NEO-PROG

Here we have the debut album by a new French outfit who have delivered us a concept album based on the story of lifelong soulmates Charlie and Hope, who had always spent their lives together. One day, Charlie wakes up alone in the middle of a completely different and devastated world and this is the story of his adventures as he attempts to find his partner. The idea of loss and searching is not new, but this story takes on real poignancy when one realises this is a new project by Anne-Claire Rallo (Nine Skies, Solace Supplice) who has delivered this following on from the death of her husband Eric Bouillette (Nine Skies, The Room, etc.) in 2022. She has been joined on this personal quest by friends and colleagues of them both, so she has been assisted by Alexandre Lamia (Nine Skies, Ingaro), Alexis Bietti (Nine Skies, Genesya), Johnny Marter (Nine Skies, Marillion, Mr. Big, Brian May, Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, etc...), Martin Wilson (The Room, Grey Lady Down), Helen Tiron (Sun Q) while it was mixed and mastered by John Mitchell (Lonely Robot, Arena, Asia, Frost, etc.). Martin and Helen take on the lead vocal roles, and I must admit to find it strange to be listening to Martin more than 30 years since I first came across Grey Lady Down and their initial demo tape. They were very active in the London scene back then and I saw them many times on the live circuit, and I note there is a guitar solo on one track from Steve Anderson who I first saw with Sphere before he also joined GLD and was of course also in The Room with both Martin and Eric.

The music is polished Neo Prog, which given who is involved is of little surprise, but there are also some quite symphonic elements as well. Outside the rhythm section, and one sax solo (plus the aforementioned guitar lead), all music has been provided by AC, Eric and Alexandre so with three guitarists, three keyboard players (and one violinist) it is no surprise there is a lot going on. It is punchy, powerful, and packed with drama and emotion. The recording process of this must have been very difficult once Eric has passed away, as here we have AC reaching out into the darkness, using others to convey what she is feeling as she searches through life anew, her world turned inside out. It is of no surprise that at times the music is quite angular and causes us to be uncomfortable, but there are also sections of real beauty when all the darkness is cast aside and we have a totally different approach as we find solace. The piano in "The Ballad of Peggy Pratt" is delightful, and in very stark contrast to the chaos we also find ourselves listening to.

There is a lot to take in, both lyrically and musically, but it is also a very accessible album due in no part to both the compositions and performances by all involved with the vocals kept to the fore with real clarity. Melodically very strong, the production is spot on and the result is a modern progressive rock album with real style and panache which I thoroughly enjoyed. It will be interesting indeed to see what comes next.

Although this was written in 2015 it was only released in 2024, and contains just five tracks. For the most part it is the same line-up as the 2020 album apart from the first song, "Light A New Fire", which has Neil's cousin Paul Foss on drums. These five tracks were played live but not previously recorded and the sound quality is not quite as good as MMAL, but this is still a wonderful release. Back in the day when I was living in the UK I always felt I had a finger on the pulse, but now I am the other side of the world I confess I have no idea what is going on in the scene unless someone contacts me, but I do find it difficult to understand why Exhibit A are not more well known. Their highly commercial take on prog rock straddles Neo and AOR, but to these poor abused ears it is a load of fun.

Dave still has a nice voice, Neil often provides layers of backgrounds when Nick crunches the lead, the two Paul's fill in the space on the drums while Steve provides run and melodies all his own which takes the music in a different direction again. There is an argument from some prog snobs that Neo is not real prog, and bands should not bother with it, but some of our largest underground prog bands at least started in the genre and there are plenty still proving it is a valid style of music, and that is again the case here. I don't know why it took 9 years for this to be made available (all four Exhibit A albums are on Spotify btw), and why it is only five tracks with a total run time of just over 30 minutes, but I do know I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. There is a professional naivety to it which is endearing, It Bites mixing with Pallas and early Genesis with even some IQ bits and pieces, which makes this a really enjoyable release. This is not prog which runs a risk of disappearing up its own orifices as it takes itself too seriously with loads of "look at me" egos on stage, but instead is a melodic Neo album which is fun from beginning to end, and surely music is supposed to be enjoyed and not just endured? I have no idea if this is the end of the story from Exhibit A, but I certainly hope not as here is a band many progheads would enjoy if they went out and looked for them.

