For Eva (67, early recordings before Embryo project founded, released on CD 1999)
Opal (70)
Embryo's Rache (71)
Father, Sons and Holy Ghosts (72, re-released on CD in 2003 w/ a bonus track)
Steig Aus (73, a.k.a. This is Embryo)
Rock Session (73)
We Keep On (73)
The Classic German Rock Scene (75, Compilation of songs from Embryo's Rache and Father, Sons and Holy Ghosts)
Bad Heads and Bad Cats (76)
Surfin' (75)
Embryo Live (77)
Apo-Calypso (77)
Embryo's Reise (79, 2LP, re-released on a single CD in 1994 with some missing tracks)
Life (80)
Anthologie - Every Day is OK (80, Compilation)
La Blama Sparrozi (82)
Zack Glück (84)
Africa (85)
Embryo and Yoruba-Dun Dun Orchestra (85)
Africa (87)
Turn/Peace (89, LP, CD has an additional track)
Ibn Battuta (94)
Ni Hau (96)
Live in Berlin (98, Live)
Istanbul Casablanca Tour 1998 (99, 2CD)
Invisible Documents (99, 2CD, Live at the Fabrik in Hamburg, 1974)
One Night at the Joan Mirò Foundation (00, Live in Barcelona, 1999)
Live 2000 Vol. 1 (01, Live)
Live 2001 Vol. 1 (01, Live)
Bremen 1971 (03, Live from 1971)
Hallo Mik (03, Live from 2002-03)
Embryonnck - The No-Neck Blues Band & Embryo (06)
Reviews
Embryo 1975 (Bad Heads ... line-up) - Maria Archer, Dieter Mickautsch, Christian Burchard, Rolf Sebastian and Roman Bunka
Embryo is basically Christian Burchard, and whomever he's with at the
moment. They started out as a pretty classic space rock band and then
got very jazzy in a fusiony period very heavy on vibes, and then
Burchard started traveling around the world recording LP's with african
bands and middle eastern musicians and such. Covers a pretty diverse
spectrum of music. My favorite is probably a tie between Embryo
Live, a not extremely well recorded but excellent performance type
lp with lots of keyboards and vibes and Charlie Mariano on sax and some
woman singing, and a double lp - La Blama Sparrozi - that has
some wild african pseudo-jazz with acoustic bass and other tracks with
middle eastern sounds and mouth harps and synths.
I have three of their albums. Opal, their Ohr-label debut, is a tad
on the raw side, but as far as spacy jazz-fusion is pretty interesting.
Tracks like "End Of Soul," with its dry prose reading, hint that a number
of chemical substances may have been used to inspire the musicians. ;)
Easy to see them as a jazzier offshoot of the Amon Düül nucleus.
Surfin' is much later, and most of their psychedelic tendencies
have been tempered for more respectable, less dated flirtations with East
Indian music. Very jazzy, so fusion fans take note. Best track: "Dance On
Some Broken Glasses," which features guitarist Roman Bunka on saz
(apparently some sort of stringed instrument, like a sarod) and American
sax player Charlie Mariano on nagaswuram (a sort of reed instrument).
Bad Heads And Bad Cats adds the pretty jazz-inflected voice of
black American singer Maria Archer to the lineup, as well as full-time
keyboardist Dieter Miekautsch, ex-Missus Beastly
[and Missing Link --Ed.] (on earlier
albums, most keyboards were played by drummer/vibraphonist/leader Christian Burchard).
There's greater use of vibes and marimba by Christian Burchard
on this album, as well as double sax/flute ideas developed on Surfin'. Here
they begin also to experiment with African music, most audibly on the
12-minute "Nina Kupenda." Some songs, like "After The Rain," toy with
impressionistic soundscapes. The soaring "Road Song", features a beautiful
lead vocal by Roman Bunka, who proves himself to be quite a convincing
jazz vocalist. Also of note is "Layed Back" [sic], with its fine piano and
organ soloing. A fine hunk of German fusion. -- Mike Ohman
Embryo take too long to describe, but are basically a jazz rock band
that went from spacey to ethnic over the course of years. Nothing by
them has really grabbed me, but Rock Session and Steig Aus
are pretty good. Their rare first has been reissued on CD on Materiali
Sonori (Opal).
A German jazz/rock/prog band, No Compromise is a fine album
issued by the renowned Brain label. The title-track is a stunning jam
with magnificent solos by sax-player Hanus Berka, guitarist Frank Diez
and keyboard player Veit Marvos. The song opens with drummer Todd Canedy
playing a moog-controlled bongo backed by Berka's [sic] Mellotron, and
climaxes with a hot improvised (apparently) sax/synth duet. Vocalist
Peter Bischof approaches a scat-singing style on this one, his voice
acting as an instrument, though there are lyrics to the song. "Time
Can't Take It Away" is another fine number starring Marvos'
keyboards. At one moment he's playing baroque-styled harpsichord, the
next he's playing fast fusion scale-runs, then a rocking organ
solo. Drummer Canedy really comes into his own on this track as well,
his fills are exquisite. Elsewhere, there is jazz-funk ("Smilin'"),
dreamy fusion ("From Here To N.Y. City") and a bluesy Jethro Tull
soundalike ("Let Us Now Praise Famous Men"), all rendered superbly
thanks to Bischof's versatility and the rest of the band's
virtuosity. "Goodbye to a Friend," a somber duet between Berka on sax
and Diez on guitar, closes the album. Highly recommended. Random notes:
most of the lyrics on No Compromise were written by King Crimson
associate Richard Palmer-James. Palmer-James later played with Diez,
Bischof and John Wetton in Jack Knife. Keyboardist Marvos hails from the
legendary Twenty Sixty Six And Then.
Solo Releases:
Inferno (80, Soundtrack)
Nighthawks (81, Soundtrack)
Honky (85, reissued 1999 and 2005)
Best Revenge (86)
The Emerson Collection (86, Compilation)
Harmageddon/China Free Fall1 (86, Soundtrack)
The Christmas Album2 (88)
The Manhattan Collection (88, Compilation)
The Works (94, Compilation)
Changing States (95, a.k.a. Cream of Emerson Soup)
The Christmas Album3 (95)
The Christmas Album4 (99)
Absolutely The Best (01, Compilation)
Emerson Plays Emerson (02)
La Chiesa (02, Soundtrack)
At The Movies (05, Compilation)
Hammer It Out: The Anthology (05, Compilation)
Off The Shelf (06, To be released mid-April)
Iron Man (TV) (?)
Murderock (?) 1Soundtrack for 2 movies, only Harmageddon is Emerson 2Original release on Priority label 3Re-release on Blue Sky label, minus "Captain Starship Christmas" but adding "Glorietta" and "Troika" 4Re-release on AER label, track listing as Blue Sky release, but reinstates
"Captain Starship Christmas"
With The Nice:
The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack (67)
Ars Longa Vita Brevis (68)
Everything As Nice As Mother Makes It (69)
Nice (69)
Five Bridges (70)
Elegy (71, Live)
Vivacitas: Live at Glasgow 2002 (03, Live 3CD [2 music, 1 interview])
.
With Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Emerson, Lake and Palmer (70) Tarkus (71) Pictures at an Exhibition (71)
Trilogy (72)
Brain Salad Surgery (73)
Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends (74)
Works Vol. 1 (77)
Works Vol. 2 (77)
Love Beach (78)
In Concert (79)
Black Moon (92)
Live at the Royal Albert Hall (93)
Return of the Manticore (93, compilation)
Works Live (93, Remastered In Concert with many additional tracks)
In the Hot Seat (94)
Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (97)
ELP In Concert On The King Biscuit Flower Hour (97)
Then and Now (98)
With Emerson, Lake and Powell:
Emerson, Lake and Powell (86)
The Sprocket Sessions (03, Recordings of practice sessions)
Live in Concert (03, Live from the band's only tour in 1986)
One of the crown princes of progressive rock, Englishman Keith Emerson is in a small
group of progressive founding fathers. Trained early in classical piano but developing a love
of jazz and other popular music, Emerson was in an ideal position to bring the kind of
instrumental prowess and musical understanding to rock that would provide the blueprint and
tonalities for symphonic prog.
He started young with Gary Farr & the T-Bones and met bassist Lee Jackson who
helped him put together The Nice in May 1967, the first
pop band to adeptly fuse true classical motifs and passages with psychedelic rock and jazz.
They recorded five brilliant albums including the wonderful live orchestrations of Five
Bridges and the posthumous but terrific Elegy.
After meeting and connecting with King Crimson
bassist/singer Greg Lake during a 1969 American tour, they, along with drummer Carl
Palmer, formed what became arguably the most widely recognized prog rock act. In 1970,
Atlantic Records released Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the rest is history.
Since their eventual decline, Emerson has produced quite a few solo efforts including
film scores and TV soundtracks. Yes, some will quietly chuckle when these solo discs are mentioned,
but for his fans they can be real treats. 1999's The Christmas Album is a beautiful and
rousing tour of traditional holiday music done in a modern synth-rock vein. But the real winner is
Honky, a fun and complex deconstruction of "The Sailor's Hornpipe". "You mean the Popeye
song?", I can hear you grumble. Yeah, the Popeye song, but done with such cleverness and
aplomb as to make you wish Emerson would reinterpret all sorts of other "silly music".
Really, this is a great CD for fans but please get the 1999 remaster that was self-released through
Gunslinger Records. It has far superior fidelity and a much better track order which makes
all the difference in the listening. -- David Marshall
Emerson got his old friends from The Nice together
again for a series of concerts, one of which was recorded and released in 2003 as
Vivacitas: Live at Glasgow 2002. Dave Kilminster (Qango,
John Wetton Band) replaces Davy O'List in the
2000's line-up.
After the concert series, Emerson decided to keep working with Kilminster. They
added Pete Riley on drums and Phil Williams on bass, and have been touring as
The Keith Emerson Band, performing songs by Emerson, Lake and
Palmer, The Nice and their own original
compositions. They haven't recorded an album together yet, but they will be performing
at NEARFest 2006. -- Fred Trafton
Emerson, Lake and Palmer (70) Tarkus (71) Pictures at an Exhibition (71)
Trilogy (72)
Brain Salad Surgery (73)
Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends (74)
Works Vol. 1 (77)
Works Vol. 2 (77)
Love Beach (78)
In Concert (79)
Black Moon (92)
Live at the Royal Albert Hall (93)
Return of the Manticore (93, compilation)
Works Live (93, Remastered In Concert with many additional tracks)
In the Hot Seat (94)
Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (97)
ELP In Concert On The King Biscuit Flower Hour (97)
Then and Now (98)
Reviews
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Keith Emerson (keyboards), Carl Palmer (drums) and
Greg Lake (vocals, bass and guitar)
ELP pioneered the keyboard "power trio" that was imitated by many bands.
Keith Emerson was in The Nice where
he was noted for his renditions (torturings?) of classical works while stabbing
his Hammond organ with
knives. After The Nice broke up,
Emerson joined forces with Greg Lake
(ex-King Crimson) and Carl Palmer
(ex-Atomic Rooster). Together, ELP
blasted into the '70s with a keyboard-heavy bombardment of incredible
proportions. ELP debuted at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival where they
ripped into their now famous rendition of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an
Exhibition," an orgasmic moog workout pushing the bounds of anything
previously heard by a rock keyboardist. Emerson's sheer mastery of the
moog and flamboyant technical ability were incredible; his talent along
with the dynamo drumming antics of Carl Palmer, won the band a legion of
fans. Their first self-titled studio release was a quieter work where
Emerson displayed his brilliance on the piano in the wonderful "Take a
Pebble." With Lake's rich tenor wrapped around an extended piano
improvisation, "Take a Pebble" was to become an ELP concert standard.
Emerson also had a penchant for lifting classical pieces without credit
and making them his own, e.g., "The Barbarian" on ELP is taken from
Bartok's "Allegro Barbaro" while "The Knife's Edge" is Janacek's
"Sinfonietta." ELP also contained "Lucky Man," often cited as the first
use of the moog synthesizer on a rock album. Tarkus followed in 1971. The
side-long "Tarkus" featured the moog extensively. "Are You Ready, Eddy?"
is a tribute to reknowned studio engineer Eddy Offord, whose name graces
many classic Yes albums. Tarkus was followed
by the LP release of
Pictures at an Exhibition show, a marvellous live performance
recorded in Newcastle City Hall, 26 March 1971. The next studio release
was Trilogy which contained the wonderful "From the Beginning."
"Abaddon's Bolero" has Emerson building layers of keyboards while
"Hoedown" is an excerpt from Copeland's "Rodeo." After Trilogy, ELP
formed their own label, Manticore. In addition to releasing Americanized
versions of classic Italian Prog (e.g., PFM,
Banco), ELP released their
magnum opus: Brain Salad Surgery. BSS contained the 30
minute suite, "Karn Evil 9," that featured Emerson in all his splendor
working his Hammond, moog and grand
piano against Palmer's furious
drumming. Also featured is Palmer's attempt at synthesized percussion on
Ginastera's "Toccata." BSS was quickly followed by the live
Welcome Back My Friends.... It contains what I feel to be the
definitive version of "Tarkus": aggressive and energetic. It also contains
nearly all of BSS and wonderful piano improvisations.
After these excellent works, ELP ran out of fresh ideas and went into an extended
hiatus. In '77, ELP released the 2LP Works Vol. 1. This reunion
album contained three sides of individual works (one side/member) plus two
group efforts. Emerson's side is a classical piano concerto and Lake
contributes several love ballads. Palmer's contribution is the most
ELP-like but suffers from poor composition. The excellent "Pirates" and a
perfunctory rendition of Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" highlight
the album. The album sold to dedicated fans but paled in comparison to the
glory of previous works. This LP was followed by the forgettable Works
Vol. 2 and Love Beach. The latter is marred by terrible love
ballads and an overall lack of enthusiasm. The band called it quits after
the lackluster In Concert. In '92, a reunion of ELP was realized in
the form of Black Moon. Following their tried and true format, it sold well
to fans but otherwise failed to draw attention though it is a fairly solid effort.
ELP were a bastion of early '70s progressive rock and many bands are
compared to ELP as a point
of reference, thus you should become familiar with their style. So, to the
potential ELP listener, I suggest you get The Atlantic Years which
contains nicely remastered versions of their best works and serves as a
fine introduction. If you'd rather not buy a 2CD set, check out ELP
or Brain Salad Surgery. -- Mike Taylor
Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg
Lake (guitar/bass/vocals), and Carl Palmer
(drums) are a trio who put out 10 albums in the 1970's, broke up, and
reformed in the 1990's to put out two albums (so far). I will describe
the 1970's ELP only, except for a few sentences at the end. ELP was one of
the giants of 1970's progressive rock, along with Yes,
Genesis, and a
handful of others. In fact, they really helped define progressive rock of
that era, particularly by their keyboard playing. Every progressive rocker
should hear some ELP! How to characterize ELP's sound?
Imagine a Hammond
organ playing melodies, jazz/rock solos, and complex chords, on top of
very tight drumming and bass. Occasional bursts of lead synthesizer are
heard as solos and sound effects. I'd describe the musical style as
powerful, occasionally bombastic, complex rock, heavily influenced by
classical music and jazz. They also wrote some tender ballads though.
Emerson was widely regarded as one of the most talented keyboardists in
the history of rock, and Palmer one of the finest drummers. If you want
to hear some virtuosic playing, "Karn Evil 9" from Brain
Salad Surgery and "Tarkus" from Tarkus are very
impressive. Lake was a good enough bassist and guitarist to keep up with
Emerson and Palmer, but his strength was singing ballads such as
"Lucky Man" from their self-titled debut album, "From the
Beginning" from Trilogy, and "Still You Turn Me On"
from Brain Salad Surgery. Lake has a mellow, pleasing voice in the
earlier albums, though his later singing has been criticized as being
overly dramatic and a little less on-key. The first-time ELP listener
should buy Brain Salad Surgery. Except for the very dissonant
"Toccata", the album is very accessible. You may even have
heard the famous words, "Welcome back my friends to the show that
never ends ..." on the radio: this is from "Karn Evil 9."
Next, the more adventurous listener might try Tarkus; other fans
might try Trilogy or ELP's self-titled first album. But make sure
you hear them all!! In my opinion, these four albums form the core of
ELP's best material. Other good ELP albums include Pictures At An
Exhibition (a live rendition of Mussorgsky's classical piece of the
same name) and Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends,
a triple-live album (now on double-CD) with some absolutely
stunning playing. Works Volume 1 also has some very good
tracks, including a classical piano concerto (written by Emerson), a
rendition of Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" (the
"Wide World of Sports" theme, for you non-classical listeners
out there :-)), and the epic "Pirates." But in my opinion,
Works Volume 1 has a bunch of mediocre tunes as well. ELP suffered
a terrible downslide near the end of their 1970's career, releasing
Works Volume 2 and Love Beach, both of which (in my opinion)
are mostly horrid, or at least forgettable. Completists should check out
these albums last. Their final album of the decade, In Concert, is
pretty decent but not spectacular.
Between 1980 and 1990, the three former members of ELP bounced around in various other
bands. Emerson did some
movie soundtracks and solo albums. Lake did a few solo albums. Palmer
joined Asia. Emerson, Lake,
and Cozy Powell formed
"Emerson, Lake and Powell" for one album.
Emerson and Palmer joined with Robert Berry to
form "3", releasing the album To
the Power of Three. Except for Emerson's solo albums, all of
these hybrid bands had more of a pop-rock feel than did ELP. But fans may find it
interesting to explore these albums ... many of which can be found in vinyl
"bargain bins" in used record stores. (I do not mean to imply
that these are bad albums. But it is true that they are easy to
find in bargain bins.) ELP reformed in the early 1990's and released
Black Moon to mixed reviews from its former fans. It is evident
that E, L, and P have been influenced by pop music (and perhaps the cash
it brings). But following that, they released the wonderful Live At The
Royal Albert Hall, containing many of their best pieces in glorious
digital sound. A hits collection called Return Of The Manticore
followed that, containing a half dozen unreleased tracks as well. ELP's
CD's were remastered in 1993, so you should consider this before buying a
used ELP disc. On the other hand, ELP used discs are probably in great
supply right now, as fans are upgrading to the new versions, so you can
probably get a good price on an "old" disc if you want to try
them out. The old discs are of good quality, but reports say that the
remastered versions are somewhat better. -- Dan Barrett
Keith Emerson and Greg Lake
Update 5/27/10: Keith Emerson and Greg Lake have been
touring small venues in 2010 playing songs from ELP, The
Nice and King Crimson in an "intimate" format.
There's nearly as much story-telling and reminiscing about the "good old days" as there is playing.
But for me at least, I found this to be lots of fun. And who would have believed that "Tarkus"
translated into a mostly-piano piece would sound so cool? The lack of drums was likewise
surprisingly unimportant, partially because of the songs they chose to play, leaning heavily on
Lake's acoustic guitar repertoire from both ELP and
King Crimson. For more hard-driving songs like the
afore-mentioned "Tarkus", a drum machine is sparingly and tastefully used.
If you're an ELP fan and get a chance to see this concert series, you definitely should attend.
(actually, it looks like the tour may already be over ... but keep on the lookout). I definitely
enjoyed myself. Much more than when I saw the three of them on the Black Moon tour
years ago. And, if you care, Lake did imply that he and
Emerson were working together on new material. Maybe
there will be one final hurrah for ELP once Carl Palmer finishes up his recent tour
with the reformed Asia. -- Fred Trafton
Emerson, Lake and Powell (86)
The Sprocket Sessions (03, Recordings of practice sessions)
Live in Concert (03, Live from the band's only tour in 1986)
Reviews
Emerson, Lake and Powell - Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass
and guitar) and Cozy Powell (drums)
In 1986, Emerson and Lake enlisted Cozy Powell (ex-Rainbow,
Jeff Beck) to fill the drum slot. Though better than [ELP's]
Love Beach, Emerson, Lake and Powell was a weak effort rehashing stale
ideas. It does contain a passable version of Holst's "Mars." After a
tour, this version of ELP folded. -- Mike Taylor
After their Love Beach album in 1978, Emerson, Lake
and Palmer broke up. But in the summer of 1985, Emerson got a call from a
Polydor Records executive about the possibility of an ELP
reunion. Greg Lake was interested in the idea, but Carl Palmer was still under
contract to Asia and was unable to participate. Emerson
auditioned several drummers, and finally settled on his friend Cozy Powell, then
on tour with Whitesnake.
