Brad’s post below on his Top 101 albums of the rock era got me thinking about my favorite albums of the same era. And given his hopes that we all do a similar post, I’m only too happy to oblige now given a few free hours and an overwhelming urge to write something (that’s not job related, which I get enough of Monday-Friday and often times on weekends).
I’ve discussed elsewhere that coming up with a list of five or ten desert island discs would be nearly impossible for me. If I was a secret agent under interrogation, a knowledgeable interrogator could easily get actionable intelligence from me by simply trying to force me to come up with such a list. Thus, I’m not going to restrict this list to any particular number of albums.
On the other hand, I am going to put one restriction on this list – I’m not going to list anything I’ve first heard in 2013. For me, it takes time to fully digest great works of art, and thus all of these albums here will be ones that have stood the test of time for me. This will eliminate some great albums from the list, such as English Electric 2 by Big Big Train, Riverside’s spectacular Shrine of New Generation Slaves, and other great releases from a year that is shaping up to be one of incredible abundance for excellent prog rock. It will also eliminate albums such as Spirt of Eden by Talk Talk and Tick Tock by Gazpacho, neither of which I had actually heard until a few months ago. Nevertheless, all of the releases mentioned in this paragraph are extremely likely to end up on a future edition of this list.
Finally, here and there, I will add a few notes about some of the albums on the list. Maybe to give some insight as to why I like them, maybe an interesting fact about them … who knows. The reasons will hopefully be self-evident.
Genre-wise, the list will cover a lot more than just prog, but generally will stay within the realm of rock. This will eliminate some other favorite albums, such as two excellent releases of instrumental flamenco guitar by the late Italian guitarist Gino D’ Auri. It will also eliminate some classical guitar oriented albums by Steve Hackett that I otherwise like very much.
Anwyay, without further adieu, my list:
AC/DC – Back in Black
Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic
Aerosmith – Rocks
Aerosmith – Rock in a Hard Place (this is a *very* underrated album among Aerosmith fans, in my opinion, probably since it was the only one without Joe Perry. But Jimmy Crespo did a bang-up job in his role, and this album flat out rocks. As an Amazon reviewer noted, it’s “criminally underrated.”)
Arena – The Visitor
The Beatles – Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Big Big Train – English Electric, Part 1
Big Big Train – The Underfall Yard
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Black Sabbath – Sabotage
Black Sabbath – The Mob Rules
The Cult – Electric
The Cult – Sonic Temple
Days of the New I (sometimes referred to as ‘Yellow’)
Days of the New II (sometimes referred to as ‘Green’. This album came out in autumn, 1999, around the time I was going through a divorce from my first wife. As you can imagine, I was a whirlwind of emotions. This album both resonated with me and grounded me during that time. It’s also spectacularly good).
Drive By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera
Drive By Trucker – The Dirty South (If you’ve ever lived south of the Mason-Dixon line for any extended length of time and like raw, gritty music, then these two albums are for you).
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Trilogy
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (one of the best pop albums ever. It showed that ‘pop’ and ‘quality’ need not be mutually exclusive. I swear my opinion here is in no way swayed by the fact that Stevie Nicks was a strong celebrity crush of mine in the late ’70’s … no, really … ok, maybe a little)
The Flower Kings – Space Revolver
Gazpacho – Night
Genesis – Selling England by the Pound
Genesis – A Trick of the Tail
Genesis – Wind and Wuthering
Glass Hammer – Perilous
Grateful Dead, Charlotte, 3-23-1995 (This isn’t officially an album, but rather a bootleg recording of the only Grateful Dead show I ever attended. While I was nothing close to being a Deadhead, it was a great show, and I can certainly understand why The Dead had so many dedicated fans. One additional note – Bruce Hornsby sat in on piano that night).
Heart – Little Queen
Iron Maiden – Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden – Powerslave
Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
Jefferson Airplane – The Worst of Jefferson Airplane (yes, a greatest hits album, but what a great collection of songs here).
Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick
Jethro Tull – Warchild
Jethro Tull – Minstrel in the Gallery
Jethro Tull – Songs from the Wood
John Cougar Mellencamp – Scarecrow
Jon and Vangelis – Short Stories
Jon Anderson – Olias of Sunhillow
Jon Anderson – Song of Seven
Jon Anderson – Change We Must
Judas Priest – British Steel
Kansas – Leftoverture
Kansas – Point of Know Return
Kerry Livegren – Seeds of Change
King Crimson – In The Court of the Crimson King
Led Zeppelin – III
Led Zeppelin – IV
Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin – Presence (It would seem strange to call a band as lauded as Led Zeppelin ‘underrated’, but I think the label applies. They did music that falls into so many different genres, from bluesy music such as ‘When The Levee Breaks’, to prog-tinted stuff such as ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ‘Kashmir’ and ‘In The Light’, to folky stuff such as ‘The Battle of Evermore’ and ‘Gallows Pole’ to flat out rockers such as ‘Rock and Roll’ and ‘Out on the Tiles’ … and they did them all extremely well).
Lone Justice – their self-titled debut. (Their cowpunk sound was a little bit ahead of it’s time, and if they had debuted in the mid-90’s or later when the alt-country wave hit, they might still be around. Also, it’s entirely possible my opinion here is swayed a bit again by the celebrity crush thing, the object of which being lead singer Maria McKee)
Marillion – Script for a Jester’s Tear
Marillion – Clutching at Straws
Marillion – Brave (this was an album that didn’t click with me on the first few listens, and I set it aside. Years later I picked it up again, gave it a good listen, and was blown away, wondering how I missed it the first time around. A true masterpiece).
Montrose – their self-titled debut.
The Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed
Mother Love Bone – a self-titled album. (One really wonders how music history would have been different if the lead singer of this Seattle-based band, the flamboyant Andrew Wood, hadn’t succumbed to his demons and died of a heroin overdose on the verge of releasing their debut album in 1990. There almost certainly would have been no Pearl Jam, and I wonder if the grunge thing would have ever taken off, given that Mother Love Bone’s sound was nothing like that of the other bands of the same time and place).
Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Live Rust
Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Weld (both live albums, and thus compilations, but both are very good. In fact, I think most of the songs on these albums sound better live than in the studio).
