Lost in Time (Flamborough Head, 2013)

Back to Dutch neo-proggers Flamborough Head. This 2013 release surely was an excellent addition to their career and the title track is a perfect specimen of their kind of music. It's based on a rather rich and well known recipe, including all the main features of a neo-prog song: a catchy main theme, an acoustic intro, dreamy electric guitar solos, thick keyboards, some rocky parts and lots of melodic passages.

"Lost in Time" was the seventh studio album by FH.

Sure, this is something we all listened to hundreds of times, still it is so well build up and so pleasantly performed that I like it very much. Flamborough Head know how to alternate the moods and the rythms, when to change the tempo and the right moment to introduce the flute or the spanish guitar. I've been eating pizza most of my life, but I still like it. Why should it be different with music?

Don't Forget Us (Flamborough Head, 2009)

Taken from their album "Looking for John Maddock", this 8:21 minutes instrumental includes all the best qualities I recognize to Flamborough Head. Mostly, there's a real passion for melodies, something they never forget and they always put as a foundation stone in each song of theirs. Take the flute intro of this track: sweet and essential, this theme works as a fil rouge all along the song, even when the keyboards come in to twist it.

"Looking for John Maddock" was the sixth FH's studio album.

Even then, that melody is there and you know it will no doubt reappear, sooner or later. In fact, it comes back magnificently via the final dreaming guitar solo, and this seems like a fulfillment, a glorious prog seal closing the track. Soft but never sweetish, mostly down tempo and still varied, brilliant and modern in its sound, nonetheless reminiscent of the '70s, I do think this song is a perfect way to approach this band's music and also to start a new day.

Schoolyard Fantasy (Flamborough Head, 1998)

The opening track of this Dutch band's debut album is surprisingly good. Sure, they're strongly influenced by Marillion & Friends, and you'll breathe a Floydian smell roaming around (and in the lyrics...), but there's a brand melodic vein and a firm touch when it comes to put the different sections of this rather long track in the right order. So, the slow tempo and atmospheric background is delightful and never too sweetish, while the more lively sections feature good guitar work by André Cents.

A rather sad artwork by Theo Spaay. But I like it.

Keyboards are everywhere, as you can imagine, but Edio Spanninga's style is gentle and discreet and he knows how to switch from synths to piano and back again. I also like Siebe Rein Schaafs' tight and airy vocals, adding a further personal mood to the song. If you're searching for some good neo progressive rock, you'll find it here.