Unlikely, late, great come-backs
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Topic: Unlikely, late, great come-backs
Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Subject: Unlikely, late, great come-backs
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 12:32
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Hi everybody! Here are two examples of what I find very unlikely and surprising, late, great come-backs by bands not heard from for a long, long time. It really amazes me how some artists disappear and then reappear soo much later and make great music, sometimes even greater than they ever did the first time around!
The Syn. Chris Squire reunited this pre-Yes band after soo many years and released a very good new studio album called Syndestructible in the present millennium. I find it amazing that they did this despite the fact that the group never had that much success in the first place and never even released a full length album in the 60's. The band broke up already in the mid-60's and did not reunite until the mid-00's. That has to be some kind of record!? Needless to say, the Syndestructible material is better than the stuff they did in the 60's and highly recommended, as well as the live DVD. (Apparantly The Syn is releasing a new studio album this year, but Chris Squire is not involved Woolly Wolstenholme's Maestoso. Woolly Wolstenholme was a member of Barclay James Harvest from the late 60's to the late 70's. He then left the band and released one solo album called Maestoso in 1980. After that he started to work on a second one, but it didn't work out for some reason (I don't know the details) and he then left the music industry altogether. However, in this new millennium he returned and has so far released three studio albums under the name of Maestoso in 2003, 2005 and 2007! The latter two, Grim and Caterwauling, are really good (I have not heard the 2003 one yet). He is also touring once again with Barclay James Harvest (John Lees camp) for the first time since 1978 (If I'm not mistaken), performing some of the songs he wrote for that band in the 60's and 70's. The perhaps most amazing thing is that Woolly has probably written more songs in this millennium than in the previous one, despite having joined the music business sometime in the mid-60's! Talk about a late bloomer! Do you know more unlikely come-backs like these, where there has been a very long absence and a forceful return? |
)Replies:
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:00
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Apparently, Squire fell out with the rest. Without him, I would hacve thought that the new album is doomed to mediocre sales. The only one that springs to mind recently is the classic Asia lineup reunion - I'll probably think of more later. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:12
And possibly mediocre music?
Asia could indeed be seen as a band that has reunited and made music that is up to par with their classic material (even though there has always been an Asia with different members). The new album is good, but no more than good. The live DVD "Asia Fantasia - Live In Tokyo", however, is great and highly recommended!
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lazland wrote:Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:15
| Nektar... |
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:17
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Cynic. 15 years after the band released their legendery debut, Focus, they reunite and release the even better Traced in Air.
------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
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Posted By: Queen By-Tor
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:41
| Magma! I don't think anyone expected an album to the calibre of K.A. 20 years after the dreadful Merci |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:47
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U.S. Prog band Cathedral released The Bridge in 2007, 19 years after their debut Stained Glass Stories, which was released in 1978. Both albums are quite good. ------------- 
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Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:52
That's right! I really liked Evolution, but I was somewhat disappointed with Book Of Days. For how long were they away from the music industry?
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Posted By: Captain Capricorn
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 13:57
no doubt! |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:01
21 years, holy cow! Book is actually my fave of the new three. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:30
I really should listen to Book Of Days some more, I only just got it last week. Maybe it will grow on me. But my first impression was that it isn't as good as Evolution. But then again I was quite impressed with Evolution!! I have not yet heard The Prodigal Son, is it any good?
21 years away from the music biz and then making albums like these is quite amazing
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:35
I'd rate Prodigal as a third. There's currently two DVDs out that are quite good. I saw them on the Evolution tour with Caravan. Verry nice.  I've reviewed about everything except for Book for what it's worth. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:35
| Phoenix have released a new album (and a tour is now taking place) last year with their vocal from the 62-69 period. They had no collaboration between 1969 and 2008, that means 39 years! |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:36
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PFM's "Stati"
Delirium's latest album
Non-prog:
Neil Young - Greendale
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:37
Oh yeah, if you like old PFM and haven't heard Stati you should treat yourself. Go for the version with the DVD, way cool.  |
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:45
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http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=95350 -
Proto-Kaw .
