Author: Bryan Morey

Public historian and museum professional working with historical artifacts. Music reviewer at Progarchy and Dutch Progressive Rock Page.

Almost 50 Years In, Kansas Still Carries On

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rock3 Comments

kansas_point-of-know-return_2cdRecently legendary prog band Kansas released their latest live album, Point of Know Return Live & Beyond. The album features performances taken from various shows during their 2019 and 2020 fortieth anniversary tour of Point of Know Return, one of the finest albums in rock history.

I’ve seen Kansas live only once, and that was back around 2008 or so. It was a free show at my town’s annual week-long Independence Day festival. The lineup featured Steve Walsh on keyboards and vocals, Phil Ehart on drums, Rich Williams on guitar, David Ragsdale on violin, and Billy Greer on bass and vocals. I enjoyed the show, and in fact that show launched me into Kansas’ music. But there was no denying that at the point Walsh’s voice was long past its prime, and it was no surprise when he decided to retire from Kansas in 2014. 

Kansas’ new lineup formed, and they have since taken the world by storm with their 2016 album The Prelude Implicit and 2020’s The Absence of Presence. Their recent live lineup (as heard on this live record) features Ronnie Platt on vocals. His voice has its own sound, but he’s absolutely phenomenal singing this music, kind of like Nad Sylvan singing for Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited shows. The band’s rendition of “Nobody’s Home” sounds almost identical to the original record.

Combine Platt’s voice with the winning combo of Phil Ehart on drums, Rich Williams and Zak Rizvi on guitars, David Ragsdale on violin, Billy Greer on bass, and Tom Brislin on keyboards, and you’ve got an unstoppable prog rock powerhouse. The energy levels on this live record remind me of the energy Kansas had in the 70s. I imagine Platt isn’t dancing like a maniac at the keyboards the way Walsh used to, but the audio has that same intensity. 

In addition to playing all of Point of Know Return, the band include a few newer tracks as well as some other hits and deep cuts. It’s great to hear “Song For America” and “People of the South Wind” (Monlith is an underrated album). “Two Cents Worth” was a surprise, but it’s cool to hear that blues element that appeared in Kansas’ early work. From beginning to end this live record is a must-listen. I’m so glad the band continues to carry on and bring this music to old and new fans. Kerry Livgren’s lyrics are some of the best out there, and they deserve to be heard for years to come. 

Order the album: https://kansas.lnk.to/PointofKnowReturn-LiveBeyond

CD1
1. Cold Grey Morning
2. Two Cents Worth
3. The Wall
4. Song for America
5. Summer
6. Musicatto
7. Taking in the View
8. Miracles Out of Nowhere

CD2
1. Point of Know Return
2. Paradox
3. The Spider
4. Portrait (He Knew)
5. Closet Chronicles
6. Lightning’s Hand
7. Dust in the Wind
8. Sparks of the Tempest
9. Nobody’s Home
10. Hopelessly Human
11. Carry On Wayward Son
12. People of the South Wind
13.Refugee
14. Lonely Wind

https://youtu.be/D3S-1p18_So

Neal Morse Band Release Track Off Upcoming Album

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rockLeave a comment

The Neal Morse Band just released a just under nine-minute single, “Do It All Again,” from their upcoming album, Innocence & Danger. It’ll be another double album, but the songs aren’t related. This track is the first song the band wrote when they got together to record. The album is out August 27. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/PiNt_kQvoag

Press release: 

Mike Portnoy says about the track,

This was the first song we wrote when we reconvened for the sessions for this album. It rooted from an idea Bill Hubauer brought in and we built off it from there. Like most NMB songs, I love the sharing of lead vocals…Neal Morse on the verses, Bill on the B section and an amazingly catchy 3-part harmony chorus with Eric Gillette taking the lead.

Innocence & Danger, featuring artwork by Thomas Ewerhard (Transatlantic), will be available as:
• Limited 2CD+DVD Digipak (featuring a Making Of documentary)
• 3LP+2CD Boxset
• Standard 2CD Jewelcase
• Digital Album

NMB are also happy to announce tour dates for ‘An Evening of Innocence & Danger’ across US and Europe.

