion (in an RTF document) about the story line of the album and the philosophical questions raised by it, plus all the song lyrics and the script to "Ashes". These will keep you busy for quite awhile after you've listened to the album. And when you're done with that, you can play "find the picture of Rain" on the CD sleeve. It's there. Keep looking. Rain is evidently offering most or all of the album on his web site (see below) so you can download it for yourself. But if you do this, you'll miss the extra goodies on the CD and the excellent artwork on the innovative CD cover (it has the look and feel of an old LP cover more than a CD cover). They're also lower audio quality then the CD, so do yourself a favor and order the full CD from Rain. Hopefully, it will encourage him to produce more of this sort of thing, and I'd certainly like to see that happen. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for further information, to order Cerulean Blue or download songs from the Telos Music web site

Discography

Rain Tree Crow (91)

Reviews

Rain Tree Crow is a one-shot album, but excellent to say the least. What was supposed to be a reunion between the members of Japan, turned in to a super group of the "Who's Who" in '90s Progressive Rock. Members are Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri (Porcupine Tree), Steve Jansen, David Sylvian, Michael Brook, and Bill Nelson. The members of Japan realized they were performing entirely different material from what they were previously covering in the 80s; thus, the name Rain Tree Crow prevails. Here's a quote from the liner notes: "The majority of the material on this album was written as a result of group improvisations. There were no pre-rehearsals; The improvisation took place in the recording studio and much of the finished work contains original elements of those initial performances." Need I have to say anything?! This CD would appeal to fans of Porcupine Tree, Bark Psychosis, and '80s King Crimson (the ambient works such as "Nuage" & "The Sheltering Sky"). Highly recommended! -- Julian Berlanger

Links

[See Karn, Mick | Nelson, Bill | Porcupine Tree]

Discography

The Armada (75, Reissued on CD w/ bonus track in 2006) Fantasy of Horses (76, Reissued on CD w/ bonus track in 2006)

Reviews

Rainbow Theater (Fantasy of Horses line-up) - Martin West, Graeme Carter, Ian Relf, Julian Browning, Keith Hoban, Ferg McKinnon and Frank Graham Rainbow Theatre keyboardist and band leader Julian Browning e-mailed me in September 2005 to let me know several things I passed along to GEPR readers. Firstly, he wanted me to update the discography, which I did. Secondly, he wanted people to know he wasn't happy about having recently discovered both German and Japanese pirate CD copies of their two albums circulating worldwide. Finally, he wanted to have me pass along news that both The Armada and Fantasy of Horses was to be re-released in a legitimate, remastered CD version in the near future. I passed this information along at the time, and promised to update you when more information became available. So, here's the update. In April, 2006, Fantasy of Horses was re-released on CD by an Australian label, Aztec Music. It's a beautiful release, in a 3-panel digipak with the original artwork, a nice insert with historical information and a bonus track. For those of you who believe pirate copies are justifiable if the artists haven't reissued the albums on CD themselves, you now have no excuse. If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing this album on either the original vinyl or one of the pirate copies, then let me tell you that you need to order the CD re-release! This is a wonderful work. Fantasy of Horses mixes jazz, classical (especially the vocals) and prog rock stylings in a way all its own. The original album contained three long pieces on side one and the side-long "Fantasy of Horses" suite on side two. The CD re-release adds a new piece by Browning that doesn't even pretend to be rock ... this is a modern melodic classical piece, reminding me a bit of Groffe's Grand Canyon Suite* (or for those of you without much classical music experience, the new Star Wars movie soundtracks). The original material is said (by Browning) to be heavily influenced by King Crimson, but I don't find the influence to be very heavy at all. There are some Court of the Crimson King-like Mellotron parts in some places, but especially within the "Fantasy of Horses" suite, the slow, phased Mellotron sounds more like Tangerine Dream's Rubycon. There's loads of real brass, woodwinds and strings in these arrangements, to the point that Browning was unable to keep a performing group together to play this music, and the band dissolved shortly after this album's original release. But it sounds great on the CD. This is truly unique and not derivative of anybody, in my opinion, and is a now-found lost treasure. Browning has said in the CD insert notes that he's of two minds about the piracy issue. On the one hand, he didn't get a penny for all the pirate copies sold, which is unfair to him and the other musicians who should have received a percentage for their work. On the other hand, the popularity of the pirate copies is what led him to believe that a CD reissue might be appealing enough to sell well, and thus they served as an advertising campaign of sorts. Either way, whether you own or have heard a pirate version or not, this CD re-release comes highly recommended and is a must for any collector of TRULY symphonic (played by real symphonic instruments) prog. Their first album, The Armada is scheduled to be reissued later this year as well. -- Fred Trafton * Thanks to Claire Panke for pointing out my gaffe ... Edward Grieg was not the composer of the Grand Canyon Suite, but Ferde Groffe. My comparison is still right ... I had the composer wrong, not the piece of music I had in mind. As an aside, Claire would also like to point out that elsewhere in the GEPR, people have referred to madrigals as "Medieval" music, when they are in fact inventions of the Renaissance era. Thanks for the music history education, Claire!

Links

Click here to order CD reissues of The Armada or Fantasy of Horses from Aztec Music

Rainman (71)

Pre-Finch prog.

[See Finch]

Discography

The Ice House (86, unreleased?) Return (92) The Album of Herbs (93) Nostalgia (97) One (??, also known as Alone, solo album by Maxim Pshenichny, perhaps unreleased?)

