Elton Dean/Mark Hewins - Bar Torque (2001)

Many will recognize Elton Dean from his days with the influential Soft Machine, beginning in 1970 with their landmark album Third, among various other projects such as Soft Heap and his own solo work. He is widely regarded as one of the best saxophone players in the British jazz scene. Mark Hewins has been a common feature in the same scene, and while not as well known, has also worked with the major Canterbury groups. The pair first worked together in Soft Heap, sparking a number of subsequent collaborations over the years.

Recorded live in November of 1992 at the London Jazz Cafe, Bar Torque captures a session of improvised pieces performed by this British duo. Utilizing a variety of tones and sounds with MIDI guitar and samplers, Hewins lays down a strong and unique harmonic backing, setting the stage for Dean's lyrical, melodic sax playing; be it undulating waves of sound, ringing bells, swirling synths, recorded bird songs or good old strumming. Dean's sax playing is marvelous throughout, with an overtly jazzy feel.

The players have a great feel for each other, intertwining their playing and staying away from stepping on each other's proverbial feet. The laid back, atmospheric feel of the album carries you as if you were floating away on a soft cloud. This is where my one complaint would lie - sometimes the music is too laid back for active listening. Otherwise, this album is a nice change of pace, and perfect to put on, lie back, and drift away too. - Mike Prete [September 2001]

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The December People - Sounds Like Christmas (2001)

Despite the often maligned catastrophes of previous all-star tribute albums, this time around Magna Carta has come up with a clever, if not totally successful effort with Sounds Like Christmas. Running with the premise of an anonymous band (in reality Robert Berry handling all the instruments and arrangements) with a slew of guest vocalists, the December People have taken traditional and popular Christmas songs and adapted them to the sound of classic rock and prog bands such as Queen, Pink Floyd, Yes and Genesis. While this can't help but come off as cheesy, some of the replications of certain bands are pretty clever, and really the whole atmosphere is one of self-parody, and not to be taken very seriously.

Songs such as "Carol of the Bells" (Yes), "Little Drummer Boy" (ELP), "Up on the Housetops..." (Kansas), come off as believable replicas of the associated band's sound, whereas pieces like "What Child is This?" lack the same ingenuity. The latter simply rips off the opening keyboard melody of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and moves on to a rather uninspired performance from Trent Gradner. While the vocalists are drawn from the typical Magna Carta stable, none stands out as anything beyond 'pretty good', with Berry himself turning in the better performances.

Upon first listen to the album, I didn't search out any info on the songs, and recognized most of the styles fairly quickly; a testament to both the subtle creativity of some, and the relatively lackluster effort of others. While the album does not have much more than a novelty appeal, it served its purpose, and I cracked a smile or chuckled as much as I cringed. - Mike Prete [February 2002]

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Delirium - Lo Scemo E Il Villaggio (1972)

Delirium was another in a long line of Italian progressive rock bands that lasted long enough to release a few albums, and then disappear without a trace. I find it quite frightening at how talented and overlooked many of the Italian bands were, even in their homeland. Thankfully, Delirium was something of an exception. They acquired a certain degree of fame and even scored at least one #1 single in the Italian charts (according to The Return of Italian Pop book). After releasing an album of pleasant folk rock (Dolce Aqua), Delirium adjusted their lineup slightly and delivered a true classic of Italian progressive rock.

Lo Scemo e Il Villaggio opens with a nice instrumental ("Villaggio", which is more or less the title track), and you may think you accidentally slipped in Jethro Tull's Living in the Past album! There's some great Ian Anderson style flute playing along with excellent Hammond organ. What I love about this album is that it's so cheerfully 1972, sure, it's outdated as hell at times, but that's part of its charm. Stylistically, we are taken all over the prog rock map, but mostly I'm reminded of The Moody Blues and Jethro Tull, along with Italian folk influences. "Gioia, Disordine, Risentimento" almost has a Canterbury sound, with nice sax and a shuffle-like tempo. This track will make you smile. "La Mia Pazzia" follows; believe me, you'll be humming this one long after the CD is over. It's sort of a hippy pop song, but so damn catchy that I for one can't help but admire it. However, my favorite tracks are the ones drenched in Mike Pinders-type mellotron strings, notably "Dimensione Uomo" and "Pensiero per un Abbandono". In fact, the former has possibly the most gorgeous mellotron melody I've ever heard. Romantic, melancholic and mystical, it's the quintessential Italian love ballad. Listening to this song and indeed the entire CD, it's amazing to think at how much the world of popular music has changed in the past thirty years.