Okay, time for a quick history lesson. Exhibit A came together in 1984 out of the remnants of Mishra and by the time they recorded their debut tape in 1990 their line-up was Dave Foss (vocals), Neil Foss (keyboards),

Steve Watts (bass), Nick Hampson (guitars) and Tony Robertson (drums). I reviewed the album in 1993 and found it very enjoyable indeed and was stoked when they then released the CD 'Out There' the following year, saying that I had no hesitation in recommending the CD to everyone. Now, that was a time in the UK when there were loads of bands in the underground prog scene, with some classic albums being released, but apart from a few fanzines there was no way of getting news out there and many of these bands folded way before they reached the fanbase they deserved.

I hadn't thought of the band in ages until Neil contacted me earlier this year to let me know the band had actually reformed and recorded some new material, and would I be interested in hearing it? So some 30 years on from when I first heard the band, I am now listening to this album, which was released in 2010. There is often a snigger when bands reform as it could be around just one member, but this time it is the reverse as apart from drummer Paul Caswell we have the exact same line-up as we had on the debut. I must be honest and wasn't sure what to expect as I recall the band moving into commercial It Bites areas but what would it be like so many years on? Well, it is hard to realise the band had been away for so long (apparently they reformed in 2007), as this is a recognisable follow-on from the last release with Dave still in fine voice, Neil dominating with keyboards, loads of incredible fluid basslines, nice chunky Neo guitars and drums bringing it all in from the back. This is undoubtedly Neo but there are Crossover tendencies as well, and if one is looking for more prog references then Pallas and Abel Ganz are obvious, and some early Galahad, but mostly this is Exhibit A. this is not the finely polished and massively layered prog we get from many bands these days, nor is it the metallic version which others are straying into, but instead is good old fashioned Neo like they were playing in the Eighties and Nineties.

Well-produced and finished, here we have an album which is incredibly easy to listen to and enjoy the first time of playing, and the more it is listened to the more there is to discover. For those of us who were bucking the trend in the Nineties and listening to prog instead of grunge, then this is a delight.

Frost* returns with this follow-up to their 2021 release Day and Age, a sprawling double concept album (14 tracks, 86 minutes). As masterminded by keyboardist-vocalist Jem Godfrey and ably assisted by John Mitchell (guitars-vocals), Nathan King (bass), and Craig Blundell (drums), Life in the Wires tells an all-new story set in the same imaginary world as Day and Age, following a character through various adventures in an AI-run dystopian world. Musically, this contains many elements from the earlier Frost albums (especially Milliontown) as well as the later ones, in their somewhat edgy progressive pop style. I found this to be somewhat structurally and stylistically reminiscent to some of Neal Morse's concept albums. There are many great and brilliant moments throughout the album, both in the vocals and instrumental sections, and numerous highlights. However, there are also some problems that keep this from being a completely satisfying and consistently entertaining experience. The length of the album is an issue, as there is a sameness to several songs, and the album doesn't flow well, with many abrupt transitions, not only between songs but also within them. The recurring spoken word sections from the DJ character also are intrusive and disrupt the flow and feel of the album, and it just took too long to get to the one of the album highlights, the extended track Life in the Wires part 2. A couple of the songs just don't work or are annoying (Idiot Box). Overall, there are several great songs here, with many highlights, enough to make a great album, but for me at least, there wasn't quite enough to justify the extended length of the album. Best Tracks: Life in the Wires Parts 1 and 2, This House in Winter, The Solid State Orchestra, Moral and Consequence. Rating 3.5ó

This may be the best recording of the year. It achieves near perfection with hooks and great themes. Frost* is a vehicle to express a keyboard oriented group which always achieves a strong level of harmony. They are able to fuse together lyrics and arrangements with chord progressions that make a lot of sense and are very dense. The first album Milliontown set the bar very high and they couldn't quite reach the same level on subsequent albums. However, with Life in the Wires they have reached an even higher mark, musically. The album flows for over an hour and it doesn't let up at all. There is no filler on this album as everything makes sense and everything fits. This project has achieved what they sought. How they will top this is a mystery. 5 stars with no hesitation.

