Parsons Project. The Alan - Vulture Culture (1984)

 

The eighth album from this project from Great Britain.

The core of the project was a duo with a lineup of piano, organ, keyboards, synths, drum programming and vocals.

A number of guests, including a symphony orchestra, added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths, strings, woodwinds and vocals.

The project returned again one year after the previous album.

Vulture Culture clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is pomp-pop.

The project was releasing some commercial pop albums at this time. Big commercial successes. 

I believe this album spawned two hit singles. Songs that sound outdated today, but they were big in the 1980s. 

The music is still pretty elegant. The music is still too poppy and far too slick and pomp. Some good vocals and a couple of decent songs are the only saving grace on this album.

1.5 points 

 

 

Sioum - Yet Further (2016)

 

The second and final album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, guitars, ebow and keyboards.

The band returned for the final time, six years after their debut album. A pretty decent album I reviewed some days ago.

Yet Further clocks in at seventy-two minutes.

The music here is post-metal.

There are a lot of post-rock too in their music. 

Some of the music is pretty ambient too and cinematic.

The music is pretty dynamic and flowing.

There is not a lot to enjoy on this album. The music is too generic, too samey, not interesting at all. 

This is a half-decent name-your-price Bandcamp album and that is it, really. I am not impressed at all.

1.5 points 

 

Scope - Scope II (1975)

 

The second and final album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, grand piano, organ, keyboards, synths and flute.

The band returned again the year after they released the decent enough self titled debut album. An album reviewed some days ago in this blog.

Scope II clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is fusion.

The music is dynamic and pretty fast. The music is still pretty melodic. 

There is a lot of good solos here from the various instruments. The bass is rampant galloping away and is adding a lot of colours to the music. 

The music is a bit run-off-the-mill fusion. Nevertheless, it is enjoyable and interesting for the fusion fans. That includes myself.

This is a pretty good album and one to check out if fusion is your thing. This album is also a pretty big improvement on their debut album. It is shame that this is their final album.

2.5 points  

 

Latimer. Andrew - From The Vault (2026)

 

The third album from this artist from Great Britain.

Andrew Latimer did the bass, guitars, synths, drum programming and vocals here.

Two guests added some instruments and vocals on a couple of tracks.

Andrew Latimer released his debut solo album last year, which he named War Stories (see review somewhere else in this blog) and has followed up that album with two new albums this year. This year's second album will be reviewed later this month.

 Andrew Latimer is off course most known as the frontman in Camel, one of the greatest ever progressive rock bands. 

From The Vault clocks in at thirty-four minutes.

The music here is symphonic prog.

This album is also a concept album. The theme is his health challenges and his recovery from them. 

There are a lot of Camel references here. His debut album were a continuation of Camel and this album too is in that vein. The music though is more songs-orientated and more poppy. 

The music here is not particular proggy or interesting. The far too few instrumental pieces are very good. The songs are too easy-listening and not interesting at all, besides of the lyrics.

This is a pretty good album but still one of the least interesting albums he has ever been released in Camel and as a solo artist.

Sorry...

2.5 points 

 

 

  

Rainbow - Bent Out Of Shape (1983)

 

The seventh album from this band from Great Britain.

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

The band returned again one year after the good Straight Between The Eyes album. An album I regard as their best album. 

Bent Out Of Shape is regarded as the final Rainbow album although Ritchie Blackmore returned in 1995 with an album attributed to Rainbow. I will review that album in some days time. 

 Bent Out Of Shape clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is hard rock.... sort of.

Ritchie Blackmore started Rainbow as a protest against his then band Deep Purple going in a more pop-rock direction. Ritchie wanted to rock out... and that hard. Hence Rainbow.

It is a bit ironic that Bent Out Of Shape has taken the band in a pop-rock direction. The circuit has been closed with this album and Ritchie has returned to square one. 

Joe Lynn Turner and Ritche Blackmore does their best on some really mediocre pop songs. Pop songs dressed up as hard rock. But they are still pop songs.

This album is barely a decent album. It is not an album I enjoy. It is still a decent enough album.

2 points 

 

 

Yynot - Resonance (2019)

 

The second album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

The band returned again, one year after the release of their good self-titled debut album. See my review from last month.

Resonance clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is heavy prog.

The band was a Rush tribute band whose music on the debut album were pretty close to Rush anno 2112. The band has broken with this formula on Resonance in an effort to find their own voice, own niche.

The music is still guitar-based, and the vocals are female vocals.

Rush is still a good reference... although the more modern version of Rush. Rush anno Test For Echo. 