Paul Simon – Graceland
Pearl Jam – Vitalogy
Pete Townshend – Empty Glass
Pete Townshend – White City (a ridiculously underrated album)
Pink Floyd – Meddle
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
The Police – Syncrhonicity
Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
Queen – News of the World
R.E.M. – Life’s Rich Pageant
Renaissance – Novella
Renaissance – Turn of the Cards
Riverside – Rapid Eye Movement (I thought of this album as pretty good when I first listened. I’ve re-assessed lately, and now realize it’s great, the best of the ‘Reality Dream’ trilogy in my opinion).
Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition
The Rolling Stones – Some Girls
Rush – 2112
Rush – A Farewell to Kings
Rush – Hemispheres
Rush – Permanent Waves
Rush – Moving Pictures
Rush – Grace Under Pressure
Rush – Power Windows
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Rush – Exit Stage Left (a great live album)
Saga – World’s Apart
Simple Minds – Once Upon A Time (Another album that proved ‘pop’ and ‘quality’ need not be mutually exclusive. This album had some exceptionally strong melodies).
Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger
Steve Hackett – Voyage of the Acolyte
Steve Hackett – Spectral Mornings
Tool – Lateralus
Tool – 10,000 Days
Trevor Rabin – Can’t Look Away
U2 – War
Van Halen – Fair Warning (another very underrated album)
There several things I (Brad-ed.) want and have wanted to accomplish with Progarchy.
First and foremost, I wanted to form (and have certainly achieved) a cadre of great writers. It’s my opinion that any reviewer (of any form of art) should be as good in her or his craft as those being reviewed. Who wants to read a poor writer when reading about works of beauty, goodness, and truth? The disconnect is too great. Frankly, I think we Progarchists have accomplished this; we’ve been successful, and we’re not even quite a year old. And, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I think the writers of Progarchy can match any writers anywhere on the internet in terms of depth, craft, wisdom, and empathy.
Not a single writer of Progarchy wants to put a thing of nastiness next to a work of greatness. It’s not in the nature of any one of us. Not to be Nietzschean, but we want excellence to match excellence. Really, why do a thing without excellence–whether it’s cleaning the kitchen floor or writing a novel? Why waste the time. Mediocrity hovers like a cancer over much of history and the world (I blame big governments and big corporations for this, but I’m merely express an opinion). But, if we look at the culture and civilization that gave us progressive rock, we see a society of amazing persons, whether we agree with every aspect of those persons or not: Socrates, Cicero, Hillel, St. John, or King Alfred. Not a single one of these persons is mediocre.
Second, we want to connect reviewer to artist and reviewer and artist to listener. If we (and by we, I mean me–Brad) err, it’s probably on the side of being Fanboyish/Fangirlish at times. But, again, I think as reviewers we should be fine with this. While I greatly admire, for example, biographers who can explain the evil of a Josef Stalin or an Adolf Hitler, in my own work, I want to look at J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, persons I admire and consider heroes. I’m not interested in hiding their flaws, but I am intensely interested in finding their greatnesses. Even in this world of egalitarianism, I want heroes. Nothing excellent is based in equality. It can’t be. If it were average, it wouldn’t be excellent. All excellences are particular and individual.
Additionally, I don’t want to spend my time analyzing someone through the lens of hatred, no matter how necessary it is for us as a civilization and as–simply–humanity to deconstruct and analyze such horrors in our society. So, while I’m glad there are folks dedicating their lives to studying the writings and actions of a Hitler, I want to think deeply about people I love and admire.
Give me, for example, a Greg Spawton or David Longdon over a Justin Bieber (in full disclosure, I’ve never heard a song by Bieber). Give me a Matt Stevens, not a Madonna (yes, I’ve heard Madonna songs). Give me a Matt Cohen, not a Lady Gaga (ok, don’t know her either). Give me a Giancarlo Erra and Nosound, not a corporatized boy band. Give me a Jerry Ewing, not an (don’t even know the name) editor of People! Give me a Neil Peart or a Mark Hollis, not a Nicholas Sparks. Give me a Brian Watson not a Thomas Kinkade. Well, you get the point.
In the spirit of this editorial, let me state that I’m very, very happy to inaugurate a new irregular feature at Progarchy–a discussion with the artists themselves about what is happening right now in their lives. How they’re responding to their older works; what they think about art and beauty; and what they want for their futures. Our first such feature comes from a beloved artist at Progarchy, Cailyn Lloyd. And, so it begins. . . .
On Facebook, Chris McGarel posted his favorite albums of all time. It’s an excellent list. I’d like to do the same, and I’m hoping all of the Progarchists will as well at some point. But, I’m not quite ready to be so definitive yet. So, instead of a “best of,” I offer a list of 101 favorites, subject to change over time. Two weeks before turning 46. . . with a bit of humility and more than a bit of awe, I offer the following 100 in (according to group name) alphabetic order.
So, after nearly a year of existence (and, yes, I’m rather proud of progarchy’s success!), I’ve finally gotten around to getting a proper contact email for our website. So, if you have questions, or if you want to send us links to your music. . . please. We’d love it.
Our new official email address: progarchy@gmail.com. Not creative, but efficient and memorable.
Just as The Tangent’s Le Sacre du Travail was entering into the ordinary time of our lives, Andy Tillison (though the son of a Congregationalist minister) jolts us toward a high Feast Day, and the liturgy of life and art continues with The Tangent’s second release of 2013.
A moveable but glorious feast, L’Étagère Du Travail offers us more glimpses–through a glass, not darkly, as it turns out (with apologies to Paul)–of the essence of truth and beauty.
Please forgive all of the religious references, but musicians such as Tillison, Spawton, Longdon, Armstrong, Cohen, Erra, Stevens, and others bring this out in me. These fine artists always reach for the best, and that best is often beyond any rational interpretation or explanation. It’s no wonder the medievals spoke of artists with reverence and awe, in terms of ecstasy. They touch something the rest of us (the vast, vast majority of us) can only sense exists.
2013 will go down, someday, as one of the best years in the history of progressive rock music, and Tillison has now contributed not one but two major releases and, consequently, two critical steps to and toward the sheer quality of this year.
