BIG BIG TRAIN REVITALISED

I enjoyed this live-album immensely and believe it's a triumph for all concerned. As I started watching the blu-ray, I initially had some misgivings, as the venue where it all was filmed (London's Cadogan Hall) took me back to my own less-than-happy live experience with the band (described in my review of the 2018 album MERCHANTS OF LIGHT). I was soon won over, though, by the charisma of lead singer Alberto Bravin, who looks like a happier and far more relaxed live performer than David Longdon. Of course Longdon's crucial role in Big Big Train cannot be overstated, but I always found him rather scary to watch. Bravin immediately wins the audience over; his singing is heartfelt and soars at the right moments; if there's one point where you could criticise him, it's that his diction is sometimes a little unclear - but never to the extent that it diminishes the music.

Big Big Train here perform a mixture of classics old and new - if I may venture to say so - and everybody's commitment is clearly visible. That includes new star violinist Clare Lindley and keyboardist Oskar Holldorf; the latter is far more fun to watch than earlier BBT keyboard players, who tended to merge with the wallpaper. I was especially impressed with the virtuoso guitar playing of Maria Barbieri, who joined BBT only for this particular tour. How she managed to learn all those intricate parts I don't know, but she performs her solos with great gusto. To my regret, she's rather unflatteringly tucked away toward the back of the stage, but she gets quite a few chances to shine, and - much to my delight - on the album's inner sleeve it's her photograph that's included behind the first disc, not Rikard Sjöblom's, who's left out altogether. (Sjöblom's a totally delightful figure on stage, though, doing some truly exciting things on guitar and keys, and also featuring as backing vocalist. The one band member who probably gets the most camera time - perhaps a little too much - is master drummer Nick D'Virgilio. I personally would have enjoyed seeing far more of Gregory Spawton's bass playing.)

On the accompanying live CDs, the sound is crystal-clear, but I'm unsure how often I'll be returning to them - it's just too much fun to hear AND watch this band. As of January 2025, when I'm writing these words, BBT are preparing to go on tour with only one electric guitarist (Sjöblom) - does that mean their current live performances are more straightforward and less sophisticated?

I have been listening to bad music from good and great bands for the past month or so. Kayak's Phantom of The Night has got to be the worst thing I've heard yet. Nothing comes close to this colossal turd. I sat through The Rolling Stone's Dirty Work and through Wishbone Ash's Locked In. And as bad as those were, they sound fresh and fun compared to the music here. This is music for people who think that jogging is a dangerous activity. Or music to torture someone. This music is horrendously awful. Think of Supertramp's worst album. Then have a bunch of teenagers from our CURRENT year try to do something like it. That is what this album sounds like. The Grinch would die if he heard music this "happy".

Klaus Doldinger's first release using the "Passport" moniker. Unfortunately, he would have to come up with a whole new lineup of musicians in order to produce his next album.

1. "Uranus" (6:35) with the use of weird synthesizer sounds and multiple "chorus" saxophones in the lead, this one sounds futuristic--like something that would influence the next/new generation of German prog rockers (ELOY and ANYONE'S DAUGHTER are what immediately come to mind). Though I like the flutes as a complement to the rest of the sounds in the second motif, it's Udo Lindenberg's drumming that really holds my attention the most--that and the intriguing sound choices coming from Jimmy Jackson and Klaus Doldinger's keyboards. (8.75/10)

2. "Shirokko" (5:44) opening with Klaus's solo saxophone being fed through some delay, echo, and panning effects for a 55-second intro before the drummer and bass player breaks into a groovy 1960s jazzed (or funked)-up surfer music motif. Clavinet-like keyboard provides the R&B guitar-like rhythm play while multiple saxophones provide horn- section-like background fill. Some of Klaus and Olaf Kübler's saxes solo over the top as well as Jimmy Jackson's organ in the third and fourth. Excellent! The really superstar (besides Udo's smooth/relaxed drumming) is Lothar Meid's chill bass play. A top three song for me--probably my favorite. (9.125/10)

3. "Hexensabbat" (4:27) using the heavy organ and "clavinet" sound from The Court of the Crimson King and driving Hammond and saxophone makes this song a very welcome proggy-side of the "new" jazz-rock fusion medium. Klaus's saxophone play leans far more to the sounds we've been hearing for a few months from Britain's VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR. Another top three song. (9/10)

