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Dixie Dregs
CD Reviews
California Screamin'
Review by Larry Toering
If I were to be asked if I thought this were among the best Dixie Dregs to be released over the years, I would have to reach for my soapbox and say “no,” for several reasons.

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Dregs Of The Earth
Review by Larry Toering
In 1980 this music was not an abundant commodity, and that is why it remains one of my favorite prog albums of all time.

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Night Of The Living Dregs
Review by Larry Toering
This is a half studio, half live recording, and one of the best Dixie Dregs outings from which to choose.

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What If
Review by Steve Alspach
What If was the second album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1978. The band left Capricorn after one album and signed to Polydor (which may have been a good move - those who had never heard the band would not be blamed if they thought that this band from Miami, signed to Capricorn, would be another southern-fried boogie band).

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DVD Reviews
Dixie Dregs - Live at Montreux 1978 DVD
Review by Gary Hill
Anyone wanting to see what makes the Dixie Dregs so special would do well to check out this awesome DVD. This band is so tight and purely smokes!
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Related Articles
Steve Morse
Review by MSJ Admin
Interview With Steve Morse from 2002



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Jordan Rudess
Review by Josh Turner
Interview with Jordan Rudess From 2004
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Jordan Rudess
Review by Gary Hill
Interview With Jordan Rudess From 2001



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Jordan Rudess
Review by Gary Hill
Interview with Jordan Rudess From 1999

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Steve Morse
Review by Gary Hill
Interview with Steve Morse from 2010
Audio of this interview is available in our members' area. Log in on the main page or sign up today - memberships start at just six bucks.

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Jordan Rudess
Review by Gary Hill

Interview with Jordan Rudess from 2018


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Brian Tarquin - & Heavy Friends – Guitars for Wounded Warriors
Review by G. W. Hill

This album is designed to raise money for the Wounded Warriors project.


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Deep Purple - + Orchestra Live At Montreux 2011 – BluRay
Review by Larry Toering

You have to respect Eagle for all they do concerning their artists’ current work and re-issues, as they have been on a serious roll lately in particular. 


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Various Artists - 108 Rock Star Guitars written by Lisa S. Johnson
Review by G. W. Hill

This is the quintessential coffee table book. That’s particularly true for those who love guitars.


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Jelly Jam - 2
Review by Gary Hill
Included in the prog section because of the line up (Ty Tabor (King's X John Myung (Dream Theater) and Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs), not necessarily the music, this is the second release from Jelly Jam. Frankly, if you don't have the first album, pick that one up first.
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Jordan Rudess - 4NYC
Review by Gary Hill
Jordan Rudess writes in the liner notes to this CD that the concert from which much of the material on this disc is from was set to raise money for the Red Cross in the wake of September 11th, 2001.
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Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
Review by Dan Fredrickson

Fans of Dream Theater will be very happy with this CD; it has everything that their fans would hope to hear.   


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Scott McGill / Michael Manring / Vic Stevens - Addition By Subtraction
Review by Gary Hill
Formed by Scott McGill (guitar) and Vic Stevens (drums), this is almost a band, but really a project. The duo, having played together in McGill's Hand Farm, recruited bassist Michael Manring (Attention Deficit) and keyboardist Jordan Rudess (Dregs, Dream Theater) to complete the outfit and record this album.
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Jordan Rudess - All That Is Now
Review by G. W. Hill

This is a solo piano album.


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John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess - An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess
Review by Gary Hill
This is actually a reissue of an out of print disc featuring Dream Theater's guitarist extraordinaire John Petrucci in duet with their keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess. There is, without any surprise, some great musicianship on show here.
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Rama - Andy West With Rama-Rama 1
Review by Gary Hill
For this album Andy West (Dregs) has compiled an intriguing bunch of musicians who join him at various points on the recording. Among those he has a cast of drummers composed of Rod Morgenstein (Dregs), Jonathan Mover (GTR) and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater).
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Steve Morse and Sarah Spencer - Angelfire
Review by Gary Hill
This collaboration is an interesting disc. It tends towards mellower, acoustic driven music.

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Various Artists - Animals Reimagined - A Tribute To Pink Floyd
Review by Gary Hill
Animals is, without question, my favorite Pink Floyd album. it's actually pretty high up on my list of best albums of all-time, too.

