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Rivers of Nihil Tech/Extreme Prog Metal
Review by javajeff

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Porcupine Tree Heavy Prog
Review by thwok

Unlike most people it seems, I actually prefer the second disc of THE INCIDENT. The variety in these four songs makes for an excellent 21 minutes of listening. The songs on the first disc aren't as enjoyable as individual pieces. They seems like parts of a whole, rather than finished songs, which requires more time and attention. However, I'm sure that's exactly how Steve Wilson intended it. If you can devote some time to extended listening, THE INCIDENT is definitely worthwhile. I'm bumping this up the half star to 4.
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Manfred Mann's Earth Band Eclectic Prog
Review by Kingsnake

This is intelligent progressive pop with influences from r&b/soul, hardrock, worldfusion, jazzfusion. This could have been an album by Peter Gabriel or David Bowie (I am not kidding, the standard is that high), except with different vocalists. I love the different approach of vocals (spoken word, opera, rock, rap). Noel McAlla must be one of favorite vocalists.
The production is crystal clear and very balanced. There's room for every different instrument. You can't even tell most songs feature different musicians. That well balanced the production is.
There's not a boring moment on the album. I like the dynamics, a lot of songs build and build and build into a crescendo (like the gorgeous History of Sexual Jealousy). Other stand-out songs are the exciting and fun The Frog or the hardrocking Two Friends with it's funky breakdowns. Very nicely crafted. The opener is very heavy and great aswell, it takes guts for a prog-artist to be really progressive and add rapvocals. I think it's funny to read how many reviewers don't like it. Get over it, is what I think.
Manfred Mann was always praised for not showboating musicianship and focus on good songs instead. Sometimes it didn't work out so well, because the songwriting is very important in that approach. But on this album every song is a direct hit.
Praise to Manfred Mann for releasing this album. Only let-down (as another reviewer pointed out) are the (many) fade-outs at the end of the songs. The songs don't have to be 10 minutes long , it can be a drag when songs are that long most of the time. But after a while fade-outs tend to be annoying, but that's the only negative point to this album.
Highly recommended to fans of intelligent progressive pop like Sting, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel and maybe Tears for Fears.
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Fotosputnik Krautrock
Review by
Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

"Noctambulants" is the short 1 1/2 minute intro track which features outbursts of powerful distortion throughout. "Palos Lions Are Feeding" has this distorted pulsating sound with spacey atmosphere. Picked guitar after a minute comes in over top. It kicks in hard just before 3 minutes with drums and more before turning spacey. Contrasts continue. I love how spacey this becomes after 4 1/2 minutes with a slow beat pretty much the rest of the way.
"Only Answer Is Arson" is a top four track for me. Powerful distortion to start before a slow electronic-like beat with drums and more takes over a minute in. Guitar over top 2 minutes in. Great sound! It ends with a hilarious sample from a disco station out of San Antonio. "Spanish Inquisition Garage Sale" has beats, atmosphere and picked guitars over top. Sounds really good.
"Turnpike(Death Valley Driver)" is a KRAFTWERK/ NEU! type of driving tune that is meant to have a desert vibe to it. Check out the guitar after 1 1/2 minutes! "Pax Americana" is a top four along with the last two tracks that follow this one. Sounds like straight up guitar, bass and drums creating a catchy groove here. Keys after a minute along with some spacey atmosphere. It calms right down before 3 minutes then builds again. So good! It ends in an experimental manner.
"Mars Is Peopled And They Want Soap" opens with a bass line as we get some atmosphere then guitar as it builds. Distant sounding thunder can be heard at times. Well it is Mars. Love how trippy this is. It starts becoming more spacey then a calm with thunder, guitar and percussion takes over after 4 minutes. It kicks into a groove before 4 1/2 minutes. Nice. The groove stops as it turns powerful and atmospheric.
"Lunar Module" ends it with some beautiful guitar melodies as relaxed drums join in along with spacey sounds. So uplifting! It's bass only 2 minutes in to the end.
I tend to listen to a lot of music while driving so this was an enjoyable recording to have as my soundtrack this past week, especially cranked up high. Check them out on their Bandcamp page.
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Vespero Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
kev rowland
Special Collaborator Crossover Prog Team

