progbethyname wrote: lazland wrote: progbethyname wrote: ^ Well Done Mr. Gorgeous. Another fine, interesting list where most of the songs I can definitely speak very highly of. I'm glad that you are getting back into ARENA, and I feel maybe you are being a tad hard on good old Pepper's Ghost. I thought it was a fine album, but you are right that it wasn't better than say, IMMORTAL? I also love Die Young by Sabbath. 1980's heaven and hell where DIO came to the forefront and busted out a great album   With the band, which does fly a little under the radar. My beloved Prog metal heroes FATES WARNING did cover that song in 1986 and nailed it. John Arch's pitch in his vocals is truly something to be revered just like the great DIO. Once again. Thank you very much for your fun musings. I enjoy your commentary and its allowing me to resurface my classics in my fairly large album collection of Prog no less. ;) Drink up! Enjoy the day. Happy Friday!    Ummm? Maybe ARENA's FRIDAY's DREAM maybe up next for you. What a song. You can't ask for a better closing for a 7 track album. Tight and sophisticated. (How I like my women. . Bad joke.) That Fate's Warning version was, indeed, a corker. I was rather hard on Pepper's Ghost, but, as you know, Immortal?, and, especially, The Visitor were so much superior. I actually think that Arena's masterpiece is still to hit us, and I hope it's the next one. As Jane Austen undoubtedly said to Napoleon II, thanks for reading! I would list 'Pride' or Immortal? as masterpieces, but I like your thoughts nonetheless. I look very much forward to the next Area album. I'm sure there will be one. I know seventh Degree of Separation didn't agree with a lot of people, but I still quite liked it but not at first listen! The album grows on you like crazy. It's very sneaky in its charming ways. ;)

lazland wrote: A stormy, showery day in West Wales, punctuated by some domestic chores and bliss which are not, really, overly crucial to tonight's blog. Suffice to say wife and mother in law are watching the Simon Cowell final thingy together, No. 1 son is sitting with Grandad to make sure he is okay, and I am ironing whilst listening to prog. The joys of multi generational living, eh? Tonight, new Mostly Autumn again. Third listen, now, and it gets even better with each spin. A review will follow next week, but, to repeat, it is a work of genius and love, and utterly essential.  Following that, given that the lovely Anne Marie played so beautifully on her flute on the denouement, I moved onto another highlight of 2014, the new Panic Room album, Incarnate. As I type this, the exceptional bluesy, yet full of Mid Eastern promise, wall of sound of Into Temptation is blasting out of the speakers. A great track from a really enjoyable album. Then, the staggeringly exceptional new IQ, Road Of Bones, which I am so glad to see is attracting rave reviews from around the world. In 2014, not 1974. Therein lies the point of tonight's blog. It is becoming something akin to Thought For The Day on Radio 4, I suppose. A thought to be published, and then expanded to mean a little bit more, to get the reader/listener under the skin of the author.... Well, tonight's thought is really rather simple. We can, and some do, spend an infinite amount of time debating why Genesis "sold out" after Gabriel/Hackett/Collins (delete according to taste or opinion) left, or why Relayer is simply so much the album TFTO should have been, or what on earth Fripp meant when he resurrected Crimson with that bloody awful racket in the 1980's. I could go on. But, to me, the whole point of this site is summarised listening as I am to the staggering IQ title track washing over me now, and the fantastic music that preceded. 2014 has been, thus far, a fantastic year. I have purchased, and listened to, some wondrous music. I do not think that prog has ever been in such a rude state of health as it is now since those halcyon days in the 1970's. Some of my 2014 purchases have been recommended by fellow collabs, some of if I would have got anyway. The point is this....to listen to new material and experiences is why I come here so often. To be influenced by people I trust and like, to have that frisson of a new musical experience, to listen to something that is so incredibly NEW as to be shattering, that is the whole point of PA. Prog rock. Not something to stand still. Not a genre of music stuck in the past, but a genre making great new music in 2014, and strong enough to move confidently into the future. So, to you lovely people, new to this wonderful site, please do not feel that you have to knock Collins era Genesis, or Rabin era Yes, or prog that smacks of......gasp.......commercialism in order to fit in, or be a "true" prog fan. We have seen, heard, and read it all before. Open up to the real reason this site is here. Spin those top ten albums of 2014 according to collabs of Prog Archives, your Ultimate Guide to Progressive Rock Music, and damn well enjoy Nos Da.  Oh, and a postscript, because this darling blog is written as I go along. Or, should that be, made up as I go along?.... Now blasting out. The superlative Harvest Of Souls from the equally superlative Dark Matter.  Well.....isn't nostalgia okay sometimes?........well.....isn't it?!.........