The music is both hard and catchy. The vocals is very good.

This is another enjoyable, good album from this band. A review of their third and so far latest album will be published in some days time.

3 points 

 

 

  

Bubu - El Ultimo Cortejo (2026)

 

The third album from this band from Argentina.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, synths, saxophones and flutes.

The band returned again after an album break of eight years. 

El Ultimo Cortejo clocks in at fifty-five minutes.

The music is a blend of eclectic prog and symphonic prog.

Add in some fusion too and you get the picture.

The music is fully instrumental with some good saxophones and other instruments.

The music is also both dynamic and melodic. There are a lot of good themes here on this album.

The music is also pretty elegant with some good folk rock influences.

The overall quality is good and this is an enjoyable album which will cement this band's good name and reputation.

3 points 

 

Ageless - Song By Song (2021)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a duo with a lineup of drums, bass, synths and vocals.

This band has to date released five albums and I am reviewing them this autumn.

Song By Song clocks in at one hour.

The music here is neo-prog.

Their take on neo-prog is symphonic with some intricate compositions. Genesis is a big inspiration here. There are also some Yes inspirations lurking around in the music here.

There are no guitars in their music.... No guitarists, that is. There are still guitars here, very probably programmed.

The music is still very organic, though. There are not many synths on this album. 

The music is melodic and pretty elegant. The vocals are very good.

There are no great songs here. That said, this is a good, bordering to a very good album. Check it out if neo-prog is your thing.

3 points 

  

 

 

3rd Ear Experience - Peacock Black (2012)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, synths and voice. 

Two guests added didgeridoo and saxophones.

This band was the King's X member Doug Pinnick's side project. Robbi Robb from Tribe After Tribe and some other musicians were the rest of this band. I got a handful of their in total eight albums up for review this autumn.

Peacock Black clocks in at one hour and sixteen minutes.

The music here is space rock.

Their take on space rock is wild and outer space. The music is also improvised and does not have many structures. 

Some of the music here is also ambient and electronica.

The space rock stuff is rather good. The ambient and the electronica is best forgotten. The result is an uneven album and a decent album in it's own right.

2 points 

 

Sioum - I Am Mortal But Was Fiend (2010)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, ebow, guitars, piano and synths.

This is another new band to me. They released two name-your-price Bandcamp albums before they broke up. I am reviewing both of them this month.

I Am Mortal But Was Fiend clocks in at one hour.

The music is post-metal.

There is also a lot of post-rock on this instrumental album. I would say 50/50 of post metal and post rock. Math rock is also a genre this album touches with.

The music is pretty hard. It is most of all dynamic and pretty complex. The music is also melodic. 

This album does not really add anything new to this genre. It is still a decent album and very much a worthy download from their Bandcamp site.

2 points 

 

 

 

 

   

Scope - Scope I (1974)

 

The debut album from this band from The Netherlands.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, grand piano, organ, keyboards, moog and flute.

One guest added saxophone.

This band released two albums between 1974 and 1975. Both of them will be reviewed in the coming days on this blog.

Scope I clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music is fusion/jazz rock.

There are some Soft Machine influences in their music. The band is also influenced by the other great fusion bands from the early 1970s too.

The music is a bit laid back at times with a lot of harmonies instead of being an all out solos based album. That makes this album a bit different from other fusion albums from that time.

The music is decent enough. This album is pretty obscure and that for a good reason. Fusion fans should check out this album.

2 points 

  

Green Carnation - A Dark Poem Part III (2026)

 

The ninth album from this band from Norway.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, organs, keyboards, synths, effects and vocals.

A number of guests added flute and a full symphony orchestra.

This is the third and final album in this trilogy. I have reviewed the first two albums in this trilogy and they are good albums.

A Dark Poem Part III clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is a blend of progressive metal and art-rock.

There are also a lot of symphonic prog in the music here.

The rock parts are at times very good. At the end of this album, there is a not so interesting piece of classical music.

Green Carnation ends this trilogy on a high with this good album. This is a trilogy of albums you should check out.

3 points 

 

VP - Water World (2012)

 

The sixth and final album from this artist from Kazakhstan.

 Vyacheslav Potapov (VP) played bass and guitars her in addition to drums, keyboards and woodwinds programming.

This album is the final of the three VP albums I have reviewed this autumn. They have been hanging around in my albums collection for many years. 

The previous album The Lunar Stone was a decent album and that gave me some hopes for this album.

Water World clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music is a blend of jazz and ambient art-rock.

There is some electronica here too.

The music is surprisingly organic with some good musicianship.

