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Just three tracks this time, with a total running time of just over eighteen minutes, but that is plenty of time for them to show just what they are made of. The rhythm section is the heart of the band, with complex drumming and basslines shifting and changing from being in the background into the centre of consciousness and back again, the guitars are the strength and power, the keyboards are the soul and then rising over it all is the voice. It is no surprise to me whatsoever that they have been making a name for themselves on the live circuit as while they are marked in PA as being Eclectic, I am sure there must have been plenty of discussions as to whether that was the right place to be or whether it should have been Neo while Heavy could also have had a look in as they touch lots of bases. When there is a need to crunch it is there in spades, while the switch between different keyboards is essential so the Hammond can really make its presence felt when it comes to the fore, and Erin has the chops to go right over the top of it all.

This is yet another great release from Ebb, and I look forward to the next full album which cannot come too soon.

The album commences with the sound of an orchestra warming up and getting ready for the performance and is quite unlike the rest of the material, but somehow it is also quite fitting in that it allows us to know that whatever comes next will be unexpected, and that is certainly the case throughout. It is a heavily layered and arranged album, and one never knows what to expect, and by concentrating on different musicians it is possible to clearly understand just how much impact each of the players is having on the rest of the band. Erin can really crunch when she wants to, sing sweetly or with real power, while behind her Anna is never content to sit within any particular pattern or style, moving all over the kit when the time is right, keeping it restrained at others. Bassist Bad Dog is in many ways the cornerstone as he can keep it simple or provide great complexity, moving right up the neck for counterpoint melodies, linking with both Anna and Erin which then allows the others to add their own layers. At times we have piano which is simply beautiful and delicate, at others swathes of keyboards and orchestration, while various woodwind and brass instruments come in when the time is right. There are times when they are quite Floydian, others more direct, and yet others where folk is an important aspect with a feeling that Mostly Autumn have also been an influence, yet it also feels somewhat deeper, stronger, with a real connection. This really is a wonderful release, and it is great that the physical version really does justice to the music contained within. Well worth discovering.

Apparently, the concept of this album came together in the Bio-Organic Music Lounge at Disen Gage's New Year "corporate party" on 29/12/2021, where Alexei Borisov (Nochnoi Prospect, F.R.U.I.T.S., Astma) brought fellow musicians Eugene Voronovsky (Cisfinitum) and Misha 'MOX' Salnikov and everyone started talking about a collaboration between Disen Gage and these noise/ambient artists (who are all credited on the album cover) to create something which was aligned to the experimental roots from one side, and the ambient from the other. The result is something which is aligned to the band's earlier works as well as feeling closely related to New York's Gridfailure. As with the rest of their works this is not something which can be played in the background but needs to be listened to intently on headphones, is not something which can be fully understood on the first time of playing and will definitely not be to everyone's tastes.

This is abstract, industrial, experimental, with notes and instruments being brought in and out, layers of sound being used to create emotional responses with some being fuzzed and distorted, others being clean and clear. Sometimes it feels as if no-one knows what they are doing, while there can be focussed vision at others, the true reality is that this is music which creates an audio image in our ears which is both compelling and disturbing. Organic, yet with hard edges, this is for people who want to be adventurous and feel that Can and Art Zoyd never pushed hard enough.

Gentle Giant was a British progressive rock band formed in 1970. It was one of the greatest progressive rock bands during the 70's and was also one of the legends created by this style, as there are now legions of fans of the band around the world. The band was formed by the three Shulman brothers (Phil, Derek and Ray) all former members of the British pop/soul/psychedelic band Simon Dupree And The Big Sound formed in 1966, after the band broke up in 1969.

The intents of the band were to expand the boundaries of contemporary popular music, at the risk of becoming too unpopular. In the beginning, they played all over England for four years, being well received by radio and television. During those ten years, which means between 1970 and 1980, Gentle Giant recorded eleven studio albums. Those studio albums are their eponymous debut "Gentle Giant" from 1970, "Acquiring The Taste" from 1971, "Three Friends" and "Octopus" both from 1972, "In A Glass House" from 1973, "The Power And The Glory" from 1974, "Free Hand" from 1975, "Interview" from 1976, "The Missing Piece" from 1977, "Giant For A Day" from 1978 and "Civilian" from 1980.

"In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" is one of the many live albums released by Gentle Giant after the split of the band. It was released in 1994 from recording tapes taken from a radio concert recorded to the BBC on May 1, 1978. It has the same song selection and song order that Gentle Giant used throughout "The Missing Piece" live tour, although on some dates more songs could be added to it. This is a live concert tour with a high quality sound available, but they all sound nearly the same because by this time, Gentle Giant was no longer jamming or stretching out songs like they used to. "In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" is a live album with forty-eight minutes long. We can say that the sound quality is fairly good.

