PUSH & PROFIT

After hearing "Unfolded Like Staircase" I had to get their first release and as expected it is amazing. For those who love "Unfolded...", "Push & Profit" is a must! Matthew Parmenter takes you deep into the dark exploration of life from his view. Musicianship is high here and full of great musical passages. As you would expect songs are sharp and on the edge. This would be an impressive addition to anyone's progressive rock collection.

Not the best debut album, with a strong orientation to the derivative parts, sometimes in the vein of MARILLION, in other circumstances closer to such art rock by KING CRIMSON, it doesn't get a precise identity... Besides the style of the vocalist is more similar to that one of Steve Hogarth rather than emulating the "GABRIEL-esque mood" of FISH. Nevertheless during a few interesting theatrical breaks through they demonstrate a good talent; otherwise their first appearances live on stage, along with the early ECHOLYN, were remarkable and perhaps better in comparison to the present debut album, whose mood is also a bit "IQ-like".

Recommended even though not essential... for sure better things had to come after!!

A terrific debut, Push and Profit sets the stage for the excellent Unfolded Like Staircase album. Not as dark as Unfolded and it's theories on the after-life, Push and Profit is a collection of tales about the here and now.

Diminished is a good title about the insignificance one feels in this massive universe. A nice lilting piano line with violin fills. My only pet peeve is singers who say, "I yam," instead of "I am." That lazy tongue wears on my nerves, but Parmenter's voice is one I enjoy overall.

The Reasoning Wall comes very close to stealing the main riff from Tull's Thick as a Brick, with only a slight variation on that theme. The song on the whole is somewhat reminiscent of A Venture from Yes in its flow. The drumming carries a strong Bruford feel and I could still register Jon Anderson in the vocal delivery.

Carmilla appears to be a song about a girl's suicide in her bathtub, the reaper whispering in her ear as she fades. There are some strong instrumental lines; mellotron washes that swirl around your head and enough guitar breaks to keep things chugging along. Bassist Matthew Kennedy plays some solid deep end.

The Nursery Year is a chilling story of a child molester, discovered and promising revenge against his accusers. A detective friend told me about closing in to arrest a child molester and noticing he smelled sweet, like fresh baked sugar cookies. Parmenter displays that sickly sweet character in the most disturbing manner. The melody is very warm, a lullaby, which makes the effect even more disturbing.

Discipline shows they can do 70's rock and roll with Faces of the Pretty. This tune could have come from any number of bands, from Bowie's Ziggy era to Queen's Sweet Lady. It's a fun tune that makes your foot get heavy while cruisin' down the boulevard.

Systems gives me a Steely Dan vibe on the intro. Parmenter's vocal melody is soothing and catchy. Lyrical images flash through this cinematic tune. This may be my favorite track on the CD.

The instrumental, Blueprint, starts with a chase scene momentum, but veers into a slow burn with a powerful guitar solo, soaring and Gilmouresque.

The final tune, America, again has that Yes vibe to it. This is a commentary on commercialism, the loss of a person's meaningful position in society, hopelessness and abandonment.

Push and Profit is a fitting addition to any prog collection and a fine debut. After Unfolded and Astray, I would place Matthew Parmenter high in the list of those artists keeping progressive rock fresh and alive along with Echolyn, Lands End and IZZ.

US band Discipline releasing only two studio albums before mastermind Parmenter concentrated on his solo career had been certainly one of the better examples in Neo-Prog sub-genre (which is usually not my fave one). This one had been their debut being a solid effort though not quite on par with its excellent follow-up I would say. Overall tracks are shorter here and more in a song-based format and not only the cover design would assume a strong influence by Marillion. Still they were far from being just a clone band and presented a rather self-contained (though certainly derivative) style somewhere between Genesis, Crimson and Floyd. There's only one really weak track on here with the punk-ish pop song "Faces Of The Pretty". Highlights are "Carmilla" and "America" I would say but all other tracks especially "The Nursery Year" with its frightening lyrics coming camouflaged as a lullaby are certainly worth paying closer attention to. As a summary I can say that this debut might be interesting for Neo-Prog fans but personally I prefer their darker, more Crimson-inspired second album.