The Tangent has been in existence for over a decade now, and Mr. Diskdrive himself, Andy Tillison, that red-headed, mischievous sprite, has given the music world much to celebrate. Tillison has consistently brought together the best of the best musicians, and he has orchestrated all–lyrics, instruments, and arrangements–with some thing that is nothing short of brilliance.
The “red-headed” one. Stolen from Tillison’s FB page. Without permission but not with malice.
This new release, available exclusively at thetangent.org consists of ten tracks including, as the website notes, five new “unreleased demo” tracks and 3 “revisitations.” The 10 tracks come to roughly 1.2 hours of music. So, this is no EP. As Tillison notes on the site, it’s a companion album, a “sister” (a very lovable little sister, I presume) to Le Sacre du Travail.
As with its sibling–naturally having received almost nothing but rave reviews–L’Étagère Du Travail is a must own. It needs to be in the collection of anyone who appreciates fine art, but especially for those of us who like our music progressive.
I received a review copy just after departing for family vacation, and it has, in many ways, become the soundtrack of my trip into the American West, despite the fact Tillison is, perhaps, the most English of English folk!
From my many listens, I’m absolutely taken with and blown away by the energy and the highly controlled anger of the album. It’s jazzier and more experimental (there’s even a hint of disco on one track, “Dancing in Paris”–all done, of course, with taste), moment by moment, than Le Sacre du Travail. This, of course, is to be expected, as the former album told a coherent story, while this companion album explores the same sacred space, but in exemplary fragments not in overarching mythos.
Yet, Tillison’s art is unmistakably Tillison’s art. Every single thing you love about The Tangent is here in abundance. As far as I know, I (rather proudly) own everything The Tangent has recorded with the exception of A Place on the Bookshelf (a stupid oversight on my part; it slipped under my radar when it came out; and I’ve regretted not buying it ever since), and I’ve been listening to them for a decade.
Getting a review copy just on the eve of my longed-for summer vacation into the Rockies was akin–again, forgive the religious references–to having wine filled to the brim at a wedding. As it was at Cana, so it must be in York. Tillison’s goodness overflows.
Yet, as I just wrote–there’s a lot of anger in this album, but it’s the anger of a righteous man, the kind of anger that demands justice. What Tillison does with his lyrics is criticize what desperately needs to be criticized in this world. He does it with passion, but also with immense graciousness, charity, and exactness. This is not the cheesiness of Bono’s preaching in 1987, but the jeremiad of, well, a modern Jeremiah, albeit an atheist anarchist Jeremiah. Tillison wants the idealism of his era to meet reality, and he finds the post-modern world more than a bit disconcerting. The Tangent’s website proclaims correctly and with perfect self-understanding, “Progressive Rock Music for a World on Auto-pilot.”
Yes. Absolutely, yes. Every word Tillison sings proclaims, “Wake up, world!!!”
I’ve never had the privilege of meeting Tillison in person, but I suspect he’s rather Chestertonian–clever as the dickens and willing to let the world know what needs to be known, but always with that impish and knowing smile and always with a wry sense of humor. He is, I believe, a man who reaches and reaches but who understands too much of human nature to be taken in by the nakedness of the king.
Topics on this companion album include generational betrayal, crony capitalism, and corporate biotechnology.
As soon as I heard the first lyrics of “Monsanto,” I knew I’d love this album as much as any thing Tillison has written. Perfection itself. My favorite track, however, is the bitterly hilarious “Supper’s Off,” an obvious reference to the Genesis classic, complete with generational disgust and bewilderingly Apocalyptic imaginings, bettered only by John the Revelator himself at Patmos!
As I’ve noted before at progarchy and elsewhere, the various prog musicians in the world today are nothing if not perfectionists. Eccentrics, to be sure, but perfectionists, too. And, to these perfectionist eccentrics, I offer the highest praise I can. If every person took her or his life and work as seriously as do the greatest of prog musicians, the world would not swirl so close to the abyss, the killing fields might be kept a bit more at bay, and we might all recognize the unique genius in every one of our neighbors. Or, as Tillison writes of himself: “romantic enough to believe you can change the world with a song. I wanna write that song.”
Mr. Diskdrive, thank you. Thank you for truth, and thank you for beauty. Long may you rage.
*****
Order from http://www.thetangent.org/. Now. Yes, now. Hit the link. Quit reading this–go now! Ha. Sorry–too many John Hughes’ movies in my life. Go order!
Seriously, enjoy this offering from The Tangent. L’Étagère Du Travail by The Tangent (2013). Tracks: Monsanto; Lost in Ledston; The Iron Crows (La Mer); Build a new House with The Le; Supper’s Off; Dancing in Paris; Steve Wright in the Afternoon; A Voyage through Rush Hour; The Ethernet (Jakko Vocal Mix); and The Canterbury Sequence live.
For interviews with Tillison (including with the grandest of interviewers, Eric Perry and Geoff Banks), check these out:
interview – Eric Perry, “beta tester” for the new album asks Andy some very involved questions about it – and gets some very involved answers.
interview – The Dutch Progressive Rock Page’s David Baird asks about the album, the band, the lineup changes etc
radio interview – Geoff Banks and Andy natter on ad-infinitum about prog, pop, Magenta, the UK, the world etc.
For those about to read, this is a summary of my visit to the Night of the Prog festival in Loreley, Germany on 13th and 14th July 2013. It’s quite long and is effectively in three parts…The Journey and Site; Day 1 and Day 2. I hope you enjoy it.
Introduction
Since I got back ‘into’ music about 10 years ago I’ve always had an urge to spread my wings, venture outside our ‘Green and Pleasant Land’ and travel to a European festival. The opportunity arose when I saw the initial line-up of Night of the Prog (8) and this was reinforced with the late addition of Amplifier (a personal favourite). The line-up announced was an unusual mix, with the classic Canterbury sound of Caravan sharing the stage with young post-rock upstarts Maybeshewill. The biggest name in Prog, Steve Wilson may have been headlining on Day 1 but we had Prog Death Metal giants Opeth from Sweden finishing proceedings on Day 2, preceded by metal specialist Devin Townsend. This interesting combination had, according to organiser Win, not helped with ticket sales. Certainly the festival was not replete with Classic Prog artists and for those who weren’t aware of the line-up, here it is:
Day 1Day 2
Sanguine Hum Anima Mundi
Sound of Contact Maybeshewill
The Pineapple Thief Anglagard
Crippled Black Phoenix Amplifier
Magma Caravan
Steve Wilson The Devin Townsend Project
. Opeth
On day 1 we had the complex Prog sound of Sanguine Hum; the contemporary, slightly ‘commercial’ Sound of Contact; the power pop-prog of The Pineapple Thief; the ‘blended’ rock mix of CBP; Magma’s own unique ‘Zeul’ genre and the dark vision of Steve Wilson.
