2011 - Very disapointing so far?

Don of the Dead wrote: I'd give Fly From Here a bit more time to sink in. It's the first Yes record we've had in a freakin' decade after all.

Edited by Polo - June 28 2011 at 11:53

cstack3 wrote: What about Yes & "Fly From Here"?  I've read PA reviews posted, but I get tired of the "Drama, Part 2" theme over & over.  I haven't heard the entire disc yet, and the samples aren't BAD...however, Howe and Squire really sound mixed down to near irrelevance.   I wasn't much of a Drama fan anyway, will FFH make 2011 a success, or just "meh"?

I'm very much enjoying the album on a first listen, but it is oddly difficult to describe outside of saying it sounds like a somewhat lighter Drama.  The vocal melodies are some of the most memorable Yes have done for quite a long time, but the instrumentation has taken more of a back seat. 

Howe and Squire certainly seem less present in the Fly From Here suite in favour of the keys, except for the proggy Bumpy Ride section, but they're a lot more prominent on the remaining tracks (especially the last one), for what it's worth.  And there's some right cheese thanks to Squire's Ladder-esque ballad The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be.  The Ladder meets Drama is probably the nearest album to album pinpoint for the sound of the record.

I can't say the album is a disappointment - I am really enjoying it, but it's not exactly the fantastic return to the 70s classic that they promised.  But then, what band doesn't say that before every single bloody album is released?  It hasn't won over 2011 for me yet, anyway.

Credo - Against Reason
Pendragon - Passion
Comedy of Errors - Disobey

All of the above released this year have entered my top 100.


Edited by TartanTantrum - June 27 2011 at 09:55

This has been a good year for cheesy comfort food dad-prog-rock but there hasn't been much challenging or genuinely progressive stuff that I've come across. Well there is that new Unexpect which is probably not exactly the sort of uber-cornball music that Neal Morse and the like are making, but I didn't really enjoy In A Flesh Aquarium so I'm hesitant to hop on board. I'm sticking with Tuneyards.

YESABWH wrote: There have been some great albums I have ben listening to 2011- albeit not all prog.  Hey good music is good music. Here are some of my favs: Jon Anderson- Survival and Other Stories Black Country Communion- Black Country Communion 2 The Flower Kings- Tour Kapput Frank Carlucci- Oddity Electric Sorcery- Believe in Own Best Friend Foo Fighters- Wasting Light Green Day- Awesome as f**k Mike Keneally Band- Bakin at the Potato Bryan Beller Band- Wednesday Night Live Mars Hollow- World in Front Of me Pat Metheny- What;s IT All About Mr. Big- What If... Yellow Matter Custard- One More Night in New York City Meridian Voice- Atypical Symmetry Par Lindh Project- Time Mirror Presto Ballet- Invisible Places Presto Ballet- Love What You've Done With The Place Billy Sherwood- Onierology Raul- Microscopic Wobbler-  Rites of Dawn Zombi- Escape Velocity TCP- Fantastic Dreamer Trioxyde- Hey Carlos Various Artists- A Flower Full of Stars: A Tribute To The Flower Kings Riverside-  Memories in My Head Don Cassidy  President, Interviewer, DJ, Artist Promo contact  Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio  http://www.deliciousagony.com

KingCrimson250 wrote: Is there any (good) new fusion on the horizon?

is their even such a thing as good NEW fusion?

This year hasn't been amazing so far. I've only bought two albums made this year so far: The King of Limbs by Radiohead, and Welcome to My DNA by Blackfield. Both are good. But there is still plenty to come this year. New Dream Theater, new Opeth, new Steven Wilson solo album, etc.

Plenty of good post-rock has surfaced this year, namely Mogwai and This Will Destroy You.

Dick Heath wrote: Progressive rock has suffered inertia for a very long and try as I may , on sampling recommendations made here and elsewhere, I'm nearly always left thinking retro rock of very little originality (if any at all) to justify that progressive tag. Although there may be a the one or two releases that appeal for other reasons. But too often I hear extensive referencing to styles, riff, etc. heard first in the heyday of progressive rock. But pop music is the same and I have to acknowledge that this is not aimed at me, who was there at the beginnning and heard a lot of it before, but rather to the young new listener for which this seems a brave new musical world. However, thanks goodness for some of the nu-progressive like Everything Everything , who have some fresh ideas. In the meanwhile I'll stick with the jazz rock/jazz fusion world of which I feel a reasonable proportion  of bands are ever progressing .

Good post certainly and I have to agree with this (we old farts are starting to suspect modern Prog taxis are charging us for two laps round the same block)

From 2009, 2010 and this year, I'm sticking with 2009 (so far).