Breathe (Silhouette, 2012)

Silhouette come from The Netherlands and their prog rock music has the right amount of strength, melody and changes I like. Take this "Breathe", an eleven minutes song from the album "Across The Rubicon", released in 2012. You'll find powerful guitar riffs, atnospheric passages, a lot of keyboards, an effective rythm section, enthralling solos and - last but not least - well written themes. Sure, this is largely inspired by some British early '80s bands, but good roots make a solid tree, and this one seems to me a fresh and beautiful one.

"Across The Rubicon" is the third studio album by Silhouette.

Keyboardist Erik Laan provides the lead vocals for this track (there are at least three main vocalists in this band) and his voice perfectly matches with the track's texture. Some of the tempo changes are simply perfect and I think this is one of the most welcome features of Silhouette's songs and especially of the longest ones, than never go boring or predictable. In short, if you like very good and highly dynamic neo-prog, this one's for you.

Falling to Pieces (Nine Stones Close, 2010)

A very intense and intimate song from Nine Stones Close, a project leaded by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Adrian Jones. It comes from their second album titled "Traces" and includes some of the band's highlights, namely beautiful melodies and great guitar dreaming solos by Mister Jones. But there's more than this. I especially like Mark Atkinson's vocals, full of inner emotions and perfectly balanced between delicate and tense moments.

Nine Stone Close already have a considerable discography.

A prog ballad isn't an easy thing to do, believe me: Jones and his friends have to mix plain sung sections and instrumental breaks keeping the coherence of their song and they surely succeed there. "Falling to Pieces" has a melancholy, even pessimistic mood, but it also features a strong spiritual perspective, building up a sentimental trip through sorrow and hope, a strong emotional experience that only good prog can add to an apparently simple track.

Mind over Matter (Us, 2006)

Prog rock ballads are quite rare, so I'm happy to add this "Mind over Matter" to my blog. It's the opening track from the album "The Young and Restless" and has the mellow, pastoral taste of some Golden Era bands (a "Trespass" feeling, if you ask me). The sung melody is simple and effective, while the instrumental breaks are light and redolent. Sure, this is not a musical revolution, but I sometimes indulge to plain and delicate flavours, especially when the musicians know how to write and play their music.

"The Young And Restless" was the fourth studio album by Us.

After all, the Dutch band Us is an experienced one, lining up a rich discography and an indisputable skill when it comes to melodic prog. See how guitars and keyboards melt into a coherent sound in this song and how the vocal harmonies are well found. Six minutes of peace... not a negligible gift nowadays!

Mad Man's Worries (Mother's Love, 1967)

Lost somewhere in the dark land between proto-prog, blues, beat and psychedelic rock, Mother's Love were a challenging Dutch band whose music had acid edges and sweet acoustic parts. This track comes from their only album "Take One" and shows how eclectic their inspiration could be. The flute meets a liquid bass line and good vocal harmonies, while the song pattern includes some changes and an unusually shuffling sung theme.

How many musical treasures are the Sixties still hiding?

Floris Kolvenbach's vocals are among the highlights of "Mad Man's Worries", full of passionate and crazy-like passages and finally merging into the chaotic finale. One again, this is not exactly what we call prog rock, but it includes all that open minded approach that subsequently would provide the perfect culture medium for the new genre.

Treebird (Sky Architect, 2011)

Opening the album "A Dying Man's Hymn", this track is one of the most interesting ones from this Rotterdam based band. After a wall of sound intro (just a minute or so), the song features a liquid and atmospheric guitar solo, reminding me of spacey atmospheres.  The voicals come in on this beautiful background along with vintage keyboards, giving a deeper landscape to the song. And I also recommend the instrumental finale, adding some lively interplays and a lighter mood. 

 This is the second studio album by Sky Architect.

It's a sweet but never sweetish mood, a delicate gateway into a good album and also a clever mix of old and new prog. Of course it isn't a tuning point in the history of rock, but if ever you're looking for 9 minutes of relaxing prog, this is your song.

Cold Heart (Chris, 2013)

I'm frequently deceived by one-man bands' albums, but this wasn't the case with this one. Chris is the brand Dutch multi-intrumentalist Christiaan Bruin chose for his most known musical adventure, started in 2008 and still gouing on. It's difficult to desctribe this song, taken from the album "Days of Summer Gone", as it zigzags from symphonic rock to Beatles-like well found melodies. To enhance such a diverse track, Mr. Bruin called in a little chamber orchestra of six elements, including strings and wnds.

"Days of Summer Gone" is the fifth studio album  by Chris.

And very well he did, because the pleasant contrast between guitars and percussions (provided by Christiaan himself) and the classically trained sextet is one of the highlights of "Cold Heart", that despite its title has a warm sound. Another plus are the unpredictable changes through which the track goes, the twisted and very different moods it gets. Epic and ironic, easy and tricky, you've got everything in just one package and still each note perfectly matches with the big picture. Smart, I daresay.

