Wake up (Coheed And Cambria, 2005)

I know, I know... Coheed and Cambria are famous for their long, hard and intricate tracks, with fast electric guitar and keyboard solos... and after all they're among the best prog metal acts out there! So I apologise for choosing one of their slow tempo and rather acoustic ballads for my blog, but some of you may know how mellow I can be and - most of all - I like this track so much. Many metal and even more-than-metal bands come up with love songs from time to time and when they do so, they're so sweet and sappy than yhey make the likes of Barry Manilow or the Carpenters sound harsh. 

As the number suggests, this album is part of a longer SF concept.

This is not the case with "Wake up" here: it surely is a lovely ballad, but it never goes maudlin and everything in it has an edgy side: the vocals, the guitar touch, even the lyrics, so that the listener swings between love and loneliness, hope and fear all along the song. That said, the main virtue of this track obviously is its melody, so lovely and nonetheless never too predictable. What else? Just enjoy.

Negative Zone (Negative Zone, 2005)

The sole album by this short lived French band is among the best examples of derivative still beautiful music around. Sure, they are in love with Pink Floyd and they re-create all the Cambridge band well known moods, but how convincing and even refreshing are those 

Musea released this album in 2005.

The title track is the lomgest and most diversified one, lining up power keys, Gilmour-like guitars, atmosferic moments and psychedelic loops. And, last but not least, some good melodies. Really, it's a colourful emotional trip I strongly recommend to you all.

Divine Attribution (SETI, 2005)

...And now something for those among you loving atmospheric, melodic prog. SETI is an international project aimed to find radio signals coming from intelligent extra-terrestrial forms of life. But since 2005 it is also an interesting chilean prog band. Founded by multi-instrumentalist Claudio Momberg and Others members of Subterra (see elsewhere in this blog). This song comes from their debut album "Life Signs" and has a strong spacey and floydian influence, but also an easy-going melodic pattern in the neo-prog style.

This album also includes an excellent five parts suite.

Some beautiful keyboard and guitar solos perfectly top the cake. The SF theme adds a somehow arcane taste to the song, but it never deviates the band's sound toward math-rock landscapes. There is a warm and dreamy soul behind those radio telescopes...

Mare Tenebris (Parthenon, 2005)

This is the title track of a rather obscure prog album from Venezuela, released by a band born in the late Seventies. A series of line-up changes and hiatuses prevented the band from starting an official discography until 2005, but when their debut album finally came, it was a very good one. This track will show you how skilled these musicians are and how rich and diversified their ideas were in CD.

Also the CD packaging has a  weird and tempting look...

The texture of this composition surely reminds me of ELP and other powerful prog bands, but also the quietest moments are very good and highly atmospheric, including clever keyboard and guitar interplays and a brilliant drumming. Drummer Juan Carlos Ballesta and keyboardist Robert Santamaria can be considered as the backbone of this reincarnation of Parthenon and the final result is an exciting symphonic rock I actually recommend to you all.

The Flood 洪水 (Cold Fairyland 冷酷仙境, 2005)

Originally released in a Lin Di solo album, "The Flood" (2004) became part of his band Cold Fairyland's repertoire one year later, featuring on their 2005 live tour and their subsequent "Live at ARK" album, released in 2006. And when I listened to those Chinese musicians playing this arcane, deep and mixed track I was simply fascinated. "The Flood" has the magic to melt such different things as Eastern folk music, Western Classical patterns, progressive rock solutions and descriptive ambient into a single pot.

A beautiful live release, including many magical tracks.

Ethereal and delicate, this instrumental song is also powerful and enthralling, mastering volume changes and joining vibrant acoustic instruments and a solid rythm section. Of course, Lin Di's keyboards act as the fairy glue pastng all the details to conjure up a lavish musical fresque. Art, the purest one I can imagine.

Letting Go (Kino, 2005)

Prog rock isn't always an intellectual music giving away trricky compositions. Take Kino, for example. It's a British one-shot fivesome full of progstars, namely Pete Trewavas (Marillion), John Mitchell (Arena), Chris Maitland (Porcupine Tree), John Beck and Bob Dalton (It Bites). They decided to build up an enjoyable song-oriented album called "Picture". This song, "Letting Go", strongly inspired by Asia, has a catchy verse, an anthemic chorus and a third theme topping the musical cake with a pinch of pure prog.

"Picture" featured a series of very good songs based on strong ideas.