The jazz is the dominant music genre here.

The quality of the music is decent enough and this is an album well worth checking out.

2 points 

 

Velvet Underground. The - Squeeze (1973)

 

The fifth and final album from this band from USA.

The band was really only one member strong with Doug Yule on bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Three guests, including Ian Paice (Deep Purple etc), added drums, percussion, saxophone and female vocals.

Lou Reed had embarked on a successful solo career and all other original members had departed this ship too. The end was near...

Squeeze clocks in at thirty-four minutes.

The music is a blend of psych rock and Americana.

The vocals are good. The music is mid-tempo with a some wild guitars and drums.

The music is not too bad. The songs are decent enough. The music here has nothing in common with the band on their first three albums. Albums where they were pioneers and interesting. Nevertheless, this is a decent enough album.

2 points 

 

Gift. The - Seven Seasons (2026)

 

The fifth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

I have reviewed three of their first albums and have liked them a lot. So I was looking forward to this album.

Seven Seasons clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is symphonic prog.

The music is both lush and melodic. It is not the most symphonic prog album I have ever heard as the band has moved a lot more towards neo-prog.

The music is still symphonic enough with some good Genesis references.

The music is also muscular and complex.

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

The result is a good album and one to check out for those into complex, yet melodic progressive rock.

3 points 

 

 

Thollot. Jacques - Watch Devil Go (1975)

 

The second album from this artist from France.

Jacques Thollot played drums, piano and synths.

He had help from two guests who added bass, synths, saxophones, flute and vocals.

I am reviewing his five albums this fall. I was not impressed at all by his debut album. An album so introvert avant-garde it made a painful experience.

Watch Devil Go clocks in at thirty-six minutes.

The music is avant-garde rock/prog.

The music is surprisingly melodic this time around. There are even a couple of proper songs here, complete with female vocals. Good vocals.

There are also some wild saxophones and drums here.

Most of the music on this album is quirky. The quality is decent and the music has given me a positive surprise. I thought I was in for a turkey here. But no... This is an album well worth checking out. 

2 points 

Procol Harum - The Prodical Stranger (1991)

 

The tenth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

A number of guests added drums, guitars, mandolin and backing vocals.

The band returned again after a fourteen years long break. They wisely bypassed the 1980s... 

The Prodigal Stranger clocks in at fifty-two minutes.

The music is mainstream rock.

There is also some soul in their music. The soul comes a lot from the female backing singers.

The music is mid-tempo with some good guitars and the usual great vocals from Gary Brooker. 

The quality is not too bad. There are a couple of good songs here. Most of the music is mediocre. I am not won over....

2 points 

 

Empty Days - Empty Days (2013)

 

The one and only album from this band from Italy.

The band was a seven-pieces big band with a lineup of percussion, theremin, bass, guitars, piano, vibes, keyboards, mellotron and vocals.

Two guests added cello and vocals.

This band released this album through the highly respected AltRock Records and Bandcamp. That is all I know about this band and album.

The album clocks in at one hour.

The music is broadly speaking RIO/Avant-garde.

There is a lot more to the music than this genre. Clear influences are dream pop, cinematic rock and post-rock. A mix of these four genres and the picture becomes a lot clearer.

The music is indeed pretty ambient with a lot of slow and stripped down melodies.

There are some female vocals here and they creates a dream pop like sound. 

There are some good stuff here and some less good stuff. 

The result is a pretty good album and one to check out if avant-garde prog is your thing.

2.5 points 

 

 

 

 

 

Elysium Theory - Modern Alchemy (2010)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

The band released two albums in their short life and I reviewed their second album Event Horizon back in July 2013 in # 1 of this blog. You can read the review here. I was not impressed by that album. I got their debut album a decade ago and should have reviewed back then. But other albums got my attention instead. Hence the album being reviewed far too late.... today.

Modern Alchemy clocks in at sixty-seven minutes.

The music here is progressive metal.

Their take on progressive metal is pretty melodic and not as hard and harsh as most of the newer progressive metal bands.

The music here is therefore pretty close to the heavy prog genre.

The vocals are good. Ditto for the guitars.

There are some good and some decent music here. The result is therefore a pretty good album, well worth checking out.

2.5 points  

 

Fire in Her Eyes - Look into the Sky (2026)

 

The debut album from this duo from Great Britain.

The band was a duo with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitars, piano, organ, keyboards, synths, flute and vocals.

A number of guests added percussion, drums, bass, guitars and backing vocals.

I believe this duo is sisters, Daniella and Natasha Livingstone.

Look Into The Sky clocks in at seventy-two minutes.

