Who doesn’t love the work of Cailyn Lloyd? Incredible. Here’s a video from her 2012 album, FOUR PIECES. Stunning. Really stunning.
Author: bradbirzer
By day, I'm a father of seven and husband of one. By night, I'm an author, a biographer, and a prog rocker. Interests: Rush, progressive rock, cultural criticisms, the Rocky Mountains, individual liberty, history, hiking, and science fiction.
Celebrating Mediocrity, Part II: Genesis
In part I of this review, I attempted–and I hope succeeded–in professing my respect for Genesis, 1978-1983, while admitting my disappointment in INVISIBLE TOUCH (1986) and my nearly complete ignorance of anything the band released after 1986. When Steve Hackett first introduces the [insert positive descriptive] Ray Wilson on one of the Genesis Revisited concerts, I had to google the guy. I had no idea who he was. This, for better or worse, probably tells you how little I know about Genesis’s later history. I also noted that there were a few good things about the documentary the BBC made a year or so ago, Genesis Together and Apart. Some of the questions, the footage, and the memories truly moved me. I’d never heard of one of the talking heads, but, frankly, they were pretty entertaining, and I enjoyed their enthusiasm.
Overall, the BBC narrative just infuriated me.
Some smart guys meet in an elite school. They really like one another, except for Tony, whom everyone simply tolerates because of his talent. Oh, and when there is disagreement, Tony gets grumpy. Rather than backing down, everyone gives into Tony. His moodiness isn’t worth combatting. The friends write music that taps into nostalgia for pre-industrialized, Edwardian England. From there, they create complex, artful tunes and dress in funny costumes. Along for the ride comes some guy–who according to Tony–plays the guitar “stiffly” and another guy who plays the drums fiercely but who also smiles a lot and loves fun and gets along with everyone. Weirdo costume guy leaves the band and becomes happy, even writing a pop anthem. Stiff guitarist guy leaves the band and no one really cares one way or the other if he is happy or not.
Celebrating Mediocrity as Success: Genesis Together and Apart
Review of the documentary, Genesis: Together and Apart (BBC), Part I.
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v78665528YFza6yzt
As someone who grew up with Genesis in the 1970s and followed the band’s career very carefully until 1986, I found the most recent BBC documentary, Genesis: Together and Apart (2014 or 2015–I’ve seen both dates listed for its copyright), a serious disappointment.
Not that there weren’t some fine moments in the film. There most certainly were. Some great conversations? Yes. Some great scenes? Absolutely.
But, overall, watching the documentary made me feel as though I’d entered a de Tocquevillian nightmare. What is common becomes what is great in this story. Indeed, the documentary argues that it’s best to take one’s highest art and pander some low form to the masses, mediated by corporate marketers and profit-grubbing labels.
And, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not such a snob that I don’t enjoy post-Hackett Genesis. I do. I still consider ABACAB (1981) a great art-rock album. For me, there’s not a dud on the album, and it has never grown stale for me. While I don’t listen to it as much as I do MOVING PICTURES, which also came out that year, I listen to it constantly and have for 35 years.
I don’t have a problem with GENESIS (1983), either. While there’s a song or two on the album that does nothing for me, I still find “Mama” quite haunting and “Home by the Sea” outstanding. And, as much as Genesis fans mock “The Silver Rainbow” as sophomoric, I think it’s quite endearing, having captured the mystery (and clumsiness) of a moment of love quite accurately.
Continue reading “Celebrating Mediocrity as Success: Genesis Together and Apart”
50-50: THE ASTONISHING Considered
Four progarchists have now weighed in on the matter of Dream Theater’s new release, THE ASTONISHING. For your convenience, here are links to each four. Enjoy.
The opposition
Chris: https://progarchy.com/2016/02/12/the-astonishing-pile-of-crap-from-dream-theater/
The defense
Kevin: https://progarchy.com/2016/02/11/they-cant-stop-thinking-big-dream-theaters-the-astonishing/
Brad: https://progarchy.com/2016/02/10/astonished-dream-theaters-complex-audacity/
RochaNews: Iamthemorning
 RUSSIAN PROGRESSIVE DUO IAMTHEMORNING ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM “LIGHTHOUSE” FEAT. GUESTS GAVIN HARRISON (PORCUPINE TREE, KING CRIMSON), COLIN EDWIN (PORCUPINE TREE) & MARIUSZ DUDA (RIVERSIDE, LUNATIC SOUL), MIXED BY MARCEL VAN LIMBEEK (TORI AMOS).
