Mini album review: Genesis

Genesis - Wind and Wuthering

Being a fan of the Progressive Rock genre, I, like many others, am a fan of the 70's Genesis. I was not old enough to know them back then (I was born in 1972 actually), but in the late 80's, a friend of mine introduced me to Genesis, which was my first step into the prog world. And like all prog fans who like Genesis, their best period was when Peter Gabriel was their lead singer. That's the way we identify that period: the Gabriel-era. But for me, it was not the Gabriel-era, it was the Hackett-era...

Yes, in reality, Genesis really turned away from prog when Steve Hackett left the band, not when Gabriel did - although I do agree that a major piece was lost when Gabriel left... but for me, and if you would listen to that album carefully, it was Wind and Wuthering that was the last of Genesis' glorious prog album library. It does not sound like Foxtrot for sure, but nonetheless is an excellent progressive rock album.

So if your Genesis prog collection stopped at The Lamb, Gabriel's last effort with the band, maybe you should take a peek at W&W, and even Trick of the Tail (although I prefer W&W). Or you might have heard it before, but put it aside because you were too used to Gabriel's voice, or for other reasons. Try it again, you might enjoy it ;-)

My rating: ****½

EDIT: they now have released the special version of this album, which now includes a DVD-Audio disk, with a 5.1 remastered mix of the entire album. Wow, now it sounds even better than ever!!!

Mini album review: Ayreon

Ayreon - Into The Electric Castle

Ayreon is one of multiple "projects" by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen. With Ayreon, A. A. Lucassen covers a lot of musical grounds, allbeit all in the Rock department... And that's why I like the Ayreon albums so much. It would seem like Arjen has very similar influences as I, ranging from 80's Hard Rock and Metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, to classic rock of the 70's, such as Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Deep Purple and David Bowie, some 60's with The Beatles, 70's prog scene with Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull. There is even some folk in there, along with the album-length story, like a rock opera is written, with multiple singers, each with their own "role", or "part".

How he does it I don't know, but it all ties in very nicely. In my own opinion, he creates masterpieces. And my very favorite of these masterpieces is Into the Electric Castle. It is probably the one that most represent what Ayreon is. I'll just quote what's written on the Ayreon web site about the album:

"Into the Electric Castle' tells the story of 8 stereotypical characters from different periods of time who suddenly find themselves in another dimension. A Highlander, Knight, Egyptian, Indian, Barbarian, Roman, Hippie and Futureman each try to understand where they are and what they are supposed to do. It is then that a voice rings out from the sky to tell them that the dimension they have arrived in is built on dreams and fears. In order to find their way back to their own dimension and time, they must go in search of The Electric Castle. During the search every character is forced to confront his or her innermost fears, and not everyone survives the treacherous journey to the Castle.

At the end of the journey those that successfully dealt with their personal demons find out that the voice belongs to an alien named 'Forever of the Stars', a member of an alien race living in a distant galaxy. These aliens created planet Earth and its people as an experiment so they could study, and hopefully one day experience emotions, as they themselves lost feelings eons ago."

My rating: *****

Mini album review: Rush

Rush - Snakes & Arrows:

Rush is one of my all-time favorite bands. They have many albums which I like entirely, from beginning to end (A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, etc). For that reason, I will always have some Rush which I'm "In the mood" for (gratuitous reference to a track on their first album). Let's face it: Rush is surely THE most influential Canadian band on the prog scene, and one of the most influential of all in general. And quite frankly, I have yet to hear another band of the present that sounds like them.

I even like the more mainstream albums they released, like Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows and Hold You Fire. My interest stays strong up until Counterparts, with Presto and Roll the Bones having some "lows". Since Counterparts though, they have failed to amaze me with a full album. They have very good tracks here and there, but no entire albums. Actually, I would only take 2 or 3 of the best tracks of Presto, T4E, and Vapor Trails, and even Roll the Bones, and make one great compilation. But that's it.

