Citadel (USA) - Neo or Crossover Prog?

This is perhaps one of the cheesiest progressive rock bands of all time, yet they are relatively unknown despite having existed in one form or another now for around 45 years. Their main claim to fame, I suppose, is that they were the first band ever to perform at what became the annual 'Progfest' festival, the inaugural event being staged on May 29th, 1993, in UCLA's Royce Hall, in Los Angeles California, and organized by Greg Walker of Syn-phonic, David Overstreet of Art Sublime, and Gary Whitman of Citadel, with the intention of bringing together progressive rock fans from around the world for an evening of music.

The band is on Proggnosis (described as Neo-Prog), but they've never been suggested for inclusion on PA.

Citadel as a band came to life in 1979 in Columbus, Ohio and was based around multi-instrumentalist Gary Whitman (aka Rejyna Douglass-Whitman). Initially Jeff Wears occupied the drum stool, though he was soon replaced by Fletcher Neal Hutchison, and Wayne Stephens completed the line-up on bass.

Their track "Silence of Surrender" was included on the first issue of the Q-FM-96 'Hometown Album Series' in 1980. Over the next ten years the band recorded a few cassettes, played numerous live shows and went through several more line-up changes, the most significant of which was the arrival of Kiki Wow on vocals, bass & acoustic guitar, who later became Gary's wife.

The band always had a tendency to focus on sci-fi works, and their classic album ''The Citadel of Cynosure and Other Tales'', which was released independently in 1990, is easily the best-known of them. The line-up that recorded this album was Gary Whitman on vocals, electric guitar and 6/12-string acoustic guitars, Kiki Wow-Whitman on vocals, bass and 6/12-string acoustic guitars, Matt Sachs on keyboards and Ian Michaels on drums.

Citadel's sound was essentially symphonic rock with clear YES influences, containing some lush keyboard arrangements featuring prominent use of synthesizers, but it was less complex overall than the classic YES sound - perhaps being more comparable to STARCASTLE - though some RUSH influences also become noticeable in Gary Whitman's guitar parts during the second half of the Citadel of Cynosure album.

Among the major performances of the band was their appearance as the opening act of Progfest 93' at UCLA's Royce Hall - an event which for they played a significant role both as originators and co-producers. Citadel still exists as a band today, despite the ever-evolving line-up, and several compilations and anthologies are available of both their earlier and more recent material.

Despite their long and fairly prolific career, Citadel have never become very well-known in progressive rock circles. They cite their influences as Kansas, Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull, Styx, Queen, Gentle Giant, UK, Shadowfax, Klaatu, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Alan Parsons, Boston, and more.

- Gary Whitman / vocals, electric guitar, 6/12-str. acoustic guitar

CD Whitman Enterprises (2007, US)

Digital album

https://www.citadelband.com/.

https://www.facebook.com/Citadelprog/.

https://citadel.bandcamp.com/.

https://awesomeprog.com/artists/25056.

Edit: A selection of quotes from the music press reviews of 'The Citadel of Cynosure' album back in the day can be read here: https://www.citadelsongs.com/RevwSmplrPrnt.pdf.