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Liquid Tension Experiment
CD Reviews
Liquid Tension Experiment
Review by Gary Hill
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).
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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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Concert Reviews
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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Audio of this interview is available in our members area.
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Tony Levin
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John Petrucci
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Mike Portnoy
Review by Gary Hill
Interview with Mike Portnoy From 1998
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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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Tony Levin
Review by Grant Hill
Interview with Tony Levin from 2011
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Derek Sherinian
Review by G. W. Hill

Interview with Derek Sherinian from 2013


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Tony Levin
Review by G. W. Hill
Interview with Tony Levin from 2016

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Jordan Rudess
Review by Gary Hill

Interview with Jordan Rudess from 2018


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Tony Levin
Review by Gary Hill

Interview with Tony Levin from 2017


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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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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 - 5 Years In A Livetime (Video)
Review by Gary Hill
 This video, the companion to the Once In A Livetime CD, chronicles the recent history of the band through assorted video clips.
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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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Stick Men - Absalom
Review by Grant Hill

Stick Men is a unique power trio. Founded by legendary and still cutting edge bassist / Chapman Stick artist, Tony Levin, Stick Men continues to expand the horizons of modern progressive music. With the departure of fellow Stick artist Michael Bernier, Austrian touch guitar master, Markus Reuter, has joined King Crimson band-mates Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto for one of the most impressive forays into modern music. Absalom represents the first recorded portion of a planned longer CD release from Stick Men.

My impression of Absalom is that with the first listen, you’ll likely immediately be drawn into the expansive diversity of styles, sounds, and textures spread through this highly enjoyable and musically advanced EP. I have been listening to this collection for several weeks, and I can only say that the songs are growing even more on me. Each listen gives the opportunity to hear a different relationship of sounds I hadn’t noticed on the prior listen. This is very, very good music of our era. I highly recommend 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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David Young - and Friends - Love Wins
Review by Gary Hill
I initially had planned to land this under progressive rock. That was largely due to the appearance of Tony Levin and Jerry Marotta.

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Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe - Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe
Review by Gary Hill
In the late 1980’s Jon Anderson broke away from the Trevor Rabin dominated version of Yes to reunite with his former band mates, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe to produce Yes type music.
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Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe - Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe Brother of Mine / Vultures in the City CD single
Review by G. W. Hill

This single from Anderson, Bruford Wakeman and Howe is out of print, of course, but these days, it’s not that hard (or sometimes expensive) to get your hands on something like this.


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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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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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King Crimson - Audio Diary 2014-2018
Review by Gary Hill

This new five-CD collection is pretty amazing. I've said before, and will repeat it here, that this new version of King Crimson might well be the best lineup they've had, particularly in terms of live shows.


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Dream Theater - Awake
Review by Gary Hill

Looking at Dream Theater's back catalog, I decided to turn my attention to the final album to feature Kevin Moore as their keyboardist.


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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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Peter Gabriel - Back to Front: Live in London BluRay
Review by G. W. Hill

Fans of the So album will especially want to pick this up.


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King Crimson - Beat
Review by Gary Hill
Of the trio of studio albums originally released by this version of King Crimson, this was the middle child. It was also a little less adventurous than either of the other two.
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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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Bozzio, Levin, Stevens - Black Light Syndrome
Review by Gary Hill
This album by Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin and Steve Stevens is a very wonderful work. Combining elements of Red era King Crimson, jazz, and other sources,the musicianship is impeccable.
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Derek Sherinian - Blood of the Snake
Review by Gary Hill
Derek Sherinian always seems to be looking for new ways to stretch out musically and this time around he's brought a lot of friends on board to help him in that process. The end result is Blood of the Snake, a disc that is arguably his most diverse. It also might well be his strongest album ever.
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Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - BLUE Nights
Review by Gary Hill
This recording chronicles the live performances of Bruford Levin Upper Extremities from 1998. The disc showcases the band's unique blend of jazzy modes with Crimsonesque textures and, occassionally, just plain weirdness.
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Sarah Perrotta - Blue to Gold
Review by Gary Hill
I have to say that I have gone back and forth on whether this release fits under progressive rock. Ultimately, I made the decision to put it there.