Once again Steve, you exhibit such a wonderful, fresh and enthusiastic attitude in the land of laz. ;)
I do feel 2014 has had some nice surprises and BIG TIME quality albums.
I would love to get a top 10 from you sometime soon.
If I may. I'd like to share a top 5 that I have so far this year. It may spark some interest and by the way, I think you are Dead on about the latest IQ offering. Oh and you make such a strong case for the lastest Mostly Autum album. It sounds like my ears should really grace it's presence. ;)

Anyway. Here is my 5 so far. I think the world of all these albums.

1) IQ--The Road Of Bones
2) ELOY--Reincarnation Live On Stage
3) Vanden Plas--Chronicles Of The Immortals: Path 1-The Netherworld.
4) Hibernal--Replacements
5) Lacuna Coil--Broken Crown Halo.

^ Well Done Mr. Gorgeous.

Another fine, interesting list where most of the songs I can definitely speak very highly of.
I'm glad that you are getting back into ARENA, and I feel maybe you are being a tad hard on good old Pepper's Ghost. I thought it was a fine album, but you are right that it wasn't better than say, IMMORTAL?

I also love Die Young by Sabbath. 1980's heaven and hell where DIO came to the forefront and busted out a great album   With the band, which does fly a little under the radar. My beloved Prog metal heroes FATES WARNING did cover that song in 1986 and nailed it. John Arch's pitch in his vocals is truly something to be revered just like the great DIO.

Once again. Thank you very much for your fun musings. I enjoy your commentary and its allowing me to resurface my classics in my fairly large album collection of Prog no less. ;)

Drink up! Enjoy the day. Happy Friday!   

Ummm? Maybe ARENA's FRIDAY's DREAM maybe up next for you. What a song. You can't ask for a better closing for a 7 track album. Tight and sophisticated. (How I like my women. . Bad joke.)

rushfan4 wrote: lazland wrote: Today, I listened to the new Mostly Autumn cd, Dressed In Voices, on the Amazon Cloud player during my lunch hour, having pre-ordered it on the self same site. Yes, I know I should probably have ordered it from the band directly on their website, but it is better than those old illegal downloads, isn't it? At least the band get their royalties. Yes, I know that Amazon are a bunch of tax avoiders. Actually, I do know a little bit about this, given my work. Amazon, whilst acting in a morally questionable way, to say the least, are not doing anything illegal whatsoever. It is their right to base themselves in Luxembourg, and if governments around the world do not have the guts or gumption to start charging corporate tax to income earned in a particular country at the point of sale, rather than allowing these complex residency and transfer pricing rules as they do now, what is a cozy large corporation to do, eh? Actually, I am not supposed to comment on such things, really, so let us all forget what I wrote above, and state for the record that The Infernal Revenue are right in all things they do, Amazon are fantastic, so are the government, and we can all carry on with this hypocrisy.....sorry......corporate friendly tax regime without any semblance of shame whatsoever. Yes, dear friends, I do, indeed, get a tug of moral regret whenever I click on that old Amazon button to buy something. I spent over £200 on there this weekend. If there were a UK built alternative, as efficient, as cheap, and with a marvellous, super cloud thingy which allows me to listen to a new purchase before the cd even arrives in my letter box, then I would use said service. However, there isn't, so I can't. Also, I learnt, some time ago as a fairly politically active creature, that pointless protests are just that.....pointless. Is the entire UK population going to boycott Amazon because of their tax arrangements? No, only a very small proportion, certainly not enough to make a difference. Why? Well, half of the people probably do not even know of those arrangements, and, if they did, most would blame the government, which wouldn't be that far off the mark, really. Also, more to the point, Amazon gives us what we want. A huge range of shopping, easily accessible, delivered quickly and cheaply, and, as with today, the chance to listen to something before I actually have it. If only they had decent competition, eh? The album itself, on first listen, might just be the finest released by this great band. Very dark, certainly in the subject matter, it hopefully might herald a springboard for greater commercial success. It would certainly be deserved. I did speak to Bryan Josh at a gig in Cardiff, and a really pleasant bloke he is, too. The marriage to Olivia would seem to have sparked a massive creative spark for them both, because she sounds magnificent. I perused your blog again just to see if you might have mentioned your thoughts on this album.  It is times like these where it sucks that these albums are imports.  That is pretty much double the price of a normal album, and triple what I would pay to purchase the download. Dressed in Voices [Import] Mostly Autumn (Artist) | Format: Audio CD Price: $28.47

