Almost 'Ultravox-like' during the intro replete with wavy keyboards - where all of a sudden 'Supertramp' appear, kicking New Wave butts into touch. 'Ultravox' re-appear with a vengeance and wipe the floor clean with the still warm blood of 'Supertramp' forming pools of blood on the floor using only synthesisers.

Phew! what an opening... 'Recycled' is a strange one. Cod American accents that really annoy are lost in the gargantuan "BIG" sound that is created by Nektar on this very important and bombastic sounding album.

'Recycled' is loud, very proggy and is bursting at the seems with a full on sound that is quite unmatched for its time. There's no way this was recorded on 4 or 8 track that's for sure. It's easy to see why this recording polarises so many reviewers opinions. It's so damn loud, cocky and sure of itself, sounding a bit like 'Jesus Christ Superstar' in parts. There's also some dodgy disco goings on in 'Sao Paulo Sunrise' which will leave you scratching your head in bewilderment.

A really busy album which is far too full of ideas to make a coherent album. Personally I love this schizo chopping and changing from one style to another... and believe me, there's a hefty amount of that going on here.

'Nektar are not a band I'm particularly fond of but this one sounds really interesting to my ears due to incessant information overload.

I was surprised to see this band on Prog Archives since I was only familiar with them as a pop band from the 80s, similar to Thompson Twins, The The, and all those other T-T bands of the era. It is always good to see a band (or the artist who dominates it) evolve over time. That said, I am not thrilled with the results, although it may seem otherwise on the surface. The album features good production values, interesting arrangements, and non-traditional structures. Still, where the songs are not dull and dreary they are cacophonic and noisy, with little in between that catches my interests. The drums in particular are grating to my ears. If I found the songs themselves more appealing I could overlook a lot of the problems here, but truth is I do not. The songs are long, drawn out, and go nowhere. On the plus side, this recording seems to be one of the forerunners of Post/Math Rock, which demonstrates they were doing something original. It is just not something I enjoy listening to and I am happy to pass this one on to someone who would be more appreciative.

Coming from a self proclaimed hater of live albums, 'Logos' is one of those albums that uses a slow drum machine that the band are tied down to throughout its duration. You'll feel like giving them a good kick, just to get their sorry asses into gear.

Unfortunately it doesn't really happen. Tangerine Dream sound hamstrung and crippled by the technology that they've promoted. However, as soon as those damn drum machines stop - they let themselves go a little bit, creating something far more interesting. Such a pity then that it's all too infrequent an occurrence.

All spontaneity is lost leaving a sterile and clinical sound which probably sounded great at the time, but now, in 2012 sounds staid and uninteresting. It's almost like queuing in a surgery waiting for an operation

The second part sacks the drums for the first half but the band still sound like they're playing to a metronome which is curiously annoying. Things get pretty cheesy 12 minutes into this track with every early 80's cliche you can imagine being rammed down your throat. It's almost like listening to an episode of 'Miami Vice'

Still... I'm a real sucker for sequencers, of which their are plenty and it's for that reason only that 'Logos' scrapes a three star rating by the skin of its teeth. In truth it probably deserves two...

Tangerine Dream were hoist by their own petard. And far worse was to follow...

When hearing an album for the first time I always consider it a good sign if I feel a little put-off, but I still want to listen to it again. That's how I felt with this one, and what threw me off was the vocal stylings (ranging from soft melodic to screaming to whiny) and the quirkiness of the sound, but strangely enough those were also the reasons that had me wanting more. I had to know if the ranging quirkiness actually meant something in the context of the album, or if this was just a collection of songs. I'm glad to say that it does mean something, and it's great.

This is the second album of an on going (three albums as of this writing) coming-of-age tale. This particular chapter explores the narrator's first sexual experience, and the subsequent romance that blossoms (as well as his recovery from his mother's passing at the end of the previous album). This blossoming only comes from his perspective, as the woman he crushes on, Ms. Leading, is a prostitute. It took me many listens to come onto the story, but it was when I did that I started to truly appreciate and love this album.

One of the greatest strengths of this album is the song writing. I believe this to be one of the few albums that gets the idea of the concept album correct; each song tells a little story, contributing to the bigger concept, with no song being shoe-horned in to progress the tale. Each track has it's own sound depending on the subject matter, and the styles change quite a bit throughout, with some recurring themes to boot. "The Bitter Suite 3: Embrace" is when our narrator finally lays with Ms. Leading, and the track starts very timid and shy, but slowly climaxes as the two remove the clothes and go under the sheets, and phases into a spacey guitar section to close. Not much longer after comes "Blood Of the Rose", which is about his discovery of Ms. Leading's profession. This track is a very sombre Spanish styled song that is filled with jealous-spiteful anger.

