Auf der Bahn Zum Uranus (74)

Auf der Bahn zum Uranus (On the Road to Uranus) was the only album put out by this German quintet. As suggested by the title, GÄA create a very trippy psychedelic (is that redundant?) style of music with lots of swirling organ and long, acid-drenched guitar leads. All five members sing so the lyrical passages tend to have lots of vocal harmonies and sound somewhat like the '67 West Coast psychedelic scene but the instrumental sections are pure "krautrock." They are quite a bit bluesier than most other German bands of this ilk and certainly not as out there as Ash Ra Tempel or Agitation Free. Maybe that's why they only made it to Uranus! There is a fair amount of acoustic guitar, piano, organ and also some flute and congas but generally the music is identified by the electric guitar solos typical of the German undergound scene of the early '70s. If you are a fan of this scene, you'll want this album as part of your collection. If not, then you won't.

Angel Dust (75), Another Trip To Earth (77)

A midwestern band that had some progressive moments, but was generally too mainstream oriented to capture my full enthusiasm. Both albums had really trippy covers, the second was pressed on see-thru blue vinyl.

I bought Another Trip To Earth because I was heavily into "collector"s mode" at the time, and it was pressed on colored vinyl. Awful stuff. I'm embarrassed to admit that I even walked into in a store that stocked it.

Premier Fevier (93), Debout...Le Coeur Ouvert! (95), Vae Victis (96)

Galaad is another group in the new wave of French neo-progressive bands recording and mixing their debut CD Premier Fevrier between July and September 1992. Galaad is the quintet of: Pierre-Yves Theurillat (lyrics and vocals), Gianni Giardiello (synthesizers and piano), Sebastien Froidevaux (electric and acoustic guitars), Gerard Zuber (bass), and Laurent Petermann (drums and percussion). I think that Premier Fevrier is a concept album since their CD booklet contains a 7 page story and lyrics, but I can not read French. Galaad composes and plays intricate melodies employing some enticing techniques. The opening song Janus starts with the sounds of birds and someone walking down a busy street eventually leading to a heavy pounding beat and progressive fireworks. "Blasphemes" initially sounds like a scratchy 78 rpm "Galaad" recording and then kicks in to full blown chord changes and drums. Theurillat's lyrics dominate the songs rarely allowing an instrumental break. His dynamic and emotional vocals have the same quality as Peter Hammill. I don't think you could say he is singing a melody in the "classic" sense. Theurillat is telling a story, as in opera, conveying the message through the emotive quality of his voice. Giardiello's keyboards and Froidevaux's guitars supply the elaborate melodic content. It is not until you hear Votre Mere and Sabliere (the two eleven minute songs) that Galaad cuts loose and your speakers sizzle with electricity! These two songs offer the broadest range of emotions on the CD full of shifting moods, angry and savage singing, complex rhythms, soaring guitar solos, fantastic Moog synth lead lines, and beautiful pastoral flute and piano duets. Galaad is a band with a unique yet a definite French approach to neo-progressive music. They are a band to watch!

[Debout...Le Coeur Ouvert! is available only through the band's fan club.]

[See Cosmic Jokers, The]

Muttered Promises From An Ageless Pond (88), Chasing The Dragonfly (92)

Very similar in sound to Yes, yet adding something different as a whole. The first cut on Muttered Promises... does sound like an outtake from Fragile with pseudo Wakeman moog riffs and a guitarist who sounds like a 50/50 combo of Howe and Hackett, yet after this, they tend to start developing an identity of their own, although quite derivative.

Many people compare this band to Yes, however they seem to this listener to have the feel of Marillion and Twelfth Night (Geoff Mann version). However unlike either of those two bands nothing tends to really jump out at you.

Galadriel's sound is a rich blend of the dramatic complex melodic progressive, containing many subtleties and submodals, along with symphonic tendencies and a strong folk influence; Vocalist Jesus Filardi may elicit comparison to Yes' Jon Anderson, but there are few similarities between the two bands beyond that. Their music is more in the vein of the classic italian progressive sound (like Early PFM, for example). Their second album shows the band branching out into some new directions, taking influence from Jazz, world music and other areas. Start with the second album Chasing The Dragonfly.

Chasing The Dragonfly is the second release by the Spanish progressive rock band, whose brand of mellow progressive rock is very much reminiscent of the pleasant, unhurried, melodic style of Italian prog bands from the mid seventies, such as PFM. Galadriel have a strong guitarist, and the acoustic and electric guitar is more prominent than on most releases of the genre. The vocalist also has a high edge to his voice that recalls Jon Anderson at times. The combination, in the context of lush keyboards (there are three keyboardists in the band) and with contributions from a violinist works very well in generating high quality, melodic progressive rock. There seem to be an unusual number of releases in the progressive rock arena in which the last track is the lengthiest, and this one is no exception, with a 6-part suite that just falls short of 19 minutes.

