Perhaps overall the best Move album. It has the right balance of accessibility and experimentation to stay radio friendly. The album rocks harder than their debut album but doesn't have the rock'n'roll excesses of "Looking on". "Hello Susie" is a pleasant psychedelic hard rocker followed by a more conventional very British "Beautiful daughter". "Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited" has experimental instrumentation but gets a bit far-fetched with a classical music rip-off. "Fields of people" is a great psychedelia filled epics. The last two original album tracks are still lengthy but pale a bit in comparison with the first half. The bonus tracks are not that good and because it's all covers, they spoil the cohesiveness of the album. This is to the recommended Move album to start with.

From the stage of obscure American bands with influence from ELP,Yes, Genesis and others Ethos creates this project In hopes of recreating the symphonic prog sound as others would try to recreate in the 1970s like Fireballet,Starcastle, ID and others. However they do a pretty stand up job and don't initiate the stereotype of being a yes wannabe. I see hints of their influence throughout the entirety of the album, i see some Deep Purple, and I see Heavy influence from Rick Wakeman of "Yes". I don't get some of the 1-2 star reviews but the highest this album can go is a 4 but I say 3.5.

Entering the new decade Rush strikes again with "PERMANENT WAVES" as their 7th studio album in 1980. This album displays a ton of rush's best qualities such as the strong bass by Geddy Lee (and his iconic vocals)and powerful riffs by Alex Lifeson. I found the CD today!!! i found it along other CDs in my attic and I have already listened to it twice today. Spirit of radio shows the side of Rush that was played a lot more on the radio than others opening with Alex Lifesons recognizable riff and would become a hit. My introduction to the album and my favorite song on the album "Jacob's Ladder" hits deep with great synth and more guitar by Alex Lifeson. The track "Different strings showed me a side of rush I had never seen before, I have never heard a more mellower song by Rush and this was a great one. Overall 5 Stars.. this album captured me unlike other Rush albums.

"Klattu" were a Canadian prog trio emerging out of Toronto, Canada in 1973 and later disbanding in 1982. This band takes major influence from The Beatles, ELO and others. I actually have two vinyl copies of this debut album and plan to trade out one for Klattu's second album "Hope". The main seller for this album was the 7 minute cover of The Carpenters "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft". A good bit of the melodies were so similar to the Beatles some even suspected it of being an undercover Beatles reunion, me personally I just think its major influence. There are Sgt Pepper vibes in songs like "California Jam" and more rocky approaches like "Anus of Uranus" Overall 3.5 but I'll round it up to 4 because it was a good first effort for the group.

After polished interpretations of compositions from the early part of the second millenium on "The Lady and the Unicorn", JOHN RENBOURN reversed course without first screeching to a halt just one year later with the stunning "Faro Annie".

Renbourn is back to singing and acquits himself respectfully on mostly traditional blues/country songs from America, as he has done earlier and giftedly, with the inobtrusive backing of DORRIS HENDERSION on a few songs. The best material here is of the slow burn type demonstrated in the opening two tracks, one about the assassination of President McKInley in 1901 and the other about buffalo hunting in the pre-statehood southwest; and the wonderful and idiosyncratically homoerotic "Willy O'Winsbury", in which the king claims he would have slept with Willy if the king were a woman. My first reaction is that I would hope Willy would have a say in this matter, but coming from the king and all, I suppose Willy might have been wise to capitulate. It's also notable for being essentially the only overtly Englische tune here.

A few other tracks are elevated by Renbourn's skill on both electric ("Kokomo Blues") and acoustic guitar ("The Cuckoo"), converting the otherwise nearly forgettable to the virtually excellent. As a fan of the long lived "The Men they Couldn't Hang", pitch perfect Brits who wore a genuine fascination with Americana, I note the similarities between the meter and melody of "Little Sadie" and TMTCH's "Silver Gun".

Another 3.5 star album rounded up, "Faro Annie" sees Renbourn and his select accompanists delivering again, and even better, in a style that would seem on the surface to be a poor fit, but proudly and humbly brims with authenticity.

Veteran musician Henk Bol instigated this project in 2006 and has released an album every six years since then, with the third and most recent coming out in 2024. On the earlier albums he has been named as the only band member alongside lots of guests, but on this one we see singer Ky Fyfer being promoted to full status after appearing on both the others and he also contributes multiple instruments. There are again far too many guests to list here, but I note that Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak, Camel) provides a Moog solo on one track and Nick Oosterhuis (who passed away in 2021) provides piano introduction on another. Although there are plenty of additional musicians we only get "real" drums on two of the 11 songs which is a real shame as there is no doubt that having a sweating human adding their own parts always improves the outcome.

