PRESTO BALLET

Being that prog has always been my absolute favorite genre of music since I first heard the likes of Genesis Wind & Wuthering as a high school grad in 1978, I watched prog die out after the 70's with only a few new bands coming on??. Sadly or wonderfully I discovered many years later that last statement was wrong! I started uncovering all these great golden nuggets such as Spock's Beard and Pendragon and?.. on and on. I must have been living under a rock not to know there were a large number of prog bands that carried the torch.

I didn't hear of Presto Ballet until 2014 and I became a fan quickly. Their catalog isn't extensive and other than Kurdt Vanderhoof the band members haver rotated in and out but the amazing 70ish sound remained. I was unaware they had released The Days Between until recently. I was skeptical about it as so many bands put out the best of their music and then falter and push out music that really isn't all that exciting.

I was pleasantly surprised at this offering! While it has songs that bare fairly predictable as to where they are going there are definitely good hooks on the album. In all it has the same feel and instrumentation as past albums and Vanderhoof has kept with the overall analog mix. While it isn't the best of their albums I would rate it higher than Relics Of The Modern World.

The guitar licks are awesome and the vintage sounds of Kerry Shacklett's keyboards is welcome along with the chaotic drums. I'd definitely give it a sustained listen.

Rock on!

"Reality- I've never been a fan"

There's an indefinable "something" that makes an album a masterpiece; and sometimes that prevents it from being one.

There's a lot to like

Tight ensemble playing. Interesting arrangements, and the twists and turns progressive rock fanatics tend to love. Musicianship that rises above. Crisp, clean production. Strong melodies, hooks, hummable choruses. Instrumental passages that soar, then recede, only to soar again.

Out of Mind (It's Outta Sight):

Presto Ballet returned with this, their fifth studio album and it opens with strength playing to strength- a fine, commanding intro leading to full band, with the high, husky vocals from Chuck. Crisp, spot-on drumming, gutsy guitars by Kurdt, an array of keyboard sounds from Charles.

I found myself turning the volume knob "up", wanting to hear more, and engage more in the sound.

Earthbound:

Again, the vigor, the hard-rocking energy, and in the instrumental passage, a great trade-off between guitar and synthesizer. To these ears this is heavy-progressive music, although the band defines itself as neo-progressive, while on this site, it's called crossover progressive music (!)

Tip of the Hat:

The pace and intensity slows- a bit- then picks right back up, and slows again. Great instrumental passage with soaring synthesizers leading the way. There are gentle vocals and a sing-able chorus.

Just Drive:

Here the lovely piano work dominates, sweeping, beautiful. There are impeccable vocals and harmonies- "Keeping my hands on the wheel/ trying to learn not to feel."

And crystal acoustic guitar strumming to close, with treated electric guitar tones overhead.

Although I didn't have access to lyrics, what I could catch seemed to suggest a focus on connecting, and the transcendence through music, of the human spirit. This track established an image of missed connections, and a sense of resignation- "Just drive".

Hard Time for Dreamers:

In my notes, I put (No Kidding!).

Here, there is a fine, agile opening leading to some strong guitar licks. Those Hammond organ growls always make me smile, and the all-too-brief mellotron passage.

I Am Wire:

Here, the band pushes into slightly more futuristic territory, with foreboding synthesizer opening, the spooky vocals, into organ arpeggios until the full band kicks in. These tunes are well written and arranged.

"Too much information/ and it's clogging up my head"- anyone with a "smart" device knows this is true.

And one of the loveliest, dreamiest passages on the album, sailing on lead by the synthesizer, building, growing, then receding slowly back to futuristic synthesizer sounds closing the track, and the album proper.

PS: I didn't have access to the bonus tracks, "The Man with the Plastic Face", and "Brand New Minute".

So, back to reality, and the undefinable "something"

Certainly a lot to like, yet there was something about the whole, that didn't stick, didn't stand out, didn't impress.

There was something impersonal, although the lyrics I could capture spoke of relevant, important matters. No clear personality emerged, nothing that grabbed me by the throat- volume turned up to ten, or down to four.

Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof pleasantly surprised the progrock world with his musical project named Presto Ballet. Their debut CD entitled Peace Among The Ruins turned out to be a worldwide acclaimed album since its release in 2005. Meanwhile Presto Ballete have released four studio-albums, their latest is entitled Relic Of The Modern World (2012), this review is about their second effort from 2008.

During my first listening session I notice that Presto Ballet their melodic sound is in the vein of their previous album: a tasteful colouring with vintage keyboards (cascades of Hammond along Minimoog and Mellotron) and music that alternates between Heavy Prog, symphonic rock and AOR. The one moment you can enjoy twanging guitars, Mellotron, Moog Taurus bass pedals and lush Mellotron waves like 76-77 Genesis or bombastic climates with powerful Hammond and propulsive guitar work similar to early Kansas. The other moment the music sounds accessible with acoustic rhythm guitar, vocal harmonies and cheerful Minimoog flights, often evoking Styx.