"In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" has ten tracks. The tracks are essentially focused on two of their studio albums. So, and this isn't really a surprise, we have six tracks that were taken from their last studio album released at the time "The Missing Piece": "Two Weeks In Spain", "Memories Of Old Days", "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It", "I'm Turning Around", "For Nobody" and "Mountain Time". From "Free Hand" we have three tracks, the title track "Free Hand", "On Reflection" and "Just The Same". We have also a track from "The Power And The Glory", "Playing The Game".

About the individual tracks, "Two Weeks In Spain" is the track that opens "The Missing Piece" and that it's also a great opener for this album. It's a charming and energetic song with nice changes, very fun and enjoyable to hear. While lyrically and musically it's a pretty light pop fare, it really works performed in studio and live. After the opener we have a bit more complex music with the three tracks from "Free Hand". "Free Hand" is a more elaborate and complex track, a traditional Gentle Giant's track with dissonant parts and with constant changes of rhythm and tempo. "On Reflection" is one of Gentle Giant's trademarks with the polyphonic vocals inspired by renaissance and the cappella music. This is essentially an acoustic song. Here we can see the high skills of all band's members where they change from their usual electric instruments to acoustics. "Just The Same" sees the return of all band's members to their electric instruments. It's a slow rock song with good keyboard work that has also some great jazz influences. "Playing The Game" is the track that revisits their album "The Power And The Glory". It's a dynamic and a relatively complex theme. It's a multi-faceted pure prog track in the Gentle Giant's most pure musical style. And now we have the other five tracks from "The Missing Piece". "Memories Of Old Days" is a stunning piece where Derek pulls out one of his most heartfelt vocal performances and the dual acoustic guitar textures from Ray and Gary are just magical, complemented by Minnear's sumptuous keyboards. "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It" is clearly influenced by the punk. It's a rock song but that doesn't sound too Gentle Giant. "I'm Turning Around" is a calm and beautiful track. This is a soft romantic track that reminds me the good old Gentle Giant. "For Nobody" is a driving rocker led by Minnear's raging Hammond riffs and Green intricate guitar lines. It's full of energy and a really delightful for the ears of fans. "Mountain Time" closes this live concert in a rock nice way. This energetic piece has some fine organ work and some great vocal arrangements too.

Conclusion: Who are used to the band knows that many of Gentle Giant's live albums have a very poor sound because of many of them were taken from official bootleg performances in a very cheap way. But, fortunately, and this isn't a strange thing since it was recorded by the BBC, "In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" has a very good quality sound. So, all in all, this is a very nice live concert recording. It's true that it isn't very well representative of all band's career, but it remains for me as a very nice live work of Gentle Giant. It's also true that it was performed when the band became in decline, the time after where their last great album was released, "Interview". However, it was performed in the time of "The Missing Piece" which is a very nice work. But, above all, the live performance and sound are irreproachable. So, 4 stars to it.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Looking back at all the musicians and singers Fripp has hired it's hard to question him on any of them but personally when Jakko Jakszyk was hired as the singer I was disappointed just not being a fan of what I had heard from him. This is the album where I feel that Fripp did make the right choice after all(big surprise) as he just seems to fit right in with his vocal style.

I'm not going to say much if anything about the music here. This was I believe the second show in Toronto and we get over 2 hours of music. It would have been less if they recorded the first show because the might KING CRIMSON after finishing their set they refused to do an encore because of a bunch of amateurs from the audience who were taking pictures, videos, recording audio etc. after being warned about that before the boys played a note. Fripp says no encore for you! Good for him. Apparently this show saw a band on fire after the night before, and it could have gone the other way.

I'm pretty sure I've talked about every track on here at some point except the improvs so why bother. Excellent sound and the three drummers really doesn't come across that way in the audio you need the video. How cool is it that the show begins with Levin and Collins only on stage for the opening improv. The fans here got their "21st Century Schizoid Man" fix in unlike the audience the night before who didn't for their bad behaviour(haha).

A chilly night in Toronto November 20, 2015 was warmed up substantially by the mighty KING CRIMSON. 4 stars but not one of my absolute favourites from these guys.

Space Cabaret seems to be a somewhat concept album. At least, the first four songs are presented as a part of a large suite with a Space theme. The most experimental part of this suite is Archway 272, that shows some changes and is a showcase of their new sound heavily reliant on keyboards. On the other hand, I think the band lost a bit of energy in this new style, and while Song From the 4th Era is a great song and A Distant Thought, a Point of Light is also beautiful, they lack the quirkness that made songs interesting in their debut. These songs remind me a bit of Omega in their least prog songs in the 70s.

The second side has two long songs, that are the most interesting, with some long organ solos, a mix of styles (even a little bit of funk in Dream) but unfortunately they are not strong back-to-back. As if they have five or six minutes of great material, but padded it with a bit of less inspired music.