Drifting Sun's debut album finds the band presenting a hard-rocking, energetic, accessible style of neo-prog, sounding a bit like a more commercially inclined IQ at points. Theatrical flourishes on pieces like Communication and intriguing lyrical narratives on songs such as Jamie Was a Vampire come across as entertainingly cheesy, and the production values, whilst not astonishing, are pretty impressive for a self-released album of this vintage from an act just starting out.

With Karl Groom making a guest appearance and Clive Nolan helping out with the mix, it seems like the band had some pretty useful connections in the neo-prog scene who were eager to help them out. Alas, 1996 wasn't exactly a fruitful period for the subgenre; established acts who'd solidified a loyal fanbase in prior years were doing fine, but new groups were struggling to gather enough of a following to sustain them. They'd have one more album, On the Rebound, which would shift to a more Marillion-influenced sound but otherwise maintain the approach of this debut, and then they'd have a long hiatus before reconvening and reconfiguring in the mid-2010s. As far as this first album goes, it showcases a distinct sound which will appeal to neo-prog fans without necessarily making lots of new converts.

To celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band, and 15 years since they released a concept album as their debut, Sydney-based Anubis have returned to the concept theme again for their seventh. The story here is about a young man joining, and then escaping from a religious cult in the American Midwest known as The Legion of Angels. It is designed as a single piece, split into ten parts, which fits neatly over two sides of vinyl at 47 minutes running time. One of my favourite sayings is "too much music, too little time", but I must confess I am somewhat surprised to have only now come across this band as this is modern prog which is very palatable indeed.

The band comprise Robert James Moulding (vocal, guitar, percussion), David Eaton (keyboards, soundscapes, 12 string, bass pedals, vocal), Douglas Skene (electric and acoustic guitars, vocal), Dean Bennison (electric and acoustic guitars, vocal), Anthony Stewart (bass, vocal), and Steven Eaton (drums, percussion, vocal) with guest Becky Bennison providing vocals on two of the sections. My initial listening made me sit up and pay attention as the piano is so delicate and so emotional, filling the space with gentle reverb, with gently picked guitar repeating the melody. Given there are two guitarists in the band (while Robert also provides guitar), I was not surprised to find them in the Neo prog sub-genre, although the basslines were somewhat more dramatic than one might expect. But this is modern Neo, not what I was listening to in the Nineties, and the layers and passion soon made me think of modern Big Big Train, Dim Gray, Head With Wings, The Pineapple Thief and possibly Muse. There are times when the pop elements come in with crunching guitars and plenty of passion, but others when the vocals and arrangement are incredibly passionate and emotional. If "Part V ? One Last Thing" was edited back from the 5:26 it currently is and given to the radio stations, then one can imagine them raving over the new Coldplay.

What strikes the listener more than anything is the quality and power of the production, as it is spotless, allowing the band to really shine. In Moulding they have a fine melodic prog singer who is unafraid to go high and slightly crack if that is what it takes to convey the message, while the rest of the guys move and switch the music from heavy prog through to pop rock seamlessly and always in total control. This is already my favourite prog band from Australia since the mighty Aragon, and that is saying something.