Reviews

Rainy Season (1990) - Maxim Pshenichny, Alexej Petrov, Alexej Zubarev, Marc Shliamovitch, Vlad Popov Here's a concept ... Russian Space Rock. And an excellent concept it is, too. The Russian Boheme Music label has recently re-released the Return LP on CD, and it sounds great. The leader of this band was Maxim Pshenichny who went on to record at least one solo album, but I am unable to find information on this or any of the other Rainy Season LP's. Return consists of three long cuts. The first two were obviously Side 1 of the original LP, and the third was a side-long cut on Side 2. The first two cuts might be described as Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour playing lead guitar with Daevid Allen doing spacey background chords using his "glissandoz guitar" technique and Pierre Moerlin playing percussive (marimba?) ostinatos. So it sounds a bit like Pink Floyd meets Gong. There's also a crazed guitar-synth solo on the first cut which doesn't sound like anything I've heard before ... very cool. The third 20-minute long cut is far more electronic in its sound. Moody dark synths burble away as a backdrop to improvs over the top of both guitar and synth (or maybe that's an organ, though not a Hammond). It's mostly pretty hypnotic/melodic, though it does sometimes break up into atonal cacaphonies which slowly crystallize into melodies again. Very nicely done. This album turns out to be one of my favorites from the Boheme collection. Highly recommended. -- Fred Trafton

The band was formed by Boris Bardash (keyboards, guitars, voices), Andrei Lavrinenko (bass, percussion) and Alexei Petrov (drums, percussion) in St. Petersburg in 1979. The "space-rock" aesthetics was adapted to their music much later, somewhere in 1986 with the appearance of a new member, Maxim Pshenichny (guitars, keyboards, flutes, percussion). In this format the band recorded one (unpublished) studio album and played a number of excellent concerts, combining long instrumental suites with the light show and some theatrical elements. In 1989 Bardash and Lavrinenko unexpectedly left the band to form a new group (their Ole Lukkøye is highly recommended to all fans of Ozric Tentacles or Korai Öröm!) The following three years were, perhaps, the most interesting in the history of the band; Pshenichny and Petrov were joined by Alexei Zubarev (guitars, keyboards, flutes, percussion). The most of the music of that period was built around the interplay between Pshenichny and Zubarev, supported by percussionist and other invited musicians. The Return album was recorded in 1992 in Vilnius (Lithuania) and produced on LP. This is a very solid conceptual work with many compositional elements to be developed on their next album, The Album of Herbs. By that release Zubarev had left the band, and Pshenichny had to do the most of the music alone. He was accompanied by Alexei Petrov (percussion) and guest musicians - Dmitry Gusakov (bass), Oleg Degtyarev (acoustic guitar), and Alexei Ratzen (programming). I would say that with the departure of Zubarev the music has lost its intensity and complexity, though acquired very personal dramatic taste ... In fact, it was the first solo-album by Maxim Pshenichny. In 1997 he left for Sweden (I know nothing about his second solo, perhaps it was issued abroad). Nostalgia, published independently by SoLyd Records label in 1997, is a retrospective collection of tracks recorded live in the period of 1988-1989. Very interesting release from the best times of Sezon Dojdei, unfortunately the quality of recording is rather poor. -- Igor Gorely

Links

Click here for Boheme's web site You can mail order Boheme titles by e-mailing to boheme@iol.cz Click here for Maxim Pshenichny's Rainy Season web site

Space Hymns (71), Glass Top Coffin (75)

Early Vertigo band, a male/female duo making the sort of music you'd expect to hear on a hippie commune. "You're The Only One Joe" is one of those songs which sticks in your head for all of eternity. Members of 10cc played on Space Hymns, the one I heard, which is housed in an impressive poster cover. Novel, but definitely not essential. -- Mike Ohman

[See 10cc]

Il Lungo Cammino Dei Raminghi (71)

Discography

La Leyla (76) Eternity Rise (78) Light Fantastic (81) Control Me (00)

Reviews

German semi-commercial prog rock band who made a few albums in the late seventies, and were then topped by the excellent Anyone's Daughter with whom they share some similarities. Close in style to the late seventies German bands a la Eloy, Grobschnitt, etc.

La Leyla has some of the same simultaneously gruff and spacey aura as fellow Hanoverian bands Eloy and Jane. However, Ramses' guitar-keyboard team, the Langhorst brothers Norbert and Winfried, distinguish the band from their bigger brothers with the kind of vivid and melodic interplay between the bluesy lead guitar and synthesizer which Anyone's Daughter would perfect a couple of years later. String-synthesizer assisted stretches of spacey lyricism ("Garden") alternate with angry organ riffs and Teutonic stomp ("War"), held together with overall strong, though not exceptional songwriting that gives this a bit of tentative soft-rock egde over the hard-rock air typical of those earlier groups. The tender melancholy of Novalis comes to mind at places, though Ramses are never as resplendent with their spacey moodiness. There is also a whiff of sweaty velvet in the combination of lead vocalist Herbert Natho's rather deadpan rock delivery and Winfried Langhorst's campy falsetto contributions, as well as in the streak of downright lechery intruding upon Natho's now hopelessly naïve-sounding sermonising (especially "Someone Like You"). A very direct and engaging album of unexceptional style. Eternity Rise is a more polished album in sound and arrangements, even incorporating a string-section as a colouring agent. "City Life" and "Windy" employ more acoustic textures, are closer to conventional pop-rock and work quite well as a result. Elsewhere, however, the brawny immediacy of La Leyla tends to be mired by spaciness of the wrong kind, i.e. compositional hollowness which the sonorous Genesisoid cadences and sonic lustre cannot completely camouflage. "Agitation Play" picks up the reins with some surprisingly vigorous, organ-led instrumental spacerock, and the 11-minute title track redeems the album with its passionate symphonic progressive rock. Its closing section, the grand Hackett-like guitar line soaring and spiralling over a Banksian organ march, is probably the group's single greatest musical moment. Those unwilling to choose between the rough and concise La Leyla and the more sophisticated but fickle Eternity Rise don't have to do so, for both are available on a single CD (Sky CD 32/101-102). By Light Fantastic the pop-rock streak of Eternity Rise had become the dominant strand in Ramses' music. Most of the songs are built on standard rock-guitar riffs, simple drum rhythms, light-weight pop melodies and catchy choruses. The Langhorsts and the second keyboard player Matthias Möller get to lay down a few interesting instrumental lines and solos, especially on the longer tracks "Force of Habit" and "Earth in the Dark", but this is unlikely to appease many progressive-rock fans. The one instrumental, "Across the Everglades", is a stereotypical German synthesizer instrumental: a pulsing synth bassline, monotonous 4/4 rhythm and spacey synth effects frame a droning, minor-key harmonic progression and an unremarkable solo synthesizer line. This has been done better by countless others. Same could be said of the album itself. The CD (Sky CD 3050) has a bonus track, "Noise" - which is in fact a US version of "War" with new lyrics (apparently the Vietnam reference in the original was deemed unsuitable for sensitive American ears). A mere nineteen years after Light Fantastic, Ramses released Control Me as a comeback album. Sadly, the only real development has been in the production department. The kind of homogenised, early-1990s AOR sound permeates this, and the music its power guitars and sprightly synth pads convey is unfortunately no more distinctive. Even the relative innocence and charm of Control Me has been lost in the flood of new technology, even though the musicians are still quite proficient. Still, Ramses' one-time rivals and victors Anyone's Daughter didn't fare much better on their own comeback album Danger World. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Discography