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John Wetton - Anthology Volume 1: Studio Recordings
Review by G. W. Hill

This anthology of songs from John Wetton is quite strong. It’s not all progressive rock, and for the most par even when it lands there, it’s more in the AOR end of the spectrum.


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Deep Purple - Around the World Live DVD Set
Review by Gary Hill
This is an amazing set and well worth the price of admission. You get four DVD’s (three full concerts and a documentary) all encased in a classy box.
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Various Artists - Back Against the Wall
Review by Gary Hill
There are few people who haven't at least heard of Pink Floyd's The Wall. I would hazard to say that those who have never heard the album are in the minority as well.
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Steve Morse - Band – Live in Baden – Baden Germany March 1990 DVD
Review by Gary Hill
This is a reissue of the classic Steve Morse Band performance from 1990.
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Steve Morse - Band – Outstanding in Their Field
Review by Gary Hill
The latest disc from Steve Morse and his band, this is exactly what you’d expect.
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Band of Brothers - Band of Brothers
Review by Gary Hill
Brian Tarquin is one of the three guys who are listed as making up Band of Brothers. The other two are Phil Naro and Reggie Pryor.

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Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Review by G. W. Hill

This is such a great album.


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Brian Tarquin - Brian Tarquin Project - Vegas Blue
Review by Gary Hill

You can always count on Brian Tarquin to put together some strong projects, This is no exception.


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Dream Theater - Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02
Review by Greg Olma
Dream Theater have decided to beat the bootleggers by releasing their own material and cutting them out of the picture.  Now, I know that you can't do that completely because the band tours constantly and they only have a limited amount of product on their label Ytsejam Records.
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Dream Theater - Chaos In Motion DVD
Review by Greg Olma
I like being a Dream Theater fan. Not only do you get great music, but they tour a lot and lately, they seem to put out a visual record of every tour.
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Billy Sherwood - Citizen
Review by G. W. Hill

A contender for best of the year, this is arguably Sherwood’s best solo album ever.


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Jon Lord - Concerto for Group & Orchestra
Review by G. W. Hill

The music here is, by definition, a marriage of classical and rock sounds in three extensive pieces.
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Jon Lord - Concerto For Group And Orchestra – Mediabook Edition
Review by Larry Toering

Just weeks before Jon Lord's passing in 2012, he finished work on what he took pride in being his ultimate achievement in the studio. 


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The Prog Collective - Dark Encounters
Review by Gary Hill
This new set from the ever-changing group of musicians recording under the name "The Prog Collective" does feel a little darker than some of the rest of their music.

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Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Review by Greg Olma

Dream Theater has been releasing records for 30 years now, and I’m happy to say that while there has never been a bad Dream Theater album, this new one is one that I would rank towards the top. 


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Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Review by G. W. Hill

I discovered Dream Theater very early and became a big fan.


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Various Artists - Drum Nation Vol. 2
Review by Gary Hill
The concept is simple but unique: put together a number of tracks from various artists showcasing influential and potent drummers. This was the concept for Magna Carta's first drum nation CD, and they continue it here - why mess up a good thing?
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Various Artists - Encores, Legends and Paradoxes
Review by Gary Hill
With a cast of players that reads like a prog "who`s who", this ELP tribute takes the classics and makes them fresh and new again. The result is an incredibly listenable piece of music that really entertains.

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The Prog Collective - Epilogue
Review by G. W. Hill

This is quite a cool set. The main man behind this is Billy Sherwood, and I always like the stuff he does.


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Jordan Rudess - Explorations
Review by G. W. Hill

The bulk of this album consists of compositions Jordan Rudess created and performed with an orchestra.


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Various Artists - Fanfare For The Uncommon Man: Official Keith Emerson Tribute Concert 2 DVD / 2 CD Box Set
Review by Gary Hill
In 2016 there was a concert held as a tribute to Keith Emerson. This amazing package captures that concert.

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Jordan Rudess - Feeding the Wheel
Review by Gary Hill
This solo release by keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess covers a lot of musical territory, ranging from hard edged prog and neo-classical to classic era jazz and fusion. The result is quite an entertaining work.


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Various Artists - Fly Like an Eagle - An All-Star Tribute to Steve Miller Band
Review by G. W. Hill

Cleopatra Records loves doing these tribute albums, typically with Billy Sherwood in charge.


