Thin Lizzy - Vagabonds of the Western World / Jailbreak [Deluxe Edition]

Thin Lizzy may have been the bee’s knees of Heavy Metal music for over 41 years. They had the songs, the tough guy looks as if they were a gang, and the music had a great Irish flavor to the sound. Even though Jailbreak remains a classic Lizzy album in 1976, these two deluxe edition’s (Vagabonds of the Western World and Jailbreak) prove to show how important Thin Lizzy were and launching chart success, receiving worldwide attention in the states, which singer-songwriter and bassist, the late great Phil Lynott still carries a punch with his vocals and bass playing.

Schoolboys Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell, and drummer Brian Downey formed the Dublin band back in 1969 after Bell saw the band, Orphanage and knew that Lynott had talent and could sing very well. The band was named after a comic book of a robot named Tin Lizzie, but Thin Lizzy stuck. The band was signed to Decca Records in 1970 and soon released two albums: The self-titled album and Shades of a Blue Orphanage. Both of these albums never sold well, but soon got notice from DJs John Peel and David “Kid” Jensen who appeared on the third album as a narrator on the Vagabonds album.

Lynott knew that their third album would be the last time that the band would appear on Decca as it was time for a change in the music scene and the timing was right. On Vagabonds of the Western World, Lynott’s strong vocals are coming in like a race car that went 600 miles per hour. The influences of comic books, irish folk lore, and bluesy raunchy funk thanks to Eric Bell’s hammering guitar solo as if he’s in the realm of Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore, Vagabonds remains an underrated Lizzy classic that deserves a lot of attention.

There’s the love-song ballad with a string quartet on A Song While I’m Away as if Lynott has become Englebert Humperdinck, which Phil dedicates this song to a girl who was the love of his life. The on-the-road power house of the single, The Rocker which deals with having sex with girls after a performance in its early resemblance of AC/DC’s High Voltage-era while the prog touch of The Hero and The Madmen which features Jensen in his realm of the style of Laugh-In’s Gary Owens, pays tribute to Phil’s childhood heroes of the Superhero comic books of the 20th century.

Opening political blues shuffle of Mama Nature Said which deals with World Pollution, packs a huge entrée thanks to the Eric’s slide guitar sound as if he’s Duane Allman and the rumbling thunderstorm of Slow Blues are quite evidential of Thin Lizzy’s love of the blues . The Irish Folk Stories that Phil loved in his school-era really comes in the elements of early beginnings of celtic metal of the title track while the emotional roughness at home comes at a full time swing of Little Girl in Bloom which deals with teenage pregnancy.

And then everything becomes an erotic sexual fantasy as Phil’s bass chugs and Eric’s Hendrix-sque guitar psych sound and Eric’s pounding drums come in like a flaming fire of making love with Gonna Creep Up on You and it’s surprising that this would be the last album that Eric would be in the band during the making of the album because of the music business was changing and deciding to move on. The bonus tracks is now in full control features the A & B-side of the singles, Randolph’s Tango, a laid-back groovy ballad that pays tribute to the Argentina dance and Broken Dreams, which sort of realms of Zappa’s Stink Foot, is a killer track.

Here I Go Again has a Hawaiian beat as for the homage of Rod Stewart and the Faces comes in with Cruising with the Lizzymobile while Sitamoia carries an early punk rock sound resemblance of the Ramones. Now enter, the late great guitarist Gary Moore who appears on the 1977 remix of Slow Blues and crunchy roar of Little Darling. Gary is shining with his bluesy and metallic riffs and he knows he is not pulling any punches. Thin Lizzy, all of a sudden, had a hit single with the Irish traditional song, Whiskey in the Jar. They had finally broke through the champagne bottle and showing more fuel has been put into the car to get going.

The second half of the Deluxe Edition, it keeps getting better of the album features the band doing sessions at the BBC from 1973 to 1974 where the band were finally getting the recognition as they were promoting the third album and brought the electricity to the audience and the presenters as they got what the doctor ordered. The funk comes into the picture Showdown and Phil’s rough childhood to be the only black Irish member in the power metal anthem of Black Boys in the Corner.