The music here is folk rock.

The music also has some pretty strong jazz and dream pop influences.

The driving force here is the sister's great vocals. The music is elegant, melodic and warm.

The music here is good and there is no doubt this band will go far if they decide to go all in and make it big. This is one of the better, most important debut albums of the year.

3 points 

 

VP - The Lunar Stone (2007)

 

The fourth album from this artist from Kazakhstan.

Vyacheslav Potapov (VP) played bass and guitars her in addition to drums, keyboards and woodwinds programming.

I was not impressed by the only other album I have reviewed, the 2003 debut album Sound Dependence. I still have to review his final album and that review will be posted sometime in the coming days.

The Lunar Stone clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is a blend of jazz and fusion.

Mostly jazz, it has to be said. The music is slow to mid-tempo. The music is instrumental. There is a lot of of bass here as this is his main instrument. 

There is a lot of very good xylophones here, programmed or not. 

There are a couple of good pieces here and a couple of sub-standard pieces. I am still positive surprised. This Bandcamp is a decent album and one to check out. 

2 points 

Velvet Underground. The - Loaded (1970)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitars, organ and vocals.

Three guests added drums on some tracks. 

The band soldiered on under the leadership of Lou Reed. This album is regarded as the last true album from this band. The following album Squeeze, is more regarded as a solo album by one of its members. I will review that album in some days time.

Loaded clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is more straight rock'n'roll than avant-garde rock. The band was told to write some radio-friendly tracks by their record label and the result is this album. None of the tracks became hits, btw.

The music here is indeed a lot more commercially accessible than on any other of their albums. 

The music is still pretty minimalistic and based on vocals and guitars.

The music is decent enough and an improvement on their previous album. The music is therefore pretty OK'ish. The best thing about this album is the stylish art-work.

2 points

 

 

Advent Horizon - Falling Together (2026)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, synths and vocals.

A number of guests added percussion, guitars, pianos, synths and vocals.

This band is new to me. Prog metal is not among my favourite genres and I am not really on the top of which bands are big in this genre. Bands like Advent Horizon. I have now been offered their first three albums and I will review them next year if everything goes to plan. In the meantime, I am reviewing this, their latest album.

Falling Together clocks in at sixty-seven minutes.

The music here is progressive metal.

The music is a wide variety of some very heavy prog metal and some more heavy prog and even neo-prog pieces of music.

The sound is very good and the guitars are great. The vocals are also great.

This album is therefore a good album and I need to check out their first three albums too. This is one of the better prog metal albums I have encountered during the last couple of years.

3 points  

 

 

 

Sigur Ros - Hlemmur (2003)

 

The sixth album from this band from Iceland.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of synths and programming. 

The band returned again after a one year long album break. This time with another movie soundtrack.

Hlemmur clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is ambient post-rock.

Cinematic rock is another very good label here as this is a movie soundtrack.

These forty minutes consists of small pieces of music which clearly work best within a movie setting. One of the pieces reminds me of the well known Abide By Me psalm.  

The music is both sad and melancholic.

This is clearly not a fully blooded Sigur Ros studio album. It is still a decent enough album and worth checking out if minimalistic cinematic rock is your thing.

2 points  

Rainbow - Straight Between The Eyes (1982)

 

The sixth album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a quintet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

Two guests added orchestration.

The band returned again, one year after the Difficult To Cure album, their most prolific album. Joe Lynn Turner was still with the band as the vocalist.

Straight Between The Eyes clocks in at forty-two minutes.

The music is hard rock.

The band had noted the emergency of the new wave of heavy metal and that is notable on this album. There is indeed a lot of the new wave of heavy metal in the music on this album.

This is therefore their most heavy album. It is also their most commercial album. 

I got this album on cassette forty years ago and I really liked it back then. I got it again on CD ten years ago and I still like it a lot. Ritchie Blackmore is on top form. Ditto for the rest of the band, include Joe Lynn Turner.

This album is a great blend of 1970s hard rock and 1980s heavy metal. It is a good album in it's own right and one to check out. Yes, I have a soft spot for this album.... Nevertheless....

3 points  

 

Roaring Empyrean - Monuments (2019)

 

The debut album from this band from Iran.

This is a one-man-band with Doomed Shinobi playing all instruments.

I guess Doomed Shinobi is not a real name. Taken into account that Iran is an Islamic republic, using a pseudonym is a very smart move. A life-saving move. 

Monuments clocks in at one hour.

The music here is funeral doom. 