Though a newcomer to the Italian "scene" might be wisest to begin with PFM, Le Orme or Banco, one shouldn't overlook Delirium. For my money, it's as essential as QVL, Il Balletto di Bronzo or Museo Rosenbach. The follow up, Delirium 3, is also highly recommended... Oh, and dig the threads the band members are wearing inside the CD booklet! - Steve Pettengill [October 2001]

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Demi Semi Quaver - Demi Semi Quaver (1998)

This is one of those albums that ought to work, but just ... doesn't.  Vocalist Emi Eleonola has worked with nearly every Japanese avant-prog luminary you can think of, including Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins and Koenjihyakkei fame.  And actually, Demi Semi Quaver sound a little like Koenji, if they were filtered through the slightly annoying Christian-sci-fi-post-punk goddess Nina Hagen. But while Koenji is often ass-kickingly good and Hagen at least has some variety to her twisted vocalisations, Eleonola just spends the entire album shrieking and grunting and warbling (and OK, she sings every now and then), almost always completely over-the-top ridiculous -- and she pretty much never lets up.

To be fair, a few of the songs here are actually pretty good, in a silly way.  "Boy Mona Lisa" is a rather enjoyable Zeuhlish spaz-rock tune, with some nice grating violin from Yuji Katsui and awesome metal percussion (reminds me of Zamla Mammaz Manna's "The Forge," only more techno).  The even more Magma-influenced "Fundamentarhythm" is a welcome breath of relief from the album's general madness, with its folky accordion and vocals that prove that Eleonola is much more enjoyable when she's singing than when she's freaking out. And I also have to mention the brief interlude "Mash," which is thirty seconds of bagpipey-sounding music played on several multi-tracked violins.

But as much as I'm in favor of assaultive music, most of the album is more obnoxious than it is good.  "Love Maniac," for example, doesn't have much beyond its ear-splitting thundersheet-or-whatever-that-is noises and irritating gibberish babble.  In other places, tracks that could have been great are actually ruined by the vocals; "Black Milk" is a perfect example, in which pounding Kukl-ish percussion grooves are all but obscured by Eleonola's throaty shouts and chants.  Overall, it's a chore to get through the whole CD. Incidentally, this Ten 23 Records release is not the original self-titled album by DSQ, but a compilation consisting of tracks from their first two albums, Demi Semi Quaver and Demi Semi Quaver 2.  All I can say to that is that if this is their best, I'll pass on hearing the stuff that didn't make it onto the CD. - Alex Temple [May 2002]

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Demons & Wizards - Demons & Wizards (2000)

Blind Guardian is one of the few power/progressive metal bands that I really enjoy, and their vocalist, Hansi Kürsch, is without a doubt one of the most expressive and effective vocalists around today. This album is a collaboration between Hansi and the guitarist from power metal luminaries Iced Earth, Jon Schaffer. I'm not a big fan of Iced Earth, primarily because it sounds like the vocalist usually just barks out the lines from the lyric sheet with little to no creative melodic push behind them (with the exception of their more "ballad" like songs). Demons & Wizards album sounds, just as one might expect, like Hansi Kürsch singing over Iced Earth's music. I was hoping it would be a little more on the prog-metal end of things, like Blind Guardian's recent albums, but the album is fairly straight ahead power metal. The addition of Hansi's powerful pipes really raises the level of Schaffer's compositions in my opinion. Like in Blind Guardian, it takes a couple listens to really lock into the dynamic and ultimately rousing vocal parts, and they are for the most part particularly ingenious and exciting, far and away the best part of the album. Schaffer's playing is fairly typical chugga-chugga type stuff for the most part, but he stretches out occasionally as he does in his primary band.