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Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe - Brother of Mine / Vultures in the City (vinyl single)
Review by G. W. Hill

This single from Anderson, Bruford Wakeman and Howe is out of print, of course, but these days, it’s not that hard (or sometimes expensive) to get your hands on something like this.


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Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
Review by Gary Hill
The musicians on this disc are Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson), Tony Levin (King Crimson; Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe; Bozzio, Levin, Stevens; Liquid Tension Experiment), David Torn (Mark Isham, Bill Bruford), and Chris Botti(Paul Simon, Blue Nile).
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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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Dusan Jevtovic - City Hustling
Review by Gary Hill
This album is all about instrumental collaboration and exploration.

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Dream Theater - Dark Side of the Moon DVD
Review by Bill Knispel
In an effort to provide more material to their fervent fan base, Dream Theater created their own label, Ytsejam Records, to release a series of “official bootlegs.” These releases include interesting live shows, collections of studio demos, and “making of” collections that present works in progress for past studio album releases.
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Stick Men - Deep
Review by G. W. Hill
I really like Stick Men. Sometimes their music can be hard to describe, though.
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King Crimson - Discipline
Review by Steve Alspach
These were interesting times for Robert Fripp, ye olde scholastic of the progressive rock scene. In 1978 he had released Exposure, an album that he described as "A Day in the Life" for that period.
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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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The Winery Dogs - Dog Years - Live In Santiago & Beyond 2013-2016 BluRay
Review by Gary Hill
This is quite a cool set. First we've got a live video of The Winery Dogs.

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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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California Guitar Trio - Echoes
Review by Gary Hill
California Guitar Trio are certainly well known for creating unique progressive rock instrumental pieces.
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Specimen13 - Echosystem EP
Review by G. W. Hill

This is an EP that’s tied to a graphic novel.


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Steve Thorne - Emotional Creatures - Part One
Review by Gary Hill
What a pleasant surprise this album is! I had never really heard of Steve Thorne before, but you can bet after this one I'll be keeping track on him.

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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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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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King Crimson - Eyes Wide Open DVD
Review by Bill Knispel
Following two plus years as a “double trio,” and nearly two years of fractionalization through a series of ProjeKCts, King Crimson returned to active duty in 2000 as a streamlined quartet with the album The ConstruKCtion of Light. A second album in this newer “double duo” format titled The Power to Believe, followed in 2003.
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Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity
Review by Gary Hill
There are those who feel that Dream Theater is not a progressive rock band. However, this album contains many factors indigenous to progressive rock.
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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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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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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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Tony Levin - From the Caves of the Iron Mountain
Review by Gary Hill
This album is an incredibly unique work, beautiful and very difficult to categorize. The musicians on the album are Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta and Steve Gorn.
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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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Alice Cooper - Goes to Hell
Review by Gary Hill
This was the second Alice Cooper album as a solo performer (rather than the front man of Alice Cooper the band).

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Peter Primamore - Grancia
Review by Gary Hill
This is an intriguing CD. It does a nice job of straddling the fence between jazz and progressive rock.
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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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King Crimson - Heroes EP
Review by Gary Hill
This new EP from King Crimson is intriguing. It's bookended by their take on a David Bowie classic (the full version and a single edit). 

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Bernardo Lanzetti - Horizontal Rain
Review by Gary Hill
While Bernardo Lanzetti might not be a household name, in terms of Italian progressive rock, he really is a legend.

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The Winery Dogs - Hot Streak
Review by G. W. Hill

This band seems to really be hot right now.


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Dream Theater - Images And Words
Review by Gary Hill
Images and Words marked the debut of lead singer James LaBrie to the DT fold and his performance here showed him to be a powerhouse of talent. This disc is arguably the most metallic in the DT catalog, certainly fueling the prog versus metal debate in progressive rock circles.
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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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King Crimson - In the Court of King Crimson written by Sid Smith
Review by Steve Alspach
Few bands in progressive rock have a more colorful past than King Crimson. As Sid Smith says in the preface, the history of King Crimson is the "triumph of spirit over adversity. And sometimes the triumph of adversity."
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King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 Blu-Ray/DVD Edition
Review by Gary Hill
King Crimson is an unusual beast as a musical entity. I've been fascinated by the band about as long as I've known about them.

