Los Canarios - Ciclos Subgenre(s): Symphonic Prog
Score: 80
Year: 1974
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 22nd
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Three Years after ELP gave us Pictures at and Exhibition, a prog rock epic after composer Modest Mussorgsky's suite of the same name, Spanish proggers Los Canarios gave us Ciclos, another epic, this time after Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. If you like the former, I suspect there's a good chance you'll like the latter. That said, this is a very different animal in a number of ways. First of all, the ELP follows it's parent piece much more closely. Second, the four concerti that make up The Four Seasons are likely to clock in at around 42 minutes total, Canarios's Ciclos runs to over 73 minutes! While there are direct quotes from The Four Seasons, Canarios use the parent piece as more of a springboard for exploration than as a blueprint to be adhered to. Unlike the original concerti, Canarios brings in vocals. These range from near Medieval chant to renaissance polyphony to romantic operatics to 20th century borderline avant garde. Their instrumentation is equally diverse. While ELP largely sticks to core ELP sound throughout Pictures at an exhibition, Canarios offer up a dizzying array of sounds and vibes. The amazing part is they always keep you guessing, but never become chaotic. The most well known theme from the Four Seasons makes repeated appearances, providing a unifying thread, but each time it appears, it is modulated, tempo changed, and most obviously instrumentation seriously morphed, giving Ciclos an almost Bolero-like quality, which also really makes sense as "ciclos" is Spanish for cycles and it's continually interesting and entertaining to hear Canarios run these melodies through various cycles. Over the course of these 73+ minutes, Canarios throws just about everything at you, including the classical kitchen sink and a prog bag of chips. I dig.
The Rome Pro(G)ject - A Musical Walk Through the History and the Places, the Greatness and the Beauty of the Eternal City Subgenre(s): Symphonic Prog
Score: 85
Year: 2012
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 7th
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Well, here was a major discovery. I've been wanting to check out The Rome Pro(G)ject for a long time, but was always a little skeptical and ended up slipping it back in the queue in favor of other options. Well folks, I'm here to tell ya', this is a dynamite symphonic prog album. This Italo-English collaboration is intended to be a musical tour of Rome. I'm not sure I really heard that; what I did hear was hugely impressive compositions delivered with stunning virtuosity and genuine heart. Part of the English contribution here comes from Genesis axe slinger, Steve Hackett, and he gives this project some of the most aggressive playing of his storied career, and it works exceptionally well. Musically, this will likely appeal to more to fans of early Yes than Early Genesis, especially if they have a yen for Rock Progressivo Italiano as well. That blend is absolute fire. Other than some spoken word (in Italian), this is an instrumental album and even without singing, it never wanes during its hour plus run time. I look forward to moving forward through The Rome Pro(g)ject's catalog. If they are able to maintain this level of quality and intensity, it should be stunning!
Steve Howe - Quantum Guitar Subgenre(s): Crossover Prog
Score: 65
Year: 1998
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 36th
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I had never heard this particular Steve Howe solo album before tonight. This one is more a crossover album than a real prog album as Howe mostly plays it safe with more pop oriented material. His playing is as solid as ever, but seems a little wasted on most of this album. If nothing else, this was a nice way to draw down from the previous Rome Pro(G)ject album, kind of like the musical equivalent of a cool down period after a strenuous workout. I doubt I'll be reaching for it much in the future though.
Dali's Dilemma - Manifesto for Futurism Subgenre(s): Progressive Metal
Score: 90
Year: 1998
[b]My Rank in Year as of this listen: 1st (in a relatively weak year)
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Syzygy - A Glorious Disturbance Subgenre(s): Crossover Prog, Progressive Metal
Score: 90
Year: 2012
[b]My Rank in Year as of this listen: 3rd
After this morning's jazz and classical, I was, as Pat Boone would say, in a metal mood. Dali's Dilemma's only album, Manifesto for Futurism, solved my dilemma perfectly. In addition to the metallic bent, they have more time signature and tempo changes than you can swing a Strat at. Instrumentally, sonically, and structurally, they lean towards Dream Theater while rhythmically, melodically and vocally, they lean toward Fates Warning. Add to that that they make their bass more prominent than either, and there's no way I'm not loving it.
After DD, it was time for some Syzygy, with their 2012 live set, A Glorious Disturbance. Solidly metallic, but with a more crossover sound, what takes them away from the mainstream is relentlessly dizzying virtuosity and consistently epic-length songs. In most hands, this would be grounds for hopeless overreach, but these guys are more than up to the task. Also of note is that despite a self-released live album by a relatively minor band, the sound quality is surprisingly good. With studio level sound and performance of their best songs, coupled with live energy, this is a great way to get the essentials from this unknown but essential band without investing more in the back catalog.