"Heaven Denies" is a killer opener, with some exciting vocal parts. "Fiddler on the Green" and "Path of Glory" are nice ballads that build up to heavy climaxes, while songs like "Blood on my Hands" and "Tear Down the Wall" just rip. The album also includes an effective cover of Cream's "White Room" as a bonus track. This is not a particularly progressive album, neither in compositional complexity nor in the presentation of new ideas. It is however, good fun for fans of Blind Guardian and Iced Earth, and a must for fans of both. - Greg Northrup [February 2001]

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Dice - Dice (1978)

This is a pretty spotty album considering the apparent general acclaim for it. It's okay, certainly, but is pretty much a passable mimicking bands like Yes and Gentle Giant. Instrumentally, it's quite good, though nothing original. The band plays nice melodic themes on a variety of instruments, which can come off as fairly cliched at points, though the playing is solid. You've heard everything this band does well before.

Vocally, the band is pretty bad. This is another case of a self-parodying, heavily accented vocalist basically reading the lines off the lyric sheet while adding little of substance to the compositions themselves. Reviews I've read seem to point to the "humor" of the lyrics, but I didn't shell out good money to be amused, which I really wasn't anyway. "Utopian Suntan" for instance is a particularly lame Queen-style waltz. The liner notes explain it as "a catchy tune about epithelial cancer". This would be funnier if someone else had bought the album and I got to read that. The 22 minute toke "epic" (you knew there had to be one) is patched together and drawn out, and although it has its moments, the piece is hampered in the long run by a silly narrative. Being that the lyrics are pretty stupid, it's really the music that does the talking here. Again, it's decent enough, but nothing that hasn't been dealt with better elsewhere. Without a doubt, Dice doesn't do much to make themselves an essential band among the legions of other great albums from the 70s. That said, an all instrumental album of Dice's has recently released from old master tapes. That album, entitled Four Riders of the Apocalypse, is considered a classic in some circles. Based on the instrumental prowess shown by the group on this album, I can believe it. Concerning this one though, there are so many truly underrated albums out there, that one should only seek this out if they really have a need for obscure 70s progressive, and will simply be pleased with competence. - Greg Northrup [February 2001]

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Divine In Sight - Sorrow and Promise (2001)

"An evangelical prog band? It's like they're trying to spread the Good News to as few people as possible!".

The preceding was a quote from a net-friend when I told him about Divine·In·Sight's self released debut album, Sorrow & Promise. Indeed, while the prog-rock landscape is not the most fertile avenue for ministry, the concept of a “Christian Progressive Rock Opera” (as christened in the CD liners) is just too novel to ignore.

This is no CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) schmaltz. Rather, if you've ever wondered what Rush would be like if they were into Jesus Christ instead of Ayn Rand, you can get a pretty good idea by listening to this album. Band head honcho Bart Boge's guitar tone is very obviously similar to Alex Lifeson's, and many of the riffs throughout the album would be at home on any early '80s Rush album. The band also freely sites Queen as an influence, though it's not nearly as prevalent as the Rush influence. While the music is derivative with a capital “D”, it's also pretty decent. The opener, “Black River”, is rife with up-front bass and guitar riffage, as well as the highest pitched vocals you'll ever hear out of a male vocalist. In fact, I scratched my head in confusion when I was unable to find a woman's name in the CD liners. But sure enough, Bart Boge is doing all of the singing. Despite the gender confusion, the vocals are rich and smooth, though maybe a tad weak in some of the upper registers.

The highlight of the album, in my opinion, is the instrumental “By Leaps and Bounds”. The intro does contain some of the heaviest evangelical themes, in the form of spoken sound clips. All that's missing is a hearty "I know all about the honor of God, Mary Jane". The music, though, is prime Rush-like instrumental rock. The third and final “song” is the nearly hour-long, 9 part “rock opera” title track. Here is where the band strays furthest from it's influences. A piece of that length is sure to overwhelm even the most seasoned band, and Divine·In·Sight certainly does struggle to carry it through the entire duration. Some parts drag and get old upon repeated listens. However, some of the album's best moments come within this suite... particularly when the thing breaks into a waltz (“Waltz of the Plastic Dolls”).