On The Lost Art Of Time Travel the band has matured in writing, especially the first and final epic compositions showcase Presto Ballet its glorious 24-carat symphonic rock. From twanging guitars and sparkling Grand piano to swinging bass guitar, powerful Hammond runs and fat Minimoog flights in the varied The Mind Machine. And lots of shifting moods with soaring Solina string-ensemble, warm vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar, violin-Mellotron and Hackett-like guitar, culminating in a grand finale delivering Minimoog, violin-Mellotron and twanging guitars (a kind of "70-77 Genesis meets Seventies Styx") in Haze, what a splendid farewell.

I am impressed how professional and well produced this second Presto Ballet CD sounds. If you are up to music that shifts from 24-carat symphonic rock (between Genesis and Yes) and Heavy Prog (with obvious hints from Seventies Kansas but also Rush) to an AOR sound similar to Styx, then you will be carried away to Seventies Progrock Heaven with The Lost Art Of Time Travel!

Kurdt Vanderhoof's (Metal Church) side project is back with the 2nd album and 7 new tracks of Progressive Hard Rock. The influences go way back to the 70s and the classic names but, in opposition to their peers, Presto Ballet can add a very strong Hard Rock attitude to their music. Forget the typical progressive band with very calm, introspective, spiritual material. In "The Lost Art Of Time Travel" we find the best of both worlds: the ambience and instrumental "clichés" of 70s Progressive Rock coupled with the rocking weight of Hard Rock. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it! For fans of bands like Yes, Genesis, Kansas, Magnum, Deep Purple, Savatage or Dream Theater.

For their second album Presto Ballet found a new home on Shawn Gordon's ProgRock Records.''The lost art of time travel'' presents a vastly different line-up compared to the debut of the band, Ryan McPherson was responsible for the keyboard and piano parts, Bill Raymond was the new drummer and Israel Rehaume the new bassist.Brian Cokeley appears only on backing vocals and Caitlin Moats guests on flute.The album came out in 2008.

Presto Ballet continue on the succesful path of their debut, but the new album sounds a bit more mature and memorable with impressive riffs and solos during the powerful electric bursts and a very good keyboard work by McPherson.RUSH, KANSAS and STYX are still the main influences of the band, which swirls around the basics of 70's Heavy and Hard Rock/Prog, but there are too many elaborate themes and complicated orchestrations to be found on this work, from the quirky piano themes and the grandiose Mellotrons to the vintage organ and the flexible thematic changes.Synthesizers are mostly used to provide an extra spark on a nonetheless very emphatic and dynamic sound, but symphonic references are not absent either.They kind of remind me of SPOCK'S BEARD or TRANSATLANTIC's heavier rhythms and pieces.Scott Albright's vocals is definitely suitable to such an energetic approach, a natural-born rockin' voice.It's great to see Kurdt Vanderhoof & co. making an attempt on long, progressive tracks (three of them are close or over 10 minutes long) and still keep the gears up, at the same time the strong rhythmic parts are showered by excellent keyboard twists and tempo changes with the Retro Prog vibes waiting in every corner.

Solid Heavy Prog, solid arrangements and tunes and a high energy level.These guys can rock and still provide the listener with progressive components.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

"Peace Among the Ruins" is the debut full-length studio album by US progressive rock/metal act Presto Ballet. The album was released through InsideOutMusic in June 2005. Presto Ballet was founded by guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, who wanted to pursue a progressive rock career in addition to his work with traditional heavy metal act Metal Church.

The music on the album is 70s influenced progressive rock with a hard rock singer and some nods toward progressive metal. The use of vintage keyboards (especially mellotron)/organ are dominant features on the album, but Presto Ballet are no one trick pony, and skillfully incorporate heavy guitars and psychadelic pop flavours (reminiscent of late sixties Beatles) to colour their brand of progressive rock. "Peace Among the Ruins" are both exceptionally well played and very well produced, which makes it a very enjoyable listening experience. It´s the high level songwriting skills that stick out the most though. Intriguing Progressive rock tracks like the title track, "The Fringes" and "Speed of Time" are complimented by more pop oriented tracks like "Seasons" and "Sunshine" but also by a heavier and darker track like "Slave". I think it says a lot about the quality of the material and the musicians involved, that Presto Ballet pull off all music styles they play in a highly convincing manner. These guys are professional to the bone. If I have to make references to other artists I would mention acts like Spock´s Beard and Frost* (and a slight nod towards Kansas).