On day 2 Anima Mundi would kick things off with some symphonic prog; Maybeshewill would follow up with instrumental, guitar laden post-rock; Anglagard would make a rare appearance to grace us with their angular but beautifully haunting sound. Amplifier would rock us out with their heavy, spacey vision; Caravan would share their classic, playful Canterbury sound. I’m sure the DTP would try to blow our eardrums with his wall of sound metal and Opeth would hopefully surprise us with a curious mix of death metal growling (the old stuff) and the newer, more standard prog vibe.
To me a perfect mix with something for everyone. And for those ‘one dimensionauts’ (?) an opportunity to broaden their listening habits and possibly ‘acquire the taste’ for other genres.
The ‘Trip’
We left early on Friday 12th knowing the 475 mile trip would take most of the day. With all our victuals safely onboard my German car we arrived without incident at Folkestone to catch ‘Le Shuttle’. Why we were singled out for a drug inspection is beyond me. We were on a road trip, no other type. No drugs detected we safely embarked on the train and proceeded without incident to France. Trusting in Ms Sat Nav we drove through the flatlands of northern France and Belgium, passing Dunkirk and the fields of Flanders, the scene of so much carnage in two World Wars. Passing Brussels to the north and joining the A314, the Sat Nav perked up and said ‘Follow this road FOR A LONG WAY’. Yes indeed and we finally entered Germany. If I thought there was one country with a hassle free road system it would be this country famed for its efficiency. Unfortunately due to incessant road works and traffic jams we crawled into Koblenz. My co-driver was literally ‘Sleeping in Traffic’ as I listened to my favourite 35 minute track!
Everything in Germany appears big, large-scale. From the monstrous power stations we passed to the sheer scale of the river and other valleys spanned by hugely impressive engineering feats of construction. The countryside in this part of Germany is detritus fee and all the cars seem clean and new. There’s a sense of opulence. I lost count of how many large, black Mercedes passed us by effortlessly.
As we approached Koblenz the Sat Nav came into its own as we traversed a myriad of A and B roads until we found ourselves on the East bank of the Rhine (and that’s very important to get right travelling to Loreley). We climbed up the heights enveloping the river before the road bent down towards the river bank. A ten mile drive along the winding Rhine, resplendent in sunshine, we passed numerous charming villages at each bend.
Arriving at St Goarshausen, the village below the Loreley heights, we abruptly stopped and were ensnared in the ‘Muse’ traffic. The world-famous band was playing the venue that very night. There is only one way up to Loreley and we snaked our way up the steep road in a file of traffic and finally arrived at the world famous site at around 1900 hours. A long journey completed we were in definite need of succour.
The Campsite
The fact that we were only aware of Muse’s presence shortly before the event meant we didn’t have tickets and this was a major bummer. Muse gets a lot of bad press from Prog fans but I have a great admiration for them both as musicians and for their somewhat bombastic rock.
By the time we had erected our tent and had a bite to eat (a very late full English breakfast) the site had exploded into the shuddering power of Muse’s stadium rock.
The campsite was only about 300 metres from the Amphitheatre and the acoustics are such that you almost feel you are sat watching with the paying fans. So we heard Muse perform a greatest hits collection, with a fantastic cover version of Man with a Harmonica from Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West as an intro to Knights of Cydonia. Listening to this immense soundtrack to this classic Spaghetti Western is recommended.
Muse finished around 2300 hours and this was followed by chaotic scenes as cars, vans and tour buses tried to leave through the one narrow exit. Although I was tired, sleep was impossible so I texted Nic Dewulf, a fellow Big Big Train fan from Belgium, and we met up on the campsite. We had a good Prog chinwag with Nic and his friends. Nic is keeping the flag flying amongst the youth of today (he’s only 23…a prog babe in arms!).
The returning Muse fans were a little ‘wired’ and this coupled with Prog fans excited with the prospect of a superb weekend in glorious weather, led to a barmy late evening. However, somehow I managed to dose off only to be woken up to what seemed to be Symphonic Prog to the left of me and a Metalfest to the right of me. I have to say that in a masochistic way I enjoyed the surprisingly melodious power of a German baritone accompanied by two tenors singing an unrepeatable (i.e. very rude) chorus from a metal song I knew but just couldn’t place. Glorious stuff!
I eventually returned to slumber, awoke early at 0645 and had an early shower and shave. Generally I found the facilities pretty good at the campsite but there did seem to be a lack of toilet paper (always a camping essential) and there’s little room for modesty as the main shower block was unisex! A nice English cup of tea was imbibed followed by another as I seem to need a couple to get me going in the morning nowadays. This restored me to a semblance of health and my invigorated body felt capable of enjoying the Day 1 festivities.
The Loreley site
It was a beautiful morning and with proceedings not commencing until 1400 hours we decided to enjoy the world famous views. Loreley is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated on the east bank of the Rhine at a sharp bend in the river. The natural cliff face is approximately 120 metres high and the sheer drop has little protection with only a few nominated viewpoints having railings. The campsite is literally on the edge of the cliff face.
The vista is stunning, clearly displaying the natural beauty of this part of the Rhine, which is a walkers’ paradise. Roads run along the edge of both sides of the river as the Rhine cuts through the natural gorge in the countryside. To the north there are beautiful views of picture postcard towns, villages and castles flanking the river. The river traffic is frequent with many huge long barges carrying various trade cargoes and sightseeing boats traversing their course. The river is fairly narrow at this point and navigation is difficult. I have attached some pictures but they cannot do justice to the impressive beauty of this area of the Rhine.