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Flying Colors - Flying Colors
Review by Larry Toering

Flying Colors, for once in a long time prove that rock music can still be everything it's supposed to be in a landscape that constantly attempts to limit it.


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Un1son - Fountains of Gold
Review by Gary Hill
Actually a test pressing, this release by Rick Neuhoff`s project UN1SON is a solid prog album, although a bit roughly mixed at times. The lyrics to the album are poem`s from Wendy Vig`s Fountains of Gold book, which is illustrated by Yes` Jon Anderson.
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Deep Purple - From Here to inFinite BluRay
Review by Larry Toering
This is an upgrade to the movie that came with Deep Purple's latest album, for which they just released a Gold Edition.
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Levin Minnemann Rudess - From the Law Offices of Levin Minnemann Rudess
Review by G. W. Hill
This new album from Levin, Minnemann and Rudess is a masterpiece
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Ian Gillan - Gillan’s Inn
Review by Rick Damigella
Setting convention and professionalism aside for one moment… I am a card carrying Ian Gillan fan. I have seen him live numerous times, have listened to countless hours of his singing from throughout his storied career, from the Javelins through multiple incarnations fronting Deep Purple to his stint as Jesus.
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Dream Theater - Greatest Hit (...and 21 other pretty cool songs)
Review by Gary Hill
You know, a band with one real hit might be bitter. From the humorous title of this set, it seems like that’s not the case with Dream Theater.
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Carmine Appice - Guitar Zeus
Review by Gary Hill

This set has some killer music. It might not be quite metal, but it might be.


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Steve Morse - High Tension Wires
Review by Larry Toering

This is Steve Morse's first real solo outing, and it is still considered one of his very best albums.


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Platypus - Ice Cycles
Review by Gary Hill
The second release from Platypus, this is good fun prog with a classic rock edge. At times it is Floydish, at times Dregsish, but all with this particular group's style all over it.
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Dream Theater - Images And Words Live In Tokyo/5 Years In A Live Time DVD Set
Review by Greg Olma
This DVD set is a no frills set that basically took the two videos and put them on DVD.  I’m not complaining.

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Deep Purple - In Concert With The London Symphony Orchestra DVD
Review by Gary Hill
The whole nearly clichéd concept of doing a concert with a symphony orchestra is, thankfully, starting to fall out of style. Just you don’t misunderstand, there are some instances where it works really well, but more often than not it comes across as a gimmicky concept that falls pretty flat.
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Kansas - In the Spirit of Things
Review by G. W. Hill

By the time this album was released, Kansas seemed to really be struggling to find their place in the music scene.


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Gerald Peter Project - Incremental Changes, Pt. 2
Review by Gary Hill
This is a very strong album. The music here has elements of classical music, fusion, progressive rock and much more.

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Deep Purple - Infinite
Review by Larry Toering
Deep Purple and producer Bob Ezrin return with what could be (and most believe will be) their swan song offering.

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Nick D' Virgilio - Invisible
Review by Gary Hill

On the one hand, Nick D'Virgilio has been out of Spock's Beard for a while now. That means that perhaps the mentions of the band and comparisons aren't entirely appropriate.


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Jordan Rudess - Jordan Rudess / Steve Horelick - InterSonic
Review by Gary Hill

This would land under progressive rock under just about any circumstance at MSJ because of the fact that it's a project by Jordan Rudess. That said, while this is not rock music, it is progressive.


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Various Artists - Legends Play The Beatles
Review by Gary Hill
This new album showcases a lot of cool Beatles covers from a number of artists. It's actually compiled of tracks previously released on a number of albums.

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Levin Minnemann Rudess - Levin Minnemann Rudess
Review by G. W. Hill

In the early parts of 2013 I was kind of under-impressed with the music coming out.


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Various Artists - Light My Fire - A Classic Rock Salute To the Doors
Review by G. W. Hill

I’ve always been a big fan of the Doors.


