I would imagine everyone has heard this album by now. It's a pivotal Rush album, likely their masterpiece, rivaled only by A Farewell to Kings. Obviously, you should hear it if you haven't because it has the best Rush can offer. Here we find Rush firmly reaching out to a more popular audience, but they do so very eloquantly, which, perhaps, gives their music more of a feeling of a unified whole.

The famous live album - a stroke of genius or a sacrileg? Well, best of both worlds, I'd hope. Let the offended be offended - if ELP hadn't took on the works of Bartok, Mussorgsky, Copland, Ginastera, Janacek etc., I'd never had focused my attention on the originals. Therefore I am really thankful they did what they did. And they surely brought more kids to classical music then all of the snobs and self proclaimed connaisseurs calling out >trivialization<.

The album: I think they've overdone Promenade a bit and some other parts of Mussorgsky's original work might have sounded interesting in ELP's interpretation (e.g. Bydlo). So the indespensible stuff from this recording is THE OLD CASTLE/BLUES VARIATIONS, THE HUT OF BABA YAGA Suite and THE GREAT GATE OF KIEV. These are the 5 star tracks. The rest are 3-4 stars. Sums up to a total of 4 stars.

Odd enough, they never took on one of Mahler's symphonies. What would have that sounded like, ELP style? ;-)

An affirmative predecessor to And Then There Were Three Duke only just fails to capture the magic of A Trick Of The Tail and Wind & Wuthering. The Pop influence has definetly began to drift in on songs like Duchess and Man Of Our Times but ultimately chart-botherer Turn It On Again still sounds ridiculously out of place. Progressive Rock still seems to be where Genesis' talents lie on Duke, pieces like Behind The Lines, with its lengthy synth opening, the short melancholic Guide Vocal (almost reminiscent of Ripples), or the largely instrumental, nine minute long, Duke's Travels coming off as the album's strongest moments. As for the more commercial sounding tracks Misunderstanding, a jaunty piano led sing-a-long, takes first prize. Some of the songs, the epic ballad Heathaze primarily, are a little too forgettable to be considered excellent although there is nothing terrible here. Perhaps more Art Rock than Prog Duke can be described as the last truly great Genesis studio album.

MY REVIEW IS PRODUCED USING THIS RELEASE: Castle Music Ltd. CMACD 513

RATING: 9,5/10

MUSICAL GENRE: Heavy Jazz Rock

INTRO: After Colosseum disbanded are many bands starting the activities... But when John Hiseman decided to reform Colosseum remained the only original member. So this band was called Colosseum II. In this band are presents Gary Moore, excellent guitar hero, Don Airey, one of my favourite keyboardist, Neil Murray, a great bassplayer (later with Withesnake and Black Sabbath) and the honest but exciting singer Mike Starrs.

THIS RELEASE: 6 songs in this 'Strange New Flesh', really very convincing. The production of John Hiseman are extreme good and in my opinion this is one of winning moves in 'Strange New Flesh'. The cover is another winning moves because in format transition from LP to CD has kept intact its charm. Interesting the new sleevenotes by Paul Lester.

THE SONGS: 'Dark Side Of The Moog' is a great rhythmic battle between Moore and Airey (P.s.: Moore and Hiseman penned this song) but in truth ?Dark Side Of The Moog' are not totally Jazz Rock. Also the Joni Mitchell cover of 'Down To You' (with Don Airey penned and arranged central instrumental section) are not totally Jazz Rock but a good Jazzy POP ballad (that anticipates the more intimate Gary Moore). Great in 'Down To You' the vocalparts, extreme intimates and with great transmission of feelings by Mike Starrs. The Funkyest 'Gemini And Leo' is another Heavy Jazz Rock song not in the style of 'Dark Side Of The Moog' but in the same time is Heavy as ?Dark Side Of The Moog'. 'On Second Thoughts' is another great Heavy Jazz Rock. Concludes 'Strange New Flesh', another Moore/ Hiseman penned song with the better and powerful vocal performance by Mike Starrs: 'Winds' that have also one of the best Gary Moore parts. Great, as always, John Hiseman at the drums.

CONCLUSIONS: 'Strange New Flesh' is a small masterpiece of Heavy Jazz Rock. Personal and technical tip, however, to the pleasure of listening. It fully meets. And also today 'Strange New Flesh' is an extreme recommended album.

It's all there, yet there's something lacking. And it's not only the artwork.