But now, Snakes and Arrows has put a halt to this. YES! Finally, Rush IS BACK!!! What a fresh sound, that resonates the good vibes of the 80's, that reminds me of Power Windows and Grace Under Pressure, but with a harder edge in parts, and a little bit of experimentation in others. No it's not the prog sound of the 70's and early 80's - don't get overly excited... But I think fans of Rush will find that this is the album they have been waiting for for a long time.

My Rating: ****½

Mini album review: Spock's Beard

Spock's Beard - The Light (The Artwork Collector’s Series)

I was fortunate enough to put my hands on this little jewel. The Light is Spock's Beard's first studio album, and a classic of progressive rock work. Neal Morse, the lead member at the time, has been greatly influenced by the 70's prog rock bands, and you really feel that on this album. Although it still has a modern feel to it. So without a doubt, any prog fans who like the old Genesis, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant and the like, will probably like this album.

Now, what makes this a jewel? The package is part of what is called The Artwork Collector's Series, and is a limited, numbered edition. In addition to the remastered album, there are extensive liner notes for each song, a poster of the album cover, and some postcards. All this in a triple fold, enlarged CD case. The whole thing simply excites the music geek in me ;-)

I never heard the original release of this album, so it's hard for me to say if the remaster makes a big difference, but it sure sounds amazing!

My rating: *****

Mini album review: Steve Hackett

Steve Hackett - Momentum

I've been acquiring a few albums from Hackett's catalogue. I've been very curious about his solo work - for some reason, even though I'm a big fan of Hackett-era Genesis, I had not explored his work until recently. It started with Please Don't Touch, which I only bought because it was very cheap at a favorite record store, and I loved it instantly. Then I bought some more of his albums (some of which I will probably talk about in future mini reviews), and I was rarely disappointed.

This brings us to Momentum. Another shock! But again, very pleasantly surprised. This album is entirely classical guitar, and most of the time in solo. I had heard bits of him playing classical guitar on a documentary video I had (and still do actually, on good ol' VHS), but I always wondered if he recorded some of it. Well, not only did he record some, but if I'm not mistaken he now has three entire albums such as this one.

The mood all through the album is very calm. I would not hesitate to put this on to help a child or baby sleep. And I'm not saying that because I think it's boring, but because I think it's soothing. It's a good feeling - although some might find soothing is boring... but I digress. So of course, if you don't like classical music, you won't like this album. But if you like Hackett, then you like prog, and if you like prog, then you must have at least an appreciation for classical music, as part of prog's roots are in there. So good chance you would like this album, although you, as myself, will probably not put it on every day, but will come in very handy on a day where calmness is needed.

My rating: ***½

Mini album review: Chris Squire / Billy Sherwood

Squire / Sherwood - Conspiracy

This album was released in 1990, and went straight through my Yes radar unnoticed! And what a shame, because I've been missing out on a very good, fresh-sounding pop-rock Yes-type album (lots of dashes in there o.O). I have heard a couple of tracks of their second album The Unknown, mainly the track Conspiracy, which brought in some confusion about the first album - for me The Unknown was their first album since I hadn't heard of Conspiracy, so when I first saw the album cover of Conspiracy, I thought it was an earlier version of The Unknown, using Conspiracy as the title track. Obviously I was wrong...

Like I mentioned, this album is in the pop-rock range, similar to the sound of Yes in the late 80's and early 90's. One of the reasons the sound is so similar is probably because Sherwood was also part of Yes (as a co-writer at first, then as a co-writer and band member) - oh and, in case you don't know, Chris Squire is one of the permanent members of the band Yes. There are even tracks on the album that are different versions of some Yes songs that were actually released on Yes albums, alongside, of course, of other original tracks. So after all, I was pleasantly surprised, and I'm always happy when this happens :-D

My rating: **** (out of 5)

Mini album reviews: Sylvan, Triumvirat, Shadow Gallery, Ayreon, Spock's Beard

Here are albums I recently acquired, with a very summary review, and a star rating (number of stars out of 5). I will not make extensive reviews as you can find many on the web anyway. Some of these are fairly recent albums, others are older albums I have, or used to have, on vinyl, which I eventually wanted to purchase on CD. So here we go...





