The Nice - Five Bridges

Coming from London, they started out as an R&B band which was lead by P.P. Arnold until it was time for them to move on as when they have become the earlier pioneers of the Symphonic Prog-era. And after having hit singles including; The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, Hang On To A Dream, Happy Freuds, Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon, and the controversial 8-minute protest instrumental number, America, in which during an infamous performance at the Royal Albert Hall in the late ‘60s where Emerson burned an American Flag live onstage before being banned from performing there until they came back together 42 years later. But all in all, there was something beyond the singles and the dynamic albums the Nice put out. The Five Bridges Suite, which was composed by Keith Emerson and bassist/lead vocalist David Jackson, recorded at Fairfield Hall in Croydon on October, 1969, showed the end of the Nice’s career but this wasn’t the first time that the band had done a live performance with a symphony orchestra. Let’s not forget The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, Deep Purple, and Pink Floyd in their pre-Atom Heart Mother era, but for The Nice and Keith Emerson himself, this was one of the most shattering live recordings I’ve enjoyed listening to. And if you think that ELP were just a band, wait till you hear this! The centerpieces included on the album, which are their own take of Jean Sibelius’ Intermezzo ‘Karelia Suite’ which features a militant themed style done by the band and some medieval arrangements for the horn section and then the last 2-minutes is Keith fucking up his organ with feedback and trying to smash it Pete Townshend style and making some hissing noises that is right down perfect and then closing it up with a orchestral rock style that sends the audiences blown away from what they heard. The 18-minute introduction of The Five Bridges Suite which features Keith’s classical piano style on the Fantasia 1st Bridge while on the 2nd Bridge the band comes in to do a psychedelic boogie as if it was done in an autobiographical way, the Chorale 3rd is Jackson singing with the orchestral in a melodic tone about the childhood years and then Keith Emerson is doing tradition of jazz and classical music throughout the number-homage to Dave Brubeck and then closing up on the Finale with a Jazz Rock taste to give it a victorious finale with the orchestra.
To become a center of attention is a little dangerous for guitar and lead vocalists, but for Keith Emerson, it was like a breath of fresh air to fuck up the organ and do some crazy stunts with his knifes which were given to him by roadie Lemmy Kilmeister. Influenced by Ragtime, Jazz, and Classical Music as a kid, he brought it to a standstill with their interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique Symphony No. 6 3rd Movement while bringing the album close of combining the sounds of Dylan meets Bach in a blues meets jazz fusion version of Country Pie/Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
It may have been an ambitious and a bombastic project for Keith Emerson to do, and more of a colossal feel to it than bringing a band on the road with a symphony orchestra to do a full wide tour, but why the hell not? The Nice released one more album, Elegy released in 1971 after he was getting ready to move on to start a super group with Emerson, Lake and Palmer and then they called it day. While you listen to Five Bridges, you could tell that it was time for Keith Emerson for him to put the Nice to sleep and felt the temperature had gone down a lot. But you can definitely find the tour de force of his beginnings of pre-ELP which was about to be a leap forward for him, a good idea? Absolutely and positive on the spot!