This is a great album but not a complete masterpiece. First of all I think this album has a problem with its balance. There is this monster epic (in every sense of the word with Tarkus and Manticore) which blows people away (including me) until this very day. Then there come six tracks of very different atmosphere. I don't think they are all throw-aways but they provide no approbriate ending to the album, especially not the infamous Are You Ready, Eddie.

TARKUS: a suite in seven parts about the cycle of life and violence (as far as I understand it). Eruption (birth of Tarkus) is my favourite piece of the suite (has there ever been or more fiery instrumental intro to an epic than this one?). Except for Mass and Aquatarkus I think all parts of the epic deserve 5 stars.

JEREMY BENDER / ARE YOU READY EDDIE: both weren't really necessary, were they, guys? Jeremy Bender is at least cleverly placed to give us some time to breathe now the epic is done.

BITCHES CRYSTAL / A TIME AND A PLACE: both little nice prog tunes, way more aggressive than one would ELP expect to be. I like them a lot, especially the latter. In the same vein as LIVING SIN from the Trilogy album (a little devilish triad).

THE ONLY WAY / INFINITE SPACE (segue): The Only Way is based on two works of classical composer J.S.Bach and is therefore accomplished. There is an ironic tension between the music and the lyrics: Lake is obvíously very critic of religious beliefs - but the Bach's music is that of a very religious man...

Infinite Space seems be there only to bring The Only Way to an end - and it takes them more 3 minutes to do so. They had an album to fill. And yet I think there's another reason behind this track and why it segues. Maybe the variations of the theme are a hidden tribute to Bach, the undisputed master of the art of inventing variations. I believe the title of the track hints at something similar (the infinte space of variation or so). But it's a poor tribute.

So, there are some shortcomings that keep me from giving the album 5 stars: the artwork, the strange tale of the epic, Mass, Aquatarkus, Jeremy Bender, Infinite Space, Are You ready, Eddie. But this album is nevertheless a must have for every decent prog household.

With recordings from several different shows from both their Power Windows and Hold Your Fire tours A Show Of Hands is actually a live compilation, yet this does not disrupt the flow and the record is very consistent. Its almost remarkable how good Rush make heavily overdubbed and complex studio songs such as Mission, Prime Mover and Time Stand Still sound here and surprise oddball number Witch Hunt enjoys a makeover in the form of a craftily inserted flurry-of-notes solo from guitarist Alex Lifeson. Inevitably it is Closer To The Heart, complete with improv-guitar/bass jam, that receives the well deserved best reaction from the crowd and raises the question about why more vintage Rush material wasn't included. Peart's solo, dubbed The Rhythm Method, is as inventive as always and when even the band themselves have been quoted as calling this a great achievement on which everything comes together perfectly its hard to disagree. An engaging journey into the sound of Rush live in the mid/late 1980s.

Rush's second album Fly By Night still owes much to Led Zeppelin. The influence of new drummer/lyricist Neil Peart certainly gives the band a more mature and complex essence but Fly By Night is still essentially a Hard Rock album. Anthem and Beneath, Between & Behind are surprisingly aggressive and while not particularly sophisticated Fly By Night itself is a snappy, guitar driven rocker with an infectious chorus. There is Progressive Rock value here most notably on geeky extended centre-piece By-Tor & The Snow Dog which features an intense jam/instrument battle section. Fans of acoustic based music will be pleased with the inclusion of good-time Folky number Making Memories, Tolkienesque ballad Rivendell and the introduction to album closer In The End (Which soon breaks into a pounding riff driven reprise of itself). While still obviously the sound of a developing band Fly By Night should not be overlooked especially by fans of Classic Rock with subtle hints of Prog.

From the beginning, I admit I knew almost nothing about Eddie Jobson, until I put my hands on this disc. Then, after some auditions, the music caught me very well. And I was very glad adding this album to my personal musical collection. The reasons are many, but in a few words I'd like to say that Theme of secrets is another atmospheric journey to the unknown. I was asking myself if Eddie Jobson did in fact play to various electronic instruments, or it was only one. If he had played to only one instrument (i.e. synclavier), he must have been a true master of this one. Generally speaking, the songs are very peaceful and enigmatic in the same time. From strange electronic sounds (Spheres of Influence) to splendid keyboards themes and harmonies(Inner Secrets, Memories of Vienna, Lakemist) and a brilliant intro (The Sojourn), the album reveals the word of SECRET. There's an inner, a theme and an outer secret and the music seems to be, indeed, full of secrets. However, the music from this album is not at all something very high and special in the field of progressive electronic music. It's simply enjoyable...That's why I won't rate this album on 10.I must say, I use to listen to this album on evenings before going to bed, and it's very relaxing to meditate on it.

