Ingranaggi Della Valle - Warm Spaced Blue Subgenre(s): Rock Progressivo Italiano
Score: 80
Year: 2016
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 29th
Well, this album doesn't sound either very warm or particularly blue, but it most definitely is spaced! More Floydian than RPIish, this album leans heavily on the creation of absorbing, sometimes disturbing sonic soundscapes. While the group have left behind some of the heavy neoclassical influence of their first album in terms of instrumentation and melody, the classical influence remains in the scope of some of the compositions, which are excellent. There is plenty of heavy guitar and all manner of distorted instruments and sounds, but you also won't be disappointed if you're a mellotron fan. It all adds up to a very impressive outing from one of the more contemporary outfits in the genre. At times the vocals don't quite match the quality of the composition and musicianship, but hey, what else is new in prog?
Last edited by Fischman on 06/27/2023 00:40; edited 1 time in total
FischmanRockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMasterProfile Land of Enchantment
Acqua Fragile - A New Chant Subgenre(s): Rock Progressivo Italiano
Score: 75
Year: 2017
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 10th
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Wrapping up my full week dedicated to RPI here with Acqua Fragile's A New Chant. This is a unique album in a couple respects. First, Acqua Fragile is one of those short-lived golden era RPI artists who releast just two albums in '73 and '74 and seemed to disappear.... only to reform and release a A New Chant in 2017 after a 43 year gap! Secondly, they deliver their lyrics in English. I originally thought this would be a disappointment (in spite of me having no understanding of Italian beyond linguini and cannoli), but it worked just fine. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised since I'm also a Symphonic Metal fan, which is dominated by Northern European and Scandinavian acts singing in English as well. Those lyrics vary in quality, but when they're weaker, the music is exceptional, so it's still a great listen.
Anyway, this is a way cool album. Originally Acqua Fragile were, sometimes unfairly measured against non-RPI contemporaries, especially Genesis and Gentle Giant. I will say that if you're a fan of those groups, there's a good likelihood you'll like this as well. In those intervening years between '74 and '17, the group also seems to have picked up a little heavy prog influence as well. While the album is mostly golden age sytle prog, with those hallmark romantic and pseudo-operatic Italian vocals, they get really Fish(Marillion)-like with a tough of Queensryche's Geoff Tate when the group goes heavy and that ended up being my favorite part of the album
I'm glad I caught this at the Italian Prog section. I've enjoyed seeing some stuff I'm familiar with, and some ones that I'm not. Definitely have a few I'm going to check out from here.
If you've still got a few more that you want to do, then I'll throw out a few. (Although a few of these dip more into the Jazz-Rock Jazz Fusion thing than Prog. )
I'm glad I caught this at the Italian Prog section. I've enjoyed seeing some stuff I'm familiar with, and some ones that I'm not. Definitely have a few I'm going to check out from here.
If you've still got a few more that you want to do, then I'll throw out a few. (Although a few of these dip more into the Jazz-Rock Jazz Fusion thing than Prog. )
Magenta - The Twenty Seven Club Subgenre(s): Neo Prog, Heavy Prog, Progressive Metal
Score: 75
Year: 2013
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 20th
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Magenta opens up a lot more like a standard issue symphonic metal (a genre I generally like) album. It does gather some distinctiveness as the opening "The Lizard King" morphs into some solid heavy neo prog. Vocalist Christina Booth has a beautiful if not overly distinctive voice. Actually, everything about this album (save the darker lyrics, the title being a reference to the many musicians who died at the age of 27) seems lovingly crafted to be palatable to the mainstream. In places the guitar seems a deliberate attempt to copy Steve Howe's tone as exactly as possible. As such, it can at times seem a little formulaic and uninspired. Still, it has many solid moments. Booth's vocals are totally captivating on "The Gift," a sort of pseudo-progressive power ballad that is just beautiful. Overall this is a fine album, but nothing that has the potential to vault into the upper echelons of the progressive world.
Camel - The Snow Goose Subgenre(s): Symphonic Prog
Score: 90
Year: 1975
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 8th
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This has been a real grower. What's this... a Camel album with not words? Yeah, pass. but after letting it sit on the shelf a while and then giving it another spin, I started to understand what all the fuss was about. With each subsequent spin, I became more and more attuned to the musical vision and it's steadily climbed up my 1975 appreciation list with each new spin. The story is well told, even without lyrics. Each instrument is perfectly placed and each character's voice clear. The composition and presentation are impeccable. While this is correctly labeled as symphonic prog, we get a fine variety of sounds, and in particular, "Rhayader" may be as cool a folk rock/symphonic prog blend as I've ever heard, and it grooves too!
Camel - The Snow Goose Subgenre(s): Symphonic Prog
Score: 90
Year: 1975
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 8th
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
This has been a real grower. What's this... a Camel album with not words? Yeah, pass. but after letting it sit on the shelf a while and then giving it another spin, I started to understand what all the fuss was about. With each subsequent spin, I became more and more attuned to the musical vision and it's steadily climbed up my 1975 appreciation list with each new spin. The story is well told, even without lyrics. Each instrument is perfectly placed and each character's voice clear. The composition and presentation are impeccable. While this is correctly labeled as symphonic prog, we get a fine variety of sounds, and in particular, "Rhayader" may be as cool a folk rock/symphonic prog blend as I've ever heard, and it grooves too!
Redemption - The Fullness of Time Subgenre(s): Progressive Metal
Score: 85
Year: 2005
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 1st
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This is big. This is hard. This is fast. This is technical. This is also expressive metal largely due to the expressive vocal delivery of Fates Warning frontman Ray Alder. This is an eargasm for any progressive metal fan. With Alder out front, it's easy to hear some Fates Warning in there, but there's also a good dose of Dream Theater, but it's all underpinned by an equally ambitious if a little less pretentious and more straghtforward overall aesthetic. This includes solid melodies, judicious use of keyboards, and lots of lightning fast double bass in the drums. As such, one need not be a prog fan to appreciate the metal here.
Starting today, I'm spending a week focusing on Dream Theater member side projects.
Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot Subgenre(s): Progressive Metal, Eclectic Prog
Score: 80
Year: 1999
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 5th
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While a side project for Dream Theater John Myung, Gordian Knot is actually the product of Sean Malone, member of the progressive metal band Cynic. Actually, Myung only plays on two cuts. That said, this album bears almost no resemblance to either Cynic or Dream Theater. This is an all instrumental album and has nothing but guitar, bass, and chapman stick along with some percussion. That in mind, this is surprisingly eclectic and the focus on composition and evolving musical motifs is the cornerstone of this excellent outing. Now being all instrumental, and melodic but not at all mainstream, this isn't going to appeal to a lot of folks so I would only recommend it to someone with an ear for this sort of thing.
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