The Prism (Stratospheerius, 2012)

Stratospheerius was born by the eclectic genius of American (and Russian born) Joe Deninzon, ranging from jazz to classical music and from rock to experimental sounds. This is taken from the album "The Next World" and is an enthralling electric violin driven song (that's Deninzon's favourite instrument, of course) I could put somewhere in between Frank Zappa and Kansas, but with a pinch of Curved Air. There are a catchy riff and a good sung melody, but also cultivated and dance refererences.

This is the first album Deninzon credited to the band. Previuosly,

 he released three works as Joe Deninzon or J.D & Stratospheerius.

You're probably thinking this is a bit of a mess and you're not completely wrong... proggish music with a DJ at the turntables! Nonetheless, "The Prism" - like other good songs from the same CD - really rocks and also Deninzon's voice is warm and good, while also the band show up their talents. If you're into eclectic, litterally crossover prog, and if you also like sing-along tunes, this is definitely for you.

Find The Mistake (Machiavel, 2011)

Machiavel are one of those bands that constantly surprise their fans. Each of their albums, maybe each of their songs has something new and unexpected in it. This is certainly the case with "Find The Mistake", taken from the album "Eleven". It's so modern and musically up to date that you could figure out this comes from one of the XXIth Century post prog bands.

This 2011 album is the 11th Machiavel's studio work and it also

features 11 tracks. Its title is a matter of coherence, isn't it?

Not at all: it's just another face of the unpredictable Machiavel's sound. And there's more than a gloomy melody: just listen to the arcane intro or to the long and beautiful electric guitar solo towards the end of the song, spectacular and original, I daresay. That's how an experienced and creative band can merge the old and the new to make a good and emotional song. Well done, my old Belgian friends!

No Son of Mine (Genesis, 1991)

This has Always been a special song to me. Firstly because I saw it on its 12" vinyl single form in my usual record shop and it was such big a pleasure to read the name "Genesis" once again on a new record. I would have that same joy some days later with "We Can't Dance" album, of course. Then, when I immediately bought it and took it home, I was frankly surprised by the emotional strength of the song. Phil Collins sings this one with all his heart and soul and the lyrics are about an abused child (or maybe the child of an abused mother) running away, coming back home and being shut out by his father this time.

I always liked this cover art, maybe even more than the album one.

A sad story depicted in a very good video and going with a highly innovative music. The metronome intro, the harsh drumming, the famous "elephantus"sound (actually a twisted sample of Mike Ruterford's guitar) are but a taster of the song, full of good ideas, featuring a strong melodic base and a very original arrangement. Prog or not, songs like this one always catch up my attention and my feelings.

Another Day (Mystery, 2012)

The Canadian Mystery are also known for their vocalist, Benoît David, who sang with Yes from 2008 to 2012 and faced the very difficult task to replace Jon Anderson. David was also a member of Mystery between 1999 and 2014. But this beautiful suite clearly shows that these Canadian musicians deserve some more attention and actually do an excellent progressive rock. "Another Day" comes from the album "The World Is A Game"and, while credited as a long single track, it features different moments and varied sections, and also some recurring themes.

"The World Is A Game" is the fifth studio album by Mystery. 

David sings it very well, kind of an answer to some criticisms he received during his Yes experience. Another special mention naturally goes to Michel St-Père, the man behind Mystery, who wrote the song and played both keyboards and guitars. He balanced very well hard and mellow sections and also managed to enrich the sound with guest musicians like Marilène Provencher-Leduc whose sweet flute graces the most atmospheric moods of this suite or the drummer Nick D'Virgilio of Beard Fish and Big Big Train fame. A very good listening, if you believe me.

Encuentro fugaz (Triana, 1980)

Many prog fans know very well the beautiful debut album of this Spanish band, but they almost ignore the rest of their production. Such a shame, as Triana made many excellent records, including the song I'm introducing here. It comes from their fourth album, titled "Un encuentro" and it immediately proves to be one of the most creative tracks of  Jesús de la Rosa  & friends.

This album also features "Tu frialdad", the only real hit of Triana.

It's a dark, meditative song about love and its unpredictable turns, based on piano and spanish guitar, and of course feturing the splendid voice of de la Rosa. If some other tracks of the album seem more pop than the usual Triana's standard, this isn't a plain song at all, with its morn instrumental passages and its half spoken melody. A nocturnal, intense, rich song that digs very deep in human soul, in short: a real prog song.

Halloween part II (Pulsar, 1977)

The second part of this wonderful suite (for part 1 introduction, please search this blog) of French band Pulsar features as good and varied music as the previous installment. This B-side suite is divided into five movements: a) Lone Fantasy, b) Dawn Over Darkness, c) Misty Garden Of Passion, d) Fear Of Frost, and e) Time, for a total duration time of 18:40 minutes. This composition surely deserves an in-depth description.

The first section is mellow and mostly acoustic, full of mysterious and almost spacey sounds, while the second one is a perfect specimen of symphonic rock, also including some good vocals, and this same fully progressive mood goes on during the third section. The following passage is more varied as it includes some harsh sounds and the rythm rises at places, generating a pleasant constrast with the most peaceful moments of the track. The finale brings back an arcane and suspended atmosphere, probably the band's trademark. Once again, this is very, very good prog.

Lucky Man (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, 1970)

This is the first single released by Emerson, Lake & Palmer and obviously comes from their self titled debut album. It's the archetype of all the band's ballads, featuring the guitar and the warm vocal interpretation of Greg Lake, a rich drum work by Carl Palmer and  keyboard variation by you know who. The most extreme prog band had in fact a special taste for plain and sweet ballads like this one, usually written by Lake.

One of the many different art covers of the 7" single.

And "Lucky Man" has also its own peculiar story and some related legends. The singer composed this track when he was just a kid and this has been confirmed many times by the author himself. Emerson wasn't fond of such a folk song and only accepted to put it into the album when he was allowed to add the final synth solo, but Keith declared that he wanted to record it more carefully, and that the released version was just a first try. Maybe because of these quarrels, the choice of this track as a single was made by the band's manager without asking the musicians' advice(another legend?). Well, I do think he did very well.