The blurb here is that the music is a blend of new age and funeral doom. Well..... OK, the music is pretty melodic and not as harsh as the most extreme funeral doom. The music is still funeral doom and there is no new age music here.

The sound is good throughout.

The music is also pretty beautiful at the end with some good harmonies.

I have heard a lot better funeral doom albums than this one. It is still a decent album. It is also a name-your-price Bandcamp album and therefore one to check out if funeral doom is your thing.

2 points  

 

 

Rhesus O - Rhesus O (1971)

 

The one and only album from this band from France.

The band was a seven-pieces big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, xylophone, bass, guitars, organ, electric piano, harpsichord, woodwinds and voices.

This band includes two members who later joined Magma. That is this band's claim to fame and the reason why they got my attention.

This album clocks in at thirty-six minutes.

The music here is jazz.

The music is rather traditional jazz. There are some hints of both Canterbury scene and zeuhl here.

The sound is dodgy and sub-standard throughout. 

There are the usual saxophone and organ solos here. There are also some uncredited voices, choirs here.

The pieces of music is jumbled together in a chaotic fashion. That it self spoils a lot of the music here. I am not impressed by this half-decent album.

1.5 points  

   

Eiyen - Sea Of Love (2026)

 

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

Harald Plontke did all instruments and vocals on this album.

One guest is adding female vocals on this album. 

Harald Plontke were involved in some local bands before he went his own ways with Eiyen. The band name means eternity in Japanese and the music very much reflects that band name.

Sea Of Love clocks in at seventy minutes.

The music here is art-rock.

There is a lot of various influences and genres on this album. From symphonic prog to psych rock, cinematic rock, Americana and dream pop.

The music is mid-tempo to slow. It is also songs based. The music is really varied and melodic.

The music is well crafted and the music is really good. Harald Plontke has worked on the music for many years so only time will tell if he want to put himself through this process again and write/record more albums. I hope he does.

3 points 

 

 

   

Tea For Two - Twisted (2006)

 

The third album from this band from Germany.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, guitars, mandolin, recorder, keyboards and vocals.

A number of guests added drums, percussion, bass, cello and backing vocals.

This is the final album from this band. A pretty unknown band who did not get the success they may have deserved.

Twisted clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is neo-prog.

There are also some folk rock and art-rock influences in their music. The opening track is indeed a Spanish folk rock pastiche. Thankfully, this track is not representative of the rest of the album.

The music on the rest of the album is mid-tempo with some art-rock influences. The German band Argos is again a good reference.

The music is dominated by guitar harmonies and solos.  

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

This is indeed a good album from this rather underrated band. Their three albums deserve a lot more attention.

3 points 

 

 

Tarantula - Muestrame El Camino (2024)

 

The fourth album from this band from Spain.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals.

This album is a blend of a demo recorded in the 1980s which was supposed to be their third album and some material which was supposed to be their fifth album. This album has a mix of old and new songs, in other words. 

This album clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is mainstream rock.

There are also some rock'n'roll on this album.

The music is indeed in the same vein as on the Tarantula 4 album I reviewed some days ago. 

The vocals are a blend of male and female. The music is pretty hard throughout. The music is not progressive at all. 

The music is decent enough and that is really it.

2 points 

Sulphurous Sea - Flake Of A Memory (2026)

 

The third album from this one-man-band from Sweden.

Elis Ericson played bass, guitars, keyboards and drum programming here.

One guest added guitars.

Elis Ericson returned again after the two albums from last year.

Flake Of A Memory clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is instrumental symphonic prog.

Elis has on this album taken a lot of inspirations from bands like Kaipa and distilled these inspirations into his own music. Add a lot of Camel too and you get the picture.

The music is soaring throughout. The music is also epic. There are an undercurrent of Scandinavian folk music throughout this album.

The quality is very good throughout this album and this is one of the better instrumental symphonic prog albums I have ever heard. Check it out.

3.5 points  

 

 

 

Yynot - Yynot (2018)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

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

Three guests added drums, percussion and violin.

This band got my attention based on their reputation as one of the best Rush tribute bands in the world. That is why I got their three albums. Albums I will review this month.

This album clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is heavy prog.

And yes.... Rush anno their 2112 album is a good reference.

The two major differences here are the contemporary sound. The second main difference is the female vocals. The band also plays modern heavy prog too. There are also some acid folk and Americana influences in their music.

The band does a good job. The vocals is very good. 

This is indeed a good album. An album everyone into heavy prog should check out.

3 points 

Parsons Project. The Alan - Ammonia Avenue (1984)

 

The seventh album from this project from Great Britain.

