Reminiscence (89), Labyrinthe (91)

Their first album was a total Floyd rip-off, and quite neo-prog, yet has its moments

French band, heavily influenced by mid-period Pink Floyd, with some Camelesque and Oldfieldian hints as well. The sound is rich and warm, with fluid acoustic- electric guitar and keyboard work, and a keen sense of atmospheric presense, in many ways akin to Pulsar's newest Gorlitz. The vocals are quite good, sung in french. Start with Labyrinthe, Floyd fans will not be disappointed.

Phantom Band (80), Freedom Of Speech (81)

Collaboration between Jaki Liebezeit (Can) and Michael Rother (NEU!).

[See Can | Neu!]

Dream Runner (??)

Wall-of-keyboards pomp-stadium-rock, comparable to Asia. Included are appearances by Don Airey, Cozy Powell, Scott Gorham, and Brian May. Dream Runner is melodic, keyboard-rock with vocals by John Wetton on one track, and Max Bacon on some more.

Beau Soleil (90), Les Elephants Carilloneurs (93), Nord (94), Rage (96)

Philharmonie is the guitar trio led by Frédéric L'Epée, perhaps better known as the leader of the 70s King Crimson-inspired French band Shylock. He is joined by Bernard Ros and Laurent Chalef in what is essentially a highly energized music developed through improvisation. A comparison to Robert Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists might be in order, yet L'Epée and company take a more subtle and fluid approach and generally tend to eschew Fripp's academic tendencies. The first Philharmonie album from 1990, Beau Soleil, released privately in France and hardly noticed across the water, was a more introspective and gentle effort, utilizing an almost live production with heavy reliance on psychoacoustics. The new album, Les Elephants Carillonneurs (The elephant bell-ringers) continues on in the same general style as the first, but with a bit more fire and authority, and in general shows a lot of further growth, both in writing and playing style. The compositions are more developed and refined, yet still carry that improvisational feel. Highly recommended.

Philharmonie, for Nord and Rage, are a quartet of Frédéric L'Epée (guitar and fretless guitar), Laurent Chalef (guitar), Bernard Ros (Chapman Stick) and drummer Louis Boutin. On earlier albums, Ros played guitar but his contribution to these albums is purely Stick. Many of you will recognize L'Epée as the former guitarist for the French prog band, Shylock. With Shylock, L'Epee's guitar style was obviously influenced by Robert Fripp, though the band had their own unique voice. Fripp's influence is still evident but, with Philharmonie, L'Epée has made this much less obvious. After Robert Fripp, L'Epée entered a conservatory and studied harmony and counterpoint, among other compositional techniques, the results of which he brings to this band. The eight songs on Nord from 4-16 minutes in length. In this space, Philharmonie explore a wide variety of textures and interwoven themes, which also suggests the manner in which this album should be heard. I think the way to approach this disc is the way you would approach, say, Bach's fugues. Though you can derive great pleasure by just listening to the music, greater insight and enjoyment can be had by studying the arrangement of the contrapuntal "subject and answer" voices, unravelling each guitarist's melody line. The subtleties of the music required many listening sessions to fully understand and appreciate each musician's contribution. Each of those sessions was very pleasurable for me. If this style of sublime guitar interaction is to your taste, then Nord will satiate your appetite. As for Rage, If I saw an album with this title and knew the band had been compared to King Crimson, I would think of live Crimson circa Red and bands like Anekdoten. That is not at all what Rage is about. If you have heard Nord, you would already have a good idea of what Rage sounds like. The band is unchanged. The most "raging" song is the 4.5 minute "Ouigaa," in which all four members take an aggressive tone and L'Epée turns in some searing guitar work. In contrast is the 5.5 minute "Thesis," in which two quiet guitar lines weave around the brushed snare drums, only occasionally interjected with low growling from Ros' Stick. The remaining five songs songs are 6-7 minutes in length and fall between these two extremes. Deftly intertwined guitar and Stick lines move through several distinct passages in each song, exploring the territory and then moving on to new turf. While songs like "Ouigaa" weren't present on Nord, Rage is not much different than Nord in style. Anyone who enjoyed that album, or guitar work comparable to King Crimson circa Discipline and Beat, the League of Crafty Guitarists, or Prometheus should find Rage to their liking. -- Mike Taylor

Philharmonie is a French quartet that plays in a style strongly influenced by Robert Fripp's recent productions. Nord consists of improvisations on melodic and rhythmic sequences with complex interactions. You can recognize Fripp's "discipline" but also a looser and more sensitive melodic touch. The guitars, essentially electric, go for a sober sound with chorus and echo. A different sound with a flavour that gets tastier with every listen. Rage suggests a more aggressive sound. The improvisation on superb melodic and rhythmic interactions is still present but the guitars now a more raging electric sound. This sound brings them closer the present King Crimson (instrumental version) but maintains the melodic sensitivity that sets them apart. The effectiveness of this peculiar music increases with every listen. -- Paul Charbonneau