A seven-year wait is way too long a penitence, after the sublime Seven Windows (2017), this celebrated Polish combo launches The Wyrding Way, reuniting the core of guitarist extraordinaire Miroslaw Gil, the exotic Satomi on violin and keyboards, bassist Przemas Zawadzki and new recruit Maciek Caputa on the percussion front. The lead vocalist chair has been historically an endless revolving door, resembling the infamous Roxy Music bassist position, as the band introduces Jinian Wilde. The Polish scene has always been somewhat volatile with groups vanishing (the sadly dormant Albion, State Urge, Lebowski, Thrilos and Satellite) and others returning into the spotlight (Collage, The Adekaem and Fren).

Five beefy tracks with well over an hour of glittering music, Believe lights the fuse with a comprehensive 21 minute + megalodon "Hold On" that makes you want to grab the hand rails for the unflinching adventure will provide many twists and turns along the way. Satomi's famed violin paves the path with an immutable sorrow, the thoughtful Wilde vocals treading onto the solemn theme, displaying an adamant restraint, as the melody takes shape. Mirek Gil' s illuminating guitar gathers in the crew as they trespass into the fold, the bass expertly surveying the road ahead. The lyrics are clever, with its Le Carre hints that have more to do with the daily routine as opposed to the spy game. The fluid electric guitar and the graceful violin trade strings throughout the blossoming arrangement, unflinchingly assisted by a solid rhythm section that keeps things nice and tight. An acoustic guitar inflection indicates a noticeable variation that further widens the scope, a rousing organ sway underpinned by a swirling bass and drum channel. Gil infuses a trembling riff that speaks volumes, Wilde suggesting an urgent sense of 'helter-skelter in a masquerade' and 'perhaps another chance to be reborn', the fuse is now lit for a patented Gil solo that stamps his soaring style with the seal of perfection. Still holding on tightly as the piece veers once again into despondency and desolation, the second axe solo now way more dejected and apprehensive, as if the fear of letting go may appear just around the corner. When the strings infringe on the pain by elevating the numbness, the pensive solitude returns to its initial opening theme.

A trio of 11-minute tracks take over the menu, "Wicked Flame" comes across as a sublime Bond-like prog theme (the title rhymes with the spy game after all), the undaunted violin egging on Wilde's steadfast microphone performance, the adamant pace navigating carefully the scorching sparks of orange light. The sweltering bass shuffles the mood into a short Gil sizzle, the drumbeats crackling, warm keyboards maintaining the temperature and a lead vocalist on fire. The final ember is a volcanic explosion that sputters gently into ashes. Absolutely brilliant track. Jinian Wilde unwraps his gifts of voice eloquently on "Shadowland", a swooning ballad guided by a bass undertow and an overhead violin that bursts into a musical inflorescence, leaving the insistent Mirek Gil guitar to weave its unbounded magic, lush with both tone and technique. Grandiose and bombastic as it keeps expanding in emotion, the violin encroaches with authority, boldly suggesting an imminent hope for freedom, haunted by an unexpected piano solo from drummer Maciek Caputa that coronates this piece with even more class. Crushingly poignant, a truly Polish attribute by all accounts, the obscure "By My Tears" hits the lachrymose glands with no mercy, a painful musical memory of a bruised soul. The instrumental palette is desirably intimate, the harmony vocal work stupendous, the velvet violin intense and the two Gil fretboard moments are just plain out of this world, insistent, dramatic and immutable solos that singe the mind. Stunning piece.

I have never come across a track entitled "Shine" that stunk, seemingly a glistening word that can evoke nothing but excellence, just like the Sylvan piece of the same name. Wilde consolidates his credentials with another compelling performance. A mere 7 and a half minutes in length, it serves as a fitting illumination on the horizon, encompassing all the classic Collage/Satellite/Believe tradition. The Poles are such a passionate, romantic, at times even fatalistic people, having survived more tragedies than one could possibly imagine, and it reflects in their music and their culture. Hopeful, at times sad, resolute and courageous. That is why they shine. The band should never allow itself to stay away from the public eye for such extended biblical periods, its unfair. Both "Seven Windows" and "The Wyrding Way" are testaments to the quality of this meticulous prog combo, and we can only wish for more, and soon.