Continue reading “Neal Morse Band Release Track Off Upcoming Album” →

Big Big Train Release Instrumental Track Off Upcoming Album

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Ah, this is more like it. Great stuff from the mighty Big Big Train:

https://youtu.be/88HHhbD1vFE

Press release:

Big Big Train Apollo“Apollo” is the second track to be taken from Big Big Train’s forthcoming album ‘Common Ground’ due out on July 30th, 2021 on English Electric Recordings. The new album, recorded during the worldwide pandemic, sees the band continue their tradition of dramatic narratives but also tackles issues much closer to home, such as the Covid lockdowns, the separation of loved ones, the passage of time, deaths of people close to the band and the hope that springs from a new love.

“Apollo” is a seven-minute plus instrumental written by Big Big Train drummer Nick D’Virgilio and will be an undoubted highlight when the band tour in 2022.

When the time came to start coming up with ideas for the next BBT album, I felt very strongly that we should include a quintessential instrumental track. I wanted to write the band’s version of Genesis’s Los Endos and to make a track that really showed off the talent of all the amazing musicians in this band. I knew that the team could totally play anything I threw at them, and boy, did they prove me right! I thought about the unique instrumentation of BBT. We have so many wonderful ‘voices’ to play with and I wanted every one of them in this song. In the big end bit, I can totally envisage the crowd with their hands in the air going back n forth, all of the lights and haze on the stage, the band just absolutely slamming, the crowd singing along with the melody the BBT brass ensemble is playing, until we reach a glorious end.

Watch the video for “Apollo” here:
https://youtu.be/88HHhbD1vFE

Tracklisting:

1. The Strangest Times
2. All The Love We Can Give
3. Black With Ink
4. Dandelion Clock
5. Headwaters
6. Apollo
7. Common Ground
8. Atlantic Cable
9. Endnotes

‘Common Ground’ is available for pre-order now as Double Vinyl, CD, and Bandcamp Download at these sites:
https://burningshed.com/store/bigbigtrain
https://bigbigtrain.bandcamp.com

‘Common Ground’ sees the band taking in wider musical and lyrical inspiration from artists such as Elbow, Pete Townshend, Tears For Fears, Elton John and XTC, as well as acknowledging their more progressive roots. As ever, Big Big Train will take listeners on a journey, be it waiting for the UK 5pm pandemic press conferences (’The Strangest Times’) to the library of Alexandria (‘Black With Ink’) to the bottom of the ocean (‘Atlantic Cable’).

For the ‘Common Ground’ tour, which will be their most extensive to date and which will culminate in the UK with a show at the prestigious London Palladium, Greg Spawton (bass), David Longdon (lead vocals, flute), Nick D’Virgilio (drums, vocals) and Rikard Sjöblom (guitars, keyboards, vocals) will be joined by Carly Bryant (keyboards, guitars, vocals), who contributes vocals to ‘Common Ground’, Dave Foster (guitars), who plays on two tracks on the new album, Clare Lindley (violin, vocals) and by a five piece brass ensemble. The band expect to announce North American tour dates shortly.

BIG BIG TRAIN UK TOUR 2022

TUE, MARCH 15TH – YORK, BARBICAN
WED, MARCH 16TH – CAMBRIDGE, CORN EXCHANGE
FRI, MARCH 18TH – BIRMINGHAM, SYMPHONY HALL
SAT, MARCH 19TH – BATH, FORUM
MON, MARCH 21ST – GLASGOW, ROYAL CONCERT HALL
TUE, MARCH 22ND – MANCHESTER, BRIDGEWATER HALL
WED, MARCH 23RD – LONDON, PALLADIUM

TICKETS ON SALE HERE:
https://myticket.co.uk/artists/big-big-train

Metal Mondays: Iran’s Artamene Give Protest Rock a Whole New Meaning

On By Bryan MoreyIn Heavy metal, progressive metal, progressive rock, thrash metalLeave a comment