My first experience with Discipline started with their 1997 album "Unfolded Like Staircase". I was amazed with the music quality produced by this American prog band. When I visited their official site, I could see that the lead vocalist seemed like imitating Peter Gabriel with its mask. The music of Discipline can summarized this way, probably: early King Crimson with vocalist's voice quality in between Peter Hammill (VdGG) / Greenslade's or Nick Barrett (Pendragon) vocalist and the music is combined with neo prog. So what would it be like? Yeah, it's a mixture of everything, I think. But, you will find there is no such single track as bad or good ones as every single track is truly excellent. If you like symphonic prog music with soaring keyboard / organ sounds which sometimes turn out to be a mellotron, you will definitely enjoy this album.

The opening track "Diminished" (7:36) moves slowly in mellow style with good vocal clarity. The piano work that accompanies the singing in the middle of the track is really good. It's a good catchy opening track. The second track "The Reasoning Wall" (7:22) moves the music in more energetic way and giving a chance to guitar player to play his howling guitar work. It's an excellent track. "Carmilla" (9:39) is another excellent symphonic prog music with intriguing intro through combined guitar and soft keyboard work. The song provides balanced combination of ups and downs with emotional vocal work. The tiny keyboard work at background sounds like a mellotron. It reminds me to the music of King Crimson and Van der Graff Generator in simpler way. The song changes dramatically at approx minute 5:58 to the new King Crimson style especially on guitar work that is similar to Adrian Belew augmented by long sustain keyboard at background and then moves in crescendo with stunning guitar work

The music turns to break with slow tempo "The Nursery Year" (5:18) using powerful vocal and soft keyboard work. The song moves emotionally in gradual way with powerful vocal backed with music that turns into higher tones. "Faces Of The Pretty" (4:47) is probably the band's interpretation of straight rock music with stunning piano as well as guitar solo. "Systems" (7:26) brings the music back into serious theme where the song has good opening and transparent vocal. "Blueprint" (6:02) is an upbeat track with dynamic bass lines followed with nice keyboard / organ work. The album concludes with another nice track "America" (7:42) which has similar style with early Pink Floyd (Meddle album).

Overall, this is an album that is quite strong in terms of composition as well as performance. This can entertain those of you who love vintage nuance because this album is in a way influenced by King Crimson, Van der Graff and Genesis. Keep on proggin' .

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Push & Profit is the debut from american neo prog band Discipline. The album was released in 1994 which seemed to be a time where neo prog had a revival. It´s not that often I have come across american neo prog bands. It seems to be a very british genre and Discipline sounds very british. Their big influences are Marillion and especially IQ. Matthew Parmenter also performed live with a painted face.

The music is typical neo prog with lots of sensitive singing and keyboards. The songs are actually pretty good and even though I wasn´t very impressed after my initial listen I have grown more excited after repeated listening. The dark song Carmilla is one of my favorites here while the opener Diminished is also very good but the quality is generally very high. At times the music is a bit too soft for me which a song like The Nursery Year is a good example of.

The musicianship is good but it´s not outstanding. It´s not like I say wow anytime while listening to Push & Profit. Their music rely more on emotion than on technical playing.

The sound quality is rather strange. At times the mix is pretty good but listen to the part in Diminished where the drums and the distorted guitar kicks in after the soft start to the song. It sounds really thin. It´s really amazing how you can get an album made in 1994 to sound like it was made in 1984 but Push & Profit has a real eighties production. It probably thrills the hardcore eighties neo prog fans but it annoys me a bit.

Push & Profit is a good album but not essential in any way neither to neo prog or prog rock in general. This is my opinion of course and you might find more pleasure in this album than me if you´re more into neo prog than I am. This is a 3 star album for me.

Even if it is the second song from this album, The reasoning Wall really starts this work.

Some Yes oriented music combined with jazzy influence sounds quite fresh and catchy. The music is more complex and diverse than during the average opener "Diminished" which sounds as a weak Marillion Mark II type of song. Keyboards are heading on the Banks side as well. It is one of the best song of this album.

The band experienced into even more complex song writing and delivered "Carmilla" which is genuinely linked to Crimson. Dark, heavy and including some fine mellotron lines, this song is another highlight of the album. It is the third time as well that the band changed from musical inspiration.