Emerson Lake & Powell released their debut (and sole) LP in 1986. Although not
uniformly embraced by the progressive rock community, there were a lot of us old
ELP fans who were glad to see a reunion in any form, and
Emerson Lake & Powell, in my opinion, has its moments. It feels to me like
a logical progression from ELP's Works Vol. I,
forgetting about the degeneration that occurred in Vol. II and finally
ended dismally in Love Beach. It has a nice combination of power keyboard
rock (though with the more "modern" sounding polyphonic keyboards as on Works
Vol. I), Lake-signature ballads ("Lay Down Your Guns") and the obligatory
classical music interpretation, this time of Holst's "Mars" movement of "The Planets"
(perhaps a bit too predictable a choice, but it's almost a prog rock piece without
any interpretation). All in all, not a bad album, and I would recommend it to
ELP fans over any of ELP's new
stuff (Black Moon through In the Hot Seat ... I haven't heard their
latest, Then and Now). -- Fred Trafton
The self-produced Sphere is that of a composer, arranger,programmer
and keyboardist. The style is a very symphonic
rock that showcases
Emond's classical training. The music is presented in the typical
keyboards, bass and drums format that is usually associated with
ELP. It features the rich compositions and the
expert performances of the keyboardist. The supporting bass and drum
tracks are carefully programmed. A quality production that should please
those who appreciate keyboard driven symphonic
rock. -- Paul Charbonneau
Links
Click here for Redjy
Emond's web site (in English and French)
Click here to read Redjy
Emond reviews on the E-Prog web site
This is a three piece band consisting of the keyboardist (Edo Rogani) and
drummer (Paolo Sburlati) from italian band Syndone
and a singer, Rosanna de Luca. The
music hass a lot of the ELP style, with fast and
complex keyboards. There are many really good moments on this album. When
I heard the first song begin, I thought, "This is going to be one of my
favorite albums." Unfortionately, its not. The keyboards are great, the
drums are very good and the singer is also very good, so why isn't it my
favorite album? Because when Rosanna starts to sing it all turns to pop
music (IMO)! She sings very good but a combination of
ELP and Maria Carey isn't what I like. But still
there is much to enjoy here. The album also contains (another) version of
Mussorgsky's "Night on a Bald Mountain." The album was produced by Beppe
Crovella of Arti E Mestieri, contains 9
songs and is 54 minutes long. -- Andre Hagberg
In 1974, after the breakup of Flash,
guitarist Peter Banks went into the
studio with a new band, which was to become Empire. Peter
was the guitarist, and his then-wife Sydney Foxx was the lead singer
and lyricist. Some of the drums were done by Phil Collins before
previous commitments to Genesis forced
him to leave the recording sessions. Sam Gopal, tabla player
extrordinaire, also played on the first album as did Jakob Magnusson
keyboardist for the Kevin Ayers Band.
John Giblin, the bassist, later played for Brand X.
When the album was completed, the group was unable to obtain distribution
in either the UK or the US, but Banks and
Foxx continued to record as Empire with an assortment of other backing musicians.
They recorded two more albums before calling it quits around 1980. These recordings were
considered lost until One Way Records released them on CD between 1995 and
1997. -- Fred Trafton
On Musea. I don't understand it - it's sort of like cabaret jazz mixed
with comedy or something. Maybe someone fluent in french could get
something out of the lyrics, but the music seems fairly unremarkable.
Quoted as being a classic folky progressive duo, Saat for me does
not live up to this expectation. Nice, vaguely cosmic, yet not grabbing.
Emtidi were a German-Canadian duo of Maik Hirschfeldt (guitars, keyboards, flute,
percussion, vocals) and Dolly Holmes (keyboards, vocals). I have not heard their
ultra-rare first album, but I understand it to be a rather conventional folk
album. Saat, on the other hand, is one of the cornerstones of the "cosmic" folk
style that developed under that vague denomination Krautrock. Their songs are relaxed,
largely drumless folk meditations on typical hippy imagery with simple and strong modal
melodies expressed through combinations of Holmes' cool and ethereal soprano and
Hirschfeldt's more earthy harmonies or canonical support lines. But the album's main
attraction is its extensive instrumental work, comprising sunbursts of effects organ,
Mellotron strings, a few baroque electric piano
embellishments and even rudimentary synth riffs and glissandi, giving the music a both
sunny and spacey feel that takes it from pastures green to gulfs interstellar. Even
the basic supporting riffs are given extra depth with simple but poignant means, from
the flanged acoustic guitars of "Walkin' in the Park" to the vibes and Jew's harp
decorating the wordless vocals and glowing organ of "Träume". "Walkin' in the Park"
and the album's only German track, "Die Reise", suffer somewhat from unfortunate acid
flashbacks, which take the inevitable form of tinny electric guitar dabbling and
scatterbrained scatting, but here too the floating, cosmic feel soon suffuses the
freakout. It is all very charming, naïve, even dated at places - and absolutely
compelling. I would rate it about the same as
Bröselmaschine's first album, and recommend
it to the same audience. I would also dock this CD re-release (ZYX Ohr 70008-2) a few
points for being a scratchy vinyl transfer probably untouched by any decrackling process.
-- Kai Karmanheimo
Links
This album is available on the Spalax label.
Order here
Enchant (91)
A Blueprint of the World (93)
Wound (96)
Time Lost (97)
Break (98)
Juggling 9 or Droping 10 (01)
Blink of an Eye (02)
Tug Of War (03)
Live At Last (04, Live, 2CD or 2DVD)
Reviews
Enchant - an older group shot. The fellow in the upper left is former keyboardist
Benignus, who has left the band. They are looking for a new keyboardist at least as
of August, 2002. Current line-up is Ted Leonard (vocals), Sean Flanegan (drums),
Douglas A. Ott (guitars) and Ed Platt (bass), though I'm not certain who's who in
the band photo.
Bay Area band with a very busy, complicated sound, sort of like
Animator. They produced a bunch of cassettes before
undergoing lineup transitions and released A Blueprint of the World in Europe and
Japan (US release in August 95 on Magna Carta).
Wound is a more Dream Theater like album.
Time Lost is close to A Blueprint of the World. Break is an harder
edged album, and [Juggling 9 or Dropping 10] is a mix of all their influences. The
music remains complex, and really interesting. -- Alain Ruelle
Updated 8/1/02 and again 6/6/11: Enchant's releases are available from Inside Out
Music America. They played on the second day NEARfest
2002, and their newest album Blink of an Eye was released first at that festival.
Former Enchant drummer Paul Craddick is married to Hannah Stobart of Steve
Rothery's side-project The Wishing Tree, and plays drums
on their second album Ostara. -- Fred Trafton
An Endless Sporadic - Zach Kamins (guitar, bass, keys, toys) and Andy Gentile (drums,
toys, noise)
OK, is this every prog nerds' wet dream or what ... ?
Two friends from Bellaire High in Houston, Texas, jam with each other in high school. Andy Gentile
moves to LA after graduation to work for Neversoft, makers of
Guitar Hero, while Zach Kamins moves to Boston to study music at Berklee. But they stay in
touch, and make some recordings over the Internet, calling themselves An Endless Sporadic. I kid
you not, that's their "band picture" from their web site to the left. If you met these guys on the street
would you believe they had even heard of progressive rock?
Now, here comes the good part. They somehow talk Flower KingsRoine Stolt and Jonas Reingold into playing on their
album, with Stolt recording, producing and mixing it for them
in Sweden. Next, they get Jordan Rudess to write up a rave
review about their new release, which ends up being hyped (for free?) on
Transatlantic's web site just as they're releasing their first
album in about eight years. Can you say "excellent product placement"? Oh, there's also a Guitar Hero
version of one of their songs, in case their exposure wasn't high enough yet.
Ya know, I'd like to say these guys suck and were somehow elevated to "famous progger" status only because
of who they (somehow) know. But, judging from the samples on their web site, it's not true. This album
appears to kick some serious butt. Damn. I hate it when that happens. Best I can do is a prog rock site where
I get to spout off about other peoples music. Life's not fair. OK, guys, at least send me a copy of the full
album so I can do a decent review, OK? I'm not exactly Jordan Rudess
(though I did get my picture taken with him!) but there are probably a few progressive rockers who read
the GEPR that didn't notice the plug on the Transatlantic
site. Just saying. -- Fred Trafton
Good progressive rock that had to wait 20 years to be released. The music
is typical Italian with a lot of melodic songs that contains a lot of
different moods. The music has some really good parts with complex heavy
rock but also contains quiet and beautiful parts. There is a lot of good
interplay between the guitar, keyboard (mostly Hammond but also moog) and
flute. Eneide reminds me of Osanna and Nuova Idea mostly with some hints
of The Trip. The album contains ten songs between 1 to 7 minutes and is 35
minutes long. Recommended music for lovers of Italian progressive rock. --
Andre Hagberg
If I hadn't just finished reviewing the latest album from
Solution Science Systems, I might have missed the fact that Kelly Shane is the drummer
for that band (and for Naked Elf and Electric Lawnchair) and also the mastermind
behind Enemy from Space. But for EFS he's not drumming, but creating strange and
beautiful synthesizer soundscapes.
Abstractions is what I would classify as "hard electronic", but not pure noise.
In fact, the synthesizers are pitched and harmonic much of the time, but there are also
some cuts that are mostly odd synth warblings, 50's "computer sounds" and flying saucer
engines (appropriately titled "Mysteries in Space"). The songs are all repetitive in a
hypnotic way and slowly mutate from section to section, frequently reminding me of very
early Klaus Schulze like Black Dance or
Timewind. Slow, dreamy and thin with slow filter sweeps and flanging ... very
electronic, but with very little use of sequenced arpeggios or rhythms. In fact, particularly
for a drummer, I would say this is about as rhythmless as it can get. I love this kind of
music, and would therefore recommend this album to fans of Schulze
or early Tangerine Dream.
EFS's second album, The Condition of Music retains some connections to Abstractions,
but is quite different in most ways. Still lots of "hard electronic" sounds, but this album has
a lot more musical composition in it. Some of it sounds like early experiments with classical music
being played on synthesizers using entirely inappropriate synth buzzes, squawks and wah-wah's.
There's also some synthesized percussion (doubtless being played on a keyboard) that might
have come from a synth-pop band being played at half speed. There are frequent hints that
Shane has heard some Philip Glass in his life, though he
doesn't allow the note sequences to go on so long that they get on your nerves. There are
also Vangelis-like epic chords and other spacey sections. The
sounds are something like The Moog Cookbook (that's a band, if you didn't know) would come
up with, but Shane is using them for his own devices instead of for retreading oldies.
There's also a certain resemblance to old '386-era video game soundtracks ...
In summary, I like The Condition of Music a lot, but the harder, less developed and
polished edge of Abstractions makes me like the first album a bit more. Still, electronic
music fans will want to have both albums, they are both excellent in their own right. Plastic
Orpheus is supposed to complete some sort of trilogy, but this album has yet to be released
as of this writing (3/9/04). -- Fred Trafton
Engel is the pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist Miguel Angel de la Llave Jiménez, who
released his first album consisting of himself playing guitar, keyboards, flutes, violin and many
ethnic instruments such as digeridoo, bagpipes, tin whistles etc. While I admit to enjoying this
album, as I enjoy many of the CD's my wife brings home from the "world music" genre, I can't call
this even remotely "progressive rock", in spite of being released on the
Musea label. This is new-agey feelgood world music
with lots of celtic influence, spanish guitars, tin whistle choirs and pleasant vocals. It's
well-performed and excellently recorded. However, I wouldn't call it progressive, and not really
rock either. But if you like celtic/ethnic music in the vein of Riverdance, you could do much
worse. -- Fred Trafton
Garden Shed (77)
The Last of the Jubblies(95, Recorded in 1978)
Reviews
England released just one album, Garden Shed, on Arista UK in the
70s and if ever any band acheived a perfect fusion
of Genesis, Yes, and
Supertramp, this is it. Brimming with
Mellotron textures, keyboard and
organ leads, and variant time signatures, this is classic progressive rock.
The Last of the Jubblies is some sort of "leftover" material recently released?
Quebecois ensemble incorporating strings, brass, piano, tuned percussion
and acoustic guitar. Rather folky, but mainly light classical /
chamber-music styled. Some light male vocals here and there cut through
the microcosmic-orchestral arrangements. On the whole, one of the nicest
French-Canadian chamber-prog. -- Mike Ohman
In The Region Of The Summer Stars (76)
Aerie Faerie Nonsense (77)
Touch Me (79)
Six Pieces (80)
Rhapsody In Rock (80, 2LP Live/Compilation, unreleased, see text below)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (83)
Live At Hammersmith Vol.1 (83)
Live At Hammersmith Vol.2 (83)
The Spell (84)
Fand (85, Re-recording of epic tone poem from Aerie Faerie Nonsense for fan club only)
Salome (86)
Lovers And Fools (86, Compilation)
The Seed and The Sower (88, as Godfrey and Stewart)
The Final Noise (89, Live)
The Light Fantastic (94)
Sundialer (95, Remix album)
Anarchy On 45 (96, 2CD Compilation of single & B-side releases)
The White Goddess (98)
Tears of the Sun (99, Compilation)
... several other fanclub-only releases, see web site below
Reviews
Very clasically influenced but sort of lightweight. Sparse vocals but a
little annoying at times. Recommended: Touch Me.
The Enid are probably one of the most underrated progressive rock bands
out of the UK. Their music is a hybrid of orchestral classical and rock
compositions, with an undeniable tilt towards the dramatic. All the CDs
have extra tracks that did not appear on the vinyl releases, and have,
in many cases, been remixed. The music is very proficiently
orchestrated, and the tracks have the complexity that should appeal to
the progressive rock aficionado. Final Noise is their last
release as The Enid, and contains live versions of many of their
best tracks. This would be a good CD to check out as an introduction to
the band. Story Of The Enid contains over 2 hours of music by The
Enid, and contains the tale of the band, narrated by
Robert John Godfrey, in the form
of a reminiscence. It is pretty interesting, more
so to those who have heard and enjoyed their music. It can also serve as
an introduction to one of the most underrated classical,
symphonic bands of the late seventies/early
eighties.
Reviews of The Enid that I have seen usually read to the effect of "they
attempt to mix orchestral themes with rock, but lean far more to the
classical edge than bands like ELP." The songs
I have heard by The Enid pretty much fit this description.
The Enid are a couple of guys who independently produce their
albums. They have some great stuff such as Something Wicked This Way
Comes and The Key. They have an interesting style of
composition which can be a bit Wagnerian at times, as well as being
nursery-rhyme like. The music is not perhaps the most interesting, but
for people interested in a Very English style of progressive rock (but
not to be confused with Yes or
Tull) might enjoy the adventure.
Imagine Clayderman playing Pink Floyd with
someone from a Gilbert and Sullivan production singing.
Most of this could hardly be called rock, as these guys play an
impressionist type of symphonic music that
has no standard rhythm section as such to anchor it down. Some of the earliest albums
have some passages that hint at a rock rhythm, but for the most part the albums
have a heavily orchestrated sound, all created using the standard
guitars, basses, keyboards and drums. Most of the first two albums were
completely re-recorded during the 80's. Nearly all of the albums are
100% instrumental. Start w/ Region or Aerie Faerie and
work forward in time. The 76 and 77 albums contain the same music, only
the title was changed. There's also a bunch of fan club stuff that's
been released over the years.
Addendum 8/6/07:
In your section on The Enid you list an album, Rhapsody In Rock, which you
believe was unissued and ask for details [Editor's note: Formerly, in the discography
section of this entry, I asked about this. With this answer from Peter Kendall, the
question is answered and has now been removed]. You're right - the album never
came out.
At the time the band were signed to Pye which had not been a happy period
for the band. The person who signed them left the label almost immediately
and although two albums were released on that label (Touch Me and Six
Pieces) it wasn't a good relationship. Rhapsody in Rock was a double LP
partly live material and part compilation of previously released tracks. It
was pulled at the last minute but not before track listings and a release
date had been given out. At the same time Pye were going through financial
problems and withdrew financial support from the band's tour at the same
time as cancelling the release of the album.
I have been a long time collector of The Enid but have never seen any
evidence of test pressings or completed artwork for this album. In fact
Robert Godfrey himself thinks it
unlikely that it even got to the test pressing stage. There was some confusion
at the time because the Music Master reference book listed Rhapsody in
Rock complete with catalogue number and track listing. I believe some of the
live tracks were later used on the band's Live At Hammersmith release.
The only good thing to come out of The Enid's split from Pye was
they got to keep the recording equipment Pye had bought for them and went
on to start their own studio. Unfortunately they split up shortly afterwards.
-- Peter Kendall
News 2/3/10: The Enid is active again after many years ... or better said,
Robert John Godfrey has reformed a new
version of The Enid with himself at the helm and a new supporting line-up.
This version of the band will be playing at NEARFEST
2010, and has other UK concert dates scheduled in 2010.
The story behind what happened to the band and how it was put back together is a complex one, and
beyond the scope of a GEPR article. Suffice it to say that there have been issues between
Godfrey and other people who claim to own The Enid's
music which has led to a legal battle that includes use of the web site URL formerly referenced
here in the GEPR's links section (see below). Godfrey's
site is now the link below, and it is here that you can read up on what's currently happening with
the band and what has been going on during their disappearance after the release of The White
Goddess in 1998.
The good news for fans is that Godfrey has put The
Enid's entire back catalog (including several live albums) on their web site for free download
in wither MP3 or FLAC format. They do ask that you give a donation to help them with their
legal battles, and ask that you don't support the company that is currently selling their
albums. Why would you if you can name your own price on their web site?.
The Enid has also unearthed some video of the band live at the Hammersmith Odeon in
1979, embedded below. This appears to be clips from a DVD of this concert, though I'm unsure about the
availability of this DVD. In the meantime, check out the video:
No Pussyfooting (73, w/ Robert Fripp) Here Come the Warm Jets (73)
June 1, 1974 (74) Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy (74) Another Green World (75)
Evening Star (75, w/ Robert Fripp)
Discrete Music (75)
Before and After Science (77)
Desert Island Selections (??, Compilation)
Ambient 1: Music for Airports (78)
Ambient 2: The Plateux of Mirror (80, w/ Harold Budd)
Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics (80, w/ Jon Hassell)
Music for Films (81)
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (81, w/ David Byrne)
Ambient 4: On Land (82)
Apollo (83)
The Pearl (84, w/ Harold Budd)
Thursday Afternoon (85)
Wrong Way Up (91, w/ John Cale)
The Shutov Assembly (92)
Nerve Net (92)
Neroli (93)
Eno II (93, Compilation, Box Set)(Yes, this really was released before Eno I)
Familiar (94)
Headcandy (94)
Dali's Car (94, Live with The Winkies and 801)
Eno I: Instrumentals (94, Compilation, Box Set)
The Drop (97)
Sonora Portraits (99)
Reviews
Brian Eno is not a (musical) household name, but he should be! Eno has
been on the leading edge of Progressive music (in many genres) since the
late '60's. Eno has produced and worked with such artists as Robert
Fripp (of King Crimson fame), Roxy Music, David Bowie, DEVO, U2, and the
Talking Heads. During college, Eno had a fascination for (classical)
Electronic Music. He began experimenting with studio and compositional
techniques that included electronic and tape effects; similar to those
of John Cage and Steve Reich. Eno also notes La Monte Young as a major
influence. Many of Eno's early recordings dealt with his own experiments
in Electronic Music, often in collaboration with Robert Fripp; Eno would
lay down that basic synthesizer background and Fripp would improvise his
own unique electronic guitar lead. Such explorations included the
albums: No Pussyfooting and Evening Star. Eno's solo work,
Discrete Music, demonstrates what Eno calls "process music." As
Eno puts it: "I have gravitated towards situations and (musical) systems
that, once set into operation, could create music with little or no
intervention on my part.." Discrete Music was also a precursor
to his Ambient series of compositions of the late '70's on. Beyond
Electronic Music, Eno loves rock 'n' roll; he recorded four progressive
rock albums between 1973 and 1977. Eno's first progressive rock album,
Here Come the Warm Jets, is an extrodinary collection. It defined
Eno's rock style as a mixture of bizzare lyrics and quirky vocals with a
menagerie of electronic sound-effects. For example, he suggests to his
lover that "you'll have to choose the Paw Paw Negro blowtorch, or me..."
or that his "baby's on fire/ better throw her in the water/ look at her
laughing/ like a heifer to the slaughter." Hmm? In between the
electronic pieces up pops an occasional (mostly) acoustic work; "On Some
Faraway Beach" and "Some of them are Old" include mostly piano, drums,
and vocal harmonies. The latter tune makes splendid use of (electric?)
steele guitar (by Lloyd Watson) and near the end takes on an almost
mystical sound when the wind chimes come in. This becomes the background
to the finale track, "Here Come the Warm Jets," which is a rolling
little ditty lead by a minimalistic fuzzy guitar sequence and followed
by a drum line and some obscured vocals. This is such an indescribeable
album that I can only recommend borrowing a copy of it to see if you
like it. Shortly after the release of Here Come..., Eno was
asked to perform live a group of avart-garde artists including: Nico,
Kevin Ayers, John Cale and the Soporifics. This remarkable performance
occured on June 1, 1974, and is the title of the album that captures the
evening. It is hard to tell from the liner notes how much Eno performs
on the individual tracks, but the first two songs are his own
compositions from Here Come...: "Driving Me Backwards" and
"Baby's on Fire." These are straight forward renditions with no
surprises. The other tracks include work mostly by Kevin Ayers (with
some fine guitar work by Mike Oldfield) and are more on the bluesy side.
