Blue Öyster Cult began life in New York in 1967 with a mixture of Tyranny and Mutation. Having signed the Secret Treaties with the Columbia record label, the band became Agents of Fortune with the success of their fourth album, which included the all-time classic (Don't Fear) The Reaper. Blue Öyster Cult were able to put the Spectres of years of struggle behind them, with gleaming polished Mirrors reflecting a bright future ahead.  There was now no danger of Blue Öyster Cult becoming extinct like the Cultosaurus Erectus dinosaur. The band were lit up and burning with success in a Fire of Unknown Origin and ready to take the world by storm with a  Revolution by Night down at the Club Ninja. Imaginos was a modern Cult Classic album and a real return to form, but Heaven Forbid that Blue Öyster Cult should end their long career with the Curse of the Hidden Mirror. Never fear though, because the release of their most recent album in 2020 guarantees that the Blue Öyster Cult  Symbol Remains forever!  

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: Jester's Joke is a major prog band? Is this a joke?

Jester's Joke is a major prog band? Is this a joke? 

These are one act per letter from around the world curated from my polls of personal favourites based on which one for each letter I would feel most in the mood to play right now. By the way, while I was pleased to delve into lots that I like, I do much prefer this topic to my series. It gives everybody an easy way to list favourites, or a favourite, for every letter (better than a poll methinks to get an overview of everyone's tastes).

Not all of my choices below are in PA (Boards of Canada, Fishmans, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Xiu Xiu). I could have gone with all that are of course, but all of these are applicable to me for this site. Too lazy to want to try to get everything, or most, in that I think applicable by suggesting and then adding if accepted.

Art Zoyd
Boards of Canada
Cardiacs
Dead Can Dance
Eskaton
Fishmans
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Hammill, Peter
Incredible String Band, The
Jan Dukes de Grey
Kayo Dot
Leprino, Franco
Magma
North Sea Radio Orchestra
Oneohtrix Point Never
Pink Floyd
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Radiohead
Swans
Tangerine Dream
Univers Zéro
Van der Graaf Ganerator
Wyatt, Robert
Xiu Xiu
Yatha Sidhra
Zao

Edited by Logan - October 09 2024 at 10:47

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Seeing as it's a long time between now and the next international A-Z list in January, who would you choose for your own international A-Z list of prog favourites?

It's going to take me literally till Christmas to listen to all of the albums listed above, so coming up in January, in the year 2025 (at least according to Zager & Evans) it's the second international A-Z list (with only two British bands included this time around). 

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - October 06 2024 at 13:33

YES       It's hard to imagine a time Beyond and Before Progressive Rock came along. Yesterday and Today, Everyday's a good day with the music of YES, and if there's one band who knows all about Survival, it's this group of Astral Travellers who've been around longer than any other prog band. It hasn't all been Sweetness and light though where Every Little Thing could escalate into arguments and Drama within the group when they came Close to the Edge of splitting up in the mid-1970's, what with so many Fragile egos at stake. Despite many changes of line-up though, YES are still going strong today even though there are no original members remaining in the band. Looking Around at the YES line-up today, Steve Howe is the only semi-permanent presence in the band, having been with YES since 1971. The Quest goes on to attract a new generation of YES fans with Mirror to the Sky reflecting well on the latest incarnation of Great Britain's eternal prog legends. 

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - 4 hours 20 minutes ago at 02:33

WALLENSTEIN     Are you ready for a Blitzkrieg of prog from a band who've been rocking Mother Universe across the Cosmic Century for over fifty years now? Wallenstein are arguably one of the Big 3 of German Symphonic Prog (alongside Grobschnitt and Triumvirat), and if you have No More Love for the dross that's played on the radio these days, then why not give a listen to Germany's Blue Eyed Boys and let them entertain you with their wonderous Stories, Songs and Symphonies. 

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - September 28 2024 at 05:36

mellotronwave wrote: ^ Kudos , Huge work !!

URIAH HEEP     It's time to celebrate the music of the Very 'eavy, Very 'umble Ken Hensley & Uriah Heep. Ken was the driving powerhouse force behind Uriah Heep between 1970 and 1980, featuring on no less than thirteen studio albums. Who can forget the fiery vision of the tank rolling across Salisbury Plain on their second album cover, or the reflective silver third album cover where you could quite literally Look At Yourself in the mirror. Ken Hensley has always been one of the Demons and Wizards of heavy keyboard prog, and his song-writing skills were put to full use with the concept album, The Magician's Birthday, featuring fantasy cover artwork by Roger Dean. Ken is a Free Spirit who's always Eager to Please his devoted fans, and he  relished the Sweet Freedom to pursue his dream in the magical Wonderworld of prog. In 1973,  it was a Return to Fantasy for Ken's first solo outing, Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf, a High and Mighty album of hard and heavy prog which burned briefly but brightly like a Firefly. All was not well in the Uriah Heep camp though with singer David Byron - the Innocent Victim of alcohol abuse - being replaced by John Lawton. The three albums with John Lawton From Time to Time offered a Glimpse of Glory, but no one could quite match the epic soaring vocals of Fallen Angel David Byron. Finally, Ken Hensley left Uriah Heep behind in 1980,  embarking on a new series of Conquests in his burgeoning solo career.

