I find this album more easy going than the previous album Rough and Ready. It is also more polished and commercially oriented. There should could have been fewer cover songs considering the strength of the band. The band sounds cohesive and more relaxed. The instrumental moments are very precious although there is no denying that the singer tries hard to sound soulful. The later jazz-rock influences and a few Stevie Wonder moves (most apparently the cover version of Got to have a song) are creeping in. I find the catchy Going down going on for too long and vice-versa, the last two tracks could have been longer, as they are instrumentally and compositionally interesting pieces of music. The guitar soloing in the last song is emotional and still technically solid. Still not that much for a proghead but enough for 3 stars.

Featuring the current members of French bands PoiL, Ni., and Lunatic Toys, "Bran Coucou" is a long awaited debut album by PinioL from Lion, France. PinioL is a septet composed of two autonomous power-trios which are bound into the tight ensemble by a free conductor-keyboardist. From the very first movement in music, it becomes clear that these guys came to deliver complex, dense, ultra polyphonic and polyrhythmic, violent, loud and heavy Avant-Prog-Metal. The instrumental parts with multiple traces of RIO, Zeuhl, Art-Core, Math-Metal, Noise-Jazz, and other musical traditions are accompanied by gibberish singing which adds freakishly positive madness to the entire show. Don't be led astray by smooth and smarmy preludes or passages. This is a tough thing from the beginning to the end. But adventurous and open-minded music lovers will be rewarded for sure. If you enjoy brutal, deviant, and surreal Avant-Prog-Metal, "Bran Coucou" is a must have for you. P.S. Absolutely agree with the view that "Bran Coucou" is the best album (best of "Underground Prog") of the first half of 2018. Cheers to PinioL and Dur Et Doux label!

— First review of this album —

"THE ULTIMATE VINTAGE KEYBOARD EXTRAVAGANZA!"

For me the colouring with vintage keyboards is an essential part of the Classic Prog era: Mike Pinder's Mellotron in The Moody Blues, the soaring Hammond organ in Procol Harum their sound, early King Crimson with legendary use of the Mellotron, Rick Wright and his Farfisa organ in the psychedelic Pink Floyd era, Keith Emerson with his sensational Moog modular synthesizer sound, Tony Banks and his ARP Pro Solist synthesizer flights in 73-77 Genesis. And, last but not least, Rick Wakeman , he epitomizes the ultimate vintage keyboard sound in the Seventies, from the Moog, Mellotron and Hammond to the Hohner clavinet, Steinway Grand piano and Fender Rhodes electric piano, it's on his awesome list! I am a huge fan of his work with Yes in the Seventies (except the boring TFTO) and his early solo work, layered with varied vintage keyboards and showcasing his jawdropping skills. I consider this this comprehensive compilation CD as an excellent start to discover the exciting world of Rick Wakeman solo in the Seventies.

It spans the era from his outstanding and highly acclaimed first studio-album The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (1973) until his seventh effort, the disappointing Rhapsodies (1979). On this CD compilation Rick Wakeman not only shines with his keyboard wizardy, but also as a composer: he writes very melodic and harmonic music with flowing shifting moods, embellished with his wide range of keyboards. The one moment dreamy atmospheres with tender Grand piano or soaring Mellotron (wonderful interlude with violins section in Catherine Howard). The other moment swinging rhythms with Hammond and clavinet or sumptuous eruptions with sensational work on the Minimoog (in Anna Boleyn). A strong element is the contrast between the sparkling Grand piano runs and the fat Minimoog synthesizer flights (in Catherine Of Aragon), emphasizing the happy marriage between classical and symphonic rock in his music.

We can also enjoy work from his legendary and commercially very succesful album Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, featuring two live tracks.

Medley: The Journey / Recollection : the atmospheres are between bombastic with a choir and dreamy with warm vocals, the spectacular Minimoog sound is omnipresent).