On Taking Tiger Mountian, Eno continues to explore the style(s)
he created in Here Come the Warm Jets, but eases (a bit) off of
the electronics and distortion. There appears to be some connection
among the songs relative to a spy theme in the first three tracks, but
it may just be a coincidence. This album sports a few interesting
extremes: "Third Uncle" is a hardcore tune that is at least eight years
ahead of its time; whereas, "Put A Straw Under Baby" (the following
track) is quite simply a lullabye. This is my favorite of his first two
rock albums. About half the tracks on Another Green World are
definitely rock influenced. "Sky Saw" is quite reminiscant of the
swirling electronics of the first two albums; but "St. Elmos Fire" and
"I'll Come Running" are rather sedate and sing-song in comparison;
none-the-less pleasant. The non-vocal works often hint to Eno's future
ambient music. Furthermore, most of them carry over the humorous and
twisted nature of the lyrical compositions. Finally, the '77 release of
Before and After Science is Eno's last rock album of the
seventies. Like Another Green World, it blends ambient sounds
with traditional rock forms. The first track, "No one Receiving" is a
funky little ditty; and "Backwater" is pure rock 'n' roll. Most of the
rest of the album is enjoyable, but not exceptional. With Discrete
Music, Eno virtually created a brand new musical genre: Ambient
Music. In his Ambient series (see discography), Eno creates a
semi-musical experience that is at once melodic, yet spatially
disjoint. The effect of such sound can be very soothing and is often
used in meditation. Some of the pieces are simply process-like, but
others attempt to create a scene or space. The latter is very true of
On Land, where says Eno: "The choice of sonic elements in these
pieces arose less from listening to music than from listening to the
world in a musical way.." These early explorations allowed others
artists to expand on these concepts in a musical field called New Age.
Recently, Eno has release several new albums. On Wrong Way Up,
Eno collaborates with John Cale on a (progressive) rock album. The Eno
works on his album remind me of his work on Before and After
Science; interesting lyrics and quality music, but little spark and
pizzaz. I'm not very familiar with Cale, but I found his compositions
also of top-notch quality; their joint efforts are often the most
interesting. Nerve Net is also an album that includes some
progressive rock material, but I only recently acquired it so I will not
review it at this time.
I have two albums. Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy is an obscure
set of ditties using synthesizers and electronics to make them quite
bizarre. Sort of like Kevin Ayers filtered through a weird Dadaist world,
the song are at once catchy and askew. Highlights: the title song (a
haunting sing-along), "Put A Straw Under Baby" (a creepy lullaby-type song
with out-of-tune strings and harmony vocals by Robert Wyatt), "Mother
Whale Eyeless" (featuring Phil Collins on drums) and "The Great Pretender"
(with dramatic use of synthesized cricket-sounds at the end. The other
album, Another Green World, opens with "Sky Saw," a song with weird
droning guitar tones, but most of the album is dedicated to delicate piano
and synth instrumentals. Very pleasant. The haunting "Spirits Drifting" is
the best. I also heard his two songs from the June 1st 1974 live
LP. The two best songs on the album. -- Mike Ohman
Eno doesn't have an official web site.
Click here
for the largest unofficial fan site
Click here for a
site dealing with Eno's Oblique Strategies card deck
Ensemble Nimbus, yet another Swedish band, is described as the "second
generation of European ... RIO." The
first generation is, of course,
defined by Henry Cow, Univers Zero (and offshoots Daniel Denis and
Present), Art Zoyd and Samla Mammas Manna. Ensemble Nimbus has one member
with a connection to the preceding generation, that of former Samla Mammas
Manna drummer Hasse Bruniusson. Anyone into Samla, as well as Present or
Daniel Denis should certainly get into Key Figures. The other
members of the band are Håkan AlmKvist: guitar and bass; Lars Erik
Björk: clarinet, bass clarinet; Stefan Carlsson: keyboards; and Kirk
Chilton: violin. AlmKvist is the leader of the band and he is responsible
for most of the compositions. Though his guitar is frequently heard, he
has provided good balance for all members to "strut their
stuff." "Bo i Bingen" (lazy bones) has a bouncing bass
clarinet rhythm over which lyrically light keyboard (bell-like tones) and
lazy (of course) violin melodies are heard. AlmKvist provides nice bass
support for it all but leaves the guitar at home. But, like Roger Trigaux
of Present, when AlmKvist slings the axe, he's a force to reckon with. On
"Änglamakerskan" (the baby farmer), the violin and electric
guitar duel with angular slashes of controlled fury amidst the rhythmic
clarinet ostinati and shifting drum meters. "Förmaningen"
(the exhortation) is a good showcase for Bruniusson's drumming talents. He
uses his electronic drums to pound out a wide variety of percussive
offbeats and measured trap work. There is also a bit of a Crimsonish feel
(mostly in the guitar work throughout) and a zeuhlish feel, such as in the
bass of "Skrapan" (the schramscraper). The album is mostly
instrumental but there are two (Swedish) vocal works. Ten of the eleven
songs are in the three to nearly six minute range. The eleventh
song,"Ekivoka Vänningar" (indecent turnings) weighs in at
8.5 minutes. This was, for me, the best song on the album. The length
allows the band to slowly develop their musical thought. Very sparse
instrumentation and good use of silence at the beginning created a taut
atmosphere that Ensemble Nimbus then sustained and exploited to full
ability for the duration. Great tune! I found that I enjoyed Key
Figures a great deal, moreso than Daniel Denis's Sirius and the
Ghosts and as much as Present's two albums. Strongly recommended to
any RIO fan or any Prog fan who enjoys
a good musical challenge. -- Mike Taylor
Very good Rock In Opposition or "Tivoli Fusion" near to Von Zamla
in style. The music is composed by Hakan AlmKvist, the guitar and bass
player. Featuring Hans Bruniusson from Samla Mammas Manna on drums. --
Gunnar Creutz
This Swedish band has a peculiar sound. Key Figures features
guitar/bass, clarinet, drums, keyboards,violin and occasional vocals (in
Swedish). Their eclectic style involves, amongst others,elements of rock,
jazz, chamber music and traditional music. The guitarist writes all the
material which makes sustained use of the electric guitar, but doesn't
reduce the rest of the band to a support role. Quite the opposite, the
tracks involve original arrangements of melodies and rhythms where all
members make an important contribution. An excellent production that
primarily appeals to those who like to experiment. -- Paul Charbonneau
Entrance (line-up as of 2000) - Alex von Chrismar (drums), Richard Pilnik (guitars),
Rodrigo Godoy (bass), Jaime Scalpello (vocals) and Jaime Rosas (keyboards)
Entrance is supposedly a prog-metal band. While they rock hard for moments, from a compositional
point of view, or looking at their (obvious) infuences, I would rather say that this is
neo-symphonic, with some pomp thrown in, and a dose of pure R.O.C.K. for good measure. Here
appears again the well known "extended song" format (masters of this formula are
Iluvatar, North Star, among others).
Start with a song, and when after three or four minutes the whole thing should be over, then it's
not. Then these guys (a hell of a guitarist and keyboardist they have) extend the composition via
elaborated solos and instrumental dialogues, tempo and rhythm changes, and other resources. In
fact, the experiment of listening the first three minutes of every track would be a revelation for
many AOR fans.
On to the "sounds like" section: The keyboardist is in the vein of
Wakeman and Emerson, the guitarist has
a remarkable ability, but can�t relate his style to any particular (better known) guitarist. The
overall sound owes a lot to Kansas, Rush
and Journey.
One note about the vocal department: The original singer, Claudio Morice, who is featured in the
album, has a close to perfect vocal technique, a wide range, and sings really well. Most of the
time, he does sound like Steve Perry, and I mean REALLY LIKE HIM. The album features a cover of
"Separate Ways", and a real fan of Journey will tell the difference, but only if he is a real fan.
What keeps Morice from being an absolute Perry sound-a-like is his vibrato, tense and
high-pitched, reminds your typical heavy metal vocalist. Then, when Morice left, Jaime Scalpello
came in to replace. He is also technically good, and really sings. But the main difference is in
"intention". Scalpello has a much darker and thicker voice, and a dramatic emphasis that makes the
group sound much more "prog".
The debut album would be just a nice prog album, if it weren't for "Alas Fugaces", which is a real
masterpiece, showing how far you can go with this style of prog. It reminds me the comment made by
Wakeman, about classic Yes compositions
being made as "pictures" or "landscapes". With this in, the debut album gets four stars out of
five. -- Rodrigo Farías M.
Links
Click here for Entrance's web site
Download music here, under Downloads>mp3, there�s a MP3
version of "Alas Fugaces"
EOS (End of Silence) is a neo prog project, featuring Dwalin's
drummer, Rodrigo Andalaft. They call their style "prog-pop-rock". Not that pop, really. It's
melodic neo-prog, in fact similar to Dwalin, with somewhat simpler
arrangements, which is obvious, since with no real keyboard player the harmonic element
has to be simplified (at least, if you plan to ever play live). Anyway, keep in mind that I'm
writing this having listened to demo tracks, there's a lot of production and arrangement that
can happen in the process of defining the final version. Lyrics are in English (there might be
a practical reason for some groups to write and sing in English: English
language words typically have less syllables, hence making it easier to fit
a determinate lyric phrase in a musical phrase, or a certain fixed number of
notes, without having the singer to force the phrasing). Anyway, they have a
strong melodic sense, and are proficient writers of nice tunes. In fact, EOS
could make a perfect introduction to progressive music if you are, for some
reason, trying to get someone into prog. Besides the usual influences for
this style of music, I see hints of Pink Floyd in passages, and
of The Beatles, in the songwriting issues. -- Rodrigo Farías M.
The Phantom Agony (03)
Consign to Oblivion (05)
The Score (05)
The Divine Conspiracy (07)
Reviews
Epica - Ad Sluijter (guitar), Coen Janssen (synths, piano), Simone Simons (vocals),
Mark Jansen (guitar) and Yves Huts (bass). Not pictured - Ariën van Weesenbeek (drums).
You may have noted that I frequently preface my reviews of
Prog-Metal bands with the warning that this
isn't my favorite genre. This is both to warn you that my taste in music may not coincide
with yours if you're a Prog-Metal fan, and is
also a sort of apology that I may not know enough about this genre to get all my
terminology straight. I guess the same will be true of this entry, but in this case there
will be no ambiguous statements or qualifications ... Epica's The Divine
Conspiracy is simply spectacular, and I can't believe that any prog fan would have
a hard time agreeing with me, even if Prog-Metal
isn't their main thing.
Epica falls pretty obviously into the Gothic
sub-camp of the Progressive Metal genre. This is due
to the juxtaposition of the beautiful soprano female vocals of Simone Simons against the
death grunts and screaming of guitarist Mark Jansen (formerly of After Forever).
This has been described as a "beauty and the beast" vocal pairing, and that's a good description.
When they alternate between multitracked versions of both singers, it sounds like a call and
response between a choir of angels and their counterparts among the demons. Creepy but way cool.
Along with the other usual trappings of Progressive Metal
such as the chugging distorted guitars and bass, soaring heavily-sustained guitar solos and machine-gun
double-bass power drumming, we also get this evocative vocal pairing, heavily symphonic keyboards
(mostly string sections and choirs), plus what sounds like real orchestra sections complete with real
choirs (singing in Latin I think). Mostly very heavy music, but with the symphonic keys and angelic
female vocals, the heaviness becomes symphonic in its own right. The chugging guitars and electric bass
can almost be heard as bowed cellos and upright basses (especially if you've ever heard
Apocalyptica). There's also some more layed-back acoustic
guitar and vocal parts that remind me of Blackmore's Night's more ren-faire moments. Not a bad
thing, it makes a nice "breathing space" before the next heavy sonic asault bursts forth. The Divine
Conspiracy would make an excellent soundtrack for a(nother) remake of The Omen. Yes, it's
frequently reminiscent of Orff's "Carmina Burana".
If all Prog-Metal was this good, I'd become more of a fan.
The Divine Conspiracy is way too good to pass up. Order it (and previous albums, if you like
what you hear) from their web site. -- Fred Trafton
Genesis fans will absolutely love the album Earthly Paradise by a
very rare German band, Epidaurus, who put out just one album, in the
late seventies. It doesn't necessarily sound like Genesis per se, it's
just that the dual keyboards/Mellotrons have a sound that reminds me of
that lush Tony Banks sound, yet remaining underivative and
original. Epidaurus have an intensely symphonic sound with an excellent
female vocalist (who for the most part rarely sings anyway) that combine
to make some incredible music that everyone on this net should love
hands down. Quite a classic.
This band was recommended to me over the phone by Ken Golden of The Laser's
Edge. It was his prediction that Earthly Paradise would be one of
his best sellers from his next catalog (and it was). Being the adventurous
sort, I decided to order it. I have not regretted that decision at all.
The five tracks on the CD are of moderate length, ranging from five
minutes to nearly eight minutes long. The German Epidaurus is a keyboard
oriented, progressive band. The band features two keyboardists, both of
whom play Hammond, Moog, and Mellotron. Ah, bliss... The female vocalist
sings with a very weak, soprano-style voice that is hard to understand.
Fortunately, she only sings on the first two cuts but she's easy enough to
listen through. I prefer vocalless songs, but have gotten used to hearing
her sing on these songs. The main thrust of all the music is the fantastic
interplay betweeen the two sets of keyboards. The first two cuts sound, to
my ears, like they have more of the Tony Banks touch, particularly in the
musical phrasings. The last three cuts have more of an ELP feel, but
maintain their own identity. Though all the cuts are good, I feel the last
three are the strongest, though they are the shortest. Earthly
Paradise is a strong album and I feel that it is definitely worth a
listen. I grow to like it more with each listening. If I were to fault
this CD, is would be because it is too short. I can listen to the
moog/Mellotron combination over and over and over and.... -- Mike Taylor
This German band has a proyotypical 70's melodic progressive sound,
replete with dual keyboards, plenty of Mellotron (in some cases even
two!), taurus bass-pedals, colorful melodies, fluid dynamic changes,
elaborate arrangements, and a beautiful female voice in Christiane Wand,
that will surely remind one of Jane Relf of the original
Renaissance. Their album contains five long tracks, mostly penned by the
keyboard team of Gunther Henne and Gerd Linke.
You know all of those great keyboard solos that Tony Banks did with Genesis
on Selling England By The Pound and The Lamb Lies Down On
Broadway? Well, Epidaurus has taken those ideas and expanded them
onto an entire album. Not that there are any direct copies of Genesis
here (well, the end of "Wings of the Dove" is a heck of a lot like the end
of "Cinema Show," and one bass riff in it is very similar to the end of
"The Knife"), but the influence is quite noticeable. The first thing
you'll notice is that their are no electric or acoustic guitars. Instead,
the lead instruments are two keyboards played by Gunther Henne and Gerd
Linke. They just bounce off of one-another while the bass and drums fill
in the rhythm in the background. You might think that this sounds a bit
boring, but it's actually quite enjoyable. There's really nothing all
that complex about the music, so it is very accessible. I liked it upon
first listening. And, of course, like all good Progressive Rock, I
discovered a bit more to the songs the more I listened to them. The only
real problem with the album is that it is too short (only 32:28). There
are two drummers, one for each side of the original album. I prefer side
two, and the drummer for that side, Manfred Struck, may be part of the
reason. He evens out the music a bit more by bringing the drums into the
front more. Still, drums aren't a focal point of this band -- the focus
is the interplay of the keyboards. This is not a completely instrumental
album. There is a female vocalist that sings on two of the five songs in
a soprano-style voice that is basically not understandable. But, she
doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the music. -- Clark Ray
I've got to go against the flow on this one. Sure the album has lush,
proggy keyboards, good vocals and occasionally some musical inspiration,
but the repetitive Kraftwerk-like rhythms go nowhere and the drumming
throughout 3/4 of the album is very weak. If you're into bands with great
feel and not much musical complexity, this could be for you. -- Mike
Borella
German progressive band who made one album in the mid-70s, originally only
available on a tiny private pressing, but recently reissued on CD. That
album, Earthly Paradise, is very much in the line of other German
bands of the era (Ramses, Eloy, Streetmark), with the same piercing German
synth tone. Two keyboardists make the keyboard textures full and
prominent. In addition to the synthesizer, Mellotron and the omnipresent
Hammond organ round out the sound. They also have a nice female vocalist
on two of the tracks, the first two in fact. Fans of the aforementioned
will not be disappointed. -- Mike Ohman
Earthly Paradise is a classic prog album, serving a mellifluous mélange
of melodic Mellotron and Moog. Somewhat derivative of Genesis and ELP, as
well as criminally short, it has nevertheless proved to be a very good
purchase. I was under the impression that this was the band's only album,
so it was rather surprising to find they have another album out as well,
this one called ...endangered. It seems that the band got back together
in 1993 to record some compositions that predate Earthly Paradise and
this album is the result. Though the line-up is almost the same their sound
has definitely changed. Melodic electric guitar is now the lead instrument,
backed by digital keyboard textures, much like with many neo-prog bands.
Apart from two instrumentals all songs feature vocals by Christiane Wand,
who does give a much stronger performance here than on her brief appearance
on Earthly Paradise. Songs are very melodic and accessible with
straight-forward arrangements and few traditional progressive rock
elements. Actually most of it sounds like polished mainstream rock with a
few nods at ambient music, mainly because of some atmospheric intros and
overall heavy use of synths. Taken for what it is, a melodic rock album,
...endangered is very enjoyable, but hard-core prog fans would be advised
to stick with Earthly Paradise. -- Kai Karmanheimo
Genius Of Original Force, with its madrigal-like vocal arrangements,
twanging clavinets and tooting recorders, is inevitably compared to Gentle
Giant. But Epidermis have a unique sense of German angst which sets them
immediately apart. Except for the last song, "Feelings," all the music is
in minor keys, with bleak, depressive lyrics abounding. Not for the
suicide-prone, but otherwise a very good album. -- Mike Ohman
How you feel about the German Epidermis depends on how you feel about
Gentle Giant and clone bands. One of the closest to a true GG clone I
have ever heard. Gentle Giant's influence runs rampant through both the
vocals and instruments, but Epidermis only partially succeed with the
voices, and less so with the instruments. Epidermis use four and five
part voice melodies (English lyrics), but they just don't seem to
intertwine like GG. Instrumentally, Epidermis just don't quite deliver
the detailed counterpoint and superb instrument/instrument and
instrument/voice interplay that is GG's trademark. Epidermis could never
pull off Gentle Giant's more complex pieces, for example. But, Epidermis
are not a bad band. They have respectable chops, if not originality.