Oriental journey / The Least You Could Do Is Send Me Some Flowers (Alquin, 1972)

A delightful, colourful, unpredictable mini-suite consisting of two tracks, the opening ones of the 1972 album called "Marks". Alquin are one of the brightest prog pearls from the Netherlands during the Golden Era of our favourite genre. This is a very peculiar instrumental, whose first part is a peaceful, pastoral and flute-driven section, a very enjoyable, dreaming piece of music. 

 

"Marks" was Alquin's debut album.

The rest of the suite is completely different, including a manifold and lively series of changes and involving a good deal of winds. It features several moods, ranging from vaudeville to Beatles-like chords. This kaleidoscope of moods and an assorted choice of sound effects build up an original, even humorous double-sided track I highly recommend to your attention.

Fairy Tales of Truth (Q65, 1969)

Q65's "Fairy Tales of Truth" is an interesting example of proto-rock song from The Netherlands. The band released some very good albums during their early years and this track comes from "Revival", their second studio work, and it also exists a longer version by another Dutch band called Circus. I actually like the dark bass lines, the acid guitars and the airy melodies rising up here and there in a rather tricky plot.

I don't know if I like this wrinkled effect, but all the same...

This unusual architecture is the proggest element in the song, with the dreamy background Mellotron and the space-like electric guitar ruling the final part of the track. The instrumental sections are packed with atmospheric, suspended moods, and I also appreciate the diversified drumming, colouring these delicious fairy tales.

Ever Since You Killed Me (Knight Area, 2011)

Year after year and album after album, this Dutch band found a foreground place on the neo-progressive stage. This song opens the album "Nine Paths" (featuring nine tracks, of course) and has a highly dynamic profile. The guitar solos and interplays with keyboards are a winning point, but I also like some unpredictable changes and the usual melodic vein of Kinight Area. Of course, those musicians have very strong contenders in their own Country, but I daresay they deserve a special attention for the emotional side of their music, something many neo-prog heroes too often forget.

"Nine Paths" was the fourth studio album by Knight Area.

How beautiful to see how Mark Vermeule's guitar switches from dreaming accents to devilish solos and back again! And how pleasant to enjoy Gerben Klazinga's keys driving both up and down tempo sections of this epic! It's a deep, passionate and vital kind of prog I actually like and re-listen to with great pleasure.

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?

P's March (Focus, 1973)

This song by major Dutch band Focus needs some explanatory notes. Firstly, it comes from an album titled "Ship of Memories" released in 1976, but including outtakes from previous albums. That's why this track was recorded in 1973 and left out the album "Hamburger Concerto". Secondly, the mysterious "P" of the title stands for "Pierre", drummer Pierre Van Der Linden's first name. Even if this is an outtake, I like it very much.

This is just a compilation, but there are a few great tracks there!

I appreciate the double face of "P's March", with its folkish and rather Medieval flute theme and its melodic and slightly acid electric guitar counter-theme. It's an unusual and apparently uneven pair, but they work so well together: the first one is delicate, bright and somehow frivolous, while the second one is grave, deep and pensive. They're as different as life itself can be.

Avbury Circle (Lethe, 1981)

Strangely enough, the Dutch prog scene in the 1980s seems to be packed with one-album-only bands and - what's even stranger - many of those unique works are very good ones. Lethe released their self-named LP in 1981 and this "Avbury Circle" is one of the four instrumental tracks included in it. It's a completely original kind of music, where classical references and jazzy passages follow one another.

This is an album that's worth a wider diffusion, IMHO.

Thuur Feyen's piano surely is one of the strongest points of this interesting piece of prog, giving a special dynamic touch to the music, then here you are a spendid choice of acoustic instruments, including a pleasant xylophone and a mysterious cor anglais. That said, the electric guitar and the bass are also present and very well played, so that the final picture is a diversified, deep and sometime devilish one, something you don't easily find elsewhere. I do hope such a pearl won't be forgotten by my progloving friends.

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!

Thousand Stories (Egdon Heath, 1993)

Egdon Heath are one of those bands from the '80s and the 90s we tend to forget nowadays and to file under the "average neo-prog" label of our minds. But there's more than this in Egdon Heath's musical productions. Take this "Thousand Stories", for example. It comes from the album "Him, The Snake And I", released by the late SI Music label. These Dutch musicians succeed in setting up a complex, highly diversified composition, including three different moods in a row.

 

This was Egdon Heath's third studio album.

Starting like an atmospheric track, the song goes through an almost mainstream rock phase and ends up with an intense, powerful prog ballad, enriched by Maurits Kalsbeek's brilliant vocals. The band also find Despite such a composite appearance, the track achieves its emitional goal and I still listen to it and still enjoy its dramatic edge.

The River (Like Wendy, 1999)

So many prog artists were - and still are - fascinated by streaming waters. Like Wendy are no exception, and one of their best tracks is actually about a river. These two Dutch musicians, Bert Heinen and Marien, were dedicated followers of Marillion, Pendragon and, of course, Genesis. They released a few good albums between the late '90s and the early 2000s. This song is from "Rainchild", their second studio work and I really like its bright sound and the lead dreaming guitar, so full of body. Even moving, I daresay, floating in a mist of keyboards.

Like Wendy released six studio albums between 1998 and 2005.