Sylvan - Posthumous Silence. This is one of the most highly acclaimed progressive rock album of 2006, from this German band, so I decided to check it out. Mostly after hearing some samples on their web page, I was very interested. It's the band's fifth album (they actually already have a sixth album out at this date), and it's one of those concept albums, meaning that it's written like a story that unfolds through the album. Most of the time you will also find musical elements that are present in multiple places, depending on what part of the story is being told. This is a very good album. You will find a lot of elements of prog, from mellow to heavy, melodic, emotional and complex. The recording quality is excellent, as is the musicianship. I must admit though that I should probably listen to it a few more times to appreciate it fully, and follow the lyrics to better understand the story, which I did not have the opportunity to do yet.


My rating: ****½



Triumvirat - Illusions on a Double Dimple (remastered). I've been planning to fill a whole in my CD collection, that should be filled with my four favorite Triumvirat albums, mostly since these are now remastered, with extra tracks, all this for a fairly good price. This is one of them. Triumvirat is not as widely known as the classic prog rock bands of the 70's, but they are just as good. They are often referred to as the German counterpart of british band ELP (or Emerson, Lake and Palmer), and with reason. Jürgen Fritz is a masterful keyboard player, and I always found that Triumvirat's music was more accessible than ELP's, even though they we not as successful after all, if my information is correct. This album is like two short stories (one per "side" - remember this was originally on vinyl record). It shows that Fritz has a classical background, and the trio does deliver.

My rating: ****



Triumvirat - Spartacus (remastered). Hey, there's that rat again! What a fugly cover, that is! and has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of this album either. And the writing is in neon-disco blue, while it talks about and anciant roman-era hero (fictitious, if I recall correctly). But, that's just the cover, and the content is as good as the cover is ugly. This is arguably the best work from the German band. Another concept album, but there is not a single weak track, and all holds well together. Many would say they are ELP copy-cats, but I think they stand on their own. But they do sound similar though. I really enjoyed the extra studio track, which I never heard before, as well as the extra live tracks. I'm really not a big fan of live recordings, but since I had never heard the 'rat live before, I did enjoy it. And it shows how well they played together, and how good musicians they were.

My rating: *****



Shadow Gallery - Tyranny. My first Shadow Gallery album was Room V, which I really liked. But Room V was the follow-up story to one of their previous albums, Tyranny. So I had to get it, as I also read that it was a good album. I must admit I was a little dissapointed, as I was expecting the quality I heard on Room V. But I did not. It's not a bad album though, far from it. The musical style is between metal and prog-metal, as it is not prog all the way. It is probably their second best album after Room V.

My Rating: ***½




Ayreon - Actual Fantasy Revisited (CD + DVD package). This is a re-recording of Ayreon's second album, Actual Fantasy. One big improvement for me is that all the drums were re-recorded with a real drummer, while the original recording used a drum machine. Again, an excellent Ayreon album, as A. A. Lucassen only is able to do. The package I bought also contains a bonus DVD with a 5.1 remixe of the entire album, a video for Stranger From Within, and a documentary on the making of the album. Very nice package I must say. Arjen is always generous on what he offers as extras for his fans, and that is very much appreciated.

My rating: ****½




Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness (special edition). I put this album amoung the best ones from SB, after The Light, V and Snow. The other albums all have excellent tracks on them as well, but they also have weak ones. Beware of Darkness is very strong, and has two of my all-time Beard favorites: Doorway and Waste Away. This version of the album has been remastered, but I don't know if it makes that big of a difference since I always though their albums sounded pretty good to start with. Maybe if I listened to both side by side, I would heard the difference... The extra tracks don't bring much to the album I think. They are demo versions of two track. To me, demo = unfinished versions, so why bother, mostly when there is nothing noticeably different from the finished version. If the demo was somewhat different, or completely different, it would be more interesting, but they are not. Nevertheless, one of the best SB album, which of course, I did not have on CD already...

My rating: ****