Astounding sounds prevail on Haken guitar player Charlie Griffiths's debut solo album titled 'Tiktaalika', a crossover prog metal opus with five-star guest appearances, and for some listeners a fascinating marriage between 80s thrash grooves and tech-prog complexity, this album reveals the artist's love of thrash, alternative and technical metal, all abundant here as the stylistic diversity and playing range of Griffiths impress from start to finish - this is a masterful work from a seasoned player who is confident and capable enough to put together such an ambitious project, featuring some of the genre's most recognizable and gifted musicians, namely Thomas Giles, Darby Todd, Jordan Rudess, Rob Townsend, Danïel De Jongh, Vladimir Lalić, and Neil Purdy, while the album has been mixed by Adam "Nolly" Getgood, formerly part of djent outfit Periphery.

The 'Prehistoric Prelude' introduces a ravaging riff that transitions into 'Arctic Cemetery', a technical, brutal and gloomy number with great vocals from Thomas Giles and some awesome guitar playing and production, followed by 'Luminous Beings' and its quirky textures more pertinent to the recent Haken material and their signature brand of prog metal. What comes after are arguably the two centerpieces of the record, the 8-minute tracks 'In Alluvium' and 'Dead In the Water', both of which feature the vocals of Vladimir Lalić. The former is a strong epic with Devin Townsend-esque polyrhythms mashed with a very upfront, modern metal production, a dazzling guitar tone and a ballsy swagger that elevates the piece into a roaring prog metal anthem, while the latter of these is an absolutely killer track replete with gnarly riffing, wacky shifts and hefty sax notes, or else, an in-your-face prog pomp. Another highlight is the instrumental title track (a Dave Mustaine-attempted Dream Theater epic), an all-around prog homage that is equal parts menacing and impressive, the irony aside. Some may also enjoy the gritty technical metalcore of 'Crawl Walk Run', while the closing track works as a coda and provides for a nice framing of the entire album, which is excellent and highly recommended for all enjoyers of the prog metal genre.

This album was originally planned to have a long song cycle on one side and some shorter songs on the other side. The song cycle would be made up of "Behind the lines", "Duchess", "Guide vocal", "Turn it on again", "Duke's travels" and "Duke's end". It wasn't to be, but during the tour that followed the band did play the song cycle as they had originally intended it. It was the absolute highlight of the Duke live shows and the album would have been a lot better had it included the songs this way.

The album opens like the song cycle opens with the excellent "Behind the lines" with its two minute intro leading into the drum machines of the great ballad "Duchess" with its coda "Guide vocal". Then we get three solo compositions with Mike Rutherford's "Man of our times", Phil Collins' "Misunderstanding" (the first song he wrote for Genesis, also the band's first US hit single) and Tony Banks' "Heathaze". Then comes the great "Turn it on again", as far as I know the only single ever with a 13/4 time signature. Then it goes again with "Alone tonight", "Cul de sac" and ". The album ends in a great way again with "Duke's travels" and "Duke's end". Had they left the medley as it originally was (and how it was again on tour), the medley have made it a great Genesis album. But this conversion of pop and prog made some fans lose interest l. This is one of the albums that made die hard Genesis fan to lose interest but I love it. 4.0

Devastatingly beautiful, mellotron-heavy, grief-swollen, and excruciatingly abrasive - this is the sound presented by Swedish band Anekdoten on their 1993 debut album 'Vemod', one of the most significant and far-reaching albums of the progressive revival of the nineties. This is a dark, desperate and melancholic work that exhibits certain qualities pertaining to gothic rock, but at the core of 'Vemod' lies the epic, technical writing that Anekdoten mastered gracefully, jazz-tinted rhythm sections, scorching dissonance with aggressive riffs counteracted by the swirling mellotron soundscapes and gorgeous cello parts, or in a word, a fabulous work of progressive excellence, unique in its style, approach and mood, definitive of its era, and allowing this incredible band of talented Swedish musicians to go on and develop this particular groove of their own, their compelling style that blends progressive rock's complexity and theatrics, with the moodiness and ingenuity of the alternative and gothic scenes.

On 'Vemod', the cathartic musical journey of the Nicklas Berg-led quarter develops swiftly within a dense framework of sounds that harken back to some of those classic mid-70s progressive rock albums, dark and menacing, eager and visionary, and as the band exhibits a taste for King Crimson and Goblin, among others, the listener surrenders himself to an audacious rendition of these classic sounds - heavy, distorted and evidently sorrowful, rendering this debut album a fascinating and important part of the Swedish progressive scene. Manic opener 'Karelia' is a signature piece from Anekdoten, a song that introduces and encapsulates perfectly what this entire album is all about. Followed by the drab and epic 'The Old Man and the Sea', the mellotron-heavy sound dominates the atmosphere, whereas numbers like 'Where Solitude Remains' and 'The Flow' reveal the technical capabilities of each member. Tender and acoustic-driven shorter songs grace this album, too, offering an antidote to the otherwise dense nature of the longer compositions, and how could one forget to mention the pensive and mournful tone of 'Sad Rain'. 'Vemod' is a mesmerizing, hypnotic work with a unique, ominous atmosphere and a recognizable, unique sound, not much more that you can ask for from a progressive rock album.