After Eric Bell left the band, the band moved from a trio to a four piece. Enter Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson in which was now known the famous four-era as the fans love the era because of the dueling guitarist which would later influence Judas Priest and Iron Maiden also known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Scott and Brian appeared in two albums: Nightlife and Fighting. By now the two guitarist were like boxers in the boxing match. Scott was more of Page sound while Brian had the elements that Eric Bell used from the Vagabonds-era as if Eric is watching over Robertson's guitar playing. They were thinking to see who can come up with the best rhythm and the best solos. The evidence is here with the breakthrough, Jailbreak.

Originally released in 1976 on Lizzy’s new label Vertigo, Thin Lizzy broke through the mainstream and soon America came calling thanks to the two hit singles, The Boys Are Back in Town and the title track, it gave Thin Lizzy and Phil a huge boost and the songs keep on coming. While the punk scene was about to emerge, the band showed that they can be admired by the punks not to mention Steve Jones, Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols who would form the Greedies. But let’s get back to Jailbreak.

Jim Fitzpatrick, who did the artwork of the Vagabonds album, made Jailbreak almost look like something out of Stan Lee’s Marvel-era on the front cover as Phil was writing lyrics that had a comic-book feel to the album. You have the science-fiction forces of evil on Warriors, the Springsteen feel on Angel From The Coast and Romeo and the Lonely Girl, the country rock sounds of being a cowboy from Texas in the homage of John Ford’s Stagecoach on Cowboy Song which would later become a live fan favorite among Lizzy fans and the moody-sque soul sound that has it deal with either you live or die on Fight or Fall.

The early beginnings of NWOBHM is evidential here on the last finale of the thundering, Emerald. It has a Sword and Sorcery element feel as Scott and Brian go at it as Phil just lends his heart out with the sci-fi power of shock treatment as Downey just sounds like an early Lars Ulrich before the duo guitarists go into a middle-eastern midsection for a while and then go at it to see who can win the match. The bonus tracks are quite surprising to get your blood boiling for more to break out of prison to live to see the sunrise.

We have the remixes done by Scott Gorham and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott as they dug up some of the multi-tracks that were heavily buried in the original release. On The Boys are Back in Town and Jailbreak which features a new intro done by Phil Lynott, there is new guitar playing done by Scott that completely blew me away including an alternate lyric version of the hit single of Boys. You could tell that Phil had to change the lyrics and the rest is history. We have again more of the BBC sessions in 1976 on John Peel’s show. Peel was a true champion of Thin Lizzy’s music and the band could prove no wrong to the late hero that Lizzy were on fire.

A studio version of Blues Boy and Derby Blues which was recorded at the Derby College of Technology in 1975, is an earlier version of Cowboy Song are quite surprising to see how Lizzy were going all Blues Rock and how the live version is much better than the studio version. Still after 41 years later, Thin Lizzy’s music keeps on growing and Phil Lynott’s legacy will live forever and years to come, the music again is an accomplished beginnings of hard rock.

Jeff Green - Jessica

When most musicians and bands release material online like Matt Stevens does with Echo and Ghost, it feels as if the future awaits us for years to come and give the major record labels a chance to bow their knees over to. When you have guitarist and virtuoso Jeff Green releases Jessica online, is a tribute to her, the daughter he wished he got to know her, passed away in 1996 of oxygen deprivation. The album took about 11 years for him to finish and find his destiny to make an emotional yet beautiful in sweat and tears.

Like Neil Peart who went on a Motorcycle trip across the globe to find his true feelings after the loss of his wife and daughter, it is almost as if Jeff had to find himself and to see where the road would lay ahead for him. Jessica is where Jeff Green comes out like a flower getting ready to grow quickly. The first thing that moves you is his guitar playing of ambient new age sound which is shown on Willing The Clouds Away bearing a resemblance of an heartfelt white bird flying to the heavens as the moog solo gives an angelic touch while the guitar playing fills the void.