Guldbamsen wrote: Funny you should pick THE one JBH track that I deeply adore.......and it's the live Berlin version too!! Safe to say that I agree with everything you said about it. Oh and very nice touch with the Duke's suite too! Recently I've been playing the early 80s stuff a lot, and those two along with Mama, Home By The Sea and Second Home By The Sea never fail to touch me. The ploinking 80s electronic sound really does suit the sweetness of Phil's vocals incredibly well, I find.

Funny you should pick THE one JBH track that I deeply adore.......and it's the live Berlin version too!!
Safe to say that I agree with everything you said about it.

Oh and very nice touch with the Duke's suite too! Recently I've been playing the early 80s stuff a lot, and those two along with Mama, Home By The Sea and Second Home By The Sea never fail to touch me. The ploinking 80s electronic sound really does suit the sweetness of Phil's vocals incredibly well, I find.

Steve. I'm so glad to hear about another ARENA appreciator where one does realize just how professional 'Songs From The Lion's Cage' is. Solomon is a beautiful 14 minute epic about the parabolic tales and lessons of King Solomon. I nearly weeped with joy in the last minute and a half when Keith Moore performs that lights out guitar solo...so epic...so moving. Overall a wonderfully biblically themed album with a dark nature infused in it. 10/10, especially for the album's artwork!! ;) Funny enough I feel the same about their 2nd album, PRIDE which is just as dear to me. "SIRENS' is a 13min epic that carries the same formula as Solomon. Very grand finish. Such panache!!

Genesis's Duke. I could not agree more. I got a lot out of this album. Not only is it Prog to me in every sense of the definition (if there really is one. ) but its an album that can teach you a lit about the human condition, and Duke's Travels' has that lovely soldering on attitude. It's like when one is faced with an oddity or hardship you move on and don't give up. That's a mentality I get especially when I hear the last 2 minutes of the song.

Once again. Inspiring and uplifting. Thank you.

Cheers

lazland wrote: Then, before dinner doing some ironing, I put The Tansads live LP, Drag Down The Moon, on. The Tansads formed in 1990 and came from Wigan. If you think The Levellers, or Chumbawumba, you would be close. Punk folk, with an attitude, they came near to success, but never really made it. The heart of the band were the Kettle brothers, and the gorgeous Janet Anderson. I am not sure how to post a You Tube link, but if you put Tansads in the search tab, you will see them. I saw them live three times, including the 20th anniversary reunion gigs that are definitely on YT. A great band, whose attitude was forged by the Thatcherite destruction of the industry of the North West where they lived. Two fingers up to a sh*te society, and never mind the bollocks. True working class punk, not the plastic cobblers of McLaren and co. For those of you going to see Pendragon at The Citadel in St Helens, that was this great band's spiritual home.

Thank you for reminding me about these guys Steve, and I hope you don't mind if I put a few tubes into your blog as a testament to how good they were at what they did...