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Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment
Review by Gary Hill
Due to be released on March 10th, this album by Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe), Jordan Rudess (Dregs, Rudess Morgenstein) and Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci (both of Dream Theater), much like the Black Light Syndrome CD by Bozzio, Levin, Stevens was written and recorded over the course of six days (with the exception of some keyboard and guitar overdubs). This album is in fact rather similar to Black Light Syndrome, but with the musical changes being a bit more dynamic and possessing a generally higher energy level.
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Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment 2
Review by Gary Hill
If you are into prog, and buy only one album this year, by all means, make it this one. The first Liquid Tension Experiment album was wonderful, and this one is even better.
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Dream Theater - Live At Budokan
Review by Greg Olma
Dream Theater have always made a point of only releasing quality product. Whether you like it or not, you always have to admit that the recordings and videos were done in the best possible way.
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Dream Theater - Live at Budokan BluRay
Review by G. W. Hill

I’ve got to admit that I go through phases with Dream Theater.


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Dream Theater - Live at Luna Park BluRay
Review by G. W. Hill

This is arguably Dream Theater’s best live video released thus far.


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Deep Purple - Live at Montreux 1996
Review by Gary Hill
Deep Purple has always had a special place in my heart. When I first started getting into hard rock a friend turned me onto the In Rock album and I was amazed.
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Deep Purple - Live at Montreux 1996 DVD
Review by Gary Hill
Sometimes it's all about the impression. I saw Deep Purple once quite a few years back, and frankly, I found them to be boring.
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Deep Purple - Live At Montreux 2011
Review by Larry Toering

As a major fan of Deep Purple, I am approaching this with a more informative angle, to not only shed any overly biased factors, but explain a few things from within the Purple frame of mind.


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Deep Purple - Live at the NEC DVD
Review by G. W. Hill
This comes from the 2002 tour. Jon Lord had announced his retirement from Deep Purple. Don Airey was the new keyboardist. 

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Dream Theater - Live at the Riviera Theater, Chicago IL, August 12, 2000
Review by Steve Alspach
Dream Theater were on their Metropolis 2000 tour, and they performed a number of songs from their latest album, "Scenes From a Memory", but they performed a solid two hour-twenty minute show that never let up in intensity. The band opened with "Metropolis" from their most recent album.
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Planet X - Live From Oz
Review by Gary Hill
Oz in this case is Australia, not the land of that fabled wizard or the prison show. The album was recorded live on June 13th, 2001 at the Corner Hotel, Richmond, Victoria, Australia.
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Dream Theater - Live in Boston, MA, August 2005
Review by Josh Turner
Dream Theater was pretty good, but not excellent. With the exception of a couple songs, most of them have been performed untold times in past concerts.
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Dream Theater - Live in Chicago, August 2009
Review by Greg Olma
If you are a Dream Theater fan then you know Mike Portnoy takes a lot of effort in making sure that each time the band visits a city, they play a different show. 
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Dream Theater - Live In Chicago, February 13th, 2000
Review by Gary Hill
When a band releases a concept album, there is always the temptation to come out on tour and do the entire album from beginning to end. Quite a few bands have tried it.
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Dream Theater - Live in Chicago, July 19, 2003
Review by Gary Hill
As someone who has seen Dream Theater live quite a few times, let me say that this show has me a little perplexed. First, I was never one to fall into the bandwagon of their detractors who said that they were all about playing millions of notes with no passion or musical theme.
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Dream Theater - Live in Chicago, March 2006
Review by Josh Turner
I've seen Dream Theater live on many occasions. They consistently maintain a high level of quality and innovation.
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Deep Purple - Live in Concert
Review by Gary Hill
This is an unusual, but interesting release. Each CD is from a different concert, and actually a different era of the band.

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Liquid Tension Experiment - Live in Downey, CA, June 2008
Review by Michael Bader

Downey, California is best remembered for the spacecrafts, fighter jets and B-1 bombers built there over the past three or four decades.


More (and larger) photos from this concert are available in our members' area.



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Flying Colors - Live In Europe DVD
Review by Greg Olma

Flying Colors is a prog super group that has been around for quite a few years now.


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Dream Theater - Live in Holmdel, New Jersey, July 2010
Review by Bill Knispel
Dream Theater has not been an opening band for a very long time.

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Dream Theater - Live in Houston, Texas, March 2022
Review by Gary Hill
It has a been a little while since I saw Dream Theater, so I was very excited to finally purchase tickets. 

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Deep Purple - Live in Las Vegas, Nevada, August 2017
Review by Larry Toering
Maybe it was overkill, but I haven’t found any evidence in my recall of this concert to back that.

