ROMANTIC WARRIORS: A PROGRESSIVE MUSIC SAGA

This is a heart-warming documentary which I recommend without reserve. It has opened my eyes and ears to the vibrancy and excellence of the contemporary prog scene, not only in the U.S. but in countries as far apart as Italy, Sweden and Mexico.

When I was sent this DVD in the post, there was one thing I was looking forward to: finally getting to see Deluge Grander, whose CDs I admire. They are one of the most audacious prog bands from the past few years but don't seem to play a lot of live concerts, so seeing them in action (even if it was only for BITS of various compositions) was a joy, and hearing their leader (Dan Britton) speak proved illuminating as well.

As I'm a somewhat old-fashioned progger with a preference for 1970s bands (and for Anekdoten, Shinsekai, Kenso, Discus and Big Big Train) I'll admit I'd never heard of most of the other bands included here. I was familiar with Gentle Giant, Karmakanic and Phideaux - and that was about it. Imagine my surprise when every single act turned out to be excellent! If you've got friends who still believe prog is soulless and hyper-technical, just get them a copy of this DVD and see if it doesn't blown them away. All the acts included seem so passionate, you can tell they're doing all this out of love for music; they're not just posturing; they're virtuosi with a lot of heart, and their music is in excellent taste.

I was particularly struck by Cabezas de Cera (a Mexican trio) and D.F.A. (an Italian ensemble); there can't be anything more exciting or sophisticated out there at the moment! You could tell from their performances that they had rehearsed and (probably) performed quite a lot - far more than, for example, Deluge Grander, who seem to limit themselves to recording straight to computer. I mean: all that live music really breathed, and the first thing I now want to do is actually get hold of these incredible bands... I'm also determined to check out Cheer-Accident, La Maschera di Cera and Oblivion Sun, all of whom produce the kind of music that's close to my heart. So, a big THANK YOU to the makers of this DVD for filming so many first-rate musicians, and for letting them speak to us.

The big question, though, is this: if you buy this DVD, how often will you watch it? Seeing as it doesn't include a single complete recording of any given song (all the music continually gets interrupted by bits of interview), in all honesty I don't believe you'll do it more than two or three times at most. As a consequence, it seems reasonable to award ROMANTIC WARRIORS three stars.