30 years between breaking up and reuniting to put out a compilation and two outstanding studio releases.
------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 14:53
You might have the record there. I don't know them. But if they've risen from the ashes... ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 15:03
Hmm, I did not mean to imply that the band had released nothing between 69 and 2009, just that they got their first vocalist back after 39 years without him. So it's not that much of a record. Here is their page: ../artist.asp?id=1586 - PHOENIX . |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 15:05
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Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 18:04
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I can only think of classic rock acts. Like the Zombies. Don't know about the quality of their late output. |
Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 18:09
I ordered a Nektar DVD last week called Pure. I'm really looking forward to seeing it, the set list is very interesting! I will check out Prodigal Son too, sometime. Thanks for the tip!
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Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 18:12
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Thanks for reminding me about Proto-Kaw! I am a Kansas-fan but I have yet to hear the Proto-Kaw albums. I knew that something good would come from creating this thread
 |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: May 11 2009 at 18:33
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VDGG ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: Progosopher
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 01:51
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Happy the Man did not release anything new between 1979 and 2004. Both Beginnings and Death's Crown were apparently old recordings released many years later. ------------- The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty" |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 02:13
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Alquin released a new album in 2006, 29 years after they broke up. ------------- 
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Posted By: Easy Livin
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 02:27
| Please don't just list band names here. Try to offer a commnetary on the comeback and why it might be considered "great" and "unlikely". |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 06:47
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Well, what made Nektar's comeback so good was that they (and by "they" I mean Roye Albrighton, the guitarist and core of the band) jettisoned comercialitis and started making fresh progressive music. Get any of the live DVDs and they haven't abandoned the old progressive stuff. By the way, also a big fan of Happy The Man. After their comeback they seem to have fizzled out. Damn shame because The Muse Awakens was quite good from a progressive perspective. |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 08:49
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 09:30
NEAR as I can tell, Keith Macksoud and Eric Slick were never in HTM... |
Posted By: friso
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 14:56
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We've had a progressive comeback period here in Holland.
Kayak came with a finished version of the "Merlin"-concept. A whole lot of live shows and other records. "Close to the Fire" and "Merlin - Bard of the Unseen" are great progressive albums!
Supersister came with the live dvd Supersisterious
Focus plays live again, with a great new guitarist (still we miss Akkerman a bit)
Alquin plays live again
Who would have thought that?
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Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 19:31
Kayak's Close To The Fire is great!
Focus 8 is good too!
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 19:35
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Sabbath-Ozzy album please.... Unlikely because of DIO being in the band now, and Ozzy dealing with his so-so solo career.... Great because it's the real Sabbath  |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 12 2009 at 20:25
The last new Kayak I got was the Merlin DVD. Was a bit disappointing. Love Kayak though. Should I give new Kayak another try? ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 13 2009 at 03:14
I don't know about Merlin, I haven't heard that one yet. But Close To The Fire is in my opinion far better than the band's early albums
 It is also quite different from the early ones. Andy Latimer from Camel adds some great guitar to a couple of songs! The title-track is available for free listening here on PA. It's the best and most progressive song from the album. |
Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 13 2009 at 03:19
I was thinking of unlikely come-backs that actually did happen
 Black Sabbath is one of my favourite bands, but I doubt that they could ever do another good album together with Ozzy.
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: May 13 2009 at 10:14
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Hi,
I'm not exactly enamored with rehashes of the old music ... that is not to say that I would not want to see them at all ... and I have seen a few ... but you want me to be honest? There is only one I was extremely proud to see ... only one!
MAGMA (1999 in SF at the Progressive Music Festival)
... and everyone else felt like a nostalgia trip down memory lane.