My favorite track on the album is "Red Hands", which definitely seems to be the hit of the album as it has more plays than any other track on Spotify. This song is the narrators true confrontation, and sending off of Ms. Leading after his discovery of her profession. This track speaks to the naivety and adolescence of the narrator, however the sentiment is no less genuine. "Because you can't be caught red handed if you're not red handed" is the repeated main lyric of the track, and with each delivery it sounds even more serrated and spiteful than the last. It sounds a bit silly because of how forward it is, but at the same time it's so genuine that all I can feel is empathy.

Most prog-heads are going to dismiss this track since it pretty much is a straight-up rocker with hardly any subtlety. The incredibly catchy chorus of this song will have anyone who doesn't run-away laughing at it's sincerity singing in repeat for days. And much of this album lends itself to this semi-poprock leaning as there are no blazing solos, disorienting rhythm changes, or stair case falling drum solos. However, this album is no less progressive for it. As I've mentioned previously, there is quite an amalgamation of styles here, and the fact that they're bundled up into such a nice rocker makes this album an excellent prog-gateway album. There is a tasty lick here and there, and a few sprinkled in atmospheric moments that could leave any budding musical taste thirsty for more.

As for me, I like to bring this with me on car rides and belt along with it. I get wrapped up into the folds of confusion, passion, euphoria, and betrayal that is weaved through each track, and always look forward to my next listen once its over.

Iluvatar's second album sees them expanding their range of classic neo-prog reference points, adding a welcome IQ influence to their sound (whereas the preceding album more closely resembled Marillion). This is particularly evident in Dennis Mullin's guitar playing; meanwhile, Gary Chambers' vocal and lyrical approach recall Fish's characteristic cadence at points. The end result of all this is an album which once again manages to present standard middle-of- the-road neo-prog, but does so with such confidence and at a sufficient level of quality that they stand out from most of the other Marillionalikes out there. Neo-prog fans will probably find a lot to enjoy about this one, whereas those who can't stand early Marillion and IQ won't hear anything to win them over here.

When it was released in 1969, the landmark original release of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" hit the ears of unsuspecting listeners with such force, that it, along with his previous release "In a Silent Way," has since often been cited as spawning the entire jazz fusion genre - and while it isn't nearly as polished as the offerings of the many and varied offshoot fusion bands that followed, it has a savage beauty all its own.

It was dubbed by one reviewer as merely "a line drawn in the sand," and though this assessment seems harsh, it is remarkably astute. Though "In a Silent Way" had a sort of abstracted dissonance underpinning its comparably placid and sometimes uplifting themes, it remained fairly calm and soothing. In contrast, "Brew" takes its listeners down a daunting path marked by hostility, aggression, and searing atonality. And though it makes a stunning impression, it is remarkably unstructured, with almost all the musicians emitting random bursts of notes at odd intervals - even Chick Corea seems hard-pressed to keep up with the seemingly illogical ideas as they are expressed. But through these abnormally cascading and clashing themes, a tapestry of sound unlike any other is woven into a complete and entrancing whole.

Now, seeking to expand the original touchstone fusion album, the 4-Disc "Complete Sessions" offers a more in-depth look into the workings of Davis' mind during his fusion phase, and the evolution of his style leading up to the album's release. Though the original album made an impressive and powerful statement on its own, and arguably gave birth to the genre, for fusion aficionados, at first glance this would seem to be a worthy expansion of the album to own. But has it only been produced as a money-grabbing tactic, or is it worthy of your collection?

The base album's tracks are preserved in their original order, though Feio, the bonus track which was released on some versions of the album, appears later as the first track of disc 4. The original album is as expressive and poignant as ever, though I personally found it challenging when I first heard it, and only began to fully appreciate it after several listens. To get through the entire original album alone can be a draining experience - thusly you may want to break up the "Complete Sessions" over a number of listens. But when the new material begins on the 2nd disc, from the Eastern groove of "Great Expectations" to the ambient first notes of "Recollections" and the coda of two shorter tracks, the "Sessions" provide enough material for any fan of fusion and Davis to enjoy, though a less avid listener like myself might subside on the base tracks alone.

Island's "Pictures" is a vicious jazz attack and quite unsettling at times but never less than creative. The band are an inventive jazz RIO and may be described as Gentle Giant meets Van der Graaf Generator. It is strange and compelling and slightly sinister. The instrumental 'Zero' is one of the most virtuoso in terms of musicianship and experimentation. Scherer is a wizard on keyboards and the drumming of Meier is phenomental competing with one another yet oddly amalgamating together. The time sig changes are wondrous, really making the music more dynamic than it already is. It is bold and daring and challenging.