[See Shylock]

The Geese And The Ghost (77), Wise After The Event (78), Private Parts and Pieces I (79), Sides (79), Private Parts & Pieces II: Back To The Pavillion (80), 1984 (81), Private Parts & Pieces III: Antiques (82), Invisible Men (83), Private Parts & Pieces IV: A Catch At The Tables (84), Private Parts & Pieces V: Twelve (84), Harvest Of The Heart (85, comp.), Private Parts & Pieces VI: Ivory Moon (86), Private Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars (87), Tarka (88), Slow Dance (90), Missing Links Vol. I: Finger Painting (91), Private Parts & Pieces: New England (92)Missing Links Volume II: The Sky Road (94), Sail The World (94)

Phillips was the guitarist in the original lineup of Genesis, and is featured on their first two albums From Genesis to Revelation and Trespass. His solo music is difficult to describe, as it changes from one album to the next; no two releases are alike. His music ranges from "English" sounding pop to long orchestrated pieces, Electronic music, piano and guitar solos, and so on. Some albums are 100% instrumental, others have various singers including Phillips himself. The Geese And The Ghost was his first album with Genesis bassist Mike Rutherford co-producing. The sound is on the quiet side, mostly extended instrumentally oriented tracks for two guitars and mini-orchestra. Phil Collins croons on a couple tracks, Phillips on one. Connects nicely with the early Genesis sound. Wise After The Event contains mostly mid-length cuts and vocals on every track (by Phillips himself). The sound is more of an electric progressive, features John G.Perry (Ex-Caravan) on bass and Michael Giles (Ex- King Crimson) drumming throughout. Also one of the best Album covers I've ever seen! Phillips' vocals do get a little annoying at times, though. Private Parts and Pieces, Back To The Pavillion and Catch At The Tables are all collections of guitar and piano solos, duets, quartets etc. mostly low key instrumental stuff, some very good tracks among them, but for the most part these albums were just assembled from odds, ends and leftovers. Sides is more Electric Progressive much like Wise After the Event, but a little more Poppy and Accessible. Again features Perry and Giles on Bass and Drums. Dan Owen (Ex-Happy The Man) contributes vocals on two tracks, Dale Newman on another, and the remaining Vocals are by Phillips. A very good one. 1984 This is a primarily an electronic keyboard album by Phillips with help from Richard Scott and percussion by Morris Pert (Ex-Brand X). The whole project has an Oldfieldian quality about it, extended side-long tracks, etc. but the lame drum machine gets a little annoying at times. Antiques is an album of guitar duets recorded in 81 with Enrique Berro-Garcia. Outstanding. Invisible Men was an attempt (with Richard Scott again) to create a very intelligent and accessible pop sound, and the result is for the most part quite good - tracks like "Golden Bodies," "Traces" and "Going For Broke" as pop songs work quite well, but a few, like "The Women Were Watching" and "Guru" fall flat lyrically, although the music is still good. A second Invisible Men album was recorded, but has never been released, it's sitting in Phillips' vaults, along with several more unreleased tracks he recorded with Collins on vocals, and tons of other stuff all collecting dust. Twelve is a collection of 12 twelve string guitar tracks. Not his best. Ivory Moon is a full album of piano pieces written between 1971 and 1985, and recorded in 1985. No guitar at all ! Nice stuff, recommended, but quiet. Slow Waves Soft Stars is mostly electronic, impressionistic synthesizer music - although some guitar tracks break it up nicely, including two with Enrique Berro-Garcia. Nice, but slow and soft, just like the title says. In Tarka, composed and performed with Harry Williamson, a mini-orchestra is used to augment the four extended pieces, producing a sound that is reminiscent of Geese and the Ghost. No vocals. Very good, one of his best. Slow Dance contains two long (25+ minute) pieces with full orchestration; occasionally some guitar surfaces here or there. Very quiet and relaxing, new-agey to the hilt. Fingerpainting features mainly short electronic based pieces written for television and other electronic odds and ends, a little like Slow Waves, but this one is much more interesting with more variety. New England is his latest, mostly acoustic guitar or electronic based tracks with soprano sax and guest percussion, very nice, low key.

