Another début foray from veteran British proggers Brian Hulse (Plenty, Tim Bowness) on various guitars and keyboards, bassist David K. Jones (Bowness, solo) as well vocalist John Wilkinson (Ellesmere, The Swan Chorus, Bill Bressler, The Samurai of Prog, The Guildmaster) alongside drummer James Cooper (Mama, Moonshot) and keyboardist Antony Wretham (the Mousetrap Factory). They seek not to reinvent the prog wheel, just making it impervious to flat tires.

Both "Tomorrow" and "As Blue as the Sky " serve to establish the comfort zone, setting the parameters of what is to follow, introducing all the players. On the first one, Hulse's acoustic guitar is followed by the electric version, the rhythm section kicking butt, the organ roiling and broiling in the undertow. Yes, we are in Yes land and Going for the One. Jones' devilish bass in particular causing temporary arrhythmia, a superb musical intruder that sets the tone. The smooth instrumental section is splendidly concocted, infused with enough variety to keep any potential naysayers at bay. The second is shinier, brighter and more resonant, as the choppy percussion proves beyond any doubt. And contrary to the cover art, where the sky is earthy in colour and the ground is definitely blue, the topsy- turvy pace is what really sets this apart from all the other tracks, witness the swooning electric guitar solo from Hulse that illuminates the firmament. An elegant piano waves goodbye.

The luscious "Redemption" is the epic track that seals the deal here, a wonderfully executed slab of genius, incorporating a delicious vocal aria by Sian Doyle that exudes Celtic mystery. The piano leads the way through the foggy loch, a vivid soundscape that takes its sweet time paddling ahead in the opaque mist, a rushing organ and bold bass taking the helm elevating the overall energy . Captain Wilkinson steers the path with trepidation, in his usual Collins-like tone, while Jones' sombre bass provides the wake. The keyboards rekindle the technical mastery of Tony Banks, a harsher tone in the synthesizers, making this quite the evocative prog marathon. Had this piece been included on Abacab, well?. you can guess the rest! Magnificent.

Creating the sonic equivalent of "Autum Song" would be quite the task, as the fall season is quite sensorial, as opposed to the extremist birth, heat and cold, offered by the remaining trio. This is a harmless, very British pop ballad that would have fit on perfectly on "We Can Dance" , for example.

Reverting to more symphonic bombast on "One" can only be welcomed by applause, offering all kinds of ornamentation that hits the spot, namely an atmospheric entrance with ambient meanderings, followed by colliding rhythms, rural acoustic guitar, a pipe organ flurry, and finally the bass initiating a full-blown prog groove. Wilkinson's urgent voice 'rides the wind', all pomp and circumstance., the arrangement seductively poignant, as Cooper shifts the pulse into overdrive, synths barreling along for the extended drive. Veering into more ponderous reflections, the acoustics then lead the way for the solemn vocalizing , the ardent electric guitars adding the coup de grace (Cooper's drum stabs).

Two shorter tracks are up next , "Along Similar Lines" throttling up the piston-engine rhythmic machine into a frenzy of highway star driving thrills, laden with stinging guitar trappings, heavy bass exhaust, piano shifts and spoken voice effects. It certainly tips the needle towards the red zone, a racy slice of radar love. "Sail Towards the Sun" acts as a vocal version of the above track, instilled with ongoing movement and focused initiative. Harmony vocals add a fresh accessibility, the loopy synths and biting guitar flicks intensely playful , all wrapped into a tight melodic channel. Well crafted and enjoyable.

And a final lengthier tune, "World is Changing ", a profound thought that keeps proving that while humanity can improve on so many levels, it's also relinquishing past achievements by turning them into tragedy. All it takes is a few media-fueled socio/political manipulations, and we find ourselves still walking the tightrope. 'Along Similar Lines' is reinserted, though never clearly deciding whether the 'change' is for the better or worse. "The world is falling and seems strange' intones Mr Wilkinson, and you better believe it! The sweet synth solo exudes hope and peaceful resolution, and yet?The nervy drum fills highlight the information overload we all suffer from, unable to determine truth from lies. Home is where the heart is and will always remain. It's the world outside that needs repair and change. Excellent finale.