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Deep Purple - Live in Portland, Oregon, September 2019
Review by Larry Toering
Of all the Deep Purple tours of America in the past 15 years, this is only the second actual headlining tour I can think of, as I’ve attended all of them myself.
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Deep Purple - Live in Rockford, IL, 2005
Review by Mike Korn
Deep Purple don't play all that many dates in the U.S. anymore, preferring to concentrate on the more lucrative foreign markets, so it was quite a surprise to see they got a gig here in Rockford. This is a band that got its start the same year that Led Zeppelin did and they have been prolific since that long ago year of 1968.
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Deep Purple - Live in Roseburg, Oregon August 2014
Review by Larry Toering
Deep Purple came out on stage with a vengeance and blew the crowd off their feet by the end of the opening number.
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Dream Theater - Live in Rosemont, IL May 13, 2008
Review by Greg Olma
Dream Theater hit the road again but this time it is more of a tour package instead of the usual concert with a support group. Titled Progressive Nation 2008, Dream Theater headlined a four band bill that consisted of bands hand picked by Mike Portnoy.
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Dream Theater - Live in Rosemont, IL, August 2007
Review by Greg Olma
I was surprised when I bought my ticket for this Dream Theater show. The past few tours that I saw them, they were the only band and it was billed as “An Evening with…”
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Flying Colors - Live in St Charles, Illinois, October 2014
Review by Greg Olma

Flying Colors, for those of you who don’t know, is a prog super group that has been around for a few years now.  


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Deep Purple - Live in Ventura, California, August, 2007
Review by Rick Damigella
Deep Purple stormed through Southern California in August as part of their current world tour, playing three shows from San Diego to Ventura over five days. I took in two of the gigs, the first being in Costa Mesa at the long underutilized Pacific Amphitheater and then the very next night at the Ventura Theater.
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Dream Theater - Made in Japan
Review by Rick Damigella
There are only a handful of bands with the boldness, chutzpah and talent to record and release a series of official live bootlegs where they cover another well known band’s album.
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Various Artists - Magna Carta Guitar Greats – Volume I
Review by Grant Hill
These Magna Carta sampler discs serve as a great way for people to sample a number of their releases without having to shell out the cash for each and every one of them. I'd have to say that as these things go, this is one of the better ones – and they are all quite good.
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Dewa Budjana - Mahandini
Review by Gary Hill

Dewa Budjana is one of those artists you can count on for consistent quality. In terms of style of music, he's less consistent, but that's actually a good thing.


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Steve Morse - Major Impacts
Review by Gary Hill
Steve Morse has come up with a very intriguing concept for an album in this release. The disc is an all instrumental excursion through his varied influences.
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Steve Morse - Major Impacts 2
Review by Steve Alspach
I suppose it makes sense that if Steve Morse can't really be pegged to any one style, it's because his influences can't be pegged either. On Major Impacts 2 Morse continues to pay respect to the musicians who caught his ear.


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Dream Theater - Master Of Puppets
Review by Greg Olma
From the beginning, Dream Theater always gave the fans something special. When they go out on tour, if they have a 2 night stay at any venue, the second night becomes “cover” night.
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Dream Theater - Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York DVD
Review by Greg Olma

Dream Theater never do anything half way.  They created the masterpiece Metropolis: Scenes From A Memory and then decided to play the whole thing on tour.  


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Various Artists - Modern Drummer Presents Drum Nation Volume One
Review by Steve Alspach
If you want to know what the state of drumming is circa 2004, you would do well to check this CD out. These drummers are all at the top of the game, and the CD explores a rather wide range of styles and moods.
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Robby Steinhardt - Not In Kansas Anymore: A Prog Opera
Review by Gary Hill
Robby Steinhardt was probably best known as the violinist for the band Kansas. He was certainly a unique individual in the prog rock scene of the day playing that instrument.

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Deep Purple - Now What?!
Review by G. W. Hill

I definitely would not put every Deep Purple album in progressive rock. This one, though, certainly qualifies.


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Deep Purple - Now What?! (Special Edition CD+DVD)
Review by Larry Toering

To make it back after seven years culminating into eight for a studio album at this stage in the Deep Purple legacy was a big risk, but one I find to be smaller than the last time the name went eight years in existence without an album, which was 1976 to 1984.


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Dream Theater - Octavarium
Review by Steve Alspach
For years I tried. Honest, I tried.
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Various Artists - Poetry of the Air: A Collection of Love Letters to Music from Musicians written by Gary Hill
Review by Greg Olma
I have known Gary Hill for a while now and the one thing that I can say with complete certainty about him is that he takes his music seriously. 