Now that's what I call patchy ! Volume One

Aside from the non-sequiter contained in the title (by this stage ELP patently did NOT Work) this has all the tell-tale signs of a patched up reconciliation, with Atlantic Records as mediators in a matrimonial battle to see who ultimately would get custody of the kids. Like most parents who undergo a messy, drawn out and acrimonious divorce, it is their creations that suffer the most, with low grades, truancy, and withdrawal into fantasy worlds very often an inevitable consequence of this trauma.

ELP's offspring, as represented by the tracks on this double album, certainly adopted many of these classic behavioral traits, but eventually came to be once again on speaking terms with their parents.

BUT IT TOOK UNTIL BLOODY SIDE FOUR !!!. (Sorry for yelling)

Keith Emerson - Keith's baby grand gets expelled from Rock School

'Piano Concerto # 1' - It took me a long, long time and countless plays to get a handle on any of this, but if you stick with it and persevere you will be rewarded by what is undoubtedly one of the most substantial compositions by a rock musician to date. What strikes the listener immediately is how conservative much of the writing is and a casual ear would be hard pressed to identify its creator as being that of Keith Emerson. With this in mind, I conducted a blindfold test on a budget (i.e by hiding the cover) on some house guests recently and they offered Copland, Gershwin, Delius ,Tchaikovsky and, somewhat unhelpfully, Glen Miller (from Stevie), as possible contenders for the composer. However, once the Concerto's author was revealed, all my guests without demur claimed that:

'Yeah ?... but you can tell though really..that it's by a rock muso I mean'

'Glen Miller ain't a rock muso'

'Shut up Stevie'

This reaction is probably one of the main hurdles that Emerson constantly faces in his quest to be taken seriously as a composer and I suspect the conciliatory and traditional aspects of the piece were a deliberate ploy to attract endorsement from within the larger classical community. The jury still appears to be out as to whether this has been successful or not, but there are a few distinguished concert pianists who have included the work in their repertoire, and it does appear from time to time on the playlists of classical music radio stations. Should Emo ever get a foot inside that forbidding door, I hope that he will employ both his ample size twelves to kick said barrier firmly down for the benefit of all who follow. We can but wait.

The first movement, although unequivocally diatonic in character, is actually based on a tone row as employed by the 2nd Viennese school of serialist composers eg Berg, Webern and Schoenberg. By all accounts the latter were not exactly hell raising party animals and their output is marked by a paucity of toe-tappers and a surfeit of very dry, academic and cerebral sterility. Emerson has pulled off quite a coup therefore, by illustrating that memorable and melodic themes can be realized by the use of a compositional technique that is traditionally seen as begetting cold or austere results.

The second movement is an unabashedly nostalgic wink in the direction of the baroque period and as much as Keith imparts his own strong personality into this brief homage, the effect is a rather self-consciously quaint daydream of Gershwin as the guest soloist at a Bach recital. As pleasant and diverting as this is, it reeks of the intermission music during the screening of the main feature.

The third movement is unrelentingly percussive and full of dramatic brio culminating in a very moving and effective main theme that lives long in the memory afterwards. Conductor John Maher bullies a very committed and aggressive performance from the London Philharmonic and Emerson's cadenza exhibits some startling and daring treatments of the motivic ideas used in the work. At times there is enacted an unflinching battle between the massed forces of orchestra and solo pianist with no quarter asked or given in a breathless and exciting 'slug fest' to see who's still standing at the end.

But you are reading this from a progressive rock website, so how can we possibly rate the fish when it ain't even on the menu ? (More on this later progbuddys)

Greg Lake - Macca junk food from Dad fails to appease the Lake brood after a 1 out of 5 report card

'Lend Your Love to Me Tonight' - No Greg, I will not. Unless you provide a written receipt testifying that no more of this sub McCartney Hippy MOR will emanate from your esteemed orifice(s) ever again.