Here are some examples:
Gong - Way too sad and missing that "3rd dimention" (as I call it) ... in 97 when they came through here with Pierre, they had a really good low end that made the rock music in their repertoire stand out quite well ... but the 2 other times it felt like a small band and we had to fantasize and imagine the "trip" ... and the music was not any better in my book. Still love them and Daevid was excellent and Mike was in his usual outstanding shape, and Gilli ... but ... it lacked heart.
Damo Suzuki - With a band that allowed him to do his own thing, but in may ways I really felt that the musicality and musical ability of this band was so far inferior to the original that the music almost sounded like it was hoping to be noticed or understood ... it was a noisy chuck berry (so to speak) to my ear of you will. And that was sad ... good versions of Mushroom and a couple of other things, but in general ... really sad ... very sad ... and not sounding good at all.
Brand X - Sounded ok. Maybe it was the drummer or just the combination ... it sounded way too metronomic for my ears and it was not enjoyable like the originality of the albums ... it was a bit too mechanical for my tastes.
Amon Duul 2 - My favorite band of all. None of them was ever more insipiring and creative and experimental and blew out the lights at the same time, and could create as good a lyric as Jim Morrison ... and be wayyyyyy more relevant than so many ... but the recordings around them other than "Live in London" are for the most part really sad and lacking ... it's not even the recording ... it's the rest. There are way too many bootlegs of so many bands where they sounded way good in those days ... even in an off day ... but the later rehashes sound tired and in fact aound exhausted! And that is so sad ... even an accoustic version of Apocalyptic Bore would sound better! Or Mozambique ... albeit today the white beast is aids, not the other one!
....
The other side of the coin are the folks that kept growing and it doesn't matter if you saw tham 35 years ago or not ...
Klaus Schulze is as good today as he ever was ... and you only have to see the Rheingold DVD to realize ... this is unreal! ...
Tangerine Dream is as good today as they ever were, even if I wish that Edgar was more patient and allowed the music to fly a littile past a guitar lead ...
Mike Oldfield is still out there and as relevant as he ever was -- and sometimes even more beautiful if that is possible ...
Vangelis is as sweet and powerful as he ever was even if Irene Pappas is occasionally replaced by a soprano opera singer that blows your ears away and sounds as pretty as Renata Tebaldi, Maria Callas or Birgit Nilsson ever did! You can't ask for more or better ... it is better than Jon Anderson doing the singing!
Zappa plays Zappa --- even though this is the son, the quality is now better than ever ... let's say that it has softened up a little over the years. If you have not seen this ... you will never understand why FZ is so important to so many musicians out there ... and why so many of the prog bands like him, and often pay homage to him in subtle ways.
You really know how simple some music is ... I mean ... an Eric Clapton is easy to sound the "same" today as he did years ago ... a Gong is not unless Tim Blake and Stiv Hillage are there making sure that the sound is complete ... and so few bands know how to translate their material so that they could do something different with it ...a veritable "unplugged" ... that would help these folks shine ... can you imagine King Crimson unplugged? It would sound like sh*t! And ELP ... I cringe at the thought!
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Posted By: friso
Date Posted: May 13 2009 at 10:45
When Kayak had a new start they first made the fine Close to the Fire. Then they came with Nightvision, of wich only the first two tracks are good... it's a pitty. Then came Merlin (wich I find one of the finest recordings ever, I also like the dvd very much). After that we have Nostradamus wich I partly liked. I will never understand why some people don't like Merlin... it's fantastic! My favourite Kayakperiod is still the first one. The first four albums are great!
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Posted By: crimhead
Date Posted: May 13 2009 at 11:32
FTW. I would love to see them tour more. |
Posted By: crimhead
Date Posted: May 13 2009 at 11:36
I for one would love to see ELP tour with just a piano,simple drum kit,acoustic guitar and upright bass. I would love to see what they could do with a simple fresh approach. No egos. No bloated stage set up. Just simple straight forward music of their songs redone. |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: May 13 2009 at 18:47
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I wonder why no-one mentioned the reunion of VdGG in 2005 after 27 years.