I have Sides. A couple of poppish tracks, but mostly lyrical, folkie ballads. There are a couple of monster prog instrumentals, like the chamber music-influenced "Sisters of Remindum" and the Genesisoid "Nightmare" make this one worthwhile. A pleasant diversion from regular Genesis. -- Mike Ohman

[See Genesis]

Junta (89), Lawn Boy (91), A Picture of Nectar (92), Rift (93)

Primarily a live band, Phish has the musical innovation and experimentation of a Frank Zappa, but with a sillier and somewhat less cynical sense of humor. They play a very broad range of styles, among them jazz, fusion, bluegrass, salsa, funk, reggae, heavy metal, hardcore, barbershop quartet, and anything you might find in between. The sound that's uniquely their own takes the form of an epic rock song a la early Yes or Genesis, but with wicked and sophisticated polyrhythms and chord changes that are so demented as to be actually harmful to the unprepared ear, alternating with uplifting, almost naively optimistic ten-minute jams. The range of emotions in a given song can be astonishing. All four members (bass, organ/piano, guitar, drums) are great soloists, and the music reflects their love of improvisation by weaving together very intricate lines, and also allowing for constant experimentation on everyone's part. There is a great deal of feedback and chemistry between the players, often resulting in jams which wander off into strange, uncharted territory. The audience's response also plays a significant role in the evolution of a performance. This is a good reason to hear Phish live rather than on tape. They've also been known to cover Frank Zappa, ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Parker, Neil Diamond, Syd Barrett, Led Zeppelin...

Phish is a relatively new group that was formed in the mid 80s and has grown in cult stature to be one of the best known underground bands today. Despite their popularity in today's commercially oriented music scene this band is one of the most overtly progressive groups to perform since Gentle Giant! Phish is composed of a guitarist, a keyboardist, a drummer, and a bass player. However, there is no hint of neo-prog here. Trey Anastasio plays through an old tweed covered fender amp and the keyboardist uses all analog keyboards. In fact, they sound so 70's at times it is easy to compare them to Hatfield with a MUCH better guitar player. Phish's stunning performances include songs that seamlessly switch from G-Deadish country to metal to acapella to bebop all in one song! Their compositions are comprised of very dense chord changes, dauntingly intricate counterpoint, fugues, and dissonance. However, the music is always dancable. Phish can, at times, be as intricate as Gentle Giant ever was (no kidding!). They currently have 3 albums all now on CD. Lawn Boy is the first, then came Junta, and recently A Picture of Nectar was released. All three are extremely highly reccommended but start with A Picture of Nectar and you'll NEED the others. Even better, see them live. They have been known to bounce on trampolines while playing and the drummer sometimes plays a vacuum cleaner solo! I saw them once in a roller rink where the guitarist donned a pair of rollerblades and ripper through a solo while skating through the crowd!! Lots o' fun.

The lyrics don't make sense most of the time, the keyboard player won't go near a synthesizer, and the music doesn't fit into any category, yet Phish is fast on its way to becoming a Great American Band. (R.E.M., your reign is already in decline-though you may not know it yet.) Phish hail from New England, have been together almost ten years, and their first release on a major label (Elektra) last year confirmed what their fans have been telling everyone for years: this band is hot. Like the Grateful Dead, Phish has built their following on their incredibly exciting live shows. The music is a mixture of rock, jazz, and country, with a heavy emphasis on improvisation. These guys play *really* well together, yet are relaxed enough that they can laugh at themselves while doing it. (They make a religion out of being goofy.) If you like American-oriented country-rock fusion and aren't afraid of silly lyrics (even Gabriel threw some of those at us a long long time ago), and especially if you like the Dead and Dixie Dregs, A Picture of Nectar is a worthwhile CD to get. Nektar is ten times better than their previous Lawn Boy-and their next album should be even better yet. But for a real treat, see if you can track down some live tapes. Phish's latest album, Rift, is their best to date. This band has really matured. No longer is one song "jazzy," another "country-influenced," and yet another a kick-ass rocker (like so much of their wandering albeit finely honed previous album A Picture of Nektar). The many disparate stylistic threads of the music have finally been brought together into a cohesive whole. Adopting a rather loose approach to the concept album structure, Rift follows the strange and often unrelated dreams of a protagonist who is approaching a "rift"-the potential breakup of a love affair. The album features (among quite a few songwriting gems) the incredible "Maze," a progressive tour-de-force that reminds one of classics like Pink Floyd's "Money" and Yes' "Roundabout"; very trippy iconographic cover art which mirrors the wide array of psychological themes presented in the lyrics; and enough irreverent humor to prevent you from ever taking the whole thing too seriously.

An very talented band with a sense of humor and extraordinary musicianship. Perhaps not progressive in the stylistic sense, they are in the definitive sense. The meld jazz, rock, bluegrass, country, avant-garde, and nearly anything else you can think of into some of the most dynamic and engaging rock that can be heard today. These guys can boogie better than the best. In concert, they are said to be improvising wonders. Start with A Picture of Nectar.