There are no credits on the CD booklet but the photo indicates they are a
five piece, with bass, drums, electric and acoustic guitar, keyboards, and
vibes. They probably all sing. Overall, not bad but not spectacular.
A German quartet with a symphonic oriented sound. They create a moving
sonic dreamscape with keys, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, winds,
percussion and vocals (usually in German). Very difficult to draw
comparisons with, although traces of Mike Oldfield, Gong, and possibly
some Canterbury traces can be detected as well. Genius is the
better of the two, a little more colorful and melodic, Feel Me is
the newest w/ a slightly more modern sound.
Genius Of Original Force was released on a private label and now
commands high prices in the collectible LP market. The CD reissue rescues
the sounds of a band who combine music and vocals with three-part
harmonies in ways very reminiscent of Gentle Giant. Vocals are in
slightly accented English, but work well within the musically complex
framework of keyboards and guitars operating in non-standard time
signatures.
The only German "-is" or "-s" band (i.e. Epidermis, Anabis,
Amenophis, Epidaurus,
etc.) which didn't sway into the shameful, septicemic, commercial
waters of AOR. Instead that, they rather wait some time, and went more into
kinda gothic/chamber music on their second album, Feel Me, recorded 12 years
later. It consists of five pieces or better said three, two are radio edits
of two other ones. I don't know the reason why so. Perhaps they thought,
they'd be on the radio, though music is too dark to get through FM waves
regularly. The album is worth having for the track no.3 entitled "A speck, a
dream" alone. This is 22+ minutes long suite, where almost 20 instruments
are present and used in quite successful way (among others bassoon, oboe,
clarinet, accordion, recorders, violin, double bass, tambora, sitar,
monochord, vibes, children choir, besides electric bass, guitars, keyboards,
drums and vocals). It sounds a bit like Gentle Giant going chamber music,
although is not so dazzlingly complex. Similar comparison would be Gentle Giant
meets Univers Zero. I think that description is not far from the exact
one. Overall album has dreamy, mysty and not very positive feel, I suggest
that you listen only third track (almost half an album), and the shorter
version of darker radio tunes. Due to the third piece, album is sth of
rare perception, esp. nowadays. -- Nenad Kobal
Fourtunes (85), Into the Epicenter (90), Edge of the
Sky/Echoes (91), Starlight Tales (93)
Good chops musically (Yes-like) but female singer is a little
annoying. Try Into the Epicenter
Edge of the Sky is the best thing they've done. Epicenter is
weak. But this is one of the best up and comers. Let's hope they pull
through.
To quote Nick Peck, current keyboardist, this band plays and composes
"sweeping, grandiose works in the tradition of Yes and Procol Harum with
a nasty King Crimson-esque streak.." Peck is by far the stand-out in the
band, being both a very good keyboardist and writer. He puts much
attention to detail and keeps current with the technology so their
arrangements are often fascinating. Their last two albums featured Tom
Finch on guitar, whose playing resembles (very loosely) Satriani. He
adds much needed bite to the sound and is an outstanding player. Tom
recently left the band and has been replaced recently by Gary Morrell
(of the band Now), whose guitar work is much more influenced by Jerry
Garcia. Expect a fairly different (though not necessarily worse) sound
in the future. On the flip side, I find the sound somewhat unemotional
and timid. They would also do well to find a competent vocalist.
Episode is one of the better bay area progressive bands. They have
several cassette releases, and maybe one LP. In their sound one may hear
hints of Meddle era Pink Floyd, Tales period Yes, and some
fusion influence as well. Because their songs run the wide gamut and
the band has plenty of fresh and original ideas, these influences are
hardly detectable within the scope of their music. Vocalist Roe Tyler's
original style lends even more credibility and uniqueness.
Episode are a five-piece California-based band with a few cassette releases
under their collective belt. Starlight Tales is their most recent
release and, I believe, their first CD. Episode are Tom Finch (guitars),
Nick Peck (keyboards, vocals), Gary Scheuenstuhl (drums, percussion), Don
Tyler (bass, 12-string guitar, vocals) and Roe Tyler (vocals, flute).
Starlight Tales consists of nine songs, from three minutes to 25
minutes (26 if you want to tack on the 49 second "Wind and
Watering" instrumental closer). Episode draw from obvious
influences, such as Yes and Genesis and less obvious influences like
National Health, which they combine with a small degree of accessibility
(particularly in the shorter tunes), some jazzy touches and enough of
their own ideas to come across as fresh and mostly original. One
characteristic that I found especially pleasing was that, even in the
shorter tunes, Episode have a fine sense of musical development. Middle
sections are quite different from the opening and closing sections,
creating a feeling of movement to each song. These differing sections
don't sound thrown together or forced but instead as logical developments
of the opening theme. Of everything that is good about Episode, I would
have to say this ability is their greatest strength. "Bobby in the
Bushes," a five minute instrumental, is perhaps the best example of
this ability. Starting with Steve Howe-like harmonics and lead guitar,
and occasional Wakemanesque flourishes, Episode quickly take the theme
across a variety of styles, refusing to merely repeat and rehash, instead
developing through a middle section that, for a few moments reminds of
National Health, and ending up with a dash of humor as Finch sounds the
familiar "the horse race is about to start" theme on his guitar.
This all takes place comfortably in the space of five minutes. Even
better is the 15 minute "Edge of the Sky," the track I feel to
be the strongest on the album. Again, Episode traverse a variety of [no
pun intended] episodic themes, starting with gentle acoustic guitar,
digital piano and ethereal voice, moving into both obvious and vague Yes
(circa Close to the Edge) and Genesis (circa Nursery Cryme)
references, and a nice middle section including "sitar" and
tablas. Acoustic guitar is generously featured, which adds nice texture.
Peck's tenor is nicely matched with Roe Tyler's lovely voice. In rare
instances, I thought Roe was pushing the edge of her range but, overall, I
found myself wishing her vocal passages would go on much longer than they
did. I really would like to hear her featured more often as a lead
vocalist. The other short tunes is where the accessible side of Episode
shows forth. Not commercial per se, these songs, such as "Barriers of
Attitude" and "The Ship" are easy-going songs that are nice
but somehow not quite fulfilling. "Dead Fish in the Tank" is an
innocuous little ditty that, at 1:40, is merely filler.
"Hesperates Rising" is a 25 minute, four-part piece that reveals
both the best the band has to offer, both in compositional and playing
abilities, as well as highlighting some flaws. At this length, it takes a
lot of ability to keep the song interesting, and the band succeeds only
partially. Though, once again, Episode display their talent at logical
development of a song, I felt this song was a little slow in developing
and perhaps went on a little to long. I think they could have trimmed
about five to seven minutes of music here and there, strengthening the
song through conciseness. Though not lacking in substance (there was a
little too much), ultimately, I think "Hesperates Rising" lacked
overall strength, which brings me to this: The one thing I kept thinking
was that Episode should try to "push the envelope" more,
pressing their musical abilities to the limits. I had the feeling that
the band was playing well within their talent, perhaps to turn out a
consistent album. Though a good album, I think Starlight Tales
would be greatly improved if the band went all out, or at least gave the
impression of such. For example, Scheuenstuhl and Don Tyler work well
together as the rhythm unit, providing a stable foundation, but I felt
they were too reserved, and should have been driving themselves, and Peck
and Finch, to greater heights. I haven't heard Episode's earlier material
so I can't judge how much they may have improved since, but Starlight
Tales leaves the impression of a talented band that hasn't realized
their full potential. Still, as a whole, Episode's Starlight Tales
is a solid album, accessible without being commercial and shows an
excellent sense of development and progression within songs. I think many
of you would enjoy this album very much. -- Mike Taylor
Boheme Music, the Russian label, has
re-released Epos' only album Ilya on CD. This piece by Russian composer
Aleksander Sledin sounds both ancient and modern at the same time.
Based upon a Russian epic, the music is heavy on vocals, the four singers
frequently singing a capella. The instrumentation is not exactly "standard
rock band" either ... two violins and a cello are the predominant instruments
apart from the vocals. There are also drums, bass and a synthesizer, but to tell
the truth I didn't even notice them until my second listening.
The album is split into four tracks just for convienience ... this is really
one piece of music from start to finish of the CD. It would be an understatement
to say there is a single melodic theme that is repeated in variants throughout
the piece ... some might even call it "repetitious", though the melody does
continually swap around between instruments and voice, and the variations
frequently go pretty far afield before returning to the basic motif again.
For me, it's not repetitious at all, it's actually quite soothing and hypnotic,
though I do find myself wishing I could understand the Russian lyrics. I'm sure
I'm missing out on a major portion of this album because I can't understand it.
It would be fun to see someone try to translate this to English sometimes (but
not sing it in English!). Most of all, this album sounds Russian.
There's no doubt about where this music originates. It's not like any other
ethnic sound you've ever heard before.
I recommend this album, especially for those into the classical or medieval
types of music mixed with their progressive. It's also the kind of music you seem
to hear a bit more in each time you listen to it ... just when you thought you
heard it all. -- Fred Trafton
[Note: Vitaly translates the album title as "Elijah" rather than Boheme's "Ilya"
- Ed.]
I am sorry in advance for several phrases of "the only" or "the only one" you'll
find in this paragraph, though originally tautology is nothing but the forced yet
defensible repetition of words or phrases in the same sentence, etc. So, let's
start ... There is not too much precise information on this Russian band in the CD
booklet, and especially with regard to its future after releasing Elijah in
the LP form in 1989 of the last century. Epos was formed in 1986 and thanks, first
of all, to the band's permanent concert activity their unique music was heard and
appreciated by the people at the only Soviet label "Melodiya". Unfortunately,
Elijah was the only one album released by Epos, because such well-known
events as the fall and the following devastation of the USSR just took their course.
The same words, though, can apply to plenty of other ex-Soviet artists, and of
course, especially to those whose creation was non-commercial absolutely (remember
Horizont, the best, I think, USSR band ever existed:
Sad to know that. For example, Epos was a very special band, and their only release
remains very special up to now - as really the only one such album in the whole
"progressive" world.
As well as in the case with Pesniary's Gusliar,
Elijah is another work of the Classic Rock Opera genre, considering their,
as a matter of fact, progressivity (only that, though). But if Gusliar with
its distinct originality is nevertheless based on the traditional Classic Symphonic
Art Rock structures, formed in the early '70s, Elijah offers a kind of
Progressive Rock you have never listened before. All the basic instrumental and
vocal themes of Elijah were not just taken from the Old Russian music - they
were composed exactly this "ancient way", having both forms of the Old Russian Epic
- musical and lyrical - as main influences. Played with the same instruments as all
the basic themes (violins, cellos, some percussion and barely notable touches of
bass and keyboards) almost all arrangements here have the same, obviously ancient
and very Russian flavour (not Celtic, Saxon, et. al. we are already familiar with).
Thus, all in all, Elijah was the first and still is the only Acoustic Rock
Opera. As for the "almost", there are just a few pieces of traditional progressive
arrangements played with the fast keyboard passages and powerful work of the
rhythm-section on the album that have a contemporary sound. The presence of bits of
modern progressive arrangements on this monolithic and unique, really ancient
musical landscape, seems justifiable because they are interspersed with antiquity
there very appropriately. All the vocals parts were sung (of course) in the Old
Russian language and all the male and female arias, as well as choruses, sound
unusually yet fantastic to the accompaniment of mostly dramatic slow passages of
violins. As for the string instruments in particular, I have never heard they to be
sounding such specifically, such "anciently".
Elijah is something more than just a unique album. This masterpiece is
undoubtedly a "child" of Progressive Music, but it may be as if an "illegitimate
child" of Progressive Rock that keeps aloof from anything created within the genre.
Check it out and discover another new "progressive territory" and get great
pleasure, like a pioneer, listening to this ancient beauty, charming so
mysteriously on the threshold of the third millenium. -- Vitaly Menshikov
Links
Click here
to read Vitaly Menshikov's full review on his
ProgressoR web site
Click here for Boheme's web site
You can mail order Boheme titles by e-mailing to
boheme@iol.cz
Er. J Orchestra March 1991, Kiev - Oakman, Barabash, Andjey Pozdin, Viktor Krisko,
Alexei Alexandrov, Taganski, Vladimir Sorochenko, Dirdovski (sitting). Several
of these folks have been replaced by new members since this photo was taken.
Er. J. Orchestra is a Ukranian (Russian) band playing an orchestral style of thick,
lush movie-soundtrack style music. My wife said of it, "it would be good music to
have on in a restaurant". Right. Not difficult to listen to at all, in fact it borders
on what I would call "easy listening", though the experimentation with ethnic sounds
and harmonies, spacey sections and rock drumming does give this band a progressive edge.
This isn't just another four-piece band trying to sound symphonic, it's an actual
orchestra of variable size, but some of the live cuts on On the Hill Again
credit up to ten people playing at once. No need for electronic sampling technology
or Mellotrons to sound orchestral here, they are playing brass, strings and woodwinds
in addition to the standard guitars, bass, drums and piano. They also feature cameo
appearences of what I assume are various ethnic instruments that I'm not even sure what
they are, such as domra, bayan, clarine, gusli, metallophone and mellophone.
Gabrelius is a studio album which has sounds ranging across many easy listening
(some might even say "new agey" or "world music") styles, such as ethnic Russian fast
balalaika plucking, oriental wood flutes, middle eastern or Greek violins, Arabic
percussion or an Indian sitar-like drone. The sound may then become like cool lounge
jazz complete with sax solo for awhile before travelling off to some other faraway
soundscape. I'm reminded a bit of Ancient Future
because of the ethnic/"world music" influence, though Er. J. Orchestra tends to be
more western/jazzy and less Polynesian.
On the Hill Again is a similar album, but is a mix of studio and live recordings.
As near as I can tell (most of the CD insert text is in Russian), this is a concept album
with fantasy themes, since it keeps mentioning Elves, Knights and castles. Like
Gabrelius, it is pretty much instrumental, though the last cut "On the Hill
Again" has vocals sung in well-pronounced English. The second cut, "Jasper Garden", may
drive you crazy since the basic 4-note motif used throughout the song is the opening
notes to the old "Bewitched" television series, though I'm sure this was unintentional
... still, I can't help but think of it over and over again as this motif is played in
different contexts throughout the song. On the Hill Again also has a lot more
"free jazz" style improvisation than Gabrelius, some of it even getting into
"avant-garde" territory. "Knightmare" actually sounds somewhat like
Miles Davis due to the improvisational trumpet solos.
This actually provides a nice contrast to the easier-to-listen-to sections. By the way,
the recording quality on the live sections is excellent ... except for the applause at
the end of those cuts, it's hard to tell them from the studio recordings.
To be frank, if I had listened to these album "cold", I'm not sure I would have really
thought of them as progressive, but there is a lot to like about them nonetheless. If
any of this sounds interesting to you, check out their web site where you can order the
albums. I would give On the Hill Again a try first, moving on to Gabrelius
only if you enjoy that album. Next, if you like this, try out
Romislokus, another Russian band that sounds (to me)
very similar. -- Fred Trafton
I think that Gabrielius should be taken as the first album of the band
because there is no information concerning other works of the band in the EJO's booklet.
A genre label on the back cover describes the style of the music presented on the album
as Jazz plus Contemporary Music, but not as Jazz plus Creative Music. Jazz is not enough
here to swear by, though there is a certain "fusion flavor" here. Made
somewhere in Europe (but not in Austria), "Gabrielius", whatever audiofans from the
high-end may say, sounds perfect and is wonderfully designed (like the overwhelming
majority of the "Bohemian" production in general).
EJO is led by the only absolute leader and author of all compositions Alexis
Aleksandrov. Consisting of nine persons, [they] prove to some degree the conception of
a little orchestra even when they don't invite guests. In the compositions with more or
less massive arrangements � in tempo and somewhere in the optimistic key, - especially
in "Tea Ceremony", "Temple" and "Syringa", a lot of space is given to philosophically
abstract episodes which are sometimes changed by fairly melancholic phases. However, in
the remaining half of the compositions with predominating meditative and nostalgic moods,
there is a big diversity of themes and arrangements for the entire album to have all the
qualities which the quality works of the genre have, and which are rather complicated to
understand them at once. The accordion (bayan in "Gabrielius") takes up the running in
the first track, but later on it wouldn't be a solo leader. Violins, saxophones and the
Aleksandrov's piano lead solo parts swapping places more often. Besides, the passages of
an outstanding acoustic guitar-player, vibes-player and various kinds of percussion in
general, which rather more often serve as the background for diverse arrangements, play
a rather noticed part in the music of Gabrielius, which suddenly crystallizes
into a long solo without any support by the remaining instruments.
Despite the fact that On the Hill Again has the same distinctly original and
unique sound, which was laid on the debut EJO album, there are a few of the notable
differences between these works. Above all, the composite structures of this "hill"
are truly composite. They're more complex than those of Gabrielus. Now, the
band refused to use the melancholically meditative shades that were present here and
there on their debut album, but concentrated on the further development of their unique
style. All five of the long compositions of this album: "Castle of Elves", "Tea
Ceremony", "Knightmare", "Pilgrims", and "On the Hill Again" (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, & 7),
were created within the framework of a unified stylistics. And this stylistics is so
unique that it deserves to be described in detail. So I have to tell you about all the
principal constituents of it before labeling EJO as a band of some of one progressive
genre. Classical Academic Music, Classic Symphonic Art-Rock, Jazz-Fusion, Avant-garde,
Slavic, Eastern, pagan, and medieval tunes: all of these genres, etc, are mixed in the
new music by EJO (which, of course, is a chamber ensemble rather than a Rock band). It's
clear that such a polymorphous stylistics (that is a real hallmark of today's EJO!) just
cannot fit any of the first four "chief" Progressive Rock genres, namely Art-Rock,
Jazz-Fusion, Prog-Metal, & RIO. So the number of units of Progressive's Fifth Element
genre has grown again, which, with regard to the Slavonic band (or the band of Slavonic
Progressive, if you will), happened for the first time. There are almost no repetitions
on those five compositions that I've mentioned above. In other words, the arrangements
that are featured on them develop almost constantly, which is in many ways close to
Academic Music. All five of the said compositions contain from a few to a dozen of the
different musical palettes, most of which consist of very exotic shades. Although the
arrangements that are present on these pieces are moderately quiet rather than powerful,
all of them are highly complex and, at the same time, very intriguing. The slow passages
of piano change with diverse and, often, contrasting interplay between passages of
acoustic guitar, piano, violin, and Russian harp, and solos of various woodwind, brass,
and percussion instruments, etc, again and again.
I would be happy if this band would find a way to distribute their CDs all over the
world. Such a wonderful creation as EJO's should not have to be lost for present and
future generations of the Progressive Music lovers. -- Vitaly Menshikov
Links
Click here for Er. J. Orchestra's
web site
Click here
for Vitaly's full review of Gabrelius and
here for
his full review of On the Hill Again.
Ergo Sum is generally lumped under the zeuhl category because they have
some loose ties to the Magma camp. Mexico was produced by Laurent
Thibault and originally released on his Theleme label. Thibault also
contributes acoustic rhythm guitar to Mexico. Ergo Sum contributed
to Puissance 13+2 compilations and Lionel Ledissez (Ergo Sum's
vocalist) participated in the Univeria Zekt project. Jean-My Truong
passed through Ergo Sum before joining Zao but he's not on this album.