The Battle : this song delivers a swinging rhythm, a choir singing "crocodile teeth, lizard head", duo-vocals and the distinctive Hohner clavinet, a captivating blend of classic and symphonic rock. To be honest, I miss the rest of the album, it's an 'incomplete musical experience' to listen to only a part of that exciting concept album.

A 'trademark Rick Wakeman Seventies solo album composition' is Arthur: an orchestra with a strong brass sound, a propulsive and fluent rhythm-section and strong interplay between the orchestra, a choir and Wakeman (with spectacular work on the Minimoog).

In Merlin The Magician our Caped Crusader delivers his most fat sounding Minimoog flights I have ever heard, how exciting, in a swinging rhythm and duelling with the cheerful honky-tonk piano. The climate ranges from dreamy with a female choir to bombastic, this is top notch Rick Wakeman solo!

One of the few songs with vocals is the alternating Prisoner, wonderfully coloured with Mellotron flute and violins, electric harpsichord and a church organ, the slightly raw vocals match good with the varied music.

One of my favourite Rick Wakeman solo tracks is the swinging White Rock featuring dazzling Minimoog runs, I love the bombastic atmosphere and Wakeman his virtuosic and sensational Minimoog play.

Between all the bombastic and swinging tracks After The Ball is an oasis of silence, with its romantic climate: tender classical piano, soft Minimoog flights and soaring Mellotron violins, wonderful!

Remarkable in the three tracks from his masterpiece Criminal Record (1977) is the awesome rhythm-section, this is the duo Chris Squire and Alan White (in that time Wakeman had rejoined Yes and everybody was happy and enthusiastic about the triumphant return with GFTO). We can enjoy Emersonian Grand piano runs and great work on the Moog and Hammond in Statue Of Justice, a captivating tension between the tender Grand piano and bombastic Hammond and Moog in the varied Crimes Of Passion and sensational Minimoog flights in Chamber Of Horrors.

The final track on this compilation is a beauty, the dreamy The Palais featuring a solo piece on the Grand piano, from tender to sparkling, Rick Wakeman in his full splendor as a classically trained musician!

This is the best you can get if you like Old School keyboard driven prog, "no fillers, all killers!"

— First review of this album —

Tech metal is one of those nebulous areas of music that i still find very difficult to figure out why some bands totally work for me and others don't despite all the tech chops being checked off like clockwork. While bands like Deathspell Omega and Gorguts have soared to the top of the charts for their innovative and creative avant-garde take on established sub-genera of the metal universe, others sorta fall between the cracks. PYRRHON is one such band that despite cranking out all the expected techy aspects in abundance, sorta fail to inspire beyond a certain level and that is no more apparent than on their debut EP release FEVER KINGDOMS which came out in 2010.

The band was founded all the way back in 2008 when guitarist Dylan DiLeila and bassist Mike Sheen met by happenstance on a subway platform and then found drummer Alex Cohen to join the crew. Along the way they found Doug Moore to join in as vocalist. While PYRRHON has in recent years upped their game and joined the ranks of the more known ranks of the tech death metal universe alongside other surreal noisemakers such as Portal, Ulcerate or Mithras, on FEVER KINGDOMS they take a rather generic sounding approach with a sound that somehow finds itself somewhere between death metal with the gutteral growls and frenetic angular riffs but with more of a mathcore in yer face grind that churns on relentlessly in full extreme metal fashion.

While these elements are not that bad within themselves, this EP unfortunately lacks any sort of variety or attention grabbing ideas. And along with that, i find the drumming style of Alex Cohen a little lackluster for the type of tech death they are trying to capture. Another band that is similar is Gigan who master the surreal and detached psychedelic metal sound that they strive to create. In their case the musicians are bombastic and unapologetically ferocious and have the chops to pull it off as well as an imagination that allows a flexibility that is needed for the cosmic metal ride. FEVER KINGDOMS seems to just plod along predictably with each of the five tracks sounding alike with the same riffs recycled.