Well, I've only heard one album by these guys (A Picture of Nectar), and I'm not sure that I could call it progressive as such, but it is nonetheless very interesting. They don't seem to have any style of their own, but instead do a pretty wide range of styles, from pop to jazz to salsa to almost country... I can say this: Everything they do they do very well, with a lot of attention to arrangements. They are all excellent musicians, and their songs are full of tight starts and stops and hairpin turns. Busy and complex.

I have to concur with general recommendation: See them live! Fabulous players, not above throwing in a few goofy covers, like "Purple Rain." I've also heard Rift, which is pretty good, standing out undeniably progressive on "Maze," a must-hear for those who exaggerate prog's demise. Imagine elements of eighties Crimson, vocal Gentle Giant, perhaps a smidgin of that band's complexity, and a refreshing, post-punk lack of pretension. That sums up Phish's attempts at prog. Not all of it is progressive, but it's still an enjoyable release.

Cei Ce Ne-au Dat Nume (73), Mugur de Fluier (74), Cantofabule (75)

[See Transylvania-Phoenix]

Phoenix (76), In Full View (80)

Commercial pomp-prog.

Concerto Delle Menti (73)

A really interesting band where the originality is that they didn't sing but acted the songs.

Sheer Profundity (82)

Fusion prog with a funk touch.

Boost The Signal (94), Free World (96)

Picchio Dal Pozzo (76), Abbiamo Tutti I Suoi Problemi (80)

I have Picchio dal Pozzo's self-titled release which is, at least in part, an excellent blend of jazz and progressive rock ala Celeste. The similarity to Celeste is no surprise as two members of Celeste guest on a couple of tracks. Also, Picchio dal Pozzo's keyboardist guested on Celeste's beautiful Principe di un Giorno. However, that's not adequate to describe their style. There is evident Gong-like space fusion in some songs with swirling moog, xylophone and other percussion, space voices and even horn fading in and out of the background. Combine this with miscellaneous voices, sounds, small dashes of RIO and a Canterbury sense of humor. Thus mixed, you have the unique (and difficult to describe) sound of Picchio dal Pozzo. You'll also hear flute, sax, guitar and electric piano throughout. You'll only hear Italian vocals on one song. Excellent Italian prog for those with a sense of humor and adventure. -- Mike Taylor

Pierrot Lunaire (74), Gudrun (77)

The first album is a mix of classic and vangard music, very good. The second one is more experimental.

Folky Italian group with nice sound. Excellent and reccomended.

Piirpauke (75), Piirpauke 2 (76), Yö Kyöpelinvuorella (79), Birgi Bühtüi (81), Live in der Balver Höhle (81), Kirkastus (81), Soi Vienosti Murheeni Soitto (82), Live in Europe (83), Ilahu Illalla (84), The Wild East (86), Algazara (87), Zerenade (89), Global Servisi (90, comp.), Tuku Tuku (91), Terra Nova (93, aka Muuttolinnut), Metamorphosis (Live 1977-1995) (95)

Finnish all-instrumental folk band. I have Birgi Butui and Vienosti.... They mainly do adaptations of traditional Finnish folk songs. However, they also cover several Turkish folk tunes and even some South American ones. Birgi Buhtui is the best of the two and combines folk, prog and jazz with interesting results. At times, it sounds similar to fellow Scandinavians Secret Oyster, but not as good. Vienosti is almost straight ahead Finnish folk, plus a cover of a Colombian song which fails to keep my interest. If you have never heard them, you are not missing a whole lot. Overall rating: nice but no cigar. -- Juan Joy

Hieroglyph (??)

Enigmas (78)

Electronics.

Der grosse, rote Vogel (71)

Swirling organ-based prog.

[See Talix]

Rhizosphere (77), Chronolyse (78), Iceland (80), East-West (80), L'Ethique (82), Perspective (84), D.W.W. (92)

Chronolyse is a must for Crimson fans, including a stormy 30 minute mellotron/ guitar/ electronic jam that easily matches Crimson at their best.

Chronolyse is a wonderful CD full of both an incredible Crimson like jam as well as some very interesting keyboard experimentation. Very moody. Entire CD is based around the book "Dune."

