(1) “Land Animal” by Bent Knee: One of my favorite albums of 2017, regardless of genre, classification, categorization, etc. As I marveled in my mini-review for Progarchy: “the whole of Bent Knee is, again, hard to describe, a mixture of orchestral-ish passages, raw but tight guitar, polyrhythmic craziness, classically-imbued moments of open tenderness, angst-packed explosions, and much more.” Don’t miss it.
(2) “In Contact” by Caligula’s Horse: The lads from Down Under rarely disappoint, and this powerful, masterful album catches them at the height of their powers. As I wrote in my fairly detailed Progarchy review: “In Contact proves the band is incapable of producing anything less than exceptional, and it is arguably their best work to date.”
(3) “Malina” by Leprous: More pop-ish and less overtly prog-ish than previous releases, this is a lean, catchy, and often anthemic album that still packs plenty of heavy punch while clearly reaching out to a wider audience. Great driving music!
(4) “The Source” by Aryeon: A wild, over-the-top sprawl of an album filled with more hooks than a deluxe fishing kit, equalled only by the number of singers (dozens? hundreds?). Considering the dystopian, apocalyptic nature of the story and lyrics, this is simply aural fun at its best. Ear candy deluxe!
Continue reading “My 12 favorite prog albums of 2017 (12 days late!)”
Lifesigns, Cardington. I think John Young is a treasure of a musician and composer, and I’m honored to travel this world at the same time as he. Intelligence radiates from everything the man does, and, even better, it’s an intelligence utterly in the service of good things. The first Lifesigns was a shock of joy to me. This one as well, though I’ve just not had the time to dive into it.
Progarchy 