DAY 1 – The Bands
The venue itself was built in the 1930s as a Nazi ‘Thingplatze’ to host cultural events and can hold a maximum of 18,000 with 5,000 seats. Over the next two days the number of attendees was slightly disappointing with perhaps 3000-4000 people enjoying the music. From the back the Amphitheatre slopes quite steeply with the grassy banks offering shade for the weary festival goer. There were the usual official merchandise tents together with CD and vinyl stalls offering the best of European Prog music. Beer and even a cocktail tent provided refreshment. Food stalls mainly provided local cuisine with varieties of ‘Wurst’ on offer.
The stone, semi-circular seating provided both an excellent view and sore bottoms, with various innovative ways being used to provide a comfortable perch.
Sanguine Hum
First up were Sanguine Hum who have been receiving critical acclaim for their last two albums Diving Bell and The Weight of the World, the latter being played in its entirety (I think). This was the second time I have seen them and I would like to report I really like them but I’m still undecided! Their music is full of complex time signatures and lacks the sort of fluidity I like. Joff Winks’ vocals are light and a touch fragile at times. Technically demanding to play with intricate arrangements, it’s clever, inventive music that the band delivers with aplomb but whilst it’s interesting contemporary progressive music, it doesn’t press enough of my musical buttons…at the moment. I need to spend a little more time listening to their recordings, methinks.
In terms of the set, it’s always difficult being the first band and I felt they were slightly in awe of the surroundings. I think Joff Winks, who is obviously a modest chap, seemed almost apologetic to be on stage and could try to engage a bit more with the audience.
Sound of Contact
The brainchild of David Kerzner and Simon Collins (yes Phil is his dad!), Sound of Contact have been kicking up a bit of a storm with their new concept album, Dimensionaut. Once again, my second live listen, the band commenced with a short instrumental number and followed up with three tracks that I would consider almost ‘commercial’ in sound and structure (God forbid!). Simon Collins sounds very similar to his father, with similar looks and mannerisms to boot. A little AOR for my taste, particularly Pale Blue Dot, but nonetheless engaging. They finished with Mobius Slip, a classic long ‘proggy’ track with the middle section reminding me of Porcupine Tree in their heavier period. They are newcomers and I’m sure their sound will develop (and become more progressive?). They performed confidently live and were better than when I saw them at the Garage in London recently supporting Spocks Beard. Good luck to them on their extensive European and North American tour.
The Pineapple Thief
Third up was Bruce Soord’s vehicle, The Pineapple Thief, who were determined to add some more energy into proceedings. The crowd were, like me, beginning to flag in the heat. Bruce Soord has been around a long time and is beginning to receive the acclaim he deserves. I was interested to see how they would perform in a venue that for them was seriously large. I saw them last year at the tiny Barfly club in Camden and you could hardly swing a cat in there.
The latest output Someone Here is Missing and All the Wars is Prog-pop with simple repetitive riffs and this provided the bulk of the set. The band displayed a lot of energy on stage and the crowd responded with chorus singing, clapping in 6/8 time and some dodgy ‘swaying’ at times (or were these people hallucinating as the heat radiated off the stone seating!). I’m a great fan of TPTs output over the years and they delivered an invigorating set that revitalised me. A well deserved standing ovation and the first encore.
Crippled Black Phoenix
A sort of UK supergroup, CPB released their first album in 2006 and has gone through numerous line-up changes over the years. Their sound combines elements of heavy/blues based rock, post-rock and at times a ‘stoner’ sound and they mix instrumental only with standard verse, chorus tracks. I thought they were a little slow to get going at first but when they did they totally commanded the stage and produced a killer set. I particularly liked their cover of ‘Of a Lifetime’ by Journey but that was on the ‘softer’ side of things. I own a couple of their albums, one of which is quite mellow, but live, with the luxury of 7 members and notably 3 guitarists, they produced a much heavier, very powerful, almost ‘wall of sound’. It was slow, head-banging stuff to me. They finished incredibly strongly and literally rocked the amphitheatre down, receiving a prolonged standing ovation as they brought the set to a dramatic, stunning conclusion with the anthemic ‘Burnt Reynolds’. Definitely a band I would see again and one I recommend as a live act. I was so impressed I went to the ‘merch’ desk and bought one of their albums on vinyl.
Magma
Magma are the vision of Christian Vander and have been granted their own musical genre called ‘Zeuhl’ and sing in their own made-up language ‘Kobaian’. Heralding from the classic era of Prog in the 70s they sound absolutely nothing like their contemporaries. Magma deliver a truly unique musical sound, with a classical music structure, dominated by repetitive chanting. I was really looking forward to hearing them after being left intrigued by their classic ‘Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh’ (MDK) on vinyl recently (essential preparation I was told!). This album is part 1 of their cult sci-fi trilogy.
Let’s be honest here, the music is bizarre and you have to be a little bit weird, perhaps even insane to like this stuff. However as I can stomach, and at times like, acts such as Captain Beefhart, Zappa , Mr Bungle and The Residents I am probably ‘certified’ myself.
The set commenced with a track from a new but as yet unreleased album which was driven along nicely with a single pulse-like bass line and was even a little funky at times. Was Mr Vander going a bit soft in his old age? Certainly not, as the set took us into increasingly darker and bizarre territory, exposing us to tribal themes and culminated in the whole of MDK itself. The chanting, both unrelenting and severe, was delivered by three accomplished singers (one man, two women). It’s somewhat like Carmina Burana on drugs. The language itself sounds very Germanic and quite harsh to my ear. The music is multi-layered with a strong drum (at times tribal) and bass line throughout. Everything is quite repetitive, particularly the vocal chanting that as it increases in intensity has a hypnotic, even trance-like quality. At times I felt like a drug-induced disciple of Dionysus being whipped into a frenzied state of heightened self-awareness (it was NOT sexual ecstasy!) And, before you ask, I hadn’t imbibed in anything more than a few weak German beers.
One has to admire Mr Vander for maintaining his vision and there is no doubt that all the musicians are talented but it’s a difficult listen and comes over as quite awkward, even uncomfortable at times. If you haven’t heard Magma then I think it’s fair to say you will not have heard anything like it before…well I haven’t that’s for sure.
