Orquestra Mirasol - Salsa Catalana (1974)

 

The debut album from this band from Spain.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, piano, synths, flute and saxophones.

This band released two albums between 1974 and 1975. Both of them are up for review this week.

Salsa Catalana clocks in at thirty-five minutes.

The music here is a blend of jazz and fusion.

The music is far more jazz than fusion, though. Add in some salsa too and you get the idea here.

The music is both rhythmic and melodic. This is to a large degree jazz-lite.

There are a lot of woodwinds here and some piano. 

The sound is really good and cannot be faulted.

The music is decent enough. It is a bit fluffy and not particular complex. That said, this is a decent enough album.

2 points 

 

 

 

Delirium - Sesta Strada Lungo il Tempo (2026)

 

The sixth album from this band from Italy.

The band was a sextet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, woodwinds and vocals.

A number of guests added viola, backing vocals, choir and narration.

This band album debuted back in 1971 and released three albums in the 1970s. The band returned in 2009 with their fourth album. Their fifth album was released eleven years ago. 

The band returned again after this eleven-year break. 

Sesta Strada Lungo il Tempo clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is classic RPI.

The music is a blend of mid-tempo and more pastoral RPI. 

There are a lot of guitars, keyboards and some flutes here. This in addition to the vocals. 

The vocals are great. 

This is indeed one of the better RPI albums of the year. Among the five best RPI albums of the year, to be precise. It is a very good album indeed and one RPI fans should have in their collection.

3.5 points  

 

Sume - Inuit Nunaat (1974)

 

The second album from this band from Greenland.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars and vocals.

A number of guests added piano, organ, moog and choir.

I reviewed their debut album fifteen years ago and I have now got their three remaining albums up for review this fall.

This album clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is folk rock.

The music is both melodic and rocking. There are more rock than folk, to put it like this.

The vocals are in the local Inuit language although the names of the musicians are Danish. But that may be the way the people in Greenland was named back then and even today as Greenland is a Danish territory.

The music is decent enough. It is a bit dated and too much mainstream rock orientated. That aside....

2 points 

Procol Harum - Procol's Ninth (1975)

 

The eighth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, piano, organ and vocals.

The band regarded their 1972 live album as a proper album. Hence they naming their eighth studio album as their ninth album. Confusing but thankfully explained well enough by the band.

Procol's Ninth clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is a blend of folk rock and psych rock.

The music is songs orientated and dominated by Gary Brooker's very good vocals.

The music is this time meandering and a bit on the workman like end of the spectrum.

The music is also mid-tempo.

There are no good songs here. This is a decent enough album but nothing more than that. This is the weakest of their eight albums.

2 points 

  

Altare Thotemico - Selfie Ergo Sum (2020)

 

The third album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, synths and vocals.

Two guests added trumpet and saxophones.

The band returned again after a seven years long break. Their last album was a good album. Ditto for their debut album, which is a semi-classic album in this genre. Both of them have been reviewed in this series of blogs.

Selfie Ergo Sum clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music is RPI.

The music is both dark and theatrical. It is also pretty complex with some intricate twists and turns. Some of the music is also pastoral.

The vocals are both male and female. The vocals are in Italian.

The music is good throughout. This is not standard RPI. It is still an album which will give RPI fans a lot of joy.

3 points 

 

Aelementi - Una Questione Di Principio (2017)

 

The debut album from this band from Italy.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

Three guests added keyboards and vocals.

This is so far the only album released by this band but I hope we will hear a lot more from them in the future.

The album clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is RPI.

The music is at the lighter, melodic poppy side of the RPI spectrum.  

The music is also pretty commercial and a bit of a bridge between traditional RPI and commercial pop/rock. The female vocals is one of the reasons for their light and poppy take on RPI.

The vocals are good and the band does a good job.

The quality is somewhere between decent and good. I am not won over but this is an album the band should follow up with some more albums.

2.5 points 

  

 

Flor De Loto - Beyond The Cosmos (2026)

 

The 11th album from this band from Peru.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute, Andean wind instruments and vocals.

A number of guests added guitars and vocals.

The band returned again, one year after their last album. An album I have reviewed together with their first nine albums too.

This album clocks in at just over fifty minutes.