While supposedly light years better than their first album, Muttered Promises..., Chasing the Dragonfly, the 2nd album from this Spanish band, combines ethnic flavors with a very mundane neo-prog style for an overall sound that is unique, but not much else. The vocalist has a high pitched voice similar to Jon Anderson, but his lyrics and vocal stylings are totally laced with Fish-isms. While his voice is clear, his range is narrow and he lacks any real emotion or passion. The rest of the band perform adequately, but when the music dictates a difficult line or solo, the band has to call in some "extra" musicians. It's actually quite funny that none of the best solos on this album are played by any one of the 5 core members. As far as song writing goes, this is totally Cut and Paste style prog. Just a bunch of short tidbits completely strung together with no overal focus or objective. While the recording and production are remarkably well done, Galadriel is basically Prog-Lite. Those looking for some powerful and grandiose music should look elsewhere. The last long track takes literally half of a day to get going. The best songs on this album are the 2 instrumentals because they are short enough to have some coherence and they also contain the strongest melodies from the album. Better than a lot of neo-prog, but this is still a mediocre release at best. (It *is* possible, imho, to release a neo-prog album that *is* outstanding, but very few of the neo bands can do it).

Muttered Promises from an Ageless Pond is, umm, very strongly inspired by Yes. The singer sounds a bit like a depressed Jon Anderson. The rest of the band ranges from sounding like Howe/Wakeman to Hackett/Banks. The music is very boring. There are no dynamics and no energy. They honestly sound like they'd rather be sleeping. After listening to this, I *am* sleeping. Chasing The Dragonfly is said to be much better and more original. I hope so-it can't get much worse.

A Moment of Madness (89), Nothing is Written (91), Other Crimes and Misdemeanours (92), In A Moment Of Complete Madness (93), Sleepers (95)

More neo-prog, a la Marillion. Perhaps a bit more radio-ready. Evidentally their vocalist had auditioned as a Fish's replacement in Marillion, but was rejected because he sounded too much like Fish. I don't think they sound all that alike (Stu Nicholson of Galahad isn't even Scottish!). Their second release Nothing is Written, grew on me quickly.

Marillion must have had a million outtakes because these guys (and a dozen-plus others) seem to have used them and made an album under Galahad. What's the fuss about these guys - I mean hasn't this been done already? and much better? I mean these guys sound EXACTLY like Marillion to every corner. I may as well buy Clutching At Straws again. Only if you settle for mediocrity

Now here's a band that sounds very reminiscent of Childhood era Marillion, albeit more eclectic and energized. These guys wannabee Marillion so bad you can hear it in almost every song on their first two releases In A Moment Of Madness and Nothing Is Written. There's some really good songs here, but nothing that'll ever win them an originality contest. They play quite good tho and hopefully future releases they will improve.

Alot of people like Galahad...and there is alot to like about them. They have a classsic neo-prog sound much in the tradition of other such bands as Marillion and Pallas. In fact, they are extremely influenced. The story is that their lead singer audition for Marillion after Fish left and was rejected because he sounded too much like Fish. In fact of the Marillion clones they may be the best. BUT....I have a problem with them. Essentially it is this....I see so many people on the net looking for bands that sound like Marillion. If that is what you want listen to Marillion. Otherwise, why not branch out and try something different. Certainly bands like Galahad have their place but it saddens me to think of the future of progressive rock as a bunch of Marillion clones when their are so many other creative and original bands out there that need our support.

More AOR neo-prog. Three releases: A Moment of Madness! (tape only), Nothing is Written, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours (a b-sides/rarities thing, might also be tape only). Nothing is Written is quite good, practically defines the genre.

For me Sleepers represent a new start for the group and the new musical direction is finally poor and simple rock! Avoid this album at all costs! -- Ricardo Deidda

One of several British band influenced by the careers of Marillion, IQ and Pendragon. Nothing Is Written features the usual lineup features vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass and drums. This text-based melodic rock features occasional guitar solos, the symphonic touch of keyboards as well as precise and dynamic rhythms. A quality production in a very familiar style that should please the dedicated fan but that still offers very little to the others. -- Paul Charbonneau

[In A Moment Of Complete Madness contains all of the original cassette-only release, In a Moment of Madness, plus three new tracks.]

Nature's Clear Well (78)

A German band, supposed to be pretty good. I think their album is called Nature's Clear Well and was released in the US.

Swiss band that had a couple of albums from the late 70's...a little overrated I think, based on listening to their album Nature's Clear Well. Not bad, but certainly not all they're cracked up to be.

Yet another band that Genesis listeners will like. Actually, Nature's Clear Well is a pretty good offering though the emphasis is on lyrics and vocals rather than music. The lyrics are good and the music is more complicated than the average neo-prog group. Again, Genesis fans will probably appreciate this most but Galaxy offers enough that quite a few of us might. I don't know...I haven't had the urge to listen to it more than a couple times in the last two months, so I can't attest to its shelf life.