Random Hold (79, a.k.a. Random Hold, EP) The View From Here (80) Etceteraville (80) Avalanche (82, Compilation of the first two + others) Burn the Buildings (82) Over View (01, Compilation)

Reviews

Straight out of the Roxy / Eno / Manzanera / Gabriel school of progressive pop-rock, i.e. quirky yet polished and professional. Featured David Rhodes (Gabriel) on guitar and Bill McCormack (Manzanera, Quiet Sun) on bass. Produced by Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator), and his influence is felt.

Random Hold is a person and a group, the person being Ian McCormick, the band composed of many of his mates from Phil Manzanera's 801, aside from Manzanera himself. Not surprisingly, the music is not unlike some of the artistes for whom Manzanera played over the years: Eno, early Roxy Music, et al. The band's first release was a self-titled EP in 1979, followed the next year by a full-length album The View From Here, produced by Peter Hammill. His influence can be heard in McCormick's overdramatic vocals, also perhaps influenced in part by Eno. There is some excellent synth playing here, and bits of good guitarwork. Best track is probably "With People Out Of Love," which builds slowly to a vicious climax. Etceteraville is a compilation of tracks from View and the EP. -- Mike Ohman

Links

[See 801 | Hammill, Peter | Quiet Sun]

Discography

unautomate (99) Places We Go (01, 2CD) Hammering on Moonlight (02) A Parade of Dusty Hobos (03) The You Tomorrow (04, CD/DVD) The Elegance of Falling (05) Alchemy (07, CD/DVD) A True Conductor Wears a Man (07)

Reviews

Random Touch - (not in photo order) Christopher Brown (drums, percussion, processed vocals), James Bay (keyboards), Scott Hamill (guitar, banjo, slide guitar, mandolin), Matthew Ebbin (video cameras) Sometimes I think there's really not much difference between the genres of Avant Rock and what's typically referred to as RIO, and Random Touch might be said to fall into either category. Let's just say that they would make a fine addition to Cuneiform Records' artist listings and you should get the idea. Random Touch can't really be called "melodic" since there's little in the way of "melodies" in their 2007 album A True Conductor Wears a Man. But I would call it more "harmonic" than a lot of other albums in the Avant Rock category, with notes from each instrument that harmonize with each other while also wandering randomly around in a way that tells me this music is probably highly (or totally) improvised. There are no "lyrics" in the sense of words that are sung as melodies, but there are some processed vocal "poetry" sections that add to the eerie atmospheres being conjured by the instruments. Random Touch also works with pictures, using their music as the soundtracks to disturbing, artsy video projects, many of which are available for viewing on their web site (see below). I like this sort of thing in small doses, and one album of a band who does it as well as Random Touch doesn't exceed my patience. A somewhat back-handed way of saying I liked A True Conductor Wears a Man, I guess, but I did like it. I just wouldn't want to listen to more of this genre again today. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Random Touch's web site

Discography

Morte di un Amore (02)

Reviews

Nicola Randone Morte di un Amore is an album that straddles the fences between movie music, progressive rock and adult pop. It is very slickly recorded with a real "big studio" sheen, emotional vocals (in Italian) and flirtations with lots of styles including reggae, ambient, night club entertainment (think '70's Tom Jones or maybe Neil Diamond), and even some Simon and Garfunkelish folk (must be the recorders, sounding like "El Condor Pasa"), all backed by thick string (mostly keyboards, though there seems to be some real strings too) orchestrations and acoustic guitar strumming. Actually, some of it reminds of Pink Floyd a bit, though not as bluesy (and missing Dave Gilmour's guitar solos). Songs are frequently separated by sound effects like breaking surf, screeching cats or radio broadcasts of Hitler. The main instrument here is clearly Randone's vocals, with nothing too startling happening in the other instruments. Randone calls himself a "psycho-existential" artist (whatever that means), and making CD's is only one of the art forms he utilizes. He also works with odd photographic images and collages. In fact, it may be easier to understand this CD as the output of an "artist" rather than a "musician". It follows, then, that this would be more categorized as "art-rock" than "prog", at least by my pideonholing. I can't even tell from his artistic (but confusing) web site whether this is his only CD or if he's released other music. There are some nice but not too threatening guitar solos here, but this is mostly a vocal album. Too bad I can't speak Italian ... this seems as if it must be a concept album telling a story, but if so I don't know what the story is. My admittedly poor Italian translates Morte di un Amore as "Death of a Love", and if this is a concept album, that would explain the photo of the beautiful naked young woman on the inside cover, who in spite of being beautiful, looks dead. Or at least as if she's about to lose her lunch. Or perhaps she's simply bored witless. "Morte di un amore" is also the title of the last song, a piece which continues beyond the 6:58 listed on the CD jacket, proceeds into a thunderstorm, and continues with ... uhm ... is it the entire piece played again backwards? It's certainly some piece played backwards. I do like that sound, it always sounds so surreal. If you let your CD player repeat back to the beginning, the backwards part nearly merges with the opening backwards part, making the CD close in a loop. Interesting, and it seems as if this must be done on purpose. I don't know if most GEPR readers would find this to be a particularly interesting release, but I liked it. Recommended if you like vocal-oriented entertainers, and this one has a proggy edge to make him more interesting. But this isn't a highly experimental or challenging release, so if that's what you like, this one's not for you. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Nicola Randone's web site.