'C'est La Vie' - Apart from that redeeming fragment in the arrangement where the choir and orchestra brilliantly mimic the 'out of tune and out of time' refrain from the vocal, the sugar tanker that jettisoned its cargo into this Lake Inferior, makes immersion a distinctly dubious pleasure (Wet and in incredibly sickly sweet)

'Hallowed Be Thy Name' - Easily the best song on offer here with a clever and caustic lyric:

- The optimist asked for a taste of the pessimist's wine - (Optimists need to drown their sorrows sometimes too, and a pithy metaphor for nihilism)

The arrangement is outstanding on this clumping piano driven and curmudgeonly snarl of a song that casts the habitual romantic lead in an unaccustomed role of that as the disaffected naysayer looking on at the chaos all around him caused by the stupidity of his fellow men:

- this planet of ours is a mess I bet heaven's the same -

Great use is made here of glissando strings to give the song a suitably neurotic and disquieting atmosphere. Unfailingly brilliant and a real diamond in the mire. Greg, welcome back my friend to the show that never....(Doh !)

'Nobody Loves You Like I Do' - Answers on a postcard to the author please. I must have listened to this song at least 50 times now and cannot for the life of me, recall a single note or phrase from it. Greg Lake's 4.00 answer to John Cage's 4.33.

'Closer to Believing' - This suffers from the same malaise as Lake's orchestral version of 'I Believe in Father Christmas' in that what is a very fine song with eloquent and thought provoking lyrics, is suffocated under a huge fleecy pillow of an arrangement. Once more alas, Greg lapses into that irritating habit he is prone to of 'speaking' the tagline in some of his songs (eg we want....US) This latest example being capable of emptying a rhino's tummy back out through the in door.

Carl Palmer - Absent fathers never get the chance to deliver six of the best to their offspring

'The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits' - A very boisterous romp through Prokofiev's piece with Palmer's kit and Orchestra in perfect empathy with neither overpowering the other. Stirring.

'LA Nights' - The sort of west coast 'rawk' thumper that could perhaps have been put to better use in the advertising of sportscars. Very solid performances by all concerned with Joe Walsh wrapping his lips round some 'voicebox' guitar and his hands round some sterling 'Jack Daniels' bottleneck lead. They even drag Keith along on this 'cruise down Hollywood Boulevard in an open top Maserati' number where the latter thumps out some authentic 'rawk' piano.

'New Orleans' - Rather spartan and rudimentary funk tinged blues rock which seems to hang in the air like an unfinished chore.

'Two Part Invention in D Minor' - Carl's pedigree as a fully qualified orchestral percussionist has never been in doubt, but this smacks of an indecent haste in sourcing any old vehicle to illustrate his advanced driving skills.

'Food For Your Soul' - More than a nod (in fact a bow) in the direction of Palmer's drum heroes Krupa, Rich, Cobham et al in this exhilarating big band workout that is considerably more accomplished a composition than being merely a platform from which Carl can deliver a stunning and economically constructed solo. Almost visceral in its intensity. I'm full up.

'Tank' - ELP's rusting old warhorse is saved from the scrapyard with a jazzy lick of paint and some completely new bodywork from expert panel beater Carl on a skilfully arranged adaptation of this tune for Jazz Orchestra. Emerson revisits his famous Moog solo towards the end, and in this setting is revealed 'Tank's' jazz roots and vocabulary which certainly caused me to reappraise Keith's original creation in a whole new light.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Atlantic Records get custody of the twins (but they get to stay up really late)

'Fanfare for the Common Man' - Copland has already endorsed the band's version of his famous short piece and it is really not hard to see why. Apart from the sheer inflated scale of their interpretation, the trio remain pretty faithful to the composer's original intentions by ensuring that the lengthy improvisation at it's centre is framed by reproductions of the indelible main theme at either end. Emerson's new 'toy' at around this time was the triple manual Yamaha GX1 keyboard (an analogue synthesizer with elephantitis) and its very distinctive character was fundamental to the realization of this piece. Rather punningly, Keith employs that technology's replication of a very humble harmonica sound with which to embark on his brilliant improvisation. Greg and Carl have never sounded this 'tight' and buttress the track with one of the slinkiest of all wickedest shuffle grooves in rock. The tonal palette becomes more and more sulphurous as the piece develops and at its peak there is an 'underpant filling' blare of resonating synthetic brass from Emerson that still startles 30 years later. (But that might just be me)

'Pirates' - If ELP had stayed together then this track may be indicative of where their future direction may have led. The fusion of rock instrumentation and orchestral resources was a long term project for Keith and he has voiced dissatisfaction with the results obtained previously on 'Ars Longa Vita Brevis' and 'Five Bridges' with the Nice.

