Initially soaring, acoustic prog rock, reminiscent of Floyd, this group evolved under the influence of Dave, its progenitor; over time the sound expanded and Rosanna brought the progressive range to the top on the post- covid 'Aura' . Why this preamble, but because Linda, her next, also has a very beautiful voice which fits admirably with the IO Earth sound!

this album has metallic power, progressive breaks, intimate prog folk variations with passages of saxophone, flute from Luke; Adam launches crystalline and solemn scales of borderline grandiloquent piano and Dave calmed down by distilling his devastating solos at the right moments without drowning us with super guitar-hero notes. An album that can be listened to smoothly, without latency, from which I will highlight 'The Child', 'Changes' and 'Sunshine' for this intense work between delicacy and fury.

An album more prog metal than crossover but a very good album that should not be forgotten and which will last in their discography. (4.5)

— First review of this album —

While I dive into Santana albums from 1972 to 1987 on 2 compilations of 10 CDs, ratings will come after each 3-4 listnings of each album, maybe some comments aswell. This compilation have releases from 1978 to 1987, issued in 2009

First spin - Inner secrets from 1978, not bad at all as many pretend to be, really, like it from start to finish, pieces like Dealer / Spanish Rose or Stormy with superb guitar solo by Santana and some very cool vocals by Greg Walker- 3.5 stars for sure

Marathon - 1979, again 3.5 stars is famous for great instrumental Aqua Marine for good reason, another highlights another instrumental Marathon or Lightning in the Sky. Very nice guitar work , no worries for me about if is or not a Santana album as sound and atmosphere.

Zebop - 1981! -3.5 stars for sure, another worthy Santana album but here things move slightly to some more mainstream AOR direction but still Santana sound is here like on E Papa Rè, and instrumental ones are in front here like Tales of Kilimanjaro or Primera Invasion. Nice one

Shango - 1982 - 3 stars - Now Santana on some pieces sounding like Journey same period like on Hold on or Nowhere to Run, while instrumntal Nueva York stands as highlight. Still ok most of the time, Shango is kinda easy listning compare with older material, but not bad at all really at least for my taste.

Freedom - 1987 - 3 stars, this is typical 80s mainstream rock album with some latin, pop rock and R&B sounds. Again overall forgettable release for Santana, but not entirely dull, there some very cool moments like instrumental Mandela or the opening Veracruz, the rest are unintristing but not that really bad.

So, from this period for me Inner secrets from 1978 is the winner for sure and overall compilation is a worthy one to have. 3.5 stars

Review Nº 775

Brand X is a British progressive rock band that was founded in London in 1975. Brand X was a jazz fusion band active between 1975-1980 and 1992-1999. The members included the noted Phil Collins (drums), Percy Jones (bass), John Goodsall (guitar) and Robin Lumley (keyboards), besides many other musicians that collaborated with the band all over the years. Brand X recorded and released their debut studio album "Unorthodox Behavior" in 1976. The album was positively received by the jazz/fusion fans worldwide. Afterward, the band hit the road for multiple tours in the UK. In 1977, Brand X recorded and released their sophomore studio album "Moroccan Roll", an album also very well received.

"?Featuring Phil Collins" is a compilation album with thirteen tracks that was released in 1996. It comprises tracks that belong only to their first two studio albums. So, from "Unorthodox Behaviour" we have "Nuclear Burn", "Euthanasia Waltz", "Running Of Three", "Born Ugly", "Unorthodox Behaviour", "Smacks Of Euphoric Hysteria" and "Touch Wood". From "Moroccan Roll" we have "Hate Zone", "Sun In The Night", "Why Should I Lend You Mine (When You've Broken Yours Off Already)", "...Maybe I'll Lend You Mine After All", "Malaga Virgen" and "Macrocosm".