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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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Rick Armstrong - Infinite Corridors
Review by Gary Hill
I feel like I'm really late to the party on this artist. I have to admit that I've not heard of him before.

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Dark Sky Alliance - Interdwell
Review by Gary Hill
This is an intriguing instrumental album.

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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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Jeff Berlin - Jack Songs
Review by Gary Hill
This album from Jeff Berlin is a tribute to Jack Bruce.

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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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Rymo - Kinetic
Review by Gary Hill
Rymo is a shortened form of Ryan Moran's name, and he's best known as the drummer for Slightly Stoopid. This solo album finds him joined by a number of musicians.

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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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Tony Levin, David Torn, Alan White - Levin, Torn, White
Review by Gary Hill

There is certainly something to be said for truth in advertising. Looking at the group name and the album title, really sets the stage for the music within.


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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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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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Dream Theater - Live at the Marcus Amphitheater-August 24th, 1998
Review by Gary Hill
Dream Theater proved that, even as an opening act, they are to be taken seriously in the prog world. In fact, they made a very strong argument for deserving to be placed at a higher point on the bill, meaning no disrespect to the other bands that performed at the show.
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Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe - Live at the NEC October 24th, 1989
Review by G. W. Hill

I saw Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe on this tour and it was purely magical.


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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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Dream Theater - Live at the Vic Theater, Chicago, Illinois May 13, 1998
Review by Gary Hill
The debate as to whether or not Dream Theater is progressive/art rock still rages on. After seeing this show, I cast my ballot in the "are" category.
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Paul Simon - Live From Philadelphia DVD
Review by Gary Hill
Let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat. If you are a Paul Simon fan and own the Live at the Tower Theater DVD you have this.
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Transatlantic - Live in America
Review by Steve Alspach
It takes cajones to record an album consisting of your fifth or sixth performance ever as a band. But if you're as talented as the guys in Transatlantic, nerves are perhaps the only problem.



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Peter Gabriel - Live in Athens 1987 DVD
Review by G. W. Hill
So, I’m going to go about this backwards. Normally I talk about the main course of a DVD release first and then look at the bonus stuff.
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King Crimson - Live in Birmingham, England in September 2015
Review by John Pierpoint

I had never seen the mighty King Crimson play live before - not surprising, as I was only ten years old when the band last played my home town in 1974!


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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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Stick Men - Live in Buffalo, New York, October 2011
Review by Grant Hill

The excellent “Two of a Perfect Trio” tour was a well-publicized and equally well received series of concerts featuring the bands of King Crimson legends Tony Levin and Adrian Belew.


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King Crimson - Live in Chicago
Review by Gary Hill

King Crimson has one of the most interesting and complicated histories in all of progressive rock. The lineup is one of the most dynamic, too.


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Tony Levin - Live In Chicago, 2002
Review by Gary Hill
Have you ever seen the Tony Levin band live? If not, what are you waiting for?
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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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Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - Live in Chicago, December 9, 1998
Review by Gary Hill
This was the last show of the latest leg of BLUE`s tour. If this band makes it back on to the road again, do whatever it takes to see them.
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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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Tony Levin - Live in Chicago-June 23rd, 2000
Review by Gary Hill
Tony Levin and company did two shows for Chicago on June 23rd. The set consisted mostly of material from his new release Waters of Eden.
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Transatlantic - Live In Europe DVD
Review by Larry Toering

This two disc set wasn't an easy pick between the three Transatlantic DVD's on the market, but ultimately I chose this one because I could review it at MSJ as it hadn’t been covered yet.


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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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Sons of Apollo - Live in Houston, Texas May 2018
Review by Greg Olma

Sons of Apollo, for those of you who don’t know, are a new prog metal group featuring an all-star lineup.  