What it boils down to with PYRRHON's debut is that something is woefully missing to give this sonic noise parade some sort of spirit. It plods along checking off all the boxes of extreme tech metal but doesn't deliver in anything that is very satisfying. In the tech death universe where sonic maelstroms can easily resemble any other, the differences are very subtle and the tight wire act between something outstandingly original and woefully cliche and lackluster can be a very small margin of differences and in the case of PYRRHON's FEVER KINGDOMS falls short of the interesting mark and leaves me quite unsatisfied especially after experiencing their more mature albums first.

2.5 rounded down

This was the debut for this Norwegian band released in 2012. Quite a vocal dominated affair really but with some killer instrumental work throughout. If it wasn't so heavy on the vocals I would be considering a higher rating. Still I went from being kind of amused with what I heard after the first couple of listens to not being able to wait to play this album once again. Very melodic and catchy throughout. This band formed from the ashes of LES FLEURS DU MAL who never released an album but we do get a 17 1/2 minute bonus track by them that is the best song on this recording and it doesn't sound much like the same band as we get Andreas the current vocalist for WOBBLER singing and a much more Swedish sound in my opinion with the mellotron, guitar, upfront bass and melancholic sound. I agree with Andy from Planet Mellotron that this bonus track is almost worth the price of admission alone.

I don't usually even comment on bonus tracks unless they are exceptional and there's another one by TUSMORKE called "Singers & Swallows" that would be second favourite track on here, go figure. The main album features plenty of vintage keyboard work from WOBBLER's own Lars Fredrik Froislie as he brings in mellotron, spinet, chamberlin, clavinet, organ, synths, glockenspiel, musical box and the kitchen sink. He also produced and recorded it. Again the main album has lots of vocals, harmonies and catchy choruses which usually isn't my thing but I was won over fairly quickly. The album's title means "Subterranean Twilight" and this is a mellotron album for sure.

"Fimbul" is catchy with flute over top then the vocals join in. Shades of mellotron and chamberlin too along with synths. I like when it calms down after 2 minutes with mellotron, bass then flute. Reserved vocals join in along with keys. It all kicks back in around 3 1/2 minutes. Another calm with vocal melodies after 4 1/2 minutes which sounds really good.

"Watching The Moon Fall Out Of The East" has this excellent melancholic intro with flute, mellotron and more as these relaxed vocals join in. This is a top four track for me. Reminds me of SINKADUS and ANGLAGARD actually during the more laid back sections. Love when it picks up as well 4 minutes in especially that rickenbacker bass. We get flute, guitar, drums and more. It picks up even more late with vocals and vocal melodies. What a song!

"The Quintessence Of Elements" has melancholic flute to start as bass, drums and more take over with vocals. Catchy and melodic and we get organ on the chorus. A beautiful instrumental section starts after 2 minutes then it picks up before the vocals return. "Young Man & His Woman" is very uptempo and vocal led with plenty of flute and organ. I like when it settles down after a minute without vocals. It kicks back in and we get vocal melodies here and some passion in those vocals too. Themes are repeated.

"A Nightmare's Just A Dream" is laid back to start with flute, prominent bass and a beat as the vocals join in. It turns fuller a minute in, in fact it gets quite intense really. It settles again as contrasts continue. Check out the mellotron before 2 1/2 minutes and that incredible section starting before 6 minutes instrumentally. Love that bass!

"Hostjevndogn" features vocals in their native language and this is a top four song for me as well. It's more relaxed with drums and flute standing out to start then reserved vocals join in. Man that instrumental section sounds so good beginning 3 minutes in and ending around 4 1/2 minutes. This song reminds me of SINKADUS. "Singers & Swallows" one of the three bonus tracks is a top four. A chilled tune really with flute, a beat, upfront bass and more. Such a beautiful track. Some nice vocal melodies along with mellotron too.