The music is a blend of folk rock and heavy metal.

There are a lot of South-American folk music influences here too with the Andean wind instruments and flutes adding a lot of colours to the music.

The music is still hard throughout.

I have some strong reservations against the blend of metal and folk rock/music. The music here lives up to my reservations as it is pretty dull despite of the colourful South American influences. There are some good music here and some dull music here. Hence....

2.5 points 

 

  

Lazuli - Lazuli 11 (2023)

 

 The 11th album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, marimba, leode, guitars, mandolin, keyboards, French horn and vocals.

The band returned again after a two years long album break. The band regard their collection of acoustic and cover versions album Denude (2021) as their tenth album, while most of us do not. Hence, a bit of confusion here...

Lazuli 11 clocks in at fifty-five minutes.

The music is art-rock.

There are the usual French symphonic prog influences in their music. Ange and Mona Lisa spring to mind.

The music is both complex and melodic. Lazuli has their own style, their own niche in the market.

The female French vocals here are good. The sound is big and bold.

This is another good album from this band. A band worth checking out. The band released their twelfth album earlier this year. See the review somewhere else in this blog.

3 points  

 

Jupiter VI - Moveable Walls (2014)

 

The second and final album from this band from USA.

The band was a duo with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Their 2006 debut album Back From Mars was a decent enough glam rock album. You can find my review from earlier this month.

Moveable Walls clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is melodic psych/art rock.

Pink Floyd and David Bowie are two good references here.

Mostly Pink Floyd, that is. Both from The Wall and the Momentary Lapse Of Reason era. There are still some glam rock influences retained from the debut album.

The music is melodic and pretty epic. There are a lot of long guitar solos here in the Gilmour mould. 

The overall quality is good and Pink Floyd fans should check out this album.

3 points 

  

 

Kabasse - About Sitting on Fences (2026)

 

The debut album from this band from Germany.

The band was a sextet with a line-up of drums, percussion, glockenspiel, bass, vibraphone, piano, accordion, clavinet, organ and woodwinds.

This band is a new band to me as they have just album debuted.

This album clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is jazz.

The music is pretty melodic jazz with a few avant-garde pieces in between the mid-tempo jazz.

Most of the music is performed by the woodwinds. Trombone, trumpet and horns. 

The music is pretty complex too. 

The jazz is a bit too middle-of-the-road to really enthuse me. Nevertheless, this is a pretty good debut album and something to build on. Something I hope the band will do.

2.5 points   

Stubbs - The New Proper Life Style (1983)

 

The debut album from this band from Japan.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, pianet, organ, synths and vocals.

This very obscure band released three albums between 1983 - 1985 and then disappeared again. The band was added to ProgArchives earlier this year. Based on them being added to the Canterbury scene genre, aI got their three albums, and they are all up for reviews in the coming week.

The New Proper Life Style clocks in at fifty-five minutes.

The music is indeed Canterbury scene. 

That means a blend of eclectic prog and jazz. Hatfield & The North is a reference here... but that is not entirely correct. 

There is some avant-garde jazz here too. But most of the music is a blend of eclectic Canterbury prog and jazz. A bit more jazzy and eclectic than Hatfield & The North, but still groovy. 

The music is still pretty melodic.

There is a lot of electric guitar solos here and some electronics. There are not many vocals here as most of the music is instrumental.

The result is a good album and one to check out. I have reasons to believe that Stubbs is one of the best finds in the Canterbury scene in the last decade, although the band split up forty years ago. Check them out.

3 points 

 

Parsons Project. The Alan - The Turn Of A Friendly Card (1980)

 

The fifth album from this project from Great Britain.

Alan Parsons did the organs, synths, electronics and vocoder here.

Numerous guests added drums, percussion, bass, mandolin, guitars, harpsichord, piano, harps, organ, keyboards, synths, woodwinds and vocals.

This project returned again after a one-year-long album break.

The Turn Of A Friendly Card clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is a blend of pomp rock and symphonic prog.

This is actually a concept album with the title track being a suite. It is said that this is the most progressive The Alan Parsons Project album of all time. Listening to this album, I can understand that.

There are a lot of vocals here. There are still some instrumental parts here.