I found that the longer tracks were easily the most progressively expressive, as they provide the musicians with the expanse to stretch out and demonstrate their skills . The shorter ones are closer to comfort zones, more accessible and pragmatic pieces that have their own audience and certainly do not collide negatively with the weightier material. I also noticed that each subsequent audition made me smile even more, generally a very good omen. 4.5 haphazard opportunities

While not as striking from the outset as "Battle and Victory", and with nothing as masterful as "Off with Your Axe", NANCY ELIZABETH's last album as of 2025 is certainly her most consistent and accomplished collection overall. Resuming with her more centered take on wyrd folk, this largely DIY release is hypnotic, energetic, and replete with hooks, kind of like CIRCULUS might have been if they paid for a seriously good female singer, or like ENYA if she ever stopped floating about the troposphere for 47 minutes. I'm told JOANNA NEWSOM is a big influence but have not yet tried to verify this.

While it's all worthwhile, and most excellent, with spare but atmospheric arrangements on acoustic guitars and sundry keys, if I had to pick a few must hears, they would be the slightly eastern Euro influenced "Indelible Day", the mesmerizing "Simon Says Dance", the western rebel feel of "Debt", and the epic "Raven City".

While NANCY ELIZABETH has continued to tour and even released a single or two in the interim, this 12 year absence is becoming a major concern, but not surprising in a realm where income is rarely better than very modest. The title gave me pause, and while this isn't especially danceable in the physical realm, it does pull those neurons up off the killing floor for a few.

Hawkwind's latest release is nothing short of a journey in vacuum. Once again bringing something new to the meaning of space rock, never staying in the same place, always moving through time and space.

There Is No Space Fot Us is mostly instrumental work, rich in experimental moments, often cinematic. Synth oriented with big amount of effects added, sometimes it sounds lifeless, just like space void (Space Continues (Lifeform)); other times - like a literal explosion or potent light ray (Neutron Stars (Pulsating Light)). Didn't know 'space country/prog folk' was a thing either, until heard the title track.

This album further cements Hawks as the nucleus of the genre, proves that modern Hawkwind has (dare I say) an infinite amount of ideas, constantly pushing the boundaries of what is more to come. Clearly they can do it again and I surely hope they will.

Can't recommend this more, check it out!

— First review of this album —

1. Bear With Me for RIVERSIDE's bass, Floydian guitar, and VOTUM's heaviness; a beautiful soaring buildup with the rippling riff and the vocals a little too withdrawn; a beautiful opening that requires confirmation because the final buildup is simply stunning, between post guitars, vibrant bass, and drums hammering in a stroboscopic way. 2. Unmanned for this reverberating sound on the shortest track; a sound between heavy prog and post rock with the energy of despair from Michał and Marcin's sheared guitars; latency of the break with dripping ambient, flirting with COMA ROSSI, ANATHEMA. A dose of dark synths while the keyboards are not credited, in overboosted dark wave, in short, a slap. 3. Falling Upwards at the beginning djent guitar, sheared sound; the monolithic vocal brings closer to the dark wave current, I insist on melancholic heavy synth prog; The build-up begins and Łukasz shifts into second gear. A calm, serene break follows this catchy crescendo; the finale is louder, incisive, and de-scaling, at least for the speakers.

4. Reasonate with this superb metronomic, martial intro, piercing the ears, Łukasz's expressive pad accompanied by Jacek's bewitching bass seeming to cry out its notes; COMA ROSSI again muted for the heady yet melodic sound; a track that takes its time without falling into melodic tones, an easy filler for some bands of this style; a riff accompanied by heavy bass makes the ears prick up, who's taking care of the reverberating synths? The sound becomes fatter, the vocals more expressive, and the heaviness brings them well into the heavy prog metal space, the one that scares the early prog crowd, which is a shame because the post-heavy rock build-up reminds me of Simon from the CURE's bass, enjoyable. 5. Attract / Deter in repetitive mode with the build-up and reverb, metallic post-rock at its peak without becoming too heavy. The spatial, invasive keyboards; the latency of the sounds, the brilliance of the notes, the zest of the SIMPLE MINDS guitar, easy listening for contemplative listening with the suave energy; the strong, gripping finale, full of cold, soaring, sidereal emotion just before the acoustic outro. 6. A Sun Blur in the finale completing and accentuating the oppressive atmosphere; in melting pot with a longer crescendo to live even more this moment of length that we can find in the post, in electronic music, in everything that is progressive precisely, like the purely enjoyable finales of Anathema, seemingly endless. To listen to more than to try to chronicle. (4.25)

From the very first sound of rain, until the fading tones of the pipe organ, are we witnessing an undisputed masterpiece. Not since the debut of the swedes in Änglagard, has there been a symphonic prog release of this caliber from the icy north.