This isn’t just your typical progressive rock album, it’s more of an album to sink in and fill your heart and mind to see where you might be and the elements of Yes’s golden-era is quite evidential. You also have the spooky introduction called For The Future. The Future has a Tangerine Dream retro sound at first, before going into a Gilmour-sque layered guitar sound as if it’s crying for Jessica while it goes into a 70s-era of Genesis’ own Steve Hackett’s homage. It is quite an amazing composition though, because For The Future is Jeff’s road to healing and its finest peak.

The real short classical guitar instrumental piece that is rich with Horizons is on Visions while On This Night has a dramatic structure and the singing comes in. It is very powerful for him to come out of limelight and give all the energy he’s got to come and the race track is on for him. Pride sounds like something that was left off the Fragile sessions with some touching finger picking guitar work as Jeff sings about Jessica as if he is letting her know that he will always be with her no matter where the direction will go for him.

Essence is piano and keyboards that sound like an symphonic lullaby river into the passages of time with it’s classical boundaries that makes it very touching sound as Woman With Child carries the ‘80s New Wave of British Prog sound ala Marillion’s Clutching At Straws-era with it’s melodic passages and soaring background vocalization proves to be a one ticket to freedom. The short composition Being is a pastoral symphonic surround beauty as it segues into the dramatic mood for Jessie’s Theme.

Coming with a classical guitar, moog solo’s, Robert Fripp and Steve Hackett-sque guitar sound, atmospheric bass lines, and the drum tempo becoming an up beat tempo, it’s very much laid-back as you lie on the beach to watch the sun rise on the blue sky as the angelic vocals come in to let Jeff know that Jessica is watching Daddy every day. The groove funk is energetic and in full scale of tension on Jeff’s view on what he did wrong and how he would have changed differently to save Jessica’s life on Tomorrow Never Came and his anger is shown surprisingly to fill the situation on the loss of a child. Prittlewell Chase is a moody haunting celtic rock sound. With the eerie flute solo and acoustic guitar coming in hand, not only that it again is crying out for Jessica, but almost could have been a score for a horror film before going into the deeper realms of Radiohead and Porcupine Tree with it’s electronic rock sound of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Closing track, Live Forever, provides a trusting finale, as Jeff lets Jessica reminding her that the magic he has is still inside him as it becomes an alternative rock format sparking balladry and opening their hearts to see where the destiny would lead them to. If it’s an album that you want to get, than there’s a lot of great music that is coming online to listen to get you in the mood for, if you are parent who lost their child and deciding what’s the next chapter will be for you, then Jeff Green’s Jessica’ remains an unbelievable debut album to give a huge listen to.

Fantasy - Paint A Picture

Paint a Picture has been considered a collector’s item thanks to MOJO’s 2005 issue on the Story of Prog Rock as Derek Oliver, founder of Rock Candy Records considered it the top ten collectable prog album every superfan should hear. Fantasy was formed in Kent at a farmhouse in Chapel as the band did their early rehearsals there. They are sort of the answer to Peter Gabriel’s Genesis with melodic and symphonic pieces and could have given Gabriel a run for their money, but with a beautiful album cover and inner gatefold sleeve, it just goes to show why this band deserves a lot of attention since releasing this lost classic on the Polydor label in 1973.

Like an unexpected magic carpet that appeared out of nowhere, the musicianship is well-structured and the songs themselves are well-crafted as if they could have been written for the animated classic, The Last Unicorn. It’s a perfect hidden treasure that is only 44 minutes of beautiful vocals done by Paul Lawrence, powerful story-telling keyboards from David Metcalfe, and harmonic guitar sounds from Peter James. With the Supernatural Fairy Tale of song structures is very much in the realm of Genesis-inspired lyrics together forming in the realm of the symphonic atmosphere of: Cressida, Fruupp, and the Harvest-era of Barclay James Harvest.

Opening with the title track on a melodic folk rock structure done by James guitar playing as creates a psych wah-wah guitar mood done by the moody organ and vocalizations done by Metcalfe and Lawrence, it then goes into a soaring prog-psych feel with a little help from an orchestral background to set the tone of the song. Circus is almost a sequel to the Genesis single Twilight Alehouse, as bassist David Read comes into the album to help drummer Jon Webster keep the beat going. The guitar section is almost very much in the realm of Steve Hackett’s virtuosity as James and Metcalfe play with a layered sound while the last 2-minutes becomes an early representation of Arena Rock for a second and then goes back into the power house of drums, organ, guitar, vocals, and bass just as if they are letting the dogs out of house to run loose freely.