The music is really elegant throughout. The music is still rock instead of the pomp pop music that dominated the previous two albums.

The music is, to my big surprise... and I had given up on this band after the two previous albums... very good. It is by far their best album and one I want to revisit in the coming years.  

3.5 points 

 

 

 

 

Neverness - The Measure Of The Time (2009)

 

The fourth album from this band from Spain.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band returned after a two years long album break. 

I was not really impressed by their 2007 album. Nevertheless, I had some hopes for this album.

The Measure Of The Time clocks in at just over one hour.

The music is a blend of heavy prog, symphonic prog and psych rock.

The music is mid-tempo, pretty eclectic, complex and melodic. 

There are some good guitars and keyboards here. 

The vocals are good.

There is a lot to be enjoyed here and this album is a step up from the previous album. This is indeed a good album and one to check out.

3 points 

 

Nurk Twins - Nurk Twins (1978)

 

The debut album from this band from Norway.

The band was a sextet here with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This is the only real studio album from this band. The second album Legenden Levande from 1998, is an archive collection album.

Nurk Twins is clocking in at thirty-six minutes.

The music here is country-rock.

There is also a lot of soul and americana in the music here too.

Country-rock was very popular in Norway back in the 1970s. This small country was one of this genre's most popular markets and the genre spawned some notable Norwegian bands. The Flying Norwegians was one of them.

Nurk Twins was one of their understudies who released this album but did not do much else. 

The music is mid-tempo and rocking. The vocals is a blend of English and Norwegian. There is a lot of guitars here. The vocals is pretty good.

The music is decent enough and cannot be faulted. I am not a fan of this genre. I therefore have my reservations. Fans of country and country-rock should check out this album.

2 points 

 

  

Neal. Ian - This Gemlike Flame (2026)

 

The sixth album from this artist from Great Britain.

Ian Neal did the guitars, piano, organ, keyboards and synths here.

Two guests added drums and backing vocals.

I have reviewed his previous albums and have liked them a lot. Hence I was looking forward to this album.

The Gemlike Flame clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is symphonic prog.

The music is majestic, bold, epic, melodic and slightly complex.  

The most obvious reference here is Genesis. There are also some Pink Floyd references here too. There are also some neo-classical music influences here.

There are some long soaring pieces here which feel both sad and uplifting at the same time. Pieces of music that are great.

The quality of the music here is indeed great and this is his best album so far. It is an album to really enjoy.  

4 points 

 

 

Lazuli - Saison 8 (2018)

 

The eighth album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, marimba, leode, guitars, mandolin, keyboards, French horn and vocals.

The band returned again after a two years long album break.

This album clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is a blend of heavy prog and art-rock.

There are also the usual French symphonic prog influences here too. 

The music is bold, epic, theatrical and complex.

The music is also very melodic too.

The vocals are in French and they are great.

This album is their best album up to this point and a very good album indeed. Check it out.

3.5 points 

 

 

Jupiter VI - Back From Mars (2006)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards and vocals.

The band released two albums between 2006 and 2014. I will post a review of the second album sometime at the end of this month/early next month.

This is two albums sold to me as progressive rock albums....  

Back from Mars clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is glam rock with a lot of punk rock influences.

The music is pretty fast and punky. The band rocks out throughout this album... with one exception.. the obligatory ballad. The ballad Lucidia is a good song.

The vocals are good and the band does a good job.

The music is fairly decent, with Lucidia being the only real good song. This is not progressive rock, but still well worth checking out.

2 points  

 

 

Hawkwind - Psychedelic Selection (2026)

 

The 33rd album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This album is a collection of some of their old classics and some new songs. This is therefore not really a new album. But I have chosen to review it anyway.

Psychedelic Selection clocks in at seventy-five minutes.

The music is a blend of space rock and psych rock.

The music is at times whimsical and spaced out. The music is also melodic throughout.

Silver Machine is not here. Besides that, most of their other classics are here.

There are some good space rock runouts here in between the songs.

The vocals are really good here.

It can be argued that this album is a bit of a waste of time and money. The songs are very good and this makes this album both a guilty pleasure and a very good album.

