PSYCHEDELIC/SPACE ROCK
A Progressive Rock Sub-genre
From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website
Psychedelic/Space Rock definition
Psychedelic Progressive RockProgressive rock music has its roots in the mid 1960's psychedelic cultural phenomena. During that time the British Invasion and folk-rock bands began to expand the sonic possibilities of their music. These groups slowly started to abandon the concise verse-chorus-verse patterns of rock & roll, and moved towards fluid, free-form oriented song structures. Just as important was the incorporation of elements from Indian and Eastern music. Along them the principles of free-form jazz were included to the psychedelic sound, emphasising spontaneous emotions over calculated and estimated compositional constructions. Experimenting with new studio technology, electronically altering instruments and voices, was a part of this altered approach as well. Acid rock groups like THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE and CREAM stand as descriptive and popular examples of the path from psychedelic sunshine pop towards a more aggressive and distinct rock expression, in particular showcased in their improvised live performances.
The boundary dividing the "Experimental" and "Progressive" classification is a thin and at times contested one for this era. The pioneering psychedelic progressive rock bands to be found at www.progarchives.com will in most cases be found in the Proto-Prog section of the site. Amongst these pioneering outfits are acts like THE BEATLES, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE AND VANILLA FUDGE. Artists such as PINK FLOYD will not be found there though, as their career extended well beyond these first, formative years.
Psychedelic progressive rock music may contain the elements previously described in varying combinations, but the artistic perspective of progressive rock is another factor. Some psychedelic rock bands stuck to the mid 1960's beat rock style in purist form, not partaking in the experimental development of the impressionistic possibilities of psychedelic rock music others spearheaded. The evolution of the psychedelic depth within a progressive context could be seen for instance in the 1960's recordings of ARCADIUM and BABY GRANDMOTHERS. One good example of early 70's Continental European progressive psychedelic rock is the album by AHORA MAZDA, and from Britain JADE WARRIOR's early efforts fuse psychedelic rock and ethnic music. Current artists exploring the vintage 60's/70's style and sound are acts like THE SPACIOUS MINDS and ACID MOTHER'S TEMPLE.
The entire Western pop culture scene was influenced by the psychedelic culture to some extent, including other prog genres such as Prog Folk. In Germany, artists influenced by the British psychedelic movement formed their own genre called KRAUTROCK. The pioneering early 70's bands in this genre represent the progressive acid rock sound of Germany, experimenting with long instrumental improvisations, emphasizing the use of psychedelic effects and weird electronic sounds. Some examples are artists like AMON DÜÜL, ASH RA TEMPEL, CAN, GÄA, NECRONOMICON and YATHA SIDHRA. The PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC style emerged from Krautrock. Some of the most influential artists of this genre, such as TANGERINE DREAM and KLAUS SCHULZE, explored a distinct psychedelic musical style at first, which was influential for the development of the "space rock" sound:
Progressive Space Rock
The late 1960's psychedelic rock scene also spawned the birth of the space rock genre. The pioneering acts of this genre assimilated krautrock elements like repetitive hypnotic beats and electronic/ambient soundscapes as they moved away from the common musical and compositional approach. The synthesizer with its bubbling tones and spacey patterns, provoking a gliding flow, is a typical instrument of this genre. Guitars are by preference played with glissando technique and delay/echo effects are heavily used, and elements originating from reggae/dub are fairly common. Several bands combine their live performances with trippy lightshows using random fractals. Albums in this genre will often include at least one long meandering jam based on a main theme, where loops and wavelike fluctuations provides slight variations to this structural foundation.
Stories, images, song titles and album names referring to cosmic themes are fairly common features of the genre. HAWKWIND's live album "Space Ritual" is said to be the ultimate space rock album due to the collaboration with sci-fi author Michael Moorcock. His lyrics are performed by a narrator and underlaid with synth elements. PINK FLOYD can be regarded as pioneers of spacey music during the band's early phase, as exemplified by certain tracks from "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" or the stirring live performance of "Careful With That Axe Eugene" from "Ummagumma". GROBSCHNITT provides another fine example of classic space rock with their epic effort "Solar Music". Other bands explored the space rock sound for a limited time period only. GONG released groundbreaking albums in the genre at the start of their career, while British hard rock band UFO released the extraordinary album "Flying - One Hour Space Rock" as their sole contribution to the genre in 1971.