There has always been a tendency for an electric band to overpower the orchestral players but the remedy of simply amplifying the latter has invariably led to a diminishing or loss of the rich and unique palette of tonal colours available from this source. In the controlled environment of the recording studio however, this elusive balance may be somewhat less hazardous to accomplish and on 'Pirates' ELP can be heard happily supping from the 'holy grail' that this piece embodies.

The lyrics first of all, which are something of a blindspot in prog's rear-view mirror, are superb and both Lake and the much maligned Sinfield deserve great praise for constructing what is no less than a fully plotted narrative poem which conjures up perfectly the appropriate atmosphere and accurate historical detail befitting Emerson's magnificent music. In addition, Greg does does not just 'sing' the notes with his habitual aplomb but interprets the lyrical content as though he were an actor in this most theatrical of creations ever attempted by ELP. This must be very close to the finest vocal performance of his life.

The allegorical aspects of a Pirate story are very apt. It's all here. The looting and pillaging, the riches beyond your wildest dreams, a license to act with impunity, debauchery without the consequences and roaming the world like an outlaw above and beyond the reach of the law. It's only rock'n'roll.

Therein lies the problem with this sprawling, schizophrenic and bloated train wreck of a record. For the vast legions of the band's followers, Works Volume 1 was simply a 'step too far' and expecting a fanbase drawn from a predominantly white rock demographic to embrace willingly some avant garde classical music was doomed to failure from the outset. We are even denied the opportunity to evaluate this document as a bone fide ELP album, as it is after all tantamount to three mini solo albums with a big wet group hug at the end.

Still Life is Opeth´s fourth album and it´s the album where Opeth show that they are influenced by seventies prog rock. My Arms, Your Hearse which was the predecessor to Still Life also contained elements of prog rock but the influence is more pronounced on Still Life. The sound on Still Life means that this might be the most interesting album for fans of traditional prog if they wish to hear how Opeth sounds like.

The music is very heavy with complex slow to midtempo riffing. It´s not tech metal by any means but the riffs are definitely worth investigating anyway. The songs are generally very long and Opeth´s music is not easily accessible as there are lots of different sections and moods in every song. I find their music easy to appreciate though as it is very melodic. Benighted and Face Of Melinda are the only songs that differ from the usual formula of growling vocals and clean vocals that the other songs consist of as those two songs are mainly acoustic guitar led and with only clean vocals from Mikael Åkerfeldt. Both songs have great longing moods and lots of beautiful guitar riffs and playing.

The rest of the songs follow the formula that most Opeth songs from that day forth would follow which means clean and growling vocal parts in most songs, and both heavy riffing and acoustic parts in almost all songs. I really do feel that Opeth made something unique with Still Life and I have a couple of favorite tracks here. The Moor being the most impressive one IMO but both the brutal Serenity Painted Death and the progressive and melodic White Cluster are also favorites of mine.

Sure Opeth is influenced by doom metal bands like Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema and Katatonia. And sure they are also influenced by especially seventies prog rock, but mixing the two genres is a brilliant move IMO. It´s a thing I have always tried to do myself when making music, but never really succeeded with. In that respect Opeth is unique as many other bands have tried this formula, but no one has ever succeeded like Opeth ( Well I really love both Isa and Ruun by Enslaved who are also in this genre but they are an exception IMO).

The musicianship is outstanding and I have always admired Martin Lopez drumming. He makes this music stick together and the changes are very smooth and intelligent. Mikael Åkerfeldt of course has to be mentioned too for his great compositional skill and his skills as both a singer and a guitarist. He is an outstanding musician even though I think his clean singing has gotten better on later releases than they are here. They are really good here too though.

The production is the most prog rock like production Opeth has had so far ( except maybe for Damnation). Later albums would have a more edgy metal sound especially on the guitars.

This is not my favorite Opeth album but it´s still a masterpiece and deserves all 5 stars. Opeth is a unique band and this is the first album where they really prove it. The sound on Still Life is very grand and created only with guitars, drums, bass and vocals. If there are any keyboards here I can´t hear them. I think that´s a very enjoyable feature in Opeth´s music. On Ghost Reveries Opeth added a keyboard player and I was sceptical but it worked out fine and it works even better on Watershed, but it´s still unique with this grand sound without the use of keyboards on Still Life. If you have ANY interest in extreme prog metal you´d better get this album as it is highly recommendable and a landmark album in that genre.