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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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The Winery Dogs - Live in Houston, Texas, March 2023
Review by Greg Olma
The Winery Dogs are back, and I couldn’t be more excited.  It has been almost eight years since I saw them on stage, and I was lucky to catch them on this your for their latest release III.  

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Tony Levin - Live in Madison, WI, March 23, 2003
Review by Gary Hill
This band never fails to deliver a smoking show! They came into Madison on a mini-tour for their Double Espresso live album.
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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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The Winery Dogs - Live in St Charles, Illinois, October 2015
Review by Greg Olma

The Winery Dogs have been tagged with the label of “super-group,” and while I agree that they deserve that lofty title, they are more than that.


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Transatlantic - Live in St. Charles, Illinois, February 2014
Review by Josh Turner

Transatlantic covered all the albums and spread their material evenly throughout the night.


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The Winery Dogs - Live in St. Charles, Illinois, March 2014
Review by Greg Olma
The words “Super Group” are thrown around a lot but very often these bands consist of only members of other popular groups.
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Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine and Sherinian - Live in Tokyo
Review by G. W. Hill

When I got this disc I was really looking forward to it. I mean, with a list of names like that how could you go wrong?


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King Crimson - Live in Vienna
Review by Gary Hill

It seems that there is quite a bit of live material being released from this version of King Crimson. That's a great thing because this line-up might be the best ever.


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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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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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King Crimson - Meltdown - Live in Mexico
Review by Gary Hill

This is truly an amazing set. Looking at just the product itself, without even considering the performances will tell you that.


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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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Sons of Apollo - MMXX (Deluxe Edition)
Review by Gary Hill

It is still pretty early in the year, but I'll be surprised if this release doesn't make my "best of 2020" list. The mix of sounds here includes metal, good solid hard rock and plenty of progressive rock.


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Neal Morse - Momentum
Review by Grant Hill

When I first saw the official video of the title cut, I became pretty excited.


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Neal Morse - Morsefest 2015: ? and Solo Scriptura LIVE
Review by Gary Hill
In 2015 Neal Morse put together Morsefest. It was a two night event. On one night of the show, he performed his ? album, while the second night they did Solo Scriptura.

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King Crimson - Music Is Our Friend: Live In Washington D.C. and Albany 2021
Review by Gary Hill
I have to say that for my money, the modern incarnation of King Crimson really is probably the best. The reason I say that is that there are distinct periods of the band throughout their history.

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King Crimson - Neal and Jack and Me DVD
Review by Bill Knispel
King Crimson’s ‘return to the throne’ in the 1980’s must have been viewed with a degree of skepticism. The band made a name for themselves in the 1970’s with their dark blend of symphonic grandeur and intense heaviness, mixed with an improvisational spirit that would drive them to push every song and performance into parts unknown.
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Neal Morse - Neal Morse Band: Alive Again
Review by G. W. Hill

This new live set from Neal Morse includes the double disc CD set and a bonus DVD. The performances are powerful. T


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Various Artists - New World Man: A Tribute to Rush
Review by Gary Hill
Here we have a new Rush tribute album from the fine folks at Magna Carta.

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Dream Theater - Octavarium
Review by Steve Alspach
For years I tried. Honest, I tried.
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Dream Theater - Once In A Livetime
Review by Sean Faust
For the past 9 years, progressive virtuosos Dream Theater (currently Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci, John Myung, James LaBrie and Derek Sherinian) have been blessing the music world with their highly textured (and sometimes ethereal) music and thought-provoking lyrics.
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Stick Men - Open
Review by G. W. Hill

Anyone who has heard anything from Stick men will know what to expect here.


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Marco Mattei - Out Of Control
Review by Gary Hill
This is an unusual release. Parts of it are full-on progressive rock.

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Steve Thorne - Part Two: Emotional Creatures
Review by Gary Hill
Steve Thorne's first Emotional Creatures CD was a masterpiece of melodic progressive rock. Well, this one is, too.
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Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (aka "1" and "Car") (vinyl)
Review by Gary Hill
This was Peter Gabriel's first solo album after he left Genesis in 1975. This 1977 release was also the first to bear the title "Peter Gabriel."