Fisch is an incredible sax player and shines on the lengthy 'Pictures' with Jager's vocals and massive dollops of avant jazz hyper strangeness. It is almost Zappa meets Hatfield and the North, a weird combination of psychotic jazz and Canterbury. The sigs are all over the place and chaos reigns supreme. 'Herold And King' is a disturbing track with drones and jolts of sax and silence, and it does sound as though the musicians are just tuning up but they are actually playing dissonant jazz. The piano on this is spine tingling and really is not one I would play at night.

'Here and Now' is a dark piece with VDGG sax squeals and Tull like flute. It is rather scary but the vocals are warm and inviting. The music is incredible and off the scale as far as time sigs, the meter changes and the percussion is always maintaining an odd pattern. It ends the album on a highlight. But there is a bonus on the Cd and it is a huge jam session called 'Empty Bottles'. It is really a manic jazz feast, with dissonant sax, drums and other instruments basting up a storm.

A word about the cover. It is an HR Giger artwork 2 years before he became famous for "Alien" and yet it looks very much like the Alien in Ridley Scott's classic. It certainly drew me to the album. Giger of course provided the artwork for many albums such as ELP's "BSS" and Debbie Harry's solo album "Koo Koo", even being involved with the clip to her 'Backfired' and appearing in 'Now I Know You Know'.

Overall Islands' "Pictures" is a bold inventive album that is really going to challenge listeners and for those of us who want to hear odd time meters, jazz weirdness and Canterbury all in one package, look no further!

Steve Howe's "Time" is an album I have been playing while surfing the net, writing or simply relaxing. It is that sort of album. The non abrasiveness of the music and the sheer beauty is exquisite. Howe is a master of the guitar and he really demonstrates an enormous amount of dexterity and this is the quieter side of the guitar genius. This is easy listening music to kick off the shoes, put the feet up and curl up into a warm book. Or this is romantic enough to put on during an evening dinner with some wine and caviar. If that is the sort of thing you are likely to do Howe has provided the perfect background music. I do not mean that either in a derogatory sense, as the music is lovely and played virtuoso, but this is definitely for me background music.

The point is nothing really stands out as a killer track rather it is just an album with terrific classical musicianship that blends well as a whole. It has a Cantata, a Concerto, and even the odd Aria with 'Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5'. There is the sound of a banjo on one track and mostly finger picking guitar sounding exactly like Howe's acoustic guitar solos in a Yes concert. The music is backed by symphonic keyboards but drums are absent, bass is absent and you will find zero distortion as far as the guitars. They are always crystal clean and pleasant. It is a nice album that my wife likes me playing but Yes were more inventive and daring than this and so was Howe who has mellowed in his old age with this effort.

The Artefatcs series is made of four albums but two of them are compilations and with now about 100 albums released by Senmuth I'm not going to review his compilations so I'll only look at Artefatcs I and II.

The whole album is made of those "ambient" tracks with powerful sounds and a slow tempo that's typical of Senmuth, but it also included passages on which I don't see much composing effort. There are some good moments here and there, and if you are not too deeply into Senmuth's music you can find it even interesting.

It's not so interesting for who as myself has listened to almost this whole huge discography.

For who doesn't know Senmuth, he started with industrial metal, electronic drones and techno influences to move quite soon to ethnic and ambient landscapes, mainly inspired by middle-eastern folk music.

Well, none of those elements is completely exploited in this album. The first track that I find quite pleasant is "Sakkarskaya bird" which comes fourth, and the reason is that the melodic line is different from the usual. It's a pity that it ends with a fadeout.

The following track features a cello, probably electronic. The soundscape is very good but the melody with the familiar "quantistic jumps" out of pitch jeopardizes it.

Apart of those two examples, I suggest listening to the tracks with an idea of what they represent:

The ICA stones are black stones of Andesite found in Peru which are told built by an alien came from Pleiades, but the farmer who sold them to a researcher later admitted to be their author, even to avoid being jailed for selling antiquities illegally.

Antikhitera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900?1901 fin Germany

Haji Muhiddin, aka Piri Reis draw a map of Europe and South America few years after Columbus and with a precision that's above the possibilities of that age.

You can check all the other artefacts on Wikipedia, but they are the only thing that I have found interesting in this album, that's not bad, but doesn't bring anything new to a 100 albums discography.

Already listened.

Blind Guardian's Imaginations From the Other Side is a forceful power metal album of the sort we've all come to expect from Blind Guardian... and that, in a way, is part of the reason why I feel it's a rather middling release from them. The performances are decent enough, but they and the songwriting are all more or less exactly along the lines we expect from power metal these days. The end product is clearly a highly polished one - but it's polished to the point of sounding sterile and artificial to my ears, an exercise in setting out a blueprint for Dragonforce and a horde of other super-fast power metal bands in the coming years as opposed to a creation of something genuine and sincere.