3.5 points  

 

Rainbow - Down To Earth (1979)

 

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Ronnie James Dio was out. Graham Bonnet was in as the new vocalist. Only Ritchie Blackmore and Cozy Powell remained from the Long Live Rock'n'Roll album from the year before. This is therefore essentially a new band.

Down To Earth clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is hard rock with some early heavy metal influences.

The music on this album is a lot harder than on their first three albums. Graham Bonnet's vocals is the main reason for this. His vocals on this album are still dividing opinions, fifty years later. I don't think his vocals fit Rainbow. Then again, this is Ritchie Blackmore's fiefdom.

Since You Been Gone is a poppy song and one of their best-ever songs. It was also a considerable hit that year. The rest of the album is substandard. There is not much here of any interest. The musicians do a good job on these substandard songs. Don Airey's organ sound is great. His organ sound and the above-mentioned song are the only positive aspects of this album. The rest is best forgotten.

2 points 

  

String Driven Thing - String Driven Thing (1972)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of percussion, bass, guitars, banjo, violin, viola and vocals.

The band debuted two years previously on an obscure Scottish record label called Concord. An album almost impossible to find these days (but re-released as a part of a box). The band was picked up by Charisma Records and this is their major record label debut.

This album clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is acid folk.

The music is folky, dynamic, melodic and pretty wild at times.

There are some wild folk music here, not at least on the opening track which I believe was quite a hit for the band too.

There are also some pastoral pieces here too.

The violins, guitars and violas are very good. The same can be said about the vocals too.

The result is a good album and one of the best folk rock albums I have heard for a very long time. 

3 points   

 

Neverness - Cuentos De Otros Mundos Posibles (2007)

 

The third album from this band from Spain.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band has released five albums. 

Strangely enough, this is my first ever meeting with this band. I thought I had reviewed their first two albums but that is not the case. I have their fourth album up for review sometime next month.

Cuentos De Otros Mundos Posibles clocks in at fifty-five minutes.

The music here is symphonic prog.

There are also some psych rock and heavy prog in their music too. 

The music is mid-tempo, melodic and slightly esoteric.

The male Spanish vocals are pretty good.

The music is pretty good throughout. I am not really won over by this album.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

 

Napalis - Napalis (1976)

 

The one and only album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a sextet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute and saxophones.

This is the only album this band released before they split up.

Napalis clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is fusion.

The music is dynamic, fast, mid-tempo, a bit melodic and lively.

There are a lot of saxophones and organ solos here too. Add in some flute and guitars solos too and you get the picture. 

Soft Machine is a good reference here at times.

The music is free-flowing throughout.

The quality is good throughout and this is an album the fusion and jazz fans should check out.

3 points 

Red Kite - This Too Shall Pass (2026)

 

The third album from this band from Norway.

The band was a line-up of drums, bass, guitars and saxophones.

One guest added keyboards.

This is my first album from this band, but I will get their two other albums too and review them before the end of the year.

This Too Shall Pass clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is jazz.

The music is dense, intense, hard, esoteric and eclectic.

There are some melodies here too. There is even one ballad here at the end of the album. Most of the music is an aural assault. 

The harmonies here are really good. The band is tight and deliver the goods.

This is a good album and one to check out if esoteric, eclectic music is your cup of tea.

3 points  

 

Relayer - Choices (2026)

 

The eighth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band returned again after a four years long album break.

Choices clocks in at forty-two minutes.

The music here is a blend of neo-prog and mainstream rock. 

The music is melodic and has an Americana twang to it. The music is also pretty complex too. 

There are some good guitars here too. And the harmonies are good.

The music is far too mainstream rock to be really interesting. There are some sporadic good details. 

The vocals are pretty good and fit this music.

This album is an improvement and a pretty good album.

2.5 points 

 

Rome Pro(G)ject. The - V Compendium Of A Lifetime (2022)

 

The fifth album from this project from Italy.

The band was a seven pieces big project here with a line-up of bass, guitars, chapman stick, piano, keyboards, flute, saxophone and vocals.

A handful of guests added drums, bass, guitars and vocals.

The Vincenzo Ricca returned with this project two years after the fourth album. A good album indeed and reviewed in this blog.

V Compendium Of A Lifetime clocks in at fifty-two minutes. 

The music is again a blend of symphonic prog and neo-classical music.