And it is going on with the new wave influenced "Faces Of The Petty". It is an upbeat and heavy pop track which is quite unexpected on this album. On the one hand, this release is very much diverse but on the other one, I have to say that it is lacking in continuity. You need to embrace lots of different styles of music to like this record from the start till the finish.

There is also one song available for Floyd lovers: "Blueprint" is such one. Even if it sounds derivative, I like this song very much. The wonderful and Gilmouresque guitar solo is probably not alien to this feeling.

IMO, this debut album shows that the band is still hesitant as to what their music will sound like. It is a good album though which digs into the roots of some prog giants.

My knowledge of this band has gone a strange way I can say after knowing them for about 5 years. The first song I got familiar with some 5 years ago was the mp3 back then (now streamsong) Canto IV. It's a song from their second album Unfolded like Staircase and I loved it from the beginning and still do. It was a reason for me to check them out by buying their albums. What I didn't know is that Canto IV appeared to be their best song ever (at least for my taste). Unfolded was the first of the two albums I bought and the rest of the songs on that album was already slightly disappointing to me. Vocals and lyrics are the most important features of this band, the instrumental contributions and the compositions as well as the melodies don't impress me at all and unfortunately for Discipline those are my main objectives in prog music.

Even though Unfolded wasn't really my cup of tea, I still bought their debut because of the switch in subgenre they made on PA between their two albums from neo to symphonic. And that made me curious so I went for the debut after all. A bad move by me because for my personal taste the debut is even a lot more disappointing than their more praised successor. Unfolded at least had some nice compositions compared to Push & Profit but with this debut it's entirely a matter of vocals and lyrics. Except for Blueprint, the only instrumental of the album and not by chance my favourite track of the album. The only other song that impresses my is The Nursery Year which is about a child molester. The lyrics on this song gives you the shivers down the spine but then in a creepy way.

Alas these two songs can't save the album for me and if I would give a rating for my personal taste it would be two stars rounded down from 2.5 stars but because I know this is a quality band and they do really deserve more I will round up after all.

DISCIPLINE were formed in Detroit,Michigan of US and soon became a major name of the local music scene.Led by the charismatic figure of vocalist Matthew Parmenter,DISCIPLINE participated at a lot of live shows,characterized by the theatrical performances of Parmenter (weird make-up,changing costumes).After their constant live activity,DISCIPLINE finally recorded their debut ''Push and profit'' in 1994.Although the album is very modern-sounding,straight references to the 70's spirit are evident throughout the listening.The compositions are varied,split in mellow GENESIS-like symphonic structures (great organ work),IQ-like smooth ballads (nice vocal melodies) and dark/complicated well-crafted arrangements in the vein of KING CRIMSON or even GENTLE GIANT (a combination of rock,jazz,pop and classical music),but every time with a strong and modernAmerican flavor.Matthew Parmenter meant to be one of the best modern performances with his alternating voice lying somewhere between IQ's Peter Nicholls and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR's Peter Hammill.A very interesting debut with tons of different styles and arrangements,that should appeal to any fan of diverse music journeys!

After the masterful "Unfold Like Staircase" I thought I would go back to the debut to see how it compared. Well it's a disappointment to be honest. Certainly this album has it's moments and some good songs but they are off-set by a couple of duds in my opinion.

"Diminished" opens with atmosphere as the keys and violin join in. Reserved vocals before a minute. It's fuller around 3 minutes but the tempo will continue to shift.Good song. "The Reasoning Wall" is one I just don't like.The vocals and music do nothing for me until after 3 minutes when it changes. Unfortunately the earlier soundscape returns around 5 minutes. "Carmilla" opens with picked guitar, atmosphere and melancholic vocals. Drums and guitar 1 1/2 minutes in as it picks up. It settles back again then we get a change after 4 1/2 minutes to a more bombastic style. Bass 6 minutes in.It settles back with vocals 8 1/2 minutes in.

"The Nursery year" opens with the sound of a music box then we proceed to get the first person account of a pedaphile. Disturbing is a word that comes to mind. Sure this is in the name of art and music but I find this track repulsive. "Faces Of The Petty" has a good rhythm with guitar.Vocals then replace the guitar and lead. Not a fan of this one. "Systems" has reserved vocals and we get a piano solo after 3 minutes. Guitar and drums become prominant then those reserved vocals return after 5 minutes. "Blueprint" has a good rhythm as the organ joins in. It does settle back then we get some guitar after 4 1/2 minutes. "America" opens with strummed guitar as reserved vocals join in. It does pick up but stays relatively the same style throughout.

