What is the first chord of “A Hard Day’s Night”?
F chord on a 12-string with a G on top and a G on the bottom and a C next to that G.
Then a D on the bass.
Then on rhythm guitar a Dsus4 (i.e., D with a G note).
Mind. Officially. Blown.
Coheed and Cambria: Beyond the Wars
Coheed and Cambria, THE COLOR BEFORE THE SUN (2015).
Granted, I can’t answer the perennial question so many of us ask: are they prog or not? I really have no idea, and I’m not sure what they’d say about themselves. Regardless, Coheed and Cambria are always artful, intense, and professional (at least in the music, if not necessarily in the lyrics). Regardless, they produce very progressive rock, even if they don’t consider themselves apart of the prog fraternity.
The latest album—THE COLOR BEFORE THE SUN—is the band’s first full-length studio album not to fit into their larger mythology, THE AMORY WARS. Of course, they’ve produced a number of songs not related to their larger story—such as songs about the U.S. Supreme Court (no, I’m not joking—it’s quite humorous) and about Batman (again, not joking—but this is the first album to dare not to continue their own science fiction epic.
The end result? It’s quite good. Definitely, the album rocks. Imagine Smashing Pumpkins taken to 11, and you’d have Coheed and Cambria’s THE COLOR BEFORE THE SUN. I must admit, I have a hard time judging the album, as I love their more tradition non-traditional approach to music.
Of the ten songs, “Atlas” (track six) is probably the best.
Still, strangely enough, my favorite part of the album is the title of it. What a gorgeous title, full of promise and imagination. Utterly Platonic and enticing.
Robin Armstrong on the Physical Art of Prog
Robin Armstrong (Cosmograf) has some very important things to write about the actual, tangible, physical art of prog.
A few folk have been asking about the availability of lyrics for the Cosmograf Albums. We don’t provide these in any other form other than in the CD booklets. The reason for that is that we want to protect the remaining value of the physical product in a world where it is being increasingly marginalised alongside less and less available income streams for bands. A huge amount of work goes into our booklets with superb artwork and photography, which often never gets seen by those buying from digital platforms. When you buy a CD not only do you get a great audio experience you get the great artwork and the printed lyrics too.
Amen, Robin. Amen.
Bone Bash XVI: Def Leppard/Styx/Tesla @ Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View CA 09/19/15
Bone Bash is the annual super gig put on by KSAN 107.7 The Bone. I had always wanted to see Tesla and Def Leppard perform, more so Def Lep. To me they were one of the few groups that successfully married pop and metal, even though calling them pop could be an insult to most fans. The first opener was the mighty Tesla and they didn’t disappoint. I’ve been wanting to see these guys for a while now, I kick myself for missing a local gig a couple years ago. Tesla is unique because they emerged during the mid 80s hair metal/glam era and remained down to Earth the whole time: authentic rock n’ roll – no frills, no bullshit, blue collar rock. While the Sunset Strip acts were sporting spandex, make-up, lace and leather, Tesla retained an almost hippie throwback kind of look and philosophy. Jeans, t-shirts, solid playing ability (and good hair) were all they needed. Tesla plays…
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Stryper — “After Forever” — Black Sabbath cover from Stryper’s Fallen (2015) — Metal Mondays on Progarchy
Here’s a little more fun for you for today’s “Metal Monday“…
Stryper — “After Forever”
a Black Sabbath cover from Stryper’s awesome new album: Fallen
Review: Prospective – Chronosphere
Prospective from Bologna, Italy recently released their debut EP “Chronosphere” on Bandcamp.
The first song on the six-track release is “Karma’s Lesson” which kicks off with an ambient intro, but soon enough takes its shape towards prog djenting, with vocalist Pietro Serratore clean vocals reminiscent of Tesseract’s Dan Tompkins. Serratore additionally does a lot of growling throughout the EP.
Immensely atmospheric “Dreamshade” is one of the band’s strongest representatives, as it defines in the best possible way what Prospective is about. Groovy guitars, effects and synth play are what makes this tune stands out, with vocals fitting perfectly to the overall concept. The mixture of post-rock, progressive rock, ambient and djent would be a stripped down definition of what this tune brings.
“Increase Pt. 1” is the slowest (read: the most atmospheric) and the shortest song on the EP; it’s dark and doomy and shows the other side of the band’s personality. The following “Increase Pt. 2” is 9-odd minutes long piece which in “short” summaries what these young Italians create. Serratore continues to shine, guitarists Davide Ruggeri and Luca Zini are nothing less short of showing their creativity and performance, and rhythm section comprised of Stefano Baldanza (bass) and Flavio Cacciari (drums) are on par with the rest of the band in terms of high quality performance. “Increase Pt. 2” is very riff-based piece, but guitar solos provide diversity.
“Explore” has a very Volumesque vibe and stands out with very matching clean vocals and melody in the chorus. This tune also knows how to groove. The closing “Chronos Speaks” sounds as the most prog tune on the record and is a great way to close this more than solid release.
All in all, the sound of “Chronosphere” is very good and powerful. This EP is definitely one of the stronger progressive/djent metal releases this year, and knowing that it comes from a newcomer on the scene it adds up to its value. Check it out!
Get “Chronosphere” on Bandcamp, and follow Prospective on Facebook.
Nad Sylvan – “Courting the Widow”
Read about the surprising and elegant new solo album from Nad Sylvan.
http://theprogmind.com/2015/10/15/nad-sylvan-courting-the-widow/
PAIN OF SALVATION Works On New Concept Album
Swedish progressive rock innovators Pain of Salvation have kept busy working on various new recording projects ever since their latest release, the semi-acoustic album “Falling Home” from November 2014. Having just returned from some successful shows in Russia, Pain of Salvation have now also announced a next string of shows in The Netherlands and Italy. Here are…
http://www.prog-sphere.com/news/pain-salvation-works-new-concept-album/