4. "Nostalgia" (5:13) taking his cues from the great WAYNE SHORTER, Klaus has got to be one of the other first/early users of sound engineering effects on his saxophones. Nice, evenly-paced low key song.(8.75/10)

5. "Lemuria's dance" (4:37) and Klaus's pioneering way of using multiple saxophones to create his DON ELLIS-like wall of strings- and/or horn section-like back texture has also got to be pretty innovative (as well as perhaps nodding back to his big band days). Drummer Udo Lindenberg again impresses: big time! (8.875/10)

6. "Continuation" (9:53) a song that starts out with a spacey bucolic motif that develops very slowly and deliberately within its atmospheric spaciousness before the band winds up in the second half ramping things up to another VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR level of power: even going so far as to use similar sound palette and odd chord progressions. (17.5/20)

7. "Madhouse jam" (5:47) early MIROSLAV VITOUS/HERBIE HANCOCK/LARRY CORYELL-like funk using a rather simple bass and chord progression to define the rhythm track while adding some rock-like instruments like rhythm guitar and breathy flute; the whole foundation is just too blues-rock simplistic. Even WAR or BRIAN AUGER are more sophisticated and multi-directional than this. (8.5/10)

Total Time: 42:16

B/four stars; an excellent representative of the directions of possibilities in early Jazz-Rock Fusion.

Klaus Doldinger's second album using the "Passport" moniker, for which he had to get an entirely fresh set of musicians to try to support his vision, his compositions, including two Americans, keyboard artist John Mealing and drummer Bryan Spring. This marks the beginning of bassist Wolfgang Schmid (later known as Wolfgang Schmid- Grandy)'s six-year, six album commitment to Klaus.

1. "Mandragora" (3:46) very modern synth, clavinet, and electric bass noises open this one before drummer Bryan Spring and bassist Wolfgang Schmid align in an awesome cruisin' groove with clavinet right there with them. Though Klaus' multiple saxes present the main melody, it's his funky synthesizer that takes the first solo. In the third minute it's time for solo tenor sax. The melodies are okay, but it's the rhythm track that is so winning! (9.3333/10)

2. "Nexus" (5:23) here the rhythm section have some fun playing around with a wild game of tag before settling into a surprising R&B groove for Klaus to solo over while John Mealing plays around with his electric piano somewhere in the middle. Bassist Wolfgang Schmid and drummer Bryan Spring are playing like Titans (or monsters), as if they're in The Flintstones primal drum band--a theme that becomes even more pronounced in and throughout the fourth and fifth minutes. Not even Klaus' emotional soprano sax can take my attention away from this primal groove--not until the final 15 seconds when the band wind it down does the hypnotic effect fade. Nice! (9/10)

3. "Fairy tale" (7:32) gently echoing soprano sax notes float off into the mountain foothills while the gentle breeze tinkles the wind chimes and cymbals. Electric piano and bass notes join in slowly, transforming the porch-view into a trek into the foothills. Beautiful melodies issued by Klaus are apparently borrowed from a famous German folk song (which is even credited in the album's liner notes). Pleasant Herbie Hancock-like pastoral electric piano play during John Mealing's solo in the fifth minute. How can people discount this artist's abilities?! There is so much feeling and nuance in his play (not all flash and flare). Klaus returns with his soprano sax in the sixth minute as the rhythm section tightens up a bit--but not too much: just raising the tension levels a notch or two--but then Klaus' hypnotic echoed- melodies convince everyone to back down again to the gentle support roles they initially exhibited. Nice song! (13.75/15)

4. "Get yourself a second passport" (4:03) another funky clavinet-led R&B opening and acceleration is enhanced noticeably by the wah-wah and volume pedal modified rhythm guitar. (Wolfgang?!?!) Nice rhythm play beneath Klaus' soprano sax and "flute" synth solos. Wolfgang is really on fire in the "Can't Get Next to You" third and fourth minutes. Klaus switches to multiple instruments on multiple tracks to issue the main melody. Pretty cool! (8.875/10)

5. "Registration O" (9:24) Opening like a kind of campy burlesque song, the bass and low-end heavy drums are reinforced by a low-end organ bass as Klaus blasts away rather wildly on his tenor sax. I find it interesting how Klaus has mixed the organ's bass pedal line as the most forward, highest volume track in the song. Synth "saw" solo in the fourth minute is followed by a searing organ solo. But the biggest surprise (and highlight) to this heavy, MAGMA-esque tune is bassist Wolfgang Schmid's very good wah-ed electric guitar solo in the fifth and sixth minutes--it's even rousing enough to rile Bryan Spring into some risky drumming. But, with the advent of the seventh minute, everybody congeals again to a uniform goal, allowing the main bass melody to carry everybody to the eighth minute where they devolve the song in order to break into a new up-tempo motif with a cruisin' groove similar to that of the album's opening song. This then plays out in a jam as John and Klaus express their unbound feelings through organ, electric piano, and sax. Weird but powerful and definitely memorable. (17.5/20)