Randy Pie (73, aka Sightseeing Tour), Highway Driver (74, aka Randy Pie), Kitsch (75), England England (76), Fast Forward (77)

Composed of Hamburg's leading lights, Randy Pie take a very dated approach to fusion on Highway Driver. Their apparent desire is to mix jazz-rock a la Kraan with a more straightforward funk style like the Olympic Runners. Unfortunately, much of this is treading perilously close to the dreaded D-word, using staccato high-end strings, falsetto vocal harmonies and wailing horns as well as relentless thumping bass drum on songs like the title track and "Microfilm." But the musicianship is obviously of a high calibre, singer Bernd Wippich has a great punchy, soulful rock voice, and there are good moments. One in particular of interest to prog-heads: the mostly acoustic "Winter Song", which has some good flute playing reminding of Jethro Tull, and some interesting scoring for strings. It doesn't sound like you'd expect. -- Mike Ohman

Discography

No albums released as of 2006

Reviews

Rapid Eye Movement - Dave Stewart (keyboards), Rick Biddulph (bass), Jakko Jakszyk (guitar) and Pip Pyle (drums) No, not that R.E.M. This was a group formed in the U.K. by Dave Stewart after his departure from Bruford. The band never released an album, but guitarist Jakko Jakszyk says there were some studio recordings made and several fair-quality live recordings. He is talking to Stewart about the possibility of releasing these, but as of this writing (1/3/07), this has not yet happened. It is said to be very Canterbury-sounding. When Rapid Eye Movement never really made it, Stewart decided to give up on prog and create adult pop albums with one-time Northette Barbara Gaskin. Jakszyk contributed on several of those albums as well. But Stewart and Jakszyk have recently reunited on a solo album of Jakszyk's, which has a large amount of prog content along with some nice adult AOR (see entry for Jakszyk, Jakko). -- Fred Trafton

Links

[See Bruford | Hatfield and the North | Jakszyk, Jakko | National Health | Pyle, Pip | Stewart, Dave | Stewart-Gaskin] Click here for a bit of info on Rapid Eye Movement from Jakko Jakszyk's web site

Discography

Hard to Beat (87) Primeval (89) Space Piper (91)

Reviews

Rock with bagpipes and flutes, sometimes funky, sometimes spacey. Pat O'Gorman, flutes and pipes, and Grier Coppins, pipes and synthesizers, were the core members, joined on the first two albums by Dick Murai, bass and guitar, and Trevor Ferrier, drums. The music on Hard to Beat and Primeval ranges from a bagpipe march with ominous synthesizer harmonies to a vigorous version of Roland Kirk's "Volunteer Slavery." Throughout Murai and Ferrier's energetic bass and drums keep the music lively. Christian Frappier and Richard Greenspoon replace Murai and Ferrier on Space Piper, which is a little more polished than its predecessors, a little more spacey, a little less eccentric and a little less interesting, though still quite listenable. -- Don McClane

Links

Click here for a brief bio on the Canadian Music Encyclopedia web site

Discography

Rare Bird (69) As Your Mind Flies By (70) Epic Forest (72) Attention! (73) Somebody's Watching (73) Born Again (74) Rare Bird (75) Sympathy (76, Compilation)

Reviews

I have their first album from 1969. Heavily organ dominated music, there are no guitars or flutes, just drums, bass, and organ. The opening cut, "Iceburg" sounds very similar to Highest Bidder era Supersister. There are vocals on nearly all, if not all, songs. For this album anyway, the music is song oriented and there isn't much development within a song. There also doesn't seem to be much change from song to song across the album. There are some nice moments here and there, e.g., "God of War," and the entire album has a nice underground feel to it. I've not heard later albums, so I don't know how the band matured over the years. If you like the organ, you may want to check out their compilation, Sympathy. But, given this style, I'd just as soon hear Supersister which has much more variety and ultimately sustains my interest more than this band.

The first album has its moments, but really only rises above mediocre songs a couple of times. The two singers' voices and instrumental ideas show promise, which is much more in evidence on their second release, As Your Mind Flies. This has better developed songs and a side-long progressive suite full of great riffs. No guitars which was fairly unusual for the time. Epic Forest showed a great maturing of song writing, playing and composing ability. Somebody's Watching and Born Again were also excellent, although they were gradually tending more towards the standard song format. Still, their harmonies and instrumental ideas were excellent. These are albums I don't get tired of listening to. The Sympathy CD is merely the same material that appeared on an LP of the same name pressed in 1976 that included songs from their first two LPs. It only runs about 30 minutes and is a ripoff if you pay more than about $10 U.S. for it. Frankly, on the strength of this collection alone, you don't get a very impressive view of what this band was capable of. -- Tim Scott

Aside from Julian Jay Savarin and the big names (Yes, Van der Graaf, King Crimson) Rare Bird's debut was one of the first albums of real audible evidence of British prog rock. A quartet composed of a bassist/singer, two keyboardists (one on organ, the other on electric piano) and a drummer, their sound was built around the haunting organ work of Graham Field and the passionate vocals of Steve Gould. Not surprisingly, the long tracks are the standouts: "Beautiful Scarlet" and "Iceberg" emphasizing the band's aforementioned strong points perfectly. The rest of the songs are short and often poppy, "Sympathy" became something of a hit single in the UK. As Your Mind Flies By is their finest hour, including a sidelong piece that varies from symphonic to spacy to heavy. Epic Forest adds guitar and percussion, and subtracts Graham Field, leaving American Dave Kaffinetti their only keyboardist. The music is for the most part folkier and more subdued, with the nine-minute title song and "Title No. 1 Again (Birdman)" being the best songs. The emphasis is shifted from organ to dual-guitar interplay. Later albums are for the most part faceless pop/rock with folky tinges. Somebody's Watching does include a prog piece, an interpretation of themes from Ennio Morricone's "A Fistful Of Dollars" soundtrack. Born Again isn't really prog at all, though "Last Tango In Beulah" has some Supertramp-esque keyboard work, "Peace of Mind" and "Redman" are nice, and "Harlem" has a powerful, affecting vocal by Gould. -- Mike Ohman

Links

[See Fields]

