New Iona Appreciation Thread

Akacia- Much like Yes and ELP. 
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Ascension Theory- Progressive Rock-leans toward metal at times. Not overtly Christian in lyics but the concepts are there.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2371

Dave Bainbridge- Solo stuff from Iona member

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1336

Unitopia- A musical smorgasbord is what you get from them. They are prog but so many musical styles are woven throughout their compositions. If you love variety, you will love them. They are what I call "Christo-friendly". Not Christain per se but their lyics are kind of feel good hippie type, but more deep and thoughtful than that. Their music brings me closer to God personally, which is MY criteria for  what I categorize as God music. The Garden album is a masterpiece IMO.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4175

America Gomorrah- More prog-rock. Overtly Christian and sort of focused on end time themes.

http://www.americagomorrah.com/music.html

Saviour Machine- Prog-metal- This is the darling of the Christian Goth community. They are epic and they have a bunch of Book of Revelation based concept albums. Lyrically they are pretty dark and focus on the Antichrist a LOT and so I find their stuff kind of oppressive actually.. which is saying a lot cause I'm pretty dark myself and can handle dark themes well. I have a lot of their stuff and actually have an unfinished project going of pulling out their better and lighter more inspiring tracks to put in a compilation CD/playlist.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1036

Revelation Project- Another end times focused act. 

http://www.myspace.com/revelationproject

Rick Wakeman has been doing  some great Christian stuff for some time now. I only found that out in the last couple of years. I have his Amazing Grace Album and his collaboration with Jon Anderson in 2010, The Living Tree.

http://www.rwcc.com/

BTW. I find a lot of uplift in Jon Anderson's solo stuff even though he does lean towards a New Age worldview. His stuff just makes me feel good and peaceful and paves to road to God for me. 

Also don't forget to check out this link to the CPR (Christian Progressive Rock) website:

http://www.cprogrock.com/

For more Celtic Christian stuff check out: 

Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning

http://www.alivingdog.com/Music_Celtic.html

Maire Brennan -former lead singer of Clanaad

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Maire+Brennan

Eden's Bridge

http://www.edensbridge.net/index.aspx

So now that I've combed through my collection and have given some offerings, I would like to hear some of the music you all have found that boosts your faith and brings you closer to God. A band doesn't have to be marketed as a "Christian Band" to be that. In fact it may be better if they aren't marketed that way. I wonder if once an artist gets put on that "Christian" track then their stuff gets sculpted to fit some record company's idea of what a homogenous Christian populous wants? It may be true for the majority of Christian culture, but not for me, so I've had to dig deep and search heavily. 

I've found some other great stuff that isn't prog but is nonetheless faith inspiring. If anyone is interested I'll post more of what I've found. 

Lirazel

I didn't know Glass Hammer were a Christian band.  I've been checking them out, I'll try to pay more attention to the lyrics.  I don't know of many more Christian prog bands to recommend, though, unless you're into metal.  Neal Morse, maybe?

I read the lyrics and was surprised to hear them talking about "revival" and such.  Lyrically, I really prefer their more Christo-centric material like "Chi-Ro" and "Wisdom," but I've always liked all their lyrics.  I listened to the songs on Youtube from the new album and liked them, but they didn't really strike me on the first listen.

 

 

I am a HUGE Iona fan, Beyond These Shores is my second favorite cd of all time.   However, I must agree that Another Realm is a bit of a let down for me as well.  I love the cd from a lyrical standpoint, however musically there's not much new here and overall it is nowhere near as powerfully as the previous cds.  It's not a bad cd, it's just not up the the extremely high standards of their previous work.  There are some great songs like "Clouds" and "White Horse".  "Let Your Glory Fall" is AMAZING!  I love Dave Bainbridge, he is one of my top ten favorite guiatr players and he has some nice solos on the cd.  Joanne Hogg's vocals are great as usual.  The new wind/ pipes player is great.  All that being said something is missing and I can't quite put my finger on it.  I would still recommend the cd to Iona fans.  I know for myself for whatever reason it took me a long time and a whole lot of plays to really get into the last two Iona cds, Open Sky and The Circling Hour, so I am open to Another Realm growing on me in time.         

Hey i thought you must be in sales or something. You tell it like it is but i still want to buy from you.

 

Just read it Thomas and even though you were disappointed the review makes me want to get it.Go figure ?
I'm a big fan as well and enjoy pretty much all of their stuff but especially Open Sky.

The album Veil of Gossamer by Bainbridge is an instant classic.  Quite the talent and genius...

Let's get the word out about this amazing band!

(I'm waiting for you, Mellotron Storm, we need collaborators and prog reviewers to give an authoritative opinion!  So far we've got one...)