“Nothng but manna from analog heaven can be found within the balance of Analogue Productions’ year-long-plus Atlantic 75 anniversary reissue series … but to my ears, the crème de la crème of the lot are all the reissuances culled from the prime, more progressive-leaning ’70s era of the Genesis catalog. … A few highlights to whet your aural whistle: 1) Mike Rutherford’s high-pitched, 12-string acoustic guitarwork and the overall rise/fall drama of “The Musical Box” (LP1, Side 1, Track 1, November 1971’s Nursery Cryme). 2) The full majesty of Tony Banks’ lengthy piano intro (and outro!) and Steve Hackett’s career-defining guitar solo on “Firth of Fifth” (LP1, Side 2, Track 1, September 1973’s Selling England by the Pound). 3) Peter Gabriel’s pleading lead vocals…
Category: prog-rock
The ongoing retrospective of the late John Wetton’s live recordings lands in the 1990s, during the time he was plying his trade as a solo artist. This 10-disc set, which presents eight shows from that decade in either remastered or revised form, is a treasure trove of material recorded in Japan, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands.
While there are inevitably repeated songs across such a wide-ranging set of shows – especially the most crucial pieces from his work with Asia, King Crimson and UK – there are plenty of variations in performance and arrangement, and Wetton is in fine voice throughout.
Asia’s ‘Heat of the Moment’ pops up in every show, of course; but often in rearranged form, while Crimson’s ‘Easy Money’ regularly…
This time, the performances took place during 2024-2025 and recorded at venues across Europe, United States, Canada and on Cruise To The Edge, which explains the post-fixed ‘Live Around The World‘ part on the new album, Are We Nearly There Yet?. BBT aficionados will recognise the title as it is a line from the song Last Eleven, which also gave its name to the band’s latest successful studio album, The Likes of Us – the first with the new line-up, featuring vocalist Alberto Bravin (PFM) and keyboardist Oskar Holldorff (Dim Gray). The resultant series of shows included the Zoetermeer Boerderij, with the two shows scheduled featuring: on Saturday, the band played almost the entire new studio album, while on Sunday, they played iconic songs from the band’s rich history.
Dream Theater celebrate their 40th anniversary with a special live release Quarantième filmed during their 2024 European tour, their first to feature Mike Portnoy back in the band after over 13 years.
Recorded in Paris at the Adidas Arena, the tour saw the band debuting a track from their latest studio album ‘Parasomnia’, as well as classic tracks from throughout their career, including ‘Metropolis Pt. 1’, ‘Hollow Years’, ‘Octavarium’, ‘Pull Me Under’…
“From the moment we announced our 40th anniversary tour, we knew it would be a very special event for both the band and our fans and must be captured. With this release, our performance in Paris is presented so beautifully in both stunning audio and video and really encapsulates this momentous occasion for all to enjoy”…
…a remixed and remastered version, with new parts recorded, including by Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and strings recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.
Tackling a legendary progressive rock concept album is a dangerous proposition, especially when a recent remaster has refocused the spotlight on the original. But drummer/vocalist Nick D’Virgilio is better suited than most to reinterpret Genesis’ classis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1975). A member of contemporary progsters Spock’s Beard, perhaps more importantly D’Virgilio played drums on four tracks of Genesis’ overlooked post-Phil Collins album, Calling All Stations (1997). With such a connection, and in collaboration with Nashville producer Mark Hornsby — who…
An expanded deluxe edition of A Tab in the Ocean by Nektar. First issued in November 1972, the album was the second release by Nektar and was a milestone for the band as it set the template that that would bring them success in both Germany and the USA.
Originally featuring just four pieces, the albums first side would be dominated by the extensive title track which was a progressive rock tour de force. The remaining tracks, ‘Desolation Valley / Waves’, ‘Crying in the Dark’ and ‘King of Twilight’ would also become Nektar classics.
The album was recorded and mixed at Dierks Studios, Stommeln, Germany in October 1972, produced by Peter Hauke and Nektar and engineered by Dieter Dierks.
Universe’s lone 1977 LP cloaks Hawkwind-meets-Syd-Barrett psychedelia in Yes-scale grandeur, with dexterous keys, swirling synths and ten-minute epic “Touchdown” propelling an ethereal, subtly spiritual voyage through cosmic Americana.
The result is a heady acidprog reverie, equal parts celestial hymn and spacerock odyssey, that ranks among the great hidden treasures of 70’s U.S. prog. Mixing the sounds of Hawkwind and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Universe successfully created their own acid rock sound. Formed in the mid ’70s in California by Gary Paul Van and Dennis Lee Askew, Universe released one eponymous album in 1977, and what an album it was.
Touchdown features fine acoustic and electric guitar work. It is the longest song…
…Iconoclassic reissued the first two albums by Happy the Man: their 1977 self-titled debut and 1978’s Crafty Hands, originally released on the Arista label. (HTM have become prog’s Taylor Swift of sorts, securing the master rights to these albums themselves to license to the label.) Formed in Harrisonburg, Virginia, the group was influenced by European prog groups like Yes, Gentle Giant and Genesis – but created a sound all their own that expanded the constraints of the genre further through the west.