Decent but unexceptional symphonic prog in the Flame Dream/Dragonfly mould. Lots of Genesis influence. Strangely, the most interesting thing about Nature's Clear Well is the unique lyrical content, its title song is about an old homeless man who dies on a subway train. Otherwise, adequately performed and written, but not expecially exciting. There's a second album, but I don't know the title. -- Mike Ohman

[See Waniyetula]

"G" (75)

Prog.

Galie (85), 1986 (86)

Acoustic prog with a Latin feel.

Lynx (92), Heritage and Visions (94)

Good Neo-Prog with Rush influences. The second album is the better. -- Gunnar Creutz

Swedish band who play in Marillion style. The vocals are not that great, but the instrumental passages sound good, sometimes a bit like Gandalf's music.

Strange Pleasures (70), New Dawn (70)

Jazz Rock/Prog.

Gamalon (87), Aerial View (90), High Contrast (91), Held To the Light (96)

They started out as an instrumental Rock-Fusion 4 piece (from upstate New York) featuring the dual lead guitars of Bruce Brucato and George Puleo. On the 2nd album they added a violin player, and the 3rd features a few vocal tracks. The sound is hard driving, structured rock with a touch of Jazz, plenty of room for soloing, in the same league as Morse, Bonilla, Eric Johnson, etc.

I have Gamalon's Aerial View which is very nice instrumental rock with many jazz and even a progressive feel in places. Led by two guitars, this album features some very talented playing of fusionesque rock and is a good album for guitar lovers. The progressive touches come on "1969" which adds some keyboards and "The Lost Ghost" which features some nice mini-moog work. Occasional violin work lends a sometimes Dixie Dregs aura to the album, too. Aerial View is a solid album though not Progressive in the traditional sense of the genre.

Gamma I (80), Gamma II (80), Gamma III (82), Best of Gamma (92)

Pretty Much a mainstream AOR rock outfit led by Ronnie Montrose with vocals by Davey Pattison. Some of the tracks have a definite progressive rock feel.

[See Montrose, Ronnie]

Banan Banan (85)

Soft folk-progressive from the Basque region of Spain.

Journey To An Imaginary Land (81), Visions (8?), To Another Horizon (8?), Magic Theatre (84), Tales From A Long Forgotten Kingdom (8?), Fantasia (87), The Universal Play (87), The Shining (w/Galadriel) (8?), More Than Just A Seagull (88), From Source To Sea (88), Invisible Power (89), Labyrinth (90, soundtrack), Symphonic Landscapes (90), Reflection (91), Gallery Of Dreams (featuring Steve Hackett) (92), Stones of Wisdom (??), Colours of the Earth (94), To Our Children's Children (94)

Austrian synthesist very much in the vein of some of Mike Oldfield's work, yet usually with a sweeter more Kitaroish edge. Reminds me of Anthony Phillips at times, and also the mellow progressive of SFF or Bo Hansson. Not to be confused with the psych band of the same name.

Austrian multi-instrumentalist Heinz Stobl (aka Gandalf) has been making some of the most visionary cosmic music around since the end of the seventies. His music uses layers of multi-guitars, keyboards, percussion and various other instruments to achieve a colorful sonic dreamscape overflowing with melody and passion. His music is peaceful, planetary and profoundly stunning: unlike many of the contemporary purveyors of so-called space music who use electronics as a crutch, Gandalf has very carefully eschewed this dependency, and instead uses a wide variety of acoustic and electric instruments, including synth, to create his magical spell. Seagull is perhaps his most celestial outing, four extended tracks combining his unique style with some natural sounds as well. Reflection is a best-of collection from his last four albums on CBS, and shows his more rhythmic and colorful side. Fantasia is another compilation of his earliest stuff.

Austrian multi-instumentalist. His latest Gallery of Dreams features Steve Hackett. Solid, well crafted electronic music that mixes well with guitars, flutes and a variety of other instruments. The end result is quite majestic.

Tale From A Long Forgotten Kingdom is a concept work by the Austrian synthesist, describing the travels of a people from discontent to self-realization (!). Anyway, musically, this is an excellent blend of his symphonic style, and the more pastoral, natural sounds that he is better known for. All this is punctuated by very fluent guitarwork and accompanied by a large arsenal of keyboards. "Reflection is a collection of essential pieces chosen by Gandalf that were recorded from 1986 to 1990. You can hear influences that range from classical and symphonic music, to rock, pop, new age, and music of the Orient. There are 3 pieces recorded with a full symphony orchestra, and 2 special remixes released as singles in his native Austria, plus some of his special concept works. All the elements of his music, past and present, unite on this album, making it a unique 'symphonic landscape.'" That is the official blurb from Reflection. It is a fine introduction to one of the foremost Austrian synthesists, who combines the tranquility of natural sounds with the grandeur of symphonic rock. The primary attraction with Gallery of Dreams to prog-heads would be the presence of Steve Hackett on many tracks. When combined with Gandalf's "symphonic landscapes" (as he defines them), the result is quite majestic symphonic instrumental rock. One of the tracks features vocals by Tracy Hitchings, who contributed her talents to works by the British progressive band, Quasar. Stones Of Wisdom is a release of low-key, melodic electronics.