This is categorised as crossover on PA, and that is where I would also have placed it as this is a very melodic progressive release, and Ky Fyfer is a real asset. "Diamond Eyes" fluctuates between rocking and gentler styles and is something one can imagine being released as a single in an edited form as there are great hooks, vocals and rocking guitar all combined with plenty of harmonies and melodies to make the listener reach for the controls to turn it up a little more. There is also an epic, with "Dreams Without an End" more than double the length of anything else, at more than 15 minutes. It moves and swirls, and the introduction of singer Margie Fifer-Hodgson alongside Fyfer works well, but there are certain places where it feels it is too pedestrian, without enough going on to maintain interest and justify the overall length so perhaps it would have been better with some editing.

Overall this is a pleasant prog release without being earth shattering, but it is a decent listen for those who enjoy the more melodic style and is worth hearing.

This is the first time I have come across guitarist Nick Fletcher, who has only recently returned to the electric version due to his collaborations with John Hackett but is well known for his works in the classical and Celtic fields. It was only on reading his biography that I realised he worked with Dave Bainbridge in bands prior to the forming of Iona, and he has worked with Dave on and off over the years. Now I know why the classical piece "Joy Turning Into Sorrow" is such a delight, as this is where he is actually most at home as opposed to coming to it from the other direction, like Steve Hackett (who incidentally has said, "Nick Fletcher is the best jazz rock guitarist in the country. His fluency is outstanding, I consider him a real star").

Having been professionally trained in the Seventies, Nick has had plenty of time to absorb influences and to my ears the two which really stand out are Allan Holdsworth and Andy Latimer, although there are elements of Steve Hackett and Steve Howe in there as well. It is the fluidity and musicality which really makes this work. For the most part he is combining with the band to create real songs, just without words. He obviously felt there was a need to show he could do more than just be melodic though, as "The Sage, The Monk and The Scholar" shows him at his rocking best with complex runs which also allow bassist Jonathan Ihlenfeld Cuniado to show he can keep up with the best of them.

The final song is "To Hear The Angels Sing" which include wonderful wordless vocals from Olga 'Dikajee' Karpova, an amazing ethereal singer I have come across before, and here Nick ensures he is at his Holdsworth best as he provides perfect accompaniment to really let her shine. This is one of the most interesting guitar albums I have ever come across with a focus on music and melody as opposed to just showing off with shreds, and as Harry Chapin said, "A fool plays the blues like Machine Gun Kelly, Five hundred notes to the bar" ('Bluesman'). We don't have to worry about that here as this is one of the most interesting and delightful guitar albums you are ever likely to hear.

At the end of 2023 Morse was wondering what he should do in 2024, and his wife suggested he ought to do something with the local musicians he had been working with at their Christmas concerts and local events. So Neal (keyboards, guitars, bass, percussion, lead & backing vocals) contacted Chris Riley (keyboards, guitars, bass, lead vocals), Andre Madatian (guitars, orchestration) and Philip Martin (drums) and they started playing together and jamming ideas. During the course of the year, as the composing continued, it was obvious there was a need for singer with a higher range, so Neal contacted Gabe Klein and asked if he had any ideas which is how he got in touch with Johnny Bisaha (lead vocals) and there was the core of the band.

Of course, working with new and younger musicians means Neal was presented with different ideas, along with plenty of freshness and enthusiasm, but somehow that has not come through into the music itself. I love Neal, and all his projects, and have been fortunate enough to interview him a few times and he comes across as a genuinely really nice person, but there is no doubt that there are plenty of musical ideas contained here that we have heard from him multiple times before. The most interesting part for me is the use of Johnny as a singer as he is a real find and his take on Neal's songs and arrangements is fascinating, just like when I saw Spock's Beard after Neal had left and Nick was singing his songs then.

It is not a bad album, far from it, but when it comes to Neal Morse, I have very high expectations indeed and still hope for the same excitement I got the first time I heard 'The Light' back when I had a US-import copy as it had not then been released in the UK. But this is not that, although the musicianship is superb throughout, as even though there are new musicians this is obviously a Morse album just from the arrangements and sounds utilised. I am sure we will be hearing more from those involved again in future, and is of course a good album, which is the minimum I would expect from Neal, but it is not great.

For fairly obvious reasons, the first two paragraphs of this review are the same as for another Echolyn release, but it does change from there on, honest! In March 2025 Echolyn released (or releases, depending when you read this) two new albums on the same day, this one, and the companion album, 'Time Silent Radio vii'. This contains just two long tracks while the other contains seven shorter ones, and the band have also made available artwork which combines both releases so if one wishes to keep them listed as one double album then it is easy to do so. I first came across Echolyn many years ago when they released their third album, 'As The World' in 1995. This was their first (and last) release to a major label as they were signed to Sony for a period, but after more than 250 live shows, three full length albums and one EP the band broke up.