The band was a duo with a lineup of piano, organ, keyboards, synths, drum programming and vocals.

A number of guests, including a symphony orchestra, added drums, percussion, bass, guitars, synths, strings, woodwinds and vocals.

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

Ammonia Avenue clocks in at forty minutes.

The music here is pomp pop.

With a couple of exceptions, this is the genre this project has been pursuing on their albums. 

This album has got a more 1980s sound than the previous albums. An updated sound in other words.

The music is still a bit outdated. A lot outdated anno 2026. The music is slow to mid-tempo. There is a lot of vocals, good vocals, here. The music is a bit flat and uninspired.

There is some decent stuff here. Most of the music is decent. But this is not among their best albums.

 2 points 

  

RealeaF - Possibly Not (2007)

 

The one and only album from this band from Israel.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, charango, guitars, cembalo, fostex, piano, synths and vocals. 

I have no information about this band at all. Which is a shame...

Possibly Not clocks in at forty minutes.

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

More psych rock than heavy prog, to be more precise. There is indeed a lot of Porcupine Tree influences here. Add in some Landberk influences too and you get the picture.

The music is mid-tempo, melodic and a bit quirky. Some of the music is also pretty eclectic.

The sound and the ambience here are very good. The vocals are also very good.

The overall quality is indeed good. This is an album fans of the two above mentioned bands should check out.  

3 points 

 

 

Raices - Raices (1975)

 

The debut album from this band from Puerto Rico.

The band was a seven-piece big band with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, electric piano, organ, clavinet, moog, keyboards, woodwinds and vocals.

This band has released two albums. One in 1975 and the final album twenty-three years later in 1998. I am just going to review this album, their debut album.

Raices clocks in at three quarters of an hour. 

The music here is jazz.

The music is also Latin-Jazz with lots of exotic rhythms with some jazz and fusion on the top of these Latin rhythms again. 

Most of it is instrumental. There are some vocals too here.

The music is really groovy with some interesting saxophone and flute solos. 

This is a decent album which should interest everyone into jazz and fusion.

2 points 

 

 

Quivira - Quivira (2026)

 

The debut album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of bass, guitars, keyboards, drum programming, programming and vocals.

Two guests added guitars and violin on a couple of tracks.

This is a supergroup with Lisa LaRue and members of Kansas. A much heralded supergroup too.

This album clocks in at sixty-seven minutes.

The music is a blend of symphonic prog and Americana.

The music is pretty hard at times. It is also epic and monumental. The Kansas influences comes thick and fast too.

The band does a great job. The vocals are great too.

The result is a very good album and one that lives up to the hype. This is one of the more interesting albums so far this year.

3.5 points 

 

 

Tea For Two - 101 (2000)

 

The second album from this band from Germany.

The band was a trio with a lineup of guitars, recorder, keyboards, synth-bass, programmed drums and vocals.

Three guests added bass, violin and female vocals on some tracks.

The band returned after a six years long album break. Their debut album Dream Or Reality was reviewed earlier this month and it is a pretty good album.

101 clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is neo-prog.

Their take on neo-prog is more in the vein of symphonic prog than the more poppy version of neo-prog. A good reference here is Argos, the German masters of neo-prog. 

There are some short and some long compositions here. They are all well crafted and pretty clever. The music is also elegant and pretty beautiful.

The vocals are also very good throughout. 

 This is a good album and a solid improvement on the debut album. This is indeed an album neo-prog fans should check out.

3 points 

Tarántula - Tarantula 4 (2021)

 

The third album from this band from Spain.

The band was a sextet with a lineup of percussion, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, harmonica and vocals.

Two guests added bass and harmonica on one track.

The band returned again, forty-three years after their second album. A decent album too, it was. See my review somewhere else in this blog.

Tarantula 4 clocks in at forty-two minutes.

The music here is mainstream rock.

The music is pretty hard rocking with some ripping bass and guitars. There are some harmonies and some more ballads like music too. 

The vocals are pretty raw female and male vocals. The lyrics are Spanish.

The result is a decent enough album which has no progressive rock whatsoever but still works as a rock'n'roll album.

2 points 

 

 

 

 

ViaMedia - Lullabies for the Marooned (2026)

 

The second album from this band from Norway.

The band was a duo with a lineup of double bass, bass, guitars, keyboards, concertina, effects and vocals.

A number of guests added drums, violins, strings and trumpet.

This is the follow up album to their 2024 debut album Bridge Of Sighs from 2024. An album I reviewed back in April 2024 for # 3 of this blog. I gave it a Good award. See the review here.