A space rock scene can be found in most countries sporting artists producing music with a western-oriented or influenced sound. Swedish bands are known for a brisk exchange of musicians among each other. The "Strange Daze" festivals from 1997-2000 showcased the American space rock scene. Japan is an inexhaustible reservoir of artists exploring both psychedelic progressivce rock and progressive space rock. Representative examples of the style are bands such as ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE with their focus on long grooving improvisations, QUARKSPACE and OZRIC TENTACLES with their stronger emphasis on electronic elements and VESPERO and HIDRIA SPACEFOLK with their inclusion of ethnic-originating musical components. Other groups like ESCAPADE and THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS represent an avantgarde approach to the genre, whereas SUBARACHNOID SPACE and KINSKI are examples of artists that provide transitions to the post rock genre.
The boundaries of Psychedelic Progressive Rock connected with Stoner Rock and Acid Folk
The 1960's and 70's were a time of liberation, a time of rebellion against rigid rules and strict moral boundaries. In those "freedom of expression" days, an artist would typically herald their liberal attitudes as a mind-expanding trip on stage together with the audience in two ways. One was to realize audio/visually the visual and auditory hallucination as it was, and another was to play their repertoire spiritually and improvisationally under the trip. As for the latter approach, they devoted themselves solely to slow-to-mid tempo playing with low-tuned guitars in a heavy and expansive manner for playing steadily under this twilight condition. In the same time period, this approach to the musical trip was also taken on by some artists especially in the hard rock and heavy metal scene. This new style, drenched in heavy and downer psychedelia, was called "Stoner Rock". The name originates from the expression "stoned", referring to people in altered states of mind while under the influence of psychedelic substances. The Stoner Rock genre was universalized "as a strict musical style only" by the Industrial Grunge Rock genre that gained worldwide popularity in the early 1990s. The common denominator of all the artists mentioned is the representation of their personal cultural and political backgrounds, whilst playing slow-paced depressive songs with heavy guitars and echoic rumbling drums as the dominating features. Most of current outfits claiming to be the so-called Psychedelic Heavy Progressive Rock ones should be much influenced by the traditional Stoner or Grunge Rock as well as the early Psychedelic Progressive Rock. They can be considered as a borderline case between Psychedelic Progressive, Heavy Progressive, and Progressive Metal.
"Acid Folk" can be mentioned as another musical style with hallucinogenic approach. Psych Folk or Psychedelic Folk are other names for this genre, and is vaguely defined as a rock subgenre due to the mixture of folk rock and psychedelic rock. This is a style lacking in strict definitions, and it is contested whether or not the term was actually used at what is deemed the dawn of the genre. It's an undeniable fact that the Acid Folk scene gained some popularity by the efforts of artists in "The Folk Revivalism", but it's important to remember that there were two distinctly different approaches taken by those who helped shape the genre in the mid 1960's. Some folk singers approached a psychedelic rock structure as was popular at that time, while some psychedelic rock outfits tried to absorb and incorporate techniques and elements from folk rock. Both have great importance in the development of Acid Folk, and this may be the reason that strict definitions of the genre cannot be given. In view of the history, it's no exaggeration to claim that TYRANNOSAURUS REX, SYD BARRETT or THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND in UK rock scene seasoned the "traditional" Acid Folk with a more progressive spice. They, as eccentric or heretical rock outfits, accepted and incorporated Middle-Eastern and Oriental elements or instruments, and the result was the foundation for the current progressive Acid Folk movement. And in the Eastern parts of the world, different acid streams was provided by artists such as TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERS or MAGICAL POWER MAKO who exerted a great influence on younger progressive bands. Their amazing achievements resides in the twilight zone between the Prog Folk and Psychedelic Prog subgenres.
A path that never ends
In addition of the styles described, psychedelic elements can be found in many other genres of progressive rock. The psychedelic cultural explosion had an immense influence on the western popular culture, and traces of it can still be heard also outside of progressive rock circles. The collective techno rave parties carry on the legacy of the audiovisual attack from the PINK FLOYD concerts in 1968, to cite one example. As the psychedelic movement was a large cultural phenomenon, it is difficult (and maybe unnecessary) to fence it to a clear category. Psychedelic progressive rock has been developing towards several different directions over time, and the task of classifying them as distinct genres and sub-genres is an ever ongoing process, often loaded with strong opinions. The psychedelic rock artists which are not considered as progressive in style are not listed in the databse of www.Progarchives.com. This in order to maintain the site's scope to be a progressive rock reference.