“Lighthouse” out April 1 on Kscope
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 RUSSIA – Kscope will release the brand new studio album Lighthouse from Russian progressive duo iamthemorning on April 1 (June 3 in France). Lighthouse is the follow up to the band’s 2014 album Belighted. Lighthouse will be released on CD, LP (with MP3 download code) and digitally.
Formed in 2010 in St Petersburg, Russia, iamthemorning features pianist Gleb Kolyadin and the charismatic vocals of Marjana Semkina. The band self-released its debut album in 2012 before signing to Kscope and releasing Belighted, its first record for the label in September 2014. In 2015 the duo toured Europe with labels mates, the art-progressive outfit, Gazpacho.
As with Belighted, the engineering and mixing on Lighthouse is handled by Marcel van Limbeek (Tori Amos) and self-produced by Gleb and Marjana. The album also features guest musicians Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) on drums, Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) on bass and additional vocals on the album’s title track by Mariusz Duda (Lunatic Soul, Riverside).
Lighthouse is a rich and eclectic album with echoes of classical music, the Canterbury scene, northern folk, jazz and electronic sounds. Featuring a story of the progression of mental illness, the album takes the listener through the stages with the story’s central character, her attempts to fight it, and temporal remission leading to a final breakdown. Lyrically, the works and lives of Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath inspire the album.
Recorded across London, Moscow & St Petersburg, the core instrument of the band, the grand piano, was recorded in Mosfilm Studios Moscow, one of the largest and oldest studios in Russia. Founded in 1920, Mosfilm is renowned for recording orchestras for soundtracks for the most famous Soviet-era films, including works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein.
The album artwork for Lighthouse was created by watercolor artist Constantine Nagishkin who the band has previously collaborated with before.
 1. I Came Before the Water (pt. I)
2. Too Many Years
3. Clear Clearer
4. Sleeping Pills
5. Libretto Horror
6. Lighthouse (feat. Mariusz Duda)
7. Harmony
8. Matches
9. Belighted
10. Chalk and Coal
11. I Came Before the Water (pt. II)
12. Post Scriptum
Stay tuned for more information on iamthemorning and Lighthouse, out this spring on Kscope.
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iamthemorning is:
Marjana Semkina – vocals
Gleb Kolyadin – grand piano, keyboards
iamthemorning online:
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Astonished: Dream Theater’s Complex Audacity
Dream Theater, The Astonishing (Roadrunner, 2016). Double CD, too many tracks to list!
Has there been a progressive rock or metal release more divisive over the last several years than Dream Theater’s most recent, THE ASTONISHING?
If so, I can’t think of it.
As I look over the internet, I see lots and lots of ripping of the new DT album. The most common complaint is that DT has no business trying to write such a story, presumably—at least as I’m reading the arguments—because it’s akin to a young adult dystopian novel so prominently displayed in your local Barnes and Noble.
Well, I have no such problem with the album.
In fact, I think that for attempt and audacity alone, Petrucci and Rudess deserve immense accolades. The scope of the album is simply astounding. And, well . . . astonishing. This is the first concept album DT has attempted since 1999’s METROPOLIS: SCENES FROM A MEMORY. In form, however, it has far more in common with the recent work of Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Aryeon) than it it does with anyone else in the music world right now.
This isn’t just prog, this is theater.
I will rather openly admit that the first listening to the album made me dizzy. I don’t mean this in any metaphorical or symbolic way. I was actually—physically—dizzy and disoriented after listening to disk one. I had to put THE UNDERFALL YARD on to calm me down and get my bearings. No exaggeration.
In a private note to the editors of progarchy, progarchist editor Chris Morrissey admitted to having had the exact same reaction to THE ASTONISHING, though he had no way of knowing of my reaction. He, too, put on some Big Big Train to calm himself down.
How weird is this!?!?! I guess Chris and I really are brothers, though we’ve never actually met in person.