6. "Horizon beyond" (6:46) a fairly straightforward composition that is made so dynamic and entertaining by Wolfgang and Bryan. Plus, the sax play on this one (soprano) is one of the better/more accessible ones (for me). Even John's Hammond organ solo in the fifth and sixth minutes is great (though, admittedly, made better by Bryan Spring's drumming and Wolfgang Schmid's matching bass play). Nice melodies coming from both Klaus and Wolfgang. (14/15)

7. "The cat from Katmandu" (4:38) opens with a bass-and-drums straightaway: and then the multi-track conglomeration of several of Klaus' saxes presenting the melody (which is also quite catchy). And the throbbing organ chords in the background add a ton to the groove--a groove that becomes rather trance-inducing to we on the dance floor! This is also a sound that previews the sound that American saxophonist David Sanborn becomes so well known for. (9.75/10)

Total Time: 41:32

Due to superior production attention and techniques, even in 1972 Passport was exhibiting sound far in advance of that of most record companies in the USA; the production value here sounds like something from 1975 or 1976! (I urge you to compare this album to other 1972 releases in the jazz, rock and prog world: you will be very hard-pressed to find anything to measure up to this one.) The band have Dieter Dierks and Jörge Scheuermann at Dieter's state-of- the art home-based recording studio in Stommeln as well as bandleader (and producer) Klaus Doldinger's almost anal- retentive attention to detail to thank for this. The music, however, is often built around either 1) rather simple ideas and structures or 2) Klaus' fiery saxophone solos. Though there is no denying that Klaus is a very skilled saxophone player, his sound and style does absolutely nothing to help win me over into the crowd of saxophone fans. I'll even go further in saying that it is most often the work of his band mates that engages me despite my aversion to saxophone leads. While many reviewers find it difficult to find skill or accomplishment in the instrumental performances on this album, I find myself so impressed that I wonder if I'm listening to the same album these other reviewers are listening to. Drummer Bryan Spring and certainly bass player Wolfgang Schmid are very dynamic, engaging, even exciting to listen to, while keyboardist John Mealing is definitely no slouch. What are these other reviewers hearing/seeing that I'm missing? The sound recording is so clear and pristine that each musicians' contributions are fully on display; there can be no questioning their skill and talent--and with the knowledge of Klaus Doldinger's rather exacting expectations and standards, I find it hard to find fault in these performances: they're most likely doing exactly what Klaus has asked of them--and I hear a ton of creative inputs coming from each and every musician through each and every song!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of rockin' and funky Jazz-Rock Fusion that feels two to three years ahead of the curve on the historical J-R Fuse trajectory. The sound production alone is well-worth any prog-lover's attention and appreciation: You gotta hear it to believe it!

The songs are mostly fine. I sort of liked "To France", it's good enough to be good, but nothing beyond that. Most of the remaining tracks are on par with it. "Trick of The Light" and "Discovery" are significantly better. Things don't start well with the beginning of side two. "Talk About Your Life" is just so so. It had the potential to be a little more, just enough to get it to be okay. But it doesn't, it just stays as a filler track. The next track is "Saved By A Bell" and this one is comically bad. I almost feel embarrassed listening to this one. It came close to making me want to stop the album altogether. Up next is the only instrumental in the album and its your typical Mike. A long piece where some of it grabs you and some of it doesn't. Just because its long doesn't mean its great. 12 minute pieces should not score 2.5 stars. I feel like I am being generous with the last track. It sounds cheesy at times, like a montage for happy 80's feel good movies.

Side A is fine by me. I just never see myself playing side B ever again. But side B is half of the album and its bad. I say this is a 2.0. star album.

— First review of this album —

RAZA is DR. RAZA an entirely self-taught keyboardist from Toronto, Canada. On his first albums, he shows his virtuoso talents and plays his instruments with a furious passion. The music covers the symphonic, ambient, and metal genres especially the latter with more guitars. Lately, RAZA is inspired by prog-metal bands which can explain the new direction his music has taken. We can also see someone devoted to his work in his elaborate descriptions of the concepts behind his albums.