Agropelter is a new addition to the current movement that is norwegian progressive music. An unstoppable force these days it seems. The bands inspirational lineage can be traced back to the obvious and usual suspects Genesis, Camel, Kansas and SFF, all wrapped up in a classical presentation. But there are subtle tendencies of jazz and contemporary music here also, which sets this album apart from the rest of todays profressive offerings.

The debut release will also comfort fans of vintage instruments. Mellotron, Hammond, cembalo, Moog synthesizers, and earth shattering bass pedals are plentiful. All guitars, organs, and keyboard leads on the album are administered by Olsen, but the album also features world class efforts by Jonas Reingold on fretless bass and Mattias Olsson knocking out fantastic percussion, vintage synth overdubs, and atmosphere. For the afficionados of the symphony, an ensamble of classical musicians are providing various strings and woodwinds which breathes life and vitality into the compositions.

The use of vintage and familiar analogue instruments and virtuosity, doesn't offer a groundbreaking angle to todays progressive rock climate. But it is the fresh approach, a completely new sound and character along with delightful originality that should make the ears of fellow proggers perk up.

A truly exceptional album that will prove to stand tall amongst the other historic masterpieces of progressive rock. 5/5

The band's second album, this is the best example of how to make a successful sophmore album; you take the energy of the first but expand, and boy do they expand. One of the most intriguing parts of the album is the fantastic musicianship, especially with the guitar work of James & Kirk, showing incredibly intricacy, passion, style and harmony. Lyrically the band have improved, making more topical songs that are easily relatable. Lars and Cliff don't hold back either, showing off great speed and technical ability. While there is some very minor filler, it's debatable if this is their best album, and to be honest, chosing between this and the follow up is a hard decision.

In my opinion the best album by Metallica is Master Of Puppets. The ultimate culmination of the bands sound. Taking what they did on their sophmore release, but adding in a more progressive element to the songwriting, it made the tracks feel like classical pieces rather than just metal songs, really pushing the boundaries of thrash and metal in general. Each song has its own unique characteristic and stands out with fantastic musicianship and performances throughout. Very much a period where everything went right for the band before tragedy struck and Cliff Burton was taken from us. It gets alot of praise, and it's all well deserved.

Review Nº 907

Roxy Music always was a relatively stabilized band. It always had three main members, the front man and main composer Bryan Ferry, the guitarist Phil Manzanera and the saxophonist Andy Mackay, which formed the core of the group. Still, in a way, we can also join them with the drummer Paul Thompson who participated on six of the eight Roxy Music's studio albums. However, the other band's members have changed frequently all over the history of the band.

"The Collection" is a compilation album of Roxy Music released in 2004. It's a varied and complete compilation album of Roxy Music. It's a very representative compilation album of the band with tracks from all their eight studio albums. So, it has tracks that belong to their golden era and also tracks that belong to their most pop phase. It has one track from "Roxy Music", one track from "For Your Pleasure", one track from "Stranded", three tracks from "Country Life", one track from "Siren", two tracks from "Manifesto", one track from "Flesh + Blood" and two tracks from "Avalon".