Without putting words into the mouths of the guys in Dream Theater, let me just state: this is NOT a young adult dystopian story as much as it is a (mostly-Christian) fairy tale. The names of the characters—Nefaryous, Gabriel, and Faythe—following fairy tale convention, allow the participant and listener to know immediately who is good and who is evil. Unlike in most fairy tales, however, Petrucci and Rudess’s story takes place in the not-too-distant future in the northeastern part of what is now the United States. One of the characters is Evangeline, and the illustration of her reveals a wholesome young woman holding—rather explicitly—a Christian cross. Regardless, the future of this part of America involves both medieval cultural conventions and extremely advanced technology.
I won’t retell the whole story, as it’s a crucial part of the enjoyment of THE ASTONISHING. I know Petrucci and Rudess have asked listeners to take in the whole album in one listening, but, frankly, as much as I enjoy the album, I find this impossible to do. There is simply too much going on in THE ASTONISHING for me to take it all in in one sitting.
It will be fascinating to see what the band does on tour and what the future holds in store for this story of THE ASTONISHING. Much like 2112 and CLOCKWORK ANGELS, THE ASTONISHING’s potential for novels, comics, movies, a tv-series, and video games coming out is unlimited.
And, since progarchy.com is a website devoted to the beauty of music, let me just state, every member of Dream Theater plays his heart out on this album. The musicianship is, as always, simply impeccable and breathtaking. No one, however, impresses me as much on this album (in terms of performance, not writing) as James LaBrie. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed his vocals, but on THE ASTONISHING he reveals exactly why he’s one of the best voices in rock.
How many times will I go back to THE ASTONISHING? It depends. A lot rests on what the band does with the album as mentioned above, especially in terms of spreading into other media. When I’m in a DT mood, I probably will still pop on OCTAVARIUM before I put on THE ASTONISHING. Not because I think one is better than the other, but because it’s more digestible. At least for now.
Regardless, I do know this–Dream Theater has, after a quarter of a century, finally and truly lived up to its name.
4.5: Steven Wilsonian Glory
Steven Wilson, 4.5 (Kscope, 2016). Blu-ray.
Tracks: My Book of Regrets; Year of the Plague; Happiness III; Sunday Rain Sets In; Vermillioncore; Don’t Hate Me; and Lazarus.
EP: A+; Kscope packaging: C
4.5 brings a huge smile to my face. Yes, a smile of happiness, even though “Steven Wilson” and “happiness” rarely go together in the same paragraph, on the same page, or in the same article. Whatever the man’s genius—and it is astounding—few could look at the 48-year old English art-rocker and think happy thoughts. Wilson is as grim as they come. If he didn’t look so much like a late 80’s neo-hippie, he’d be the perfect Cromwellian Puritan of English history.
My happiness with 4.5 is the happiness of satisfaction, not of joy.
It’s also the happiness of nostalgia. 4.5 reminds me of an ‘80s release, the EP issued while we waited for the next LP. This could be JAPANESE WHISPERS or INTO THE BATTLE WITH THE ART OF NOISE.
Not that 4.5 sounds any thing even resembling The Cure or The Art of Noise. But, 4.5 is pure Steven Wilson. All to the good.
Still, look at those 4.5 track titles. Doom and gloom. Gloom and doom. Well, except for the one entitled “Happiness III.” It’s a rather upbeat song, but, from what I can tell of the lyrics, it’s about the false happiness that supposedly comes from consuming stuff in the mall.
The opening track, “My Book of Regrets,” possesses drama in music as well as in lyrics. Heavily guitar based, Wilson’s first track progressively drones on about malls and t-shirts, frequent topics for this artist. This song is the most Porcupine Tree-sounding song on 4.5, and it could’ve easily have originated in the FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET era.
“Year of the Plague,” the second track, comes from THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING, and it certainly sounds like it. Indeed, no one would need the liner notes to guess this song’s origins immediately. That album was, for what it’s worth, my least favorite by Wilson as a solo artist or with PT. Still, I love this song. It should’ve been on RAVEN, as it’s pensive and purely Wilson. RAVEN, as it is, sounds like a cheap plagiarism of The Tangent’s second album, THE WORLD THAT WE DRIVE THROUGH. Had it focused more on the sound delivered here on “Year of the Plague,” RAVEN would have been a prog classic.