The Award is back into the steps of British Mellower Folk Rock sound with an up tempo beat with some fine acoustic guitar work and electric steps to get you in the mood for a laid-back atmospheric warm sunny day while Politely Insane is in the realm of medieval epic funk prog sound as it deals with the views of insanity and being in love with it. It could have been a hit single with some of the prog-pop sound, but it’s raw and powerful as you some amazing lyrical lines like: “I decided to hide away/And tried to forget what they had done/But time couldn’t change the memoires of the past/If I was a man I wouldn’t be crying.” Now that’s poetry right there.

Then it’s back into the folk realm with a finger picking sound in a haunting gothic ballad of Widow and the moody symphonic structures of Icy River really gets the listener knowing that, “this is much better than the three prog giants.” The homage to Van Der Graaf Generator’s opening of Darkness (11/11) really is worth checking with the bass and drums going bum-bum-bum-bum-bum as Thank Christ provides much of the ballad sound as David Metcalfe creates a spooky sound on the keyboard as they move into a tribute to the savior. Young Man’s Fortune is back into the up tempo mode as Read comes in with some amazing bass lines while the guitar and organ are the top priority, but the organ creates a disturbing thunder to get Read knows he’s with him all the way.

Gnome Song is almost a tribute to Trees disturbing folk classic, The Garden of Jane Delawney. It almost could have been recorded in a gothic cathedral with a grand piano and acoustic guitar setting the tone of the composition. It has a John Lennon-sque sound as the closing track, Silent Mime is a mourning organ rumbling epic finale that features a booming percussion sound that has a timpani and snare drum and almost very much into the tribute of Crimson’s Bolero on the 23-minute epic, Lizard, but the piece is eerie and beautiful. An early testament to vintage and hidden prog gems that let the bands not take themselves seriously, but take the project very carefully step-by-step. Fantasy’s Paint a Picture is a must have for your prog collection.

Mainhorse - Mainhorse

Nearly 40 years later since forming in 1970 at the height of the golden gate of Progressive Rock, Mainhorse has been a collector’s item for record lovers to search for a copy of the self-titled debut album on vinyl. They are undoubtedly one of the most unearthed symphonic jazz prog bands to come out of the sand thanks to the Swiss mad scientist of keyboards, Patrick Moraz. Even though he’s best known for his solo albums including the mind-boggling twist on The Story of I while being in bands like Refugee, Yes in his only album, Relayer and The Moody Blues from 1978 to 1991, he brought the textures of orchestral rock, jazz fusion, and time changes that would give you goosebumps forever.

Now we come to Mainhorse. This was the only debut album originally released on the Polydor label in 1971, the album has a hard edge rock sound featuring blazing fires of symphonic prog on the Hammond organ almost as if Hard Rock and Prog combined together makes it a tightrope ride that is worth checking out. There are only seven tracks on the album, but featuring Moraz’s keyboards including Peter Lockett’s spine-tingling guitar work, Bryson Graham’s heart pounding drum beats while Jean Ristori’s bass work is hard to describe but brilliant.

At times it’s sounds very jazzy and very fast, at others it’s disturbing and beautiful, turning it into a roller-coaster ride which could understand why this band received limited commerciality before calling it a day. This is an underrated album which means this stood the stands of time when you have a lot of leaping out of your seat to expected the unexpected, it keeps you guessing until the very end for the listener to have the volumes up to a maximum level. Peter Lockett's vocals are in the rein of the late Spring vocalist Pat Moran and Second Hand’s Ken Elliott which shows on the opening Introduction, as he gives a dosage of scat vocalizations and soaring high singing, while his guitar takes him to a new direction as Patrick Moraz understands how Peter can give the solo a real raunchy metallic bluesy roar as the two compete in the ring to see who can come up with the best work often like a competition.