'Kraftwerk 2', the follow-up to the German band's 1970 debut release, is by far the least characteristic album of their 70s output. Generally continuing the krautrock experiments initiated on the self-titled predecessor, this record is a mish-mash of random noises and instrumental patches sown together in a moderately confusing way, resulting in a work that is above all patchy and monolithic with certain hypnotic qualities, mechanical and lacking a clear direction, especially in comparison to the album coming before it. As the band approach a more ambient domain of sound, the listener gets the least electronic and most abstract work of the group's earliest proceedings.

Ralf, Florian and Conny Plank are once again responsible for the creation of this work, this time lacking a drummer as nobody would be interested in providing a rhythm section to the random swirls of musique concrète, quite ubiquitous on 'Kraftwerk 2', an album that bolsters various effects, tapes and tape echo, molding a palette of unusual sounds from their guitar, flute and violin recordings. 17-minute opener 'Klingklang' is indeed a great peace that goes through different shapes but ultimately ends up being enjoyable enough to be understood, while 'Atem' is simply constructed from recordings of breathing. It is the four tracks on side two that dare to go into a more exploratory direction, and the overall impression is of a poorly conceived bulk of sounds, with occasional glimpses of intrigue and intelligent stitching. This recording is inferior to the debut album, which is why it has been mostly ignored by the band members and critics alike.

Probably the most polarising of the band releases up to that point, the album sees Genesis, now as a trio, trading some of their grandiose, complex ideas for increased pop sensibility. Maybe due to the fact that Collins and co. weren't exactly sure in which direction they want the music to go, ...And Then There Were Three... sits awkwardly in the canyon between progressive rock and pop rock, somehow being neither and both at the same time. While the fusion of the two genres was done better on the next album, Duke, this LP spawns a few very worthwhile tracks (Down and Out, Snowbound, The Lady Lies) in between filler and failed ideas. A classic transition-era album. 4.0 it Is forgotten about sadly.

'Time Requiem' is the 2002 self-titled debut album by Swedish progressive power metal band, Time Requiem. Formed by keyboard player Richard Andersson, the band plays a style very typical of progressive metal, with a strong neoclassical influence, and an emphasis on powerful vocals and fantasy-themed lyrics.

The most prominent aspect of Time Requiem's music is shredding, and it comes in boatloads! Andersson and guitarist Magnus Nordh are absolute beasts on their instruments, furiously ripping up the chromatic scale at every opportunity. It makes for some lavishly flavoured riffs and colourful solos, but sadly it does get a little repetitive after a while.

Most of the songs are very strong and well-written, but also rely on similar tropes. At times, they sound very reminiscent of other bands, such as Symphony X, Dream Theater and Stratovarius. But if you can accept a group wearing its influences on its sleeves, then you might just enjoy tracks such as 'Watching the Tower of Skies', 'Time Requiem', 'Milagros Charm', 'Visions of New Dawn', 'The Aphorism' and the absolutely psychotic instrumental, 'Brutal Mentor'.

'Time Requiem' can be challenging to sit through in one go, especially if you're not keen on the sheer technicality of the music, but perseverance and repeated listens can be rewarding. Over time, the album grew on me, and while the band offers nothing new or unique, this is a very solid debut, and I'm excited to hear where things will go with future releases.

Pink Floyd's 'Atom Heart Mother" made in 1970 is perhaps their most progressive record. The title song suite on the first side could easily be categorized as avant garde-prog. On this track the band enhances its psychedelic song- writing with the soulful guitar of David Gilmour, the beautiful Hammond organs by Richard Wright, a layer of orchestration (mostly copper), a very modern choir performance in the middle section and one of the most psychedelic recording sounds ever. The orchestration by Ron Geesin sounds modern/atonal and fits in perfectly with the abstract sound of the music. Like most epics the songs has a dark/horror section in which a bomb seems to explode. After it the band launches a section of studio manipulations that allows them to create an explosion of parts that are fading in and out. More compelling than any tape manipulations ever done by Zappa. The ending section of the 'Atom Heart Mother' combines the band, the orchestra, the philip Jones brass ensemble and the choir in order to maximize on its main theme; not unlike the beautiful ending of 'Tubular Bells'. Its such a journey to listen to this. This Pink Floyd masterpiece has such a distinct atmosphere that there is simply almost no recording that sounds anything like it. I only used it once as a reference in a review, for the Italian 'Il Paese dei Belocchi' album, which I can also warmly recommend. I also like the fact that not even all Pink Floyd fans seem to like Atom Heart Mother that much, whereas this is not at all like their post-Meddle smooth recordings. Instead, this album is recommended to listener of psychedelic (acid) music, eclectic prog and Avantgarde-prog