Camel - Reissues

From the scenes of the Canterbury circuit that was happening in the beginning of the ‘70s, there was one band that would bring that genre along with symphonic to a new beginning. Camel was the band to bring the forms of music from ambient, atmospheric, jazz, classical, and experimentations to an all time high. After releasing the first two albums (Camel and Mirage), it was time for them to step forward with their musical arrangements as it shows with the re-release of their three albums showing the band’s surprising magnum opus’s fully reissued.
1975 was a magical year for Camel when they released their concept album based on Paul Gallico’s novel. Music inspired by the Snow Goose shows the band moving away from the lyrical treatments to more of an instrumental album. However, Paul didn’t want any part of it because he was anti-smoker and felt that Camel was part of the smoking contribution. So it was almost a lawsuit when Camel decided to change it with what it is now shown on the album today. The Snow Goose tells the story of love, friends, and disturbing elements of War that was happening in the early part of the 1940s. Even though the story has an emotional quality, the music with its stroking beauty that fits well with the short story, is one of a kind and very eerie at the same time.
Their next album would push them to be almost considered the Canterbury Symphonic version of Tangerine Dream. Moonmadness, released in 1976, showed the concept to a more space-like musical direction than your typical epic song suites. This is one of Camel’s essential album, in a gigantic magnetism, this album shows the band’s arranging and composition. In the songs, they are each written by the band members that were based on their instruments and accompaniments from what they were doing at the time they were making Moonmadness. Track by track, it is almost as if Stanley Kubrick could have done something to score for his 1968 classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Imaginative and dynamic, centerpieces like the Moog space trip, Aristillus done by the late great Peter Bardens, the spooky ballads of Spirit of the Water and Another Night based on guitarist Andrew Latimer and drummer Andy Ward while his composition of the 8-minute celestial body of Lunar Sea is one of the best instrumental numbers to ever come out of Andy’s drumming that is very magically and ambient at the same time.
After Doug Ferguson left and adding new members including King Crimson’s saxophonist Mel Collins and Caravan/Hatfield and the North bassist and vocalist, Richard Sinclair to the Camel line-up they released their next album, Rain Dances which was released in 1977. With this album, the band moved into the Jazz Fusion and a little bit more of the mainstream direction. It has a smooth quality, but a bit radio FM quality to the mix as if this album had some hit singles on the boundary for Camel to do. The numbers are quite interesting in a Jazz-oriented way. For example, the opening 5-minute arrangement done by Mel Collins who takes the sax wherever it goes while the band do an homage to Return to Forever on First Light while Metrognome is very Beatlesque in a lyrical sense done by Richard Sinclair and then it becomes a passage speedway in which Latimer takes his virtuoso guitar solo to new heights that we’ve never heard before. Meanwhile, it becomes very new age which was unheard of for Camel to do. This time, with a little help from Roxy Music’s keyboardist Brian Eno, on the spacey environment, Elke which is odd, but in a good way.
Decades later, these three albums from a influential band qualified a way to look at music and to listen to in an anthropolgic way

Anton Roolaart - Dreamer

The homage’s of Yes, PFM, Genesis, and ELP is all on here for Anton Roolaart and it is gigantic than what you think. Since being a DJ for Live 365 with progrockradio.com, he released one of the most magnetic debut albums to come out of the tributes to the Symphonic Prog-era of the ‘70s. It is more than likely a magic carpet ride for him to do a genuine favor and he’s one of the best musicians to come out of the Netherlands while moving to the United States as a teen and listening to the prog giants he grew up listening to, Roolaart is now the king of Symphonic Prog Radio DJ of the 21st century.
Right from its beautiful front sleeve of its dreamland artwork, Dreamer looked exactly like that. Recorded in New Jersey from Anton’s Studio and at Lakeside and Studio X, it sounded beautiful and almost medieval at the same time, almost an autobiography from Anton’s childhood years. But there is a huge tour de force from Anton’s guitar work and his dynamic vocals from the arrangements of Jon Anderson and Greg Lake from his own background musical touches that he put together on the album from start to finish by leaning forward the Prog Rock touches.
All in all, this is his magnum opus yet almost a tribute to the Marks I & II-era of Yes’s early days with a touch of symphonic beauty as well as Moog noodling also. Adding musicians to bring the debut to life with; Keyboardist, Rave Tesar; Bassist, Vincent Puryear; and drummers Rich Berends and Charles DesCarfino to the core and doing turning points with impressive compositions they pulled together to make it work like a charm. From the ambient opener of Near or Far to the eerie cavernous Tolkien-related number of On to the Afterglow, Anton knows how to present the album and coming up with some huge surprises that will make you emotional than ever! The ideas of the two genres take to unexpected lands and flying up into the heavenly clouds. It isn’t just a Progressive Rock album, but more of a tribute to the genre and how importance of how Anton does it so well.
For example, the dream-like 6-minute title track, is embodied by the mysterious guitar work done in a David Gilmour-esque technique with a smoothing hard rock feel of Anton’s touches while Scary Monsters is almost like a lost track from Steve Howe’s debut album that controls the dreamland quality of the nightmares that we see of disturbing monsters in our dreams. Elsewhere, Color of your World (not to be mistaken of Little Mermaid’s Part of your World don’t ask why) has the atmospheric guitar work, fretless bass work, and an explosive melodic background that shows the influential sound of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, and Mid Summer’s Day which could have been a tribute to the work of William Shakespeare’s career of a Midsummer’s Night Dream is folky acoustical keyboard rocker ala Rick Wakeman style as it has this unbelievable up tempo beat. There aren’t any downsides to the album. Manon is a mixture of rock and an eerie track that is a resemblance as if Dream Theater were formed in 1973 in London with a view of the city that defines the situation as if Anton was in Italy writing the song during the making of his debut album and The Spider is spooky and strange. It’s has a enhanced mellotron melody and a darker feeling about the web-like creature coming down to meet their fear and phobia of the small-like creature, playing it makes it very interesting for a simple Halloween track.
Dreamer will definitely receive a positive feel from old and new generation of Progsters to get an idea with some magnificent ideas. It’s absolutely worth the wait to buy it.