Then it comes to Moraz as he does a Fugue and a Keith Emerson punch while Ristori comes up with a fast bass line, Lockett’s guitar work, and Graham’s drums is met with a developed power pound cake. There is no dueling, nor do sword fights, but together, play like a magnetic link with honor and delivering the goods. Each of the instruments is spot on and take turns to share on who’s turn is next and give each band member the time to relax a bit and knows when it’s time to come in and play inside your heart, they are self-disciplined when you listen to this and takes the structure well creative.

The homage to Tony Iommi and Brian May’s guitar work is evidential with Lockett’s lyrical and layered sound, but it can be calmed down as the concept of time passes by done by an orchestra and Moraz’s moody organ work on the emotional touch of Passing Years, but if you want to go into the early beginnings of Symphonic Metal, take a listen to Such a Beautiful Day. It seems to be almost a rocking power house and the vocal lines go into unbelievable time signatures as the organ goes into the Deep Purple mode in the rein of Jon Lord with the era of the Mark II sound as if it’s In Rock all over again. The 10-minute epic, Pale Sky, has all the ingredients it needs: dramatic film scores, intense beauty, futuristic sounds of the 21st century as Moraz plays through a Klavio Synthesizer to give it a disturbing atmosphere while the classical guitar is very Reinhardt-like beauty with a twist, and calming down for a sinister finale.

Then, everything becomes an up-tempo beat on the next track, Basia. It has a dance beat thanks to the shuffling acoustic guitar and the “dabba-dabba-da” vocalization that Ristori, Moraz, and Lockett do to create a fun-like sing-along song to get you in the catchy momentum. After this, Moraz comes in the midsection to create a jazz-classical electric piano soul as if Bach had teamed up with Traffic’s John Barleycorn Must Die-era to get you in the swinging momentum and then it’s the cavernous cave mystic sound that Moraz does on the Organ to give it that sense of quiet and haunting melodic structures.

More Tea Vicar sees Moraz playing a different instrument on Glockenspiel as it goes back into the haunting atmosphere in an instrumental way. At first it sounds like a Bossa-Nova beat in the Brazilian city as the band go into the time signature of 4/4 as they play almost as if they are in New York’s Bitter End with John Coltrane and Miles Davis before going into heavy rock territory. Which is very cool, going into the Bossa-Nova Jazz sounds of Brazil with Glockenspiel and jazzy percussion in the realms of Elvin Jones and turning it into a Symphonic force of energetic power. The sprawling 10-minute finale, God is avant-garde, classical, experimental, and fiery raw power to get you in the mood for the band’s climatic composition.

It is one of the most challenging and dynamic pieces that you might find yourself into the pond of prog epics like no other. You have Moraz playing the Klavio by doing a middle-eastern background as the band go into the rumbling film score sound. It’s bone chilling yet terrifying as if Fruupp and Mandalaband had teamed up with Atomic Rooster to create an explosive piece that will knock Yes fans out of the ball park. And at the very end, when you hear the fade out, you think “it’s over”. It isn’t. It has Moraz creating a sound that goes, “SCREECH!” as the keyboards go into haywire mode that would make the listener think “Holy Shit! That’s an ending right there!”

Even though the band split up, Mainhorse are one of the most unsung bands in the progressive rock hidden treasure files. Twisted, Mind-Boggling, and Disturbing are perfect examples of the unsung band.

Dead Space 2

The last time we left engineer Isaac Clarke, he was on a repair mission to find out what were the problems on the USG Ishimura. When he was on board the ship, something went horribly wrong. But he had something important aboard the ship, Nicole Brennan, the love of his life. He tried to find her and get Nicole out of the ship, but what he saw in the ship was death, chaos, religious insanity, and the Marker. The ship was infected with this man-made device and it could be used to stop the necromorphs and the destruction. Everything went to hell in a hand basket including Nicole who committed suicide to escape the chaos. Even though Isaac was the only survivor left, the nightmare still haunts him three years after.

In the first Dead Space, Isaac was running errands for everybody, this time in the sequel, he is calling the shots. He isn’t a bombastic and pretentious superhero. He’s almost like a real person and the hallucinations continue to follow him to build up a magnetic mystery that follows him when you let him go to another direction and he’s got a voice done brilliantly by Gunner Wright. So you are not going hear do one-line movie quotes, but you can get the feel that the memories still haunt Isaac.