The band have reformed and gone on hiatus a few times since then, but the first reformation in 2000 saw founders Brett Kull, Christopher Buzby and Ray Weston get back together, this time with drummers Jordan Perlson and Paul Ramsey. There have been five albums since 2000, with slight changes in line-up, but Brett, Chris and Ray have been the constants and now they are back with their first releases since 2015's 'I Heard You Were Listening', since when there has been another line-up change with Brett Kull (guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals), Ray Weston (lead vocals, bass, backing vocals), Chris Buzby (keyboards, backing vocals) welcoming back Jordan Perlson (drums & percussion, backing vocals).

The two songs are "Time Has No Place" (16:37), which is broken into four parts, and "Water in Our Hands, Pts. 1-4" (28:51). Playing this album straight after the other one it is interesting to see the similarities and also the differences, as the pop mentalities are again prevalent (The Beatles being an obvious influence), but there is also the impression that the guys are more relaxed. There is a famous quote from Blaise Pascal (often wrongly attributed to Twain and others), "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter." Here they have been able to expand on ideas which would have necessarily needed to be curtailed if they were going to reduce the length, but at the same time they have not extended songs needlessly. There are plenty of bands out there who could do with some judicious editing on some of their releases, The Flower Kings spring to mind, yet here there is a relevance and continuity which takes the listener along for the journey.

All the styles we hear on 'Time Silent Radio vii' are again present but somehow are just "more". It makes it very difficult indeed to pick a favourite of the two as they are so close yet also separate, and I can certainly understand why the band made the sensible decision to make them available as separate albums as opposed to one lengthy one. Personally, whichever of the two I am listening to is my favourite, with its combination of wonderful musicianship, vocals and melodies, so currently it is this one but at the back of my head is the niggle that I really enjoyed the other one as well. The only solution for progheads is to investigate both: you will not be disappointed.

For fairly obvious reasons, the first two paragraphs of this review are the same as for another Echolyn release, but it does change from there on, honest! In March 2025 Echolyn released (or releases, depending when you read this) two new albums on the same day. This one, and the companion album, 'Time Silent Radio II'. That contains just two long tracks while this contains seven shorter ones, and the band have also made available artwork which combines both releases so if one wishes to keep them listed as one double album then it is easy to do so. I first came across Echolyn many years ago when they released their third album, 'As The World' in 1995. This was their first (and last) release to a major label as they were signed to Sony for a period, but after more than 250 live shows, three full length albums and one EP the band broke up.

The band have reformed and gone on hiatus a few times since then, but the first reformation in 2000 saw founders Brett Kull, Christopher Buzby and Ray Weston get back together, this time with drummers Jordan Perlson and Paul Ramsey. There have been five albums since 2000, with slight changes in line-up, but Brett, Chris and Ray have been the constants and now they are back with their first releases since 2015's 'I Heard You Were Listening', since when there has been another line-up change with Brett Kull (guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals), Ray Weston (lead vocals, bass, backing vocals), Chris Buzby (keyboards, backing vocals) welcoming back Jordan Perlson (drums & percussion, backing vocals).

When I reviewed 'As The World' some 30 years ago, I noted it had been licensed to Cyclops Records in the UK, and although at the time no-one else had reviewed it, it was already the label's biggest seller (this is pre-internet remember, when everything was word of mouth and fanzines). I ended the review by saying Echolyn were a superb band, and it was a brilliant album, and I am glad to say that all these years later I am still saying the same thing. The longest song on this album is 8:29, and the guys have concentrated on melody which moves them more into crossover than symphonic, with vocals front and centre and a heavy usage of harmonies. There are times when I am reminded of classic ELO, and in an ideal world the lush "Cul-de-Sacs and Tunnels" would be a hit single. There is so much to love here from fretless bass to toms in the background, stunning vocals, the underlying piano holding it all together, the guitar providing just the right amount of cut through, the large number of hooks and singalong quality and the way they drop in different sounds and styles at just the right point. It may be less than eight minutes long, but it feels like a pop epic.

By deliberately restricting themselves to shorter lengths ("Silent Years" is only 4:31) they have concentrated on melody, and have somehow crammed a great deal into the arrangements without them ever feeling cluttered and over the top as somehow there is still plenty of space and freshness which makes the listener wanting to come back for more. This album has reminded me of why I loved them so much back in the day, and one can only hope they don't take nine years to release the next album, although it could be argued I am being greedy as there is already another new one to listen to, but hey, if you don't ask you don't get! They may be an "old" band who predate the resurgence in progressive rock, but this album is exciting and vital, with nods to AOR and pop but always with prog at its heart and soul and is a delight from beginning to end.