Lullabies for the Marooned clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is art-rock.

The band, I mean duo, has retreated from the more rocking soundscape on their debut album into a much more intimate, softly spoken and refined soundscape on their new album, the follow-up album.

Early Genesis, Procol Harum, Sylvan, Talk Talk and Peter Hammill are good references here. There are even some Steve Hogarth era Marillion lurking around in their music too. 

There is a blend of acoustic and electric instruments here, including guitars. The strings is adding a lot of colours and are complementing the great vocals.

This is an album where a piece of music crosses over to becoming an artwork. 

The result is a very good album and one of this year's better albums from Norway, the new powerhouse in art-rock and prog rock.   

3.5 points 

VP - Sound Dependence (2003)

 

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

VP abbreviation of Vyacheslav Potapov and he has released a handful of albums under this name. He plays bass, guitar and programming here.

I am reviewing three of his albums in the coming week.  

Sound Dependence clocks in at fifty-four minutes.

The music is a blend of electronica and psych rock.

There are indeed some strong krautrock influences in this pretty wild music too.

There are some distorted guitars and bass here in addition to the programmed synths. 

 The music is very minimalistic too. It has some good ideas though...

I am not overly enthused by this album. It is a free download from Bandcamp and well worth checking out although I will only give it a fairly decent rating.

1.5 points  

 

 

 

 

Velvet Underground. The - The Velvet Underground (1969)

 

The third album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of percussion, bass, guitars, organ and vocals.

John Cale had left the band but Lou Reed kept on going with this band. The result was this album. I have not been impressed by their first two albums. But this band is, for good and worse, an icon and it is only right to review all their studio albums.

The Velvet Underground clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is acoustic psych rock.

The music is pretty downtuned and minimalistic. Most of the music is performed by acoustic guitars and vocals.

Lou Reed is the lead vocalist here. He is helped by two female vocalists too. There are some sporadic organs here.

Most of the songs are pretty dire. There are three decent songs which is the saving grace on this album. 

This album is only a half-decent album and best avoided.

1.5 points 

Thy Listless Heart - Pilgrims on the Path of no Return (2022)

 

The one and only album from this band from Great Britain.

This was a one-man-band with Simon Bibby playing the bass, guitars, drum machines, programming and vocals. 

One guest adds whistles, recorder, pipes and female vocals. 

Simon Bibby was/is a member of the still-active My Silent Wake who has released numerous albums. Albums I should review and am planning to review next year. He was also a member of Seventh Angel around twenty years ago.

Pilgrims on the Path of no Return clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is doom metal.

Simon Bibby's take on doom metal is pretty symphonic. It is also pretty progressive and melodic too.

There are some funeral doom influences here and some more cinematic rock influences. Pink Floyd also springs to mind.

The music is still complex and still rooted in classic doom metal.

This area between funeral doom metal, cinematic rock and symphonic prog is a pretty exciting area. It is one of my favourite areas too. There are just so few bands/entities in this area. Thy Listless Heart is one of the bands in this area.

The music here is good. This is an album both fans of atmospheric metal and doom metal should check out. The same goes for the progheads.

3 points 

 

Three Colours Dark - Love's Lost Property (2021)

 

The second album from this band from Great Britain.

The band was a duo with a lineup of keyboards and vocals.

A number of guests added bass, guitars, violin, oboe, saxophone and drum programming.

The duo is Jonathan Edwards and Rachel Cohen from Karnataka. I have yet to find a copy of their debut album but I am still looking. Hopefully, a review will be posted later this year/early next year.

Love's Lost Property clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is neo-prog.

There are a lot of folk rock influences in their take on neo-prog. At their worst, there are some The Corrs influences here too.

The music here is built around the Rachel Cohen's vocals. The music reminds me a lot about the softer, poppy and more elegant side of Karnataka's music.

The original material here is mostly good. Their take on Duran Duran's song Ordinary World is both elegant and good.

Although this album is pretty poppy, it is still a good album and one worth checking out if melodic prog is your thing.

3 points 

 

 

 

 

Rupert Selection. The - Music For Horses (2026)

 

The fourth album from this band from USA.

The band was a trio with a lineup of drums, percussion, bass, guitars, piano, synths, soundscapes and vocals.

A number of guests added keyboards, synths, soundscapes, woodwinds and vocals.

I have reviewed the first two albums but not the third album if my memories serves me right. I may review that album sometimes later.

Music For Horses clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music here is best described as art-rock.

There is a lot of Americana in their music too. Based on the sound and music, there is no mistake about which country this band comes from.  

