Ten najpiękniejszy dzień (Exodus, 1980)

This is one of the brightest prog pearls from Poland. Exodus come from the '70s - when it wasn't so easy to be a rock band in their country - and released their debut album in 1980, including this title track. "Ten najpiękniejszy dzień" (meaning "The Most Beautiful Day"). It  reveals a strong symphonic side, but even if there are some definite Yes references, I daresay this is an original way to prog. The suite is set up following classical structures and the themes are all very good.

This album also includes three shorter and pleasant tracks.

 

There's a strong rythmic, dynamic background, but I also like the atmospheric interludes, something between prog and space rock. The track is divided into four movements, some of them featuring interesting vocal harmonies, that remind me now and then of traditional Eastern European ensembles. Most of the interplays are great, involving all the instruments in turn and sometimes leading to bombastic walls of sound. That said, there's no useless pomp in this song, just the good deal of sense of wonder we all like in a prog suite. Highly, highly recommended.

Il banchetto (Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1972)

Another excellent track from PFM's second album "Per un amico". This is a longish one, starting like a gentle, folkish ballad, featuring well found satyrical lyrics about courtiers and opportunism... and probably that's why the band didn't translate this track in English in their first International release. They actually found their way to political song in a Renaissance disguise. 

 

PFM: The way we were...

This first section is followed by a long instrumental interlude, where the listener is somewhat unsettled and trasported into more adventurous dimensions: fake improvisations, synth embroideries, suggestive piano lines, liquid suggestions and a slow crescendo transform the opening ballad into a challenging still enjoyable prog trip, until the main theme is restored in the reassuring finale. For all those reasons I'd say this song is a true "banchetto" (that's a "feast") for old and new progfans. And the main course is music, of course.

Flight (Peter Hammill, 1980)

This is a prog suite I love so much... and for many reasons. First things first: the music is excellent. Good melodies (the opening theme, for example) and clever, still rather plain arrangements, well done tempo changes and so on. Then, another strong point is, of course, Peter Hammill's vocals, with all their sad, heartbreaking, even weird appeal we all know so well. This voice shines brighter than ever when a bare piano supports it, like in the "Flying Blind" section.

 

A bare, dark cover, perfeclty matching with the music inside.

By the way, we need some data now: the suite comes from the album "A Black Box" and is divided into seven movements for more than 19 minutes of total running time. In addiction to the above notes, I'll add that this is the most intimate epic I've ever listened to and also the darkest one, except VDGG's ones, obviously. Some "noisy" sections exist here, but they're sharp and sour, so that this track can be considered as a long, intriguing confession, an inner struggle put down in music. Good music, IMHO.

Beyond The Mountains (Daniel Denis, 1991)

I usually don't like what someone would call experimental music or maybe RIO. But I do think Daniel Denis - yes, the member of Univers Zéro - knows how to explore new frontiers without that good deal of boredome such a task too often icludes. Take this "Beyond The Mountains", the opening track of his solo album "Sirius And The Ghosts". It's a rather long instrumental based on an obsessive short theme, a compulsive, slightly dissonant lilt going through a dozen variations. Sounds exactly like the stuff I usually try to skip. Well, not at all.

This album was the first solo work by Daniel Denis.

Not only Denis catches my attention, but he also succeeds in what seemed imposssible to me: his piece of music surely is unusual and unsettling, but also pleasant and full or real emotions. Oh my... not a pure intellectual experience, but a revealing, passionate, even touching track! Try it, my friends, and see how RIO - or whatever you call this kind of music - can be when a great and sensitive musician takes care of it...

Epilogue (Salem Hill, 1998)

The American prog scene is a very rich and diversified one. Salem Hill, for example, successfully engaged themselves in a rather easy prog rock path (with a pinch of mistery in it) that I like very much. This "Epilogue" is the closing track of a very good concept album called "The Robbery of Murder", originally recorded on cassette in 1995, then re-recorded and revised for the final CD version. It's a good melodic, even symphonic song, in a soundtrack-like glorious way. The theme is so well found and the arrangement so cleverly set up that I was reminded of Alan Parsons Project, but also of Spock's Beard.

"The Robbery of Murder" was Silent Hill's fourth official release.

I like the way the vocals carry on the band's wall of sound and the guitar solo perfectly finishes the work. A light, but also lively and fresh approach to music this is, and a very flushing one. That doesn't mean you'll be overwhelmed by the sound, on the contrary you'll be able to identify and to enjoy each single instrument and each single variation. A wise production and a definite taste are responsible for that. Two more reasons to try this track.

Hole (Anekdoten, 1999)

Anekdoten have always been fond of King Crimson's sound, but they've also been so clever to arrange their own style. This is definitely true with this song, "Hole", taken from the album "From Whitin". We find here some "Cadence and Cascade" relics, but also a splendid mix of Northern darkness, bright guitar riffs and updated walls of sound. Nicklas Berg's Mellotron is simply perfect, and the highly creative drumming by Peter Nordins gently supports the rest of the band's emboideries, always delicate and never sweetish.

"From Within" was Anekdoten's third studio album.

What I really like here is the way the band have to dig into their souls, following a fascinating and somewhat painful path. The long down tempo instrumental section filling the central part of the track is beathtaking to me, like glimpses of another world through thin, fluttering veils. Come and see yourselves...

The Beginning And The End (Jadis, 1992)

"More Than Meets The Eyes" was the first officially released album by Jadis, the band including such good musicians as IQ members John Jowitt and Martin Orford, and especially Gary Chandler, the leading man of the band. Their music is a melodic one, rather guitar-driven, but, of course, also full of atmospheric keyboards. I especially like this track for its well developed themes and the way each musician gives its best in it.

This is the original CD cover art: you'll also find a special

edition, released in 2004 and including some bonus rarities.

All I like in neo-prog movement is there, while there's no trace of all I could dislike (please note I just st wrote I could dislike): no pomp, no affected arrangements, no musicians showing off useless skills, no sweetish emboideries, no pretentious lyrics. Instead, you'll find those almost visual guitars, flowing like fresh water and a lot of good changes in due time. Really, this is a piece of music that revives me and makes me leave apart dull days and busy streets.