This is another fine prog album from Cosmograf and like most of its predecessors leaves one wondering why the band remains something of a hidden gem. A casual glance at the album title will have most readers scratching their heads, perhaps wondering whether this might be a culinary album about the joys of French food..
The Hawklords – Time
Back in 1978 Hawkwind fans probably looked at the original Hawklords album with a little disdain as Calvert and Brock, clearly influenced by the new wave of the time, delivered a set of tight punkish songs that were very far from the glorious space rock style that the mother ship Hawkwind had invented. Ironically, fast..
Orange Goblin – Healing Through Fire (Rerelease) (Dissonance/Cherry Red)
...this release captures the band perfectly in a pivotal moment in their rise to stardom. It may be a coincidence but the key turning point in the fortunes of Orange Goblin seems to me to be the departure of one of the two founding guitarists, Pete O’Malley in 2004. To that point, the band had..
Kayak – Out Of This World (Inside Out Music)
This is veteran progressive rock/pop outfit Kayak’s 19th studio album. The band formed by Ton Scherpenzeel on keyboards and Pim Koopman on drums back in 1972 has consistently produced good light progressive rock music despite never quite reaching the fame of their more quirky and equally long-standing fellow countrymen Focus. If the name Scherpenzeel has..
CANADIAN TRIO BAD POP RELEASE MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘HEARTACHE ON THE REDDIT BOARDS’
Meeting in Vancouver’s dusty music and comedy clubs, Canadian trio Bad Pop have shared their mutual love for rock and humour for the past eight years. They now release their single ‘Heartache on the Reddit Boards’ with a mesmerising video to accompany. “The song is written through the perspective of a young artist who feels..
Kansas – Point Of Know Return Live & Beyond (Inside Out Music)
Kansas have given a lick of fresh paint on what was and remains great rock music. It is anything but dust in the wind. I suspect very few Kansas fans would argue with the fact that the band’s creative peak came in 1976/1977 with the release of the Leftoverture and Point Of Know Return albums...
Arabs In Aspic – Reissues: Progeria, Far Out In Aradabia, Strange Frame Of Mind (Karisma Records)
For anyone already familiar with Madness And Magic, or those who just like 70’s influenced heavy rock with a prog twist, then this trio of releases is well worth exploring. On the wave of last year’s critically well received Madness And Magic album (reviewed positively by Velvet Thunder), Karisma Records have released remastered versions of..
Bad Pop – Dark Metal (Killing Moon Records)
...however you want to describe this music, it most certainly is not bad pop. Those of us who are fans of prog rock or metal have an extensive market to choose from but when it comes to the world of mainstream pop the choice becomes vast, seemingly limitless, and the differentiation between contenders is often..
The Flying Caravan – I Just Wanna Break Even
If there’s a prize for the best new prog debut release of 2021 then it must surely go to The Flying Caravan. Think about legendary progressive rock double albums for a moment. What comes to mind? The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway? Tales From Topographic Oceans? The Wall? All of those are examples of bands..
OAK – Nine Witches Under A Walnut Tree
OAK mix genuine prog moments, with jazz, folk and Italian elements to create a quite fascinating musical cocktail. What would Ian Anderson have sounded like if he’d been born in Solopaca rather than Dunfermline? For those of you without an encyclopaedic knowledge of geography: Solopaca is a tiny hamlet somewhere in Southern Italy that I..