Discography

Rascal Reporters: Freaks Obscure (80, Cassette/Reel To Reel) We're God (80, Cassette/Reel To Reel, re-released on CD 97) Riding On A Bummer (84, LP, re-released on CD 05) Happy Accidents (88, LP, re-released on CD 96) Purple Entrapment (95) Riding on a Lavender Freak (98, 2CD Compilation) Holly's Biaural Curiosity (98, CD Compilation?) The Foul-Tempered Clavier (01) The Mind Boggles (06?) Steve Kretzmer Solo: Oil of Lavender (86, Cassette) Steve Gore Solo: The Coast Is Clear (00, 3CD)

Reviews

Rascal Reporters 2000 - Steve Gore and Steve Kretzmer Wells of progressive music will never run dry. And it is fine so. I thought for years, that RR have only one album out. As it seems now, this number will soon rise to twenty times that [a huge boxset of 12 discs or so is said to be planned for this or next year!!!] Their formula of melting Zappa, Canterbury, RIO and Residents is assuming rather lethal dimensions. Presumably all are not essential, but one will have to try 'em all sooner or later. -- Nenad Kobal

Links

Click here for Rascal Reporters web site

Discography

The General Statement Of The Problem (89) Songs (89) The Square of Salvation (90) Suite T (92) Painting (95) Syphilis (96)

Reviews

Unusual Russian synthesist.

Discography

Walking a Fullmoon Dog (94) Fistful of Iffy (98)

Reviews

Rattlemouth - Paul Watson (?), Danny Finney (saxes, vocals), Robbie Kinter (drums), Tom Brickman (bass) The band which has risen from the ashes of Orthotonics, has managed to take wavy-opposing Ortho-sound into the next decade. I'll be glad if there would be some decades more. -- Nenad Kobal

Links

See [Orthotonics] Click here for Rattlemouth's web page on the Cuneiform web site

Hamsa (76), Hamsa Music (81), Feel Good At Last (84), Under the Magnolias (89)

Richard Raux was sax player on Magmas first LP. Hamsa is his first solo recording featuring an African rhythm group. On this one (wich is quite rare) you find fusion with African influences, very good (not zeuhl!). -- Achim Breiling

[See Delired Cameleon Family | Magma; First two albums are by Hamsa Music, second two are Raux solo.]

Discography

Raw Material (70) Time Is Rare (71, aka Time is ...?)

Reviews

Time is ... is a good example of the British early prog scene. A five-piece of drums, bass/a.guitar, keys/vox, guitars and sax/flute/vox, Raw Material have their roots in a blusey and often hard-rocking ground, but they branch out into interesting directions. The blaring sax work and the almost gothic vocal melody on the opening track "Ice Queen" evokes the spirit of King Crimson, while the second track "Empty Houses" is mostly a straight-ahead hardrocker but contains a calmer middle section with an interesting-sounding saxophone solo. "Insolent Lady" and "Sun God" are both longer (9 - 11 minutes), three-part compositions with folky acoustic moments, hard rock sections and then some keyboard-assisted (mainly organ and piano) pomposity that hints at the nascent symphonic rock sound of the time. Two quite straightforward rock tunes round out the album. Hardly an essential album, but certainly of interest to those wishing to explore the development of the genre. Raw but potent material. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Constructing Scenes From the Memory (??)

Raymaker is a Boston-based progressive rock band comprised of: Pat Raymaker - keyboards and vocals, Pete Zacco - guitar, Mike Mallory - bass, occasional keyboards, Geoff Chase - drums and percussion. They have a single CD release entitled Constructing Scenes From The Memory, available at Tower Records in Boston, and a promo tape of a 15-minute song entitled "Descent Into Loneliness" available from the band. The band is comprised of former and current Berklee School of Music students. Pat Raymaker has also composed a rock opera entitled "Portrait Of A Hero" as a soundtrack project. Their musical style could probably best be described as a far more progressive Dream Theater.

Reale Accademia Di Musica (72), Adriano Monteduro (74)

Another great Italian band.

Two albums of romantic rock.

[See Fholks, I | Uovo Di Colombo, L']

Discography

The Path (92)

Reviews

Here's a band that sounds more like Yes than Yes itself. These guys have focused in on CttE and ToTO period Yes, studied every composition, styling, nuance, and generally have assumed the character of that band, and in fact have done it quite faithfully, with the only notable exception being Squire's bass stylings. To my ears, vocalist/guitarist Darrel Studna sounds *exactly* like Jon Anderson, and keyboardist Steve Vail sounds enough like Wakeman to fool all but the most discriminating listeners. If you liked Yes in those old days and wish they still sounded that way, wish no more ... pick this album up and imagine it's 1973 again.

Realm is released on Syn-Phonic, is very much Yes influenced, and, as with all Syn-phonic releases, full of instrumental virtuosity. Vocal duties are carried out by Darrell Studna who has learnt his lessons well at the altar of Guru Jon Anderson, and, interestingly enough, two of the three members of the band acknowledge Rick Wakeman with Special Thanks! Unlike most Syn-phonic releases, this is all new music, recorded in 1992, though prominent use of Moog and Moog Bass by keyboardist Steve Vail help turn back the clock. In conclusion, this is sure to please followers of Yes, who may not have quite adjusted yet to 90125.

Wait a minute! Do my ears deceive me or is this a long lost Yes release? No, it is the debut release by the mid-western group Realm and could easily be the best Yes release they never recorded. Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri Realm is Steve Vail (keyboards and synths), Lake Furney (drums and percussion), and Darrell Studan (guitars and vocals). Studan's voice is a dead ringer for Jon Anderson and Vail has his Rick Wakeman chops down pat. In fact, both Studan and Vail extend a special thank you to Rick Wakeman for his help with this album. Most of The Path is a tribute to God and nature. Off by itself is "Little Bottle," a protest song about Tianamen Square. The high point of the CD is the title track, an upbeat song about death and the afterlife making use of unusual timbres. The beautiful artwork (akin to the psychedelic guru contemplation art of the late 60s), full color picture disk, and the CD booklet with nature photographs, lyrics, and band photos makes for an artistic and pleasurable package.