When I was playing Dead Space 2, I was asking myself, What the hell happened aboard the Ishimura? What he was doing those three years alone on his ship? And Why is dead girlfriend mighty pissed off at him? It becomes almost like a 2-part play that features an explosive finale in which is featured in a 2-disc format. Isolation is featured throughout the first 17-minutes and the scenes show in mystery and thriller.

As Isaac’s adventure in the Ishimura would be the last thing on his mind, his adventure’s on the Sprawl was just the beginning. Dead Space 2 is one of the most heart-stopping yet mind-boggling games I’ve enjoyed playing. The music that Jason Graves brings to the table is eerie, epic, and dramatic as he is in the footsteps of Profokiev, Stravinsky, Varese, and Borgo. Everytime you would hear Graves composition, it gives you a jump out of your seat sort of similar like Psycho and The Exorcist. Music plays an important role into the Dead Space franchise and featuring rumbling horn sections, dramatic string quartets, and different time-changes, it is worth the wait.

The sequel takes place three years after the events of the game and Isaac is aboard the Sprawl. The Sprawl is a space station that was built on Titan to be home for children going to school, people starting families, or take place in Unitology. But when there’s a new Marker, the infection got a lot worse. Which meant you have to fight your way through the Puker who would spray poisonous vomit, the Pack which look like fucked-up kids ready to tear Isaac’s body limb by limb, and not to mention one scene in where you are in the Elementary school where a teacher explodes after hugging the necromorph baby too much, you’ve got to give kudos to EA and Viscreal, that is another fucked-up scene that would make you say, “How the hell did they get away with it?!” Because they pushed the envelope a lot further than what we imagined.

Not only the Necromorphs are terrifying, I felt that Isaac lets them know he’s not afraid anymore. The monster’s weren’t slow like in the first one, but this time, they are faster and strong. Shooting off a limb and using kinesis and stabbing them either in the head or in the stomach to knock them over the wall which would be a perfect place for a hunting trophy for Isaac’s living room. There was one scary moment in the elementary I forgot to mention. You go inside this Auditorium and the eerie carnival music which pays homage to the Bioshock franchise, really gives you a creepy atmosphere on and that’s where you as the player realizes, “okay in about three seconds, I’m going to be killed one way or the other because I want to get the hell out of this damn place.” And then, swarms of the pack come charging and you shoot or punch them to get out of Isaac’s way.

I have to give kudos that the team and Steve Papoutsis has done, I imagine them thinking to themselves, we got something real and to please the fans and see where the Dead Space franchise would lead to them. But a little criticism won’t hurt Dead Space 2. The game is amazing and well done, but killing a Necromorph by using a lot of ammo would hurt big time for the player and finds out what to do next. When I was playing the game, I would sometimes use Kinesis most of the time while using stasis to cut off a limb and then using the kinesis and impaling their heads toward the wall or blast them out in space by shooting a window as they fly out but shooting the emergency door means you’re home safe, if you are very careful, but please watch what you shoot when you are at the disturbing atmosphere of the Church of Unitology not to mention the promos and the praises for founder Michael Altman.

I have played the game twice already and I’m about play it again. The multiplayer on the other hand, where players get to play as either Human or a Necromorph, is almost like a roller-coaster ride to hell. It’s team vs. team like a horrific boxing match in the realms of Clive Barker and Dario Argento as if they teamed up together to write a storyline for the multiplayer. I had fun playing both characters. The necromorphs which either it’s a packer or a disgusting foe makes it a disturbing momentum and a dark sense of humor Each point whether you work as a team to get 100 or 75 points are amazing. I reached level two in the game. So even though I’m not a wild fan of the multiplayer concept, I really enjoyed playing it.

Dead Space 2 is for me game of the year for 2011 and again disturbing, beautiful, and plot twists that will keep you guessing until the very end. Gunner Wright brings amazing talent to give Isaac a voice and even though I had mixed opinions of Isaac having a voice while he was a mute character in the first game, but his voice is spot-on. Not only Gunner brings a surprise performance of Isaac, but he goes inside the character while Tanya Clarke (no pun intended) who’s filling in for Iyari Limon, brings a bone-chilling yet sinister voice of Nicole’s darker side to taunt Isaac as she is ready to attack Isaac wherever he goes, she follows him to get revenge for leaving her on the Ishimura to die.