Artamene_ZigguratArtamene, Ziggurat, 2021
Tracks: Infinite Escape (5:27), Fear of Darkness (4:11), Heavy Motion (3:55), Mayhem (3:51), Shining Black (5:24), Inshushinak (6:01), Rain of Paradise (2:56), Petrichor (5:39)

Persecution is still disgustingly widespread in the world today. There are millions of people in countries across the globe who face imprisonment, torture, and death for their religious beliefs, their ethnicity, political beliefs… the list could go on. Iran is one such country. America has experienced childish backlash against heavy metal (Tipper Gore and her Parents Music Resource Center in the 1980s as one example) in the past, but American musicians have never feared imprisonment just for making and performing metal music. This threat is real for Iranian metal musicians, and Artamene wants the rest of the world to know that awful truth. 

Artamene was formed in Iran in 2017 by brothers Pedram (lead guitar) and Pooya Shitrah (drums) along with Soheil Avakh (vocals) and Ali Karimi (rhythm guitar). Their album, Ziggurat, also features Yahya Rahmani on bass. Pedram and Pooya grew up listening to and playing metal with each other, and they decided to form Artamene. The problem is the Iranian government thinks metal is inherently Satanic, and they have thrown bands in jail for making metal. Members of the bands Confess and Arsames have been sentenced to prison on charges of “Satanism,” although thankfully the musicians were able to escape the country. 

I don’t hear anything Satanic on Artamene’s Ziggurat, so hopefully the band will be safe from those accusations. They are allowed to play live concerts, although the behavior of the audience is strictly regulated by the government. They actually get 200-500 people at their concerts.  

Artamene_Live

The music itself is quite good. There are a lot of thrash metal elements, but there are also some more atmospheric metal moments and certainly progressive flares. Thrash metal in general often has a lot of progressive metal elements, minus the keyboards usually. On Ziggurat there are heavy distorted guitars, clean solos, and clean rhythm sections. The bass is clear, heavy, and distinct throughout. It shines in the mix. The drums are intricate and pounding with a prominent double kick, reminding me of the brilliant Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Testament). 

The vocals are heavy and distorted, but they’re not black metal vocals. Thrash tends to have its own sort of yelled distorted vocals, along with cleans. Avakh’s vocals follow that trend, and his voice works very well with the music. It helps that the lyrics are in English. At times Avakh’s voice reminds me of M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold. 

https://youtu.be/YqT2DnTQi0A

Continue reading “Metal Mondays: Iran’s Artamene Give Protest Rock a Whole New Meaning” →

Screaming Down the Highway

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rock, progressive rock musicLeave a comment

The other day we received a couple singles composed by Attilla Papp, and they’re a nice progressive take on shorter rock songs. The first, “Screaming Down the Highway,” was released a little over a year ago, and it’s a perfect song for a smoking hot day like much of the American Midwest has been experiencing this afternoon. The songs lyrics were written by Michael Ryan, the vocals sung by Scott Foster Harris, and the track produced by Matthew Williams. Unlike most shorter rock songs that typically might end with the final lyric, the music plays on for a few more riffs, which is a nice touch. 

https://youtu.be/vtYkcD_yOnM

Papp sent us a second track that was released back in December: “In the Paradise.” Somewhere I’m sure we all want to be rather than in this world which seems to suck more with each passing day. “In the Paradise” has some synth overtones, and the lyrics and music have a bit more of a contemporary progressive feel. This song also has an instrumental closing that really shines. Even though it’s a short track, it goes through multiple musical shifts. Papp composed this track as well, and Scott Foster Harris wrote and sings the lyrics. Produced again by Matthew Williams.

https://youtu.be/o1qw_lqHrEw

Neal Morse Band Announce New Album for August Release

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rock1 Comment

From Radiant Records:

image

Hey, everyone!

We’re delighted to announce details of the eagerly-anticipated new NMB album! Some incredible new music is coming your way. We will be starting pre-orders at www.radiantrecords.com on Friday, June 18th. Watch for our updates as we reveal some amazing exclusives relating to this release, plus another release only available from our website!

** OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE **

NMB are pleased to announce the release of their much-anticipated fourth studio album Innocence & Danger on August 27th, 2021.

With NMB’s previous two releases being concept albums, it’s perhaps remarkable that Innocence & Danger is a series of unrelated songs, but drummer Mike Portnoy says “After two sprawling back to back double concept albums in a row, it was refreshing to get back to writing a collection of unrelated individual songs in the vein of our first album.”

Indeed, making this album came easy to the band; while the initial inspiration came particularly from Bill Hubauer (keyboards) and Randy George (bass), the ideas flowed from everybody from there on, as George recalls: “I am excited about the level of collaboration that we achieved on this one. We even went in with a lot of ideas that weren’t necessarily developed, and I think in the end we have something that represents the best of everybody in the band.”

In fact – like its two acclaimed predecessors – Innocence & Danger is a double-album by inspiration, rather than design, as Portnoy explains: “As much as we wanted to try and keep it to a single album after having just done two double albums, we wrote so much material that we found ourselves with our third double album in a row! That’s pretty prog!”

There is also plenty: “There’s one half hour epic and another that’s about 20 minutes long. I really didn’t realise that they were that long when we were recording them, which I guess is great because if a movie is really good, you don’t realise that it’s three hours long! But there are also some shorter songs: some have poppier elements, some are heavier and some have three part acoustic sections. I’m excited about all of it, really.”

The album will be released as a Limited 2CD+DVD Digipak (featuring a Making Of documentary), 3LP+2CD Boxset, Standard 2CD Jewelcase & Digital Album, featuring artwork by Thomas Ewerhard (Transatlantic). Pre-orders start on the 18th June, and the full track-listing is below:

CD 1 (Innocence):

1. Do It All Again 08:55

2. Bird On A Wire 07:22

3. Your Place In The Sun 04:12

4. Another Story To Tell 04:50

5. The Way It Had To Be 07:14

6. Emergence 03:12

7. Not Afraid Pt. 1 04:53

8. Bridge Over Troubled Water 08:08

CD 2 (Danger):

1. Not Afraid Pt. 2 19:32

2. Beyond The Years 31:22

The Neal Morse Band (now NMB) was formed in 2012, featuring long-time collaborators Neal Morse (vocals, keyboards and guitars), Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals) and Randy George (bass), as well as Bill Hubauer (keyboards, vocals) and Eric Gillette (guitars, vocals). The band’s first album, The Grand Experiment, showed both a freshness and maturity that was further developed in 2016’s The Similitude Of A Dream, 2019’s The Great Adventure and 2021’s Innocence & Danger.

Look for NMB on tour in North America in October 2021 and in Europe throughout May/June 2022. Tour dates coming soon!

Blessings,

The Radiant Records Team

Single Premiere: Fungi -“Third Eye” Off Upcoming Album “Into the Void”

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive metal, progressive rock1 Comment

FungiWe’re excited to be able to premiere the first single from Fungi’s upcoming album, Into the Void. The song, entitled “Third Eye,” is the opening track on the record, and it gets the album off to a pounding start.

The album has touches of progressive metal with a particularly fresh spin. There are elements of hard rock and metal, reminiscent of bands like Chevelle or Tool. At just under forty minutes, the album flies by leaving the listener wanting more.

Into the Void has a youthful energy that reminds me of the early days of Dream Theater, particularly in the quieter moments, such as on the second track, “Passengers III.” It doesn’t necessarily sound like Dream Theater, but it has that sincerity and intensity. Fungi allow their sound to develop and shift over the course of the songs. For instance, part of the third track, “Parallels,” has a Genesis vibe, with an acoustic guitar and light flute in the background. The song opens with a heavier riff but alternates between quieter and heavier passages. The ten-minute long final track, “Genesis,” takes on some symphonic elements while maintaining the heavy guitars, pounding drums, and soaring vocals.