A low 3 stars is all I can give.

Discipline's debut album sees them straddling the borderline between the most complex forms of neo-prog and a dark corner of symphonic prog. The songs here combine a range of influences - I can hear the more gothy and sinister passages of IQ, some of the whimsy of Gentle Giant, the theatricality of Genesis and the brooding intensity of King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator in the mix. Whilst such a wide range of influences could cause lesser bands to flounder, the group attain a level of cohesiveness in their compositions which shows a great deal of discipline on their part - so they're definitely living up to their name!

Whilst the album features no songs extending beyond 10 minutes, this too is a matter of restraint on the part of the band - none of the songs outstay their welcome, but at the same time each is given sufficient space for its ideas to flourish. All the players involved give their all, but props have to be given to multi-instrumentalist frontman Matthew Parmenter, whose stentorian, gothic delivery as the band's "prog mime" singer combines the best of Peter Hammill's ominous declarations and Peter Gabriel's characterful poetry and theatrical mastery of character.

The centrepiece of the album is probably The Nursery Year, a piece which is extremely powerful but whose subject matter - child-murder with strong implications of sexual abuse - is so extreme that some listeners might not be able to stomach it. It's clearly a song which Parmenter himself has strong feelings about, and though sung from the point of view of the perpetrator it is carefully constructed to be condemnatory of said individual through the clearly demented elucidation of their thoughts, but at the same time I'm sure there are listeners who for whatever reason just don't want to be reminded of such things in their prog listening. Still, aside from that caveat I'd heartily recommend Push and Profit to symphonic prog and neo-prog listeners alike.

The triumphant 2011 return of legendary Detroit outfit Discipline with their excellent comeback album 'To Shatter All Accord' has seen a big upsurge of interest in the group's previous recordings, both for long-term fans and brand-spanking newbies who, up until this point, simply weren't aware of the group's existence(this reviewer included). Problem is, despite their hallowed reputation, Discipline's latest offering happens to be only their third proper studio release, a fact that outlines just what an impact the four-piece have had on the progressive rock scene since their early-nineties inception. Although the group had been touring and releasing cassette-only albums since the eighties, 'Push & Profit', the first official Discipline album, would only appear in late 1993, sporting a considered Genesis-and-Marillion influence hitched onto the group's semi-whimsical sound, and it would be the only Discipline album(bar a couple of live albums) until 1997's much-heralded 'Unfolded Like Staircase'. Quite unlike the latter two albums, 'Push & Profit' has one foot very much in the late- seventies British prog style, the other inching towards the rough, hard-rockin' sound that would burst forth on 'To Shatter All Accord'. It's a strange, yet highly-melodic album, mixing elegant at-rock excess with poppy melodies and bucketfuls of over-elaborate lyrics, almost halfway between the twinkling, folk-pressed sounds of early Genesis and the more modern, keyboard-drenched histrionics of Marillion. Highlights include the jaunty 'The Reasoning Wall', which sports a distinctly neo-prog veneer, and the lengthy, maudlin opus 'America', which closes the album with a melancholy swirl of misty keyboards and glistening guitars. Although in the great scheme of things 'Push & Profit' seems to have been forgotten about in all the excitement generated by the group's welcome return, this debut album is well worth investigating, showcasing the gracious origins of one of modern prog's most talented outfits.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

Although I don't consider a masterpiece of progressive rock music, my feeling is very similar to the - SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator- Dan Bobrowsky about DISCIPLINE "Push and Profit", specially when they say "I would place Matthew Parmenter high in the list of those artists keeping progressive rock fresh and alive along with Echolyn, Lands End and IZZ.." In fact the album sounds very fresh and new, nevertheless, I can perceive influences of masters of the prog rock of the 70's... like in the track 2 "The Reasoning Wall" with the same musical construction from Gentle Giant in several aspects, except by a brief passage which starts about 2:45 min in Genesis style (listen the guitar timbre and sustain)... the track 3 "Carmilla" a clearly King Crimsom inspiration. But this album suffers with a defect in their four last tracks, where seems lost their musical "freshness". Due this considerations about the last tracks, my rate is only 3 stars !!!

