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Landscape Of Life
Fourth and final studio album from the original lineup. Still plenty of good stuff here but marred a bit by an attempt at English vocals.
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"Insurgentes is the new documentary film about Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) directed by Lasse Hoile. Porcupine Tree are currently enjoying massive success across the world with their latest album, The Incident. Insurgentes is a musical road movie that follows the making of his solo record of the same name, and is a portrait of an increasingly rare artist who works with music and media out of love and not for fame and fortune, persisting in making art on his own terms in a world where 'throw away' mentality is increasingly becoming the norm. The film features footage of Wilson with other artists and friends including Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth, Jonas Renkse from Katatonia, the Israeli superstar Aviv Geffen, and the legendary producer Trevor Horn."$9.00 -
I actually saw these guys on the British tour in support of this album in 1988. It was not my wife's favorite way to spend our honeymoon...but I digress. Excellent album finds them at their space rock finest: heavy and cosmic. Comes with 5 live bonus tracks and the typical great Esoteric remastering treatment.$16.00 -
Archival release of a live Hawklords gig, recorded on the 25 Years On tour. To the best of my knowledge this has never been available before (but I reserve the right to be wrong!). Newly mixed from the original 16 track tapes, you get the typical high quality Mark Powell/Atomhenge treatment.$14.00 -
Lots of changes in the Mangala Vallis camp with this new release. Bernardo Lanzetti is out, replaced by the great Rob Tiranti aka Rob Tyrant. Many of you know Rob from his work in the metal world with Labyrinth but he has alway worked with New Trolls so he knows how to dial it back. Great, great set of pipes. The music has changed a bit too. Its not as overtly retro although at times the keyboard sounds harken back to the 70s. Definitely more of a contemporary neo feel. Its a concept album about a hacker who infects the world with a virus that will destroy all the digital files on the planet. Good times!$16.00 -
Arena return after a 6 year hiatus. New lineup includes new vocalist Paul Manzi, John Jowitt is back replacing Ian Salmon, Clive Nolan, John Mitchell, and Mick Pointer. Its a conceptual work focusing on the last hour of life and the following hour in the afterlife. High concept indeed!$15.00 -
"Paul Kantner's debut solo album actually was credited to "Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship," the first use of the "Starship" billing, predating the formation of the group with that name by four years. Kantner used it, extrapolating on the name of his current band, Jefferson Airplane, to refer to Blows's science fiction concept: A bunch of left-wing hippies closely resembling his San Francisco Bay Area compatriots hijack a government-built starship and head off to re-start the human race on another planet. Kantner had presaged this post-apocalyptic colonization idea on "Wooden Ships" on the last Airplane album, Volunteers, and here he expanded it out to album length with the help of members of The Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Crosby, Stills and Nash, plus assorted others, a shifting supergroup informally known as PERRO, The Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra. (Kantner later would borrow that name for a subsequent solo album.) Blows actually was a little loose as concept albums go, seeming as concerned with the arrival of Kantner and Grace Slick's baby as with the departure of the starship. Kantner employed often dense instrumentation and complex arrangements, but there were enough hooks and harmonies to keep things interesting. Blows eventually went gold, and it was even nominated for a science fiction award usually reserved for novels." - All Music Guide$5.00 -
New electric band effort from Mr. Hackett was long overdue. Wild Orchids marks the return of keyboardist Nick Magnus to the fold. The rest of the band are the cats that Steve has been recording and touring with for years now but there are augmented by the "Underworld Orchestra". The music has a subdued laid back vibe but of course we get those trademark withering solos that are unmistakably pure Hackett. Some world music influences creep into the mix in spots reminding of Peter Gabriel's solo work, while other tracks evoke the feel of Please Don't Touch. One curious inclusion is a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Man In The Long Black Coat" - Steve slays on it but...$11.00 -
Third collaboration from Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen. Mr. Geffen wrote all of the material except for one track. Musically speaking its a very different animal than Porcupine Tree. Its much more laid back with a heavy emphasis on orchestration. I'm reminded a bit of later Pink Floyd and also Roger Water's solo works. Not a lot of pyrotechnics and really not much in the way of heaviness. Its almost as if Mr. Wilson has taken a supporting role as opposed to equal stature to Mr. Geffen. If you are looking for Porcupine Tree's quasi psychedelic metal look elsewhere. Blackfield presents you with (well recorded) art rock that targets your emotions rather than your thought process.$9.00 -