The arrangement is simply perfect, modern, never trivial and with some interesting changes. As usual, John Mitchell's voice is a thrilling experience and a good deal of vocal harmonies complete his performance with an airy and enthralling arena rock sound. Each musician adds his own special contribution, but no one tries to go too far or to show up. That's what I call easy prog rock. An excellent one, I daresay.

The Untold Want (Lady Lake, 2005)

The story of Progressive Rock is full of deceiving reunions, as many bands of old come up with new albums, usually far less interesting than the Golden Era ones. Strangely enough, this wasn't the case with Lady Lake. These Dutch musicians disbanded after their first album "No Pictures", released in 1977 and came back in 2005 with a very good CD called "Supercleandreammachine". "The Untold Want" is the opening suite of this second studio work, divided into twelve musical sketches, most of them  in a melodic and evocative mood, not too far from Camel, and with a touch of ambient music.

There's a trio line-up in this album: keys, drums and guitars.

This epic is a pleasant journey, a series of intense and slightly acid landscapes, where each instrument adds its own touch, like colours do in a Manet's painting. Despite its melodic texture, this track is deep and unpredictable, both fluid and diversified. If I could welcome all reunions as I did with Lady Lake's, well, that would be great to be a progfan in the 21st Century!

Mílanó (Sigur Rós, 2005)

This is a musical jewel by the most known Icelandic band ever, coming from their album "Takk...". As any other Sigur's songs, this is a slow series of crescendos, an intense, deep reflection on life. We can only imagine the song is somehow linked to Milan, as the lyrics are in the band's own invented language, called hopelandic. For sure, you'll find here all the Northern, dusk-inspired magic that singles out those musicians.

The band, the snow... what else?

The keyboards are like a snowy landscape, while the electric piano and the bass guitar draw doodles in the air, moving and persistent doodles, as a matter of fact. Vocals are just one more instrument, flowing up and down all through the song and shifting from quiet contemplation to undefined sorrow. Maybe Sigur Rós have a limited range of emotions to communicate, but oh... how perfectly they pass them to the listener's soul!

3 Lights (RPWL, 2005)

RPWL are currently one of the most creative bands in Germany, and this track shows how much - and how wll - they can mix different inspirations in order to set up a coherent and well structured track. The first part of "3Lights", taken from the album "World through My Eyes", has a strong Genesis influence, something like Ant Phillips era. It's n acoustic ballad, featuring a good melody and airy, gentle sounds.

This album also includes the single "Roses", sung by Ray Wilson.

Then something changes and we move towards a slow tempo instrumental, based on an almost folk mood, but getting soon a modern and electronic background, until the Floydian electric guitar comes in and a dreamy solo opens the soundscape and draws a brighter atmosphere. The finale is made of sound effects, a psychedelic way to link this song to the following one. As you can see, there are many faces to this "3 Lights", but not even a second in it is dull or useless and everything seems to happen in the very moment we need it. Good guys...

Mindrevolutions (Kaipa, 2005)

When it comes to technical skills, we all agree that Kaipa are among the best performers out there. That said, sometimes there's a lack of emotion in their music and this is their only flaw to date, something one can ascribe to The Flower Kings too. This beautiful suite, however, includes all I'm looking for when I put a prog song into my CD reader (or in my playing list, to be a little more trendy). Imagine this "Mindrevolutions" as a musical sandwich, where the main theme - a higly emotional one - acts like the two slices of bread and the central section is like meat (or everything else that's tempting for you).

 

A beautiful and disquieting cover, I daresay.

 

Actually, this is a super stuffed sandwich, where Roine Stolt and his guitar play an essential role, perfectly supported by Jonas Reingold. But the main theme - sung by both Aleena and Patrik Lundström is a real treat to me, so intense and moving, with so well found variations, especially in its final reprise, that I rarely listened to something better recently. A great epic for all my experienced friends, but also for the romantic ones.

Nostos (Ubi Maior, 2005)

Strongly influenced by the Ancient world, Ubi Maior not only choose a Latin name for themselves, but they also title their debut album and this 23 minutes suite "Nostos", "νόστος" in Greek alphabet. The word means "homecoming" and is especially employed by Homer to describe the long and difficult return of the Trojan War heroes to their Countries. So this track, divided into six parts, is a well written allegory of the long road waiting each and every man over the challenging and infinite sea of life. To accomplish their task, Ubi Maior employ all the usual moods, instruments and styles of progressive rock and particularly those of the so called Italian prog.

Davide Pagin created the beautiful artworks for "Nostos".