Founding members Stanley Whitaker (guitar/ vocals), Frank Wyatt (keyboards/saxophone/flute), Rick Kennell (bass) and Mike Beck (drums), plus early recruit Kit Watkins on keyboards, had a mostly instrumental, often humorously titled…
The opening track ‘Invisible’ begins with a dramatic 25-second slice of a cappella, as a cavalcade of voices croon ‘hello out there, can you see me… I hope it’s not right, but I feel that I might be turning invisible’. Cheekily, it’s not actually a taster of what’s to come, although Spock’s Beard will do it again with even more vocal pyrotechnics, on ‘Afourthoughts’. As we ought to know after 33 years and, now, 14 albums, it’s hard to predict what they’re going to do in the next minute, let alone over a whole album.
Some of the basics remain on their first album since 2018’s relatively tentative Noise Floor. The Californians are still as complex as Yes – Going for the One era mostly, oddly enough – and they scatter harmonies like…
It’s been more than two years since Jethro Tull released an expanded version of “The Broadsword And The Beast” before letting their reissue programme stumble chronologically, with unexpected emergence of “Bursting Out” box set followed by the “Christmas Album” and “Living In The Past” repackages. All this means another go at 1984’s “Under Wraps” is long overdue, yet it might be closer than everyone thinks, or farther, depending on what a fans’ take on the band’s digital-only offering of a concert from that platter’s promotional tour will be.
Restricted to streaming, Live In Berlin 1985 may seem strange, as it doesn’t contain a single cut from the group’s then-latest record, but the special performance – featuring the temporarily…
Steve Morse has long been regarded as one of the most respected guitarists in rock, admired not just by fans but by fellow musicians around the world. His tone, phrasing, and ability to constantly push forward and innovate have defined his career for decades. After briefly stepping away from prior music commitments following the passing of his wife, Morse returns with renewed focus and inspiration. Reuniting with longtime bandmates Dave LaRue on bass and Van Romaine on drums, he delivers Triangulation, the first new Steve Morse Band album in sixteen years.
The group’s last outing, 2009’s Out Standing In Their Field, came just before Morse and LaRue embarked on the Flying Colors adventure with Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse, and Casey McPherson.
In the Wake of Poseidon 40th Anniversary Edition. Released in a double Digipak stored in a slipcase. Includes a booklet with new sleeve notes by King Crimson biographer Sid Smith, along with rare photos and archive material. King Crimson opened 1970 scarcely in existence as a band, having lost two key members (Ian McDonald and Michael Giles), with a third (Greg Lake) about to leave. Their second album – largely composed of Robert Fripp’s songwriting and material salvaged from their stage repertory (“Pictures of a City” and “The Devil’s Triangle”) – is actually better produced and better sounding than their first. Surprisingly, Fripp’s guitar is not the dominant instrument here: The Mellotron, taken over by Fripp after McDonald’s departure – and played even better than before – still remains…
In 2009, the Triton venue (near Paris, France) was sold out to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Univers Zero, an iconic band of the Rock in Opposition movement.
These two exceptional concerts highlighted a radical and unique style of music, at the crossroads of new music and chamber rock, skilfully blending acoustic and electric instruments, as heard on the cult album ‘Ceux du Dehors’.
Around Daniel Denis (drums), Michel Berckmans (oboe, bassoon), and Andy Kirk (keyboards and guitar), three historical figures of the group, complemented by four other talented musicians, offered an intense multimedia show, intertwining a condensed version of key pieces from the repertoire with more recent compositions.
After a five-year break, Magic 8-Ball marks Gazpacho’s return with eight new tracks built around the idea of fate-how it moves without warning, and how the choices we make can slowly strip away who we thought we were.
Magic 8-Ball is about someone who gambles everything, believing that eventually everyone gets their break. That the universe is fair if you just wait long enough. But the break never comes. He loses everything and is left with the realization that it was never fate, only his own choices. His responsibility. His idea.
The title, Magic 8-Ball, ties into the idea of randomness and inevitability—shaking something for answers you already suspect and repeating the cycle over and over. The idea of infinity is central.
Including alternate takes of every piece, this edition sheds new light on a truly unique album. One of the highlights of the King Crimson 50th anniversary CD/Blu-Ray editions to date has been King Crimson producer David Singleton’s series of Elemental Mixes as he utilises the full spectrum of available studio sessions for each album to produce very different takes on the familiar songs and pieces.
This is especially true of Lizard where the ambition of the material, the much-expanded line-up of musicians – the background of many of them in the jazz rather than the rock world – and the number of takes recorded, resulted in a large amount of material to be considered for this album.
There was enough material for David to be able to mix and produce alternate takes for every…
When rock music from Germany gained international recognition under the label “krautrock” in the 1970s, it was far more than a mind-expanding phenomenon. In basements, youth centers, and improvised studios, a vibrant scene emerged-shaped by fearless curiosity and a strong will to transcend traditional musical structures. Some bands produced only a single recording; others became experimental platforms for established musicians or transient fixtures in local underground milieus. What united them was a desire to cross boundaries: rock met jazz, folk merged with electronics, soul touched the avantgarde. These intersections produced soundscapes that remain powerful documents of a creatively restless era.