Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

  2011: The Institute of Modern Love - Welcome to the Institute of Modern Love

THE INSTITUTE OF MODERN LOVE     A short-lived institute, even by Neo Prog standards. The Institute of Modern Love have been around for over a decade now, but they've never quite gotten around to recording a full album, leaving us with a 5-track, 24-minute-long promo EP, which is all there is and maybe all there ever will be - which brings to mind Led Zeppelin for some strange reason. 

  2011: The Institute of Modern Love - Welcome to the Institute of Modern Love

IT BITES    A Cumbrian Neo Prog band* from the eighties who had another bite of the cherry with two comeback albums in the noughties. 

* Listed as a Crossover Prog band on ProgArchives.

JADIS    Ship Ahoy! Stand by for some nautical Neo Prog from this Southampton-based band, which includes honorary member Martin Orford on keyboards, when he's not working with IQ. Jadis are named after a character in C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". I know what I like in my wardrobe, and that's shelves full of Neo Prog CD's, but the reality is, my entire Neo Prog collection (consisting of four Marillion albums) is far outnumbered by my eleven Genesis albums (including Calling All Stations). Anyway, when you're tired of Genesis, why not sample some Medium Rare treats from Jadis, with their latest studio album being as good a Starting Point as any. 

IAIN JENNINGS    You may know Iain Jennings better as the keyboard player with Mostly Autumn - the best Neo Prog band there never was - or you may not know him at all. Either way, Iain decided he needed some Breathing Space away from constant touring and recording with the band, and following a well-earned break on the tropical island of Hiatus, he came up for air with a whole decade-worth of four critically-unacclaimed solo albums, which may have fallen below the radar. Until now, that is.  

Neo Prog Britannia: A-Z Album Links 

  2021: Tony Kaye - End of Innocence - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mCjy2OnDnLX9XloXHOdwVCAZgPohqHFaw

  2005: Kino - Picture - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL46AE174AB19CD7F0

  2018: Kino - Radio Voltaire - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nveEUFsoPckBbs4bAAsGeiYy5_sk2mTHs

  2009: Konchordat - English Ghosts - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k8m4SEZSaaJJhhwbOLSuqV19s9SXjzFiE

  2011: Konchordat - The New Crusade - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1aVd6kmDWWnXohPEJJS5Dw8g0REj8BYx

  2016: Konchordat - Rise to the Order

KINO *    What do you get if you combine members of four of Britain's premier Neo Prog bands (namely, Arena, It Bites, Marillion & Porcupine Tree) altogether into one band? You get Kino - Britain's answer to Transatlantic - who've struck it lucky in the lottery of life with two albums full of winning numbers. 

* Listed as Prog Related on ProgArchives. 

  1992: Landmarq - Solitary Witness - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI-PVetIe-4

  1993: Landmarq - Infinity Parade - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLtaozkBDVg

  1995: Landmarq - The Vision Pit

  1998: Landmarq - Science of Coincidence

  2006: Landmarq - Turbulence: Live in Poland - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lf7lrLJRiYga26YgCP0qBHnsq9NvYFXgI

  2012: Landmarq - Entertaining Angels - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nHaykyyBDAGrZT7YpqQ3nSmH2Cf0Mbtlg

  2014: Landmarq - Origins - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kbcoFKPQv8m6Xucq09nra5T-kr64QU13I

  2015: Landmarq - RoadSkill: Live in the Netherlands - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mqNo3_WV6EeDJCIai33MuLH9BcXYljyAU

  1991: Legend - Light in Extension - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ksoFoUHnxdiKtdZDQt2kSkuUK6e0v8fG0

  1993: Legend - Second Sight - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lwpierYMxN6cA0thXB3dzTvUprGQyno3Q

  1996: Legend - Triple Aspect 

  2009: Legend - Ritual Echo - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lpU8w5vbUxQHJhDQYMwjWamIauGXol3dk

  2010: Legend - Playing with Fire (Live 1992) - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nEi0BGmkqD900owJWCZ3ctV23RvMByeEE

  2011: Legend - Cardinal Points - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mYk68V2OzZe-3KXM-0MeEVkMMQnPkVDH0