However, in a strangely masochistic way I actually enjoyed
it. I’ve always been intrigued by challenging music that break boundaries. It speaks volumes for Magma’s reputation that a lot of the other musicians (notably Steven Wilson and Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt) watched the set alongside the audience.
Steven Wilson
So we came to the headline act, the Prog God himself, Mr Steven Wilson, who was the main attraction to all the attendees I had spoken to. I had already seen the show in London earlier in the year and I know of no-one who wasn’t blown away by that evening, even some of the SW sceptics. The Raven That Refused To Sing is SW’s latest solo offering and he had assembled an array of amazing talent to support him (I won’t repeat them here). The new album shows that SW is quite willing to tinker with his previous winning formula as TRTRTS has a much more jazzy edge to it. I’m a great admirer of most of SW’s work from the early ‘psychedelic’ phase of Porcupine Tree through the ‘heavier’ years to the darker social commentary of his later work. I’m presuming most people at Loreley had not seen the show before. I was hoping for a little variation from the London set but there were only marginal changes. Basically he played the whole of TRTRTS and finished with the old Porcupine Tree favourite Radioactive Toy.
So how good was it? Technically it was almost flawless, like listening to CD quality on a high-spec hi-fi system. The show is a stunning audio and visual experience. The videos are superb, although rather unsettling, but that’s not surprising considering the album’s supernatural themes. But I was slightly disappointed with the lack of interaction with the crowd. The man himself delivered a few quips and witticisms but there was little ‘on-stage’ involvement from the rest of the band who just seemed to ‘get on with it’. There is no doubt in my mind that SW is a real ‘mover and shaker’ in the Prog world and his latest offering is a ‘tour de force’ (especially live). But for me the second offering was a little bit flat compared to my first experience. I like the uncertainties surrounding a live setting with the possibility of hearing a slightly different interpretation of songs but it seemed all very calculated to me. Having said this, the crowd absolutely loved it and they were right to do so.
A great finish to Day 1 with events closing at 1245 in the morning.
Day 2
Oh dear, that pork burger and spicy fries backfired on me the next morning. Even a quick walk, a caffeine fix and shower wouldn’t do the trick so I lay on my carry mat feeling a tad sorry for myself until gone 11am. With events commencing at midday on Sunday, 7 bands performing and a 2300 hours curfew, I shook myself out of my self-induced stupor and arrived shortly after Anima Mundi had started the festivities on day 2.
Anima Mundi
Now these guys (and gals) hail from Cuba and have being trawling a lonely furrow in their home country since for over ten years. I had purchased their latest CD titled ‘The Way’ following a taster on ‘The Prog Dog’ show, hosted by the incorrigible Geoff Banks and Jon Patrick. Anima Mundi means ‘spirit of the world’ and hailing from Cuba they evidenced the growing cosmopolitan reach of progressive music. A five piece with extra percussion and clarinet at times, they deliver a neo symphonic rock full of swathing synth and melody. They clearly loved having the opportunity to expose their craft to a wider audience and played with a refreshing passion and energy. I only recognised the last track, ‘Cosmic Man’ from ‘The Way’ but thoroughly enjoyed the whole set which was significantly heavier and rockier than I had heard on cd. A great start to the day.
Maybeshewill
I think a few eyebrows were raised when MSW were announced as an act as they are a young band delivering purely instrumental post-rock with some limited vocal sampling. Certainly their youthful looks and general attire appeared slightly out of place in the surroundings and, occasionally, they looked slightly uncomfortable. Their sound is quite straightforward with two guitars pounding out short, punchy power riffs and these dominate at the expense of the keyboards, although there were a few nice soft, usually ‘intro’, keyboard passages. Many of the riffs were very catchy, if a bit ‘samey’ and I found myself foot-tapping along. I’m a great post-rock fan with one of my favourite bands in any genre being Mogwai and I also get absorbed into the darker themes produced by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and This Will Destroy You.
I felt that the crowd reaction, who did their best to warm to these youngsters put before them, was not helped by the polite but very taciturn nature of the lead singer. I know it’s the ‘done thing’ for youngsters to be a lit bit distant from the older generation (believe me – I have kids of 18 and 20) but music should, and indeed does, help to break down age barriers. So a piece of advice to the band, if I may be so bold… us old-timers are an accommodating, tolerant bunch and more engagement would help your performance and enhance our enjoyment. Overall , I’m glad they were invited as variety in festivals is important.
Anglagard
I think there was a huge expectation surrounding Anglagard’s appearance. Legendary in prog-circles, particularly in Scandinavia, a cult band who released two acclaimed albums in the early ‘90s before breaking up. A hugely long hiatus was broken with one of my favourite albums of last year, Viljans Oga.
Anglagard produce beautifully constructed pastoral yet angular music with an eerie, mystical feel, redolent of the deep, dark forests of their native Sweden, full of the supernatural.
The band took a long time setting up and this was understandable considering the scarcity of their live performances. They opened with a specially arranged piece, typical of their canon. What a stark contrast between the complexity of Anglagard and the simplicity of Maybeshewill (and that’s not a criticism of ‘simple’).
The live performance lost none of the immense beauty of their haunting music. Truly sublime with excellent performances by all members of the band. The mesmeric flute playing was a highlight for me.
Amplifier
The creation of Sel Balamir, Amplifier are another band who have been around for a fair while and are now getting deserved attention. Their latest offering, the mellower ‘Echo Street’ has been nominated as Album of the Year in the Classic Prog Awards. The band came to my notice after they released (through their own endeavours after four years of hard toil) the two hour concept album, The Octopus, in 2011. The Octopus literally takes you on a trip ‘to another dimension’.
This was my fourth live gig in less than two years, so yes I like them! Amplifier gig extensively throughout Europe and are definitely more popular here than in the UK.
Sel Balamir in full flow
Amplifier deliver Space Rock full of heavy effects-laden guitar riffs and solos. What I’ve always liked about Amplifier’s sound is the heavy driving bass and rhythm guitar coupled with some intricate, subtle lead guitar. This combination produces a huge soundscape that fills my head in a spectacular way. However this is a difficult combination to crack when the volume of all instruments is set at LOUD. I’ve yet to hear them actually nail it totally in a live setting and a combination of sound problems, coupled with the introduction of a third guitar player and a bass on LOUD PLUS, totally drowned out all the subtlety. I’m not a fan of the third guitar and I’ve heard them better with only two. But who am I to judge.
