Tsuki-otoko To Stick (Black Page, 1986)

Even if this Japanese band took their name by a Frank Zappa's song, they actually played a traditional progressive rock. But as you may  remember, that song by Zappa was a particularly tricky and difficult one, so that the intricate and virtuosic style of these musicians is somehow related to their name. "Tsuki-otoko To Stick" ("The Stick And The Moon Man") is a highly dynamic instrumental, kind of an explosive display of technical skills and elaborate composition.

Oneof the most elegant cover arts I can imagine for a prog album.

That said, this track is no way cold or affected: it has a good deal of passion inside, and a muscular, rocky side, especially thanks to the rythm section. Bunmei Ogawa is a Wakeman-inspired keyboardist, but his bombastic style is perfectly supported and empowered by the rest of the band, so that the final effect isn't that of a solo project: there's a real, effective interaction between all the instruments. Another good reason to regret the very short life of Black Page.

Нам нужен мир (Автограф, 1986)

The Soviet Union didn't stop prog rock and Автограф (Autograph, in latin transcription) are a living proof of that. After years of clandestine concerts, the band finally released their first self-titled album in 1986. Autograph were the perfect '80s neo-prog and almost new wave band, not so far from the likes of Twelfth Night or It Bites. This track, whose title means in English "We Need Peace", is a plain prog-pop song, an anthem actually similar to many Western synth and easy-prog tracks, well written and also well performed, simple but not trivial at all.

Autograph released three studio albums between 1986 and 1991. 

The essential double keyboard effects, the dramatic vocals and the bombastic chorus melody are the strongest points of "We Need Peace", but please don't forget the lyrics, written when peace seemed more a dream than a reality, some years before the end of the cold war (if ever there was an end to that). A document from an era we shouldn't forget.

Le rêve rose (Elixir, 1986)

The French tradition of a theatrical and rythmically sustained prog rock was still alive during the '80s, as this track, taken from Elixir's first album "Sabbat" proves very well. Nothing too complicated or intellectual here, just a fine song featuring a pleasant sung theme and some instrumental bridges, but all very well done. I'm really grateful to all the bands that filled somehow the hiatus of the '80s with their progressive rock dreams.

A very pleasant way to keep on progging...

They didn't fear to swim againt the mainstream and so a simple song like this one looks important to me: its freshness, its slightly agressive sound, its light blend of pop, art rock and true prog seems naive today, but it was precious like gold in its era. That's why I pay my respect to such songs as this one, "The Pink Dream", in English, as they succeeded in keeping our dream alive. That said, I also appreciate the magic intro of this song, the subsequent rythm solutions and the guitar work. It's like sweet poison in my veins.

Take A Look (Twelfth Night, 1986)

Once upon a time there were some bands like this one making hybrid music that sounded like IQ meets Duran Duran. I discovered Twelfth Night many years ago and I started listening to their "Twelfth Night" album with mixed feelings. Most of the tracks sounded precisely like new wave stuff and I was ready to store the CD in my pop shelf when the closing song began and I changed my mind. "Take A Look" is a more than 11 minutes epic track, full of changes and pleasant surprises. Fortunately my blog is dedicated to songs, not to albums...

The flushing "Twelfth Night"cover. I like it.

The keyboard effects are a bit dated and the melodies are simple and catchy, but I like the way Andy Sears sings them and I adore the instrumental sections, rather long and complex. Keys and guitars interplay very well and the rythm section supports them brilliantly. This is prog, my friends, arranged in an Eighties fashioned way, maybe, but definitely good prog. I can't help but wondering why they didn't put in the CD one o two more tracks like this one, but this is nonsense... I'll keep on listening to it and leaving all the rest where it is.

Sounds of Passion (Coda, 1986)

This long suite (about 30 minutes, a Prologue and four Movements) is the title track of the Dutch band Coda's debut album. Having said that this music actually dates back to 1983, one should expect a neo-prog release, similar to Marillion, IQ and so on. Not at all. This is a purely synphonic epic rather similar to late 70s groups like Enid. It's a beautiful trip in a suspended and arcane world, often sweet, always intriguing.

Pastel colours, fairy tales... the cover art matches with the music.

Composed by keyboardist Erik de Vroomen, this suite is a delicate but never boring watercolour painting, pleasant and rich, a succession of different sketches where a choice of keyboards provides the main course and the other instruments add some very good treats. I like everything here, apart, maybe, the spoken intro, something this track didn't really need, IMHO. Anyway, no doubt fo me: this epic is one of the finest moments of a difficult and underrated era in the history of prog.

Red Rain (Peter Gabriel, 1986)

If ever Peter Gabriel wrote a progressive rock song, in a profound and not necessarily formal way, this is the one. Featuring a fluctuating wall of sound and dominated by the deep and hoarse voice of Peter, "Red Rain" (from the album "So") is an intense and surprising emotional trip. The sound is maniacally laboured and yet the first impact is that of a natural, spontaneous rock song, growing up in volume and poignancy until the first emotional pitch, then going by a pair of tempo changes up to the ending largo. The 2012 remaster of "So" magnify this musical abundance.

Peter Gabriel during his "So" world tour (1986).

Maybe for the first time from his Genesis years, Peter expresses the wide range of feelings of his voice, abandoning for a while any electro-rock and ethno-rock experimentations and coming back to his roots. Also the lyrics, related to a Peter's recurring dream, concur with their sanguine imagery to the strength of this track. I really think this is one of the most moving songs I've ever heard in Peter Gabriel's production. And that's saying something!