The aim of this description is to be a tool of reference for potential and existing fans of the genre, and we hope that this will aid those who read it to a better understanding of the genre as well as to enjoy and discuss the subject at hand both in the forums of the Progarchives website as well as in other places online and offline both.
Psychedelic Rock / Space Rock team April 2010
Space rock definition by Rivertree
The boundaries of psychedelic progressive rock chapter by DamoXt7942
Other text by Eetu Pellonpää
with kind guidance and support by Windhawk
The responsibility for the psych/space, indo/raga, krautrock and prog electronic subgenres is taken by the PSIKE team,
currently consisting of
- Sheavy
- Meltdowner
- siLLy puPPy
- Rivertree
Psychedelic/Space Rock Top Albums
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THESE THINGS TAKE TIMESubarachnoid Space |
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Latest Psychedelic/Space Rock Music Reviews
Sun Dial Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
Rivertree
Special Collaborator PSIKE Team & Band Submissions
Now this one showcases a project spanning more than 20 years, a long term plan to release a
collection of space themed soundtracks. Some excerpts from the SUN DIAL repertoire already have been in
demand for various film and television soundtracks in the past. The twelve songs given are equally
applicable for sure. The album indicates a move to a progressive electronics project, of course with
Gary Ramon as the head. And so, without having any liner notes at hand yet, this seems to be a solo
works more or less, probably with additional support by longtime companion Scorpio. The twelve
tracks are relatively short when speaking of prog terms, except the CD bonus track nothing is
crossing the five minute running time here.You may like to disappear into some relaxed and dreamy space stuff from time to time? Then you're on the right track here. A vintage kraut and psychedelic pop appeal is evident all over. Electronics are dominating, including drums and bass, in most cases at least. But this is also nicely spiked with organ, mellotron, acoustic guitar and sitar now and then. Ramon harmonizes krautish hypnotic beats and catchy melodies in a remarkable manner. A beneficial addition to the Sulatron Records back catalogue. Available on vinyl or compact disc, on the latter occasion equipped with my personal highlight, the extended version of Hangar 13. 3.5 stars.
Hawkwind Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
Warthur
Prog Reviewer
On the 27th January 1972, the Cambridge Corn Exchange hosted the Six Hour Technicolour Dream, a true feast of
what was at the point the cutting edge of underground psychedelic space rock in the UK. Pink Fairies were on the bill,
along with an outfit called the Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band which included ex-Fairies drummer Twink
playing with special guests Fred Frith (soon to gain wider attention once Henry Cow finally got their debut album out)
and Syd Barrett (post-Pink Floyd and his solo albums, pre-distressing weight gain and eyebrow-shaving).And rounding out the offerings was a set from Hawkwind, at the time a comparatively new band - remember, they'd only put out their debut and In Search of Space at this point in time. With Lemmy having recently arrived, the band had clearly already settled into the ultra-heavy groove which would culminate in Space Ritual at the end of the year. Various bootlegs and releases of debatable official status have claimed to offer cuts from the Cambridge Corn Exchange gig over the years, but these have mostly been mislabellings. (Various reissues under various titles of the old Text of Festival recordings from 1970 and 1971 are particularly to blame for this.)
Happily, as the included booklet with the CD release explains, Leave No Star Unturned is the real deal. A partial recording of the set was unearthed in 1985, and later on tapes discovered in 2005 completed the picture. The tidying- up by EMI is really top-notch, with sound quality more or less equalling that of, say, the BBC session from the same year, and at points approaching Space Ritual quality. (Of all the 1972 sets that have had official releases, the Greasy Truckers Party probably is a notch lower quality in terms of sound, perhaps due in part to the technical problems captured on the recording).
So, if you dig the sound of live Hawkwind from this era (and a good many people can't get enough of it), Leave No Star Unturned is a great pick,. I wouldn't quite put it on the level of Space Ritual, but it's dang close, and includes the additional interest of a version of Silver Machine on which Robert Calvert takes the lead vocals - rather than Lemmy as would customarily become the case once the Lemmy-fronted single became the unexpected monster hit that it was.