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Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (aka "2" or "Scratch") (vinyl)
Review by Gary Hill
This is Peter Gabriel's second solo album. It's definitely quite a bit different than the first one.

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Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (aka Security) (vinyl)
Review by Gary Hill
I've listed this under the actual title, which was the ever more confusing "Peter Gabriel."

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Tony Levin - Pieces of The Sun
Review by Gary Hill
Tony Levin consistently puts out musically strong, artistically driven albums, and this one is no exception. Pieces of The Sun does differ in some ways from his previous releases, though.
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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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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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Stick Men - Prog Noir
Review by G. W. Hill
This band is really coming into its own.

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Sons of Apollo - Psychotic Symphony
Review by Gary Hill

Had I heard this album last year, it would have definitely made my best of 2017 list, and been pretty high on the list. This is an amazing album.


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Explorer's Club - Raising the Mammoth
Review by Gary Hill
Explorer's Club is in session once again. This time Trent Gardner has assembled a different group of musicians that includes drummer Terry Bozzio (UK, Frank Zappa, Bozzio Levin Stevens), bassist John Myung (Liquid Tension Experiment, Platypus, Dream Theater), Kerry Livgren (guitarist for Kansas), Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery) and keyboardist Mark Robertson (Cairo).
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Jonathan Elias - Requiem For the Americas
Review by Gary Hill
I’ve wanted to review this CD for a while. The problem is, it’s been out of print.
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Tony Levin - Resonator
Review by Gary Hill
In terms of releasing consistently strong material, Tony Levin is one of the best musicians out there.

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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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Simon Apple - River to the Sea
Review by Gary Hill
So many people these days give lip service to this charity or that, but you really have to admire the people who put their money (literally) where their mouth is. Such is the case with Simon Apple as they are donating a portion of the sale of each CD to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.



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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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Dream Theater - Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live With the Octavarium Orchestra DVD
Review by Bill Knispel
Dream Theater has heavily embraced the home video/DVD market over the years, releasing five full-length videos over the past 12 years. Their latest video release, Score, celebrates the band’s 20th anniversary with a full headlining set recorded live at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall on 1 April 2006.
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Peter Gabriel - Secret World Live DVD
Review by Gary Hill
This video was originally released in 1994. It actually won a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. The sound and video quality are exceptional.
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Beledo - Seriously Deep
Review by Gary Hill
This set features some strong music that focuses on the fusion end of the spectrum, but does work more toward pure prog at times.

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Bozzio, Levin, Stevens - Situation Dangerous
Review by Steve Alspach
 Red-era King Crimson's may claim to being the best guitar-bass-drums setup in progressive rock, but Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin, and Steve Stevens are more than willing to challenge that assumption with their latest work, "Situation Dangerous". The album shows three musicians at the top of their games.
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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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King Crimson - Sleepless – 12-inch Single (Vinyl)
Review by G. W. Hill

It used to be a rule at MSJ that if something was out of print we didn’t cover it.


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Peter Gabriel - So (vinyl)
Review by Gary Hill
While I prefer the previous Peter Gabriel album to this one, there is plenty to like here.

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Peter Gabriel - So Classic Album BluRay
Review by G. W. Hill

So was clearly the album that broke Peter Gabriel into the mainstream.


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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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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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Willie Oteri - Spiral Out
Review by Bruce Stringer
Produced, recorded and mixed by Ronan Chris Murphy, "Spiral Out" is an extension of the improvisational outings that made acts like John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and Tony Williams Lifetime, King Crimson and even Frank Zappa the uniquely memorable experience that made musical history.
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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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Stick Men - Stick Men + - Midori
Review by G. W. Hill

This is a double disc set. I believe that it was also released at one point in time as two single disc sets.


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Various Artists - Still Wish You Were Here: A Tribute to Pink Floyd
Review by Gary Hill
I generally like things like this where an album is created by taking the track list of a famous album and having different artists reproduce the songs.