There are some musicals 'ish vocals based songs here too. They are pretty good. The instrumental neo-classical stuff here is better though.

This is another good album from Vincenzo Ricca's project and one to check out.

3 points 

Jordsjø - Pestkrønikene (2026)

 

The ninth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a duo with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute and vocals.

A number of guests added tambourine, drums, mini-moog and vocals.

The band returned again after the release of a split-album with Breidablik. An album reviewed earlier in this blog.

Pestkronikene clocks in at thirty-five minutes.

The music here is a blend of folk rock and heavy prog.

Jethro Tull comes to mind as a good reference. 

This band got their own style, though.  

The music is pretty hard at times with some heavy prog guitars. The music is generally very quirky too with some good mini-moog themes throughout. 

The vocals are good.

This is another good album from this band. It is one of the better prog bands in Norway and this album proves that beyond any doubts.

3 points 

  

Velvet Underground. The - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of percussion, bass, guitars, electric viola, celeste, piano and vocals.

This legendary band released five albums before they gave up the ghost. Their setup on this album included Nicole, John Cale and Lou Reed. Andy Warhol, whose artwork can be found above, produced most of this album.

I am reviewing their five albums this fall/autumn. 

This album clocks in at close to fifty minutes.

The music is psychedelia. 

The music sounds unhinged, taken today's standards into account. There is a garage psych rock feel in their music.

The celeste is the real star here when it comes to instruments. The guitars are OK and the vocals is good.

The music is decent enough. This album has got the classic album because of the setup and not necessary because of the status. This is also to a large degree a genre-creating album. 

Quality wise, it is a decent album.

2 points 

Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun (1999)

 

The third album from this band from Iceland.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

A number of guests added bass, guitars, harp, strings, woodwinds and choir.

The band returned again for another album. I did not really enjoy their debut album. But I still have a dogged hope for this album.

This album clocks in at one and an half hour.

The music is a blend of electronica and post-rock.

Mostly electronica, it has to be said.

The band had started to develop their own identity on this album. The music is moody, indeed. Arctic and Mid-Atlantic moody with lots of vocals too. Icelandic vocals.

This album is a bit of a grower; it has to be said. And it has grown a lot on me.

The vocals are really good here and there are some really good post-rock themes here. That and some good melodies. 

This is indeed a good album and one to check out.

3 points 

 

AcidYesit - A lo Más que Nunca (2019)

 

The second album from this band from Colombia.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, tenor saxophone and alto saxophone.

The mostly unknown band has released two albums through Bandcamp. I post a review of their debut album last week, and I liked that album a lot. It got a Good rating.

A lo Más que Nunca clocks in at half an hour. 

The music can best be described as eclectic prog.

The music also sounds like a front collision of a train carrying an extreme metal band and a train carrying an avant-garde jazz band.

The music is wild, in other words. Esoteric is also another label fitting this music.

Chugging electric guitars and chugging saxophones dominate this short album.  

There are no melodic sensibilities here and no compromises. This album is a full on assault on the senses.

The music is also good throughout. There is something endearing with the music here. Something primal. Hence....

3 points 

 

 

A Silent Sound - Stories From A Silent Sound (2018)

 

The second album from this band from the Netherlands.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, electric piano, moog, horns and vocals.

The band returned one year after the release of their debut album Compass. A good album.

Stories From A Silent Sound clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is a bit of a blend of psych rock, indie rock and some rap music.

Yes, there is one track here with rap vocals. 

Besides that, the music is melodic, mid-tempo, harmonic and slightly complex.

There are s lot of guitars here, acoustic and electric guitars. 

There is also a lot of vocal harmonies here.

The music is pretty good throughout. This is not the type of music I find most engaging. This album and their debut album are still worth checking out from their Bandcamp page.

2.5 points 

 

Khatsaturjan - Monologue of Chronos (2026)

 

The fourth album from this band from Finland.

The band was a trio with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, cello, synths and vocals.

The band returned again after an eleven years long break. Their first three albums were good, so I had some expectations for this album.

Monologue of Chronos clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is symphonic prog.

The music is complex, melodic, pretty epic, pretty symphonic, theatrical and mid-tempo.