"Nuclear Burn" is a great track where Collins and Jones erupt in unison. Phil and Lumley enter to introduce us to the song and Goodsall who, together with Lumley, exudes a wonderful solo. The 70's jazz fusion flavour is perfectly audible here. "Touch Wood" opens with intricate guitar as piano comes in. It's a piece with a great delicacy where Lancaster's nuances with his soprano sax the Goodsall's acoustic guitar and the Lumley's keyboards, which fill us with warmth, especially at the end of it. "Hate Zone" begins with a solo by Collins that kicks it for several seconds. Jones then joins in on the euphoric piece, followed by the rest of the band. This is a very hard grooving track that clearly moves towards the jazz rock style. "Euthanasia Waltz" is a calm track. It follows the repertoire with a melodious and dynamic piece that finds Goodsall playing captivatingly and where the acoustic guitar is the dominant instrument here. Collins and Jones' cuts are stunningly precise. "Running Of Three" is a piece where the band makes a rhythmic melodic experience. It's a fast track where bass and drums play intriguing roles. Keyboards share the melodic work with a guitar solo of rock in the middle. The overall impression is a jazz jam piece. "Sun In The Night" is a laid back piece, one of the few pieces of the band that has words. It's a very rewarding track with some pleasant sitar and great, spacey vocals from Collins. The intensity grows as the song progresses. This is a peculiar, but yet fascinating piece of music. "Born Ugly" is a groovy number where the band shares a bit of funk without getting too far apart. It can be best described as improvisation session music with a structure. The middle part is a bit psych as the band weaves a large soundscapes with growing intensity. "Why Should I Lend You Mine (When You've Broken Yours Off Already)" is an excellent instrumental full of surprises ranging from its varied dynamics to the curious percussion and the always virtuous and extended sound of Jones's fretless bass. Lumley and Goodsall's solos move within an environment where everything seems to levitate, really. "...Maybe I'll Lend You Mine After All" is a brief piece, a slow track, a logical continuation of the previous track. It could well be the coda of the previous one. Both parts give a lot of atmosphere to the track. "Unorthodox Behaviour" is another piece that sounds like an improvised jam. It begins quiet and even hesitating and builds up a tension that it's broken up suddenly by Phil's drumming. A dialogue develops between the guitar and the keyboards and where bass and drums occasionally pop in. "Malaga Virgen" is one of Brand X's greatest tracks ever due to its complexity and the way it holds together as a piece. It switches between the fast and slow, and the loud and quiet parts. The interplay is exceedingly virtuosic, especially the solo segments by Jones and Lumley. "Smacks Of Euphoric Hysteria" is probably the least euphoric songs in the all repertoire of the band, but it's highly attractive too. It has a slow groove. There's an obvious intention to give to each musician the same time in the centre spot but Phil's drums are in the front, really. "Macrocosm" is a celebration of the fusion genre, being intricate and uplifting and a showcase for the individual skills of all musicians. It shows why Brand X has been one of the jazz fusion bands with great relevance for so many decades.

Conclusion: "?Featuring Phil Collins" is a very good compilation album of Brand X. It has some of the best tracks by the band. However and despite of that, we cannot say that "?Featuring Phil Collins" is a compilation album very well representative of Brand X because, as I mentioned above, it has only tracks that belong to their first two studio albums. This is pretty evident if we look to title of it. Who are used to with the entire career of Brand X knows that Phil Collins only participated entirely on the first two studio albums of Brand X, "Unorthodox Behaviour" and "Moroccan Roll", due to his commitments with Genesis when he replaced Peter Gabriel in the vocal role. Anyway, "?Featuring Phil Collins" is very well representative of that period of the band and represents an excellent intro to the band and their great music.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

A different RPI, younger, modern, with a more accentuated rock connotation, aggressive instrumentation and incisive breaks, without denying their original sound. When the RPI allows itself to evolve and not stay within its singular constraints, we have this album which puts a good dent in the anthill and gives new prog blood to this musical genre which can produce very beautiful things; less jazzy variations, more rock and this RPI sparkles with joy for this new decade. Creativity is good for forgetting that this group started in the 70s!