Too bad the band didn't survive the lack of success, because they had creativity and talent to maybe make a few great records still, had they continued. But, although this album sounds more like the dominant prog sound of the 70s, it is a bit less interesting than their debut. Maybe the fact that this album, being easier to compare with the top prog bands, shows more its flaws, while the freshness of their debut leave a better impression. Nonetheless, it is still a very good album.

CMU music is very ecletic, with heavy jazzy and bluesy leanings, but also some psychedelia, folk and experimental touches as well, not unlike many other offerings of the era. The band features a male and a female vocalist that share vocal duties, sometimes together in the same song, but mostly alternating between songs. The more experimental songs, which are also the two longest ones, are the most interesting in a progressive point of view. Chantecleer is more rock side and Open Spaces is more experimental, unstructured. Both great songs.

The other songs are also interesting, ranging from good to great. Highlights are Henry, with lots of changes, strong jazzy overtones and quite interesting lyrics; their rendition of Pharoah Sanders' Japan, with more subtlety than the original, giving it a nice Japanese traditional folk vibe; and Mystical Sounds, with its psych touches and nice flute work.

All in all, it is an album I like to come back to it frequently because it is well recorded, well played, has interesting ideas, and not very derivative (I particularly enjoy the usage of clean guitar tones and the strong rhythm section). It even had some songs that became instantly remarkably in the first listen, which is a boon in the genre, since it is often that albums are good but you can't remember any song of the album after a few listens.

From the first track "Egg Nog", the listener's bearings are disturbed. 8 minutes of polyrhythm, guitar and bass licks with a metal tendency, doubled vocals (male/female with Mikaela Attard ) with a strange melody. Not the most accessible song to open the album, but quite fascinating to dissect. And the icing on the cake: the participation of Alex Lifeson (Rush) on guitar?

Complete change of register on the very short instrumental "Mirrors" where Marco plays all the instruments showing his talents as a composer and performer.

"What do YOU ​​know?!" is a more traditional-looking song, almost pop, with an unexpected Hispanic vibe. On "The Ugliest Of Beasts" it is clearly the drummer who takes control for a jazz fusion track which seemed intended to be 100% instrumental until the arrival of a surprising female vocal. We are precisely in the part of the album devoted to the voice of Kendall Yates for a series of very pleasant songs.

Marco Minnemann is all alone again on "Fireflies", a powerful single that is reminiscent of Rush , including in the way he sings.

It is the beautiful voice of Pauline Cattiaux which takes over on the long development "To All New Ghosts In Town", a title with a very interesting rhythmic approach, listen to the implementation of the guitar and bass in relation to the drums, especially on the instrumental bridge.

"The Dark Side" is a jazzy ternary track with an experimental tendency with vocals that can be described as "Zappa-ian". So far, there haven't been too many electro elements, this happens with "Sailboats" which maintains a fairly dark atmosphere.

"I <3 My Shark" is a great success since it skillfully mixes Rock elements, an almost childish melody and lyrics, with complex orchestrations and brutal breaks.

Then comes "Calculator", a beautiful dark acoustic ballad which contrasts with the rest of the record. Jazz experimentation, superb brass parts, and poetry on the gripping "Glass Attack" which is a type of musical Happening.

A very beautiful piece with a silky arpeggio that calms the spirits, "Hope" brings a little light at the end of the album.

'Their Colors Fade' is a rich, complex, innovative album on which Marco Minnemann impresses with his qualities as a composer, singer, guitarist, and drummer of course. If you like adventure, a form of experimentation and don't fear complex rhythms, this record could appeal to you. The album is nevertheless a little long for my taste, since it displays 17 tracks for a duration of 1h12, but can you really blame a musician for being generous?

Review originally posted on www.progcritique.com.

My favourite track on here is the 12 1/2 minute "The Shadow Of The New Praetorian" and I need to mention that Per knows how to compose some incredible music. I like the atmosphere to open as bass, drum rolls and other sounds come and go. An experimental soundscape then it kicks into gear and moves after 2 minutes. Sax is leading but 5 minutes in it's the guitar's turn to show it's stuff. And there's lots to show, check it out after 7 1/2 minutes. It all relents but it rises up again with the sax leading late.

"Beehive" has this repeated sax melody to open and close it with the guitar in the middle and I'm over simplifying it as this is 8 1/2 minutes long. "Chiaroscuro" is laid back with some lap steel and really except for the brief sax 3 minutes in this lacks the energy of that most of this album has. Other exceptions are the 23 second spacey opener and the 3 minute closer both quiet tracks.

Thankyou Apollon Records for sending me both volumes and as I said in reviewing "Vol. I" when you put the two cd covers together they form one bigger piece of art which is cool. And more importantly the music is high quality instrumental music and a fitting legacy for our departed bass player.