THE PROG COLLECTIVE: EPILOGUE

Strictly for die-hard collectors. This 2nd "Prog Collective", falls short and lacks the few, but great "attributes" of its predecessor. Normally, I do not expect great compositions in this series, rarely someone "spares" their best songs for this kind of multitudinal "projects", but at least, good performances. . The eldest brother has in energy what it does not have in song writing, so it quiet balances the whole thing, as not to become "essentiaL", but a very enjoyable listening experience (the "instrumental" mirror cd, is that, at least for me). But this new release, does not compensate with performance, the mostly boring, music song writing. In fact the performances sound quiet lazy, either that or like the left-over songs, from the first album. I will have definitely, skipped it, if not for the curiousity. (that killed the cat, BUT made him wiser.) ...........2 "collectors only" PA stars.

It was hard to resist the high expectations, after seeing the all-star cast involved with this project: John Wetton, Larry Fast, Steve Hillage, Allan Holdsworth, Nik Turner, Gary Green, Sonja Kristina, a half-dozen members of various YES incarnations, plus a host of other familiar names, including (possibly a joke) The Tubes' Fee Waybill, and (definitely a joke) TV's William Shatner. I ask you: how is it possible to put Captain Kirk together with the guy who wrote "White Punks on Dope" and not have an immediate masterpiece?

The unfortunate answer to that rhetorical question can be found in the album's only common denominator: ex-Yes party crasher Billy Sherwood, who wrote nearly every note of music, performed multiple instrumental duties on all nine tracks, and produced / arranged / engineered / mixed the results at his own home studio. In effect he's riding the sequined coattails of his celebrity guests to help sell a crummy solo album, and the end product is a staggering waste of superstar talent, showing no understanding of what makes Progressive Rock work. Worse than that, it undermines the memory of classic Prog with almost willful obtuseness, inadvertently putting a clumsy foot to the nuts of Prog Rock's already emasculated reputation.

How bad is this album? Enough to suggest it would have been a laughable failure even in the 1970s, when Prog was king. Everything you need to know about the music is illustrated in the tacky cover art, with its DayGlo planets and nebulae, bubbling fluorescent cauldrons, and a fantasy demon too cheesy for even the crassest headbanger. The players were all divided into discrete working sub-units, although even within each song I doubt any two musicians actually shared studio time together. So it's hardly surprising that the music shows little passion or synergy, historically two of Prog's driving forces.

With more structure and development (and fewer clichés) the material they were given might not have been so feeble. Bright spots are few but they exist, hidden inside a fleeting Peter Banks solo, or in the firefly beauty of Gary Green's acoustic guitar: Memories of Old Days, indeed. Otherwise it's a long haul to the title song, closing the album on nothing more than William Shatner's auto-tuned recitation of the other track titles.

Only twice in over five hundred reviews here at ProgArchives have I used the phrase "coyote awful", signifying a piece of music so bad I'd rather chew my own leg off before hearing it again. But this effort goes beyond coyote awful, to a point where repeated exposure might lead you to chew someone else's leg off instead. If you consider Billy Sherwood a villain for his role in the calamitous Yes album "Open Your Eyes", be forewarned. But if your tolerance for color-by-numbers Prog Rock is high enough, bon appétit.

Postscript: For whatever perverse reason the same album currently appears twice in these Archives, filed under Various Artists/Albums and also /Compilations. I've added my own jeremiad to the entry with twelve ratings already (and one other written review). Not because misery loves company, but because this is one injury deserving the added insult.

Star Trek

Even though many of the people who were involved in the first Prog Collective release return here for a second round, this sequel is rather different musically; less Symphonic and more Space Rock. I am reminded of bands like Nektar, Eloy, and Hawkwind which is perhaps not surprising given that Roye Albrighton from Nektar and Nik Turner from Hawkwind show up for the gathering. While listening to some of these songs one can easily imagine the "Prog collective" travelling through deep space on their way to colonize alien planets. Even William Shatner of Star Trek fame is involved!

Like on the first Prog Collective album lead vocals are by various people on different tracks. Returning vocalists include Colin Moulding, John Wetton, and Alan Parsons. New appearances include Fee Waybill who sings lead on Adding Fuel To The Fire which sounds like Lemmy-era Hawkwind (only much better!). Sonja Kristina from Curved Air provides vocals on Tomorrow Becomes Today while the aforementioned Roye Albrighton sings on Memory Tracks which is pure Nekar even though I find it too long for its own good and at least a minute could easily have been shaved off it with no loss of value. Billy Sherwood again acts as the creative leader of the whole project and he himself provides vocals to some tracks.

Impressively, Tony Kaye, Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz, and Geoff Downes are all here, which means that every Yes keyboard player from the 1960's through the 1990's is here! In addition, Chris Squire and Peter Banks are again present bringing the total Yes members up to seven! Banks passed away not long after this recording which became one of his last. Mel Collins of King Crimson/21st Century Schizoid Band and Camel, contributes some nice sax and Nik Turner flute and sax which brings an element not present at all on the first Prog Collective record. No less than three guitar playing Steves are involved: Steve Hillage, Steve Morse, and Steve Stevens!

Like the first Prog Collective album, Epilogue is also somewhat disjointed. The songs are generally good but some of the songs don't really fit in among the others. Shining Diamonds sounds a bit like early Yes with some really cool keyboard work by Patrick Moraz. Just Another Day featuring Tony Kaye is in this category as well which doesn't fit so well with the general Space Rock orientation of the album. Nonetheless, this is a fun and enjoyable, although somewhat sprawling, album oozing with diverse talent.

Their second studio release is slightly harder and more complex than the debut, and even more guest prog superstars are involved. But the idea of a 'prog collective' remains the same: Billy Sherwood composed, produced, performed, recorded and engineered all the music, and other contributors played just auxiliary role, i.e. did some additional playing and singing. Some listeners say they were disappointed, they expected much more from an album with two dozens of guest musicians like Rick Wakeman, Alan Parsons, Tony Caye, Steve Hillage etc. Perhaps Mr Sherwood made a tactical mistake by introducing them all as a real supergroup. A listener should not expect anything from this album apart from the music written by Billy Sherwood. It's not a cooperation of prog protagonists, it's not even 'Billy Sherwood and friends', it's almost exclusively Billy Sherwood himself. And if we perceive the idea of The Prog Collective adequately to what it is in fact, we must admit that Epilogue is a very good album, musically more interesting than the debut. At least as for me, I cannot say that Sherwood & Co. deceived my expectations, I enjoyed both their albums very much and was happy to add the vinyl versions to my collection.