Its been four years since this British ensemble's debut album. Been a long time coming but there have been a number of personnel changes in the band. Founding members Alex Crispin (vox/keys) and bassist Dan Pomlett left the band, while guitarist Nicholas Richards switched over to bass. While the band went through a state of flux their core sound didn't really change a hell of a lot. Yeah maybe its pared down a bit but it is still steeped in the sounds of the early 70s. Mellotron, organ and reeds abound. Guitar is a bit more dominant but still with that retro Vertigo vibe. Vocals only appear on one track and they are OK. Think in terms of an instrumental VDGG in a massive jam session with members of Soft Machine and Eloy. As if! I will be hard pressed to come across a better progressive rock album released in 2012. BUY OR DIE!$13.00 -
The band's fifth album was a brilliant amalgam of Beatles influenced pop and classically influenced progressive rock. I still get a rise out of hearing "Fire On High". This remastered edition comes with five bonus tracks which are a bit dispensible alternate mixes.$7.50 -
One of the great Italian symphonic prog albums of the 70s. Recommended to fans of Banco and PFM. New jewel case edition from Vinyl Magic.$15.00 -
2007 Nick Davis remix/remaster edition. Some consider this their best album - it could be hard to argue against that notion...$12.00 -
Chronolyse was the second solo album from Heldon mastermind Richard Pinhas. The recording featured his Fripp-like guitar stylings colliding with frightening sounds from the Moog synthesizer. Its a spellbinding album that blends jarring industrial sounds with icy fluid guitar solos.$12.00 -
Its been quite a long time since we've heard from Magic Pie. They went through lots of trials and tribulations getting this album finished but now its finally arrived. If you are not familiar with this band here's the deal: Magic Pie are a Norwegian band with a retro 70s sound. The music is a bit of a high wire act balancing the neo-prog sounds of The Flower Kings with the heavier elements of classic Uriah Heep. They also seem to be the darlings of Rosfest having played there multiple times."It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since these proggers from Norway released their promising debut "Motions of Desire". At that time, their music struck me as an enthusiastic combination of classic prog and classic hard rock. (Think Deep Purple for the hard rock side of that equation.) At their best, they offered memorable passages and pieces that sounded like they very well could have been long lost recordings from many years ago. At their worst, they sometimes fell short of filling the big shoes of the legendary bands whose music they strove to emulate. That's actually not bad for a debut album from a new prog band. I found much to like and looked forward to hearing from them again in the future.Checking back in on them a decade later, I must say that I am very impressed with how they have developed and matured. No longer do I get the feeling that certain sections of songs are direct homages to any particular band from any one particular decade of prog's illustrious history. Their influences, while still very present and valid, are now more varied, including a greater percentage of modern reference points. More importantly, their influences are just that--merely influences rather than templates or even primary reference points.The sound quality on "King for a Day" is superb thanks in large part to the enlistment of sonic genius Rich Mouser (whose resume includes similar work for prominent contemporaries like Spock's Beard, Transatlantic and Dream Theater).Keyboardist Erling Hananger is an excellent addition to Magic Pie's recipe. His keyboard parts are expressive, dynamic and integral to the music. When appropriate, his leads seamlessly blend, harmonize, and work synergistically with electric guitar.The lyrics have a melodramatic and somewhat tragic flair this time around, but this is prog so you should be accustomed to the musical ride including a few tragic tales from time to time by now, right?OK ' so it's time for the "magic" question... A decade after their debut album, how has my impression of Magic Pie changed?On "King for a Day", I now hear a band which has found "its own voice", one that resonates confidently in the space somewhere between classic arena rock of yesteryear (on prog-steroids of course) and modern melodic prog of the 21st Century (like Spock's Beard and The Flower Kings). Add a few dashes of modern prog-metal to taste and you, my friend, have baked up a very nice confection indeed... MAGIC PIE!If you love modern prog anthems with big harmonies and 'sing along' choruses, give "King for a Day" a listen! I'm glad I did!" - ProgArchives$14.00