The Mars Volta - Octahedron

After releasing four albums since De-Loused in the Comatorium in 2003, it was time for the Mars Volta to step beyond the ultimate challenge in which Omar Rodriguez-Lopez mentioned before The Bedlam in Goliath was about to be released last year in January, 2008, he wanted the next Mars Volta album to be an “Acoustic and Mellower” background instead of a Hardcore Experimental Punk Rock sound they did during their heyday after At The Drive-In. Even though the quote was taken aback by most of their fans, I thought why not? just give it a shot.
And after listening to it twice, they achieved another goal with their fifth album, Octahedron defines unbelievable moments from beginning to end with the introduction of the single Since We’ve Been Wrong, which is by far one of the most heartbreaking ballads that you’ll be quite surprised when you listen to it. It almost reminded me of 10cc, King Crimson, and Roxy Music had formed together, created a tearjerking prog love song and then made it more of a Beatlesque vocalization that Cedric Bixler-Zavala has done as if he’s Jim Morrison but all of a sudden it becomes a dynamic climax as Pridgen comes in to pound your heart away on the drums.
Teflon is very David Cronenberg-like disturbing ambient sounds as if this was left off his horror classic, Videodrome. The number has a fiery production with Lopez’s guitar work, Juan Alderete’s fretless bass line while Thomas Pridgen is playling like Billy Cobham as a Mad Scientist on the drums. It then becomes a tightrope that is very dangerous one by one as if someone is about to cut the rope and reach their ultimate death 70 feet down on the ground. The recording is spot on and has a shattering conduction. With its eerie mourning that has a huge debt to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo on Halo of Nembutals which has synthesized vocals and guitar at moments which sounds like it was recorded in 1982 while With Twilight As My Guide serves up inside a gothic cathedral in a funeral style of pre-Floyd sounds with a classical fingerpicking technique on the Spanish guitar and the slide sounds including the dark-like quality of the keyboards setting up the scenery.
Meanwhile, it feels like they’re back to the hardcore sound of progopunk all over again with Cotopaxi, it has this reunion rocking suite as if you 100% love the John Wetton-era of King Crimson as if you were in your room writing a 7-minute piece and give it to a band and make it play fucking crazy all over again during this psychedelic Robert Fripp style on this stupendous number. When they’re showing the Prog and Punk roots, they go 600 miles per hour as if they were as heavy between The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Public Image Ltd forming together as Desperate Graves sounds almost like King Crimson’s Starless from the Red album. It just goes to show that you don’t need to show off and being a sleazy fuckwad, but show your true identity and your love of music to make it more magnetic or monstrous at the same time along with lyrics that fit the instrumentations that goes along with it.
Now whoever thinks that The Mars Volta sucks, is completely going way off the balance and missing the situation. I mean everyone has their own opinion about The Mars Volta. Love them or hate them, they are a band I truly champion since Frances The Mute and now with Octahedron, which is one of their crowning achievements ever, they will never back down no way and not anytime soon. It is by far one of their acceptable musical environments this year, and no questions ask, It’s magnificent!