There are a lot of Yes influences in their music. The music is also baroque throughout this album.

The band does a good job and the arrangements is very good.

The vocals too is very good.

There are no real killer tracks here and that is my only gripe with this album. This is a good album, indeed.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

Relayer - Broken Branches (2021)

 

The sixth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band returned again after a two years long album break.

Broken Branches clocks in at one hour.

The music here is a blend of neo-prog and AOR.

The music is melodic, slightly complex, pomp, a bit commercial, slick and mid-tempo.

There is a good balance between the guitars and the keyboards.

There are not any really interesting solos here, keyboards or guitars.

The vocals are decent enough without really adding any quality to this album.

The songs are really unremarkable and run-of-the-mill sort of songs.

This is a decent album and by far their least interesting album to this point.

2 points 

 

Rome Pro(G)ject. The - IV Beaten Paths Different Ways (2020)

 

The fourth album from this band from Italy.

The project was a ten-piece big band with a line-up of guitars, electric violin, piano, keyboards, saxophone and flute.

A number of guests added drums, bass, guitars and narrations.

The project returned again after a three years long break.

This album clocks in at one hour and five minutes.

The music here is a blend of symphonic prog and neo-classical music.

Most of the music is instrumental music in these two genres. There are also a couple of vocals dominated songs here.

The rest of the music is flowery and symphonic. There are some folk rock influences here too.

This album is in the RPI tradition through and through.

The quality is good throughout too. This is another album from this project well worth checking out.

3 points 

 

Rolf Zero - Nine (2026)

 

The ninth album from this band from Australia.

The band was a trio with a line-up of didgeridoo, percussion, drums, bass, guitars, recorder, keyboards and whistle.

A number of guests added violin and vocals.

This album is their first album this year after releasing multiple albums in the last years.

Nine clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is a blend of neo-classical music and symphonic prog.

Mostly neo-classical music, that is. 

There is also some folk rock in their music too.

Some of the music is pretty cheesy.  Their music has always been a bit elevator-music. 

This is still a decent enough album. But it still fails to impress me.

2 points  

 

Lazuli - Nos Ames Saoules (2016)

The seventh album from this band from France.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, marimba, leode, guitars, mandolin, keyboards, French horn and vocals.

The band returned again after a two years long album break.

This album clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is a blend of heavy prog and art-rock.

There are also the usual French symphonic prog influences here too. 

The music is bold, epic, theatrical, complex... and melodic too. 

The band has their own sound. Some of it is due to their use of leode, an instrument they have invented themselves.

The vocals is very good here.

The music is indeed good throughout. I am missing an outstanding track here.. The type of music/songs that elevates an album from good to a higher level. That said, this is still an album well worth checking out.

3 points 

 

Procol Harum - Exotic Birds And Fruit (1974)

 

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, organ and vocals.

The band returned again, one year after releasing their great Grand Hotel album.

Exotic Birds And Fruit clocks in at just over forty minutes.

The music here is a blend of psych rock and symphonic prog.

The music is melodic, mostly mid-tempo, a bit baroque, vaudeville, quirky and songs based.

There are some good guitars here, including guitar solos.  

The vocals are very good.

The overall quality is indeed good and this is another good offering from this band who has got my renewed respect and admiration.

3 points  

 

Minnesoda - Minnesoda (1972)

 

The one and only album from this band from USA.

The band was a seven-piece big band with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and vocals.

A split album with this band and another incarnation of the same setup was later released as a compilation album. But this is the only real studio album from this band under this name. Just to clear that one up....

Minnesoda clocks in at thirty-seven minutes.

The music is a blend of jazz and brass-rock.

There is also a lot of soul in their music.

This album is most of all a snapshot of the US classic arena rock scene anno 1972. Lots of woodwinds/brass. Lots of soulful vocals. Lots of funk too.

The music is decent enough without really being impressive.

This is another album for those into the early 1970s arena/classic rock scene.

2 points  

Mr. Albert Show - Warm Motor (1971)

 

The second album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, organ, saxophone, flute and vocals.

The band returned again with their second and final album, one year after releasing their debut album. A short and hectic life, in other words.

Warm Motor clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here a blend of soul, blues and hard rock. 

....Classic rock, in other words...