They started with Spaceman from their recent Sunriders EP, followed by the brilliantly riffy, if slightly repetitive and overlong, The Wheel, from Echo Street. They continued with numerous fans’ favourites such as Interglacial Spell, The Wave and Interstellar (what a track that is!), all from The Octopus. As the festival was running behind schedule they had to foreshorten their appearance and finished with the anthemic Airborne from their eponymous first album. Amplifier always give it their all and are dedicated to all that is The Octopus (why always the black shirts and special logo ties?). I’m a stickler for sound so overall I was a bit disappointed but I recommend them live if you like your music at the heavier, spacey end of the prog spectrum.
Caravan
No sound problems for these old warriors of the Canterbury scene. It was pure plug and play. A greatest hits was delivered with classic tracks from For Girls who Grow Plump in the Night (Memory Lain, Hugh/Headloss, The Dog The Dog He’s At It Again) and from In The Land Of Grey and Pink we had Golf Girl and the classic Nine Feet Underground.
Consummate professionals, they know how to work an audience with plenty of witty banter and the entertainment included skilful playing of spoons and washboard! Always playful but with some clever social comment, I’m never sure whether to take them seriously and how can one with some of the most politically incorrect album and song titles ever put to paper. Ten out of ten; superb entertainment and the crowd loved them.
Devin Townsend Project
I know little or nothing about Mr Townsend and I missed part of the set to ’freshen up’ after another eight hours of hot sun, beer and loud music. When I returned I noticed the following:
The band produced a huge sound for a three piece
There was a cardboard cut-out of a band member on stage
As a lead guitarist and vocalist, Devin Townsend didn’t seem to take himself too seriously and worked the crowd well.
The sound was hard rock and metal; unfortunately the band were missing a guitarist (or was it a keyboard player?) and a huge amount of backing tapes were being used to the extent I didn’t know what was live and what was pre-recorded. Good fun but not really my cup of tea.
Opeth
To conclude proceedings we had Opeth. Now I like heavy rock but i’m not a death metal fan. I had been recommended the band’s last offering ‘Heritage’ which is a big departure for Opeth, leading them into more mainstream Prog territory (and apparently took a lot of their diehard fans well outside their comfort zone). Band leader Mikael Akerfeldt, on guitar and lead vocals was quick to point out that he understood that there were fans from both ‘camps’ and therefore the set would be a mix of old and new. So we could expect some death metal growling but no apologies would be offered. Mr Akerfeldt introduced each track with wit and intelligence and this was appreciated by all concerned.
Starting with ‘The Devil’s Orchard’ from Heritage, an excellent track with a jazz fusion vibe but a dark edge, the tone was immediately changed as the band hammered out a classic death metal track from Ghost Reveries titled Ghost of Perdition. As the set continued I was intrigued by the juxtaposition of light and subtle with abrupt changes to intensely heavy within each death metal track. And it worked very well to my ears.
I was truly impressed with the quality of musicianship and the eclectic mix of death metal, prog rock, psychedelic and even folk music. Opeth delivered tracks with Oriental influences and Spanish guitar. And Mikael Akerfeldt has a tremendously versatile voice.
Opeth have obviously experimented throughout their career that spans over 20 years and 10 albums and the variety put together for this set was both inspirational and a triumph. I’m certain to re-visit some of their older stuff and would love a DVD of their performance to close Night of the Prog.
Final thoughts
So we came to the end of proceedings at 2300 hours on Sunday evening. Night of the Prog 8 had been a superb event, providing me with a perfect mix of old and new; heavy and light; simple and complex.
Highlights for me were numerous. Crippled Black Phoenix seemed infinitely better live than on cd. It was a privilege to see rare appearances from Magma and Anglagard. Witnessing the simplicity of Caravan in a world full of complex sound effects and large show pyrotechnics was refreshing. And finally the surprisingly enjoyable Opeth.
A huge thanks to Win for continuing to organise it. I doubt if any music festival is situated in such beautiful surroundings and the weather was perfect. Thanks also to Nigel Barham for being subtlety cajoled into accepting my invitation. And it was great to actually meet up with some Facebook friends in person.
Roll-on next year. If Win is reading this my request would be Big Big Train, Echolyn, Beardfish, Motorpsycho, Kraan and a re-formed Oceansize!
Here’s hoping 🙂
Oh, and finally a few tips if you are planning to go:-
Bring a cushion as those stone seats don’t half give one a sore a*se.
Take time out to view the stunning landscape
Ignore the rules about bringing food and drink into the event…food selection is limited and you need plenty of water AND ‘security’ seemed happy to allow stuff through.
‘Fly Like An Eagle – An All-Star Tribute To Steve Miller Band’ Featuring Members Of YES, Asia, XTC, Dream Theater, Survivor, The Tubes, Curved Air, Deep Purple, GONG, Nektar and Others Now Available!
Featuring Peter Banks, Rick Wakeman, Tony Kaye, Colin Moulding, John Wetton, Steve Morse, Steve Hillage, Fee Waybill, Rod Argent, Sonja Kristina, Jordan Rudess, Steve Stevens and others!
Produced By Billy Sherwood
Los Angeles, CA – A whole host of space cowboys, gangsters of love and legendary music icons from around the globe gather together to pay special tribute to classic rock legends the Steve Miller Band! Now available on Purple Pyramid Records, ‘Fly Like An Eagle’ features performances by members of YES, Asia, XTC, Dream Theater, Survivor, The Tubes, Curved Air, Deep Purple, GONG, Nektar and others! With exciting renditions of Steve Millers’ classic hits, ‘Fly Like An Eagle – An All-Star Tribute To Steve Miller Band’ is sure to please music fans worldwide! Also includes some final recordings by guitar legend Peter Banks.
Producer Billy Sherwood of YES/CIRCA: fame explains, “Steve Miller has written so many great songs, working on this record gave me a chance to look deeper into the inner workings of the material and explore it all with so many amazing guest artists. It was an honor producing and playing on this project. I think the fans of the music will appreciate the contributions of all the artists involved.”
Aubrey and D’Virgilio, courtesy of the uber-great Willem Klopper.