Francois Breant also passed through the band late in it's existence. If
indeed Mexico is a zeuhl album, the band approach it from a very
jazzy direction, much less so from a fusion perspective. I almost think
of Ergo Sum as a mellower, less frantic Moving Gelatine Plates crossed
with Laurent Thibault's solo album. In addition to Ledissez, Ergo Sum
are: Jean Guierin (flute, electric & acoustic pianso, organ), Michel
Leonardi (electric & acoustic guitar), Roland Meynet (violin), Max
Touat (bass) and B.B. Brutus (drums, percussion). Musea rearranged the
tracks from the original order, putting the title track first, and also
including four bonus tracks. Two of the bonus tracks are a- and b-sides
of a single released after the LP was released. Gentle, sophisticated
arrangements of flute, acoustic guitar and violin make Mexico a
wonderful late-night listening album. Even the electric guitar is subdued
yet it too is an instrumental voice with statement. Vocals appear on most
tunes and take a bit of getting used to. Ledissez sounds quite a bit like
Ritchie Havens but his voice fits in oddly and equally well with the
delicate jazz arrangements and the more uptempo songs. Although this is
quiet and refined, we're not talking about ersatz jazz-lite. The music is
powerful and graceful, an album of finesse. -- Mike Taylor
Ergo Sum - Alexandros Tefarikis (electric and acoustic guitars)
Sebastián Torrejón (bass), Sergio Menares (vibraphone,
drums, marimba and keyboards), Juan Daniel Rios (german flute),
Gonzalo Muga (drums, vibraphone, marimba and keyboards)
Though they present themselves as "neo progressive rock" in their
website, they are NOT neo prog. Most of the music is based on the interplay
between guitar-driven heavier sections and flute-driven "soothing" ones.
Reminds me of Jethro Tull, maybe
Focus and Asia
Minor as well. The rhytmic section (bass, drums) plays a conventional
role, drumming is quite constant, and the bass never gets too much spotlight.
However, every time I�ve seen them live, I've been highly impressed by the
bass player. Both the flute and guitar players are really competent, the
latter choses to sound like none of your standard prog heroes (
Howe, Hackett,
Latimer, etc...), instead, he
plays in a quite pyrotechnic style (a la Satriani, maybe), and is a real
showman when playing live. They do, in fact, fall sometimes in a prog metal
flavoured playing, or even disguise themselves as mainstream guitar-driven
rockers. Their second CD (half studio, half live tracks) shows some
development in composition and arrangement. In the end, if you like a fair
amount of flute in your prog, give it a try. -- Rodrigo Farías M.
Links
Click here for Ergo Sum's
web site in English and Spanish
Eris Pluvia 2008 - Paolo Raciti (keyboards), Marco Forella (bass), Matteo Noli (guitar
and vocals), Daviano Rotella (drums) and Alessandro Cavatorti (guitar)
Bright, Colorful, Melodic and Romantic are appropriate words to describe
the debut album by Italian band Eris Pluvia. Their sound is an elaborate
quilt of electric and acoustic guitar reciprocation, outbursts of
melodic keyboard color, soaring woodwinds and beautiful vocal
harmonies. Their influences appear to be baroque, medieval and classical
music, Italian folk themes, as well as the classic Italian progressive
rock of the seventies, like Banco, PFM and others. The vocals (in
English) are shared by guitarist Alessandro Serri, and guest vocalists
Valeria Caucino and Sabrina Quarelli. The seventeen minute title track
is no less than astonishing.
I have not personally listened to Rings Of Earthly Light, but,
from the various reviews that I have read, this is classified as one of
the best progressive bands of the eighties from Italy. The music is
supposedly quite strongly reminiscent of Camel
and Rousseau, which would
put it squarely in the melodic, symphonic,
progressive rock camp.
Rings of Earthly Light is based on the work of guitars (often
acoustic), flutes and vocals (in English). The lineup also includes
keyboards, bass, drums and saxophone. Consequently the compositions are
based on acoustic-folk influences (guitars and flute) but also feature symphonic keyboard work and
developments with a more electric sound. The music has a light, often
romantic flavour that is barely betrayed by the richness of the
production, the warmth of the arrangements or the precision and efficiency
of the rhythms. -- Paul Charbonneau
I bought Rings of Eartly Light because of Alan Freeman's Audion review,
not because of the corny title :-). Again I'll have to disagree
with Freeman's opinions. While he is often very accurate when describing
re-releases and older material, he grades the modern bands too
easily. While Italy's Eris Pluvia is a step above most
neo-progressive,
it still isn't anything special. It's nice. Just nice. Not
wonderful. Nice. Their influences are many but obvious:
Renaissance,
ELPowell and
Minimum Vital, among others.
They are largely based around
acoustic guitar strumming and low-to-mid level rhythm complexity
combined with recorder, keys and guitar leads. Another comparison that
comes to mind is the extremely obscure
Fireballet (anybody else like
them?) The music is pretty, the vocals pleasing but too straight ahead
to keep my interest. But they aren't bad either. Their combination of
styles is unique, though every time the sound changes I sit there
thinking, "This sounds so much like ... who?" There's a familiar tune or
feel around every musical corner they turn, but none are
concrete. Unlike other Italian contemporaries such as
Men of Lake and
Nuova Era, Eris Pluvia
has a modern sound, but they lack the majesty of
the former and the technical prowess of the latter. Worthwhile for
those looking for a melodic, mellow and even thoughtful CD to
buy. Otherwise, don't run out looking for it.
Updated 7/15/08:
After a long silence, Eris Pluvia returns in 2008 with a new album, Third Eye
Light. I got a demo from them with four songs (at least one of them truncated) to
show what the new album sounds like. Wow, I really like this ... some guitar soloing
reminiscent of David Gilmour (but maybe not
quite as bluesy), acoustic guitar strumming, Andy Latimer-like flute passages and
mellow keyboard symphonics (including Mellotron)
dominate the instrumentals. Two of the four songs have vocals (in English) by a pretty good
vocalist with only a slight Italian accent. Some of the electric guitar soloing borders on
prog-metal, though the symphonic accompaniment
keeps it from sounding prog-metalish overall.
It's a nice mixture of sounds, yet also harks back to the '70's "Italian Prog" sound.
Bottom line is that this demo did its job ... it makes me want to hear the finished album!
Keep on the lookout for the release by clicking on the link to their web site below. Right
now it's only in Italian, but they're promising an English set of pages "Presto" (soon).
The original band (if my sorry comprehension of Italian holds up) was Alessandro
Cavatorti (guitar), Paolo Raciti (keyboards), Edmondo Romano (flute & sax),
Marco Forella (bass), Martino Murtas (drums) and Alessandro Serri (vocals
and guitar). One of the other prog web sites claims that Eris Pluvia "became"
The Ancient Veil, but that's not really correct.
Romano and Serri left to form The
Ancient Veil, which was by all accounts quite different from Eris Pluvia.
The 2008 Eris Pluvia line-up includes Cavatorti, Raciti and Forella
along with newcomers Matteo Noli (guitar and vocals) and Daviano Rotella (drums).
-- Fred Trafton
Updated 6/4/10:
The previous Eris PluviaGEPR update, stating that the new album would be released in
2008, was just a wee bit off the mark ... by more than a year. Still, I can't really complain.
If it took them a little extra time to make this album sound this good, then it was well worth the wait.
Because Third Eye Light is an exceptionally great piece of work.
Firstly -- and this wasn't at all evident from the previously-reviewed demo -- this is a concept album.
No flying saucers, dragons or rampant Gods in this concept, though. This is mature prog,
and "bombastic" is the last word that will come to mind when you listen to this album. The
concept is about somebody going to a "show". At first it's not clear what sort of "show" it is,
but as the story moves along, it's apparently a show of paintings ... or maybe photographs ...
possibly even sculptures, or a mixture of all of the above. The songs are about the feelings being
experienced while looking at the art, the reactions of others in the gallery, and the reactions of
the person telling the story to the other patrons' reactions. Finally, there's a surprise ending. But
I won't spoil it for you. Pure poetry in lyrical form.
Musically, I'll stick by my previous description ... mostly mellow acoustic and electric guitars with
a few heavier sections and lots of sweet synths, keyboards and flute (from a guest flautist who plays
on most of the cuts). The vocals are almost all in English, with a noticeable Italian accent. Usually
a heavy accent grates on my nerves a bit, and I'm one of those who usually says, "I wish they had just
sung it in their own language." But in this case, the accented inflections actually seem to become
part of the musicality of the lyrics. These accented vocals fit perfectly with the music and I wouldn't
have them change a thing.
Don't listen to anyone who tries to categorize this as "neo-prog". No way. It's very mature Italian-style prog. A casual listen might make you think
this is AOR, but when you listen carefully, the complexity level is too high for that. It's just so
smoothly performed and cleanly recorded that you don't immediately notice the "progressiveness". I'm very
impressed with Third Eye Light and highly recommend it to all lovers of the mellower end of the
symphonic prog spectrum, particularly if
you like the Italian style. High on my list for "best of 2010". Check it out! -- Fred Trafton
Eroc was the percussionist for Grobschnitt, one of the better known
symphonic/space bands from Germany. I have two of his releases, 3
and 4. The former is a very uneven album showing a wide variety
of influences. There are some songs that obviously remind me of
Grobschnitt (circa Solar Music Live), however other influences
include Dave Gilmour and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, the heavy German
underground scene, and psychedelia. There are also strange vocal
interludes, a boring "boom-chic with variations" drum seque, and even a
bootleg-sounding blues jam. If anything can be said about this album, it
would be about its unpredictability. You never know what'll come next.
In comparison, 4 is far more consistent in style but is even less
exciting. The silly voices are still present, though not as common. The
Floyd influences seem stronger and there's also an occasional reference
to late '70s Tangerine Dream. There's also quite a bit more acoustic
guitar. The album fails to please, however, because of its lack of
rhythmic diversity. In a few brief moments, a couple of really neat
synth sounds burst forth, but they are hardly enough to redeem the
album. Of these two releases, I'd give the nod to 3, but I'd say
spend your money elsewhere first. -- Mike Taylor
Eroc, a.k.a. Achim H. Ehrig, was the drummer for Grobschnitt. His first
solo album is an interesting mix of different types of instrumental music.
Some songs are gentle, electronic tone etudes ("Kleine Eva," "Des
Zauberers Traum"). Other tracks are spacy guitar rock a la Ashra. Also
included is a nightmarish tape-collage piece ("Horrorgoll") and an offbeat
synthesizer tune ("Die Musik vom 'Oelberg'"). I haven't heard his other
solo albums, but the third one is supposed to include music from a 1969
lineup of Grobschnitt, which had been together in one form or another
since 1966. Wolkenreise and Changing Skies are compilations.
-- Mike Ohman
Polished mellow progressive was the style of Errata Corrige and their
only album Siegfried, Il Drago E Altre Storia is proof of
this. Showing Italian elegance to the extreme, EC's music is quite
beautiful and as a quartet they show amazing versatility with the
instruments they used. The music works very well as a whole and is very
soothing and spacious.
A relatively obscure Italian band that had only one release
Siegfried, Il Drago, E Altre Storie. They offer a rich blend of
progressive folk-rock, jazz and classically influenced themes, using
multi-guitars, piano, cello, synthesizers, bass, flute and drums. Their
superb, gentle vocal harmonies (in Italian) are complimentary to the
music, and may remind of early Simon and Garfunkel at times. An
exceptional concept album. Recently some previously- unreleased stuff
from the vaults has been released, haven't heard it yet.
Errobi (75)
Gure Lekukotasuna (77)
Bizi Bizian (78)
Ametsaren Bidea (79)
Agur T'Erdi (84)
Errobi 1975-1984 (03, 5CD Compilation)
Reviews
Two-guitar band from the Basque country. On Ametsaren Bidea, they
display that unique Basque talent of making a lot with a little. Though
there are no keyboards, the sound is very full and layered, the long title
track and "Andere" especially display the striking group synergy well. You
don't have to be a fan of guitar-based music to like them. -- Mike Ohman
Esagil - Bill Chatzigiani (guitars), Theodoras Kotzabourounis (bass, vocals) and
Michael Kostas (drums)
Esagil from the island of Lesvos, Greece, started in 1995. They
did covers of '60's and '70's rock and prog bands, and also wrote their own songs.
There's only a little recorded output ... a demo CD recorded in 1998 called
Reverse of Life, a CD single with two songs called In Square Circles
and a couple of cuts recorded for a Homo Metallicus fanzine collection.
You can hear many/most of these releases on their web site (see below).
Esagil's releases on their web site (which are all I've heard) have a very
sparse sound. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I'd say the same of
Van der Graaf Generator (though
Esagil doesn't sound much like them, except for their sparseness). It's mostly
guitar/bass/drums though there's also significant amounts of organ, piano and synths
(melodic and effects) added. These cuts might even have been recorded "live in the studio"
with no overdubs (or maybe just the keys overdubbed) judging from the way they sound. If
The Doors had been more prog and less psych, they might be a good comparison.
Definitely a "late '60's" sound.
The vocals do seem to strain a bit sometimes and the recording quality isn't quite up to
a full release. But after all, these were demo recordings. The compositions certainly have
their interesting points, and a full-blown recording session with some overdubs,
sweetening and studio effects could have made these something special. As it is now,
we'll have to guess at what they could have become, because they disbanded in 2004.
-- Fred Trafton
Arti & Mestieri spin-off dated 1975. They also spot
a good drummer coming from Furio Chirico's school. Their only CD Vicolo was
released in 1976. Their music sounds very jazz-rock oriented. Vicolo includes
instrumental songs only which flow nicely together. Sometime the listener may recognize
strong influences from Chick Corea,
Return To Forever,
Jean Luc Ponty, Weather
Report but never get annoyed. "Arena" ranks among the best songs in the CD displaying
good "solos" from each player. Too short lived to tell more. It is worth the purchase for
jazz-rock lovers. -- Ludovico Vecchione
Searching For The Elusive Rainbow (96)
Inner Translucence (97)
Obscured Dialogues (97, CDR)
Citrus Cloud Cover (98, 2CD) Due to a Faulty Premonition (99)
Remembrance of Things Unknown (00, Compilation of unreleased recordings)
Rule#3 (02)
Reviews
Escapade's Due to a Faulty Premonition may be the definition of "Space Rock".
100% improvised in the studio, this is spacey guitar and keyboard arpeggios and
drones, usually with a rhythmic drum background, though the tempos of the two don't
necessarily coincide. I keep hearing them compared to Krautrockers like
Ash Ra Tempel and Can,
but since I'm not familiar with those bands, I can't comment. Their sound does
resemble other things within my experience, like the atonal improvisational interludes
between "normal" songs on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, or the less melodic
spacey improvs of the older Pink Floyd or
Hawkwind albums. It also resembles some of the earliest
Tangerine Dream, particularly Electronic
Mediations with its sound-sculpting aspects overshadowing the melodic ones.
But the recording quality on Due to a Faulty Premonition is much cleaner, and
you can hear every subtle nuance of each instrument. At any rate, you can
throw away any chemical hallucinogenics you may have floating around. Listening to
Escapade on a good set of headphones will propel you to about the same sectors of the
galaxy, and Escapade doesn't show up on a random drug test at work, either! For Space
Rock fans, these guys are a must!
I have also heard Remembrance of Things Unknown, a limited edition CD which
features previously unreleased recordings of the band. The description of this CD
would be pretty much like Due to a Faulty Premonition, but perhaps a bit
rougher because these are mostly recordings of live improvs rather than in the studio.
This CD is dedicated to the memory of Charles DeLozier, who plays bass on one of the
tracks. -- Fred Trafton
[Editor's Note: Edward Martland won the GEPR Escapade CD contest
held in September of 2002, and these are his reviews of the three CD's.]
Due To A Faulty Premonition:
The album opens with a man shouting something across a studio, before a
guitar line kicks in. At first I figured I'd been misinformed, since all
the reviews made Escapade out to be rather amelodic, and this was really
rather tuneful - even folksy - despite the spooky electric drone that
flows underneath. But that moment turned out to be a trap for the casual
listener. It only lasts a few seconds, before the players seem to lose
their ability all at once, turning to an odd mass of notes. That's when
the real fun begins.
The electric drone which flavours the music becomes more insistent now,
turning first into a hornet's nest and then into a wall of bass. The
song's atmosphere becomes progressively dark and claustrophobic, making
"Sound Trap" a very accurate title indeed. Finally the masses of atonal
guitars, echoing drums and choir-like synths fade away into haunting
traces, leading the listener into the further dark waters of the album.
Without wanting to describe every song on here in (highly pretentious)
detail, it continues throughout in a very sinister, exploratory vein.
You can hear why people can't believe that these are all free
improvisations - just listen to how the mess of distant metallic guitar
noise, clicking drums and dripping water join together on "When A Squall
Line Beckons", transporting the listener into a deep underground cave
with trains rattling above, before forming into a long tunnel of sound.
Claustrophobia is a regular feature of this album it seems, although the
flipside - the huge spacious landscapes conjured up by "I See Things"
for example - is no less disconcerting.
If the over-done descriptions preceding haven't given you a headache, I
have to say that writing them has helped me realise something else about
Escapade: for a five-man band producing entirely free-form instrumental
music, they have a real talent for narrative. Anyway, purple prose aside
this album is genuinely amazing to hear. If you like your music dense,
experimental and relentless, this album will blow you away. If you tend
towards the symphonic end only, don't bother. You won't enjoy it.
Rule #3:
"A Symphony Of Sirens" opens on a distant, echoing drum beat, quickly
enhanced by faint drones. Then a strangely menacing bass line and the
hoarse sound of an echoing, dirty guitar. The guitar could be laughing
at you for all you know. It's an uneasy start to the record, to be sure,
but then the last album should have prepared us for that. Clearly,
Escapade don't "do" easy listening.
The guitar sounds become more insistent and dissonant as it goes along.
And believe me, it does go along. Somebody must have complained about
the brevity of the tracks on Due To A Faulty Premonition, because
"Sirens" clocks in at a weighty 19 minutes and eleven seconds.
The song continues in distinctly un-symphonic fashion, with variously
ghostly and aquatic electronic textures piled on top. Resisting the
desire to describe any more of the song (which would fill pages of
space), things only become more odd from here in.
"Mysterious Utterings" is closer to the more evocative imagery of
Premonition than "Symphony" is. This track conjures up a long, lonely
journey, either through space, the ocean or the desert, depending on how
you read it. It's much more spacious than quite a lot of Escapade's
stuff, and utterly breathtaking. Out of nowhere the song jumps into
"Circumference", a much more threatening and confrontational piece,
which is a shock after the haunting emptiness of the last few minutes.
It's a brilliant piece of work.
Rule #3 is a pretty good album overall, although initially not as good
as Premonition. Whilst I wouldn't hesitate to say that Escapade's
stuff is varied, fascinating stuff, I would have to say that whatever
they do, they tend to end up with pretty menacing tunes, often pretty
claustrophobic. Not intentional, I'm sure, but it's definitely what I
hear when I listen to this album
Never mind that though. Check out the raw cover of "Interstellar
Overdrive", surely one of the highest songs in Escapade's family tree.
Great stuff.
Remembrance of Things Unknown:
The "rarities set". Every band has them. Some are brilliant, some suck
like a vacuum cleaner. This one's quite nifty as it turns out.
The opening track, "Maelstrom Machine" made me say something that the
rock press never thought you'd hear around a progressive rock band:
"Hey, this is kinda funky". And it is, in a typically uneasy Escapade
fashion. There's a strong feeling of being followed coming from this
song.
Just as "Maelstrom Machine" has faded away, "When Whenever Comes" jumps
out of the darkness with a cymbal crash, dancing around the listener in
a wall of percussive urgency and weird, abbreviated guitar notes. It
slowly builds into a hard-rocking flurry, still taunting and chasing the
listener as if in a race. Towards the end it slows and returns to the
more psyche-funk sound of "Maelstrom Machine".
"Squelch" is not only the oldest song on the album, but likely the
weirdest piece. The sounds made by the guitar are hard to describe, but
"alien" would be a good word for them. It's pure science fiction to
listen to, and I mean that in a good way.
"Squelch" then gives way to the claustrophobia of "Crawlspace", which
could be the spiritual sibling of "When A Squall Line Beckons" any day.
The song begins on a cliff, overlooking a dark, stormy sea. It lingers
there for a while, before fading into a long, dark and narrow metal
tunnel, as drums echo from some unseen location outside. I'll stop
before I get too colourful, but hopefully you get the picture.