Lanzetti always sings very well with a depth which seduced me, the orchestration is therefore more rock and honors Anglican prog rock, perhaps their transalpine friends will hate them for precisely that? The album has less classical wind and string instruments and allows to give musical pep, musical novelty which should keep them in the ears of today's progues.

Ancient Veil was founded by Alessandro Serri and Edmondo Romano in 1995 after the killing of Eris Pluvia. A music with folk, jazz and classical roots is marked, especially a sound that smells of the RPI with saxophone and classical wind instruments; in good French I immediately return to Angelo Branduardi and his folk, medieval tunes; I am thinking of the well-known Rondò Veneziano who did not hesitate to cross the rubycon of variety to give an overview of what Italy could create as a genre around baroque, rock and classical; yes some will cry foul but Ancient Veil remains in the RPI straitjacket with the primarily orchestral, jazzy, folk, cottony sound giving pride of place to flutes and other saxophones. Quite diverse but also boring in fact because it remains in this niche from the beginning to the end of the 18 titles without any sequence; yes the low hurts of these titles which lack soul and become remarkably similar over time. To give a more positive note, listen to 'La Nuova Aurora' the last track with a fabulous energetic guitar solo which makes me say that a little more of this rhythm in the album would have been beneficial. Those looking for a little novelty will be left wanting, those who like this vein will undoubtedly find this album perfect, but will not be objective. (2.5)

4.5 - Pure Arjen's fun

I've been a fan of Arjen Lucassen's music for twenty years now, first discovering his work through Ayreon's 'The Human Equation' and then backtracking to albums like 'The Final Experiment' and 'Into The Electric Castle', still favorites of mine to this day. I've followed all of his projects since then, and enjoyed them all, as while each one explores a different avenue of his musical vision, they all share the same basic DNA. Supersonic Revolution is his latest venture, and it's a case of false advertising in some ways, as I was led to believe this was some sort of campy glam rock album. Lyrically, this act are all about immortalizing their 70s youth with kitschy lyrics about the good old days, and the basic touchstone here is definitely a 70s hard rock-inspired sound, but it's far heavier and faster than I expected it to be, with a lot of shredding guitars and insane keyboard runs that immediately brought to mind Star One. The fact that vocalist Jaycee sounds a good deal like Russell Allen only strengthens the comparison, although this guy could easily sing for Tygers Of Pan Tang, too. He's got a killer rasp and a hell of a range, and he makes these tunes soar in unexpected ways, just the perfect voice for these bluesy, fist-pumping anthems.

The production is modern and polished like a silver platter, so it certainly doesn't sound like an album you dug out of your father's beat up old record collection from the attic or something. It's also a lot more progressive than you'd expect given the album cover and logo. I'd heard this was like Ayreon doing The Sweet or some [&*!#], and it really isn't. Beyond the obvious prog sounds Arjen brings to the table, the main bands this plays off of are Deep Purple from their 'Machine Head' days and the first three Rainbow albums. Former After Forever keyboardist Joost van den Broek exclusively plays the organ here, channeling his inner Jon Lord, and does a hell of a job of dazzling the listener with some of the most intricate and effortless playing you're likely to hear. Guitarist Timo Somers of Carthagods fame is a real find, laying out these bluesy riffs like [%*!#]ing Criss Oliva in his prime with plenty of cheeky pinch harmonics and shredding like the bastard child of Marty Friedman and Eddie Van Halen. It's a gloriously controlled racket that brings a kind of unruliness that Arjen wouldn't have managed if he'd handled axe duties on this (he serves as songwriter and bassist here).