"Ode On Dawn" is a classic and as I said in the intro I want more! Hopefully there is more archival material from this early incarnation of the band under the name LES FLEURS DU MAL. The percussion gallops along early on with the sound of wind as the flute arrives. The percussion ends but not the wind or flute. Vocals from Andreas before 1 1/2 minutes along with mellotron, bass, guitar and some brief spoken words. Flute, a beat and mellotron kick in too and what a great sound as it builds with that in your face bass. Vocals are back 5 minutes in as it settles with lots of mellotron and bass. A calm with wind before 7 1/2 minutes as the drums and bass build. Guitar joins in along with flute. So good! Vocals are back before 13 minutes but again like the first two times they don't last long as the guitar, bass and drums lead. So Swedish sounding with that mellotron. The percussion gallops away to end this stone cold classic.

So not counting the bonus tracks a solid 4 stars and an enjoyable release.

UK band SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI was formed back in 2001, at the onset a duo consisting of Nick Hannon and Marlon King. They appeared as recording artists in 2007, and while active as recording artists after this as well, this has mainly been in various forms of collaborations and side projects. "Continuum" is the band's second full length studio production, and was released through Herman label H42 Records in the spring of 2018.

I see the self-description of this band citing them as something of an avantgarde and post-metal oriented band. Those with a taste for artists of that particular nature may well find that Sons of Alpha Centuari, at least as they appear in 2018, are a few tracks away from such territories, and then the avantgarde aspect of it in particular. There's not much I'd describe as being post metal here either when it comes to that. Instrumental progressive rock is probably where I'd categorize this band and this specific album myself.

In the main compositions here the band tends to alternate between two distinct modes of delivery. One features relatively gently wandering and often plucked guitar details as the key element, and the other is dominated by darker toned riffs, at times with a gnarly, almost primitive sound at that. In both cases relatively delicate, floating keyboards will be used as overlays, and then more often than not with a cold, subtly cosmic tinge to it.

In between those contrasts we do get quite a few variations and deviations of course, with tasteful guitar solo runs as well as more effects laden guitar details as well as a bass guitar that gets some booming, beefy limelight here and there as well. The songs tend to ebb and flow nicely in intensity, either building up to a more intense finale or going full circle and concluding on a similar note as the opening part of the track. By plan or accident there's a case to be made here on the hypnotic effects of repetition too, and one might also argue that a couple of the cuts here have a stoner rock and a post-punk vibe to them respectively.

There's also a few atmospheric laden cuts to be enjoyed here, although for my sake they are by and large not as interesting as individual creations, functioning primarily as parts of an album experience as far as I'm concerned. The one exception is the opening cut 'Into the Abyss', but that may well be due to this one reminding me ever so slightly of late 70's Eloy, which for me is a good thing.

While I do find this album to be a well made production throughout, my main impression is that this will also be an album with something of a niche appeal. A tad too primitive sounding at times to make a broad headway into the progressive rock oriented crowd, and arguably a tad too sophisticated to gather a strong appeal among those with a primary taste for instrumental hard rock that is borderline metal at times. Still, those with a taste for instrumental progressive rock that exist within those parameters should find this album to be a compelling experience. A good album, but with something of a limited reach in my opinion at least.

Austrian multi-instrumentalist Heinz Strobl goes by the alias of Gandalf for his musical journeys, and his conceptual LP from 1983, `Magic Theatre', is comprised of richly detailed instrumental passages that are frequently acoustic based alongside ethereal keyboards, sometimes even with soft ethnic touches, the artist crafting a fusion of ambient, New Age and the lightest of symphonic prog flair. His music can remind of everything from Mike Oldfield, Steve Hackett, Kitaro, Anthony Phillips and perhaps even Deuter's discs once he moved away from the more Krautrock-flavoured experimentation of his earliest works, but on `Magic Theatre' you can add in a pinch of the big symph-prog names like Genesis, Yes and Renaissance as well.