Gandalf is a multi-instrumentalist who composes, arranges, produces and plays his own music. On Gallery of Dreams, he calls on guitarist Steve Hackett to lend a hand. Other guests are featured on flute, oboe and vocals (few). The abundance of keyboards and the dreamy feeling of the tracks evoke electronic music but programmed sequences are not used. Rather, it's the calm and peaceful atmosphere that give the music a "new age" flavour. A disc with plenty of rich symphonism but with an energy that favours relaxation. -- Paul Charbonneau

[See Horky, Robert Julian]

Gandalf (68)

UK sounding dreamy psych.

Principium (93), Path of Dreams (94), The Seduction of Madness (95)

An innovative group. They don't recycle old cliche of genre but learn from the past and take their music into 90's. The sound is caracterized from an heavy presence of the rhythm section and original use of keyboards, with a large amount of breaks and variations.

Garden Wall are an Italian neo-prog 4-piece who have released Principium in 1993. If the name of the band sounds familiar to you, recall Garden Wall was one of the names Genesis gigged under in their infant years. Although they don't borrow as heavily from Genesis as some of their cohorts, Garden Wall still fail to break any new ground in this arena. Guitarist and bandleader Alessandro Seravalle is obviously talented as a lead player, but unfortunately he's the only noteworthy talent in the group. Furthermore, his vocals are twisted and contorted, as he struggles horribly with the pronounciation of the English lyrics. Also disappointing is the fact that three of the members are credited with keyboards, and yet the role of the keyboards in the music is limited to simple chord voicings and basic melody lines. Not a lot of talent in the ivory department. Admitedly, there are some creative tempo/mood changes, but the music often pretends to be heavier than it is and they fall into the trap of using odd time just for the sake of it. With a dedicated lead singer and some more fire behind the keys, Garden Wall could potentially develop into one of the better neo bands, but for now this is average fare at best. If you can overlook the poor vocals, fans of Asgard and Pendragon would probably find this music quite appealing. -- Dan Casey

Music for Televisions (91)

Ah, you yearn to go skiing or surfing after a hard year at work. It's vacation time but you blew your savings on that mega-rare Prog album. Or, you live in Death Valley and you can't get away for the weekend. Leave it to Gardner Graber and Gayle Ellet to take you away to mountains of powder and beaches of twelve foot waves with their Music for Televisions. The music on this album was commission by ESPN (a sports cable channel in the USA) for two shows: "Surfer" and "Powder." The 20 songs are mostly in the 3-4 minute range and cover a variety of styles, from the melodic "All Behind Me Now," the heavy riffing of "Cowabunga!" or "Repo Vacation," the reggae of "Vibramonrastation" and "Rasta Holiday," the blues boogie of "Equestrian Boogeyman" to the "Hang On Sloopy" melody and beat of "Colour Light." I'm sure the wipeouts and stunts in the surf and snow garnered more enthusiastic "Radical!" and "Bitchin'!" cheers than did the music itself. Although I can imagine the songs working in the context of a sports show, a few songs per episode, 72 minutes on one disc is a bit much to take in one sitting. This album is probably of most interest to Djam Karet fans. In my Djam Karet review, I mentioned that I didn't know which guitar solo went with which guitarist. After listening to Ellet on Music for Television, I can better differentiate between Ellet and Henderson on the DK releases. Music for Televisions is certainly not an album to go out of your way to obtain. If you find it at a deal though, snag it up, turn on your favorite surfing or skiing show, or the weiner dog summer nationals, and let Gardner and Gayle provide the soundtrack. -- Mike Taylor

[See Djam Karet]

In The Regions of Sunreturn (79), Prisms (81), Eclipse (82), Point Of Impact (83), Images (86), Aurora Dawn (??), Earth-Star Trilogy (89), Rhythm of Life (91), A Positive Reflecting Glow (??, comp.), Tranquility Cove (??, comp.)

California synthesist who has released seven or eight albums, all are mixed bags of sleepy and more energetic synth tracks, but the best are probably the last two Earth Star Trilogy and Rhythm of Life, which contain more rhythmic stuff alternated with the spacey numbers. Both are excellent.

Nuda (72), Astrolabio (73)

A Hendrix-influenced band featuring the talents of guitarist extraordinaire Bambi Fossati. Their only reissue to date the album Astrolabio features two side long suites, both great cosmic jams resembling none of the previously mentioned Italian bands, but just as innovative. A must.

In the 1971 the band Gleemen change its name to Garybaldi, keeping the same members. The first LP is blues-rock (inspired from Experience). The second is more instrumental. When the band dissolved, Bambi Fossati and Maurizio Cassinelli went to Bambibanda E Melodie.