This doesn't mean "Nostos" should be considered as a mere derivative music: as for the Homeric saga, these musicias succeed in reworking and reviving their favourite genre, that sounds fresh and new to thelistener. I like, for example, how well they mix here sung themes and instrumental passages and the way the balance down tempo and up tempo sections. Another strong point, as always in good Italian bands, is the beautiful contrast between acoustic and electric instruments. Try this and follow the hero coming back home. And prog actually is home for me.

Hoppípolla (Sigur Rós, 2005)

Call it post-rock, post-prog, new ambient, art-rock or whatever you like, this song (and many other ones from this Icelandic band) isn't so far from our old dear prog. Hoppípolla (something like "Hopping into Puddles"), in particular, has a strong symphonic accent, with its dramatic crescendos and the perfect fusion of all instruments in a fluctuating, visionary wall of sound.

The album "Takk..." has a wonderful cover... hasn't it ?

I like the childish mood of the track, its Nordic, nostalgic taste, the smart passages from the loudest to the quietest moments. Most of all, I like the band's maniacal attention to details: volume, vocal effects, instruments choice... all sounds perfect, even the funny, original video with the old people acting like children. So, call this music as you like, I add it to my prog collection anyhow.

Wisdom (Magellan, 2005)

The brothers Gardner (aka Magellan) are very popular among US 21st Century prog bands and they surely deserve it. Why didn't I choose one of their epic songs? Well, because I think this slow time and atmospheric "Wisdom", taken from the album "Symphony for A Misanthrope" magnifies some of the best features of the band. First of all, the tight and emotional voice of Trent Gardner, that's on top of things in such a rarefied track. It conveies the sense of isolation that's the album focus with a singular strength.

Poor Gardner brothers out in the rain.

Then, this song is also a fine example of the melodic skills of Magellan, a quality that's not so easy to find out there. Finally, the apparently plain keys and guitars plot is pure magic. Please note how the instruments come in and out the track, supporting the singer when it is necessary and leaving him almost alone in the intro and outro topic moments. Wow...

Lazarus (Porcupine Tree, 2005)

This is a beautiful song, a modern day prog song, in fact. Taken from "Deadwing" album, it shows why and how Steven Wilson won the title of "Man who saved the prog". A killing piano provides the background for the catchy melody (a very good one) and the usual increasing number of instruments leading from low volume ballad to a crimsonian wall of sound (and back again). The structure isn't tricky, but the sound is so carefully laboured you always find something new in it each time you listen to.

The art for "Lazarus" single. Towards the valley below...

What's great in this song (and in other Porcupine Tree's songs of the same kind) is the contrast between the warm background and the apparently cold vocals, a musical struggle adding a shroud of mystery and wonder to the track. This sense of wonder is keenly powered by the lyrics, describing an upside down Lazarus receiving the invitation to leave the life and go down the valley below. Do they play prog there?

A Sun of Your Own (Moon Safari, 2005)

Sweden is a land full of progressive surprises. When I first listened to Moon Safari I was highly impressed and I still are. They're not a derivative band, they have their own soud and this beautiful song is a good start point to discover their universe. It'a a long (9'20") and sweet track, taken from "A Doorway to Summer", the band's second album, a song with mainly acoustic instruments and a sense of simplicity and magic in it. The voice and the vocal arrangements are very good and there's a perfect mix of folk and prog, something reminds of the Canadian band Harmonium, back in the '70s, but with a modern taste.

The original cover of "A Doorway to Summer" (up) and the band (down ,of course).

The second part of the song is mostly instrumental and choral and there you'll find the band's progressive soul in all its glory, but still with a strong melodic and emotional approach I appreciate very much. They're good songwriters, these Moon Safari boys, and after five good albums I think they're worth a place in every prog lover's heart.

Metaepitome (Overhead, 2005)

This is the title track of Finnish band Overhead's second album, released in 2005. It's a 19'40" suite well written and well performed by those five young musicians. Like many other similar bands, Overhead explore prog rock history and in "Metaepitome" suite you'll recognize Pink Floyd-like slide guitars, crimsonian Mellotron effects, rock flute à la Jethro Tull and so on. But you'll also find an original sound, made of nordic melancholy and a good mix of rock and folk roots. Also the vocal parts - both lead and choirs - are distinctive, with modern and classic nuances.

Here's the cover art for "Metaepitome".