There's a touch of Genesis to the sleek guitar runs, upfront coursing bass, bubbly Moog spirals and announcing synth themes of opener `Entrance: The Corridor Of The Seven Doors'. `1st Door: Reflections From Childhood' bristles with strident acoustic strums and whirring Moog ruminations, but it's `2nd Door: Castles Of Sand' that will greatly appeal to prog-rock fans, being a thirteen-minute suite of multiple musical passages that move through everything from stark drama to intimate contemplations. There's Renaissance-like symphonic orchestral pomp, heartfelt solo piano reflections, sprightly jazzy bursts and an expertly revealing extended guitar run in the middle that is a masterclass in restraint and gradually building power, and many will identify it and the brief chanted choir-like climax with Mike Oldfield. `3rd Door: Loss Of Identity In The Labyrinth of Delusions' then closes the first side with a brief touch of danger to its heavy keyboard chords backed by distorted jagged sax and pounding drums.

The flip's `4th Door: The Magic Mirror' dazzles with victorious and crisp guitar runs dancing over fizzing keyboard washes with a touch of Mellotron creeping in, and the subtle `5th Door: Beyond The Wall Of Ignorance' channels Deuter's unfurling meditative atmospheres with careful reprising guitar themes flitting in and out, breezy flute, creaking sitar and controlled drum patterings. `6th Door: Peace Of Mind's mix of sighing Mellotron, sparkling electric piano and placid flute trills wrapped in the softest of eastern flavours hold several embracing reprising themes. Between drowsy and romantic sax wafting, `7th Door: The Fountain Of Real Joy's frantic guitar runs over buoyant thick driving bass and trilling synth noodling remind of the holy trinity of Howe, Squire and Wakeman of Yes at their most hopeful, and `Exit' is an uplifting and live-affirming farewell with lulling organ and sparkling acoustic/electric guitar ringing soloing that perhaps calls to mind Camel.

Such a crossover of styles means the LP has so much to offer. New Age listeners will get a weightier album than what would usually be expected to be found with something with that tag, ambient followers will find more colour and vibrancy than usual, and prog fans will discover something more tasteful and restrained than mere flashy show-off soloing. Full of wonder, instrumental flair and deep emotion, `Magic Theatre' is one of Gandalf's defining and most enduring works, and it even makes for a superb introduction to his musical world for newcomers.

Four stars.

Frank Zappa said that this was to be the last "Mothers" album. It was released in 1993 before his death, but the recording is from a much earlier concert, performed in 1968 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Frank said that the band was their own opening act and that all the band members put on a play written by Frank with music performed mostly by 14 members of the BBC symphony. This recording of the play was previously available on the "Mystery Disc", but the rock portion of the concert was not previously available. Frank thought it was an important concert to have on record, so he put the entire show back together for consumer purchase, but he himself said it was only a "fair - not outstanding - Mothers of Invention rock concert performance".

So, this is the album that resulted from that decision. The first part of the album is the play which was entitled "Progress?" and, from what I can gather, it was pretty much a comedy, or satire, of life in a rock n roll band called the "Mothers". Knowing Frank, this was all based on events in the band, made into a funny skit, with a lot of dialogue (spoken parts) and music thrown in as needed. As mentioned earlier, Frank said the music was done by part of the BBC symphony, but I believe that a lot of it was also done by the band. What ever the case, the music itself is quite Avant-Garde, as you would expect from Frank's classical music. A lot of the music coincides with what is going on in the play itself, dramatizing things further. The "Prologue" to the play has many classical themes and sections from Mozart among others. This is track 1. Tracks 2 - 10 are the different parts of the play, some are only spoken parts, others are a mix of spoken parts and music. The recording is quite excellent, so there are no worries there. The problem is that we only have the audio portion of the play, and, judging from the audience's reactions, we miss quite a bit of the point of the play not being able to see it. You do catch part of the humor, and if you have the lyrics in front of you, it makes a little more sense, but it would have been better to actually see what was going on. Because of this, the first part of the album seems confusing and disjointed, and, if you didn't know that it was a play they were doing, you would start wondering what kind of ridiculousness is this anyway.