This is a great game and Isaac’s story is just begun. Let’s hope Viscreal and EA decide to tell the whole story of Isaac’s life from his rough childhood, meeting Nicole, his hatred of Unitology, and what happened after the events at Aegis 7. I hope they have something up their sleeves for Isaac Clarke.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

The top 20 reissues and new music of 2010

I’ve read Classic Rock Presents Prog’s new issue and their choice of 2010. It’s very hard to pick a favorite album that the magazine has done. Music is very important and there’s something in the limelight that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve always been a music person when I buy Prog or Symphonic Metal through various websites and online like: iTunes, Kinesis, Doug Larson Imports, Cargo Music, and The Laser’s Edge. I've always been an avid reader of Classic Rock Magazine and the Prog issues and I thought to myself, "Let me pay tribute for the top 20 choices for 2010." These guys know the music and the score of up-and-coming prog bands that are coming out of the woodwork.

There’s some people who argue, bitch, and bicker and would say, “No that album should be number one of 2010!” Since hearing music when I was a young kid in the 1980s and throughout the 1990s while getting away from the shit of Nu-Metal, Boy Bands, Country Music, and godforsaken Rap music, I was always the outsider at school. But enough of my bullshit let’s get down to business.

So to start things off, as a tribute and an homage to Classic Rock Presents Prog, here are the top 20 choices for new bands, DVDs, and reissues.

1. King Crimson – In The Wake of Poseidon/Islands [Panegyric]
2. Supertramp – Breakfast in America [Deluxe Edition] [A&M]
3. Pure Reason Revolution – Hammer & Anvil [Superball]
4. District 97 – Hybrid Child [The Laser’s Edge]
5. Tarja – What Lies Beneath [Spinefarm]
6. PFM – Reissues [Esoteric]
7. Rush – Beyond The Lighted Stage [Banger Films]
8. Entropia – Sirenia [Self-Released]
9. Matt Stevens – Ghost [Self-Released]
10. Panic Room – Satellite [Firefly]
11. Machiavel – Jester/Mechanical Moonbeams [Esoteric]
12. Mandalaband I & II – Resurrection [Legend]
13. Aphrodite’s Child – End of the World/It’s Five O’Clock [Esoteric]
14. BunChakeze – Whose Dream? [Self-Released]
15. Magenta – Home [The Complete 2-CD Edition] [Tigermoth]
16. Magenta – Seven [Special Edition] [Tigermoth]
17. Wigwam – The Lucky Golden Stripes and Starpose [Esoteric]
18. Touchstone – Live in the USA East Coast West Coast [Heavy Right Foot]
19. Fields – Fields [Esoteric]
20. Necromandaus – Orexis of Death & Live [Rise Above Relics]

Machiavel - Mechanical Moonbeams

Described as one of the most important progressive rock bands to come out of Belgian in the late ‘70s, Machiavel was formed in 1974 by Roland De Greef and Marc Ysaye after leaving their band Moby Dick and brought guitarist Jack Roskam and keyboardist Albert Letecheur and formed the band naming the group after a 15th century Italian philopsher. With two CD reissues seven years ago, the album, Mechanical Moonbeams, has finally received the Esoteric treatment with an amazing package, liner notes by Wouter Bessels, and two bonus tracks.

Machiavel’s third album to the follow up Jester, sees the band moving forward into a commercial direction. Mechanical Moonbeams was the last album for them as Punk and Disco was coming in like a rumbling volcano waiting to erupt and it meant for Machiavel that it was time for a change, but here on the album, it was more Symphonic Hard Rock and knew that this was going to be a huge hit in the European Market. This was a huge pressure for the band to build on the record sales and received critical acclaim by the time the album came out and started to experiment hit after hit with songs like the acoustic folk crisp, Rope Dancer, you can tell they were heavily influenced by Genesis’ early days.