Italian band. I've only heard some of Astrolabio, and that was great. Great, flowing guitar work over a smooth background of sound. Italian vocals. Recommended.

[See Bambibanda E Melodie | Gleeman | Mandillo]

A Young Man's Gash (72)

Obscure German band on the Brain label. Nothing special except for the side long suite on their only album A Young Man's Gash.

One side of A Young Man's Gash is supposed to be a good side-long piece of spacy keyboard prog. I only heard the other side, which sucks rocks. -- Mike Ohman

Live (77), Red Light Sister (78)

Brain-label band.

Always (92), Mandylion (94?)

Certainly the most disconcerting feature of this band will be immediately obvious to anyone who listens to any song of their first album (except the beautiful title track, which is so symphonic it makes one cry), is that the basis of their music is death-metal, which is apparent in the vocals (a nice death-grunt). Only, imho they are only very superficially so. Wanting to break out of the limitations of the genre (in their own words), they tried new things. And came up with something that is in essence sympho-rock. By throwing in lots of keyboards and a female vocalist with a rather high and frail voice (though she only appears - sadly enough - on about half of the tracks) they create a very gloomy and laden atmosphere, and the contrast between the two voices is guaranteed to send shivers down your spine. The best news might be that in an interview they said they were going to abandon the death-grunt and sing "normally." After which this band will very probably get the classification of sympho-metal or something like that. Watch these guys, they are great!

Like the previous entry said, they had decided to go with a non-death-metal singer. Actually, the new singer (female) has a beautiful voice, which goes well with the album. The album is best described as "atmospheric metal," nearing symphonic. I don't know why this hasn't gotten more notice. It's great. If you like the more symphonic prog-metal bands, check this one out.

Bebe Godzilla (81)

Ex-keyboardist of Heldon and Weidorje, Gauthier recorded one album in 1980 titled Bebe Godzilla. Jazz-fusion based highly melodic keyboard driven music with an experimental edginess and some zeuhl influence. Several tracks feature Richard Pinhas, Bernard Paganotti, Benoit Widemann, Kirt Rust, Didier Batard, and other Magma/Heldon school alumni.

[See Heldon | Weidorje]

Osorezan/Dounokenbai (76)

From the Yamashiro Arts Group, an avant garde ensemble. Dounokenbai is second side and is bizarre chanting and percussion. First side ("Osorezan"), however, is classic 19 minute psych.

Dentro L'Invisibile (7?)

Keyboards, flute, sax, guitars. Obscure.

Area Di Servizio (72)

A acoustic vangard band.

La Muerte (??)

From Genesis to Revelation (69), Trespass (70), Nursery Cryme (72), Foxtrot (72), Live (73), Selling England by the Pound (73), The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (74), Trick of the Tail (76), Wind and Wuthering (77), Seconds Out (77), Spot the Pigeon (77, EP), ...And Then There Were Three... (78), Duke (80), Abacab (81), Three Sides Live (82), Genesis (83), Invisible Touch (86), We Can't Dance (91), The Way We Walk Vol. 1: The Shorts (92), The Way We Walk Vol. 2: The Longs (93)

Their first album From Genesis To Revelation (since reissued under many different titles) was a very majestic blending of late sixties British styles, most notable comparisons would be to the early Bee Gees or The Moody Blues, very acoustically driven (piano, acoustic guitar prominent), with Peter Gabriel's unique vocals and thoughtful, often personal lyrics. There are few hints here of the complex progressive form the band would later turn to, but nonetheless this is an excellent album. The second album Trespass marked the beginning of the band's most influential period, with longer, multi-part tightly arranged numbers that make full use of acoustic-electric rock dynamics, emotive classical and folk influenced melodies, and story type lyrics avoiding the first-person cliches of most bands of the day. Much of their style in this period was driven by the acoustic based guitar ideas of Anthony Phillips (even though Phillips quit after Trespass was recorded, his guitar style would be used by the band for the next five albums). Each of the albums from this second period (Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Live, Selling England By The Pound) has its own unique character and brilliance, and over the period of these albums also saw the emergence of keyboardist Tony Banks as the new dominant musical force within the band. The double epic The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was more a transitional album musically, even though it does feature Gabriel at his lyrical and theatrical peak. Musically the album features a higher percentage of pure filler than any album they had done to date, which was necessary during the live performances to allow Gabriel ample time to change costumes. It was also their first album that achieved notoriety from the mainstream rock press. After an exhausting tour fostering much tension within the band, Gabriel decided to call it a day, leaving the band without a lead singer....and thus began the band's third period. Up to this point, nearly all of the vocals were handled by Gabriel, although other members frequently sang prominent backup (Banks on "Hogweed" for example), but Drummer Phil Collins had already sang lead on a couple of filler tracks ("For Absent Friends" and "More Fool Me") used during live shows to give Gabriel a breather and time to change costumes. It stood to reason, then, that Collins could take over the role of lead vocalist while a "hired hand" could take over the drum duties for the live performance. But public perception at that point was that Gabriel WAS Genesis, and the band, without him, would be akin to The Doors without Morrison - and this was a major hurdle the band would have to overcome. On the first "Collins led" album A Trick Of The Tail, it's evident that the band went to some great lengths to produce an excellent album, as well as on its follow-up Wind And Wuthering, which shows the band moving into some new and non- commercial territory. These two albums, while very unlike the Gabriel led Genesis of a few years prior, were still very vital and cohesive. While mixing a live album of the WaW tour (Second's Out), guitarist Steve Hackett decided to call it a day. Hackett's role within the band to that point had been primarily a counterbalance to Banks' poppy tendencies in Gabriel's absence. Now as a three-piece with Banks firmly in control, (and a higher public profile), that the band's music would inevitably become more mainstream oriented. And so began the fourth period. The first album as a three piece (And Then There Were Three) fares OK when compared with the two albums that preceeded it, but it definitely marks a move in a new direction with shorter "song" oriented tracks and their first hit single "Follow You Follow Me." The follow-up album Duke was a major step in the commercial direction, at least half the songs seemed to be intended for singles. One long instrumental track on side 2 offered some brilliance, but not enough to save the rest of the album. Subsequent albums Abacab, Genesis, Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance are firmly in the mainstream mold, with commercially oriented songs and plenty of hit singles. Of course, these later albums are not necessarily bad, but musically they're not that challenging either. Three live albums have appeared in this period: Three Sides Live is mostly recorded on the Abacab tour, and The Way We Walk (2 seperately packaged CDs) was recorded mostly on the We Can't Dance tour. My Recommendations: Start with Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme or Selling England, IMHO these three represent Genesis at their creative peak.

