Byron's albums now available as Free Downloads! - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: November 23 2010 at 17:20

More photos from the salt mine:

SALINA TURDA_ 05 © Nicu Cherciu_resize

See all the pictures here: http://www.modernism.ro/2010/05/26/salina-turda/

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: November 28 2010 at 21:28

First pics from the salt mine concert have been published:

Full gallery here: http://picasaweb.google.com/cristiansutu/ByronAlifantis#

Edited by harmonium.ro - November 28 2010 at 21:29

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: January 22 2011 at 22:25

The new album will be out on February 17, yay Big smile

tupan

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Posted: January 23 2011 at 06:45

harmonium.ro wrote:

byron, the Romanian Crossover band I submitted to PA, helped adding and recently tried to promote it to my PA friends, have just announced yesterday that they changed the licensing of their music from Copyright to Creative Commons.

That means that the music from their two albums is "free" as of now, and the band has set proper download links for everyone to get the music as easy as possible.

From their Facebook:

No actual "attendance" required :) Just a friendly and more permanent reminder that you can freely download our music with a Creative Commons license and then share it at your will.

Forbidden Drama (2007) available at http://www.mediafire.com/file/ennrmzickmy
A Kind of Alchemy (2009) available at http://www.mediafire.com/file/bxgjinm2hcd

High-quality mp3 files together with the license file and lyrics to all the songs.
May you enjoy it.

I highly recommend this modern alterno/prog band. Here's an excellent recent review from Chris:

Studio Album, 2007
3.92 | 3 ratings
BUY

Forbidden Drama
byron Crossover Prog

Review by seventhsojourn
Prog Reviewer

Forbidden Drama is the first album by Romanian 5-piece band byron (spelt with a lower case b). They are led by singer and main songwriter Dan Byron who also plays acoustic guitar and flute. Please note that during the late '90s there was a Romanian heavy metal band called Byron; the only connection with this band is that Dan Byron was also their vocalist. The current byron's debut album features a novel concept based on the human condition and is arranged into 3 acts and an epilogue, with the songs effectively representing scenes in a stage play. It features an eclectic mix of styles, blending alt-rock with prog, blues, metal and jazz. There's even some Baroque-pop with ON THE ROAD featuring a string quartet. ESSENTIAL PIECE features somewhat more exotic instrumentation with guest musician Miron Grigore playing an esraj, a bowed string instrument found in parts of India. Then there's the likes of the atmospheric WATERCOLOUR with its sparse arrangement of vocals and electric piano.

Most of the songs follow a standard verse/chorus format with catchy hooks, but the variety between songs prevents things from sounding repetitive. I can hear influences as diverse as Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, 10cc, The Smiths and Dire Straits. Maybe that's 'cos I've got cloth ears though! As far as the vocals go Dan Byron has a fairly distinctive voice that may not be to everyone's taste, although his slightly guttural tone is used to good effect on the pseudo-metal of LOSING CONTROL. Lyrics are in English, which is handy given the conceptual nature of the album and include themes of hedonism, consumerism, intolerance, war etc. Readers can check the byron page here on ProgArchives, where harmonium.ro has added a comprehensive biography and a link to the band's official website. There you can listen for free to their entire discography. Nice one!

Why don't add this info to the following topic: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26187&title=free-legal-mp3-downloads-of-prog-music ?

"Prog is Not Dead and never has been." (Will Sergeant, from Echo And The Bunnymen)

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Posted: January 23 2011 at 08:46

Oooh! Looking forward to hearing these!

EDIT:

Arggghhh! I can't download these! The download just keeps stopping! Can someone not upload a torrent please? It would be very helpful.

Edited by Nathaniel607 - January 23 2011 at 09:17

My Last FM Profile

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: January 23 2011 at 10:40

^ I'll look into it, thanks for reporting.

Nathaniel607 View Drop Down

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Posted: January 23 2011 at 10:44

harmonium.ro wrote:

^ I'll look into it, thanks for reporting.

I don't think the download's broken, I think it's just an issue with my crappy internet and timing-out.

My Last FM Profile

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: January 24 2011 at 03:56

I reuploaded the albums on Rapidshare, hopefully it works better than Mediafire:

http://rapidshare.com/files/444251820/byron_-_Forbidden_Drama__2007__mp3.zip
and
http://rapidshare.com/files/444251823/byron_-_A_Kind_Of_Alchemy__2009__mp3.zip

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harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: February 16 2011 at 16:51

harmonium.ro wrote:

Good news from byron.

The new album will be released in late winter, somewhere around February or March 2011. The so far "secret" content was disclosed: it's going to be a covers album, and the pieces will be Romanian rock classics. The singing will therefore be done in Romanian and the byron "treatement" will be applied.

Tomorrow the album will be out! Can't wait to get mine. Here's the first released track:

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Posted: February 16 2011 at 17:02

That was a nice song.

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: February 17 2011 at 04:44

Glad you liked it. Here's the original version, which is different enough to warrant a listen:

I especially like the very different kind of voice the singer has; he does the satyre very easily because those inflexions come naturally to him as he's clasically trained (his day time job is singing in a major classical choir). The production is awful, but it testifies how much of an underground / DIY affair rock was during communism and the first years after. The idea of the song is satyrical, parodying the official type of discourse of the communist regime about its false achievements (like reports about extra-achievements in agricultural and industrial production), really hilarious.

Browsing YouTube for the tracks they're covering on the album, my impression is that they picked mostly ballads and other such songs that emphasize the vocal performace. Some of the tracks:

Celelalte Cuvinte (prog band, on PA)

Cristian Vasile:

Phoenix (the prog-folk band, on PA):

Luna Amara:

Mircea Baniciu:

Valeriu Sterian:

Ada Milea:

Alexandru Andries:

If they manage to make a coherent album out of these, that's going to be something Wacko

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: July 23 2011 at 16:47

Can someone please check if the Mediafire download links from the OP are still working? I've been said they don't, but there seems to be no problem at my end. The Rapidshare links were indeed dead and therefore I deleted them.

Also, for those who heard byron in the Listening Room, now you know where to get the albums. Wink

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: September 09 2011 at 07:18

Here's a first extract from the salt-mine concert DVD:

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Posted: September 09 2011 at 09:31

^ Byron is genius - end of Clap

Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org

Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time!

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: September 09 2011 at 10:12

They also have the best reviewers Hug

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Posted: October 12 2011 at 13:36

Fantastic band. So interesting to listen to. Do you happen to know what their influences are?

All the best freaks are here, please stop staring at me. Marillion - Freaks (1988).

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: October 12 2011 at 13:51

^ King Crimson and Jethro Tull from the prog side, Peter Gabriel, dEUS, Porcupine Tree and Queen from the Crossover / Art Rock middle grounds, and Radiohead, Jeff Buckley and Prince from the mainstream side. The keyboardist has some influences of his own, especially prog-metal (in which he has a history as a player) and the drummer also plays in a Muse-clone band.

Glad you liked them!

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