Hawkwind Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
Warthur
Prog Reviewer
This is a weird old odds-and-sods collection from Hawkwind. Side 1 comes from two sources in December 1980 - the
Lewisham Odeon gig gives us Dust of Time (misnamed here as The Island) and Motorway City, whilst the three
preceding tracks (or rather, two tracks plus a brief intro) were recorded in a mobile studio in the same month. Flip
over to side B, and we've jumped forward two years to an October gig on the Choose Your Masques tour.Whilst this might have been useful when Zones first came out, subsequent releases have left it entirely redundant. Though not from the same gig, Coded Languages gives us a full live set from the 1982 tour recorded somewhat after side B here, and incorporating all of its material. Meanwhile, the 3CD rerelease of Levitation includes the most complete version of the Lewisham 1980 gig yet, including live runthroughs of the two studio pieces here (Running Through My Back Brain and Dangerous Vision) which are more than satisfactory substitutes for the studio material here.
Still, the album cover is very pretty.
Hawkwind Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
Warthur
Prog Reviewer
Don't let the cover of This Is Hawkwind - Do Not Panic deceive you; only the last two tracks actually hail from
Hawkwind's 1984 performance at the Stonehenge Free Festival. The remainder all come from a December 1980
concert at the Lewisham Odeon on the Levitation tour - hence the presence of Ginger Baker on drums. That material
is solid, though you only get extracts from the concert here. (Other bits would emerge on the Hawkwind Anthology
series and on the Zones collection of odds and sods.) If you are interested in that concert, I'd say you are much better
off getting the 3CD expanded rerelease of Levitation, since the two bonus CDs there offer the most complete official
release of that gig extant and the remaster reveals the Levitation-era band on top form.Overall rating: 2 stars for the rather poor Stonehenge recordings, 4 stars for the Lewisham material, so I'd say this comes to 3 stars on average (whereas the nearly-complete version of the Lewisham material on the Levitation reissue would come to, say, 4.5 stars).
Hawkwind Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
Warthur
Prog Reviewer
Stardate: 28th September, 1972. The personnel of starship Hawkwind disembark at the Paris Theatre in London to
deliver a live set, with the BBC there to record it. Over subsequent years numerous bootlegs of the set circulate until in
1991 Windsong finally issue the concert in mono. However, the version of the gig occasionally broadcast on the radio
is clearly in stereo. Debate rages as to which is the definitive version; the mono CD release, which is unedited but has
poorer sound quality, or the stereo "Broadcast" mix which has superior sound quality but a number of edits (mostly
minor, but a big chunk is dug out of Brainstorm).Thankfully, EMI have stepped into reissue the set under the title of At the BBC - 1972, with new cover art. This 2CD release not only includes both the mono and stereo versions of the set, but also includes two songs recorded for a Johnnie Walker session the previous month. For my money, I value the higher sonic quality of the stereo mix over the sometimes muffled completism of the mono mix, but thanks to EMI we now don't need to choose between one or the other.
So, how's the material itself? Well, this was some three months before the Space Ritual recordings, so if you've heard that, you've got a good idea of what this is like. Perhaps less crushingly heavy than Space Ritual itself, and perhaps catching a few more subtle textures, At the BBC stands alongside Leave No Star Unturned, the expanded Greasy Truckers Party reissue and Space Ritual itself as a crucial live document of Hawkwind during the magical year of 1972 where all the constellations pointed in the right direction for them and they truly cemented their legend. Not as essential as Space Ritual, but if you love that album you'll probably dig this too.
Steeo Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by TenYearsAfter
From the very first moment this album (2010) is layered with Floydian atmospheres (1967-1972 era). But the tasteful
and alternating vintage keyboard sound by progrock veteran Beppe Crovella adds a captivating extra dimension to the
music. A very special experience is to hear the omnipresent Mellotron in this early Floyd inspired sound, because Rick
Wright hardly used the unsurpassed Mellotron (I only know Julia's Dream with the Mellotron flute section). The vocals
in the vein of Roger Waters and the Gilmourian guitar runs (Meddle era) also add that distinctive early Floyd climate. A
few examples.Mellotron flute intro and in the end majestic Mellotron choir eruptions in If You Walk With Me.
Mellotron flutes and violins in I'm In Love.
And again majestic Mellotron choirs (in combination with the Hammond organ) in Take My Time.
A very special feature in Steeo their music is the creating of pleasant atmospheres, blended with interesting musical ideas, like the accordeon, mouth organ and a wah-wah drenched guitar solo in If You Walk With Me. And final part with fuzz guitar in In The Silence and wonderful psychedelic atmospheres in Meaningless and the final track Macro.