This last album has that prog-metal virtuosity and pace, but the melody comes more from the keyboards than the guitars. It sounds like a Dream Theater instrumental style led by Raza's heroic on the keyboards. The dark nature of the album has a lot of similarities with the music of another heavy prog artist in the name of Jason Rubenstein. The heaviness comes from the keyboards, which led to plenty of soloing, but Raza keeps a strong melodic content in his songs. The 3-part Nebula track has some classical arrangements to give this music a bit of grandeur. The second part is a cool interlude that calms things down before the music comes to its frenetic pace. Then we are treated to another keyboard solo in Jordan Rudess's style. "Nautilus" has the best drum intro before the keys get loose again in a bombastic mood. "Heroes Fanfare" is a song with that classical atmosphere, a nice arrangement of recorded violin and drums. 4 stars for sure

Waiting 25 years (a quarter of a century) to record your debut album, is alone worthy of the highest praise, proving that patience is the greatest virtue. Then, raising the bar even higher, the end result is this 2021 rather spectacular offering! Why, may you ask? Not only have they incorporated the vintage delicacy of classic RPI with a more contemporary sound, but the players are impeccably talented, throwing into the mix all kinds of instruments that are integral to the Mediterranean culture (Bouzouki, mandolin, flute and sax). The players clearly understood that melody, emotion and structure are the pillars of creative prog and each and every note has a purpose. Claudio Barone is a typical RPI storytelling singer with that slightly raspy voice, though this is a mostly instrumental offering, the two keyboardists show off highly developed interventions, the guitarist providing tasteful acoustic and electric motifs, Valter Bono keeps the rhythms nice and tidy with occasional up-front blasts from the bass guitar. The injection of medieval tones suave synth flights, constantly evolving variations to keep the fascination burning are to be found all over this 50 -minute recording.

Major highlights include the stunning opening salvo of "Alice Springs", "La Regina" and the two "Preludio" tracks, setting the foundation for the pleasure ride to follow, unabated until the very end, with the epic title track. "Il Sacco di Bisanzio" is a historical reflection on the fall of Constantinople in 1453, a story told with the necessary conviction and consequence of brutal combat between the Ottomans and the Byzantines. This is where the Renaissance began, as the Greeks fled into Italian exile. The perfect showstopper is the magnificent three-part "Beatrice", a 9 minute + stretch of beautiful sounds, starting out very traditional folk with mandolin and bouzouki causing impressionable images and a sweltering synthesizer flutter that hypnotizes effortlessly. Acoustic guitar and flute announce a heartfelt vocal, a very PFM/Le Orme melodic section that urges to astound. The third section has an insistent organ a la Toni Pagliuca that rages forth like a Roman Legion on the march, relentless, bombastic and exhilarating. A playful bass veers the theme into a loftier realm, before a lullaby flute takes the comp to a dreamy level that builds up steam, arriving at the destination with a spiralling guitar solo.

The volatile, somewhat jazzier instrumental "Il Richiamo della Sirena" has that PFM vibe, lots of spirited Thomas Cozzani synths volleying between the polyrhythmic Bono syncopations, before settling into a more melodic groove. The calmer, more ambient colorations are spellbinding. The contrastive sections is what makes this track so completely attractive, such as the blaring and urgent saxophone entering the fray and seducing like only that instrument often can. Darn brilliant!

The title track suggest another epic battle, this time involving the Reformation and the power of the church, engaged in lethal conflict for the right to control the destiny of mankind. Naturally starting out like a soundtrack composition that relies on an altar of liturgical prayers, pipe organ echoing gravely between the colonnades, and sombre Gregorian choirs whirling in the air, a spirited organ-led theme carves out a persistent call to arms, sliced by a lighter synth counterattack. The vocals are appropriately angry, rousing and rebellious. Suddenly sullen and despondent, the emotions are palpable with the church organ bellowing sadly, and the chorus howling the title in desperation. The final part underlines the finality of capitulation and defeat in the most solemn manner possible.