Richard Pinhas and Heldon are nearly synonymous, in fact the lineup on the solo albums often involve people from Heldon, I suppose the difference is that on the solo albums Pinhas writes all the material. Refer to Heldon for a description of the sound. The first half of Chronolyse contains some pretty lame sequenced electronic garbage, but the last half is a sidelong masterpiece of sonic intensity. East-West contains shorter, more accesible trax (if you could consider anything by Heldon/Pinhas poppy, this would be it) L'Ethique is an excellent one that screams with intensity. His latest DWW is also very good, mixing electronic compositions with other tracks featuring a full band sound: Features P. Gauthier, B. Paganotti, J.P. Goude, and others.

L'Ethique is a release by the leader of Heldon, from the early eighties. The influences that pervaded their earlier releases, moody electronic sound collages, still persist, though to slightly more accessible effect. On this release, he is assisted by some members of Magma.

I heard this sounded like Crimson. I bought Chronolyse and East/West, and didn't really get into either of them much. I still don't see the Crimson comparison.

Pinhas was the guitarist and creative force behind the legendary French band, Heldon. In many ways, his own solo work is no different from Heldon and, in fact, many songs on Pinhas's solo albums are performed by Heldon. I have five Pinhas albums, from Rhizosphere through L'Ethique. Rhizosphere is a departure from his Heldon work. On this album, Pinhas never touches the guitar. All compositions are performed on Moog 55 (the big moog) and ARP 2600 synthesizers. Except for drums (by Francois Auger) on the nearly 18 minute title track, all music is performed by Richard. Pinhas creates a variety of timbres and tonalities: bird-like chittering; sounds vaguely reminiscent of vibraphones or echoey tubular bells; thin, sinuous and reed-like notes; and, of course, fat and low pulses like only the moog can do. The obvious comparisons are to Tangerine Dream circa Phaedra (or some of Edgar Froese's solo work such as Epsilon in Malaysian Pale) and Klaus Schulze's mesmerizing work on the monumental Timewind, also Mirage or Body Love. "Rhizophere" is a duel between Pinhas's pulsating moog textures and Auger's non-stop drum riffing. At the beginning, Pinhas plays blasts of cold, sterile noise while Auger emphasizes the bleak textures with shimmering cymbal work. Soon, Richard kicks in with pulses of bass while the upper register slowly mutates through different tonal palettes. Auger eases among tom-toms and cymbals. Without rushing, Pinhas picks up the pace and Auger keeps step until both musicians are fending off each other with furious intensity. These are classic, inventive electronic works of thick texture and rich sonic variety. Additional material recorded at this time was released on Chronolyse. Chronolyse contains a side of thematic variations performed by Richard on a moog (the large console variety) and Revox tape machine. The rhythmic experiments sound perhaps a bit like Tangerine Dream in a rut. While this is nothing to get excited about, the second side is a killer 30 minute track, "Paul Atreides," performed by one version of Heldon: Didier Batard (bass), Francois Auger (percussion) and Pinhas (guitar, mellotron and ARP synths). Here we have all that is Heldon and Pinhas: dark and haunting textural layers of synth and Frippian guitar pierced by steely blasts of mellotron. (It should be noted that Pinhas was a huge fan of Robert Fripp/King Crimson, titling songs after or dedicating songs to King Fripp and his band.) Iceland followed a few years later (the tracks on Chronolyse were recorded in '76 but released much later) and is quite different from Chronolyse. The music is all guitar and electronics by Pinhas except for the closing track which features the Heldon trio again. Envision Iceland (the country) at the midnight of winter and you've imagined this album. Icy blasts of synth are intertwined with guitar over dark and despairing layers of more synth. It's easy to imagine a frozen tundra where cold winds reign and life struggles to survive as the music here is very stark. "Greenland," the track performed as a trio, is closer to Heldon/Pinhas in style but, like the country, is still very cold. The CD release offers a 25 minute bonus called, in keeping with the theme, "Wintermusic." An excellent piece, "Wintermusic" is very ambient with Frippertronics-styled layers of sound. East/West is a mixed bag, ranging from Heldon-like pieces (the two part "Houston 69" are, by far, the standout tracks) to ambient pieces written by David Bowie to techno-pop territory. The uneven nature of this release makes it a poor introduction to Pinhas. L'Ethique, however, finds Pinhas back in fine form with furious doses of his Fripp-influenced guitar (on "Dedicated to K.C." for example) and his layers of pulsating moog. Guests on various cuts include members of Heldon (as usual) and Weidorje. We find simple melodic experiments ala side one of Chronolyse, more icy works ala Iceland, and aggressive blasts of guitar and synth ala Heldon. Finally, Live, Paris 1982 is 37 minutes of previously unreleased live material included on Cuneiform's reissue of Rhizosphere. Recorded live at Bobino, Paris, this recording documents the final concert of the Richard Pinhas band. In addition to Pinhas, long-time Heldon/Pinhas associate Patrick Gauthier contributes moog, ex-Magma bassist Bernard Paganotti plays bass and Clement Bailly is the drummer, all of whom performed on L'Ethique. A dynamite performance in all ways, the Weidorje-like bass heavy rhythm provided by Paga and Gauthier is scorched by Pinhas's searing Frippoid guitar. Most of the material on this live performance is derived from and expanded upon songs of L'Ethique plus one track from D.W.W. ("1992: Iceland: The Fall") and a short "Polywaves Intermed." Of particular note is the 15 minute "Last Coda from the Western Wail" which expounds upon the two part track on L'Ethique. Paganotti pours forth some fantastic bass playing reminiscent of Weidorje and Magma while Pinhas slashes with guitar. Bailly is all over the drumkit. Outstanding! Because of the merging of both aspects of Pinhas (quiet and intense) on Cuneiform's Rhizosphere re-release, I recommend this as the starting point to get into Pinhas's solo work. You get his quiet and meditative moog work followed by the intensity of his Heldon-styled work. Follow this with Chronolyse and you have a wonderful insight into the uniquely French vision of Richard Pinhas. -- Mike Taylor