Of all three of the albums, "Remembrance Of Things Unknown" is maybe the
most hit-and-miss. It's definitely good, but there are points where you
can tell why this stuff wasn't released when it was recorded. A hardcore
fan's album then. -- Edward Martland
Links
Click here for Escapade's label,
Mother West, where you can order these CD's
The moment you put on Eskaton's 4 Visions, one word spews forth:
Magma. "Eskaton," the disc's opening track is rife with
Magmaisms. In fact, the line-up of Eskaton is very similar to Magma circa
Live (Hhai). Eskaton are Paule Kleynnaert and Amara Tahir
(vocals), Andre Bernardi (bass), Gerard Konig (drums), Alain Blesing
(guitar), Gilles Rozenberg (organ, synthesizer), and Eric Guillaume and
Marc Rozenberg (electric piano). Replace Magma's violinist with a third
keyboardist and the male vocals with a second female vocalist and Magma
becomes Eskaton. OK, so Konig is no Vander...he's still quite a capable
drummer. To call Eskaton a Magma clone would be be entirely untrue;
however, by the second song, "Attente," a few zeuhl layers are
peeled away to reveal more of Eskaton's own perspective. The CD booklet
is rather emphatic in pointing out that Eskaton doesn't sing in some
esoteric, made-up language but instead sing in French, for the People,
about the People. Regardless, the undeniable influence of Magma is never
far away. Undoubtedly, some listeners will dismiss Eskaton as a Magma
clone but I think Eskaton does have something to offer. The music is
demanding, daunting and challenging, regardless of who is playing it.
That Eskaton can and do is a testament to their talent. To me, 4
Visions is essential listening. The four visions, according to the
booklet, "paints an angry picture of Man in his Concrete City
("Ecoute"), in his Destiny ("Eskaton"), in his
response to the nuclear bomb ("Attente"), and in his facing up
to Death ("Pitie"). "Angry Picture" sums up this
tension-filled music. -- Mike Taylor
Esperanto Rock Orchestra (73)
Danse Macabre (74)
Last Tango (75)
Reviews
Bridget Lokelani Dudoit (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Glenn Shorrock (Vocals, Guitar)
Janice Slater (Vocals), Bruno Libert (Keyboards), Tony Malisan (Drums), Gino Malisan
(Bass, Flute), Raymond Vincent (1st Violin), Tony Harris (Viola, Sax), Joy Yates
(Vocals, Flute), Brian Holloway (Guitar, Piano) and Timothy Kraemer (Cello, Piano)
Last Tango is excellent. It opens with a particularly murderous
version of "Eleanor Rigby." Purists, who want covers to stay
near the original, will simply die, while those looking for original
interpretation will be slayed! =8) Except for a brief statement of the
theme, which is buried in the complexity, you won't positively recognize
the song until the lyrics start. Excellent. Esperanto have the usual
drums, bass, keyboards, and male and female vocals, but also use two
violins and a cello. ELO? No way.
These guys are fairly complex (but we're not talking UZ
or Art Zoyd) and build good intensity. How to
describe? Not easy, really. Strong string presence obviously. Kinda
classical, kinda fusiony, kinda
proggy, pretty unique. Six songs, three
per side. Three of these are longer (7-12 minutes) and three shorter
(3-4 minutes). The shorter songs are kinda "singlish" and
coulda been heard on the radio in the mid-'70s. That's not to imply they
are bad songs, but the longer cuts are much better developed. I'm doing a
hack job here. Oh well. Good stuff. Danse Macabre is also very
good.
On Rock Orchestra, the band consists of 12 members playing lots of
instruments, including three vocalists, flutes, violins, guitars,
keyboards, drums and bass. The music is sometimes like standard '70s rock
and nothing special and sometimes really complex progressive rock. The
album is about 60% AOR and 40% progressive. The band sometimes shows
potential on what was to come on later albums like the good one Last
Tango. On Last Tango the band is reduced to eight members and
the music is a lot better and more progressive than on Rock
orchestra. There is some killer stuff on Last Tango. -- Andre
Hagberg
Links
Click here for Claude
Wacker's excellent fan web site
Crisálida (75)
Libre y Natural (76)
Espíritu (82)
En Obras (83, Live)
En Movimiento (83)
Reviews
Potentially one of the very best Argentine progressive bands (am I
repeating myself) and an excellent example of one of the world's most
fantastic yet unkown progressive scenes. Their music is much like the
Italian 70's bands, yet there is definitely a strong Southern cultural
influence, and the mix of these influences with those of Gong, Yes,
Osanna, and Genesis makes their second (and only available CD)
Crisalida a must have. One of the best ever.
Excellent Argentinian symphonic progressive. The closest comparisons
would be the blending best of the 70's Italian progressive bands. Plenty
of melodic synth and rhythmic acoustic guitar that suddenly shifts to
heavy electric guitar, the back to synth and vocal harmonies, typical of
many Italian bands such as Semiramis and Balletto di Bronzo. Espiritu,
however, seems to have a little more of the lyricism evident in other
Italian bands such as PFM. Don't be fooled though, because the music
gets intense... very intense. GREAT synth work abounds! This has to be
one of the best symphonic South American progressive albums ever.
Crisalida is well worth your while, with some unbelievably fast
guitar and synthesizer runs which will take your breath away. The music
shunts between a melodic Latin American version of P.F.M., to heavy
sections approaching a sort of Il Balletto Di Bronzo style. One minus
point, their singer, who sounds okay during the rockier parts, but gets on
my nerves in the softer sections. I really can't describe why, perhaps
it's just a personal dislike on my part. Otherwise, I'd recommend running
out and getting this. -- Mike Ohman
Espíritu's second album Libre y Natural sounds more aggressive than its predecessor, while
maintaining the same melodic sensibility; the lyrics themselves reveal a pessimistic view
of society and humankind (as opposed to the more high spirited, introspective disposition
in the lyrics of Crisálida). Just like Crisálida, Libre y Natural is a concept-album
consisting of a continuing sequence of eight tracks. The original keyboardsman Gustavo
Fedel had been replaced by Ciro Fogliatta, who now introduces a harder edge to the organ
and synthesizer sounds. Besides, Osvaldo Favrot takes his guitar playing into the
jazz-fusion realm, and so does the rhythm section. All these elements fused together
resulted in a very somber album, which combines the usual colors of symphonic prog and
typical touches of South American acoustic sensibility with the dark intensity of (e.g.)
Mahavishnu Orchestra and 1974-King
Crimson. In my opinion, since this is a more varied
recording, full of dramatic contrasts in mood and tempo, Libre y Natural is an improvement
compared to their debut album (which is also excellent, no doubt about it!)
A few months before the release of Libre ..., the band went on a mini-tour to introduce the
new material to their fans, but when it was finally released, the band has already split up.
This factor led guitarist Favrot and singer Fernando Berge to keep on working together,
forming a new band called Aspid. This band never got much further than recording a few
demos, and after a couple of years spent in pointless struggling, Berge and Favrot dissolved
Aspid in order to reform Espíritu, in early 1981. Three new members came into the fold:
Claudio Cicherchia (bass), Ángel Mahler (keyboards), and Rodolfo Messina (drums). The five
of them got along well and quickly, and ended up recording Espíritu, which was released in
1982. Since many years has passed since their last album, it is no surprise that this album
didn't sound like the first two. While still symphonic in nature, you can note the presence
of a wide array of latin-jazz touches, and even some occasional funky elements in this
album. The compositions are not focused on a unitary concept this time: this is just a
collection of separate songs. "Lento Juego de Luces", "Antes Tal Vez", and the amazing
instrumental "Guardianes en Pie" are the finest examples of the sound Espíritu is achieving
at this point. Similarities can be found with their fellow band Pablo
El Enterrador. On the other hand, "Un Viaje por los Recuerdos" bears some hint of their earlier style.
A very good album, with some bright moments, but not that great really.
Since their third album failed to raise a major interest in the times of new-wave and
techno-pop, Berge decided to break away from the band in order to purse a solo career.
While their record label released a live album, En Obras (to be honest, a very poor
recording), Espíritu decided to move onward as a quartet, with guitarist Favrot assuming
the role of lead vocalist. The result was En Movimiento, allegedly a dull poppy album,
full of mellow ballads and mid-tempo rockers. Well aware of the decline of their creativity,
the foursome decided to dissolve the band for good.
Or so it seemed... Almost twenty years after their last breakup, Osvaldo Favrot decided to
reform Espíritu for the new millenium. In August 2002, he joined forces with Pablo
Guglielmino (lead vocal, acoustic guitar), Ernesto Romeo (keyboards), Horacio Ardiles
(drums, percussion, backing vocal), and Osvaldo's son Federico (bass, backing vocal).
Right away, they started writing and recording new material, which supposedly will be
released in CD format sometime in 2003: in the meantime, they're making plans for going
back on tour. -- Cesar Mendoza
Rosso Napoletano (75)
Processione Sul Mare (76)
Gente Distratta (77)
La Banda del Sole (78)
Tamburo (82)
Il Grande Esploratore (84)
As Tu As (85)
Toni Esposito (87)
Villaggio Globale (90)
Tropico (96)
Viaggio Tribale (03)
Reviews
Toni Esposito
Italian jazz drummer and percussionist. His
self-titled first album belies a very strong "Bitches
Brew"-era Miles Davis influence, and featured
Miles'
musical associate Paul Buckmaster (who later played
Elton John's band!) on electric 'cello. Gente
Distratta is a very sunny, tuneful and melodic,
almost lightweight, jazz-fusion record, with a feel
somewhat reminiscent of Weather Report, circa
"Mysterious Traveller". La Banda de Sole continues
in the same vein, but with a pronounced Mediterranean
ethnic flavor (mandocellos, odd time signatures, lots
of hand percussion, odd vocals) on some tracks. -- Dave Wayne
Born in Naples, the mecca of southern Italy progressive rock, Toni Esposito's music
showed a strong mediterannean root since the very early days. At the beginning of the 70's,
Toni started his very long career as guest musician. He first played as drummer and
percussionist for Edoardo Bennato, Alan Sorrenti (on his first three albums),
and appeared on the first Saint Just record too. He
was soon recognized as one of the most inventive percussionists in Europe. He developed a
unique capability to make a very nice percussion sound out of cooking pans, glasses, practically
out of any possible object to be found in a kitchen. He was also known for bringing back to life
old traditional instruments from South Italy, Caraibeean Islands, Black Africa and South America
music cultures. His first two solo albums (Rosso Napoletano and Processione Sul Mare)
were well accepted by both public and critics. 3/4 of jazz-rock, a drop of progressive rock stirred
with a folksy mediterranean vein, his musical cocktail produced a very listenable and fresh sound,
only occasionally blinking an eye to poppier melodies.
Those poppier melodies which eventually became Toni Esposito's trademark in the 80's,
when his production went along a more commercial direction to achieve stardom status in Europe.
His popular song "Kalimba de luna" sold more than 6 millions copies worldwide. Exhausted from
the commercial success, he went on to teaching music therapy for many years. However, he found
time and energy for recording two more records which received little attention. In 2003, he went
back to a recording studio for his new album Viaggio Tribale: a world music experience
which registered attendance from many guest musicians such as
Franco Battiato, Edoardo Bennato, Gregg
Brown (from Osibisa), Wayne Dockery and John Tropea. Unfortunately,
this last record just showed that his best years were gone. The first two album are worth
the purchase for people looking for mediterranean jazz-rock music. -- Ludovico Vecchione
Totally overrated pop band led by Chris Squire's daughter. There's a few
decent pop tunes on the album, but hey folks - this is NOT progressive
in any way, shape or form.
Yes' Chris Squire produced this band which features his wife Nikki on
vocals. Don't expect a Yes sound-alike here. More poppy stuff. Nikki
has a decent voice, but this is primarily bargain-bin material (that's where I got my copy).
Et Cetera 1976 (Not in photo order) - Marie Bernard Pagé (keyboards, ondes Martenot, vocals),
Denis Chartrand (keyboards, flute, saxophone, vibraphone, vocals), Pierre Dragon (drums, percussion),
Robert Marchand (guitars, vocals), Alain Yves Pigeon (bass, cello, vocals)
Very Gentle Giant sounding prog, with a nice female lead vocalist.
This is really a GG singing in French, with a female voice! :) I
only know Et Cetera by them. I wonder if they have any other releases...quite good overall.
-- Luis Paulino
The above article was inherited from the original GEPR back in 2000. Now, in 2010 (almost), I've
discovered that someone has created a MySpace page for them (see link below). In fact, it's been
there since 2007 and I've only just noticed it. But if you want to hear some of this band, there are six
cuts from the album listed above available to listen to in the music player. They're quite impressive.
Wonder what ever happened to them? -- Fred Trafton
Etcetera (88)
The Difficult Second (91)
Fin de Siecle (99)
Tales of Ardour and Deceit (03)
Reviews
One of my earliest entries in the GEPR (probably late in 2000, I wasn't keeping track of dates yet)
was added concerning a band I stumbled across while surfing for prog bands. This was what I said at
the time:
Any band who would write a song titled "Gongtric Yestacles" deserves an entry in the
GEPR. Imagine you could take the notes from an 80's Crimson
tune, throw them on the floor at random, then pluck up these shuffled notes and rearrange
them on the staff in a new order, but with the same rhythm. Then play them with a style somewhere
between 80's Crimson and the
Ozrics. This is what the Etcetera MP3's sound like
on their web site (which is all I've heard of them). This is pretty cool stuff. Warning,
the recording quality leaves something to be desired on some songs, at least on the MP3's.
-- Fred Trafton
But now I'm pleased to say I've finally heard a proper album, their 2003 release Tales of
Ardour and Deceit. Etcetera appears to be Frank Carvalho and whoever he can talk
into working with him on his visionary progressive compositions. Carvalho plays guitar, bass
and keyboards plus works with all the MIDI and other computer gimmickery. For Tales, he's
enlisted the help of drummer Johnnie McCoy and several other guest musicians.
Forget what I said in the previous entry. This is an album of very '70's sounding prog. The
closest reference point is probably Genesis' Trespass or
Nursery Cryme, but there are also sections that remind of
Gentle Giant in the vocal harmonies, The Moody Blues
in the Mellotron playing or even Court of the Crimson
King-era Crimson for Moonchild-ish flutes (though
I suspect these are synths in this case). Tales is a concept album about Marsk Stig, who
was the supposed ringleader behind the assassination of Danish King Eric V in 1286, and then escaped
to enjoy a life of piracy supported by the King of Norway.
The songs are all recorded with too much reverb and an odd "amateurish" mix ... don't take that badly,
this really adds to the "recorded in the '70's" effect. It sounds a lot like
Genesis' Trespass from a recording point of view, and I
find this lack of modern "slick" production quality to be completely appropriate for this music.
Tales of Ardour and Deceit is excellent and I would recommend it to any '70's symphonic prog
fan without reservations. I've been listening to it for the last week now and will probably continue
to do so, since it continues to grow on me. Fantastic stuff!
Unfortunately, their web site speaks of their "demise" in 2004, but there have already been so many
versions of this band, all with Carvalho at the helm, that they could become "undemised" at
any time. I hope that Carvalho gets together another group to play with. It's a disease, you
know, writing progressive rock. Once you've started, you can't really stay away from it. I should
know, I have the disease myself. -- Fred Trafton
Links
Click here for Etcetera's web site
Click here to order
Fin De Siecle or Tales of Ardour and Deceit from Musea Records
Ethereal [USA] a.k.a. Richard Orlando
Updated 6/22/07
Discography
Ten Electronic Music Studies (00)
Beyond Neptune (07)
Richard Orlando also contributed to the following
Alien Planetscapes albums:
The Official Bootleg Volumes 1-3 (02)
Problems of the 21st Century (03)
Alien Planetscapes Meets Scattered Planets (06)
Red Mars (07?)
Reviews
Ethereal is a project name for former Alien Planetscapes
guitarist/synthesist Richard Orlando. I've talked to him several times via e-mail, but he doesn't
really have a web site. He does have a MySpace page, but it's only about the new Ethereal
album Beyond Neptune at this time. See link below. However, he did e-mail me a listing of all
his albums currently available for the discography above.
Beyond Neptune is an album of good old-fashioned space rock,
sounding at turns like Hawkwind, Gong or
Tangerine Dream. Orlando plays synthesizers and guitar,
programs drum machines and vocalizes (I would hesitate to say "sings"). He also has several friends helping
him out on various cuts, including Lynnette Shelley of The Red Masque,
Paul Williams (Quarkspace, Church of Hed, etc.) and even
a posthumous performance by Doug Walker, his old bandmate from Alien
Planetscapes. The music varies quite a bit from noisy electronics to spacey electonics and all the way
to punk thrash. Beyond Neptune is a loose concept album about leaving the polluted Earth behind and
finding new worlds to settle. Just what a space rock album should
be about.
This is an excellent album for those who enjoy space rock, one of my
favorite prog genres. You can obtain a copy from Aural Innovations (see link below). And thank you,
Lynnette for the e-mail introduction to Richard! -- Fred Trafton
Click here for Richard Orlando's
MySpace page concerning Beyond Neptune.
Click here to order Beyond Neptune from
Aural Innovations.
Click here to e-mail Richard Orlando for any
titles not available through Aural Innovations.
Pretty reasonable prog rock band with two releases Ardour and
Open Up. They were quite derivative of the Genesis/Yes sound, but
did a good job with their compositions.
Seventies band from Fort Wayne, Indiana that proved that progressive
rock can exist in the Midwest. Very heavily influenced by early Genesis
and in fact had their support and friendship.
Mid seventies US progressive band that seemed to be influenced by a
variety of styles, their sound was a little folky at times, poppy at
others, even a little jazzy at times, loosely in the shadow of Kansas,
Yes, Genesis, early Crimson and others, with lots of vocals
everywhere. very solid compositional skills and tight playing, a five
piece featuring guitar/mandolin, bass/pedals, drums and dual
keyboards. The album Ardour is excellent. Cool cover too.
Of their two releases, I like Open Up best. Their first,
Ardour sits squarely in the mid 70's Yes influenced camp but tends
to get too "warm, fuzzy and cute" (the songs "Space
Traveller" and "Starry old man") for my taste. On the other
hand, Open Up sports a somewhat harder edge, streamlined 4 piece
lineup (bass/kybd/guit:vox/drum), a great rhythm section (including a
drummer whose kit is mostly roto-toms and odd percussion devices) and more
experimental arrangements (similar to Gentle Giant/Yezda Urfa with a dash
of Nursery Cryme-era Genesis). -- Dennis Montgomery
Great keyboards, good guitar, decent bass and drums, weak lyrics, crappy
vocals. Overall a good album, but over-rated.
The first name of the band was Flea. A jazz-rock band.
Etna were a fusion quartet featuring among others the future
Goblin
drummer Agostino Marangolo. Their single album (Mellow Records MMP
209) offers loads of sprightly instrumental fusion where guitarist Carlo
Pennisi sprinkles crisp but melodic riffs and leads around Antonio
Marangolo's (Agostino's brother?) organ and Rhodes, while bassist Elio
Volpini provides a busy, melodic and funky (especially on the opener
"Beneath the Geyser") counterpoint on an electric bass, or a more
supportive plucking on a double bass, at the same time working nicely with
Marangolo's energetic drumming that can both lock onto a solid, supporting
groove or blast its way through odd metres and solo fills with
confidence. The quieter songs seem the most interesting to me,
particularly the closer "Barbarian Serenade" which shows some Spanish
influence in its stately chord progression, trilling mandolin and
incessant piano runs. Overall, this album sports a typical 1970's fusion
sound, and achieves a good balance of melodic sensibility and
pyrotechnics, which keeps it fresh and away from the traps of
self-indulgence and sterility. -- Kai Karmanheimo
Batelanges (77)
Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent (au pays des ...)(78)
En Direct Des Etats-Unis d'Amerique (79, aka En Public Aux Etats Unis d'Ameriques)
Les Poumons Gonfles (82)
Les Sillons De La Terre (84)
Face Aux Elements Dechaines (85)
43 Songs (91, Compilation of previous albums, 3CD's)
Reviews
One of the more important cultural offshoots of the
RIO sound along with
Aqsak Maboul, Henry Cow, and Samla, EFL were a French quartet who made
stunningly interesting music in the vein of "where no man has gone
before" type of music. Not for the musically timid and conservative,
EFL will be very rewarding to those who like the Henry Cow theme. Their
three CD - 5 album compilation 43 songs has just been released
and is the ideal way of listening to this band.
