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.
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).
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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Steve Morse Review by MSJ Admin Interview With Steve Morse from 2002
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.
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.
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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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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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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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.
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. More...
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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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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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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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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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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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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.
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.
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.
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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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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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.
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. More...
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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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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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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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 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.
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.
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 never do anything half way.They created the masterpiece Metropolis: Scenes From A Memory and then decided to play the whole thing on tour.
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 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.
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.
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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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 - 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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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.
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 - 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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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.
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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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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