This recent Rhizosphere/Live, Paris 1982 re-issue combines what is essentially two albums on a single 78-minute compact disc. Rhizosphere is typical minimalist Pinhas material, with only two synths (Moog 55, ARP 2600) used throughout. The first four tracks are not much more than simple sequences doused with electronic effects and analog delays, perhaps to mask their lack of musical depth. Heldon drummer Francois Auger joins in on the title track, injecting a bit more life to the sound but this is still not up to par with the Heldon material. Essentially this is just Pinhas giving lessons on a Moog, and most puzzling is the complete absence of the electric guitar. The live material from 1982, however, recalls some of the glory days of Heldon. Joining Pinhas are legendary Zeuhlsmen Patrick Gauthier (keys) and Bernard Paganotti (bass) with Clement Bailly on drums. Here the music is energetic, almost frantic in spots. Paganotti turns in a jaw-dropping performance on "Last Coda," with some of the most rapid fingerwork of his career. More proof of his status as a legend is hardly needed. The rest of the live half of the CD is middling, and less than fascinating, but at least Pinhas gives the guitar a trademark workout which should satisfy the completionist. Thanks to Cuneiform, the live material presented here for the first time makes the disc worth the price. -- Dan Casey

[See Fluence | Heldon | Ose | Paga]

Never Never Land (71), What a Bunch of Sweeties (72), Kings of Oblivion (75)

I have their Never, Neverland release. It's a typical early '70s proto-prog heavy psych band, similar to Nirvana, Gravy Train, Mayblitz, etc. Plenty of extended guitar solos for the air guitarist. There are also bluesier/mellower moments. For example, the song "Wargirl" is has a feel *very* much like Argent's "(Have Another Hit of) Fresh Air." Basically, the first side of the album album ranges from Hawkwind-like heavy riffing to breezy country-tinged (ala Steve Still's Manassas) to the bluesy numbers such as "Wargirl." The second side of the album is a non-stop heavy psych jam winding up in "Uncle Harry's Last Freak-Out." Like Nirvana and High Tide, if you're into the heavier end of the progressive scene or the early UK scene, give this album a listen. This band also shared a member with Hawkwind, so Hawkfans may also want to check them out.

[See Deviants, The | Hawkwind | Tomorrow | Twink]

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (67), A Saucerful of Secrets (68), More (69), Ummagumma (69), Atom Heart Mother (70), Relics (71), Meddle (71), Obscured by Clouds (72), The Dark Side of the Moon (73), A Nice Pair (73, first two albums repackaged), Wish You Were Here (75), Animals (77), The Wall (79), A Collection of Great Dance Songs (81, comp.), The Final Cut (83), Works (83, comp. of early material), A Momentary Lapse of Reason (87), A Delicate Sound of Thunder (89), Shine On (92, boxed set), The Division Bell (94), Pulse (96)