Also nice to listen to is the blend of Sixties rock, pop and psychedelia (evoking the Syd Barrett era) in the songs Singin' Songs I Can Do Anything and Take The Time.
Although it's more 'regression' than 'progressive', I like this debut album by Italian Steeo very much. Unfortunately it turned out that Steeo was another promising one-shot-band from Italy.
My rating: 3,5 star.
The Spacious Mind Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
Right now I'd rate this as my third favourite studio album from these incredible Swedes. "Rotvalta" from 2005 is my favourite followed by their debut "Cosmic Minds At Play" from 1993. This one is from 1996 and I was so happy to see those two epics on here "Upon Which Areas May The Circles Be Drawn?" and "Euphoria, Euphoria" giving us almost 30 minutes of amazing music from those two songs alone. I say this because my favourite live album from them "Do Your Own Thing But Don't Touch Ours" from 2002 has both those tracks on it and they are a huge reason why I love that live record so much. There's quite a few ethnic instruments on here plus the usual incredible guitar leads, spacey synths and prominent bass. "In The Land Of Roses And Snow" is such a cool piece of psychedelia like something out of mythology like The Game Of Thrones for example. We get this monologue throughout with this off-set distorted voice as he describes the story. Just really engaging as what sounds like pump organ and e-bow pulse away along with buzzing synths.
"The Cave Song-Garden Of The Dwarfs" opens with percussion and atmosphere as experimental sounds help out and there's no melody. We get a beat before a minute as strummed guitar joins in and tin flute. A folky instrumental really but experimental.
"Upon Which Areas May The Circles Be Drawn?" is a monster. Eventually we get guitars crying out, almost screaming as a relaxed beat and bass supports. Soon the guitars are relaxed and I could listen to this all day. It starts to pick up around 4 1/2 minutes but then settles back as the guitars sort of cry out over and over as the bass continues along with spacey sounds. Drums beat faster in the background after 10 minutes. Just gorgeous. It picks up again at 12 minutes with some distorted guitar this time helping out. The last minute is guitars and synths crying out over and over as the bass and drums stop.
"Euphoria, Euphoria" might even be better than the previous song. What is it about the sound here? It's all so beautiful, I'm so moved. Love that calm as well after 5 1/2 minutes, so much atmosphere and again so moving. Some brief spoken words then it picks up some after 7 minutes. Guitars start to cry out after 11 minutes. This has to be right up there as being the best back to back songs in Psychedelic music.
"Sweetness To The Lord" and all I can say is amen to that. This track is quite experimental with all kinds of different sounds coming and going. Some brief vocal melodies end it.
Sweden's best Psychedelic band right here, the stuff of legends.
The Re-Stoned Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by
siLLy puPPy
Collaborator PSIKE, JR/F/Canterbury & Eclectic Teams
It seems like everywhere you go there is yet another psychedelic stoner jam band cranking out trippy instrumental music that
channels the zeitgeist of the unfulfilled 60s and harnesses its creative tap into the modern day studios to create some of the clearest
sounding psychedelia possible. Meanwhile in Russia, the Moscow based THE RE-STONED are doing just that. This one has five
members: Ilya Lipkin (electric & acoustic guitars, fx, bass, mandolina), Evgeniy Tkachev (aka Rasputin) (percussion, rain stick), Alexander
Romanov (bass), Arkadiy Fedotov (synth), Sergey Andriashin (bass) and Alina Barsukova (flute).STORIES OF THE ASTRAL LIZARD is their eighth album and unlike more rock oriented upbeat bands like Ozric Tentacles or more compositionally inclined artists of the classic rock era (ie Pink Floyd, Can, The Doors), THE RE-STONED are about floating along rather linearly through space rock time in a chilled out and nonchalant manner. In fact i'd call this batch of seven tracks rather monotonous and repetitive as at the music itself is a simple lollygag through time with no compositional variations and any complexity at all results from the production (which is excellent) and the light riffing of the guitar.
One of the problems with THE RE-STONED is that they fail to stand out from the multitude of similar artists (Foggy Realm, Maat Lander, Waldsonne, Tuber, Prana Craftler, Ecstatic Vision just to name a ver few) and offer very little to make this an interesting listen for an active listener. Like much of this style of music, it is completely cool background music that you can crank up while engaging in other multi-tasking and is appropriately a non-primary attention span backdrop since you never feel like you're missing out on anything if you happen to be only half present.