In the end, this is a somewhat enjoyable though not-terribly-original album. Fans of (you guessed it) early '80s Rush may find something to enjoy here. Others need not apply. - *Legion* [March 2002]

Originally published in Reels of Dreams Unrolled No. 15, December 12, 2001
One of the common themes among progressive rock lyrics is the concept of the spiritual journey. More often than not, this theme is dealt with in the context of some type of new age, existential or Eastern philosophy. But how often has it been done in a Christian context? Rarely, if ever. Here's proof that it can be done and done well. Enter Divine In Sight, a group of prog heads who came to Christ, but saw no reason to abandon asymmetrical time signatures and extended song forms. The result is an ambitious debut album which attempts to speak to believers as well as non-believers. This CD essentially contains three songs, the last of which is a nearly hour long rock opera from which the album gets its name.

"Black River" is the first piece on the CD. This nearly 13-minute song is probably the most well-rounded composition on the album. It mixes long instrumental passages with vocal sections, and heavy, slightly metallic guitar workouts with more delicate acoustic sections. Of particular interest here is the middle section, which employs some nifty acoustic rhythm guitar and a tasteful bass guitar solo. "By Leaps & Bounds" is an instrumental that shows the band cutting lose a bit. The influence of Rush is quite apparent here. Like that band in its early days, Divine in Sight excells at making interesting, complex music that goes far beyond what most rock bands can achieve with the limited instrumentation of a power trio. Keyboard usage and rhythm guitar overdubs are kept to a minimum on this piece, but the members of Divine in Sight manage to keep things interesting with lots of changes and complex parts for each instrument. While it's not quite on the level of a "La Villa Stragiato" or a "YYZ," it's still an engaging listen .

"Sorrow & Promise" is the aforementioned rock opera. It tells the story of a man who has a terrifying dream that serves as a catalyst that draws him nearer to God. It is important to the appreciation of this piece that one understands that it is, in fact, a rock opera which is essentially composed of nine different songs. It is not quite a giant, unified piece of music in the sense to which most prog fans may be accustomed. The transitions between the sections each contain some sound effects or incidental music that are relevant to the story for the sake of continuity. These transitions can get a little old after a while, but this is a minor flaw, as the songs themselves are quite good. Like the rest of the album, Bartholomew Bogue's Brian May-ish guitar playing is the dominant feature, though there is also plenty of room for busy, up-front bass playing which is very much in the Geddy Lee/Chris Squire mold. Some of the best sections of the opera are the triumphant "Sorrow & Promise Overture;" the eight-minute "Sleep," which provides plenty of variety between driving riffs and mellower themes; and the tragic, marshal-sounding "Into the Abyss."

Lest non-Christians be wary of purchasing an album by an openly Christian band for fear of listening to "preachy" or "judgemental" lyrics, take solace in the fact that much of the opera's lyrics are actually critical of weak Christians, rather than non-believers. Those who would wear the name of Christ, but who are complacent in their faith, or divisive of the body of Christ are warned right alongside those who don't accept Christ at all. The lyrics on this album should be tolerable to all but the most vigorously anti-religious. They aren't cheesy or overly emotional, but tell an interesting story in the grand tradition of the concept album, but with an undeniably Christian message .

Throughout the album, the musicianship is top-notch, as is the production and sound quality. Divine-in-Sight manage to sound technologically neutral by not relying on instrumentation that sounds either too modern or too retro. The only real nod to the old days is some very convincing sampled Mellotron, though it is used sparingly. Thankfully, digital effects and extremely modern guitar tones are also kept to a minimum. It's tempting to wish Divine-in-Sight could incorporate a talented, full-time keyboard player (or some other instrumentalist) to round out their sound and provide more opportunities for musical embellishment, but this band is one that certainly manages to do a lot with what they've got, so nothing is really lacking. Divine In Sight's official motto might as well be "no compromise." They haven't abandoned their prog rock roots in favor of a more conventional style acceptable to adherents of the largely artistically bland contmporary Christian scene. They also resist the temptation to water down or hide their profession of faith in order to appeal to the typical prog rocker. Such conviction is almost certainly a recipe for obscurity, but with this debut, Divine In Sight seem willing and well-prepared to meet the needs of the niche-within-a-niche market they seem to be after . - Scott Hamrick [December 2001]

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Dome - Dome 3 (1981)

Dome is one of many bands featuring B.C. Gilbert and Edward Graham Lewis, formerly of Wire. Unlike many of their other projects, though, Dome bears almost no resemblance to its parent band's mix of arty punk and abrasive prog; instead, the music is a very abstract variety of minimalist ethno-industrial.