French progressive rock. Complex strict composition and wild
improvisation. Boy can they play.
Non-idiomatic original RIO members (Ferdinand Richard-bass, voice, Eulalie
(on first two albums) & Bernard Mathieu (on En Public ...) -saxes, Guigou
Chenevier-drums and percussion, voice) whose music could be most properly
associated with words like idiosyncratic, crazy, quirky, eccentric, naive
and humorous. Of their five studio albums even one cannot be partially
described, let alone fully grasped.
I have 43 Songs, which probably contains all five studio albums. I say
probably, because I'm not sure. I have also get myself En Public Aux Etats
Unis d'Ameriques (= Live in USA). Their credo seems to be that of avoiding
anything but music, and their moniquer tells us everything about them (if
one is sufficiently acquainted with French). 43 Songs has no credits, no
song titles, nothing except traycard, which is out-there-somewhere and is
depicting a wolf lying on the half cut Eiffel's tower (great montage, great
cover), while in the background we can see the rest of that tower. (Hints of
sort of towering music, huh?).
I had to go searching through whole Web to find at least tracklist. I found
it though, but this wasn't the end of trouble. The albums were repressed on
CD in rather "ad hoc" manner. The particular CD does not contain exactly an
album or two, instead that, the albums are put on CD's subsequently due to
quantity of space needed for putting everything on as low number of CD's as
possible. Tracklist figures out 45 tracks in total, while cd-player-counter
decipher only 43. So, it is obvious that few tracks were excluded or merged
together for the reason of who know how's our Father.
But music is great, and not so inaccessible as you may think. Yet at the
second listening I started to trace some really promising features, and the
atmosphere on the all albums is fairly humurous, friendly and of course
quirky. It has certain appeal, if you can believe me. Sometimes, it sounds
like pothead pixies (known from another happy french
band) have gone around discovering various unknown feelings, different
dimensions through lotta different situations (expand their minds, widen their
horizons, ha-ha), and try to inspire the present musicians. And within these
moments they succeeded to great extent! Especially Les Trois Fou Perdegagnent
have a lot of weird Gilli Smyth-like vocals. I
don't know who sang, but woman it was definitely not. I'll try to describe each
album, although I'm not sure if I'll succeed 30-percently, for the content of
the package sounds to be from one "parallel" world, barely experienced until
today. There's a lot of spoken or even acted word, which tells an out-of-touch
stories, (eg. "Le Desastreux Voyage du Piteux Python" ("The Disastrous Voyage of
Sad Python") from Les Trois Fous), so this could be puppet-show music or
cartoon music as well. In lyrics they have used puns, palindromes, mocking of
banal things, exaggerating (pretentious, huh?) stories, light irony and acrid
sarcasm.
The Disc 1 starts with Batelages, which is hella radical and has fairly
neglected sound;). The base is
Captain Beefheart era
Trout Mask Replica mixed with some Gong-isms,
North-african ethnic musics (strong percussion), french chansons smashed to the
indiscernibility, french folk music melodies and chord progressions, elements
of contemporary classical, new wave and proto-punk aesthetics, and other
elements of unknown source. Track-lengths range from 25 seconds to 18+ minutes
(!), only two tracks are shorter than 9 minutes. So measures are fairly
progressive here. With few words: zanily unique and outstanding.
The Disc 1 also contains at least 5 tracks of Les Trois Fou Perdegagnent,
the remaining two open the Disc 2. This, 2nd album was much better produced,
while the elements of possible influences are difficult to detect (beside
that of "trilogy" era Gong). This is perhaps prog
album, although it has sort of dry "wavy" sound. As on debut, vocalist (whoever
had sung) tried to stretch his voice. Overall, even more out-there and
consequently great.
Track no.3 from the Disc 2 represents the beginning of studio album no.3,
namely Les Poumons Gonfles (Lungful of Air). This album has considerable
wave influence and it proves that as possible influences only craziest bands
could be taken (here Residents circa Mole
trilogy). They continue with weird stories which describe banal things and with
puns. By some tracks they are used to swerve into different direction, style
and tonality. A differently strange recording and certainly not bad. Taste
needs to be acquired.
Les Sillons de la Terre begins along with the track number 13 of the
Disc 2 and closes together with a track no. 5 of the Disc 3. While having less
strict prog influences than predecessing recordings, it is the easiest to
get into, I'd say. It witnesses the coming of female keyboardist Jo Thirion,
which made already weird Fou-sound even weirder, but within less wild and
complex environment and so representing considerable sophistication. Album
is suffused with tongue in cheek humour and acrid sarcasm. Worth to mention
is that this band was probably the least liable to dissonances. OK, some
oblique harmonies appear, mostly with Jo's keys, but these have been rarely
splintered into something less listenable, although still not unbearable.
Face Aux Elements Dechaines, which kicks off with the track no.6 of the
Disc 3, is the "waviest" of the bunch, perhaps even "post-punked". Jo's keyboards
seem to be prevalent instruments, as they forge penetrably angular melodies.
Again they were tempted to use different tools of supreme humour, mentioned
many times above.
Musea or better said Gazul released a live album in 1998, entitled En Public
Aux Etats Unis d'Ameriques (= Live in USA), recorded at Trinity College,
Hartford, NY in 1979. How French band came to play in the states is
thoroughly described in liner notes. Well, there they had played as free as
on regular albums. Most tracks show band ability to "compose
sponataneously". With exception of "Le Fleuve ..." none appeared on LP at that
time, and "Christine" was yet to be released on their next album two years
later. One ditty is a military version of Beethoven's "Für Elise". Also
included are two tracks from later era, one recorded at MIMI Festival in
1986 and one studio.
Band ceased to exist in 1986, but their members have recorded about four
times EFL-opus, of usually quirky, naive and experimental music until today.
Jo Thirion may have come the closest to their basic sound, with her very own
band, called Art Moulu, which released an
album in 1990. In spite of the fact, how scared you are after reading these
lines, you should give them a whirl, when you'll start to discover progressive
music or if you already started doing that. Recommended!!! -- Nenad Kobal
Etron Fou Leloublan is a strange name ... it means "Crazy Shit The White Wolf",
except that Leloublan must be slang or a contraction for "Le Loup Blanc" (The
White Wolf). Don't ask me what it means, but it must be this because white
wolves figure prominently into several of their album covers. The name is long
enough and difficult to pronounce enough that we English-speakers usually contract
it to EFL, a convention I'll also follow from here on out. EFL was one of the
original RIO (Rock in Opposition) bands. I had heard
their name for years, but they were not one of the bands I was exposed to back in
the '70's when I started listening to prog. What a shame! As much as I like them
now, I'm sure they would have been elevated in my mind to godhood if I'd heard
them back then, much like Gong, who they resemble
in some ways.
I recently received two recent CD re-releases of EFL's classic material, 1978's
Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent and 1982's Les Poumons Gonfles (The
Inflated Lungs), both from Musea records. Musea actually stocks EFL's entire
catalog, so if this sounds interesting to you, you can order any EFL title from
them. It's amazing stuff, but if Neo-Prog or
Symphonic prog is your thing, you may have a
rough time with EFL.
Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent has the band in their earliest form as a
trio, with drums (Gigou Chenevier), bass
(Ferdinand Richard) and sax (Francis
Grand for this album, though he had just replaced Chris Chanet and would soon
be followed by Bernard Mathieu and other sax players on later records). The
album is full of the usual late-70's studio effects, a very odd rhythm section
with (Chenevier and
(Richard creating jagged backdrops
against which Grand screams Didier Malherbe-like sax and flute solos, making
Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent remind me frequently of early
pre-Tim BlakeGong,
particularly Camembert Electrique. EFL is easily identifiable as a
French band (aside from their French lyrics) by similarities to other
early French prog like Magma, Gong
(who were about half French in their early days) and even
Cyrille Verdeaux, though EFL has none of
Cyrille's spiritual leanings. The vocals
are a minor part of Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent, mostly 2 or 3 notes
sung/spoken/shouted in an early Daevid Allen
style, but in French. Fans of the above-mentioned bands who don't mind a
Henry Cow level of anarchy will unundoubtedly find
much to like about Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent.
After Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent, EFL bagan working very closely with
Fred Frith. They performed on
Frith's 1981 solo album for Ralph Records,
Speechless, and then Frith produced
EFL's next album, Les Pommes Gonflés, and also played
violin and guitar on many of the songs. For this album, EFL also added
keyboardist/trumpeter/vocalist Jo Thirion, bringing the "official" EFL
line-up to a quartet.
Les Pommes Gonflés may be called more "accessible" than
Les Trois Fous Perdegagnent simply because it's more melodic and
more carefully structured. The vocals are also more complex, melodic and
"composed". However, it's far from an album that would have
ever received any radio airplay. Frith's
influence here is large, and there is quite a lot of similarity in the
sound of Les Pommes Gonflés and
Frith's work with Ralph Records. But
there's also a lot of the old EFL sound, making this album feel like
a move forward for EFL, not just another Frith
solo album.
Both of these albums are true progressive gems, and anyone who has not heard
Etron Fou Leloublan can hardly call themselves a progressive rock fan. Now
that I've been "initiated" into the ranks of their fans, I'll be slowly
trying to complete my collection. Incredible stuff, I can't recommend it
more highly. -- Fred Trafton
By 1990 most of the first-generation neo-progressive
rock bands in Britain had either broken up or assumed (albeit temporarily) a more overtly
commercial style. On the Continent, other bands were following the trails they had opened -
and too often ending up in the same mire. Take Eurhybia and their one album, for instance.
Eurhybia (UGUM CD UGU 00590) is a classic example of what happens when
neo-progressive's quite respectable brief of
marrying seventies symphonic progressive sound
with the pop accessibility and technology of the eighties goes awry. Here "pop accessibility"
becomes limp, bland songs with nary a hook in sight, while "progressive" means clumsily
cramming them full of extra sections, breaks and time-signature shifts which only serve to
confuse the rhythm section. The guitarist does the perfunctory powerchords and leads with
all the grace and personality of a petrol pump, while the vocalist offers passion, drama and
omnipresence - but not much voice. The keyboard player gives the most solid performance of the
lot, doing a few good melody lines and some interesting percussive licks on the two
instrumentals. However, one doesn't have to be a card-carrying member of the Analog Orthodoxy
to cringe at the tortured plastic shriek of the brass patch he inundates almost everything with.
In any case, the album manifests all the symptoms of demo-quality recordings in the late-1990s,
from dated electronic toms to shaky lead synthesizer patches. While Eurhybia doesn't plumb
the depths of Deyss' infamous camp-classic At King, it
still serves to show that things had to get really bad with
neo-progressive rock, before they could get better.
Fortunately, in a couple of years time, they did. -- Kai Karmanheimo
Side project of Sean Malone, known from
Cynic, today in Gordian
Knot. It was spawned before Gordian Knot and
later mysteriously withdrawn. Demotape-rehearsal only. Two tracks can be heard on
Japanese release of Gordian Knot's debut.
-- Nenad Kobal
The Dark Discovery (98)
Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy (99)
In Search Of Truth (01)
Recreation Day (03)
The Inner Circle (04)
A Night To Remember (05, Live CD/DVD)
Monday Morning Apocalypse (06)
Reviews
Evergrey - (Not in photo order) - Tom S. Englund (vocals), Henrik Danhage (guitar), Michael Håkansson (bass),
Rikard Zander (keyboards), Jonas Ekdahl (drums)
Bursting on the metal scene in 1998, Sweden's Evergrey had that special sound right from the start.
Their debut album The Dark Discovery, produced by Andy La Rocque (King Diamond /
Death), was a powerful mix of gothic and progressive metal, expertly
written and performed, and contained "Blackened Dawn", a song that is still a favorite tune of the fans to
this day. Lead singer and guitarist Tom Englund became the bands focal point, and his unique vocals
and talented guitar skills helped set the band apart from others in the genre. With heavy and sometimes technical
guitar riffs, symphonic keyboards, driving rhythms, and powerful yet soulful vocals, the debut made a quick
impact on the scene and set the wheels in motion.
Fast forward to 1999 and the release of Solitude*Dominance*Tragedy, another equally strong album that
contained tracks such as "Solitude Within", "Nosferatu", "She Speaks to the Dead", and "Words Mean Nothing".
The album was melodic, yet extremely heavy, with raging power metal rhythms courtesy of drummer Patrick
Carlsson and bassist Daniel Nojd, and the beefy dual guitar attack of Englund and Dan
Bronell provided plenty of crunchy riffs and intricate lead work. Englund's vocals continued to
improve, as he added more catchy hooks and emotional passages in amongst the aggressive songs. Once again produced
by La Rocque, the album continued to impress the general metal audience but also started to draw a lot of
interest within the progressive rock crowd. This led to the band getting noticed by and signed to
InsideOut Music, who then released their third album, the
concept piece In Search of Truth, the bands take on extraterrestrial visitation. The album also saw the
first of what would be a few personnel changes over the years, as guitarist Bronell left the band and was
replaced by Henrik Danhage, bassist Nojd was replaced by Michael Hakansson, and the band
recruited Sven Karlsson as a full-time keyboard player. The album contained some dark and sinister lyrics
that really provoked lovers of science fiction and the unknown, and contained a host of strong songs like "The
Masterplan", "Rulers of the Mind", and "Mark of the Triangle". Many of the songs were even more complex and
symphonic than before, although the band still employed a heaping dose of melody.
2003 saw the release of the spectacular Recreation Day, still thought of today by many as one of the
bands finest albums. Produced by the band with help from La Rocque, Recreation Day had a huge,
full sound, and memorable songs. Tracks such as "End of Your Days", "The Great Deceiver", "As I Lie Here Bleeding",
"Blinded" , and the title track, saw a band that was at the height of their powers, able to write catchy songs
with bone crunching riffs and tricky instrumental passages. At this point, Tom Englund's vocals had developed
into one of the more unique in all of metal, and he showed his poignant side on the cover of the Swedish ballad "I'm
Sorry". The album also saw new keyboard player Rikard Zander join the band. That was not to be the last line-up
change, as charismatic drummer Carlsson soon left the band and was replaced by Jonas Ekdahl in time for
2004's The Inner Circle. This proved to be another winner for Evergrey and fan favorite, containing
classics like "A Touch of Blessing", "More Than Ever" and "Waking Up Blind". It was also to be the first album that
the band completed without the help of Andy La Rocque.
For the first time, the band toured the US as openers to Iced Earth and Children of Bodom, and managed
to make their way to many European cities and on many metal festival circuits. The band took some time off to put
together the live CD/DVD A Night to Remember, a mighty return to Gothenburg for the band and big budget
production shoot, resulting in one of the best live albums/concert DVD's in years, with the band playing all their
greatest songs and featuring male and female backing singers.
In 2006 the band released their last album on their contract for InsideOut
titled Monday Morning Apocalypse, a more commercial sounding but still strong release of catchy metal
littered with proggy embellishments and solid vocals. Where Evergrey goes from here is anyone's guess, but
there's no doubt the band will continue to gain in popularity and win over new fans. -- Peter Pardo
Neo-Progressive band that plays a mix of
Rush and New Marillion.
They had their first album, Paradoxes, out on the SI music label and it was
a great production by Eroc.
Everon is a German quartet that has produced a number of albums. Judging by
their debut Paradoxes (1993), they play the kind of hard edged neo-prog
obviously influenced by mid-80's Rush and early 90's Saga: nine up-tempo
songs (most of them between 5 to 8 minutes long) with bright melodies,
hard-rocking guitar riffs, supporting keyboard chords and arpeggios, busy
drumming, and LOTS of vocals and lyrics. There are some instrumental
interludes and obligatory guitar solos, but the main focus is on the
vocals. Vocalist Oliver Philipps is competent, though awfully hectic in his
delivery and his upper-register singing gets annoying at times. The
performances are energetic, even though definitely too straight-ahead for
those looking for amazing displays of virtuosity and instrumental skill. My
only real problem with this album is that there isn't enough variation
between tracks, so a sense of sameness inevitably creeps in. Still, a
recommended album for Rush and Saga fans.
Flood followed in 1995, and sees the band trying to diversify their sound
a bit with a couple of quieter tracks which rely more on keyboard textures;
at the same time, the track "Cavemen" brings the synthesizer up to
spotlight with the lead guitar. Some good songs again, though I have to say
I don�t think Flood is quite as strong as a whole as its predecessor,
even if it is more varied. Both of these albums were produced by the
ex-Grobschnitt drummer Eroc and originally released by SI Music. They were
later re-released by Mascot Records, which also put out Everon's third
album Venus. This is probably their most ambitious work. The overall
sound is a bit heavier, the guitar is up more and the mix is a bit murkier,
but otherwise production remains unchanged. However, on songs like "Until
the Day Breaks" and "Not for Sale", they reach further into progressive
terrain with more complex compositions and arrangements. There are also two
instrumental tracks: the short "Venus", which displays a soaring guitar
melody over lush keyboards, and the hard-rocking "Meteor". This is probably
the best album to start if you are interested in exploring Everon's music.
Everon returned in 2000 with Fantasma, an album that sees them still
developing their sound, though with mixed results. The main change is
towards a heavier sound that occasionally approaches prog-metal, though
maintaining their characteristic melodic style. There are again some
excellent tracks, but also a couple of non-starters, particularly the bland
heavy rock number "Fine with Me", and less of the variation that the band
achieved on the previous album, the change between heavy bombast and calmer
moments becoming quite predictable towards the end. The main progressive
item is the title suite composed of short songs with some recurring themes,
and it works surprisingly well (I particularly like the brief interjections
of violin, cello and classical guitar that colour the basic sound). The
sound is again huge and polished, so much so that it sometimes offsets the
shortcomings in the music. Overall, this may be Everon's most uneven album.
-- Kai Karmanheimo
Links
Click here for the Everon web site titled
"Information Overdose"
New York-based fusion band (David Torn - guitars, Marty Fogel - saxophones,
Bruce Yaw - bass, Michael Suchorsky - drums) which first came to
prominence as Lou Reed's backing band in the late '70s and early '80s
(around the time Reed's albums The Bells and Street Hassle
were recorded). Their two albums, both on the German ECM label (Without
Warning was available only as an import), are visceral, edgy and
excellent creative fusion records featuring David Torn's effects-laden
guitars. Both are excellent, but I prefer Without Warning as it has
a more adventurous, experimental feel and Suchorsky's expertise in playing
odd time signatures in a totally unprecedented fashion is used to great
advantage on several tunes. David Torn also recorded with saxophonist Jan
Garbarek (It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice, also on ECM) at
about the same time Without Warning was recorded, and Torn joined
Garbarek's group (...or may have already done so) and later went on to
play with Mark Isham, among others. Despite some rather serious health
problems, Torn has stayed at the forefront of electric guitar innovation,
and has released several fine recordings under his own name on the ECM and
CMP labels. Marty Fogel released one CD on the CMP label (Many Heads
Bobbing, At Last) in 1989 with Torn, bassist Dean Johnson, and
ex-Santana drummer Michael Shrieve. -- Dave Wayne
Heart's Grave (Ad Perpetuam Memoriam APM 9616AT) is certainly not short
of pretensions: the album is a 60+ minutes religious concept album (and
apparently only the first part of a trilogy!) where various characters
engage in endless cryptic discussions with God and each other. Evidence's
musical north star is definitely Peter Hammill,
to whom the album is dedicated. The lead singer does his best to sound like
PH but can't match
his vocal range or intensity (but then, who could?), which results in a
quite annoying sound at times. The first couple of songs (or Acts, as they
are called here) are instrumentally sparse, but effective: vocals
supported by piano, organ, acoustic guitar or some moody synth pads, with
violin and harpsichord making occasional guest appearances; all very dark,
low-key and gothic. Some tracks use some metallic-sounding electronic
percussion and electric guitar noise to create a more sinister backdrop
for anguished vocal rumblings. There is almost no ordinary rhythm section
on this album, and instrumental sections are simple, designed to enhance
the gloomy mood, and sometimes supported by weird sound effects. My main
problem with this album is that is far too long; the music gets leaner
towards the end, and the vocals don't hold enough melodic interest in
themselves. Overall assessment: dark, moody, strange, at times enchanting,
but too often just boring. However, someone with more avant-garde tastes
may get much more out of this than I can; if you can't have enough of
Peter Hammill's work, you might also
want to have a listen, but even then satisfaction is not guaranteed. --
Kai Karmanheimo
Evolve IV - (Not in photo order) Mike Eager (vocals, rhythm guitar), Peter Matuchniak
(lead guitar), Paul Sheriff (drums) and Jim DeBaun (bass)
This album has been languishing in my "to do" pile for a long time. I finally had to
do a review of it just so I could put in my five cents on it. I mean, I've seen so many
reviews that speak so highly of this album, I just had to add a slightly
dissenting / cautionary voice on this one.
