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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Gumshen

Progtronica

Review by Gary Hill

This is progressive rock. It’s not the progressive rock of the 1970s, though. That said, there are sections that are heavily influenced by that sound. This is a very diverse set that still manages to flow and work extremely well. It unusual, but it’s also quite effective. I’d highly recommend it to fans of modern progressive rock.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Bell Ringer

As this starts it makes me think of Mike Oldfield a bit. As it continues, though I make out Saga, The Buggles and more. I like the melody lines to this a lot and the layers of keyboards are lush and tasty. This is cool stuff. While keyboards dominate the arrangement we do get some cool, almost jazzy guitar soloing later in the piece.

Stipulation
Electronica, Beatles like pop and more merge on this rocker that is a bit playful and fun. It’s not the most proggy thing here, but there is enough progressive rock on display to land it there. There is even some electronic dance like music here. That said, some killer classic rock meets fusion guitar soloing is heard, too.
Fine One to Talk
Folk rock and country seem to merge on this number. That said, there overlayers of sound bring plenty of progressive rock to the table and that element gets more and more prominent as the cut continues. I love the echoey, almost shoegaze styled guitar solo later in the tune.
Liquid
Mixing electronic music with a hard rocking sound and even a bit of a soulful groove, this is great stuff. It just oozes cool. I’m reminded a bit of the Buggles on this one, too, mostly in some of the atmospheric layers. I really love some of the harder rocking moments later, too.
Bait and Switch
Hard edged and a bit weird, this is also proggy and very cool. It’s very much in keeping with a lot of modern progressive rock.
Fragile We Are Castles

They definitely saved the best for last. This is an extended (more than eight minutes) piece that is closely tied to classic progressive rock. It’s an awesome piece of music that most often makes me think of Yes, but sometimes calls to mind Genesis, too. It’s not completely an instrumental, but large sections are sans vocals and different instruments take the lead at different points. All in all, this is great stuff.

 
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