On Dome 3, the focus is almost always on the beat -- propulsive, hypnotic and irregular in timbre. Most of the pieces consist of one idea repeated a whole lot, but the effect is different from most other repetetive music: it doesn't build to a ferocious climax like Magma, lull you into a trance like Steve Reich, or act as filler like [insert repetetive band you don't like here]. Instead, the constant slight variations force you to listen very closely to the texture, whether it's the chugging, buzzing percussion and high, chime-like sounds of "Roos-An" or the heavily filtered drumming, echoey metallic noises and nightmarishly repeating cut-up syllables of "An-An-An-D-D-D."

Some of the pieces here might be of particular interest to avant-prog fans, though it's unlikely that Gilbert and Lewis were listening to any RIO. "D-D-Bo," in particular, reminds me a lot of Aksak Maboul's "A Modern Lesson," its jerky, muddy and oddly cheerful beat accompanying fractured vocals ("All that I win is all that I love!" "All that I love is all that I win!") and discordant interjections from guitar and saxophone. "Ur-Ur" opens with a glissando-filled mess of polyrhythmic drumbeats that wouldn't feel too out of place on some of the more recent Biota albums, though this quickly gives way to a disjointed, distinctly un-groovy rhythm of harsh guitar snaps and electronic warbles and pops. There are also a few pieces that lean in a more ambient direction. Most of "Danse" consists of ominous bass tones and isolated guitar tones, and the second half of "Dasz" is pretty much archetypical ambient: dripping water sounds, very slow synth chords and occasional miscellaneous background noises.

I must admit, I have to be in a certain mood to enjoy this album. If I'm feeling too spastic, the more minimalistic tracks like "Ar-Gu" and "Ba-Dr" get boring pretty quickly. But I'm not a huge fan of repetetive music in general, so those of you that are would probably dig this enormously. Even for readers who share my maximalist tendencies, Dome 3 might well be a good purchase -- I find that when I'm feeling more patient than usual, this one can really hit the spot. - Alex Temple [January 2003]

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Un Drame Musical Instantané - Crasse-Tignasse (1993)

This so-called "children's album" from the weirdly-named French band Un Drame Musical Instantané basically sounds like Albert Marcoeur with more electronics, jazz-cabaret influences, and really goofily melodramatic vocals. It probably won't surprise Progweed's regular readers that I have a lot of reservations about the album, since I don't like Marcoeur much at all. But somehow Crasse-Tignasse seems to have more worthwhile musical substance.

Oddly, the parts that seem to be direct sonic imports from Marcoeur don't bother me much here. The title-track has annoying gargling noises, but they seem both more interesting and more palatable when they're looped and sent flying all over the place by some maniac at the panning knob. "La Très Triste Histoire de Pauline et des Allumettes" has some awfully familiar-sounding wheezy winds (actually synthesized) and odd percussion breaks (steel drum, apparently), but I usually don't mind Marcoeur's instrumentations anyway. No, what grates on Crasse-Tignasse is the band's over-the-top "look how funny I can be!" affect, which is mainly expressed (unlike in Marcoeur's music) through a type of absurd vocal melodrama that only the French are capable of -- shrieking, hysterical sobbing, growling, and so on.

Still, there's usually some pretty interesting music hidden amidst the excessive "wackiness." "L'histoire du Méchant Frédéric," for instance, has a middle section that sequences the barking dogs in the background and various synthesizer and drum machine sounds into a herky-jerky, irregular groove that's really quite compelling. "L'histoire du Suceur de Pouce" also has a really nice passage in which clunky metallic sounds and synthesizers follow the rather complex vocal rhythm (which then gives way to scat-singing(!)). There's even one piece that's good all the way through, the understated "L'histoire de Jean-Regarde-en-l'air," whose snaky cabaret melody and dissonant jazz harmonies are constantly given beautiful new arrangements. And Bernard Vitet's jazzy trumpet playing is excellent throughout the album.