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Transatlantic - STMPE
Review by Gary Hill and Steve Alspach
When you talk progressive rock and the term "supergroup" comes up, this band will certainly come to mind. The band is made up of Roine Stolt of Flower Kings, Pete Trewavas of Marillion, Neal Morse of Spocks Beard and Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater.
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John Petrucci - Suspended Animation
Review by Josh Turner
I'm not one for instrumentals, but I'll make an exception for this one. John Petrucci is one of my favorite guitarists, and I'm curious whenever his name is on the credits.
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Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
Review by Bill Knispel
Dream Theater really needs no introduction. As perhaps the foremost and best-known proponent of progressive metal, they have forged a more than 20-year career.
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Tony Levin - Tales From The Widow Jane Mine VHS
Review by Gary Hill
When Levin chose to record an album in the unusual venue of an old cave, it seemed a very strange choice. This video chronicling the process of creating that music goes a long way to making it look pretty obvious.
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Stick Men - Tentacles
Review by Gary Hill
You just can't go wrong with Stick Men. The band is made up of Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter.

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Neal Morse - Testimony
Review by Steve Alspach
Neal Morse's first post-Spock's Beard album is a big pill to swallow - over two hours' worth of music that document Morse's conversion to Christianity.
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Neal Morse - Testimony 2
Review by Grant Hill

What is life? Are we just pawns in someone’s game of chess? These are just two of the life mystery questions posed in the epic album, The Suffering Joy, by Norwegian progressive rock band, Magic Pie.


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Neal Morse - Testimony DVD
Review by Josh Turner
If there is one music DVD to get this year, I have the one for you. There is no doubt in my mind that I would choose Neal Morse: Testimony Live as DVD of the year.
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Transatlantic - The Bridge Across Forever
Review by Steve Alspach
Prog's premier supergroup (Neal Morse, Roine Stolt, Mike Portnoy, and Pete Trewavas) strike again with this 2001 release. This album sounds similar to their first effort, but there are many differences that set this album apart.
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King Crimson - The Collectable King Crimson, Vol. 3: Live in London, Pts. 1-2 1996
Review by Gary Hill
I’ve never had the chance to see King Crimson live. I really regret that.
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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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Various Artists - The Drum Pad's 20th Anniversary Show
Review by Gary Hill
Drummers and drum fans unite and purchase this DVD! It features a number of world class drummers and you just don't get any better than this if your musical passion is geared towards percussion.

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The Levin Brothers - The Levin Brothers
Review by G. W. Hill

Is this album progressive rock? No.


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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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Neal Morse - The Neal Morse Band - Live in Saint Charles, Illinois, February 2019
Review by Josh Turner

In a snap, Neal Morse took center stage behind his keyboards with an arsenal of guitars in tow. Modeled after most of his creations, the music began with an overture.


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Neal Morse - The Neal Morse Band – Live in Portland, Oregon, March 2019
Review by Larry Toering

This band seem to be very pumped, and it could be coincided with the Morsefest coming on, as announcements have been going out about it while NMB are on tour.


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Neal Morse - The Neal Morse Band - Live in Saint Charles, Illinois, January 2017
Review by Josh Turner
The album, "Similitude to a Dream," is nearly two hours of seamlessly integrated music. The Neal Morse Band played it in its entirety with a single intermission where the discs split.

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Neal Morse - The Neal Morse Band The Similitude of a Dream Live In Tilburg 2017 DVD Box Set
Review by Gary Hill

Say what you will, but Neal Morse and his band are among the most talented people out there. Morse keeps releasing such high quality stuff, too.


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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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Xavi Reija - The Sound of the Earth
Review by Gary Hill

While this is released under Xavi Reija's name, the full lineup here is full of exceptional musicians. Reija handles the drums while Tony Levin delivers bass, standup bass and Stick.


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Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
Review by Scott Montgomery
From the very beginning, I felt a sense of recognition, as SMPT:E is conjured.  
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The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs
Review by G. W. Hill

When I heard the lineup on this, I assumed it would be a progressive rock release.


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King Crimson - Thrak
Review by G. W. Hill

When King Crimson reformed after the 80s period, there were definitely elements of that period still present in their sound. 