Il Sistema - AIl Viaggio Senza Andata Subgenre(s): Rock Progressivo Italiano
Score: 70
Year: 1991 (recorded 1969 - 1970)
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 35th
Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra Subgenre(s): Rock Progressivo Italiano
Score: 85
Year: 1973
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 20th (in an exceptionally tough year)
Celeste - Principe di Un Giorno Subgenre(s): Rock Progressivo Italiano
Score: 85
Year: 1976
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 13th
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One more binge for the day before my listening slows down for other aspects of life. This binge started with me checking out early Rock Progressivo Italiano outfit Il Sistema. This obscure band recorded between 1969-1971, but those works didn't see wide release until 1991. In the meantime, the band disbanded with members splitting off to form other RPI outfits, namely Museo Rosenbach and Celeste. Upon reading that I decided I had to follow up my Sistema listen with thier spinoffs. That's the System, eh?
A marvelous afternoon it was! Il Sistema is more of a vintage proto-prog band, with organ featured heavenly, giving them a more psychedelic sound, a la The Doors. You can hear them reaching forward into the prog realm, and it's easy to see how their later spinoff groups ended up fully in the RPI house. The music is solid but largely unremarkable, and the sound quality on this album borders on dreadful. It's more interesting as a historical link than for the music itself.
Moving forward to Museo Rosenbach's 1973 debut, we hit a big fat WOW! Now this is an RPI classic! This album is hugely creative, and the songwriting/composition evolution is most remarkable. Musicianship is wicked. Vocals are strong. This album has no weaknesses and now sits very high in my 1973 list, already a huge year for music in general and RPI in particular.
Three years later, Celeste would drop their debut. While the peak period of RPI had passed, this remains solidly in the vein, but with a more mellow and contemplative feel. Rather than the domination of rock organ and heavy vocals that marked Museo Rosenbach's debut, here we get lots of mellotron and flute along with largely subdued vocals. The result is sublime and this album stands favorably next to its former stablemate. If you're looking for some more ethereal Italian prog, this should nail it.
Hölderlin - Hölderlins Traum Subgenre(s): Prog-Folk
Score: 85
Year: 1972
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 35th
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I don't spreche much Deutsch, so I can't comment much on the lyrical content of this album, but speaking musically only, I'm hard pressed to think of a core Prog-Folk album as delightful as this one. The mostly acoustic instrumentation is exceptionally well composed, deployed, and executed. The female vocals in particular are most enjoyable no matter what she's talking about. Helping elevate this album further is the continually creative use of drums and percussion along with all that flute, mellotron and sitar. Anyone who wants to make a case for 1972 being the greatest year in prog would have to include this wonder as part of their evidence.
7 Ocean - Возвратись под Солнце / Return Under the Sun Subgenre(s): Symphonic Prog
Score: 80
Year: 2009
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 11th
After some great early 70s German Prog-Folk, I moved forward a few decades and deeper into Eastern Europe. I speak even less Belarusian than I do German, so again I've got little insight into the lyrics, but again, I think I've stumbled onto a real gem, this time a very hidden one. This symphonic prog album has a lot going for it and I'm an instant fan. The album has good variety, is superbly sequenced, and very well paced, such that it's hour+ run time never really seems like an hour. The vocals are strong throughout, adding to the joy of the listen despite any language barrier. I'll definitely be exploring more of this group's catalog.
Astral Oceans - Skycraft Subgenre(s): Progressive Metal
Score: 70
Year: 2020
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 60th
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Highly competent technical progressive metal. Reasonably creative if not overly inspiring. Purely instrumental; it would be good to hear what they could do with some solid lyrics to join that solid music. This album is definitely a case of less is more as the sub-39 minute keeps this heavy speedfest from wearing out its welcome.
Spirergy - Aeon Subgenre(s): Neo Prog
Score: 70
Year: 2023
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 40th
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Another recommendation here, and on paper a very good. This album plays like a solid homage to the neo prog movement. I should love the album as Spirergy employ all the elements I love of neo-prog with solid craftsmanship. But overall, this ended up sounding to me like something less than the sum of its parts. Maybe it's a little uninspired relative to my faves. Or maybe it's just a natural byproduct of Spirergy being a one man show, and a little collaboration would be necessary to bring out everything the music has to offer.
Amenophis - Amenophis Subgenre(s): Symphonic Prog
Score: 80
Year: 1983
My Rank in Year as of this listen: 22nd
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This is a super solid symphonic prog debut from 1983. While Yes was turning out the likes of Big Generator, this German band was launching superior symphonic prog, even if it was more throwback and less in tune with the new decade. This is a more mood than chops prog album and that's just fine, as the moods are effectively set and support the compositions nicely. In excellent symphonic prog fashion, Amenophis does marvelous things with orchestration, which keeps the music interesting.
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