My interesting non PA bands thread....

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                                          Hello fellow progheads.

This thread is a successor to my thread entitled 'Four Interesting Progressive Albums', my main motivation is that for me it is a perfect way to mention interesting progressive bands that are (still) not on Prog Archives, like I do in my Lesser And Unknown New Progrock Bands thread with new progrock bands.

         Here is Part One that contains the albums I reviewed in my previous thread:

Band: The Stranglers (UK)
Album: The Raven
Year:1979
The sound of this musical chameleon has often appealed to me, from the agressive and energetic early ‘Punk Plus Sound’ to the interesting progressive mid-era. In my opinion it started with the album The Raven that I bought in the LP version with the hologram cover.
The Stranglers were a band that played a lot in clubs and pubs, you can hear that in their sound: they have a raw energy and the interplay between the musicians is very strong. On this fourth studio album The Stranglers deliver 11 compositions in which the band showcases their huge talent as tune-smiths by delivering inventive arrangements, often cynical lyrics about our crazy world, some fine shifting moods’ and a varied keyboard sound: catchy beats with a propulsive bass sound, fluent Minimoog flights and strong interplay between guitar and keyboards in The Raven, Ice, Duchess and Genetix, a mellow atmosphere with tender piano in Don’t Bring Harry, a hypnotizing climate with spacey keyboards, distorted vocals and a tight drum beat in Meninblack and an ominous atmosphere with double bass play in the dark Dead Los Angeles. How ironical that a group that is often described as punk band made such a progressive album in the late Seventies when the symphonic rock dinosaurs were close to dead!

Band: Angel (USA)
Album: Helluvaband
Year: 1976
I discovered this band on the radio, I was listening to a rock show with progressive hardrock bands (between 1973 and 1976 my favorite category) and when I heard Angel I was blown away!
This is Angel their second effort, enjoy their powerful and exciting sound, loaded with biting guitar - and flashy Minimoog solos and topped by great vocals! Musically you can split this album into two sections. First straightforward R&R-inspired songs like Anyway You Want It, Dr. Ice, Pressure Point and Chicken Soup with excellent ‘head-to-tail’ work on guitar and keyboards and powerful vocals. And second a section with songs that sound as very interesting Heavo Prog like The Fortune, one of the most compelling Heavy Prog songs I have ever heard: first a wonderful keyboard intro featuring majestic choir-Mellotron waves, a soaring string-ensemble sound and slow synthesizer flights, then lots of shifting moods, from twanging acoustic guitar with melancholical vocals to bombastic with excellent singing, fiery guitar and an eruption with fat Minimoog flights, what a tension and dynamics! Other strong compositions are Feelings (a sparkling Grand piano intro, then a slow rhythm with a wonderful harmony between vocals, guitar and piano and in the end a howling electric guitar solo) and Mirrors (great propulsive guitar riff, like Led Zep’s Immigrant Song, with outstanding vocals and biting electric guitar). At one moment Angel sounds like a hardrock band, at other moments as very intereting Heavy Prog!

Band: Journey (USA)

Album: Journey
Year: 1974
I remember vividly how thrilled I was to read that former Santana members Gregg Rolie and Neil Schonn (just listen to Caravanserai) had founded a new band with drummer Aynsley Dunbar (ex-Zappa), this was a new ‘supergroup’ and the expectations were high.
For me Journey their eponymous debut album is still their best effort, here they sound as an exciting, very progressive blend of several styles, from rock and blues to jazzrock. Their trademark is the combination of the heavy guitar work by Neal Schonn (biting and howling with frequent use of the wah-wah pedal), the often furious drumming by Aynsley Dunbar and the very distinctive vocals with that melancholical undertone by Gregg Rolie, especially in tracks like Of A Lifetime (great build-up and grand finale), the alternating intrumental Topaz (from swinging Fender Rhodes piano to biting wah-wah guitar) and the final track Mystery Mountain (great interplay between organ, guitar and drums). The other four track are worth a listening session: In The Morning Day delivers halfway a spectacular break with echo-effects, swirling Hammond and blistering guitar, the intrumental Kohoutek has an ominous atmospehre, a strong build-up and a sensational Minimoog solo and In My Lonely Feeling/Conversations contains lush Hammond organ, a dynamic rhythm-section and biting, wah-wah drenched guitar, this is the typical early Journey sound!

Band: Cozy Powell (UK)
Album: Over The Top
Year: 1979
In the late Seventies I was very much into jazzrock sounding music like JL Ponty, Al DiMeola, Jeff Beck and Colosseum II so it was no surprise that I stumbled upon Cozy Powell, on this first solo album many contributions are by musicians that have played with the aforementioned bands.
On Over The Top we can enjoy a super powerhouse rhythm-section featuring the late drummer Cozy Powell and ex-Cream bass player Jack Bruce, what a powerful and dynamic sound, especially on Theme I and El Sid! The keyboard sound is also very exciting, delivered by Max Middleton and Don Airey, from mellow Fender Rhodes electric piano and sparkling Grand piano to lots of flashy Minimoog flights, symptuous classical orchestrations and UK-like synthesizer sounds because of the use of the mighty Yamaha CS-80. Some songs sound similar to Colosseum II because of the interplay between their ex-members Don Airey and Gary Moore. It’s ‘blues time’ in The Loner (dedicated to Jeff Beck) with moving work on guitar and piano and a pitchbend-driven Minimoog solo in the end. But the most interesting and perhaps most progressive composition is the titletrack: it opens with a swinging rhythm and excellent, then varied and exciting work on keyboards and halfway Cozy starts a drum solo, soon accompanied by bombastic classical orchestrations (lots of woodwinds and brass) on the Yamaha and Moog synthesizer, the build-up and grand finale is great, I will remember Cozy Powell forever as the composer of this composition, close to the level of Classic Prog!

Edited by erik neuteboom - December 06 2007 at 13:20

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