Look, I'm not saying Decadent Light is a terrible album or anything. There's a lot
to like about the album. The compositions are decent and professionally executed. But it
just doesn't do that much for me. It seems too "not prog". Granted, it would have been more
popular in the late '70's than it is now, but still, this is a nice guitar-oriented rock
album. Not a prog album. If this hadn't been presented to me for review as a "prog album",
I certainly would not have considered it for entry in the GEPR based on simply
listening to it. If these guys were playing in the lounge of a hotel I was staying at,
I would stay and listen to them. It's better than average music. But I wouldn't have ever
called it prog, or even "classic rock".
OK, that's just me. But Decadent Light just didn't do it for me. Sorry. -- Fred Trafton
Links
Click here for Evolve IV's web site
Click here for Evolve IV's MySpace page
Into the Night (88)
Between Places (91)
Exchange (92)
Beyond Words (93, Compilation)
Reviews
Exchange is the Canadian keyboard duo of Gerald O'Brien and Steve
Sexton. Their original sound was a blend of lively acoustic and
electronic keyboard driven pieces, with electronic percussion added,
reminiscent of Synergy without the classical influences. The first two
albums Between Places and Into The Night were OK, but then
they started going in the insipid poppy new age direction, with mellow
vocals, flugelhorns and all that. I listened to a few cuts from their
latest in the store, nearly made me puke.
Exchange is a Canadian duo who make instrumental pop, sometimes sounding
a little bit like Vangelis. Much of their music is enjoyable, but is
sometimes overblown. Exchange has vocals on a few songs and Roger
Whitaker has whistles on one song on Between Places.
This French quartet offers a music that is sometimes hard todescribe. The
band features double guitars, bass, drums/percussions and vocals (in
English). Guests also contribute saxophones and keyboards. Influences
include recentKing Crimson but also,
various other pop and jazz elements. Insubmersible features
efficient guitar interaction are developed along with groovy rhythms, full
of nuances, but the delivery remains light, sometimes humorous. An
excellent production, solid performances, but a touch of avant-garde that
could offend those who would rather stick with conventional
symphonic rock. -- Paul Charbonneau
Fragile Whisperings of Innocence (94)
Small People, Short Story, Little Crime (00)
Reviews
Of Small People: Quite decent mix of multiple influences. I heard few tracks
and there were present elements of Genesis,
Yes, King Crimson, as well
as Henry Cow. Due to elements heard it could be close in
sound to mid 70's US band Maelstrom. -- Nenad Kobal
Exit (76)
Exit (08, Reissue of original album on CD, including bonus tracks)
Reviews
The entry for Exit has existed in the GEPR since I inherited it in 2000. The only
information has been the band name and the eponymous title of their sole album, recorded
in 1975. Now, in 2008, after no releases on their label for quite some time, Black Rills
Records, who specializes in releasing obscure old Swiss prog bands, has re-released this
album on CD. They have approximately doubled its original length with previously unreleased
bonus material recorded in the years immediately following the debut album.
Exit's album was recorded direct to a 2-track Revox tape machine, so there's no overdubs
or re-takes. It's basically just live-to-tape, so the sound is pretty thin. To tell the truth,
I'm hard-pressed to call Exit "progressive". It sounds more like late '60's music
stylistically than what prog bands were doing in 1975. No competition here for Close to the
Edge (1972) or Starless and Bible Black (1974). Maybe a little like Court of the
Crimson King (1969), though not even close to the same league. Think pre-TommyThe
Who (i.e. The Who Sells Out), except for one guitar riff that's directly stolen from
the intro to "Pinball Wizard".
Exit isn't awful. It's OK. "Quaint" might be an appropriate word, though I still might
expect a recording from 1975 to sound less like a recording from 1968. Anyway, I daresay most
people who read the GEPR shouldn't feel really bad to gave this release a miss. It's
not exactly essential. -- Fred Trafton
Links
Click here for Black Rills
Records (then click "Label" for the BRR releases).
Another one of those very strange, undeservedly obscure, hippy-dippy German
space-jazz groups. They recorded one excellent record for the French
"Urus" label and disappeared. The group consisted of Andy Goldner
(guitars, bass, sax, percussion, voice), Thomas Balluff (keyboards,
trumpet, flute, voice) and Fred Braceful (drums, percussion, trumpet,
voice), who are depicted on the album cover as having extremely long legs.
Detroit native Braceful is a jazz drummer of some significance, and has
appeared on recordings by Wolfgang
Dauner, Michael Hornstein, and many others. The music on
Goldball is very jazzy, but extended improvisations are largely
eschewed in favor of brief (2 to 5 minutes long) multi-sectioned pieces
with unexpected and abrupt changes in tempo, feel, time signature. A few
cuts have a very trippy space-rock feel. The vocals (one track) are
strictly tongue-in-cheek, and are delivered in accented English, so they
have an almost Bonzo-ish air of silliness. Totally original and still
refreshing two decades after its release. -- Dave Wayne
The Most Beautiful Day (80)
Supernova (82)
Singles Collection (92)
Najpiekniejszy Dzien (00, Compilation)
Reviews
This is the best Polish prog band, IMHO. The sound of the first album is
quite good, showing some Yes influences, the singer being particularly
amazing, like Jon Anderson, but not bad at all! There are a couple of
other influences on their first album, some hard rock, but the side-long
suite is a masterpiece, with good work from all members. Their second
album, Supernova, is very weak. They jumped straight into
poprock/new wave, and so there are only a couple of good pieces, mainly
acoustics, thanks to the presence of the very good singer. Apart from
these two records, they've released a couple of singles, that is
compilated on a new CD, released in Poland, but I don't know the exact
name of this compilation. Overall, this is a very good band, and the best
from Poland, from the ones I've heard. -- Luis Paulino
The Most Beautiful Day is a fairly typical example of high-tech,
synth-based East Euro prog. They mix classical themes with bristling,
Wakeman-esque synth leads,
Floydian guitar leads, all upon a bed of
peerless, metallic synth strings. Supernova is similar, but more
song based and commercial. -- Mike Ohman
One of the members of Akinetón Retard, when asked
about his opinion of the new progressive rock scene in Chile, answered concisely: "It's
Crimsonian". And probably, while unfair, this is not really that far from the truth:
King Crimson is as influential for many new Chilean prog
groups as Genesis was for the first neo prog groups in the early
eighties in England. At a first glance, Experimental sounds strikingly similar to
80's-90's Crimson. No big deal: a touch bass (I don't know
if this could be really called a "bass", it is a "touch
thing", with 10 strings and almost the range of a piano), a "new
standard tuned" guitar and a second guitar tuned as usual is exactly
the formula in Discipline, Beat and Three of ... Wait: But there was
Bruford ... yeah, sure, Bruford
playing his electronic drum kit in a way that some people found that was "metronomic" (another
unfair judgement, he lets his genius shine no matter what he's hitting)... well,
Bruford role is taken in Experimental by a machine. In
fact, a usual "joke" at gigs by Moraga is to introduce a song ("Arpegios") saying "Well ... I
suppose that here is some people who like King Crimson", which
triggers laughs in the audience, and is sometimes answered by some guy with something like:
"Yeah, you are one of those". But, listening with care, there are other influences.
Robert Fripp solo, for example. No, it's not a joke,
Fripp's solo work is related to, but is not the same as his work
with Crimson. And Trey Gunn, which is quite obvious, if you are
playing a touch bass, Gunn is a must. And David Sylvian. Well, every influence seems to be
Crimson related ... but trust me: Experimental has a
sophisticated and elegant style of rock, which can be influenced by
Crimson and relatives, but there's more than just that.
-- Rodrigo Farías M.
Links
Click here for Experimental's web site
Download music here, under Downloads>mp3, there's an MP3
version of "Slow Attack"
Mesmerized (94)
Beyond the Pale (96)
Phenomena 256 (96)
The Koner Experiment (97)
Millenium Music (98)
Pestrepeller (??)
Data Rape (??)
Continuum (??)
Reviews
If you've ever wished you could experience getting high without getting
caught by your workplace drug testing or wrecking your lungs, just sitting
in a darkened room with Beyond the Pale droning in your ears should
fill the bill nicely. This is drony, atmospheric synth and processed guitar
music, very trance-inducing and spacey. But it's not New-Age meditation music.
It's much too noisy and harsh for that. It might be compared to
Fripp and Eno's
No Pussyfooting or Evening Star, but without the Frippertronics.
EAR is led by Sonic Boom of Spectrum (but not the one in the GEPR), and
Beyond the Pale also features Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
and Eddie Provost of A.M.M. Other albums
evidently feature other guest musicians. -- Fred Trafton
At a first glance, some unorthodox sounds (considering a progressive
sensibility) in Exsimio's music may leave a seasoned prog fan somehow
disoriented. It happened to me at least. Useful comparisons, to my ear,
would be the 80's King Crimson,
Ozric Tentacles and
Djam Karet. Claudio Corcione and Juan Ignacio
Varela (aka "Iñaki") are the two guitarists. They
provide the most Crimsonian sounds of Exsimio,
often emulating the parallel
guitar lines a la "Discipline" (the track), including the "false delay
effect". The bassist (Carlos Pérez) covers a wide range of sounds, from the
almost funky (quite unusual in prog) to mimicking stick bass sounds on the
regular bass guitar. The drumming (Fernando Jaramillo - percussionist) is
highly textured, but should not be thought of as a Bruford-wanna-be, his
style is different, being somewhat more vigorous. The proficiency of the
bass-drum tandem can be heard on "El juicio de Jack y la madre de
carneamarga" (a possible translation would be "The trial of Jack and
Bitterflesh's mother") which is an intrincate bass guitar / drum duet.
Most compositions tend to be fast-paced, and require a perfect coordination
between the members. In my opinion, their best moments are reached when they
left some space for the music to develop and alternate softer and more dense
sections (as in "Porka Tana" and "6 minutos de silencio"), where the strong
compositional skills (that they DO, in fact, have) appear clearly.
Having seen them live, the degree of synchronization is impressive. As the
name implies (I assume that "Exsimio" comes from the Spanish word "Eximio",
meaning a "virtuoso" or "extremely competent instrumentalist"), they rely on
both musicality and dexterity for most of the tracks. -- Rodrigo Farías M.
No need to argue, they are a mix of Primus and
King Crimson, by this I'm not saying that the band
in not worth a try. Basically if you hear them live, at times you will listen [to]
Brufordish drummer, Lalondeish guitarist,
Frippish lead guitarist and (sadly) Claypoolish bassist
and singer (so sad, because he emulates both playing and singing as Les Claypool).
Exsimio maybe imply "virtuosism", but surely not "lack of originality". -- Marco
Antonio Gómez Urbina
To quote guitarrist Allen Myers, "We've gotten
a lot of flak because the album is not 'all that progressive.' But that was
never its intention ... It was made as a demo so we could get gigs, so it has
all kinds of music on it." Amen to that, brother. This CD is a mixed bag of
50's rock, pop rock and even a tongue-in-cheek country/western tune.
There are 3 pieces I would consider somewhat of interest to prog rockers:
"Welcome" with its Larry Fast type synthesizers, and the back-to-back duo
"Ezekiel Chapter 1" (a Bible reading with heavily processed voice) and "Ezekiel's
Wheel" (a pretty good guitar-oriented instrumental prog tune). They seem to feel
"The King is Coming" is progressive ... I don't really care for it myself.
This is also a very preachy CD. This isn't just a band with Christians in it,
it's a Christian Band, and they want to tell you all about it. OK if you like
that sort of thing. But I find it pretty distracting from the music. Overall I
doubt that many prog rock fans would like this CD. Wait for their next offering.
Myers says: "New material is on the way, and we
are focusing on :) :) :) progressive rock :) :) :)". Hopefully.
Their web site does have a really cool animated "Ezekiel's Wheel" graphic on
it. -- Fred Trafton
The Myth Of The Chrysavides (88)
Ancient Afternoons (90)
Ezra Winston 1988-1992 (99, self-released Compilation sampler with one
previously unreleased track)
Reviews
One of the very best new progressive bands. Their second album
Ancient Afternoons should go down in history as one of the best
symphonic progressive albums ever.
Features a guest appearance by ex-Le
Orme bassist Aldo Tagliapetra. In fact, along with Nuova Era's Dopo
L'Infinito, this may be one of the very best albums to ever
come out of the last fifteen years and is an absolute MUST if you
like refined and beautifully crafted progressive rock. Their
debut and very hard to find The Myth Of The Chrysavides is
also worth the find.
One of my absolute favorite bands. I believe they have two releases at
present. I only have Ancient Afternoons. This is truly a classic
of symphonic progressive. It is a work that plays to many different
moods and levels...from intricate classical guitar and flute to a bold
fanfare theme. I find it truly hard to compare them to others. However,
while they use a classical styling in is not in the heavy-handed way of
an ELP. It is a much more subtle influence. Strongly recommended.
Beautiful and sometimes subdued progressive music. Ancient
Afternoons features subtle melodies, and like all excellent
releases takes a few listens to fully appreciate its depth. Quite
an original work.
I have Ancient Afternoon and it's a fine example of current
Italian progressive rock. They have taken the best of the lyrical
Italian progressive from the 70's (e.g., PFM), brought out the flute and
acoustic guitar, added some sax and a modern day touch and have
succeeded in creating a rather unique piece of work. The vocals have a
soft, dreamy quality to them. There are some fine fluid electric guitar
solos throughout the four long tracks. Classical influences are evident,
though not in the bombastic ELP sense, but more as influences and subtle
shadings evident in the music. A fantastic work that is sure to be
classic.
Ezra Winston deserves more from their label than this LP-only
release. They are one of the most promising up and coming bands from
Italy. If this, their second album, is any indication of where they're
heading, I hope their further releases see the light of CD. Another of
the new-progressive (notice I didn't say "neo-progressive") Italian
bands, they don't approach the artistry and magnificence of their 70's
counterparts but they are one of the top three currently recording in
that country. Their music has been described by other reviewers as
"gorgeous" and "beautiful." I can see where these comments come
from. Led by guitars, keyboards and flute, they evoke a magical
soundscape. The non-accented English vocals add to the symphonic majesty
of this release. The major observation that I can make from listening to
this album (and the only caveat I have) is that each musician is quite
proficient and plays complicated parts well. However, only one
bandmember plays a complicated line at a time. In other words, the
individual tracks have complicated parts, yet when taken as a whole, the
writing is straight-ahead. For example, while the drummer is playing
fills, the other musicians bang chords. Compared to other bands, Ezra
Winston is something of a Misplaced Childhood era Marillion /
Step Ahead / Men of Lake combo with "Fanfare For the Common Man" styled
Emerson keyboards thrown in. Ancient Afternoons will please most
prog-heads, neo-fans and otherwise. If you can find it, get it.
On Ancient Afternoons (rec. 1990, re-released on CD 2001):
Apart from the four original songs, the CD release of Ancient Afternoon contains a bonus
track "Shades of Grey" (recorded in 1995), which was never released before. Ancient
Afternoon is, in my view, one of just a few of the Classic Symphonic Art-Rock masterpieces,
released in the second half of the 1980s. Sadly though, the best song by Ezra Winston, - "Dark
Angel Suite" (recorded in 1992), - has not been included in the Ancient Afternoon CD
release, though there was enough space on the CD for that. But then maybe the band have prepared
this wonderful 12-minute composition for their upcoming album? Ezra Winston, by the way, never
disbanded and nowadays the guys are (still) working on the new Ezra Winston album, though the
process of composing of it was finished back in the beginning of 2000. -- Vitaly Menshikov
Click here to
read Vitaly's review of Ancient Afternoons in its entirety on the ProgressoR
web site.
Click here
to read Vitaly's review of Ezra Winston 1988-1992 on the ProgressoR web site.
Embryo 1975 (Bad Heads ... line-up) - Maria Archer, Dieter Mickautsch, Christian Burchard, Rolf Sebastian and Roman Bunka
Keith Emerson
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Keith Emerson (keyboards), Carl Palmer (drums) and
Greg Lake (vocals, bass and guitar)
Keith Emerson and Greg Lake
Emerson, Lake and Powell - Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass
and guitar) and Cozy Powell (drums)
Empire
Enchant - an older group shot. The fellow in the upper left is former keyboardist
Benignus, who has left the band. They are looking for a new keyboardist at least as
of August, 2002. Current line-up is Ted Leonard (vocals), Sean Flanegan (drums),
Douglas A. Ott (guitars) and Ed Platt (bass), though I'm not certain who's who in
the band photo.
An Endless Sporadic - Zach Kamins (guitar, bass, keys, toys) and Andy Gentile (drums,
toys, noise)
Kelly Shane's photo from the 
Entrance (line-up as of 2000) - Alex von Chrismar (drums), Richard Pilnik (guitars),
Rodrigo Godoy (bass), Jaime Scalpello (vocals) and Jaime Rosas (keyboards)
Epica - Ad Sluijter (guitar), Coen Janssen (synths, piano), Simone Simons (vocals),
Mark Jansen (guitar) and Yves Huts (bass). Not pictured - Ariën van Weesenbeek (drums).
Er. J Orchestra March 1991, Kiev - Oakman, Barabash, Andjey Pozdin, Viktor Krisko,
Alexei Alexandrov, Taganski, Vladimir Sorochenko, Dirdovski (sitting). Several
of these folks have been replaced by new members since this photo was taken.
Ergo Sum - Alexandros Tefarikis (electric and acoustic guitars)
Sebastián Torrejón (bass), Sergio Menares (vibraphone,
drums, marimba and keyboards), Juan Daniel Rios (german flute),
Gonzalo Muga (drums, vibraphone, marimba and keyboards)
Eris Pluvia 2008 - Paolo Raciti (keyboards), Marco Forella (bass), Matteo Noli (guitar
and vocals), Daviano Rotella (drums) and Alessandro Cavatorti (guitar)
Esagil - Bill Chatzigiani (guitars), Theodoras Kotzabourounis (bass, vocals) and
Michael Kostas (drums)
Bridget Lokelani Dudoit (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Glenn Shorrock (Vocals, Guitar)
Janice Slater (Vocals), Bruno Libert (Keyboards), Tony Malisan (Drums), Gino Malisan
(Bass, Flute), Raymond Vincent (1st Violin), Tony Harris (Viola, Sax), Joy Yates
(Vocals, Flute), Brian Holloway (Guitar, Piano) and Timothy Kraemer (Cello, Piano)
Toni Esposito
Et Cetera 1976 (Not in photo order) - Marie Bernard Pagé (keyboards, ondes Martenot, vocals),
Denis Chartrand (keyboards, flute, saxophone, vibraphone, vocals), Pierre Dragon (drums, percussion),
Robert Marchand (guitars, vocals), Alain Yves Pigeon (bass, cello, vocals)
Evergrey - (Not in photo order) - Tom S. Englund (vocals), Henrik Danhage (guitar), Michael Håkansson (bass),
Rikard Zander (keyboards), Jonas Ekdahl (drums)
Evolve IV - (Not in photo order) Mike Eager (vocals, rhythm guitar), Peter Matuchniak
(lead guitar), Paul Sheriff (drums) and Jim DeBaun (bass)
Experimental - Rodrigo Sepúlveda (guitar), Andrés Moraga (tap-bass) and Jorge
Alvarez (guitar)
Exsimio