You don't need to be original to create a good song and an old prog lover as I am. sometimes just needs a warm, familiar arrangement, some well played instruments and a good melody to restore his brain and body. This is exactly what Like Wendy and "The River" have in store for us. So, if you feel like opening the gates of a well known and cherished garden, please come in, close your eyes, and...

Sea of Delight (Brainbox, 1969)

As some posts in this blog prove very well, proto-prog songs and albums weren't an exclusive British feature. These Brainbox, for example, came from The Netherlands and in 1969 cleverly mixed R'n'B, psychedelic sounds and plain melodies in a new, unpredictable style we could easily call prog rock. I think this long suite "Sea of Delight" is the best way to approach their music. Jan Akkerman plays here his acid guitar some years before founding Focus, the legendary Dutch prog band (see elsewhere in this blog).

This was the cover art for Brainbox self titled debut album.

But you'll also find here Pierre van der Linden's creative drumming and solos - he'll also join Focus later - and the "talking" bass guitar played by Andre Reynen. Both musicians succeed in drawing a collection of weird, synchopated rythms. A final special mention goes to the Polish singer Kaz Lux, whose sensual vocals grace the sung sections of this track... and his hums, woos and assorted whispers  are among the most puzzling sounds of the whole proto-prog era, IMHO. Really, this is a very interesting and unusual track, that's why I sometimes listen to it and always appreciate those pioneering guys.

Daphne (Laurel Tree) (Kayak, 1979)

"Phantom of The Night" is a rather good pop album by Kayak I don't especially recommend to the pure-prog friends that grace my blog, but it does includes some excellent tracks and even a properly progressive one, titled "Daphne (The Laurel Tree)". This song begins with an atmospheric ballad, very well written and arranged IMHO, then it rises up in tempo and volume, sounding like an epic song should, and featuring a very good instrumental coda.

 

This was the original cover of the album...

 

 

 ...and here's the re-issue one, taken from a 7" single art.

As usual with Kayak, the melody is excellent - and catchy too -  and all the instruments come in at the right moment, without any useless excess, but as majestically as they have to be in such a track. Really, this is a song that's worth a listening... and likely more.

The Water (Light, 1972)

These Dutch musicians went out with their first album in 1972, with a concept about Moses story and they managed to release just this good album based on glorious keyboards sound. In particular, this opening track we can roughly divide into three different parts is pleasant and full of good ideas. Nothing really new under the sun, of course, but all very well written, arranged and played. The first section is a pastoral instrumental, then you'll find a spoken intro to the short sung section and a finale where keys finally introduce a jazzy electric guitar  and a closing hippy-era choir.

A not so well known example of early Dutch prog.

You'll appreciate a succession of good themes and a slightly acid electric guitar floating on a sea of keyboards. Mostly instrumental and melodic, this song also includes some rythmic accellerations,  good largos. If you like that kind of liquid prog that flows down between enchanted landscapes, well, this track will certainly suit you. Just a final note: this band is not to be confused with another and more recent Dutch act bearing the same name.

Frank (Trion, 2007)

This Dutch progressive trio was founded in 2003 by keyboard player Edo Spanninga of Flamborough Head fame. This track is in fact a bonus suite included in the band's second album "Pilgrim", but IMHO is the best reason to buy the whole record. Not only the different movements include several good melodies, but the atmospheric and evocative mood of the track really moves me. The Mellotron and the piano are no doubt the leading instruments here, but I also like the way Eddie Mulder (another Flamborough Head member) enrich the sound with his guitars, especially the 12 strings one, but also the heartbreaking electric solo towards the end of the song.

Trion seem to like Yes-inspired arts for their album covers.

The third member of the band, Memno Boomsma, comes from another Dutch neo-prog act, Odyssice, and his percussions are sensitive and coherent with the big picture. This suite was produced as a tester some months before the album and the version included in the CD is a re-recorded and improved one. Just some words about the title, as the track is purely instrumental: the song was inspired by a character (played by Henry Fonda) of the well known Spaghetti-western film "Once Upon A Time in The West", directed by Sergio Leone. Didn't you like it? Well, it doesn't matter: try the song all the same!

Merlin (Kayak, 1981)

Merlin the Magician and the whole Arthurian saga were one of the most common literary sources for progressive rock lyrics. Kayak produced their own "Merlin" track in 1981 and it proved to be one of their most powerful ones. After a melodic, sweet section, the song - written by Ton Scherpenzeel - gets fully prog rock and is graced by devilish keys and one of the best vocal performances by Edward  Reekers. He also rules the subsequent tempo and mood changes.

"Merlin" was the eight studio album by Kayak.

The electric guitar comes is around minute 4 and adds a heavier edge to the song, introducing the final wall of sound in which all the instruments - leaded by a very Wakeman-like keyboard - do their best to please my prog ears. Useful to know, this track is but the first in a collection of five songs filling the A side of the original LP - also titled "Merlin" - all concerning the famous magician's story. And they all deserve your attention, IMHO. Last info: the band re-worked this material and released a longer suite on the same subject in 2003, "Merlin - Bard of The Unseen". This version's interesting too.