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Kansas - Power
Review by Larry Toering

This is the first Kansas album to feature Steve Morse, and it holds up very well.


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Robert Berry - Prime Cuts
Review by Gary Hill
The latest release in the Magna Carta series Prime Cuts, this time the attention is turned on Robert Berry's considerable work on the label. The first point I need to bring up is somewhat of a mixed one here.
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Steve Morse - Prime Cuts
Review by Gary Hill
Joining Magna Carta's Prime Cuts series is this release of music by Steve Morse. The majority of the material comes from three solo albums of his, Split Decision, Major Impacts 1, and Major Impacts 2.
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Mike Portnoy - Prime Cuts
Review by Gary Hill
Mike Portnoy now has his own entry in the Magna Carta Prime Cuts collection. This disc, as the rest of the series, features selected tracks from albums that the artist has contributed to, presented here as sort of a slice of some of the best of the work from him.
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Jordan Rudess - Prime Cuts
Review by Josh Turner
Jordan Rudess is "technically" the best keyboardist in the business. When you limit this contest to progressive rock, it's a no-brainer.
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Billy Sheehan - Prime Cuts
Review by Steve Alspach
Ever play a bass guitar? "Strings" are a misnomer - they use great big, fat, wires. You have to work up some muscle in your fingers to aptly play a bass.
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Various Artists - Prog Box
Review by Gary Hill

I've been looking to do a retro review of this box set for a while. I finally had the opportunity this time around.


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Deep Purple - Purpendicular (Reissue)
Review by G. W. Hill

This new reissue of Purpendicular includes two bonus tracks.


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John Wetton - Raised in Captivity
Review by Gary Hill

The latest solo release from John Wetton finds him with a lot of great guest appearances. 


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Deep Purple - Rapture Of The Deep (Special Edition 2CD)
Review by Greg Olma
Deep Purple never seems to get the respect that they deserve. Everyone talks about Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as the creators of the hard rock sound.
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Jordan Rudess - Rhythm of Time
Review by Josh Turner
Jordan Rudess is a virtual virtuoso. His must be an android based on the way that he plays.
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Dream Theater - Santiago, Chile 12/6/05 DVD
Review by Greg Olma

I have said it many times, Dream Theater are a band of the fans for the fans.


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Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory
Review by Vivian Lee
Since 1985, the five-man outfit named Dream Theater has offered progressive rock fans thoughtful and emotional music that makes them marvel and ask, how do they do that? DT's brand of prog vividly shows eclectic, hard-to-place influences, which include jazz, neo-classical, and ethnic music forms.
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Dream Theater - Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live with The Octavarium Orchestra
Review by Bill Knispel
Dream Theater closed their 2006 20th Anniversary tour with a sold out show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Joined onstage by a specially assembled orchestra, the band performed two sets.
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Flying Colors - Second Nature
Review by Larry Toering

This band has succeeded the sophomore curse by not trying to defeat it, but succumbing to all of the cliches and eclectic efforts to do so.


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Steve Morse - Sects, Dregs and Rock N' Roll - BluRay
Review by Larry Toering

This film consists of four long hours of  live material from 1999, 2001 and 2002.


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Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Review by G. W. Hill

This isn’t a favorite Dream Theater album for me.


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Alberto Rigoni - Songs for Souls
Review by Gary Hill
Alberto Rigoni is a bass player. In terms of playing music, that was always my first and most prominent instrument, too.

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Various Artists - Songs of the Century: An All-Star Tribute To Supertramp
Review by G. W. Hill

I am a big fan of pretty much anything Billy Sherwood is involved with and I love Supertramp, so when I heard Sherwood was in charge of assembling an all star tribute to Supertramp, I was excited.


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The Prog Collective - Songs We Were Taught
Review by Gary Hill
The Prog Collective releases compelling progressive rock album after album.

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Vapourspace - Sonic Residue from Vapourspace
Review by Steve Alspach
Here's an interesting concept - take songs from various releases from a progressive rock record label and let the music be transformed by a techno mix until it's nearly unrecognizable from the original source.
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Steve Morse - Split Decision
Review by Gary Hill
According to the liner notes, this album is named "Split Decision" because Morse had in mind two different albums, one a hard rocking collection and the other a sedate set of pieces.
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Various Artists - Stay Tuned – Bernhard Welz - All Stars Charity Album
Review by Larry Toering
Stay Tuned is the third album in a charity series by Bernhard Welz.