Pink Floyd is probably the most well-known psychedelic band, although most of their output can't really be considered psychedelic. Their music is, by turns, surrealistic, lush, rockin', avant-garde, quirky, mellow, abstract. The original lineup featured Syd Barrett on guitar, Rick Wright on keyboards, Roger Waters on bass, and Nick Mason on drums. After the first album, Barrett's drug use rendered him into a state of total disfunctionality. The others recruited David Gilmour to reinforce the band, to give them a reliable guitarist. After a short time in a five-piece Pink Floyd, Barrett left. Later, during the 70's, Roger Waters gradually began asserting more dominance over the band. By the time The Wall was being recorded, Waters was ruling with such a heavy hand that the album is sometimes spoken of as one a solo album; Gilmour had to fight tooth-and-nail to be allowed to co-write a handful of songs. Wright was gone for The Final Cut; depending on which story you believe, Waters fired him; or feeling completely stifled, Wright quit. At any rate, it wasn't long before the others got fed up with Waters, and it became impossible for the band to work together any more. Amid much fighting and unseemly insults and contemptuous remarks about each other in the press, Waters and Gilmour came to a parting of the ways. Gilmour, having ended up with the legal rights to the name Pink Floyd, continued with Mason and the returning Wright under the name (much to Waters' displeasure). Since each album is distinctly different, I'll offer what I hope will be brief comments about each one: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Nice, dreamy, surrealistic, storybookish, childlike (but not childish) type stuff. Syd Barrett was the band's leader for this one, and it has a distinctively different touch from anything that followed. A Saucerful of Secrets - Barrett's gone now. This music continues in sort of the same vein, but harder-edged. The showcase of the album is the title cut, a sort-of avant-garde type piece everyone needs to hear. Ummagumma - A two-record set. The first record consists of live performances, all of which are, in my opinion, improvements over the studio versions. The guys stretch out with some psychedelic jams. The second record gives each member of the band a half-side to do anything he wants, all by himself. Kind of interesting to see what they did--some of it's pretty off-the-wall stuff, especially Waters' "Several Small Species..." - but the live record is what justifies the album. Soundtrack to More (not sure of date, but pretty sure it belongs here). Something a completist would want, but the casual listener could put it at the bottom of his music-to-buy list. Atom Heart Mother -- the title track is a side-long suite, complete with orchestra, a bluesey guitar solo, electronic effects, a section that could only be described as (and I know how ridiculous this sounds) a choir scat-singing, and ... well, the kitchen sink. In terms of pure inventiveness, probably their standout piece. Meddle - Another side-long epic, "Echoes." It's not the large-scale composition the AHM Suite is; rather, "Echoes" is more like an extended song: intro, two verses, bridge with solos, third verse, and they're off to lunch. The other side is mostly accoustic-type stuff, very nicely done, and also contains the rather intense "One of these Days." Obscured by Clouds - See comments for More; however, this album would be slightly higher on your list. Dark Side of the Moon - I suppose this is the "turning point" Floyd album. Waters' domination over the band began to really kick in here. For the first time, we see a whole albums' worth of lyrics that show a sad, cynical outlook on the world. Fortunately, Waters still had some poetry in him at this point, and the music itself is gorgeous. Wish You Were Here - Their tribute to Syd Barrett. Poignant, even sad, this album captures in its lyrics and music the sense of life's quiet tragedies. The only negative thing is that there are a couple places where the music seems to ramble on a bit too long. If not for that, I could almost consider this a perfect album. Animals - In my opinion, their most "progressive" album. What I particularly like about this one is that Waters and Co. managed to get some fascinating, innovative, evocative music recorded without doing anything that was truly weird. (Oh, yeah, some barking dogs. Big deal.) Weird is okay, actually, but to get the same effect without weirdness is a major accomplishment. The poetry I mentioned that Waters had in him four years earlier is now wearing thin; the metaphor of people-as-animals isn't exactly fresh. And he puts the idea across with "the subtle touch of the sledge hammer," as some of my writer friends sometimes say. What saves the album, lyrically, is that this idea just happens to be one that's possibly better off treated this way. The Wall - Overblown, self-pitying "World War II was a world-wide conspiracy to deprive me of my father' BS. This is not to belittle the tragedies of war and/or the loss of fathers. It can make for compelling subject matter. But notice I said "can." Any subject matter, no matter how important or compellingly tragic, can be given a treatment that would make even the most indulgent listener want to slap the songwriter around and shout, "WHO CARES???" To be honest, I don't see much effort on Waters' part to actually write lyrics; many of the songs seem not to be much more than notes for an autobiographical story or an essay. To be fair, though, it does have some nice moments--mostly on the songs Gilmour co-wrote - but I can't imagine listening to all four sides at once. The Final Cut - more of The Wall, only not as interesting. Wake me when it's over. A Momentary Lapse of Reason - Waters is gone now, leaving the leadership role to Gilmour. This album has some nice Pink Floyd style pop music, which puts it ahead of most of what you hear on the radio. Unfortunately, many of us who were seriously into the band in the mid-70's or earlier have to just shake our heads and mutter, "Surely they can do better than this.." Delicate Sound of Thunder - The live album from the Momentary Lapse tour. I didn't bother with it.

The Division Bell shows little recovery from the Momentary Lapse decline and is of little interest to those not in the grip of the Floydian dogma.