Flower Travellin' Band - Satori

It’s easy to pay tribute to Flower Travellin’ Band who are considered one of the most influential bands to come out of the Land of the Rising Sun. But when you look back at their early catalogue from the early ‘70s you began to realize that Prog isn’t just a four letter word, but there were some cool and obscure bands to come out of that era that inspired bands like Iron Age and Grails who considered FTB their true inspiration in their sound of music. But there was one album that would put these guys on the map and define the term Japanese Hard Rock or shall I say J-Hard Rock of the ‘70s that it reminded me, a perfect alternate soundtrack to the ultimate Anime series that defined the genre with the cult favorite of Action meets robotic arms meets controversy, Trigun and Serial Experiments Lain.
The result is Satori. One of the most unbelievable albums to come out of Japan, it has all the ingredients that it needs: pounding guitar sounds, cowbell, screeching vocals, the mixtures of sitarla which is pre-inventive guitar before guitarist Hideki Isima created the strange instrument before reunited with the band over 37 years later, and of course dynamic time signatures that completely fly off the wall particularly from Ishima himself who comes up with some sinister moments on the guitar while Jun Kowzuki and Joji Wada team up like brothers with the bass guitar and drums and create some tensional surprises that take up the 5-part tranquility of the composition that could have been a large debt to Aphrodite’s Child’s 666 and Eloy’s self-titled debut album. And then, there’s lead vocalist Joe Yamanaka who does some explosive vocal arrangements including some screaming and the harmonica solos that he does during parts 1 and 3 where everything is proto-progressive death metal. The centerpieces of Satori are just explosive. If you are ready to face the challenge of weird hard rock coming out of Tokyo and play a shit load of Anime Episodes while you’re at it.
The Indian Psychedelia raga sounds of Ishima taking over Part 2 which a mixture of shuffling and virtuoso solos that is Zappa-like style as he plays the Sitarla for the rest of the seven minute suite. It is almost as if Ravi Shankar joined up with Deep Purple and created a new instrument that would have audiences go apeshit over the new musical device that Hideki plays extensively while Yamanaka is hitting the right notes at the exact time as if he’s a Japanese version of Robert Plant with the high and screeching notes. The outstanding display of Part 3 and Part 4 sounds almost like Vangelis’ 1973 debut album Earth which is almost a sequel to 666 at their Indian meets Samurai experimental qualifications of Krautrock like an Arabian Night story that is very sexy and erotic at the same time during the arrangements while the opening introduction of Part 1 is a cross between Black Sabbath meets The Mothers of Invention metal gone avant-garde of a reminiscent. The finale, Part 5 could only be described from the Tokyo gods that are well researched in the debt to King Crimson’s pre-Red era with their stop and go moments and the experimental dalek treatment that seems perfect for a Japanese Horror soundtrack ala Dario Argento style.
Anyway, a new generation of fans to discover J-Hard Rock music, must check out Flied Egg’s Goodbye album, the first two Speed, Glue and Shinki albums, Strawberry Path, and Flower Travellin’ Band’s Anywhere album, but if you are planning to buy Satori, be warned. Even though it is considered the best work from their career, it might have your brain fucked up in the ass by taking a shit load of drugs or get blown away.

Luv Machine - Turns You On

Coming out of the Caribbean Seas of Barbados, seems very unlikely for obscure ‘70s Heavy Metal music. But with a mix of Soul, Prog, and Hard Rock from the minds of singer and guitarist, Michael Bishop and drummer/vocalist, Errol Bradshaw took the Proto-Metal sounds a little bit further with the release of their only album released in 1971, Turns You On. Formed in 1968 around their hometown in the Tropical Islands, Luv Machine was rised out of the ashes of The Blue Rhythm Combo as they performed in small gigs in Barbados and soon had a following from their hometown including a heavy cover of Build Me Up Buttercup. They moved out of the country of the Carribean Sea into the West Midlands in Wolverhampton and became Luv Machine from there on. Having a bill with Writing on the Wall, Gracious, and Elton John at the Marquee in London, they realized it was word of mouth in the streets of London.
After being signed by Polydor Records, the group went into the studio to record this legendary lost masterpiece before calling it a day in 1971 after it was released. The album soon became a huge favorite among internet sales including eBay which featured a disturbing controversial artwork of a woman’s legs stuck in the record player that seemed too offensive for the market to release such an artwork but remains a favorite among vinyl lovers. But since 2006, with the help of Napalm Death’s Lee Dorrian’s record label Rise Above Records, Turns You On soon got a second chance that is like a candlelight that won’t burn. And let me tell you right now, this is an album that won’t be let go for a very long time. “If the conditions would have been different” Dorrian mentions in the liner notes for the reissue in 2006 of Turns You On, “Who knows what might have been in store for this great band.”
This is ultimate early soul metal sounds like a motorcycle going across the country that pays tribute to ‘70s rockers including Black Sabbath, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. Beginning with the Blue Cheer meets The Jimi Hendrix Experience funky rocker of Witches Wand, in which Bishop is steaming hot on his guitar solo and screaming vocal arrangements that is absolutely dynamic of smashing sounds of the instruments which sounds very chaotic in a musical sense while You’re Surprised and It’s Amazing have more of a tribute to the African kings of Prog, Demon Fuzz as if they were a hard soulful rock band than the Grateful Dead in an early proto-punk rock way. Then it becomes very psychedelia than ever with the calypso rocker of the hippie generation of Happy Children and then becomes very sinister with Everything and the take of Pete Townshend’s lyrical tribute of Maybe Tomorrow while Reminiscing has some beautiful compositions with early power chords, harmonized vocals and a shattering riff that could have been a part of the top 20 riffs along with Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water. Change Your Mind on the other hand is the homage to Led Zeppelin’s shuffle rocking sound of the blues sound that could have been a huge inspiration for the Black Crowes to sink their teeth into as Corupt One puts the band into an anti-dance music while the finale of another tone that is angry and very pissed off is the pounding rhythm of Portrait in Disgust shows the band’s skeletons in the closet of their flashback of their fondest memories of good and bad in the Caribbean Seas of Barbados.
Almost ahead of their time, Luv Machine signified the early days of Hard Rock, giving the influences of Metal a step further than going into gigantic stadiums. No wonder it is considered a Lost Treasure and having music lovers sink their hands onto.

