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. More...
When Pus Comes To Shove Review by Gary Hill 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. More...
This is an intriguing disc from Dream Theater. It consists of one awesome 20 minute plus epic that’s a pure roller coaster ride and a series of cover tunes recorded live.
Explorer's Club - Age of Impact Review by Gary Hill This album could well be the most important progressive disc of the decade for two reasons. Firstly, by the sheer magnitude of performers on this CD.
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I have to say that for my money Planet X was (and I say "was" because I doubt they'll ever do any music again, but I'd love to be proven wrong) one of the best instrumental acts ever.
Kevin Shirley’s inspiration to bring together Glenn Hughes, vocals and bass, and Joe Bonamassa, lead guitar and vocals has provided one of the best rock/blues bands and albums of the year.
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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Dream Theater - Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02 DVD 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 - 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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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.
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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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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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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Derek Sherinian - Inertia Review by Gary Hill With this CD Sherinian continues his tradition of creating hard edged prog that is quite firmly rooted in fusion. The disc succeeds very well in creating an energetic and considerably potent instrumental mode that sends the listener on a major journey.
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 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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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, 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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I’d never seen Billy Idol perform live before. I had, however, recently seen a live DVD that made me interested in catching a live performance from Idol. Well, the man did not disappoint.
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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Since Black Country Communion arrived on the scene, still less than a year ago, they have managed two studio CD releases, and to top it off they have produced what is an absolute state of the art video, and it's tailor made for the Blu-ray experience.
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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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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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.
Derek Sherinian - Molecular Heinosity Review by Gary Hill I’ve been a big fan of Derek Sherinian for years and it seems like every album he does is a climb above the one that preceded it.
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After King’s X parted ways with their manager/producer, Sam Taylor, after their eponymous fourth album in 1992, it was only a matter of time before their Lennon/McCartney-esque pair – bassist Doug Pinnick and guitarist Ty Tabor – found additional creative outlets in solo and side projects.
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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Derek Sherinian - Planet X Review by Gary Hill This one really comes as a surprise to many. Coming from such gigs as Alice Cooper`s band and Kiss, when Sherinian joined Dream Theater, he was perceived as more the rock and roll type of style, and less prog.
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Planet X - Quantum Review by Gary Hill I have to say that when I heard Alan Holdsworth was going to be featured on this disc, my interest skyrocketed. Don't get me wrong, I love everything Derek Sherinian has ever done.
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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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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 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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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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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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Various Artists - To Cry You A Song: A Collection of Tull Tales Review by Gary Hill One of the first tribute albums ever done by Magna Carta, this one includes some intriguing arrangements of Jethro Tull songs. There are some definite winners here (witness Aqualung, To Cry You a Song, and Locomotive Breath) and no real losers.
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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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Planet X - Universe Review by Gary Hill Building on styles started on the first Planet X disc, this is a strong prog outing that includes a jazzy sort of texture. This one comes across a bit more hard rocking than the previous.
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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.