Track four, “Sunday Rain Sets In,” is, for all intents and purposes, a b-side from HAND.CANNOT.ERASE. I’d be curious to know why Wilson didn’t include it on that album. It’s a rather stunning track, meditative overall but with a very emotional guitar line and a theatric conclusion. It is, however, devoid of all lyrics. Still, it would’ve fit nicely as a way of tying several songs together on HAND.
Track five, “Vermillioncore” is simple prog chaos. Another instrumental, this song could easily have come from late Porcupine Tree or from Wilson’s second solo album, GRACE FOR DROWNING. It is as heavy as “Sunday Rain Sets In” is meditative. Lots of KING CRIMSON in this track.
The final two tracks, “Don’t Hate Me” and “Lazarus” are quite good, but they offer nothing surprising, though the guest vocals on “Don’t Hate Me” make this a better track than the original PT version. Each song is a nice Steven Wilson 2.0 rework of Steven Wilson 1.0.
Frankly, I love this EP. At a little over 40 minutes, it might as well be a full album, though Wilson has chosen to release it as an EP. Either way, 4.5 is excellent and a must-own for any lover of prog or good music.
My only complaint is the poor packaging, which seems to be more and more the norm with Kscope releases. I’ve been purchasing blu-rays when ever possible as the music quality is just so much better than CD or DVD. The booklet that comes with 4.5, though, is next to worthless. Wilson explains the origins of each song, briefly, and he lists who plays on each track. But, there’s nothing in the way of lyrics, and the photography, while good, is nothing revealing or spectacular. If I didn’t care, I’d just say “meh.”
I do care.
Unless Kscope is trying to move its faithful listeners to all download (which I fervently pray they are not), the label desperately needs to up its game and its quality control. I order a physical copy of every album I want for very specific reasons. One of the most important is I want good, tangible art work and I want to read the lyrics.
Come on, Kscope. You are so much better than you’ve been revealing yourself to be lately. If you do nothing else over Lent, at least learn to treat those loyal to you better.
Kscope’s weaknesses aside, Wilson’s 4.5 is strong. Not at the creative level of his HAND.CANNOT.ERASE., it’s certainly much better than RAVEN.
Radiant’s Record of the Week: SO MANY ROADS
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Neal Morse
‘So Many Roads’ For $19.99 this week only! |
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THIS IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL LIVE CD FROM NEAL MORSE!
Recorded at some of the best venues in Europe, this contains breathtaking performances handpicked by Neal Morse from a series of concerts with his critically acclaimed European band. Neal says “There’s some really special moments like Jessica singing the angelic section of Spock’s Beard’s “At the End of the Day” and of course the rockin’ “Author of Confusion/I’m the Guy” medley.
I also really enjoy our rendition of the Spock’s Beard classic “Walking On The Wind”. That Euro band rules!” With a cross section of the best of Neal’s career, from Spock’s Beard greats to Transatlantic classics as well as his newer solo work, this is a live album that will please fans to no end.
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Simple Minds Live: 1982
This video makes me giddy as well as sad. This was clearly the highpoint of this band, and what a high point it was.
Watching this video gives me absolute chills, reminding why they were once a favorite band of mine.
But, wow, did they fall fast or what. So sad. Still, enjoy this in all of its HD glory. Really stunning.
Kudos to Dream Theater (not a review)
A quick note about the new Dream Theater and the reviews I’ve read this far. Well, two notes.
First, THE ASTONISHING is one of the most ambitious undertakings for an album I have ever seen. Not just the music, but the story and everything that accompanies the story. For attempt alone, DT deserves the highest marks possible.
Second, I’ve seen a lot of reviews mock the story as “Young Adult” and ridiculous. Yes, names such as Faythe and Gabriel and Emperor Nayfarius are pretty obvious. But, more so than Darth Vader (Dark Invader) ?
Come on, folks, this form of naming is a fairy-tale convention, and it has been for centuries. It gives us an immediate knowledge of who is good and who is bad, who wears the white hat and who wears the black hat. If you want to make fun of the band for this, you’re welcome to, of course, but you’re making fun of one of the longest-lived literary conventions in western civilization.
I’ll have a full review of this album after I’ve had more time to listen to it, but thus far I’m just amazed at the scope of it all. What a treat.
Progarchy 