Regarding the album’s concept, the band tells Progarchy:

Into the void is a progressive rock album that talks about the transition process we go through when you get to a point in your life where you need to step up or upgrade to your new version/Self. The main idea is the a part of you has to die in order for other to be born, and that process, that tends to be tough and confusing, is only clear and understood, once you get to the other side, meanwhile you can feel altered, lost, confused, seeking help, angry, but then at some point you kind of get that feeling of familiarity, reconnection with something very deep, you feel as if you were back to your true self (your inner kid, your creative self, your spiritual self); after feeling that strong reconnection strong feeling of glory, power and freedom is reached. And so you can now start your new journey as your new self, walking towards your future next transformation process, which will be wearing another undistinguishable disguise. We go through these processes a lot of times in our life but somehow we fail to recognize when we are going through the process. Maybe by hearing this album, people can identify more clearly and easily when they are going through these processes.
Everything is written from a point of view of a made up story of a man mysteriously walking through a highway, who gets tired, walks down a path that gets him to a river with trees and shadows, so he lays to drink water and find something to eat.. the only thing he sees are a bunch of mushrooms, which he then eats and lays to rest, as he starts having visions, and hearing voices, represented in the verses of the songs. Choruses are mostly him thinking to himself, reflecting on what he heard from the voices, making his own conclusions. The music emulates the trip of a mushroom starting with Intense euphoria, rapid changes in mood, reflexion, followed by an afterglow and a sense of liberation.
Into the Void packs a lot into forty minutes, but its brevity makes it easily digestible. It brings to the table many of the aspects of prog that make the genre so appealing. It has storytelling, heavy rock moments, and quieter musical passages. We highly recommend you give Fungi’s “Third Eye” a listen, and look out for the upcoming release of Into the Void.
Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisisfungi/
Fungi_IntotheVoid

New Film About Big Big Train and Their “Passengers” To Be Released This Summer

On By Bryan MoreyIn Big Big Train, progressive rockLeave a comment

Courtesy of the folks at the Prog Report, I just found out that a new independent film about Big Big Train and their fans is going to be released this summer. The film, which is entitled Journey of the Passengers, is specifically about the band’s first ever tour: 2019’s Grand Tour. The 132 minute movie will be released in six episodes beginning in August. 

Read more over at the Prog Report: https://progreport.com/new-independent-film-follows-big-big-train-and-the-journey-of-the-passengers/

And check out a brief trailer: https://youtu.be/N8ZXThy63uY

 

Tim Bowness, Brian Hulse, and David K. Jones Set to Release Latest Plenty Album

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Press Release:

Plenty - Enough

Formed in 1986 from the ashes of Liverpool-based post-punk band A Better Mousetrap and Warringtonian art rockers After The Stranger, Plenty was a group that featured singer Tim Bowness immediately prior to him hooking up with multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson to found No-Man.

Echoing then contemporary artists such as The Blue Nile, It’s Immaterial, The Chameleons, David Sylvian and Talk Talk – as well as the iconic likes of David Bowie, Eno/Roxy Music, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush – Plenty alternated between anthemic indie-pop, poignant ballads and electronic experiments. In 2018, Bowness and fellow original Plenty members Brian Hulse and David K Jones reunited to record and release the well received album ‘It Could Be Home’.

‘Enough’ is a brand new 2xCD that comprises two 2021 ‘lockdown’ projects plus the first ever release of seven original demos recorded in the ‘80s. Harder hitting and more diverse than its predecessor, ‘Old’ is a mini-album consisting of seven contemporary interpretations of 1980’s Plenty songs not included on the reunion record. ‘Borrowed’ is an EP of five cover versions that sees the trio stamp its identity on songs by It’s Immaterial, Suzanne Vega (wherein despair takes a trip to the Euro disco), The Teardrop Explodes, Kevin Coyne and Hank Williams (in what may be the most English slice of Americana ever!). ‘Older’ features seven original Plenty demos dating from 1986 to 1990, with several songs containing lyrical ideas later utilised by No-Man.

https://youtu.be/LDCBtGIB7sY

Something old, something borrowed, but all blue, ‘Enough’ showcases the origins of styles that subsequently became Bowness and No-Man trademarks and reveals different facets to his distinctive vocal technique. The powerful bass playing of Jones and inventive guitar parts and pulsating electronics from Hulse also push Bowness into territories he’s rarely explored since the 1980’s.