Posted at Facebook today:
English Electric Full Power will be released in the early autumn and brings together the two English Electric CD’s as a double album with four new tracks and with a 96 page booklet which tells the stories behind the songs and behind English Electric.
The four new tracks will also be released as a separate EP at a low-price to enable those who already own English Electric Parts One and Two to purchase the four new songs on CD without having to buy the double album. A free download of the Full Power booklet will be available for purchasers of the EP.
Both the double album and EP will also be available as downloads (with downloadable booklets.)
Alongside the CD releases, English Electric Part Two will be released on 180g heavyweight vinyl by Plane Groovy. The LP is a double album and includes all the songs from Part Two plus the four new tracks from English Electric Full Power.
Live News
Big Big Train is gearing up for some live performances. In 2014 the band is spending a week at Real World studios for a full dress rehearsal with the brass quartet and string players. The rehearsal will be filmed for DVD and Blu-Ray release.
Beer News
We know that many BBT listeners enjoy fine quality ales and the band has been working with Box Steam craft brewery to create the first Big Big Train beer which will be available in August.
Other News
Big Big Train has received two nominations (for ‘best album’ and for ‘breakthrough act’) in the Progressive Music Awards which will be held at Kew Gardens in September. If you wish to vote for BBT or for any of the other nominees you can find details of the awards here: http://www.progrockmag.com/news/progressive-music-awards-2013-nominees-listed-in-full/
Nick is returning to England in September to do some more recording for the next Big Big Train studio album which will be released in 2015. Work on the 3 CD Station Masters retrospective is ongoing and we hope that Station Masters will be released in 2014.
Finally, a new tee-shirt to celebrate the release of the first BBT beer will also be available from The Merch Desk in August.
BBT on Facebook and Twitter
For the most up-to-date news and to communicate with the band and with other BBT listeners please find us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/groups/bigbigtrain
Tomorrow (or, for those of you not in the western hemisphere, today), Kingbathmat releases its seventh album, OVERCOMING THE MONSTER. Reviewing CDs has its privileges (many, actually), and one of the best is the early arrival of review copies. I don’t want to sound like a gnostic in some mystery cult, but there is something really wonderful about getting to hear these CDs for the first time.
A little over a month ago, I received a copy of OVERCOMING THE MONSTER. I’ve been playing it–along with four or five other cds–pretty much non-stop since it arrived.
As many of you know, I have no musical ability whatsoever. Back in the days of huge stereo systems, I used to joke that I was really good only at hitting play and setting the EQ. So, as always, take my comments as those from one who appreciates the music, but does so with no expertise.
The sum of it: I love this album. Love it. And this in the midst of amazing releases and rereleases: from Big Big Train, Nosound, The Tangent, Cosmograf, Glass Hammer, Sound of Contact, Shineback, etc.
What to Love? The music.
What to love. First, the music, of course. Imagine mid-period Rush, but then prog it up–a lot. Imagine Grace Under Pressure seriousness with Hemisphere song structures.
Or, imagine the Seattle grunge scene of the early 1990s having gone majorly prog. A bit of Soundgarten, a bit of Screaming Trees, etc. This is better. Much better.
Throw in some Tool and maybe some My Bloody Valentine and maybe even a small measure of space rock (Alan Parsons at its most sublime).
If you could put all of this together, you’d start pointing toward the brilliance of Kingbathmat. Last year’s album, TRUTH BUTTON, was really good; OVERCOMING THE MONSTER is exceptional.
What to Love? The lyrics.
What else to love? The lyrics. Ok, admittedly, I’m not at all sure what to make of the lyrics if taken line by line. I have a feeling there’s a lot of stuff going on in the lyrics, probably much of it psychological and deeply intellectual.
For the purposes of this review, I’ll just take them literally. See the Monster–the gorgon, the Medusa? She’s evil, and she needs to be destroyed. It’s that simple. That’s evil, and we’re good. Nail it with all the strength imaginable. Don’t flirt, don’t compromise, and don’t hold hands. Kill it. Now.
Remember your classical myth, though. If you look at it, you turn to stone. So, killing it is no easier for us than it was for Perseus.
Good luck, and may the gods be with you.
What to Love? The band.
Finally, what to love? This band. Here’s how they describe themselves:
KingBathmat are a powered up independent/psychedelic/progressive/alternative rock band, hailing from Hastings in England. Initially started by singer/songwriter John Bassett, KingBathmat have now independently released six albums to date “Son of a Nun” (2003), “Crowning Glory” (2004), “Fantastic Freak Show Carnival”(2005), “Blue Sea, Black Heart” (2008), “Gravity Field” (2009) and “Truth Button” (2012) . The 4 piece band comprises of John Bassett (guitar,vocals), David Georgiou (Keyboards), Rob Watts (bass) and Bernie Smirnoff (drums).
Sketch of Bassett by Anne-Catherine de Froidmont.
I’ve had a chance to correspond–just a very bit–with Bassett. What a great, intelligent guy. Even if Kingbathmat were mediocre, I’d be interested in following them simply because of how interesting Bassett is. They’re far, far from mediocre, however.
Every time I listen to OVERCOMING THE MONSTER, I think: vocals really make this album. Then, I think: the drums really make this album. Then, I think, the guitars really make this album. And, keyboards. And, bass. Then, about my sixth listen, I realize–now, it’s how perfectly well these instruments play individually while working together so well.
So, I give OVERCOMING THE MONSTER my highest recommendation. It’s prog. Not like Big Big Train, not like The Tangent, not like Nosound, not like Cosmograf. No, it’s Kingbathmat. Just look at the name of the band. These guys do whatever they want. And, I’m going to keep watching and listening.
One last quote for their webpage:
KingBathmat do not align themselves with convention, they have ditched the giblet hustlers and they endeavour to buck the trend and to not take themselves too seriously. For they do not look for, or court approval. KingBathmat are not beholding to a multi-national company, a debt, or a self proposed obligation. They do what they want.
For some bands, I’d think this was pure anti-establishment hype. Look how cool Bono is, etc. Nope, when it comes to avoiding conformity, these guys mean it.
Still, I don’t believe for a split second that they don’t take themselves seriously. They take themselves and their art VERY seriously.
Progarchy 