I can't allow this charade to go on. This is NOT a 90's version of Yes! Everything they do is amaturish, sloppy and uninspired. The vocalist does NOT sound anything like Jon Anderson, seeing how Darrell Studna of Realm is constantly flat, totally lacks personality, and sings in a stupid falsetto voice which makes this sound like some novelty comedy project. The drummer even makes several major mistakes, but that sort of blends nicely with this whole half-assed output. Generally an awful 80's production complete with synthdrums, lined guitars (as opposed to putting a mic in front of them), and a Kurzweil synth! This guy even listed the different sounds he used on the Kurzweil synth (as if that would make him a versatile keyboard player?). I figured I like Gentle Giant in the 90's shape of early Spock's Beard; Genesis in the 90's shape of early Flower Kings; why not a pseudo Yes? Well, these guys aren't it. Yes weren't just a sound (something these guys don't come close to anyway), they also wrote some of the best music there ever was; Realm couldn't write a decent song to save their third-rate wannabe hinds. Stay clear!!! -- Daniel

Links

[See System | Vail]

Discography

Wunjo (86) Nothing Is Lost (88) Letting Go (89) Sea of Glass (92) Sacred Space (01) Kaleida Visions (01)

Reviews

Giles Reaves The name Sea of Glass becomes this album: it slushes with wave after wave of polished textures that reflect the multi-coloured clouds drifting above. Coupled with the fact that the pleasant enough but simple melodies and patterns tend to run on the spot rather than spin out, this puts it closer to new age sedative than progressive stimulant. Still Reaves' exquisitely honed soundscapes often manage to evoke emotive responses by the strength of rich layering and delicate contrasts between timbres. The build-up of thundering drum sequences and textures behind the solemn, monophonic melody of "Evolutions" and the simple modulation from crystalline harp-tones to weepy pads on "Aurora" are the two most salient examples to emerge from this glittering but a bit inconsequential musical sea. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Good nashville electronic musician.

Links

Click here for Giles Reaves' web site

Discography

Phoenix (82) Labyrinth (84)

Reviews

German symphonic band from the early 80's, highly touted. Both extremely rare.

Rebekka’s first album Phoenix is archetypical symphonic rock, sounding like a cross between Illusion-era Renaissance and Camel. The soft female vocals and the heavy use of acoustic guitar and piano remind of the former, while the prominent and melodic electric guitar and synthesizers bring to mind the latter. Melodic, folky, often beautiful, the music is well-written and performed, just not terribly fresh or original (even for 1982). Still worth an audition if you like the above-mentioned bands. The CD re-release is by Musea (FGBG 4083.AR) and features a 12-minute bonus track "Lotos", which shows heavier Eastern influence, though retaining the overall symphonic style, and apparently reflects the band’s more improvisatory live performances. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Discography

As Crianças da Nova Floresta (77)

Reviews

A re-recording of an out-of-print album. The new album sounds like a mixture of neo-prog and new age with a Brazilian touch of folk. Why didn't they simply put the vinyl on CD ? -- Jean-François Cousin

Don't Open (70), Music or Not Music (71)

Crazy band. On Music or Not Music you find, as the title may imply, a weird mix of everything (styles, voices and noises) baked with a strong rhythm group. Sometimes you are reminded of Gong or a Canterbury kind of fusion. Very good and higly recommended. I don't know anything about their first. -- Achim Breiling

Red (83)

Comparable to Brand X with a little Mahavishnu Orchestra thrown in?

Discography

Parable of Arable Land (67) God Bless the Red Crayola and All Who Sail with It (68) Corrected Slogans (76, w/ Art & Language) Soldier-Talk (79) Kangaroo? (81, w/ Art & Language) Black Snakes (83 w/ Art & Language) Three Songs on a Trip to the United States (84) Malefactor, Ade (89) The Red Krayola (94) Amor and Language (95) Coconut Hotel (95, Recorded 1967) Hazel (96) ... more releases

Reviews

Father of Pere Ubu. I have very little info on them and only one LP (they made a couple I believe). The LP I have is a reissue (again I'm not sure, it's been 10+ since).

I have their first two on one CD. There are about a billion tracks as these guys are way weird and like short songs. Not a good production job and the music is mainly really out there psych with an undercurrent of sinister weirdness. VERY strange ... avoid if you like nice things.

Links

[See Pere Ubu]

Red Dirt (70)

Prog monster.

Discography

Sting In The Tale (90) Action Replay (92) A Midsummer Night's Dream (93) A Winter's Tale (94) Anagramary (97)

Reviews

This band from Wales includes five members on vocals/flutes, keyboards, guitars, bass and drums. The style on A Winter's Tale is common to a bunch of British bands who produce simple symphonic rock based on fantastic themes. In fact, it's the strong presence of the singer (deep voice) and a bit of folk inspiration that set the tone of a music that uses a very familiar formula. The instrumental performances are solid and involve the usual arrangements. A quality production of most interest to unconditional fans. -- Paul Charbonneau

From what I have heard, Red Jasper's early works carried a strong folk vibe. Anagramary (Cymbeline Records CYMPL 5082-2), however, is squarely entrenched in the British neo-prog sound, its simpler and harder end. The opener "Perfect Symmetry" is a perfect example: Fish-influenced vocals and lyrics and a Steve Rothery school guitar solo in what is otherwise a pretty simple pomp rock tune. There is some detectable folk influence, especially in the guest violin solo of "In the Name of Empire" and the Celtic/Arabic fusion of "Babylon Rising", but it's mostly icing on the cake and does little to distract from the well-worn hard rock and neo-prog mannerisms. The melody count is equally unexceptional, with few truly affective melodies that the masters of the genre distinguish themselves with. The two ballads sung by the drummer, "In Her Eyes" and "Through the Dawn", carry the best hooks but are stylistically different, almost MOR. It's the album's two instrumentals that stick out: the infectious "Flag" has lots of sizzling synthesizer and melodic guitar, while the sequenced percussion on "Waterfalls (Rhaedreau)" momentarily makes it sound like a tribal version of "Phaedra", before the solemn guitar solo comes sweeping in to close the album. All in all, this is not a particularly recommendable album. If you are looking for neo-progressive with Celtic overtones, I would suggest trying Mostly Autumn or even Grace first. -- Kai Karmanheimo