However, there are so many more interesting psychedelic space rock bands out there these days that manage to straddle the line between compositionally creative and second-handedly backdrop material (Virgen Sideral and Pixie Ninja are a couple favorites). This is one of those that if it happens to be playing i'm fine with it but hardly something i would seek out for my own personal listening pleasure. The ultimate example of good but not essential. In a way some of this reminds me the most of some of those Buckethead Pikes that take a mellow rock track that swallow up a whole album without really doing anything except add some swishy swirling synths around a snail-paced guitar riff.
Nektar Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by TheDapperFactor
The album fails to carry the momentum of the title trackA Tab in the Ocean| 10/10 One of the few songs in existence I can honestly give a 10/10. The song (not the album, mind you) is the prime definition of cohesive. It is a truly captivating listen all the way through. I'm no music expert, but by prog standards, the song is not all that complex. Yet, there is something about it that draws me to it. I firmly believe that Nektar never topped this song (yes, even Remember the Future, though it is a better album). The vocals feel in place, the instrumentation is conservative yet effective. Presentation is everything in this song.
Desolation Valley/Waves| 7/10 A decent song, but it really is a shame that "A Tab in the Ocean" was not paired with better songs to make an overall good album. This song and the rest of the songs on the album just fail to reach that peak. Now, the main riff to this song is good, the vocal sections are good, but the song really doesn't go anywhere.
Crying in the Dark| 7/10 Vocal sections are lackluster, but the song is instrumentally interesting. I'd say more so than either Desolation Valley or King of Twilight. Though I'd say this song fails to utilize the cowbell well, and for that I penalize it.
King of Twilight| 7/10 A standard rock song. Nothing all that special to me. Decent, but not what I'd consider to be among their finest.
Average: 7.75/10
Weighted Average: 8.34/10
Ivory Psychedelic/Space Rock
Review by Progfan97402
It's hard to believe in Germany the prog rock scene was still going on even into the early '80s (it's only by 1984 did the prog rock
scene collapse). Eloy continued to make great albums with Colours, Planets, and Time to Turn. Anyone's Daughter managed to
make a handful of albums during this time. Trilogy, Rousseau, Burning Candle, and Amenophis managed to make good to great
albums during this time period. Ivory was another one of these bands. This group was unusual that Ulrich Sommerlatte was a
member, and he was 65 at the time (he was born in 1914). He had a classical background and conducted orchestras. Most
people of his age and background looked down on rock music in general, but Ulrich was certainly not that kind of guy. His son
Thomas was also a member, and I'm sure it was him who introduced his father to the prog rock scene, which surprisingly he
very much enjoyed. Too bad that Ivory came a bit too late in the scene, other prog rock bands could have used Ulrich's service if
they wanted to include orchestra with rock band. Here both Ulrich and Thomas handles keyboards. They included four other
members to handle the usual chores. Christian Mayer handles the vocals and he sounds like Peter Gabriel or Frederic Joos of
Neuschwanstein. Sad Cypress was released in 1980 on Jupiter, which was the same label that gave us Ego on the Rocks, Zomby
Woof, and Beggars Opera (Sagittary, Beggars Can't Be Choosers), but recorded in 1979. This is a rather good prog rock album,
nothing mindblowing or groundbreaking (what prog after 1975 was?) but a very nice listen. Genesis is a big comparison, but it's
not a clone as neither Ulrich nor Thomas Sommerlatte copies Tony Banks style. They have their own style, lots of spacy synths,
Hammond organ, string synths, and electric piano. Mainly the Peter Gabriel-like vocals of Christian Mayer gives the Genesis
comparison. True, if you like Neuschwanstein or Kyrie Eleison (the Austrian band) there's no reason you shouldn't like this, but
honestly I like them beter than those two groups. They certainly have a much more professional sound than Kyrie Eleison, and
while I felt Neuschwanstein was better than Kyrie Eleison, Ivory is by far the best of the three. Both Kyrie Eleison and
Neuschwanstein were often accused of being Genesis clones, but I have a hard time calling Ivory that, despite the Gabriel-like
vocalis. Ivory is what I would call proto-neo-prog. It's still clearly symphonic, but you hear elements of what will become neo-
prpg. Neuschwanstein is another one like that. You can even argue the string of Genesis albums from A Trick of the Tail to Duke
were proto-neo-prog. Anyways, I am really surprised about Ivory, especially since they came so late in the scene. It's a really nice
album worthy of your collection.
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