They are an instrumental outfit, with more than a hint of Ozric Tentacles about them, but the violin is more important than woodwind, and percussion more important than either. This is space rock, but they have also taken on many influences from world music and fusion, with the result being an album that is incredibly impressive and inviting, while also not conforming necessarily to what people may expect from the Russian music scene. I just continue to be impressed with the quality and variety of the music coming out from that particular part of the world, and this is yet another unknown (at least to me) outfit that demands further close inspection. Psychedelic, progressive, meandering yet with direction, this is an album that fans of bands such as Ozrics or Gong should be seeking out.
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Various Artists (Concept albums & Themed compilations) Various Genres
Review by
siLLy puPPy
Collaborator PSIKE & JR/F/Canterbury Teams

Once again PART III is a monster of a release with 4 CDs stuffed full of lengthy symphonic leaning progressive rock tracks in thematic unison. Once again as well the packaging is exquisitely beautiful with period artwork gracing the cover and discs alike accompanied by a generous booklet with liner notes continuing the artistic flair as well as band photos and lyrics to those tracks that have them. While the Musea Colossus Projects tend to have the same artists on every most of their releases, PART III contains many new cast members but a few such as Nexus, Jinetes Negros and Rebel Wheel are back for another round. While these compilations are fairly global in nature, this one seems to have an extraordinarily heavy emphasis on Italian bands (12), USAmerican (7) with Argentina coming in at a distant third with only (3). While the music on these behemoths are always thematically connected, on PART III there is also a lot of continuity musically speaking which is one of the reasons i'm finding it less compelling than the other two installments of the DECAMERON series and unfortunately one of my least favorites of the entire Colossus Project that i've encountered.
Right from the first track, PART III sounds very different than its counterparts. It begins with an almost showtune sort of track titled "HeeBeeGeeBee" by UK artist Robert Webb. For the first listen, i had to actually check my CD to make sure that someone didn't slip a Broadway musical release into the jewel case by mistake. Nope, this was the right one alright. It just so happens that the entire 4.5 hours of playing time consists of such gleeful merry musical meanderings that could easily fit in the world of theatric drama and such. What's also noticeably different about PART III is that there seems to be a deliberate attempt to simplify the progressive elements with a lot more crossover potential than previously heard. There are more direct and bombastic ear wormy hooks reminiscent of classic Supertramp keyboard runs as well as more simplified guitar parts that often result in simply staccato chords. Garage prog anyone? Yeah, the material is considerably weaker on this one and i have to admit that not one single track jumps out and blows me away as these compilations usually do. I've been wondering if perhaps the different lineup of artists may be to blame but even the artist i'm familiar with don't crank out their usual quality material bursting with passionate delivery.
This one was fairly disappointing i have to say with the first two discs leaving me fairly cold. It does pick up a bit on Disc 3. The Rebel Wheel kick off with a strong track followed by some creativity of Taproban, S.A.L.U.E.N.A and Blank Manuscript which offer some of my favorite tracks of the comp but there are also silly tracks by Castle Canyon and Ozone Player that trade off spoken narrative with operatic vocals. There also seems to be a general lack of vivaciousness most of the tracks are fairly prog-by-the-numbers with lots of nods to 70s Pink Floyd not to mention that the vocals are mostly flat and unsuitable for the music. Not all is a waste of time. There are plenty of moments on this one that are indeed satisfying but nothing that exceeds the satisfaction of the first two DECAMERON editions. The whole affair seems rather sleepy and lazy and only fueling on half octane potential. Several listens later and not only has this not grown on me but actually has become quite irritating for the most part. It's not that the good parts are bad, it's just that most of the album cruises along on automatic pilot and nothing really jumps out and surprises. This may be an omen that the DECAMERON idea has been milked of all its possibilities and time to move on to other ideas. Three editions with bloated quadruple discs is quite the momental task. They succeeded quite well on the first two but the staleness has set in, at least for me. Worth the listen but probably not one i will revisit until several years pass by and i forgot what it sounds like.
In case you're wondering here is the whole list of Colossus Projects released so far:
Tuonen Tytar: A Tribute To Finnish Progressive (2000)
Kalevala - Finnish Progressive Rock Epic (2003)
The Spaghetti Epic - Six Modern Prog Bands For Six Seventies Prog Suites (2004)
Odyssey - The Greatest Tale (2005)
The Colossus of Rhodes (2006)
The 7 Samurai - The Ultimate Epic (2006)
The Spaghetti Epic 2 - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly (2007)
Treasure Island (2007)
Giallo! One Suite for the Murderer (2008)
The Empire and The Rebellion (2008)
Dante's Divine Comedy Part I - Dante's Inferno (2009)
Dante's Divine Comedy Part II ? Purgatorio (2009)
Rökstenen - a Tribute to Swedish Progressive Rock of the 70's (2009)
The Spaghetti Epic 3 - The Great Silence (2009)
Tuonen Tytar-A Tribute To Finnish Progressive Rock Of The Seventies - Volume Two (2009)
Iliad: A Grand Piano Extravaganza (2010)
The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe: A SyNphonic Collection (2010)
Decameron - Ten days in 100 novellas - Part I (2011)
The Stories Of H.P. Lovecraft: A SyNphonic Collection (2012)
Decameron - Ten Days In 100 Novellas - Part II (2014)
DECAMERON - TEN DAYS IN 100 NOVELLAS - PART III (2016)
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Le Orme Rock Progressivo Italiano
Review by nikitasv777