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Various Artists - Steinway To Heaven
Review by Gary Hill
It seems like a rather novel, but still somewhat obvious concept. Take various keyboardists, mostly from the world of progressive rock and have them record various classical piano pieces.
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Steve Morse - Stressfest
Review by Larry Toering

After Steve Morse found himself in Deep Purple by way of Joe Satriani's rather swift exit due to contractual obligations, or so the story goes, this was one of his opportunities to continue in the fiery direction he was going in on his solo albums with Dave LaRue on bass and Van Romaine on drums.


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Various Artists - Tales From Yesterday
Review by Gary Hill
A tribute to the music of Yes, Tales From Yesterday, features some very fine renditions of Yessongs performed by a variety of artists (including several past and present members of Yes). This is a mixed bag. Some of the tracks are quite faithful to the original, while others represent major reworkings.
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Dream Theater - The Dark Side of the Moon
Review by Bill Knispel
As a way of providing something different and special to their fans, Dream Theater began a series of cover shows in 2002. Whenever the band were scheduled to perform two nights in the same venue/city, they would dedicate part of their second show to a performance of a classic album, covered in its entirety.
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The Fusion Syndicate - The Fusion Syndicate
Review by G. W. Hill

What an amazing set this is.


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Flying Colors - The Making of Flying Colors DVD
Review by Larry Toering

When this band broke on the scene in mid 2012, the fans were expecting a lot, and a lot is what they got and then some.


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Dream Theater - The Number Of The Beast
Review by Greg Olma
Dream Theater has never been a band that does things without giving 110% effort and value. To beat the bootleggers, Dream Theater has created its own label to release live shows along with studio demos and assorted material otherwise unavailable to the public.
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Joe Lynn Turner - The Sessions
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This is essentially a compilation disc of cover tunes from Joe Lynn Turner.

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Various Artists - The Show That Never Ends
Review by Gary Hill
This album is a compilation of various progressive rock performances that were presented on the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show. All of the outings are quite good, and the selection of artists is also. 



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Kansas - There’s Know Place Like Home DVD
Review by Greg Olma
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Deep Purple - They All Came Down To Montreux – Live at Montreux 2006 DVD
Review by Gary Hill
When it comes time to figure out a list of the best videos of the year, this one will be very close to the top. While I enjoyed the DVD of Purple’s earlier Montreux appearances, this one is heads above that one.
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Deep Purple - Total Abandon: Australia '99
Review by G. W. Hill

This live album from Deep Purple finds the band in a killer performance.


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Review by Gary Hill
When I heard Dream Theater was releasing another album, this immediately piqued my interest. Dream Theater had been my gateway into the Progressive Metal genre.
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Review by Gary Hill
This is a very unusual Deep Purple album, yet there is no mistaking it as Deep Purple. It's also a lot of fun.

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Carmine Appice - Ultimate Guitar Zeus
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An album like this could be a tricky venture. Essentially the concept is a series of songs with the same basic core band.
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Dream Theater - Uncovered 2003-2005
Review by Greg Olma

Dream Theater continues to release great CDs through their Ytsejam Records label.  They have released live discs and demos but this one is kind of odd as it is a compilation of songs from different sources.  


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Various Artists - We Wish You a Metal Christmas And a Headbanging New Year (2010 Edition)
Review by Gary Hill
This is a reissue of a CD I’ve already reviewed – with a few extra cuts.
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Various Artists - We Wish You a Metal Xmas...and a Headbanging New Year
Review by Gary Hill

So many times discs like this are really uneven. Well, that’s not the case here.


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Platypus - When Pus Comes To Shove
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Combining elements of many `70`s styles, including prog, in a fresh mode, When Pus Comes To Shove is a strong work that should really hold up to the test of time.
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Deep Purple - with Orchestra - Live in Verona
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I know there are those who disagree with me, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider Deep Purple to be a progressive rock band.


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Various Artists - Working Man
Review by Gary Hill
One of the early Magna Carta tribute CD's, this one is definitely not one of their finest. It does have some strong points, though, and the main area in which it is lacking is vocals.
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