[See Barrett, Syd | Wright, Richard]

In Action (71), In Synthesized Sound (7?)

ELP-influenced keyboard prog. Supposed to be quite good despite being composed of members of Lucifer's Friend.

[See Lucifer's Friend]

Pirana (71), II (72)

Prog. Pirana II is supposed to be one of the rarest Australian prog albums.

Code III (74)

Electronic concept album.

Planet P (83), Pink World (84)

I would classify PPP as Rock; they are heavily keyboards, but not as bad as ELP, Gary Wright or Kansas was during their guitar-less stint. Lots of techno-tricks and overdubs, and all to the good. This bands history goes back to the second Richie Blackmore's Rainbow album, Rising, which included Tony Carey on keyboards. Tony started this album's first song, Tarot Woman, with an incredible keyboard solo that I believe was technically ahead of the times in 1976. I also think that Tony was probably a bit too strong for Blackmore and did not appear on anymore Rainbow albums. Seven years later Carey showed up as the driving force behind "Planet P Project," featuring the radio hits "Static" and "Why Me?." He later released a "Tony Carey" album for the masses, including a supporting video on MTV. The MTV hit from this album was more pop than rock, so I didn't bother picking it up at the time. That's the last I've heard of him. The Planet P album was released in early 1983 on Geffen Records. All music and words were written by Tony Carey. It was produced by Peter Hauke for Rockoko Production Inc., recorded and mixed at Hotline Studios, Frankfurt, Germany.

Planet P was a progressive project directed by Multi-Instrumentalist and songwriter Tony Carey, involving some other musicians along the way. The first album is brilliant electronic based rock, in a short song format, with sci-fi lyrics and riveting guitar work. The sound was vaguely comparable to Pink Floyd, but with a more secure pop sensibility and less of the space. it had a no-nonsense approach which was firmly rooted within the technical pop of the early 80's, yet evoked the feel and mysticity of 70's spaces. Unfortunately, the second album Pink World (a double LP) was nothing more than a copy of the style of Wall period Floyd, and pales by comparison.

Melodic, keyboard-rock by Tony Carey, probably comparable in parts to Barclay James Harvest in their later years.

Tony Carey's band. The first, self-titled album generated a hit song, "Why Me?," here in the States. Their name was changed to Planet P Project for the 2nd release, the double album Pink World, which was amazingly similar to Pink Floyd's The Wall. Probably too much so for many, but I really enjoyed it. Carey's vocals are more gruff than Roger Waters'. Pink World hasn't seen a CD reissue yet, unfortunately, but the first album has.

Infinity (71)

Instrumental organ-based prog, few cheesy sound f/x.

[See Cosmic Jokers]

The Plastic Cloud (68)

Early psych band from Canada. Their '68 LP is definitely in the pure psychedelic vein, with lots of fuzz guitar, and (nice) vocal harmonies that are supposed to "get inside" your head. If you are a fan of psychelic rock from 1967-1968, you might want to find this. If you don't like psych, don't bother. The LP is said to be super rare and the limited edition CD is now gone and out of print.

Armageddon (82)

This band from Greece recorded one album in 82, which was almost immediately banned due to its blasphemous lyrics, and all unsold copies of it were destroyed. Apparently the master tapes were destroyed as well, because the CD is mastered from an LP. The sound is very powerful and compelling, with strong psychedelic underpinnings, very melodic and rhythmic, in some ways comparable to Aphrodite's Child 666. Lyrics are in English and Latin (I think). This is an excellent album that most would enjoy.

Armageddon is a psych/prog conceptual album. The concept deals with the final battle as described in the Book of Revelations: Armageddon. It's roughly the same concept as that on 666 by Aphrodite's Child, a Greek psych band from a decade earlier. Musically, though, Armageddon is quite different from 666. Some songs are layers of synth and spacious electric and acoustic guitars, ala Pink Floyd or Omega. The vocals and guitars are often given a slight echo, to create a spacey atmosphere. The English lyrics tell the story of the concept. At least one song, though is spoken in what sounds to me like Latin. Regardless, the are more instrumental sections than vocal sections. One musical oddity is that the music remains kind of spacey. I would expect that the end of the earth would warrant some tumultuous music, but that is not the case here. In fact, it ends on an uplifting and hopeful note. Though I would call this mostly psychedelic, there is a progressive vibe throughout. -- Mike Taylor

Pluto (71)

Electronic music/prog.

The Seven Deadly Sins (69)

Proto-concept band that put out one album The Seven Deadly Sins, a mix of pop songs, rock and orchestrated bits, choral overlays and other weirdity. Very old, interesting, but not very progressive in the current sense.