An excellent and highly recommended addition to any prog collection. I see that there is a live in Mexico album available as well. I will definitely seek that out. 5 Free team players

Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson had the desire of following up 'Tales' with yet another concept record inspired by literature, this time around drawing inspiration from the robot stories of Isaac Azimov, and with such a concept partially realized, the songs of the album ultimately became connected by the common theme of artificial intelligence, although not explicitly reiterating actual stories of Azimov. And while the duo abandoned the classical experiments of their debut album, they did preserve the essential structure of what was a very successful progressive rock record. This time around, however, the project offers a much more diverse range of styles and influences, a more profound, organic sound, perhaps a greater sense of composition and sees the introduction of a truly melancholic tone. 'I Robot' becomes a thematic album that offers some straightforward prog-pop tunes, some funky classics as well as some Floyd-ian grooves as the band once again has a cast of vocalist contributing to the album.

We have Eric Woolfson covering a tremendous array of keyboards, including the Fender Rhodes, the Wurlitzer and the clavinet, while Alan Parsons is busier with production, sound engineering, ambience, the use of effects, tape loops and sequences, all aspects that contribute to the futuristic, artsy sounds of 'I Robot', undoubtedly one of the signature progressive albums of the late 70s. Relying upon an instrumental intro once more, APP offer the iconic title track, a tune so quirky and memorable, a great introduction to a lush journey. 'I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You' with its uplifting guitars and swaying rhythms is another essential entry, while the moodier side of the band is explored on 'Some Other Time', 'Don't Let It Show', and 'Day After Day', all very mellow, these tracks focus on the songwriting aspect as well as the forging of a particular feel rather than the technical, instrumental side, which is to be heard on songs like 'The Voice' with its enigmatic and modernist middle section, 'Nucleus', 'Total Eclipse' and album closer. Obviously 'I Robot' is a classic album by the Alan Parsons Project, one that offers a fine balance between radio-friendly pop-prog tunes and spacey, instrumental ventures.

When Zopp released their first album, I became aware of it and I gave it a listen since I am a fan of instrumental music and I wanted to see what these guys were doing, but I failed to understand it. Still, when I learned that they had released a second album in 2023, I thought I should give it a brief listen and thankfully so. Ryan Stevenson, the mastermind of the band worked on this album for three years and played almost all the instruments except the drums to write an album deep-knee in the Canterbury scene - perhaps to a fault. Unlike the first album, this time he added vocals on some songs and although he isn't a great singer, his voice is decent (but I do believe that the songs could do with a better vocalist). The album consists of seven tracks and two of them are actually intros like the opener Amor Fati which leads to You and it is a very strong number. After that comes the instrumental Bushnell Keeler which is my favourite of the album and at this point I feel very pleased with myself that I decided to listen to the album. I said that there are two intros but come to think of it Uppmärksamhet could be considered as a third. Reality Tunnels is one more great instrumental song, even though here was the first time that I thought to myself that I could do with some diversity at the keyboard sounds and secondly the thought occured to me that the music was becoming a bit self- referential. Wetiko Approaching melts into the epic Toxicity and just because up so far there are only three fully- fledged songs, it was up to Toxicity that would tip the balance and the album would be either remarkable or simply good. Unfortunately, it didn't win me over although it has its moments, but maybe not as many to cover 14 minutes of music and I did 'try' to like it by listening to it several times. I read that Stevenson wanted to incorporate influences from the Australian scene like King Gizzard which is a scene that I don't like at all and maybe that's an extra reason for that. I am a bit disappointed because I feel I could have liked it more, but all in all it's an album that I will keep revisiting - and hopefully change my mind for the better in the future.

A good progressive rock orchestrated by Simon Collins, heavy music mixed with influences of alternative and electronic music.

More prog metal tracks, heavy more or less heavy going in different, varied directions, which destabilize a little; heavy prog from the early 2000s. A new, current, progressive sound in the variation, with a haunting atmosphere, mechanical riffs, with incisive guitars and Simon's explosive drums. A much stronger SOUND OF CONTACT, direct, modern with electronics in the background on the bass, synths. A studio concept with two musicians who had fun, from the tonic 'eMolecule' to the fresh sound that makes you want to but frustrates with the following ones on a vein reminiscent of PORCUPINE TREE typed. Melodic priority on 'The Architect', 'Prison Planet' and 'Dosed' throughout the album which then suffers from this initial lack of tonicity which left us hoping for much more. Halfway through the album the atmosphere changes again with a sound calibrated on GENESIS 2nd and 3rd version; well-worked intros on 'Awaken', 'Beyond Belief', 'My You' and this progressive space which was a little lacking with a lack of break inside the songs. In short, a long, diversified album, offering a platform of what the prog metal of tomorrow may be. (3.75).