Song wise, the whole album is dynamite, kicking off with a pedigree banger in 'The Glamattack', a double-bass-led anthemic assault that has some serious power metal vibes, especially during the chorus, which rocks massively. Then we have the hair-raising title track, one of the catchiest tunes on the album, before we're treated to the most blatant Purple-esque track in 'Burn It Down' and the most intricate and proggy cut here, the excellent 'Odyssey'. This one is pure Star One, chugging along with a mean groove and some superb vocal lines from Jaycee. Later cuts like 'Holy Holy Ground' hit the same kind of highs, while 'Came To Mock, Stayed To Rock' injects a bit of humor into the mix, but it's a killer boogie number that closes out the album before we have a slew of covers that are cool, but not really essential. I must say I'm pretty impressed with this. It's been stuck in my CD player for two weeks and it's been a huge pick-me-up during this rainy English winter. Those thinking this is some glam-inspired cringe fest need a blast of 'The Glamattack' to blow back the cobwebs, as anyone familiar with Arjen's work in Star One and Ayreon will find much to rock out to here. Let's hope they produce a follow up.

BANDHADA were a five piece Jazz band out of Chile, a bunch of young guys still in University learning to get better at the music they loved. And really my first impressions were that these were players, very skilled. They also can't sit still as these compositions are about as proggy as you get in Jazz, constantly shifting the tempo, the solo instrument, repeating themes. Adventerous but somewhat light for my tastes, still from the first spin I liked this one a lot. I knew this was special. Annoying when I'm making notes at what I'm hearing because of how often they change things up.

Released in 1984 and there are synths which was my first concern but they pass the test although just barely sometimes. Having said that I do like they way they use them as atmosphere and the melancholic bits. A five piece from Chile! I have so many bands in my collection from this nation but this one stands out for the style of music and the year it was released. A delight for the ears my friends. That bass sounds awesome, the guitar is mostly the Jazz style, quite intricate, fluid, fast at times. Drumming and keys are great then there's the sax/flute man who is like the whip cream on top of this tasty release. Yeah I'm getting hungry.

Hey this band released this sole record in 1984 and before and after it they played live a lot and that comes through on this record. It would have been something to witness these guys. 25 years after this release they get back together with the core trio now living in LA with a new horn dude and drummer and released "Open Cage" in 2009. Crazy thing is that I got that one before this one. I gave that 3.5 stars but couldn't click on that fourth star. Hitting 4 stars here is not a problem it's just too impressive on many levels. So much enthusiasm and with the skills to make it all work so beautifully.

No I'm not describing this music, too much work but my top three are the opener "La Septima", "El Vuelo Del Hada" at track five and the closer "Rompiendo La Soledad". Love the cover art as well. This was a find.

BE BOP DELUXE were quite active in the 70's releasing five studio albums but they never made it to the 80's. "Futurama" is album number two from 1975. They were a trio of guitar, bass and drums and Bill Nelson is the man in control here, the lead guitarist, composer, singer etc. I honestly thought with their band name that they would be all about the humour like OINGO BOINGO but no. This comes across like AOR material, they are tagged as Glam Rock by many. To over simplify it, it feels like your either hearing Bill sing or perform a flashy guitar solo. And this is more than that of course but there's a lot of radio friendly songs and I quite enjoyed my time with this one.

Nine tracks over 35 minutes and how about the first sounds that we hear on that opener "Stage Whispers" as in screaming guitar. The flashy solos will continue on this one. "Love With The Madman" is a top three for me. They slow it down after that energetic opener and the vocals sound different, better. Some emotion. "Maid In Heaven" sounds like a single. "Sister Seagull" is another top three. The melancholy does it for me along with the guitar solos.

"Sound Track" and the closer "Swan Song" are about the two proggiest songs on here which isn't saying a lot. Both the longest tunes here clocking in around 6 minutes. Some orchestral stuff on "Music In Dreamland", some brass. "Between The Worlds" is an uptempo rocker while "Jean Cocteau" is trippy and relaxed and I like it better than the rocker. The closer "Swan Song" is my final top three by the way.

I've seen Bill's name so often over the years so it's finally good to hear him play and sing. A solid 3 stars.