Except for the seemingly interminable bottle-percussion grooves of "L'histoire de Philippe-qui-Gigote," pretty much every track here is a mixture of really nice music and really irritating vocals that strain to be funny and fail nearly every time. If you go for goofy French avant-prog, add this to your list immediately. If not, it's a pretty tough call, but hey -- it's your money. - Alex Temple [February 2003]

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Dreadnaught - The American Standard (2001)

Following the true spirit of progressive music, Dreadnaught have brought together a wide array of influences on The American Standard, creating a unique and musically varied experience. Hailed with descriptions ranging from "Zappa meets Yes at Willie Nelson's BBQ" to "King Crimson at a hoedown", it is clear that this is a band with an interesting slant on progressive rock (and if I'm allowed my own witty description, Symphonic Bluegrass). Most prog bands tend to draw influence from western art music, but Dreadnaught explores a unique synthesis of traditional American music and rock. Intricate and complex playing intertwine with a bluegrass twang and punchy rhythms. While the band predominately rocks out with concise instrumentals, there are also a fair number of vocal pieces, recalling early Phish, or even Hands when the violin is utilized. Touches of the Dixie Dregs and Kansas also come through in the violin filled tracks.

Walton tends to steal the show with his versatile guitar playing, which can bring to mind the twang of Steve Howe, the angular crunches of Robert Fripp, or a subtle acoustic or jazz feel. Lord's fuzzy bass provides a dark underpinning, while Habib's drumming has just the right amount of energy to propel the songs along with out getting too flashy. The additional color of backing instruments, including piano, organ, synth, violin, and sax, brings an added depth to the trio, and helps even out the dynamics of the aggressive playing. The twenty minute suite, "Deus Ex Machina" brings all the different elements together into a cohesive whole, showcasing what the band is about. For those adventurous listeners looking for a new twist on the prog formula, Dreadnaught delivers. - Mike Prete [March 2002]

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Dun - Eros (1981)

Dün are the bastard offspring of Frank Zappa and Magma, with a heavy dose of RIO sensibility. Talk about intense. Dün's Eros is a throbbing, screeching cacophony of growling bass lines, fiery guitars, impossibly dense compositions and an oddly off putting flute emphasis. I found this one to be pretty tough to get into, as it's fairly oppressive listening, but those with a taste for the more esoteric and dissonant brands of progressive listening will find the album a true gem. The band has a lot in common with Zeuhl; generally exceedingly rhythmic, with massive bass lines wrapped around thundering drum patterns. Of course, the RIO element in present in spades, with incredibly complex parts all around, as well as dissonant, angular melodies that grate beautifully on the ear. Perhaps unique to this album is the use of flute as a consistent lead instrument, considering the stylistic context. Flautist Pascal Vandenbul provides a melodic counterpoint to the explosive rhythm section, but often joins the fray with squealing, aggressive contributions.

The band apparently draws their inspiration from Frank Herbert's novel Dune, but there is certainly no lyrical basis to tie the album together as some sort of "concept". Vocals are completely absent, aside from some wordless chants on "Bitonio". The album is divided into four tracks of approximately equal length. All the pieces are consistently good, even through the bonus tracks. "L'Espice" is a particularly biting opener. It can be extremely off putting initially, and is highlighted by an absolutely smoking guitar solo. "Arrakis" is my favorite track. At first it is slightly more inviting, opening with a piano/flute theme that is actually quite pretty. Eventually, the theme develops into a savage frenzy of distorted Zeuhl bass and powerful, up-tempo drums. The whopping four bonus tracks on Eros are all interesting listens. Three of the four are alternate takes of album cuts, while the last, "Acoustic Fremen" is a previously unreleased composition in its own right. Overall, one should know whether or not they will enjoy this album based on the rough description. Hardcore fans of lush symphonic will pry want to pass on Eros, but more adventurous listeners should certainly make it a priority. One of the best of its kind. - Greg Northrup [June 2001]

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