Shout out at the cover art, it is ingeniously attractive. 5 unimaginable maneuvers

This is a pretty solid recording of a live show I was actually at - the 2001 Mean Fiddler gig to honour IQ's 20th anniversary. With the Seventh House as their freshest studio album at the time, you get a bit of that here, but also cuts from across IQ's existence (as well as the warm-up act - a one-night only reformation of the Lens), with a full version of The Last Human Gateway finding them pushing the boat out.

There's plenty of guests here and there, including former bassist Tim Esau (who a good while after this would end up rejoining the band) who shows up for some special tunes including the first time the Wake-era lineup actually played Headlong live together on stage. There's also a rambunctious atmsophere which on the one hand I can confirm was true to the celebratory mood live in the venue, but also means that there's the odd bit of goofing around, so if you're after the best possible renditions of this material there's other IQ live releases which might serve you better. If, however, you just want a good time with the IQ lads, it's not half bad.

INFRINGEMENT band created by the guitarist of WINDMILL; a basic symphonic sound on ARENA, CAMEL and GENESIS as admitted reminiscences; it is the 3rd album which in my opinion goes on the heavy of PAIN OF SALVATION and the colorful vintage prog of Mr BUNGLE and other BIGELF; the synths and the lyrics leaning towards Neal MORSE.

"White Lies" in 5 parts, a text on the strict religious education of parents, on the heretical side in fact and the desire to escape from it; a piece with the announcing intro in phrasing and crystalline piano. The indoctrination is on its way and launches the conceptual sound, between heavy of time with haunting organs of time, a crazy air like FAITH NO MORE, prog metal. The siren choirs, the witch in heat, the hypnotic riff that plunges into the 70s for a while before extracting the best of them including this last velvety keyboard solo; Genesis-like break and participatory phrasing before launching a fat guitar solo between old neo, with the darkness and the warm vintage sound. The slap mixing neo with the old before leaving for another progressive space where Emil's bass throws sparks on the hot embers. A break of pure happiness with a reminiscence of DEEP PURPLE; a tenacious riff, an organ, the airy, refined rhythm and the enjoyable, orgasmic moment with this wild crescendo; the final vocal on the vocoder, shouted, in any case amplifying and signing an intense and disturbing progressive moment. The finale with the opera-rock choirs of a 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the worn voice, hold on a barely hidden LED ZEPPELIN riff takes us on a confusing track merging vintage heavy rock with a Genesisian air. A magnificent musical heresy that mixes, brews genres to better bewitch before the final haunting piano; I note Alice COOPER, KAYAK see CAST as groups coming to mind.

"Black Science" in 6 parts for the search for perfection, a dead-end attempt hence the search for the family nest; Louisiana gospel at the start, melting organ à la ANGLAGARD, prog takes the lead in this second chapter; we waver to let our ears listen to this archaic sound of today, magnificently boosted. The neo returns to the charge; a bass break suddenly reinforcing the hero's thoughts, the complex, captivating sound with a cheerful and bucolic title, from the Charisma Label of GENESIS. A nervous rise before descending a capella on a divine air, almost new-wave, AND YOU WILL KNOW? for the pop side. The break with Crimson Skies and its detuned wood piano for the dark, intense, stunning air; good luck or not I hear some KING CRIMSON with its famous crescendo. The jazzy finale with the piano flowing all by itself and its military drums leaves 'Dissension' its phrasing on a singular horn in dramatic mode, the moment when the hero understands that returning is the only viable solution; the instrumentation is amazing with these beautiful vintage flights, listen to me this organ which inevitably brings back to the 70s, the beauty is there. The finale with the neo sound of ARENA mystic with the Olympian choirs signs a last velvety guitar solo leading to the firmament.

INFRINGEMENT a sound apart, stacked breaks, vintage instruments, languorous and warm airs. Eclectic, symphonic and grandiloquent neo prog, proving that the prog of yesteryear can be excellent. Originally on Profilprog.