The good news about the album, is that the rest of the album is the "rock portion" of the concert. Things do get better at this point. Tracks 11 - 20 contain some decent examples of classic Mothers and Zappa recordings in this live setting. The "Epilogue" of the play flows right into the first track of this section, which is a rendition of the Zappa improvisational classic "King Kong". it is a decent version, but there are better ones out there, as on the "Uncle Meat" album. Next is a very short and very different version of "Help! I'm a Rock" mostly consisting of percussion with an even shorter vocal compared to the original version on the "Freak Out!" album. This is the last of the vocals on the album, as the rest of the album is instrumental. You will recognize a lot of the classic Mothers tunes, some of them will be improvised on and others are short and straight forward. Seasoned Zappa listeners will recognize pieces of this part of the performance from various other recordings and that is because Frank spliced them into other albums, like, for instance "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" and so on. Each track flows right into the other. The best tracks are the longer ones where the band does more improvisation as in "Pound for a Brown" and "Orange County Lumber Truck", but being interspersed with shorter snippets of Zappa melodies, it does break up the density of the improvisational sections.

Overall, it's an okay representation of the Mothers in concert, but there are better examples out there. The best part of the album is the musical performances, but the first half of the album definitely takes away from the rock/jazz fusion of the 2nd half. There are also many recordings that are a lot worse than this, so we can throw this one in the middle with 3 stars.

Once again I have to agree with Guldbamsen's review, even the 4.5 star rating. This was Wolfgang Bock's debut released in 1980 and produced by Klaus Schulze. What makes this so good in my opinion are those incredible mellotron choirs but I love that he uses real drums too. Two different drummers per album side and I was especially pleased to see Heab Hobb behind the kit on side two as I have the album he's on released this same year from the band NANU URWERK. And the album cover is pretty cool too.

We start off with "Cycles" the side long opener close to 19 minutes in length. It opens with atmosphere that slowly builds as spacey synths sweep in and out. Nice. Some quiet pulsing sounds as well and check out those mellotron choirs starting before 3 minutes! The slow pulses stop around 5 1/2 minutes and the mellotron before that. Soon sequencers and other sounds arrive as the tempo picks up.

The mellotron choirs are back at 7 minutes. Drums join the sequencers before 7 1/2 minutes then the mellotron will step aside as the spacey synths continue with sequencers and drums. The sound changes around 12 minutes in as we get spacey sounds only coming and going then more electronics but this is laid back and sparse. Sequencers are back before 14 minutes along with spacey synths and they are all going full force at 15 minutes before it settles right back before 17 minutes to the end.

Side two starts with "Robsai(Part I)" and it begins with some majestic organ before electronics take over before a minute. The organ is back quickly along with mellotron choirs. So good. "Robsia(Part II" sounds nothing like the first part as spacey sounds build as the drums join in and they are energetic here. It's pretty much drums only after 2 1/2 minutes then a calm arrives as we get a dark atmosphere only. Man this is good. Sequencers then kick in before 4 minutes.

"Changes/ Stop The World" is the almost 11 minute closer. Drums and electronics to start as the synths cry out. The second part of this track takes over just after 7 minutes as the organ and spacey sounds along with mellotron choirs arrive. The mellotron choirs eventually dominate until it's pretty much all we hear after 8 1/2 minutes. Man is this what it sounds like to be in the presence of God? So majestic I can't believe it. Church bells before 10 minutes as the song winds down to the end.

A killer Electronic album that suits my tastes really well with all the mellotron choirs.

This is the biggest surprise of 2018 for me. I skipped the last album, and almost skipped this one based on the cover alone. I could circle around to The Unquiet Sky later, but right now I am going to spend time letting Double Vision marinate for a while. I do have most of their albums, and Double Vision is my absolute favorite. Paul Manzi on vocals is excellent, and everything else is just perfect. It starts off with Zhivago Wolf, which has a stellar sing along melody, and musicianship of the highest quality. The songs that follow are just as good, and then it ends with the extra proggy The Legend Of Elijah Shade. I absolutely love this album, and I could not recommend it enough. It is a must get for progressive rock fans. 4.5 stars.