Review Nº 22

Discipline is an American progressive group formed in 1987 by five high school students in Royal Oak, Detroit, Michigan. Matthew Parmenter is the leader of the group. He writes all the songs, sings and plays several instruments.

The first time I saw the band's name was on this site. When I read for the first time the group's biography on Progarchives, I was very curious about it. What most caught my attention was the reference to Anglagard, the superb Swedish symphonic progressive group. It compared Discipline as their US counterpart. In reality, the similarities between both groups seemed to me very obvious. Both are from the beginning of the 90's, both are from the symphonic progressive sub-genre, both only has made two studio albums and one live album until they broke in the end of the last century, both returned at the same time about 2010, both were two obscure bands only known by a limited group of progressive rock fans, and finally, both have their albums rated in a very high level on Progarchives.

So, soon as I could, I ordered to one of my usual suppliers, to buy their albums. A few months ago, I received their debut studio album "Push And Profit" released in 1994, and I hope to receive their second, very soon. I confess that I was doubly surprised by the album, when I listened to it for the first time. In the first place, I expected that the music on the album was more surprisingly, strange, aggressive, improvised and complex, than it is, probably thinking on Anglagard music. In the second place, I don't became nothing disappointed with it, because the band's music on the album is very good, which was for me, a very pleasant surprise, despite being very different from the Anglagard sound.

The line up on the album is Matthew Parmenter (lead vocals, guitar, violin, programming, tambourine and synthesizer), Jon Preston Bouda (backing vocals and lead guitar), David Krofchock (backing vocals, piano, organ and synthesizer), Matthew Kennedy (bass guitar) and Paul Dzendel (drums and percussion).

"Push And Profit" has eight tracks. The first track "Diminished" is a track with a slowly opening which is a good start for the album. Excellent Parmenter's voice accompanied wonderfully by the piano and with some violin interventions. This is a very strong track that reminds me some softer parts of early Genesis. The second track "The Reasoning Wall" is the most complex and elaborated track on the album and is the most progressive track too. It reminds me King Crimson and Gentle Giant. This is a superb song. The third track "Carmilla" is another excellent piece of music that should delight fans of King Crimson. It's a very beautiful song that combines moments of calm and emotional vocals, with some musical explosions, what makes a great musical combination. It's the lengthiest track on the album with great guitar work, sustained by nice keyboard work on the back. The fourth track "The Nursery Year" is a song that reminds me Genesis, starting with its title. It's a very soft song with different vocal tones. The lyrics are about paedophilia, about a child molested, and the soft melody makes the song very disturbing. This is another great track that every progressive fan should hear. The fifth track "Faces Of The Petty" is the smallest song on the album. Personally, I don't like very much of it. This is more a rock and roll song than a progressive song, and I think it's a little bit dislocated on the album. It represents the only weak musical point on it. The sixth track "Systems" is a calm ballad with good Parmenter's vocals, and represents a good musical moment on the album. Again, we have the sound that we love so much, a reminiscence of the old Genesis. The seventh track "Blueprint" is the only instrumental track on the album. It has nice guitar and keyboard works, and is one of my favourite tracks on the album. It reminds me Pink Floyd, especially the guitar work, which has great similitude with Gilmour's style. The eighth track "America" is one of the most beautiful songs from the band and one of my favourites on the album, too. It reminds me also the oldest Pink Floyd ballads. This is another excellent track that finished this brilliant musical journey through the confused brain of a listener, if he was caught off guard, who probably still can't understand what he was allowed to just listen.

Conclusion: "Push And Profit" is a great debut studio work by Discipline, despite being an album with so many diverse musical influences such as Genesis, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Gentle Giant. So, this is an excellent album that will deserve your special attention, especially if you are a great fan of the good old 70's, the classic golden age of the progressive music. The name of the group might be like the 80's King Crimson's incarnation, but the music is definitely different, more romantic, more melodic, more traditional and not so neurotic. Definitely, "Push And Profit" is an excellent album, and I'm very curious and anxious to receive their second studio album "Unfolded Like Staircase", which seems to be even better. So, do yourself a favour. Buy it now. You're losing really a great work.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)