So, "The Collection" has twelve tracks. The first track "Virginia Plain" was the song released as their debut single. The song wasn't present on the original version of their album "Roxy Music", and hasn't been recorded when the album was released. However, after the success of their debut album, it was included on later reissues. It was also released as a new single, together with "Pyjamarama", in 1977. It's a very interesting song which was originally made to be released as a hit single. It has some good interesting musical appointments by Brian Eno. The second track "Do The Strand" was originally released on their album "For Your Pleasure". It's a perfect way to open that album brilliantly. It's a song with fantastic vocal work by Bryan Ferry that sings curious lyrics, and it also has great guitar, keyboard, and saxophone performances, very well accompanied by strong and vigorous drums. This is an excellent song with plenty of energy. The third track "Street Life" was originally released on their album "Stranded". It's a song in the pop/rock style, very enjoyable and composed in the commercial vein. It's well performed and Bryan Ferry's vocal style is really good. The fourth track "The Thrill Of It All" was also originally released on their album "Country Life". It's a great opener for "Country Life", as is usual for this band. It's a Roxy Music's classic rock song very frenetic and with great individual performances. It deserves special mention Phil Manzanera's individual work and the powerful presence of the violin of Eddie Jobson. The fifth track "All I Want Is You" was also originally released on their album "Country Life". It's a powerful song full of energy, very melodic and with another absolutely fantastic guitar work performed by Manzanera. The sixth track "Love Is The Drug" was originally released on "Siren". It's an incredible song, very melodic and with good quality. It has an incredible performance too. Andy MacKay and his saxophone are absolutely great, Manzanera and his guitar work is great too and Bryan Ferry and his vocals are fantastic as always. The seventh track "Out Of The Blue" was originally released on their album "Country Life". It's a rock song with plenty of energy with great vocals, good piano, amazing synthesizer effects, a fantastic violin solo and a striking guitar work. It soon became one of the favourite songs of the fans in their live concerts. The eighth track "Ain't That So" was originally released on their album "Manifesto". It's a song with a mix of pop, disco and avant-garde music. It's an interesting music with a nice and catchy tune, well played and that was made to be danced. The ninth track "Dance Away" was also originally released on their album "Manifesto". Despite having nothing of progressive really, it has good and simple lyrics, a fantastic melody and a great dancing rhythm. I always loved this song which is, for me, one of the greatest pop songs ever written. The tenth track "Same Old Scene" was originally released on their album "Flesh + Blood". It's a song with a strong bass line, nice vocals, great keyboards and a special fantastic saxophone work by Andy MacKay. This is another great Roxy Music song. The eleventh track "The Main Thing" was originally released on their album "Avalon". It's a song with a fantastic and unique musical atmosphere and where Bryan Ferry's vocals are some of the best on "Avalon". This is a song with a great beat. The twelfth track "More Than This" was also originally released on their album "Avalon". This is a great commercial pop song composed for easy radio listening. So, we may say this is a perfect hit pop song of the 80's.

Conclusion: "The Collection" is one of the many compilation albums released by Roxy Music all over the entire career of them. And as is usual, some are better than others, some are better representatives than others and some are more extensive than others. There are also hybrid compilations, with and without Bryan Ferry's solo tracks. "The Collection" is, as mentioned before, very representative and a complete compilation album of the band that covers the entire career of the band, with tracks from their eight studio albums put in the respective chronological order and without solo tracks by Bryan Ferry. Thus, despite being a relatively small compilation album, I think we can say that "The Collection" is a good compilation of Roxy Music. So, "The Collection" can be considered a good introduction to Roxy Music's career.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

METAPHYSICAL ANIMATION formed in Gainesville, Florida back in 1968. They would move south to Miami where there would be more opportunities for them to succeed. They were a four piece with the singer being the keyboardist. These guys can play I'll say that. They would go into the studio and record this album but it would be self-released as they couldn't get any interest from record labels. A run of only fifty made this one as rare as hen's teeth. Black Widow out of Italy would re-issue it but not until 2019.

It's kind of crazy that their first release would be a double album. My two issues with it are the production which is poor at times, but also the vocals. Sure he can sing but it dates the music and I really don't like them. Like an AOR vocalist. These two things keep this at 3 stars. Too bad in a sense because I really enjoy some of those long instrumental sections. The organ and guitar are the solo instruments mostly but the bass is upfront and really good.

It's almost like each song has it's excellent moments when it's all instrumental, but also it's "oh no he's singing again" moments. This is a very up and down listen for me. There's a bit of blues with the guitar on "I've Been Blue" but many more jazz moments where the bass helps a lot with this style. There's a lot of jamming it feels like, with many extended instrumental sections throughout.

So while I applaud Black Widow for the re-issue after such a long time. I sadly have to say that this one just doesn't catch my fancy. 3 stars.

— First review of this album —

This third solo album by multi-instrumentalist Wippy Bonstack grabbed me instantly and makes me un- grumpy every time I listen to it. "Tactile Demons" is all instrumental and loaded with variety... hard rock, classical, jazzy, acoustic interludes, avant and proggy riffs, and every song is fabulous. Complex yet emotional compositions that are loaded with groovin hooks that keep you coming back for multiple listens. Wippy is a master at all the instruments he plays and he sounds smokin doing it.

There have been a lot of killer albums this year but this release is a master class in song crafting, musicianship, arranging, positive vibes, and blows everything else away. Most definitely a must have and worthy of five stars.