Another perfect Ayreon musical journey

For me "The Universal Migrator" and "The Human Equation" are one of the best albums ever made and definitely those that made me fall head over heals in love with Arjen Lucassen's music. Therefore I had truly high expectations when "01011001" came out. However, the first impression wasn't what I had hoped at all. For one, the title sucks utter crap and the cover art is pretentious at best. Fortunately it so happens that this is a diamond in the ruff, for behind the ugly exterior it lays a true treasure.

There are many reasons why I find this album to be a masterpiece. First of all it is performed by the strongest line-up ever to be seen on a metal album, secondly the song material is pure awesomeness and thirdly it has the purest and most wonderful production. When I first examined the line-up I was very pleased to find names like Jonas P Renkse, Jorn Lande, Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Tom S. Englund (Evergrey) and Daniel Gildenlöv (Pain of Salvation) which are all great singers, but the unquestionably best recruit in my book is my own personal favorite Anneke van Giersbergen (ex- The Gathering) who totally owns this album. What wonderful vocals which incidentally fits perfectly with this futuristic progressive metal soundscape!

In the end, one must however admit that the line- up wouldn't have been something to cheer about if it wasn't for the songs, or should I say conceptual journey, this album has to offer. The red thread shines clearer than ever before and makes Tobias Sammet's attempts to create metal operas seem like something carelessly wrapped together (which they for the record are not). The material is varied but at the same time glued together with perfect execution and if it had contained a few more heavy parts, like on the opener "Age of Shadows", it would have been a full pointer if I've ever seen one.

In the end I would say "01011001" is quite on par with "The Universal Migrator" and "The Human Equation", making it one of the best concept albums in the history of metal!

4.5 - Excellent debut Coroner is easily one of the most underappreciated thrash bands of the 80's. With R.I.P. Coroner began their career with an excellent album. The band members using their virtuosic capabilities made one of the first technical thrash metal albums and certainly one of the few thrash albums also combining neo-classical shred metal. R.I.P. is a defining debut and also a criminally underrated thrash classic that should be mentioned with the greats of thrash.

R.I.P. sounds like no other thrash album I have heard besides Coroner's follow up Punishment For Decadence. On R.I.P. Coroner play high speed neo- classical tinged thrash riffs with virtuosic leads and solos. The tempo is almost entirely fast paced throughout except on the interludes. An intro a few interludes and an outro give R.I.P. some variety and a nice melodic atmosphere. R.I.P. uses a guitar picking style I have only heard on a few other thrash albums mainly Destructions Eternal Devastation and Coroners next album Punishment For Decadence. The sole instrumental Nosferatu is a clinic in neo-classical shredding and definitely would not sound out of place on an Yngwie J.Malmsteen album albeit the much higher rhythm speeds.

The band's performance is excellent throughout R.I.P. Ron Royce's vocals is the low point for R.I.P. and all of Coroner's future releases he sounds like an early incarnation of death metal growls with a more shouting thrash metal style. Fortunately his bass playing is excellent and his playing style has a similar sound to Steve Harris of Iron Maiden instead of following the guitars he sounds like another lead guitar except lower. Tommy T. Baron's guitar playing is easily the highlight of the album he is extremely underrated and has a very unique style that's all his own. The drummer Marquis Marky is quite good changing rhythm frequently with the guitars and provides many fills and fast double kick bass for the time.

The downsides to this album are few but they are definitely noticeable. The production is the typical raw European thrash style with a murky sound and a very quiet volume. While the interludes are entertaining and useful for atmosphere purposes they could have been combined into the actual songs themselves instead adding more tracks to the album. Finally the second half is definitely weaker it sounds like Coroner ran out of ideas and decided to just repeat the formula from the first half albeit less solid.

Overall R.I.P. is a classic technical thrash assault that is almost always overlooked. Best songs are Reborn Through Hate, When Angels Die, Nosferatu, Suicide Command, and Coma. I highly recommend R.I.P. to any person who wants an excellent piece of technical thrash from Europe.