This coming Tuesday evening, I will have the great pleasure of giving an academic lecture on the meaning of progressive music as best expressed in the work of Big Big Train. Unfortunately, this lecture will not be open to the public. I will, however, make an audio recording–should any progarchists be interested.
For the same event, I’ll also be giving two lectures on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and one on the same of G.K. Chesterton.
So excited about this!
For me, the only great thing to come out of the Mike Portnoy/NHS controversy (which doesn’t seem like it should have been a controversy, at least to this American) was that it re-awakened my interest in Portnoy’s time in Dream Theater. I’ve followed him almost religiously in his non-DT efforts (Transatlantic, Neal Morse Band, Flying Colors), and I think the world of him—as a person and as a drummer. Yeah, he’s got a bit of a temper—but he seems to let it run wild only when life calls for it to run wild. I can’t really blame him. Plus, the guy is so outstanding in what he does, I can’t help but admire him. I would give a lot to have his restraint, frankly.
But, my point in this post is not about that “controversy.” Instead, that moment in England caused me to pull out all of my Portnoy-era Dream Theater, 1992. I’m not what you’d call an intense fan of Dream Theater, but I have purchased every single album (studio, live, ep) as it’s has come out since IMAGES AND WORDS.
When I first got IMAGES AND WORDS, I was impressed with it. I listened to it with fervor, but, even then, I really loved side two and I really didn’t love side one.
Remember 1992?
1992 was a great year for music, but it was an uncertain year for prog.
At the time, The Cure’s WISH seemed as likely a candidate for inheriting the mantle of prog as did Dream Theater’s IMAGES AND WORDS. In hindsight, it’s easy to give the award to Dream Theater, but not so easy in 1992. Go back and listen to “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea,” but also listen to “Open,” “Cut,” “To Wish Impossible Things,” and “End.” There’s a LOT of prog on that Cure album. Plus, I would consider DISINTEGRATION a prog album. My point: if you listened to Dream Theater (metal prog) and The Cure (pop prog), it was impossible to determine who was more prog. At least in 1992.
Add the albums from Phish, Pearl Jam, and U2 that year.
A lot could’ve happened.
Well, here we are 23 years later. Thanks, Mike. You paved the way then and you continue to do so.
Muse has announced the release of their new album, Drones, due out in early June. They have also released a music video to the song, “Psycho.” It sounds as if they have gone back to their earlier, heavier style, which the band said they would do on this upcoming album. Gone (from this particular song) are the synth-poppy sounds featured so heavily on The 2nd Law. In my opinion, the heavier, more basic rock sound is a good thing.
“Psycho” sounds, lyrically, like it could have been written by Roger Waters. Very much about mind control and being ordered around by those in authority (you’ll see what I mean in the video). Muse continues their long string of anti-big government and anti-oppression themes with this album. The album title, Drones, is fitting. I look forward to hearing the whole album. A word of warning about the music video – the song is marked as explicit on iTunes, for language (pervasive use of the F-word).
Many times a famous band has an original vocalist who remains beloved, famous, and well remembered even after only a brief partnership and many years of passing. Deep Purple, for me and many, will always conjure up the singing of Ian Gillian (Smoke on the Water, Highway Star, Woman from Tokyo) and to a lesser extent David Coverdale (Burn, Soldier of Fortune). But who can forget the original vocalist Rod Evans? Evan had a great “set of pipes” and His Kentucky Woman cover along with the iconic Hush remain enshrined in Rock’s Hall of Fame by alumni of the late 60s and early 70s.
And for all fellow prog-heads one only need say GENESIS or MARILLION to kick-start heated arguments and scathing “put downs”Vis-a-vis vocalists. I love Phil Collins but in my estimation Peter Gabriel, whose voice is simply…
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This is not a proper gig review.
I’ve not got the time right now to do it justice, and besides, I’m still trying to process what I witnessed last night in Manchester.
So this is just me trying to get a few random thoughts and impressions committed to whatever the wordpress.com equivalent of paper is (data centre hard disk, I guess), before the buzz I’m still feeling subsides and the memory fades.
First things first: Wilson is a showman. Or rather, he’s grown into one. I’ve seen Porcupine Tree three times live and don’t remember him being as confident and self-assured with PT as he now is in front of an audience. He knows he’s produced a superb album (just the latest in a string of superb albums, let’s face it) and he knows he has musicians on stage with him who can deliver every nuance, night after night.
Of course, it’s not just about the music. Sure, he could walk on stage with his band, they could play and we could all go home happy that we’d been at a good gig. But a Steven Wilson show is more than that. It’s an experience, a veritable feast for the senses. The videos and lighting effects complement the music brilliantly. However, you don’t need to take my word for that: just check out Lasse Hoile’s photographs from the Manchester show. I’m getting shivers right now simply looking at them, as the memories come back to flood the synapses.
Attention to detail is the phrase that springs to mind – both in the way a Steven Wilson gig is presented to the audience visually and in the way that it actually sounds. A crap PA or poor venue acoustics can turn brilliant music from the greatest of bands into an evening’s entertainment that is mediocre at best. But that most emphatically is not the case here. I’ve seen him live on each of his solo tours and each time, the sound is up there with the best I’ve ever heard at a gig: not just good, but quadraphonic, to boot!
I won’t say too much about the set here, in case any of you reading this have tickets for upcoming gigs and want to avoid spoilers. However, I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say that he concentrates on the new album. The new material translates effortlessly to the live setting, particular highlights being the thrilling crescendo of Ancestral and the subsequent heart-wrenching rendition of Happy Returns. The emotional punch of the latter brings a lump to the throat, demolishing the common misconception that prog is cold or overly cerebral.
If the opportunity arises to catch this show then grab it with both hands. Seriously. If you have any liking for his music, this is something that you do not want to miss.
