Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Various Artists (Concept albums & Themed compilations) - Ars Longa Vita Brevis CD (album) cover

ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS

Various Artists (Concept albums & Themed compilations)

 

Various Genres

2.55 | 5 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Matti
Prog Reviewer
2 stars I take it for granted that in V.A. compilations a lot of music gives nothing to me - even a few interesting new discoveries can motivate to borrow & listen these things. But this 3CD set is probably the most furiating prog compilation I've heard. Most of the music is new to me, and I presume it tries to cover lesser-known paths of '68-'74 - so what reasons to include TWO all-too-well-known ELP tracks and TWO Nice tracks also? ('America' and 'Karn Evil 9', jesus how I'm tired of them!) And does it have to be hits like 'Easy Livin' by Uriah Heep or 'Fire' by Arthur Brown which must be familiar to most listeners? These details are in disharmony with the possible idea of bringing unfamiliar stuff. And if these are included, why the majority of distinguished prog bands are totally missing, as well as dozens of worse-known but high-quality bands with which one could really talk about a PROG collection.

Really, I don't consider many here to have much of anything to do with the genre. More with early heavy rock or blues-rock. When listening, I had to skip most tracks within the first half minutes. And to irritate proggers like me even more, there's again TWO bluesy Fleetwood Macs, TWO shitty Status Quo tracks, and TWO Atomic Roosters (it's prog ok, but to me the least enjoyable branch of it).

Now the good parts. Early rare Jethro Tull song 'Aeroplane' is a great choice. I appreciate the inclusion of Gryphon's fantastic Red Queen album, and a solo guitar rarity by teenager Mike Oldfield which dates from sixties, his Sallyangie era. And 'new' bands that I found interesting include Skin Alley (lovely instrumental featuring a flute), Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger, Wishful Thinking, Marsupilami and Fruupp. So, nothing so bad that there wasn't something good. Check out if you get a chance. The form of the package is handy (I hate big boxes) and the texts are very informative.

Matti | 2/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this VARIOUS ARTISTS (CONCEPT ALBUMS & THEMED COMPILATIONS) review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.