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My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal
Review by
UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

The compilation is build in reverse chronological order, which means that the tracks on disc 1 are the most recently released material (in 2005), while the tracks on disc 3 are material from the earliest part of the bandīs discography. You can always argue about the choice of tracks for the compilation, but overall I think the chosen tracks serve their purpose well and provide a fine representation of what My Dying Bride is about. Although itīs always preferable purchasing the regular studio albums, and the few remix tracks, changes to tracks, and live versions on this compilation donīt change that, "Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" is still what I would label a successful compilation album with great quality material by a unique sounding artist and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)
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My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal
Review by
UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

"Meisterwerk II" features a combination of album tracks, rare demo/single/limited edition bonus track recordings, and the video for "For You" from "Like Gods of the Sun (1996)". Like the case was on "Meisterwerk I", the regular studio version tracks are a bit redundant, and itīs the rare recordings that are of most interest. The versions of "Vast Choirs" and "Catching Feathers" from the "Towards the Sinister (1990)" demo, "Follower" which is a bonus track from the Japanese version of "34.788%...Complete (1998)", "Some Velvet Morning" from the Peaceville Records "X" compilation, and the Portishead cover "Roads" from the Peaceville Records "X" compilation. Those five tracks and maybe the video for "For You", are the attractions here.
Iīm sure most listeners can do without the regular studio versions of "Sear Me MCMXCIII", "She Is the Dark", "Two Winters Only", and "Your River", which on their own are quality material, but here work more like redundant filler. Therefore "Meisterwerk II" isnīt the most necessary compilation release, and upon conclusion the end product would have been much more interesting if Peaceville Records had compiled the rare recordings from "Meisterwerk I" and "Meisterwerk II" on one release and left out the regular studio recordings. As "Meisterwerk II" is now a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)
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My Dying Bride Tech/Extreme Prog Metal
Review by
UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

"Meisterwerk I" features a combination of album tracks, rare demo/single/limited edition bonus track recordings, and the video for "The Cry of Mankind" from "The Angel and the Dark River (1995)". If you already own the studio albums, tracks like "The Crown of Sympathy", "A Kiss to Remember", "For You", and "Sear Me III", may seem a bit redundant and itīs probably the rare recordings thatīll be of most interest. The versions of "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" and "The Grief of Age" from the "Towards the Sinister (1990)" demo, "Grace Unhearing (Portishell Mix)" which was a bonus track on the limited edition of "Like Gods of the Sun (1996)", and "Unreleased Bitterness", which is a rehearsal version of the track "The Bitterness and the Bereavement", originally released on a single, which was limited to 1.150 copies. Those four tracks and maybe the video for "The Cry of Mankind", are the attractions here.
So while there is nothing wrong with the quality of the material, you still have to ask yourself, if youīre willing to purchase this compilation if you already own the studio albums. Youīll be paying for four tracks and a video, and quality wise those four tracks are the weakest of the tracks on "Meisterwerk I". Overall I find "Meisterwerk I" to be a bit of a confusing release and the idea to combine regular studio tracks with rare recordings doesnīt work too well. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)
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