The music has some good guitar solos and organ harmonies.

The vocals are soulful and pretty good.

This is not a bad album indeed. This is indeed a decent album.

Fans of early 1970s classic rock should check out this album.

2 points  

Riffstone - Great Journeys (2026)

 

The fourth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a duo with a lineup of bass, guitars, keyboards, drums programming, programming, narration and vocals.

The band returned again after a couple of months-long break.

Great Journeys clocks in at seventy-five minutes.

The music here is symphonic prog.

A good reference here is the Dutch band Us. That too was a duo and very much in the same vein as Riffstone. And that is both a comparison and a compliment (check out this Dutch band).

The music here is melodic and not overly complex. This is symphonic prog, yes. But not in the same vein as Yes. 

The music is a bit pedestrian at times. 

There is some good stuff here and some less good stuff. The result is therefore a pretty good album and the least interesting album from this band.

2.5 points 

 

 

Uriah Heep - Chaos and Colour (2023)

 

The 25th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band returned again after a five years long break.

Living The Dream clocks in at one hour.

The music here is hard rock.

The music here is slightly harder than on their previous couple of albums. The band is full of life here and is rocking out.

There is also a lot of classic rock in their music too.

The guitars are great and the organ sound comes to the front on this album. The vocals is as per usual also great.

This album is vintage Uriah Heep and bordering to being a very good album. I hope this album has at least one more album in them as this is their so far latest album.

3 points 

Nilssen. Ole G - Oceans and Wastelands (2024)

 

The ninth album from this artist from Norway.

Ole G. Nilssen did the guitars and vocals here.

He had help from a guest who added drums, melodica, programming and backing vocals.

Ole G. Nilssen returned again after a three years long album break.

Oceans And Wastelands clocks in at seventy minutes.

The music is vintage pomp pop/rock.

The music harks back to the early 1960s too. That's before The Beatles freshened up the pop music and made the kind of music on this album obsolete. 

This pre-The Beatles pop music has been Ole G. Nilssen's music since his second album. There are some pomp symphonic rock on this album too. But most of this is vintage pop music.

The vocals is good. The music is barely good. This is a decent album but just that. 

2 points  

Pythias - Daydream (2026)

 

The debut album from this one-man-band from USA.

The band is a man called Pythias on programming, guitars and vocals.

A handful of guests added bass, guitars, piano, male and female vocals.

This Bandcamp based project/band is new to me. I downloaded the album last month.

Daydream clocks in at just over half an hour.

The music here is acid folk. 

Pythias has profiled his/this band through ProgArchives over the last two months. Fair play to him as this is the way to go.

Besides of the acoustic guitars and vocals here, there is some mellotrons and synths here. There is also some sporadic female vocals here.

The music is pretty basic acid folk rock. Or acid acoustic folk rock, to be more precise.

There are a couple of good songs here. Most of the music here is decent enough. I am therefore not really sold on this album. It is at best a pretty good album. Those of you into acid folk may want to check out this album at Bandcamp.

2.5 points 

 

Relayer - V (2019)

The fifth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, piano, organs, mellotron and vocals.

The band returned again after an eleven-year album break.

V clocks in at one hour.

The music here is a blend of US symphonic prog and neo-prog.

The music also got some strong mainstream rock influences.

The music is not particularly complex. It is more straight forward.

The music reminds me a lot about the 1980s-90s British neo-prog scene. 

The vocals are pretty good.

The melodies are pretty catchy. The sound are OK.

The quality of the songs falls a bit short and is substandard. This is a decent enough album and one of their weakest efforts. I am not impressed.

2 points 

 

Parsons Project. The Alan - Eve (1979)

 

The fourth album from this project from Great Britain.

Alan Parsons did the organs, synths, electronics and vocoder here.

Numerous guests added drums, percussion, bass, mandolin, guitars, harpsichord, piano, harps, organ, keyboards, synths, woodwinds and vocals.

This project returned again after a one year long album break.

Eve clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is pomp pop/rock.

The music is in the musicals and rock opera vein too. 

The music is slow and mostly ballads. There is a lot of strings, keyboards and woodwinds here. 

There is also a lot of female vocals here.

The music is decent enough but barely decent. Some of the music is pretty dull too. 