Slow and fast sections, electric and acoustic instruments, complex and plain melodies, vocal and instrumental themes... all is very well arranged in the general architecture of the track. I was also impressed by some unpredictable changes, especially when the piano comes in or the first vocal theme comes back to close the suite. The lyrics are obscure and suggestive, describing a man's inner choice when facing war and death. In short, this is not a revolution in prog music, but you'll certainly appreciate Metaepitome for measure and moderation, two rare qualities in young bands: never too old or too modern, never too technical or too romantic, this suite will provide some 20 pleasant minutes to the listener. I'm enough old to value such a merit.

The Wishing Well (Pendragon, 2005)

"The Wishing Well" is the 22 minute and 4 part suite from the "Believe" album, released in 2005 and inspiring mixed feelings among the band's fans for a questionable lack of melodies. Be that as it may, this track is a prog treat, IMHO. Melodic and rock elements follow one another in a very natural way and each part is coherent with the whole lot, even if one could easily listen to each part as a song on its own. I specially like the main theme, wide and round as a tasty fruit and also the passages from the rockier to the softer sections.

A suggestive cover art for a much debated album.

As Always, Nick Barrett plays the leading role with his guitars and vocals, but all the instruments are there and Clive Nolan's keyboards are an essential point when it comes to create suspended atmospheres. Also the lyrics fit in the epic architecture of the track, reflecting upon human life crossroads. I couldn't choose one single part as my favourite, perhaps I specially like the first and the last movements. In short, an excellent piece of work, proving once again that neo-prog is just... prog!

Octavarium (Dream Theater, 2005)

Many progfans found this suite - the titke track of 2005 Dream Theater album - a little too much derivative song. I think this is a wonderful tribute to progressive rock legacy. The band quote so many different sources and artists it's impossible to list them here, but they succeed in being themselves as usual. It's a much sweeter song than the average DT's production (that's why I like it), but in its 24 minutes many good surprises are waiting for the listener. Here's some of the finest moments: the floydian, atmospheric intro, the flute section, the second LaBrie's vocal theme (really, what a pure and mighty voice this guy has!), followed by Jordan Rudess' Wakeman-esque solo, then here comes a syncopated passage where Myung and Petrucci prove they came across Foxtrot in their youth.

And this music comes with a great cover art...

After this, the best section starts, in which all lnstruments accelerate and the song becomes a fast-forward festival, a ruthless war between guitars, keys, bass guitars, vocals and drums. They all win, of course. The final section seals the peace with a grand, fluid, melodic wall of sound, a flight above the oceans of sound, towards some far progressive sky. Well... something like that, I mean.

Second Life Syndrome (Riverside, 2005)

Before their metal drift, I used to love this Polish band and I still reckon they're one of the most interesting fruits of the progressive tree at the dawn of 21st century. This three part suite of 15 minutes, the title track of their second official full length album, is a magnificent song, where Riverside succeeed in gathering many different sources and moods in one recognizable and consistent musical style. You'll find here all the peculiar doom and sadness of Riverside, but also fragments of hope and rise towards another kind of life.

Riverside adore gloomy promo pics like this one.

Until they play good music, I tend to forgive them...

Most of all, I enjoy here the abundance of ideas and inspirations: good melodies, new rythmic solutions, old patterns revisited with modern sounds. I especially like Piotr Kozieradzki's drumming, slightly reminiscent of Marillion's Ian Mosley. The third part of the suite, an instrumental finale, also offers to the listener a very good dreaming guitar solo by Piotr Grudziński. A treat, like Mariusz Duda's voice and bass and the keys sound carpet by Michał Łapaj. As you may have imagined, I highly recommend this track.

Chupacabras (Phideaux, 2005)

This is what the Americans call an epic song. Basically, it's  a 20 minutes prog rock suite, and a very good one. Phideaux Xavier is one of the strangest characters in the proggy world, considering himself the one and only half-prog / half-punk artist. That said, I like his music very much, especially - of course - when his half-prog part is concerned. This is exactly the case with Chupacabras, kind of a prog anthology, filled with all the devices and sophistications we tend to love.

Xavier Phideaux: a ghostly presence from the American prog scene.

It's a classical prog, but also a state of the art XXIst century prog, updating virtually every standard in our genre and giving to the track its own spiritual, even eerie taste. Our friend Phideaux knows very well how to ally different moods and themes always skipping two dangerous foes: boredom and affectedness. So, don't worry if he's a little strange in haircuts or musical statements, Xavier Phideaux keeps everything under control. Amazed? Incredulous? Well, please listen to this and let me know.