The album opens in magnificent style with a tremendous power ballad: "When Evening Comes". Ken Hensley is in fine voice here and he's a very accomplished guitarist too, as he demonstrates here with some phenomenal soaring power chords and glittering glissandos. This dramatic refrain is just as strong and powerful as anything Uriah Heep have ever done, representing a dazzling entrance onto the solo stage for Ken Hensley which he can feel justly proud. Stunning debut albums like this one only come along "From Time To Time" and that's the title of our next song. It begins as a gentle strumming acoustic guitar number and blossoms out into a high and mighty passion play of stupendous sonic splendour, in true Uriah Heep style. Think of the magnificent majesty of "July Morning", and that's the kind of epic song you have here, only without David Byron's extravagant high-pitched vocals. When the dynamic keyboards appear at the midway point, that's when the song really reaches up into the stratosphere. It's back down to earth for "A King Without a Throne", a fairly routine and plodding Blues- Rock number without any great Demons and Wizards keyboard histrionics. It's time to put the umbrella up now for "Rain", which features Ken in full romantic balladeer mode. It's a gorgeous piano ballad featuring these moving heartfelt lyrics:- "It's raining outside but that's not unusual, But the way that I'm feeling is becoming usual, I guess you could say, The clouds are moving away, Away from your days, And into mine." ..... The moment when the gorgeous choir joins in is truly inspirational. This mellifluous romantic melody is guaranteed to brighten up the dullest of rainy days. We've reached the halfway point now with "Proud Words", a rousing and rollicking rock & roll song with a boisterous attitude. Ken Hensley's clearly not in the mood to stand for any nonsense here as he loudly and proudly urges us all to:- "Stand up and fight, Or you'll lose your right, Do you want to stand in a line, Fightin' hard to hold on to your mind." ..... It's a rockin' good song to close Side One, which sounds like a rousing call to arms.

We've struck lucky and hit musical gold with "Fortune", a resonant reverberant refrain with High and Mighty Ken Hensley at his exhilarating and exuberant best. It's a true Return To Fantasy in a glorious Wonderworld of classic Uriah Heep pomp and passion. It's a song with all of the storming power of a tank rolling across Salisbury Plain. This is where we get to hear the booming and bombastic sound of Ken Hensley having the Sweet Freedom to do what he does best of all - delivering dynamic and dramatic Hard Rock with all of the explosive power of a stick of TNT. It's very 'eavy, but not so very 'umble. There's a nice change of pace for "Black Hearted Lady", an uplifting romantic ballad with Ken Hensley wearing his heart on his sleeve with these bittersweet lyrics:- "Reading between the lines I find, You don't mean what you say, You cheated and you lied, And how you made me hurt inside, You turned my days into darkest nights, And re-arranged my dreams, You're just not what you seem, Black-hearted lady." ..... It sounds like Ken was writing from bitter personal experience with those emotionally-wrought lyrics. It's time to "Go Down" now for a lovely acoustic guitar ballad. It's a charming heart-warming song carried along on a harmonious wave of rich golden guitar chords and with Ken Hensley in fine impassioned voice. In an album that's choc-a-bloc full of great songs, the penultimate song "Cold Autumn Sunday" represents the highlight of the album. It's a passionate power ballad that pulls out all the stops, featuring a glittering display of stratospheric guitar riffing and a rousing honey-voiced choir that's guaranteed to lift the spirits up into the heavens. This is THE BIG anthemic number on the album with all of the grandiose splendour and magnificent majesty of a great royal occasion. And finally, here comes the real shocker..... Ken Hensley goes Country! Yes, really! "The Last Time" is the last song on the album and it's a twangy Country song, adding a countrified string to Mr Hensley's versatile musical bow - although it's hard to picture Ken Hensley wearing a Stetson hat and cowboy boots.

"Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf" is a magnificent debut for Ken Hensley and it's an album that any discerning connoisseur of classic Prog-Rock can feel proud to have on their dusty shelf. You don't HAVE to be a Uriah Heep fan to love this stunning album, but it might help. It's not as hard and heavy as Uriah Heep, but it's an album bursting at the seams with pride and power and romantic passion. 

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - November 01 2024 at 02:59