A video for a re-recording of the first ever Plenty song, ‘Forest Almost Burning’, has just been made available. Bowness explains that the original “was one of the first pieces of mine that I sent to Steven Wilson and it ended up being included on Steven’s compilation album ‘Double Exposure’ [released in 1988]. It was also enough to convince Steven he’d like to work with me, and it became a part of our early No-Man live sets.” Both versions of the track appear on ‘Enough’.

The artwork for ‘Enough’ is by Carl Glover and the 2xCD booklet includes extensive  sleeve notes by Tim Bowness.

PLENTY
Tim Bowness – vocals, backing vocals, FX
Brian Hulse – guitars, pianos, synths, drum programming
David K Jones – bass, fretless bass, double bass, bass pedals
+
GUEST MUSICIANS
Tom Atherton – drums
Michael Bearpark – guitars, fretless bass
Peter Chilvers – piano, synths
Charles Grimsdale – drums  

https://plentymusic.bandcamp.com
https://burningshed.com/plenty_enough_cd

Album Review – The Rebel Wheel’s “Simple Machines”

On By Bryan MoreyIn progressive rock1 Comment

The Rebel Wheel - Simple MachinesThe Rebel Wheel, Simple Machines, November 11, 2020
Tracks: Pulley (4:06), Hammer (5:21), Inclined Plane (4:48), Screw (5:40), Fulcrum (4:36), Switch (5:19), Wheelsuitewheel (11:37)

I’ve been sitting on the promo CD for Ottawa, Ontario band The Rebel Wheel’s latest album, Simple Machines, for a while, although I’ve been listening to it a fair amount. The album has been a pleasant surprise for me. I’ve enjoyed it every time I’ve listened to it. The Canadian three-piece is comprised of Andrew Burns (bass, keyboards, vocals, producer), David Campbell (guitars, keyboards, vocals), and Alex Wickham (drums, keyboards, vocals).

While The Rebel Wheel have several albums and several decades under their belt, Simple Machines finds them making a few changes, with every band member contributing to the writing and a different band member producing it compared to past records. Their overall sound is hard to pin down, as it is rather varied. I think Primus must be a major influence for Andrew Burns, who produced the record. Skimming through their discography on Bandcamp, I definitely recognize some similar musical ideas, but a Primus influence sounds much more prominent on Simple Machines. I hear this in some of the vocals, particularly on “Inclined Plane” and “Wheelsuitewheel,” as well as in the funk-influenced brand of metal on the album. That influence is present in the music and vocals, but not in the lyrics, which are rather simple in their construction, yet still deep with meaning. Not surprisingly I also hear a Discipline-era King Crimson influence in the guitars and bass.

With those two prominent influences there is still plenty of room for innovation. Some of the music almost approaches metal, if we’re going to call what Primus does a kind of metal. But it’s probably more accurate to call The Rebel Wheel progressive rock with heavy a jazz influence. The drums are distinctly jazzy. The bass drives the songs with guitars adding the flourishes and the keyboards filling the soundscape. There are experimental moments too, such as on the eleven and a half minute-long final track.

Even though I’ve made the connections to both Primus and King Crimson, the resulting record sounds quite unique and fresh. A King Crimson influence might be common enough in the prog world (I mean, who hasn’t been influenced by them to at least some degree), but Primus not so much. With the more progressive synth sounds, the record takes on its own life. The vocal harmonies add a nice touch. There’s even some blisteringly heavy guitar at points that remind me of Rush, but I’ll leave that to you to find those moments in the album.

I highly recommend The Rebel Wheel and their latest album. It’s a welcome departure from the Neo-prog territory common amongst most straightforward “prog” bands today. It’s got a crunch and a pleasant quirkiness that doesn’t blend into a symphonic backdrop. It grabs your attention. You won’t find too many other bands making music that sounds quite like this.

https://www.facebook.com/TheRebelWheel/
https://therebelwheel.bandcamp.com/album/simple-machines