-------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Evan
Date Posted: May 14 2009 at 03:43
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Camel? Followed their heyday with mediocre output into the eighties, then seemed to dissolve over legal and personal disputes. Then, out of nowhere came Dust and Dreams followed by a delightful series of albums including their last release A Nod and a Wink, which IMHO rivals their early records in quality. |
Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 14 2009 at 04:46
Dust And Dreams was indeed a great come-back and both this and the follow-up, Harbour Of Tears, are excellent and among Camel's best albums ever. Rajaz and A Nod And A Wink are good too, but not as good as Dust And Dreams and Harbour Of Tears IMO.
I agree that it was quite unlikely that they came back with such a strong series of albums after a few years away and after some not-so-good albums in the late 70's and early 80's. Though I do like Stationary Traveller too.
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Posted By: SouthSideoftheSky
Date Posted: May 14 2009 at 04:55
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I have now reviewed Kayak's Close To The Fire (and I gave it four stars!)
I have also downloaded (legitimately, of course!) Kayak's Merlin: Bard Of The Unseen and Proto-Kaw's Before Came After.
Thanks all for the inspiration!
It is amazing how many bands from the 60's and 70's came back from the dead in the late 90's and 00's to tour and make new music, often up to par with their classic stuff. I know that there are many more examples, so keep those suggestions coming.
The natural follow-up question is, of course, why this happened? Why did they come back and why at this particular moment in time? Is it because Prog is once again popular? Or is it because the musicians feel old and that this is their last chance to get back together? Other reasons?
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: May 14 2009 at 06:11
Francis Lickerish - left The Enid in 1980 after recording the first 4 seminal albums with them.
 After a couple of false-starts with other bands he disappeared from the music scene completely for personal reasons in the early 80s. There were a few rumours as to why, but nothing from the man himself. About 5 years ago he saw an oil-painting on my old website and made contact:
 We exchanged a couple of emails were he said he was discovering medieval music, then a couple of years later he announced he was putting a band together under the name Secret Green and launched a MySpace page to promote it with a couple of teaser tracks. http://www.myspace.com/secretgreen - http://www.myspace.com/secretgreen
He has now completed and released the first Secret Green album "To Wake The King" with ex-Enid band mate Willie Gilmour on keyboards and featuring the wonderful classical-folk vocals of Hilary Palmer, The album also has "Enid" guest appearances by Dave Storey on drums and Robert John Godfrey contributing Church Organ on one track. I received a copy of the album last night and cannot stop playing it (I'm on my 6th listen ... which equates to something like 8 hours of continuous play) - I honestly haven't been this excited or moved by the release of an album since Wish You Were Here back in 1975. It sounds like a real 1970s Prog Rock album and is a masterpiece of Symphonic Prog and Prog Folk - there are obvious and very deliberate Enid references on the album, including 4 hidden 'easter-eggs', but the inclusion of medieval folk influences has lifted this beyond anything he recorded with The Enid. If you ever saw The Enid live and got swept up in the majestic grandeur of their performance, but felt a little let down by their studio recordings then this album will change all that - Lickerish has pulled off the unexpected and recorded an album that captures the mystical essence that made those gigs so captivating and achieved something rare and special.