Machiavel were also making great songs that becoming singles like the melodic turned mellotron-riff hard rocker done by Letecheur on After The Crop and having Mario Guccio’s voice turn from Jon Anderson of Yes to James “J.Y.” Young of Styx, but they were putting classical music, guitar layered sound, and songs that relate into the realm of Yes worked out well. I can hear the influences alongside Yes and the band listened and researched on bands like: ELP, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull were doing and decide to give it a push. Here on Mechanical Moonbeams, the album is like a well-baked cake that deserves the cherry on top of the icing.

Two of the bonus tracks that the band recorded for the sessions never made it to the final release of the album. Wind of Life and I’m Not a Loser, almost could have been a part of the album. Wind is a very atmospheric-medieval ghost-like melody that seems twisted while I’m Not a Loser represents the Glam-Prog sound of Be Bop Deluxe’s Bill Nelson’s songwriting. The two compositions neither went on Moonbeams, but it proves to work with a surround quality of momentum.

Beyond The Silence, the opening 6-minute track, features Jean-Paul Devaux’s guitar passages, Albert’s keyboard passages that goes through various time changes as he takes the Synth for a drive in the highway while drummer Marc Ysaye follows him wherever he goes and this is not a bad thing after all. Albert’s keyboard playing is soaring and dazzling at the same time. There’s a mixture of Keith Emerson and Patrick Moraz as if he could have been Belgian’s answer to the kings of Progressive Keyboard solos.

While the Symphonic word always follows me where ever I go to, it takes me to a new direction with a band that sounds good. Though in the footsteps of Yes as if they teamed up with Supertramp, the magic is there in the album and Beyond the Silence is almost like a high drive towards the highway and throughout the piece, you can hear the influence of Starcastle’s pomp rock sound and lets the listener know that they still got the ingredients in there for those mind-boggling keyboard solos to give it a real punch and this is a fine toast for Prog Keyboards to go apeshit crazy.

Meanwhile, the beginning of American Pomp Rock suddenly comes into the background and becomes the majority to save the day. With a melodic space rock passage that Albert does, it transforms into a heavy metal rockin’ power house that gives it a huge juice on Summon Up Your Strength. It’s a strange ingredient. Heavy Metal and Prog? Why the hell not! The late ‘70s beginnings of Progressive Metal suddenly comes out of nowhere almost as if Led Zeppelin had teamed up with Yes to work on Close To The Edge. Strange track but perfect to the fierce-like length.

Rebirth is another beautiful track clocking in at 6-minutes. At first it sounds like an AOR passage, but then turns into a various time changing classical rocker as Albert’s concerto classical piano sets up the pace in a Road Runner mode for the band as the mellotron comes in for the dancers to go beyond the tango and create a twisted dance for Machiavel’s music. Pastoral Eerie Acoustic Folk Melody comes back into the picture again. This time on Mary, it’s Jean-Paul’s acoustic fingerpicking guitar work and Albert’s spooky synth sound and Mario’s Gabriel-resemblance vocals that puts the Genesis sound into the picture as if this piece was recorded in an English Cottage to pay tribute to British Folk sound.

The final track, The Fifth Season, a 7-minute dramatic yet sinister introduction done by Piano, Floyd-esque guitar sound, and drums set up the scene as if it’s a murder investigation. Then comes the spoken-word narration before the vocals come in and Albert’s twilight zone synth’s come into the picture for the first 4-minutes before the upbeat sound comes in like driving through the speed limit as Albert comes in for the keyboard passages while Marc’s drumming follows him as Mario’s screeching vocals comes back in as Machiavel’s sing to the soaring sky for a lukewarm ending.

Of course, Machiavel started to decline with the pop sound after the release of Mechanical Moonbeams in 1978, surprising the critics and the music lovers since forming in 1974, packing the symphonic sounds from the 5-piece band that could have been the next Genesis. And while Albert had passed away in 2004, the music and the band might give us a question to plead with them to back to their roots of the first three albums and make it sound like it’s 1976 all over again. Mechanical Moonbeams is a wonderful lost gem of the European Progressive Rock sound of the ‘70s. Give Esoteric Recordings a round of applause for the reissue they worked on.