The music is rocking and lively with some woodwinds throughout this album in addition to the usual guitars and synths.

The quality is pretty good throughout. There are not enough good songs here and that is my gripe with this album. It is an album art-rock fans should check out.

2.5 points 

 

 

Sulphurous Sea - Sulphurous Sea (2025)

 

The second album from this one-man-band from Sweden.

Elis Ericson played bass, guitars, keyboards and drum programming here.

Elis Ericson has so far released three albums under this band name. I was not impressed by the debut album. But I am still reviewing the three albums.

Sulphurous Sea clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is symphonic prog.

The music is also instrumental on this album too.

The music is mostly mid-tempo. The music is pretty symphonic too. There are some soaring melodies throughout this album. 

The main instrument here is the guitars. There is a lot of piano here too and some synths.

This album is an improvement on the debut album. I am not a big fan of instrumental albums. This is one of the better new instrumental symphonic prog albums I have heard for a while and a pretty good album in it's own right.

2.5 points  

  

String Driven Thing - Keep Yer And On It (1975)

 

The fifth album from this band from Great Britain.

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

Two guests added piano and harmonica.

The band returned again after only a one year long album break. I was not impressed by their previous album and had no expectations for this album.

Keep Yer And On It clocks in at forty minutes.

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

Add in some Americana too and you get the picture.

The music is pretty hard rocking and groovy. There is a lot of violins in the music. The Kansas influences are subtle but still there. 

There are a lot of guitars and vocals too here.

There are a couple of pretty good pieces of music here. And there is some songs here which deserves to be forgotten.

This is a decent enough album from a band who were pretty popular in the beginning of the 1970s. A band worth checking out.

2 points 

  

Pattern Seeking Animals - Grimalkin (2026)

 

The sixth album from this band from USA.

The band was a quartet with a lineup of drums, bass, guitars, mandocello, mellotron, synths and vocals.

The band returned again after a one year long album break. The band is a side project of Spock's Beard... or is it the opposite way around now ? Pattern Seeking Animals is a very productive, prolific band and is threatening to overshadow Spock's Beard. Something I think everyone is very happy about. 

This album clocks in at fifty minutes.

The music here is US symphonic prog.

The music is melodic and a bit symphonic. There are both a lot of Kansas and Spock's Beard vibes and influences throughout this album.

There are some strings here in addition to the synths and guitars. The mood is mellow. The music is mid-tempo.

The male vocals are very good. They are complemented by some very good female vocals too.  

This is not their best album. The overall quality is still good. This is an album fans of US symphonic prog should check out.

3 points  

 

 

 

 

 

Tea For Two - Dream Or Reality (1994)

 

The debut album from this band from Germany.

 

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

 

This band released three albums between 1994 - 2006. All three of them are up for review in the coming weeks.

 

Dream Or Reality is clocking in at one hour.

 

The music here is neo-prog.

 

The music is melodic, light, poppy and song-focused. There are a symphonic prog instrumental piece at the end of the album.

 

The band was very inspired by the like of Marillion and Pendragon. That is evident in the music.

 

There are a few keltic folk music influences here too.

 

There is some decent and some good music here. I am not entirely won over. Neo-prog fans should check out this album.

 

2.5 points 

 

 

 

Thollot. Jacques - Quand le Son Devient Aigu, Jeter la Girafe à la Mer (1971)

 

The debut album from this artist from France.

Jacques played drums, percussion, piano, organ and effects here.

Jacques is the brother of Francois Thollot, a more well-known zeuhl artist than Jacques. 

Jacques released five albums before he passed on twelve years ago. I will review them all in the next two-three weeks.

This album clocks in at three quarters of an hour.

The music is avant-garde rock/jazz.

I am not denying that I am sceptical to most of the avant-garde music. Albums like this are one of the reasons for this attitude.

The music is a bit too pling-plong unhinged. There is not much of a method in this madness. The music is too dire to really win my approval.

There is some decent music here. But most of the music leaves me cold. Hence....

1.5 points 

 

Pinnacle - Assasin (1974)

 

The one and only album from this band from Great Britain.

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

This band from Liverpool, England was a short lived band who released this album and then disappeared again. This album has been re-released seven times as bootlegs and more official releases. The band left a mark, at least. 

Assassin clocks in at forty minutes.

The music is hard rock with some psych rock influences.

The music is really hard rocking and pretty wild with some good solos.

There are also some more mid-tempo and slow psych rock here too. Some Moog-dominated psych rock.

The vocals are pretty good.

The result is a decent enough album which will appeal to hard rock fans. Check it out.

2 points