[See Banks, Tony | Brand X | Hackett, Steve | Stuermer, Daryl]

Ascension (86)

French electronic artist whose best known work is probably the spacy, minor- chord-wall-of-strings release Ascension. As with that, the emphasis in Riddle of the Sphinkx is on melody, dominated by synthesizers and other electronics, but more symphonic.

Gentle Giant (70), Acquiring The Taste (71), Three Friends (72), Octopus (73), In A Glass House (73), The Power And The Glory (74), Free Hand (75), A Giant Step (75, compilation), Interview (76), Playing The Fool (76, live), The Missing Piece (77), Pretentious (77, compilation), Giant For A Day (78), Civilian (80), BBC Live in Concert 1978 (9?), Out From the Woods (9?, BBC recordings 1970-75)

One of the most original British progressives, with an unlikely mix of dissonant 20th-century classical chamber music, mediaeval vocal music, jazz and rock. The first album is one of the most progressive efforts of 1970, but still not totally developed. Still, they are one of the first British bands to experiment with the Moog synthesizer, and they use cellos, violins, reeds and horns to round out the sound, as well as the usual guitar/organ/bass/drums. Experimentation with dissonant vocal harmonies ("Alucard") and improvisation ("Nothing At All") is already present, but for the most part it's pretty straightforward rock, but with odd instrumentation. Interesting as a band in progress. Acquiring The Taste shows significant advancement as far as complexity goes, adding (acoustic) clavichord and mellotron to the keyboard banks, and also beginning to use tuned percussion such as vibes, xylophones, tympani and the like. The addition of askew time-signatures, or at least syncopated rhythms, to many tracks shows them delving ever deeper into experimental territory. The complexity of much of the music here is astounding, listen to "The House, The Street, The Room" for a fine example. By incorporating rock and neo-classical sections side-by-side, they reach a new level of musical intricacy. An excellent album. Three Friends is a rather mundane concept album, the music to which takes a LONG time to grow on you, but eventually it DOES grow on you and in a big way. More accessible than Acquiring, still incorporating odd dissonances though. Octopus finds them becoming quite conceptually bizarre, with a far more overt mediaeval bent, yet also using 20th century icons such as Albert Camus and R.D. Laing as a springboard for song ideas. Listen to the madrigal-like "Knots" for a truly odd exercise in musical counterpoint. Intriguing and essential. In A Glass House contains some of their most daring, provocative music. Note the dark "An Inmates Lullaby," using percussion as its only instrumentation. "Way Of Life," "The Runaway" and the title track are among the best music the band produced--ever! Highly recommended. Power and The Glory continues this artistic plateau, with shorter, but still strong, songs. "Aspirations" is a lovely softer piece. "Proclamation," "The Face" and "No God's A Man" are among the other fine songs, but it's so hard to decide as they're ALL great. Fans of complex prog--don't miss this one! Free Hand is probably their most accessible to date, yet without compromise to complexity. "On Reflection" is another madrigal-based piece that works well, though not as weird sounding as "Knots." Probably the best album for starters, as it's at once listenable and uncompromising. Interview is quite the opposite of its predecessor, very dissonant and unsettling, especially on the mostly all-vocal "Design." "Give It Back" resembles askew reggae, the title track and "I Lost My Head" are other standouts. Playing The Fool is "the official 'live' Gentle Giant album." An interesting overview of the band's entire career up to and including Interview. Many of the songs are spliced together in medley form, yet they still pull it off: note the 16-minute "Excerpts from Octopus." Later albums became more commercial, generally unenthused reports on them has caused me not to even bother. I'd suggest you do the same. -- Mike Ohman

The paradigmatic progressive rock band. They captured almost everything that was great about the 1970s progressive rock movement and ignored most of the unfortunate pretensions. Starting with their fourth Octopus album in 1973, the band churned out a bunch of flawless albums. All are highly recommended.