One word of warning - the opening track (Prelude) is an aural depiction of a sunrise, so it starts off extremely quietly - I mean really really quiet - well below the threshold of human hearing and builds over the next 3 minutes into a monstrous crescendo of orchestral pomp (but not pompous). Set the volume wrong at the beginning and you'll blast out all the windows in your house! But get it right and it is magnificent
 http://www.secretgreen.co.uk/ - http://www.secretgreen.co.uk/
 ------------- What? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: May 14 2009 at 07:12
I think several factors are involved. There is certainly a new generation of prog fans that are there because their parents had prog in their music collections. As people seek out alternative to the boring pop pablum that is being churned out, prog is a good place to go, musicians seeing that prog can actually make them some money. The fan base for prog may have waned in the '80's but many of us old folks have not gone away and there are new fans out there. For others it may just be the joy of making good music. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: May 14 2009 at 08:45
Same ... but if you transcribe the majority of Keith's stuff, it is fairly conventional playing to my ears. Of course, that would lend itself to accoustic playing real quick and easy ... but it will probably take away from the song ... I'm not sure that "Oh Lucky Man" would sound as good without a synthesizer ... on a piano ... not sure that one could exactly transcribe what amounts to one note being bent out of shape through a couple of LFO's and VCO's ... but I agree with you and think that this would be a massive challenge that would bring out the musicianship in them ... instead of the showmanship!
So much of their shows was built around showmanship that I am not sure this could be done ... I tend to think they don't have enough patience for it ... that's my thinking though ...
If it can be found the show "Behind the Music" with The Police years ago had a bit by Andy Summers talking about a song, and he played the same couple of chords straight ahead without effects ... and it was plain and not recognizeable. And then he added the effects ... and you went ... wow ... that's nuts! I would think that for an accoustic version of that song the transcriptions would be totally different and melody/voice based, instead of anything else ... ELP could be a problem in some material, as it is not always voice driven ...
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Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: May 14 2009 at 20:56
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I don't know if any of you guys ever listened to Mandrill, but they were an early 70s American band that mixed African fusion, Latin jazz, psychedelic rock with prog rock type arrangments, that disbanded in the mid-80s.
I had just put their bio on PA when one of their leaders, Ric Wilson, let me know they had been back since the first part of this century and sent me some new CDs and DVDs. They sound great, strong and agressive, not an oldies band at all. Re why they came back, I think they were able to come back because a combination of the world beat scene, the American jam band scene and psychedelic rave/acid jazz culture made their music more relevant to young people again. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: May 15 2009 at 12:40
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Hi,
Easy Money ... do you have a link for them somewhere ... that sounds interesting ... we don't have enough out of the way mixes in the "world music" scene ... most of it is copykat stuff.
Nektar ... luckily, or unluckily, I saw them on their first tour in America ... I also know that they almost killed themselves and quit after their unbelievably massive tour with Golden Earring ... I don't think that Roye ever recovered from that.
VDGG ... I would love to see them or Peter ... few writers have helped me understand about writing ... AND expression ... than he has on my own ... that said, one of his latest did not impress me, and in fact I was starting to think that the organ sound was wearing thin in my ears ... and I had never, once before, ever, felt anything like that "repetitiveness" in any album of his or VDGG ... together of which I have over 30 of them ... Would I like to see them? Probably ... is it really necessary? I don't know. Would I like to say hello to a friend again? Yeah ... sure!
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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: May 15 2009 at 13:02
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Frank Bornemann is supposed to be working on a new Eloy album, so hopefully we'll be able to add them to the list down the road!
------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: May 15 2009 at 13:04
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Hey Moshkito, just go to myspace.com/mandrill
Mandrill is sort of 2 different bands in one, there is the original proggy world beat Mandrill, which morphed into a more funk/dance version of Mandrill in the late 70s. These days their music varies with the gig. On their recent DVD they are at their most progressive/world jazz for the Montreaux Jazz Festival, and then down and funky at a gig for a young American crowd in Philly. |
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: May 16 2009 at 03:18
Stonebeard did at the top of page 2. maudlin of the Well. They've been gone 8 years (I know, not as long as many other bands mentioned, but they all moved on to very different music) and yesterday released an excellent album in Part the Second. ------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
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Posted By: Werneflo
Date Posted: May 16 2009 at 06:13
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Comus. I was really surprised to see that one. They played at Melloboat Festival thanks to Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt who had even named an album after a part of the lyrics in one of their songs (My Arms, Your Hearse). Loads of videos of their performance on YouTube, and they still seem to have it in them. They are also working on a new album, I've heard.  |