Well, it’s been about a year since I’ve done a TUPVR (Totally Unprofessional Video Review). Where does the time go? Of course, Chronos is insatiable.
This TUPVR went about two minutes longer than I meant, but such is life. If you’re brave enough to look at my aging, graying, wrinkling face, have at it! Five minutes of joy about Dave Kerzner’s stunning solo album, NEW WORLD. It is certainly one of the best albums of 2015, and, frankly, one of the best prog albums I’ve ever heard.
To purchase it (standard or deluxe), go here: http://www.davekerzner.com
The Tangent, A SPARK IN THE AETHER (Insideout Music, 2015).
Tracks: A Spark in the Aether; Codpieces and Capes; Clearing the Attic; Aftereugene; The Celluloid Road; A Spark in the Aether (Part 2)
The Tangent: Andy Tillison; Luke Machen; Theo Travis; Jonas Reingold; and Morgan Agren.
So let’s get the caveats out of the way first shall we?
I’m not a musician, I can’t play a note unless its accidental, and a time signature is some bloke’s name written on a watch face … but I do love music and have tried my best to keep in touch with my love throughout my life.
But I lost touch with many things when I moved away from England. Although I had one of those embarrassing ’Oh, how are you doing these days?’ conversations with a magazine stand after a fleeting visit back to the home country. That shuffled, toe-gazing mumbling was with a copy of Prog magazine whose CD promoted a track by a band called Big Big Train (Judas Unrepentant).
What immediately grabbed my attention was the Hammond.
So I ordered the full CD from the band and discovered that this chap called Andy Tillison played the organ. This led me to the Tangent.
My job requires me to travel a fair bit and my go-to music is often Le Sacre du Travail and its sister album L’Etagere Du Travail. I have to play the two in sequence, because, well, why wouldn’t you? Andy spoke to the miserable existence and the drudge of work and the need for conformity that I try to kick against (becoming frustrated when I often fail). So yes the lyrics mean as much as the music for me.
And the latest one?
The album opens with the title track ‘A Spark In The Aether’, suggesting just a hint of Manfred Mann before blossoming into a full on synth, bass and drums assault which had me anticipating what could possibly follow?
My first thought is that A Spark In The Aether continues on from the Travail albums. (I’m not ignoring the splendid “Multiplex” album, all I will say about that is buy it!) And I can’t help but link the wonderful ‘Supper’s Off‘ from L’Etagere with the wonderfully crafted ‘Codpieces and Capes’ on Spark. Both make me laugh out loud because, like Andy, I was there … well I was at school … but I was there.
‘Clearing The Attic’ immediately made me think of Perdu Dans Paris; but this is a happy song of escape for me. Jazzy, lovely guitar work and again, great keyboards and mandatory flute that is all over the place before dipping back into what I can only call that European finish and a hope to fight on. Nice mention for Sally there mate.
Now comes ‘Aftereugene’, an opening acoustic guitar and flute section that teased me with keyboards and bass with cymbal picking up a rhythm to introduce a warm tribute to Floyd à la Canterbury and a whispered line that had me weeping with laughter.
But ‘The Celluloid Road’, the “long track” is how I came to know America too. Everything that Andy sings conjured up scenes from my memory bank. I know exactly what he’s saying here and the heroic musical piece that immediately follows would fit so well into the movies in my imagination. The “on the road” section feels like a loving tribute to Middle America that had my head nodding before I realised what was going on. A driving song if ever there was one. A slow mood with crickets and images of heat haze drops us into a funky San Francisco section which picks up the pace again throwing so many cultural references at me it’s hard to keep track … it reminds me of ‘Monsanto’ at first but throws me back into giggles again with a lovely line ripped off from Isaac Hayes.
‘A Spark In The Ether’ (Part 2) closes the album properly for me. It makes me think of The Nice at first, but maybe that’s because I can’t get away from the closing words from the previous track. A warm jazzy work that Mr. T and the band can do so, so well. It’s fast and flies along at an amazing pace dropping back to the albums opening lyrics for an energetic finish.
But just as I’d relaxed, we get the Radio Edit of San Francisco which allows me to revisit those cultural references again. But I’m going to be honest, I want to hear The Celluloid Road again in its entirety.
As I said, I’m not a musician but how can I not mention the excellent contributions from Andy’s collaborators on this album. Luke Machen, Theo Travis, Jonas Reingold, and Morgan Agren all combine to produce such amazing music making me glad that I coughed up some cash to help get this album to print. Andy wrote a while back on the complexities of recording in separate bedrooms and studios to produce music, and how this was possibly the norm nowadays. Whatever your process was chaps, thank you for doing it.
So there we are. Another great album from The Tangent. It’s quite simple folks … just buy it.
This from Stu:
We can now reveal that the ‘old’ songs which have been completely re-worked and re-recorded with Karl Groom at Thin Ice Studios for inclusion on our 30th anniversary retrospective double CD ‘When Worlds Collide’ are as follows:
1. Lady Messiah (1985/2015)
2. The Chase (1988/2015)
3. City of Freedom (1986/2015)
4. Chamber of Horrors (1990/2015)
5. Dreaming from the Inside (1985/2015)
6. Room 801 (1990/2015)
7. Ocean Blue (1996/2015)
8. Don’t Lose Control (1990/015)
9. Karma For One (1997/2015)
10. Exorcising Demons ( 1993/2015)
We have tried our best, and hopefully succeeded, to be sympathetic to the spirit of the originals whilst trying to bring them up to date in terms of their arrangements and sonic quality.
More information to follow . . .
So, this comes out this week. And, yes, I’m drooling. . .
Progarchist mastermind and mathmaster Tad Wert just sent me the following via email. Thank you so much, Paul Lester and PROG. What a nice mention!
Progarchy 