Actually I'd recommend just about anything these guys do, and we can't forget the classics (albeit hard to get into) Gentle Giant (with the monstrous "Why Not") Acquiring The Taste (with the highly innovative "Pantagruel's Nativity") and Three Friends (Which gets my vote for the best side of GG ever - side 2).

Most people do not like Gentle Giant at first listen. They definately take some getting used to, but once you get used to them they are great. A good album to start with is Three Friends simply because it is their album that is most like what the other progressive groups of the day were doing. From their I would go on Octopus and Free Hand.

I found GG to be a very difficult band to get into. While a lot of prog rock can take 2 or 3 listens to fully appreciate, Gentle Giant took me many more. Most people I talk to who like GG didn't care much for them at first listen. I started with The Power and the Glory, and most of that has grown on me, but there are still one or two tracks that I find tough to listen to. I also have Three Friends, which isn't as good as PatG, and Octopus, which has some good stuff and one very good instrumental. Generally speaking, the music is excellent; it's the vocals that can be irritating. The vocal melodies are often the same as the instrumental bits, and the layered harmony vocal thing is just overdone. I prefer vocals with more of a bite to them, like Fish's or Roger Waters'.

Acquiring the Taste is the hardest album to start with but I think its their best. Octopus and Power and Glory are ok, but not as great as everyone says. This is quintessential prog rock. Free Hand is also good.

Outstanding group...I like the live CD Playing the Fool best, for some reason I like the live versions of their songs better than the studio versions, maybe they were more musically mature in developing their sound when this live album was recorded. Studio albums are hard to get into, I have Octopus, Free Hand, and Three Friends. Music is really complex, each member of the groups seems to be able to play 10 different instruments. They do lots of different styles of music...an essential progressive rock band.

Gentle Giant are awesome, but you have to have a PHD in music to understand what they're doing. The music is so stunningly complex that it's sometimes difficult to absorb, After listening to albums like Octopus and Power And The Glory 50 times or more, I still hear something new each time that was different from the last time. Multi-part vocal harmonies galore. The best place to start would be with one of their more accessible albums, maybe Three Friends or In A Glass House.

No big secret to why these guys have traditionally been one of the most-asked-about bands on rec.music.progressive. -- they're truly amazing in every sense. Their composition, playing, and singing remain well above almost every other progressive band, and light years ahead of mainstream rock. My favourite albums by them are Three Friends (unusually gentle for the Giant -- much less in-your-face complexity and dissonance than on their other albums), Octopus (where the in-your-face complexity is pulled off with even more panache than on most of their albums), and Playing the Fool (the obligatory live double album, where they demonstrate that those astounding vocal harmonies are *not* just a trick of the studio). However, you really can't go wrong with any of the studio albums that preceded Playing the Fool. (Apparently, they took a more commercial turn after the live album.) Highly and unequivocally recommended. -- Greg Ward

One of the better known progressive bands, Gentle Giant were a style unto themselves. This is one of the bands to which others are always compared. GG themselves are comparable to no one. Incredibly tight vocal and instrumental interplay that you'd swear they couldn't pull off live, yet the do so with grace and ease. Influences are Baroque and Renaissance styles. My personal favorite is Octopus followed closely by Acquiring the Taste but any except for the last two or three are great.

What can I really say? The quintessential prog band. They are very tight, have some pretty complex musical pieces. Some of their stuff shows strong influence from madrigals and motets of the Medieval period, and I've even noticed a fugue or two. Some people don't like the vocals, but I love them (but then I really like madrigals a lot). For some reason, many people complain about having difficulty getting into this band. Someone sent me a tape of Playing the Fool and within a week I owned 3 of their CDs. This band just really did it for me. My favorites are: Free Hand, Three Friends, PtF, The Power and the Glory, In a Glass House, and Octopus (roughly in that order). The others that are on CD don't do as much for me, but I still like them a good deal.

Truly progressive English band. I've never heard anyone like them. Sometimes they sound vaguely Jethro Tull-ish, but they're no clone. Definitely influenced by that medieval sound Tull became famous for, as well as jazz and straight forward rock. Tough to get into, but worth trying out. Took me many listens to really enjoy this stuff. Early albums are pretty "heavy," they peaked around their 6th-7th album, then put out a few poppy albums after that. Lots of vocal harmonies on each album. Titles with ratings for the ones I've heard: Gentle Giant (***), Acquiring the Taste (**), Three Friends (***), Octopus (***), The Power and the Glory (****), Free Hand (****).