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

The eerie folk rock opera motive was currently acceptable for The Decemberists first concept album, The Hazards of Love which was released in March of this year, and although they wanted to make it their own tribute to the Prog Rock genre with a bit of the folk motives under it, their fifth album is a record that doesn’t pull any punches under the minds of those acoustic and keyboard minds in their casual dresses they wear from their hometown Portland, Oregon.
While the mythical singing ballads and darker guitar licks done by Colin Meloy and the Keyboard sounds from Jenny Conlee’s influences raging from Husker Du, The Smiths, and R.E.M. (not to mention Conlee’s love for ELP), stroke their alternative and indie rock looks graciously, its only to hear the lukewarm sounds between Nick Drake, Trees, Fairport Convention, Mellow Candle, and Pink Floyd that could have been a huge inspiration for them to write their Concept album which is a love story which takes place after the events of The Crane Wife from their previous self-titled fourth album, takes place from an ensemble cast of characters to have a brought of tension and hatred to bring the story in a climatic climax like no other. Also adding to the experimental sounds is The Doors and with some dalek lyrics with a mind-boggling rhythm section and you have this album which could be one of the essential works of 2009 as it gets word of mouth and a huge buzz from College Students who really get a kick out of this Indie Prog-Folk album.
Alongside the acoustic and electric instruments that are appreciated, just on every song on the album is Jenny herself playing some incredible instruments that rage from a Hammond Organ, Harpsichord, Moog, and arranging with an Accordion that is perfect for jazz and polka bands, but used extremely well for this as she might have played during her teen-era while she was listening to her parent’s record collection. From the heavy baroque rocker The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid, with its reverb fuzztone guitar sounds that is very Jimmy Page like, to the sinister introduction with the harp and guitar on the title track, the album is compromises a raging influences to Punk, Prog, and Folk with dynamic vocals to bizarre twisted arranging instrumental solos.
The Hazards of Love is a shattering piece of work. Track by track that could have been recorded outside of a forest in England, but it still gets a definitive wholesome. It becomes very beautiful while you listen to it on your iPod and on your headset and makes your brain grooving to the music – here are some perfect examples and tell me your head will go fucking insane! The pounding melodic rocker The Rake’s Song segues into the Led Zeppelin meets John Martyn punk-prog cliché on The Abduction of Margaret while it becomes a tribute to Husker Du meets King Crimson in a heavy metal way with The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing. It becomes like a showdown in a country British folk revival in the last three centerpieces of the album; The shuffle between guitar and accordion with Annan Water, which is almost a traditional folk song that comes straight out the biblical hymns in an atmospheric way. More disturbing of hard folk again is the fingerpicking-inspired touchness of Margaret in Captivity which could have been written for a British Hammer Film. Yet Part 3 of Hazards, Revenge is a terrifying number which sounds very Jethro Tull like, is probably one of the best songs to come out of The Decemberists career.

It takes a while to get into, but with strange lyrics and a resurrection of the prog genre, but like most newcomers, this is a Prog-a-folklore classic with such magnificent backgrounds including children singing on most of the songs including the Revenge part, just goes to show that this is no bullshitting around for all of its glory.