"If" is a nice English folk-style song with a hint of Pink Floyd vibes. "Summer '68" and "Fat Old Sun" are also beautiful, sweet melodies that continue to evoke the pastoral vibe of this album. "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is the worst track on here. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it, but it's a little tedious and doesn't seem very planned out. Plus, the breakfast noises are sort of off-putting for the casual listener. Anyway, the last track is worthy of existence, but probably not worthy of being on this excellent album. The first four tracks are better than Pink Floyd's first two psychedelic albums, Meddle, Wish You Were Here, Ummagumma, and any post-The Wall albums, mainly because the first four tracks evoke such a unique mood and stick to it. With the last track, it's about the same as WYWH, Meddle, the debut album, and the sophomore album. 5.0 definitely one of their trade mark albums, and along with Animals both are my favorite offerings by Pink Floyd. Lulabelle the third looks like she likes the album too.

I had to put something in print before I review the band's new 2025 release, Focus, as I've known of this album since it was recommended to me back in 2022. Right off the bat I have to take issue with Scott Shreky' suggestion that this band sounds like a cross between the Mahavishnu Orchestra and The Mars Volta. I'm not even sure I would consider this Jazz-Rock Fusion (the category PA has assigned them) were it not for the instrumental jam structures to their music. To me this has more in common with straight rock and blues rock of the late 1960s, early 1970s, and the blues rock revival of the 1980s: Rush, Mahogany Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The sound and technique of the band's dominant instrumentalist, the heavily-distorted electric guitar shredder, sounds to me more like Alex Lifeson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Jimi Hendrix than Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. None of these musicians sound particularly virtuosic: they have some skill and speed but very little diversity and variability. Both the drummer and the guitarist, in particular, seem to be locked into one style only--and they do not "mesh" or entrain very well together. The keyboardist has talent but the exposition of his skills and diversity is diminished by the fairly simplistic compositions that he is playing over. I mean: anybody can jam! And I definitely get the feeling that the many instances in which the musicians "spill over" into errant notes has nothing to do with intention or Coltrane- and Monk-like adventures into Debussy scales making; they are simply mistakes. And bass player is there but rarely makes himself distinctive--which can be a good thing--but in the context of these jam-oriented songs methinks his role has been assigned as metronomic companion to the militaristic drummer. As for the music, I don't dislike it but I feel no lasting urge to return to it. My hope is that in the three years the quartet have had to work on their skills and compositional vision the next album (the afore-mentioned Focus) will yield considerable improvements and advancements.

Recorded during the 'YES Epics and Classics' tour in May 2023 (Illinois, USA) as a result of the collaboration between Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks led by Richie Castellano, "Live - Perpetual Change" (2025) is a tribute to the most representative symphonic period of the legendary Yes.

Very respectful of the forms and avoiding 'creative' experiments, the band focuses on the setlist of 1973's "Yessongs", except for "Siberian Khatru" and "Long Distance Runaround / The Fish", replaced instead by the masterful "Awaken" and "Gates of Delirium", with a very solid group performance and with Jon Anderson's voice still in great form more than five decades later.

Without taking sharp turns and following a safe path, the band recreates as faithfully as possible songs like "Yours is No Disgrace", "Perpetual Change", "Close to the Edge", "Starship Trooper" (Chris Clark's keyboards and Andy Graziano's guitars in the final section are superb), or "Heart of the Sunrise" (very good bass by Castellano), which seem to be taken from some seventies concert, and even the acoustic parts of "And You and I" and "Roundabout" with their clean and immaculate guitars, seem to surpass several live versions of those songs performed by Yes in the 2000's...

Something that could have been better? While it was a tour focused on the music of Yes, perhaps including some previews of the excellent album "True" to be released by Jon Anderson in 2024, such as the very progressive "Counties and Countries" or "Once upon a Dream", would have given it an extra touch of freshness and novelty.

But without a doubt "Live - Perpetual Change" is a very good live album, which reaffirms in Jon Anderson's voice the greatness of Yes, and a new and very appreciable opportunity to reconnect with progressive rock itself.

4 stars

So, here we go again. Another IQ album hot off the presses, if not quite hot on the heels of their last album Resistance (as playfully suggested by Peter Nicholls). Unfortunately I was too late to buy the orange vinyl version of the album but hopefully it'll come out again in some other colour or kaleidoscope of colours on vinyl. So I've bought the CD but not content to wait for it to arrive in the post I've also downloaded it onto my phone via Apple Music (a very small price to pay for good music). Now, I have to say, there is some really very good stuff on here, notably for me from Neil Durant, but not alone from him. This is IQ once again doing what they do best. I know that there will be those who suggest that this is IQ by Numbers, going over the same old ground yet again, delivering the same old melodies, the same old guitar solos, the same old chords, the same old stories that have been rehashed and the same old drums. Well, to that I can only say Yes. There certainly is some of that here. Quite a lot of that in fact. But I absolutely love it. This is a great album, once again from the band. I'm now in my mid 60s. And having been following and supporting and loving progressive rock music since I was in my early teens, this is what I want to hear.