... that is [the] complete [discography] because the band split in 1997 ... -- Frank Blades

Discography

Death of the Red Masque (01, EP) Victoria and the Haruspex (02) Feathers for Flesh (04) New Album (06, scheduled release)

Reviews

The Red Masque (2004 Feathers for Flesh line-up) - Vonorn (drums, keys, theremin, guitar, bass, vocals), Brandon Ross (bass, acoustic guitar, keys, vocals), Lynnette Shelley (vocals, erhu, psaltery, the conundrum, objects) and Kiarash Emami (electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, keys, vocals). The Red Masque have an EP that is available from Musea named Death of the Red Masque. Or, you can do what I did and download all three cuts from the MP3.com site and build your own version of the EP. [Well, you can't any more ...]. It's worth the work, or if you don't have a CDR burner, it's well worth the pittance they're asking for the DAM CD. This music is a mixture of avant-garde anarchy, metallic guitar (in a Crimsonesque sort of way) stylings, and a dash of space-rock improv. Imagine the early noisy guitar-oriented music of Daevid Allen (Camembert Electrique era Gong or Bananamoon), but without the glissandoz guitar; add some early Hawkwind space metal (e.g. Doremi Fasol Latido) to the mix. Finally, add Lynnette Shelley's soprano vocals which can switch from breathy, wordless operatic loftiness to Janis Joplin growl at any moment. Add a dash of gothic feel (a particularly interesting pipe organ section) and you have the vaguest of ideas about what this band sounds like. Heavy, chaotic, dense and quite captivating. I'm sure they're a blast to see live ... too bad I missed their pre-NEARfest concert in 2001, but I got to Allentown too late to see them. 8/23/03: In 2002, The Red Masque's first full-length album Victoria and the Haruspex was released. It's both similar to and different from Death of the Red Masque. The first cut, "Haruspex" is more than 20 minutes long. It's part "sound collage" (music boxes, toy pianos and other odd sound sources) mixed with vaguely musical guitar, bass, drum and concert harp musings. The only vocals in this piece are Lynnette Shelley's Gilli Smyth-like moaning and breathy wordless vocalizing. This is the least "traditional" piece on the CD, and will undoubtedly be the most difficult going for those interested in vocals, harmony and melody. However, I loved it ... of course, I'm the guy who thought "Earth Dreams" on the second Persephone's Dream album, Moonspell was the best piece on the album, though most other reviewers panned it as "pointless noise". Actually, Persephone's Dream isn't too bad of a reference point for the rest of Victoria and the Haruspex, with the female vocals and gloomy "goth" vibe. But Victoria is darker and less accessable (what can you expect from a band who prints "The Red Masque would like to thank and hail Cthulhu" on the back of their CD?). The rest of the pieces remind me a band I had only one EP of ... Moev (sort of a dark ambient new-wave band), who also had a female vocalist (Madeline Morris) and sang songs about rotting geraniums and other nasty stuff. Victoria and the Haruspex is an excellent second outing for this up-and-coming avant-garde band. But if you play it just before bedtime, you may suffer from dark dreams. Noit Noit. Kiss Kiss. 3/17/06 Well, it's about time I finally got around to mentioning The Red Masque's newest offering, Feathers For Flesh. It's a logical next step from Victoria and the Haruspex, especially showing the growth in the core members Lynnette Shelley's vocals and Brandon Ross's bass. Both are more varied, complex and just plain professional-sounding than in previous albums. Shelley displays a huge range of growls, hisses, angry vexation, searing pain and dulcet sweetness in her voice. Her style straddles the line between poetry reading, alternative rock vocals and operatic soprano. The drum/bass interplay frequently reminds me of Magma's (earlier non-jazz-tinted) works, especially with some of the counterpoint vocal blasts punctuating the music. There's also foreboding gothic organ, electronics that float in the bleakest reaches of cold, uncaring space, black doom-ridden metal guitars and vocal ensembles that sound like Hell's answer to Gregorian chants. If all this sounds like a downer, well ... it is, in a way. It's a little like reading an H. P. Lovecraft story, full of mystery, insanity and fear, but also full of awe and wonder at just how strange, how beyond our everyday experience the real universe out there can be. It's all so well done that you can let all the gloom wash over you and come up feeling refreshed on the other side rather than depressed. At least, that's the effect it has on me. But then I'm also a Lovecraft fan. Can you tell? Not for the faint of heart! But I now say that I must retract my comment about their last album, calling The Red Masque an "up-and-coming avant-garde band". They're not up-and-coming ... they've arrived. Look out, Philadelphia! Look out, Universe! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Further, I can report that The Red Mask are almost done with their next album. Lynnette Shelley tells me, "this album is more heavy that the last (not in a metal way but in a more intense way) and we've incorporated some new sounds (like accordion). We also have a lot of insect and nature imagery (used as metaphors). The songs will also push boundaries more, in my opinion. The rhythm section is definitely more prevalent on this as well." The new album doesn't have a title yet, but they will be changing labels for this release. Though The Red Mask had no issues with their former label Big Balloon Records, and in fact appreciates the support they have received from the company, they feel that the new label will be a better fit for their musical style. Though they've asked me not to publicly announce the name of the new label yet, I must agree. I'll try to give an update when more info is available. -- Fred Trafton Update 6/8/07 Well, the new Red Masque album Fossil Eyes still hasn't been released yet. I don't know why. Chances are good I'll run into Lynnette and Brandon at NEARFest in a couple of weeks, and I'll ask why that is. In the meantime, Lynnette sings a stellar guest vocal on a new release from Ethereal, so you may want to pick that up while you wait. -- Fred Trafton

Links

[See Ethereal] Click here for The Red Masque's web site

Sarcelles-Locheres (70)

Unique experimental/electronic band with influences as diverse as Frank Zappa and Syd Barrett. No relation to Bill Nelson's Red Noise.

Experimental/underground prog featuring Patrick Vian and John Livengood.