The music is commercial. This album shifted a lot of copies and topped the charts. It is still a substandard album.

2 points   

Maya - Fading Tomorrow (2024)

 

The debut album from this band from Hungary.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band is a new band to me although they have been around since 2017. They are signed to the Polish label Oskar. A label with bands like Quidam and Albion.

Fading Tomorrow clocks in at three-quarters of an hour.

The music is neo-prog.

Magenta is the most obvious reference here, though. The female vocals are like Christina Booth's vocals and therefore like Annie Haslam's vocals. But not quite as good, though. Sorry, Zsuzsa Garda.....

The music is therefore symphonic too, as in the band Renaissance.

The music is melodic and engaging. There is a lot of harmonies here. The music is still pretty complex too.

The vocals are great here and an added bonus to this album.

This is a very good album, bordering to a great album. Magenta and Renaissance fans should and must check out this album.

3.5 points 

  

  

Mr. Albert Show - Mr. Albert Show (1970)

 

The debut album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, organ, saxophone, flutes and vocals.

One guest added vocals to the album.

This band released two albums before they gave up the ghost. I will post a review of their second album in some days' time.

Mr. Albert Show is clocking in at forty minutes.

The music here is a blend of soul, blues and classic hard rock.

The music is soulful and hard. The sound and music are vintage indeed.

There are a lot of organ, woodwinds and vocals here.

The vocals is both male and female.

The quality of the music is decent enough and this is a pretty enjoyable album.

Fans of vintage 1970s rock should check out this album.

2 points 

 

Imperfect Pyramid - Imperfect Pyramid (2026)

 

The debut album from this multi-national project.

The band was a trio with a line-up of bass, guitars, synths, dulcimer and drum programming.

This is a band with three veterans in the electronic music genre. They have on their own released numerous albums. This is their first collaboration.

Imperfect Pyramid clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is electronic prog. 

Tangerine Dream is my only reference here as this genre is not one I know much about. 

Dulcimer is the instrument dominating the soundscape here. 

There are also some guitars and bass here. That makes the music a bit more interesting. There are also some strong Eastern Asian music here.

The music is pretty interesting. I am not an electronic prog fan so this is not my cup of tea. This is still a decent enough album.

2 points 

 

Uriah Heep - Living The Dream (2018)

 

The 24th album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band returned again after a four years long break.

Living The Dream clocks in at fifty-three minutes.

The music here is hard rock.

Uriah Heep has, by now and with this stable line-up carved out their own genre. That is 1970s hard rock with an updated sound and some strong classic rock and prog rock influences.

The music is both muscular and melodic. Most of the songs are catchy too. The music is hard too. In short, this is classic hard rock. Hard rock from one of the inventors of this genre.

The music is really good here and this album is an enjoyable experience. This is one of their better albums and one to check out.

3 points 

 

 

 

  

 

Nilssen. Ole G - Objects In The Mirror (2018)

 

The sixth album from this artist from Norway.

Ole G Nilssen did the guitars, guitar synths and vocals here.

He had help from a number of guests who added drums, percussion, bass, accordion, piano, electric piano, keyboards and backing vocals.

Ole G Nilssen returned two years after the instrumental, pretty good Chess Fantasies album. 

Objects In The Mirror clocks in at three-quarters of an hour.

The music here is old style pop-rock in the vein of Roy Orbison and The Travelling Wilburys.  

The Chess Fantasies gave me some hope for this album. Hope that he had abandoned his old style pop-rock. Hope now dashed when I am listening to this album.

The vocals are pretty good. The music is dire. This album can be seen as a cheese-fest... at best.

 At worst....

1.5 points 

 

 

Exploring Birdsong - Every House We Built (2026)

The debut album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a trio with a line-up of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This band released a single back in 2019 before they released this album earlier this year.

This album clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is a blend of heavy prog and neo-prog. There are also some baroque pop and dream pop here too.

The music is slick, commercial and big.

The instruments are multilayered. There are a lot of female vocals here. Both solo vocals and harmonies.

The music is really elegant. It is also pretty complex too.

The vocals and the musicianship are great.

The quality is good throughout this album. This is an album with great commercial potential and I hope the band reaches a bigger audience than just us progheads.

3 points