Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

GREY LADY DOWN    Up periscope! Grey Lady Down are from the city of the dreaming spires with a band-name inspired by a submarine disaster movie starring Charlton Heston. There's no chance of this superb band disappearing below the waves any time soon though as they blow many other Neo Prog bands out of the water. Among their many accolades, Grey Lady Down have been voted the fourth-best band from Oxford. 

GLACIER    You won't find many glaciers in England's temperate climes, but this is one Neo Prog band who will warm the cockles of your heart with their one and only monumental album. 

Glacier recorded two later albums, but they appear to have melted away - probably as a result of global warming. 

GHOST OF THE MACHINE    A brand new Neo Prog band from Yorkshire whose outstanding debut is a cut above the rest. 

  2022: Ghost of the Machine - Scissorgames - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lyfddS1ZU-lYFqCPo6BbmV5fRUlW6AsXQ

PETER GEE    The bass player with Pendragon and the son of a Church of England vicar, so if you're looking for prog with a religious flavour, then you've come to the right place. Peter Gee's discography doesn't quite reach biblical proportions, but his devotional music certainly does. You don't have to take my word for it though - just take a look at the ecclesiastical album titles below. Hallelujah! 

GALAHAD    The gallant knights of Neo Prog have never had a major record deal, but Galahad boldly went where many bands have gone before by creating their own independent label. It can't be easy for a Neo Prog band to make a living in the cut-throat music business these days, so when times are hard and money's too tight to mention, Galahad's singer Stuart Nicholson has been known to moonlight as a garden gnome to rake in some extra cash.  

THE FYREWORKS     Remember, remember, the fifth of November. Founder member Danny Chang certainly does, where every night is Bonfire Night for this fiery Neo Prog band, so light the blue touch paper and stand well back because this band are a real blast! The Fyreworks also feature colourful Welsh keyboard player Rob Reed in one of his many side-projects, when he's not working with Magenta or Cyan. The incandescent flame of The Fyreworks has long since been extinguished, but they're still burning brightly over 25 years later at ProgArchives. 

SALLY FRENCH    Not the name of a band, but a rare female solo artist in the Neo Prog sphere. She's been compared with Kate Bush, Maire Brennan (of Clannad) and Annie Haslam, amongst others, but Sally French sounds more like Sally Oldfield to my ears. Either way, she sallied forth with her debut album "The Other Side" on an independent Dutch label in 1994, although sadly, the album isn't currently available on YouTube. You can still hear the other side of Sally here though on her folky compilation album "Destiny", which sounds rather splendid upon first hearing, although nothing like Kate Bush. 

FINAL CONFLICT    It's time to Redress the Balance with Final Conflict - a band from the second wave of Neo Prog who blow many of the established Neo Prog bands out of the water. In the continuing Quest to discover new prog, Final Conflict are a band whose albums all Stand Up to close scrutiny, and with the benefit of Hindsight and two outstanding singers, this amazing band sound even better than Marillion. There, I've said it! It's that pure and Simple. In Another Moment in Time, thirty years ago, the music of Final Conflict and Neo Prog in general completely passed me by, but I'm making up for lost time now and really loving this band. I hope you will too.