  2013: Legend - Spirit - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nanivSNGMEQ4yxZ_hpVjuqR4YUwPr1NRI

  2001: The Lens - A Word in Your Eye - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nEs0csmtUHITQTGYRw_-dYe8ehlYJMRKc

  2010: The Lens - Regeneration - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_klhyE2UzRkeSQ4Mk8UUyHASp1cnmQVibw

  2012: Francis Lickerish - Far and Forgot: From the Lost Lands - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kq-pjlZUbHbWHat5VafAgRa4jb9t9rILI

  2013: Lifesigns - Lifesigns - http://lifesigns1.bandcamp.com/album/lifesigns

  2017: Lifesigns - Cardington - http://lifesigns1.bandcamp.com/album/cardington

  2021: Lifesigns - Altitude

  2013: Looking Glass Lantern - A Tapestry of Tales - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n_ZlbQCxWKOiADGclzoma494C2vww3qU8

  2014: Looking Glass Lantern - The Hound of the Baskervilles - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lpzt9fLKAPIJbYuhvyhdZ9wSBBECpdgcw

  2017: Looking Glass Lantern - Candlelight and Empire - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l8aqd_ZQhAkX4ivxkYuCg9PtdiRZ0jx4o

  2020: Looking Glass Lantern - A World of Great Invention - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mhp6z2QXHFdPKhIhLkcaWABu7u4jk-evw

  2021: Looking Glass Lantern - The Country House Weekend - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kEmE9xuEXuH_a520diJmqbzKicXoPFBb4

  1994: Lorien - Children's Games - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd7nm0MFgB0

* Album ratings to follow

LEGEND     Is there anything more exciting in the wonderful world of prog than discovering a "new" female-fronted band that you never even knew existed before? That's certainly the case with Legend, who cleverly combine Paganism, Folk and Neo Prog into a unique style all of their own, bringing to mind delicate shades of Cyan, Magenta and Mostly Autumn. You can almost picture this merry band of tree dwellers dancing naked in the forest with the moonlit knight. Legend have been around for over 30 years now - including a 15-year hiatus - but for most of that time they've remained unknown legends in their lunchtime. Who knows though, if Legend make another comeback, in another 20 years time we may be saying Howe can they be the same band we once knew and loved when they only have one semi-original member remaining!?? Sound familiar? By the way, if you have a preference for female vocalists who wail like a siren, then you'll reach Wuthering Heights of Cloudbusting ecstasy with Legend's latest album. Just imagine Kate Bush singing on the best Neo Prog album you've never heard. Wow, Oh wow, unbelievable. Wow, Oh wow, she's incredible! 

FRANCIS LICKERISH     A renaissance composer who's well-versed in classical music theory, which is very evident in his Far and Forgotten symphonic masterwork, From the Lost Lands, where you'll hear more violins, cellos and operatic sopranos than in the Last Night of the Proms. In fact, this grandiose and spectacular album of Symphonic Prog is loaded to the brim with more orchestral pomp and ceremony than Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance march. Francis Lickerish is probably best-known for his work as the guitarist with The Enid, but he's added  allsorts of other strings to his bow since then, having worked as a counselor and group therapist for many years. If it's music therapy you're looking for though, then look no further than Francis' first four magnificent studio albums with The Enid, which are generally regarded as their best.  Francis Lickerish made a very welcome return to the world of music in 2009 with his magical Prog Folk project, Secret Green, before going onto even greater things with his legendary From the Lost Lands album in 2012, which sounds like a long-lost soundtrack to an imaginary epic fantasy movie in the Lord of the Rings film series. Okay, so it's not Neo Prog as such, but this album was just too good to overlook. Secret Green's To Wake the King isn't a good album though. It's an outstanding album! And so, with eight varied albums to choose from, why not sample some Lickerish Allsorts today. They're rather tasty. 

  2012: Francis Lickerish - Far and Forgot: From the Lost Lands - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kq-pjlZUbHbWHat5VafAgRa4jb9t9rILI

  2009: Secret Green - To Wake the King - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kohdccMjq6UAMA59szFczMCb6L4YtdbSE