Progressive Rock Focus

Something new, and something a bit heavier. The Cyberiam is a rock band from Chicago. You can find out more here: https://thecyberiam.com/home First track has long spoken segments on it and it's a little jarring to my ears. The sung chorus is melodic but harmonically it's a little dull, relying on the same chugging chords over and over again. There's not really a lot to this song, I think. The second track has a spoken intro, and choosing a speech from the late Queen Elizabeth II is somewhat bizarre. It's a speech about the Commonwealth. Is it ironic? Why was it chosen? Is it just a way of referring to the queen - but for what reason? I'm baffled as to what this song is for. No singing on this track, so we're two tracks in and it's been mainly instrumental. Track 3 is an actual song, you know, with words and stuff, and it's the best so far. There's nothing outstandingly different harmonically, we're in fairly standard prog territory. It's wel...

Today, you may think I've completely lost it. Sting, a progger? What am I thinking? Bear with me. I would like to make the contention that Sting's 1991 album The Soul Cages is about as prog as it gets. First and foremost, it's a no-holds-barred concept album. Secondly, it uses a lot of clever harmonic turns. Third, its songs have a longer form - three of them are seven minutes or thereabouts. Sure, it doesn't have the endless twiddling guitar or keyboard solos often associated with prog. But think about Dark Side of the Moon. No-one would argue that's not prog - is this album so different? The first song, Island Of Souls, sets the tone. A great melody over a slow, mysterious pulsing synth line develops and builds. There are interesting harmonic and rhythmic changes. The keyboards are tasteful and atmospheric and there's even an appearance from the Northumbrian smallpipes, which is not something you can often say. The second song is a bit more poppy, of course, b...

 Yes, you're right, Oliver Wakeman is the son of that other Wakeman chappie. He has a new album out, called Anam Cara. You can find out more about him here: https://www.oliverwakeman.co.uk/ It's billed on his website as a Celtic/Rock crossover album, but Prog Radio lists it on their website as a new release and that's good enough for me. So, I'm not a fan of Rick Wakeman's solo work, in general, as I find it over-sentimental and bombastic. And the first thing that hits you about Oliver's album is the straining emotionalism of the singer, Hayley Griffiths, formerly of Welsh progressive rock band Karnataka. For me, it's way over the top. The singer is trying way too hard. But then, that's a stylistic thing, it's an artistic choice, it's not good or bad. Technically she's clearly very accomplished - just not my cup of tea. On the other hand, the music is really well done. Absolutely beautifully recorded instruments and arrangements. Lots of iris...

Today's recommendation is another new band to me. You can find out about Six By Six here. https://sixbysixband.com/ The drummer is the current drummer of Saxon, so I'm expecting something a little on the heavier side, but this is some very thoughtful, interesting prog which I would say stops short of prog metal. I've listened to the album once through, not really enough to get a sense of its themes lyrically but enough to understand its general style. The arrangements are modern and interesting; the vocals are adventurous but assured. The songs are absolutely chock full of great tunes, and the lead guitar provides solid support. There was a time in the late seventies and early eighties when British heavy metal had some great, great tunes that broke through into the mainstream (I'm thinking "Since You Been Gone" by Rainbow hated by GCSE music teachers everywhere) and this reminds me of that time. But Beyond Shadowland moves way beyond. Spectre, for example, beg...

Mirror To The Sky is the twenty-third studio album by Yes. It was released in May 2023. So, how good is it, and how does it stack up against the other twenty-two studio albums? To what extent is this a pastiche of former glories, and to what extent does it try to say something new, or, you might say, progressive? First thing to say is that this Yes lineup is Jon Davison, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen. So only Steve Howe remains from any of the 1970s line-ups, though of course some of the other members of the band have had a long history with the group. First of all, let's get over "if it ain't Jon Anderson, it ain't Yes". If that's what you think, there's no point having a further conversation. It might make it worse for you that Yes singers since Jon Anderson left under controversial circumstances in 2008 have effectively been Jon Anderson impersonators rather than bringing their own new style. But then what about Drama, with T...

This is an album from 2015, and I've picked it because I've just become aware of this guy through Prog Radio (as ever) and this seems like a good start. The first track on the album starts with some funky rhythm guitar and goes into a lovely vocal section. Complex rhythms abound and he sounds like he's having a lot of fun. But (and this will become a common theme) I'm not sure where's it going. Maybe it's not intended to go anywhere. The second track starts with a synth bass line that to me sounds a little at odds with the instrumentation of the rest of the track, but I think that's just a personal preference. The piece maintains a nice momentum over its 5 minutes or so, but I'm not sure there's enough there to satisfy a prog audience. The third piece features a nice vocal performance, but again the piece meanders around and I struggle to fit it into any sort of definition of progressive rock. The fifth track, however, starts to edge back into more f...

I'm quite surprised this surfaced on Prog Radio's new albums list. https://www.progradio.com/newalbums To call this progressive rock is to stretch the boundaries of that genre well beyond breaking point in my opinion. So why am I reviewing it? I'm finding that tough to answer, I'll be honest. Let's crack on with the review and see if I can work it out. https://thecasimirconnection.com/ According to their website, the Casimir Connection is a contemporary classical ensemble which "explores the boundaries between classical, folk and jazz". The sound centres around the piano, bringing in violin, double bass and saxophone. It's composed rather than improvised. The musicianship, as you'd expect, is excellent and the pieces range widely in dynamics and form. I think the folk influences come across most strongly in the violin playing but there is no obvious quoting. One of the problems with limited instrumentation in any genre is avoiding making every piec...