"Peace Among the Ruins" is the kind of album that blew me back in my seat the first time I listened to it. Further listens have proven the longivity of the album, but it is what I would call an instantly enjoyable and memorable release. They don´t come much more professional than this and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

This album really impressed me, with a lot of progressive passages and a good conceptualization and art work. It reminded me The Flower Kings and Spock's Beard. All the songs have their good moments, it is a cheerful album made of 5 songs, from which, 4 of them are short pieces in comparison to the title track "Relic of the Modern World", which is a real epic of around 19 minutes and maybe it is the song that can summarize the rest of the album with many changes, and as I mentioned above, all the album maintains a cheerful perspective with outstanding keyboards by Kerry Shacklett and drumming by Chris G. The rest of the band has good participation in the album, maybe discrete. Chuck Cambpell reminds me a lot to Roine Stolt and Neil Morse together. I think "Relic of the Modern World" is a good album worthy to be listened and analysed.

'Invisible Places' - Presto Ballet (6/10)

Founded by former Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, Presto Ballet sees the man pay homage to the greats of 70's prog rock. 'Invisible Places' is the third album by this band, and it is a well-performed and decently composed effort. However, like so many prog rock acts nowadays, the feeling of deja-vu I get when listening to it seems to rob the music of its legitimacy, especially when the bands who made these sounds first did it a lot better.

Presto Ballet's music is an upbeat mixture of Hemispheres-era Rush and Kansas, heartwarming melodic prog that gets the tenants of being 'prog' down, without necessarily crossing over and getting truly inventive with it. The compositions here could be labelled as being neo-prog in the sense that they are very melodic, and rarely get too complex, despite the fact that the song lengths here occasionally tip over the ten minute mark. Possibly the most notable thing about Presto Ballet's sound is their vocalist Ronny Munroe, who sounds like he should be fronting a heavy metal band rather than a retro-prog outfit. He howls in a generally higher register, at times sounding similar to Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, and though his voice wears thin at times, there is a lot of power to be heard when the rest of the band allows him space to really belt out.

The production is decent, although passing me as being mechanical at times. While I am not too much into this retro-prog direction that Presto Ballet takes, I love the range of keyboard sounds that are heard on 'Invisible Places'. From rich organs to lead synths, Kerry Shacklett adds some great depth to the sound of the band. Vanderhoof is obviously a very good guitarist in his own right, but he rarely lets loose and shows the listener his talent; his riffs are always kept within the context of the song. Once again, it is quite pleasant to hear, but this band's work is far too tame for my tastes. The talent and skill is here, but the excitement is not.

This, Presto Ballet's second album, I feel is a big improvement on their first album which sauntered along at a steady but fairly sedate pace. The music on 'The Lost Art of Time Travel' is altogether stronger. It has more conviction to it and has a number of high points with more pronounced melodies. The last song on the album 'Haze' is an absolute gem. I'd buy this album for that song alone. They are not the best in the genre but they are good and they are getting better! I've only heard snippets of their new album 'Invisible Places' so I'll hold off on my comments about that one until I've heard it in its entirety. A solid group that is getting better all the time.

Preso Ballet is no longer an unknown band to progressive rock fans, they manage to create 3 great albums, at least for me, and since their second release they proven that they are among the best in this filed in last years. Invisible places is their latest album , issued in 2011 is again a great symphonic, eclectic heavy prog album smelling of '70's greates progressive rock period but with a touch of moder sound. I realy like this band, own all 3 albums, each one having something for real intrest to offer, this one is no exception. Even they bring nothing new releated with previous 2 albums in manner of composing and sound, they known and manage to keep that excellent fresh sound first 2 albums, I mean the album sounds very happy, well produce and with perfect musicianship. More then half of the original members are gone, remaining still only the drumer Bill Raymond and the master of the band Kurdt Vanderhoof, the rest are unknow musicins to me, but what a great job they done here. The music from the start was reminiscent of Kansas, Rush in places, and even Styx, but Kurdt Vanderhoof succede to creat something realy intristing in amoder progressive rock scene, the freshnes of the compostions are still present at this third album like on previous 2. Enjoyble arrangements where the mellotron, keybords , bass all are melted very very well and surprisingly fresh in sound, or at least is how i see this album. The ne voice Ronny Munroe is perfect for Presto ballet, fits like a hand on glove to their music, that why I realy like him here. Lenghy pieces, some of them, 4 out of 7, with complex arrangements, excellent musicianship and perfect balance between mellower parts with more edgy ones.All pieces are great, special The Puzzle who has a great keybords intro that reminds me of Renaissance (Prologue or Turn of the cards era) So, another worthy album from this excellent band, worth 4 stars for sure, very positiv, happy and pleasent album in today progressive rock scene, they are like a fresh air tot his scene. Recommended, all 3 albums, you can't go wronng with any of them.