[See Alpha Du Centaure | Spacecraft | Vian, Patrick]

Discography

Mirror of Insanity (04) Gentry (05, Limited edition of 3000 CD's, currently sold out) Human Trafficking (07)

Reviews

Red Sand - (Standing) Mathieu Gosselin (bass), Pierre Massicotte (keyboards), Simon Caron (guitar), Jean-Louis Croteau (drums), (Seated) Stéphane Dorval (vocals) Original entry, 7/11/06: OK, let's just get this out of the way right now. Red Sand sounds like Fish-era Marillion. Exactly like them. I'd swear some of Mirror of Insanity could be outtakes from Misplaced Childhood. The vocals, the guitar soloing style, even the moody Mellotrony-sounding keyboards capture the very spirit of Marillion. Gentry moves away from this sound a little, but only as much as, say, Clutching at Straws did. For some bands, I'd have to say this is a bad thing. But Red Sand does it so well that I just have to say I love it. Marillion was the first prog band I ever heard that wasn't one of the original '70's bands, and I was really disappointed when their style changed to something I didn't really care for. But Red Sand has taken up the banner and is flying it proudly. Red Sand likes LONG songs, in the 18-minute range, though both albums are relatively short for CD's (about the right length for LP's, around 40 minutes). If I had to register a complaint, I'd have to say it's that the texture of the songs stays fairly consistently slow and melancholic. They rarely rise to the faster, rockin' out tempos that Marillion would sometimes do, and this makes the music a bit on the sleepy and depressing side. Still, if you're looking for a band that can scratch that itch for more "Genesis-Lite" (as Marillion is sometimes accused of being), then rub some Red Sand on that itch for instant relief! One other thing I have to mention is that I really like the cover art on their two CD's. It harks back to the days of "I'm sure these paintings are trying to tell me something, if I could only figure it out!" from both Whitehead's Genesis album covers and Wilkinson's Marillion covers. I haven't been able to listen carefully enough to the lyrics to see if they're related to the cover art, but I know that I want to do so! Gentry was originally released in a limited edition of 3000 copies, and these are currently all sold out. Still, something tells me that if they got the idea they could sell another batch of them, they might be convinced to make another run. So go to their web site and tell them! The original run of Mirror of Insanity sold out too, but it is now available in a remastered version. -- Fred Trafton Addendum 8/21/06: Red Sand is working on a new album for release in 2007 (maybe late 2006) entitled Human Trafficking. A reissue of Gentry may happen in 2007 as well. -- Fred Trafton Addendum 10/1/07: Human Trafficking was released in June of 2007. Sonically similar to the previous albums, it's full of sustained-forever guitar solos and thick keyboard washes. It still sounds a whole bunch like Fish-era Marillion, except that the vocalist doesn't sound much like Fish, just the music. I've only heard it once, and though I liked it, I think I liked the previous albums a bit better. So far, at least. I need a few more listens before I'll pass judgement. But I wanted to get this news into the GEPR before the next revision. I'll amend it later. That previously-mentioned reissue of Gentry hasn't happened as of this writing. They've also changed their web site URL (corrected below) and gotten on the MySpace bandwagon (also now listed below). -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Red Sand's web site Click here for Red Sand's MySpace page

Discography

Tristes Noticias del Imperio (77) Quentos del Subsuelo (79)

Reviews

Prog.

Get Off the Phone (93)

The Redfins are an Australian quintet that have been around since about 1991. They have two cassette releases (as Billy and the Redfins). Get Off the Phone is their first CD release. The Redfins create an eclectic instrumental blend of jazz, world music, and hints of progressive rock to sometimes danceable rhythms with catchy hooks. Please don't let that scare you, though; were regular top-40 this good you'd be listening to the radio far more often than you do. The stand-out musicians are guitarist Julian Barnett (who also wrote the majority of the songs) and Mark Kraus on sax. Over a background of Martin Boyd's rolicking keyboard rhythms, Barnett and Kraus generally alternate solos, occasionally dueling in tasty showmanship. Barnett's guitar ranges from burning fusion licks to slow, Gilmouresque solos. Kraus' sax style seems to range from Wayne Shorter to Mel Collins, as he alternates between short, thoughtful phrases with tasteful use of space and longer, sinuous solos. The rhythm section (bass and drums) gets a little monotonous. I would prefer a more involved style rather than simple rhythm keeping. For more information, contact Martin Boyd at martin@itd.adelaide.edu.au.

Discography

Redshift (96) Ether (97) Down Time (99) Siren (02) Halo (02)

Reviews

It's been said of a number of bands: "Oh, these guys sound just like Tangerine Dream would today if they were still making progressive music!" This is of course a very subjective statement. Where do you pick a point of departure for where Tangerine Dream sounded less progressive and what would a different direction in sound have done for the band. Of all the bands for whom the above statement has been partially true many have not fallen into the progressive realm. Spheres II by Delerium (of Karma fame) is a good contender, but doesn't really qualify as progressive. Lifeforms by the Future Sound of London is an excellent ambient techno album that often has the same statement made about it. Enter Redshift founded in the mid-90s by UK electronic musician Mark Shreeve along with members Julian Shreeve, Rob Jenkins and James Goddard. If there was ever a piece of music that captured the essence of the Berlin School sound and managed to infuse it with a new kind of life it's the album Ether. An almost perfect recreation of the instrumental setup of TD's Rubycon, supplemented by elements of early Klaus Schulze and mid-70s Pink Floyd guitar work, this album lays forth an impressive mixture of laid back ambience and driving sequencer rhythms. The instrumentation used here include Moog 3C modular synth, Mellotron and other early analog gear, in addition to modern sampling technology. What makes this album so impressive is the fact that about 80% of it is recorded live, a feat that would have been impossible at the time Rubycon was created. One of the things about early Tangerine Dream was that they tended to explore new areas with almost every album. This was a good thing, but there are times when a listener wants music in a similar vein and can't get enough out of just one recording. For me Rubycon was always that kind of an album: it was a perfect continuation of Phaedra yet something entirely new within itself. Afterwards, TD tended to rely almost too heavily on sequencers instead of achieving the balance of ambience and sequencers they had on the first two Virgin releases. At 65+ minutes, Redshift's Ether is not only a perfect companion to Ruby