If any led Neal Morse Band is fine by you, then the upcoming Neal Morse Band ‘Great Adventure ‘ will be up your aisle! Can’t wait!
Jay, I keep forgetting to thank you for turning me onto Opus Avantra. They weren't as scary as I feared. And even when things get a little strange, there's some real beauty to even things out.
For those who like their progressive rock on the jazzy side, I would recommend this tremendous album. Brilliant wind and keyboard work. Own an old See for Miles CD that sounds superb... Currently spinning this again (listened to it a lot in the fall).
Glad you liked them! Did your reach for Opus Avantra's more contemporary releases? Strata (1989) is a stunner, the real beauty and the fearsome beast. One of the best reunion albums I have ever heard. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnavInQ5fP8
Wow........ That is intense. Fantastic description of the music you provided. I have their Lord Cromwell on CD and need to revisit. Great recommend.
Service with A Smile, Happy The Man. This one absolutely crushes me every time I hear it. My life would be much better if I listened to this track every day.
these guys were probably the best American prog band (non-AOR oriented) around in the late 1970s, another of those bands that were late to the party and never quite popped. Good stuff!
The great Pekka Pohjola. This is absolutely one of my favourite videos on YT. Go to the 5min mark if you're understandably bored by the crappy Kurtzweil Rhodes intro, Pekka and the band blast into orbit. My old prog loving friend used to have a defunct toaster handy in his room to smash about when the prog got too intense (weird I know...) this is one such occasion when a toaster would be handy. The studio version of this is also on YT. It was issued on LP recently for the first time. I'm glad to have it, looks and sounds fantastic. RIP Pekka.
Another toaster worthy track from trailblazer and iconoclast Steve Tibbetts. Mark Anderson making a rare appearance on the kit. Absolutely scorching version of "Test" from one of my top 10 albums "Bye Bye Safe Joyrney". How can this be so good?!
I have recently grabbed a euroboot from his 1987 tour titled Alien Lounge... Live. The sound quality is average at best, but still it's one of the best live recordings I have from that decade. Why we haven't got any official documents of his 80s tours is really beyond my comprehension... http://www.odmcy.com/catalog/index.php/catalogue/735-steve-tibbetts-alien-lounge-live-1987-cd
Ok, I'm getting greedy with my posts now. Another guy I love, Bo Hansson. This is such a great little doc taken at the height of Bo's fame (he should have been famous). Some very nice person added subtitles recently so you can really get inside of Bo's head. Quotable lines like "You don't have to hide, just make yourself hard to reach, eventually people give up". If Bo and his studio were still there I'd be on a plane tomorrow and join him for a spiritual retreat.
Nice! Thank you. I've seen that release before but never bothered investigating. I will now. Saw him in Montreal twenty years ago with Marc. Regrettably not thrilled by his newer stuff. Had higher expectations for his album from last year but find most of it familiar sounding ramblings, beautiful ramblings mind you.
Sorry, one more. This is music from Eric Malmberg. It has a mere 119 views on YT. Eric has Bo's organ and this record is stunningly good. Great period production, choice sounds and great writing. The CD came out in 2007. This record stands next to some of the better prog albums of the 70s.
Seeing a few Transatlantic/Neal Morse/Portnoy type posts inspired me to spin this one. I like what I'm hearing regarding the new Dream Theater tracks on YouTube. DT fans are a strange bunch, brutally criticizing down to the most meticulous of details. At this point I do not expect them to be reinventing the wheel! They already attempted to do that to a degree via The Astonishing, and it didn't go over too well. The new songs sound great and I'm looking forward to the new album.
UKZ. Formed by the man in my avatar pic. The title track of the four-track EP 'Radiation'. Sadly the only thing they did. I figure this is what King Crimson might have sounded like if he'd ever joined them.
No, I didn't realize Opus Avantra had other albums besides the two from the 70s. Thanks for the heads up on this!
Currently listening to probably my personal favorite mainstream prog album of 2018 on vinyl. Phideaux's "Infernal". I remember years ago hearing "The Great Leap" and being unimpressed. It was mostly alternative rock to my ears. But this is great stuff, IMO. And I'm usually pretty picky about modern prog: But I don't want to stink up the joint with too much of the clean stuff. I'll be reaching for Univers Zero after the Phideaux album is done. The stuff nightmares are made of: Univers Zero - La Faulx
Wrapping up the day with this album from Granada. They only recorded 3 of them and this one is a mix of fusion, folk and symphonic prog, all nicely sparkled with some Spanish vocals. To get to hear some flamenco guitar mixed in with some mellotron takes the cake for me! Oh, let’s not forget some nice flute playing.
This is one of my all-time favourite live performances. It's Transatlantic's enthusiasm, as much as their musical abilities and tunes, that make them so awesome live.