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King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair
Review by Gary Hill
When King Crimson reformed in the 1980’s to create the Discipline album the sound they presented was quite different from the classic Crimson of the 1970’s. While I liked all of the discs from this Belew, Bruford, Fripp and Levin lineup, I still preferred the “old school” stuff.
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Steve Hunter - Tone Poems Live
Review by G. W. Hill

This live album is pretty great. .


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Tony Levin - Tony Levin Band - Double Espresso
Review by Gary Hill
Tony Levin and his band tour fairly frequently, bringing their unique show to enthusiastic fans on a regular basis. It wasn't until recently, though, that those fans could have a musical documentation of that group at home.
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Dream Theater - Train of Thought
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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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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Peter Gabriel - Up
Review by Steve Alspach
Peter Gabriel has always been one to have a keen lookout on where music is, or where it's going.
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Vantomme - Vegir
Review by Gary Hill

Vantomme is named for its founder Dominique Vantomme. He is a keyboardist, producer and more.


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Jerry Goodman - Violin Fantasy
Review by G. W. Hill

This album is fully instrumental. It’s a great disc, too. Some of the music here has appeared elsewhere (although most of the time in different arrangements)


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King Crimson - VROOOM
Review by Bill Knispel
10 years following the dissolution of King Crimson following a trilogy of world and gamelan influenced albums, the band quietly rejoined forces in a small studio in Woodstock New York to create a new band and a new sound. Expanding beyond the quartet that created those 1980’s albums, the core group (Robert Fripp. Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford) was joined by new members Pat Mastelotto (drums, formerly of Mister Mister) and Trey Gunn (Stick) to create what founding member Robert Fripp called a “double trio.”
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Steve Hackett - Watcher of the Skies
Review by Gary Hill
Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has assembled a wide variety of musicians to rework many classic Genesis songs. The end result is quite interesting.
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Tony Levin - Waters of Eden
Review by Vivian Lee
Since the age of ten, bassist/stick-player Tony Levin has been a chameloid powerhouse in the world of music, having played with artists like Seal, Peter Paul and Mary, and Andy Summers; or with supergroups like King Crimson, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities and Liquid Tension Experiment.
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Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare
Review by Gary Hill
To many this classic album represents Alice Cooper at his theatric best. It is a loosely knit concept album that at times is a bit weak, at times a bit over the top, but in many ways a spooky masterpiece.
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Dream Theater - When Dream And Day Reunite DVD
Review by Greg Olma
Dream Theater is truly a prog band of the people, by the people, and for the people. I can’t think of a band that really has such a close tie with their fans.


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Dream Theater - When Dream and Day Unite
Review by Gary Hill
This was the debut disc from Dream Theater and the first album from them I ever had.
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Judy Collins - White Bird - Anthology Of Favorites
Review by Gary Hill
I know Judy Collins might not seem like the kind of artist that a prog and metal fan like myself enjoys. I've always liked her music, and especially her voice, though.

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California Guitar Trio - Whitewater
Review by Gary Hill
The first thing that I feel compelled to say is that I love the cover of this disc. It is arguably the best album cover of the entire year.

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Stick Men - With Gary Husband - Owari
Review by Gary Hill
Stick Men consistently put out quality material. So, the fact that this album is a strong as it is should be no surprise.

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California Guitar Trio - with Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto-Live At The Key Club
Review by Steve Alspach
On February 3, 2001, the California Guitar Trio played in Hollywood's Key Club. Fortunately, they also had the stellar rhythm section of Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto to accompany them.
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Tony Levin - World Diary
Review by Gary Hill
Featuring a large number of diverse musicians, this album is a considerably varied work. Released in 1995, jazz, art rock, and world textures dominate in this unique and intriguing CD, Tony Levin`s first solo album and the first release on his Papa Bear label.
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True Nature - You Shouldn't Have To Shout So Loud
Review by G. W. Hill

I’ve placed this one in the progressive rock section of Music Street Journal.


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Dewa Budjana - Zentuary
Review by G. W. Hill
This album has some vocals, but they are world type things, more as instruments. 

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