One of the greatest bands ever. After much searching, I now have all of their albums on CD. Everything album up to and including Interview is superb and they are all utterly recommended. Starting with The Missing Piece, they were in a race for success with Genesis (so the liner notes say). Both went comercial about the same time but, due to their higher profile, Genesis won. After TMP, Giant put out a couple of pretty bad commercial rock albums before ending up recording Civilian in the US and splitting up for good. Civilian is slightly better than Giant for a Day ... not a terrible note to go out on but it's best to stick to pre TMP. Rumours abound about a re-union.

The only prog band with no pieces longer than ten minutes! An incredible group, especially on albums and concerts between 1972 and 1976. All albums up to The Missing Piece are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! If you do not like this group after the first few hearings, try some more times as they really grow on you!! The individual musicians are very versatile, playing the very wide range of instruments that makes up Gentle Giant's complex and intriguing music. The keyboard player, Kerry Minnear, is a lot more laid back than Keith Emerson. However, he may be the only one on the Prog Scene that really can be compared to Emerson as instrumentalist - and even surpasses him as composer! -- Bjørn Are Davidsen

[See Man]

Geodesium (77), Double Eclipse (81)

Gerard (84), Empty Lie, Empty Dream (8?), Irony Of Fate (90)

These guys sound like a cross between Rainbow and Marillion, technically more sharp than either of those bands though. Vocals all over with a couple short instrumental tracks on each album. If the Japanese vocals bother you, these guys are definitely not for you. The playing is tight and powerful, and very progressive - especially on the first two. Irony of Fate seems to be by a reformed band and leans more towards metal.

Empty Lie, Empty Dream is the second release by the Japanese progressive group who turn out a brand of lush, symphonic music that is somewhat characteristic of many of their contemporaries. In this case, however, the somewhat aggressive tone of the lead guitar distinguishes Gerard from other bands, bringing an almost Marillion-like sensibility to the music. The Japanese male vocals are somewhat subdued in relation to the music, and this release should go over well with those who like their progressive rock symphonic and melodic.

Here's an example of a band that I can't really make a call on. At first listen I liked it a lot. Serious techno-wizardy. Speed guitars and keys, double-bass drums, pounding bass... But then I came to think of other bands that play in a similar style which I don't enjoy that much anymore. For example, the first comparison that popped into my head was with Marillion. Gerard plays with that early-eighties neo-prog feel, but much more proficiently. However their rhythms are interesting half the time and 4/4 the other. Right now I can't tell what kind of a shelf life it'll have. The vocals are in Japanese, and though not outstanding they are competent. I'd say this band cuts the fine line between progressive and neo-prog and will probably appeal to fans of either genre, in different ways and for different reasons.

Gerard are a relatively recent Japanese band who sound has similarities to Marillion and "progressive metal" bands like Dream Theater. I've heard only Irony of Fate. Obviously, with comparisons to Marillion there is a hint of lush symphonic that is typical of many neo-progressive bands. However, these guys have a very strong metal flavor to their music that calls to mind the pyrotechnics of Dream Theater. Gerard aren't quite as proficient as Dream Theater but Gerard is composed of outstanding musicians, nonetheless. I don't subscribe to the "progressive metal" theory of Dream Theater but I could accept Gerard as representing that "subgenre." Instead of a metal band with a few progressive touches (Dream Theater), Gerard are a Progressive band with many metal touches. Lyrics are sung in both Japanese (usually) and English (occasionally). Recommended to the Dream Theater crowd and those who like their Prog with a sharp metal edge.

German Oak (72), Nibelungenleid (unreleased second LP now on CD)

A fine example of the early German underground scene. Long drawn out guitar excursions (along with some organ work) that aren't as acid-drenched as Ash Ra Tempel, for example, but are still capable of exploring the inner recesses of your mind. Their self-titled first uses the Third Reich as a theme, so there is some very brief German "war talk" between on or two songs, but it doesn't really hamper the music. Recommended to fans of the German underground and long guitar solo explorations.

German Oak is also called Bunker because it was supposedly recorded in an abandoned WWII bunker.

Sinister Morning (70)

Backed by High Tide.

[See High Tide]

Ghost (90), Second Time Around (92)

Acoustic psych w/ guitar, flute, oboe, violin, ethereal percussion, doses of feedback.

When You're Dead - One Second (70)

Not to be confused with the current Japanese psych band, The Ghost existed in the late '60s. They released on album that I am aware of, called When You're Dead--One Second. The album's sound of folk and psychedelia is typified by male and female vocal harmonies (folk) over guitar and Farfisa organ (psych). The sound is generally pretty dated (thanks to the Farfisa) but some of the guitar work (such as on "Too Late to Cry") is excellent. Essential to no one, but fans of the late '60s psychedelic scene will want to have this. The original LP pressing is apparently pretty rare.

[See Velvett Fogg]