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.
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. More...
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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The Whirlwind Review by Scott Montgomery From the very beginning, I felt a sense of recognition, as SMPT:E is conjured. More...
Whirld Tour 2010 Deluxe Edition – 2 DVD & 3 CD Review by Scott Montgomery This is ridiculous!Really!The degree of virtuosity, complexity, and sheer stamina involved in performing this music live is staggering…almost to the point of absurdity.
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.
Neal Morse - ? Review by Josh Turner He did everything I would have asked of him and a whole lot more. This is his best album out of his most recent batches and one that rivals all the best from the year.
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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.
The Flower Kings - Adam and Eve Review by Steve Alspach They're nothing if not prolific. Sweden's Flower Kings are back with another excellent offering of lengthy numbers and shorter, more accessible tunes.
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Marillion - Afraid of Sunlight Review by Gary Hill Let me say for starters that I really like Steve Hogarth’s voice. I think he does a great job of serving as Marillion’s lead singer.
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The Flower Kings - Alive on Planet Earth Review by Gary Hill This live album by The Flower Kings shows that they are not just a studio phenomenon. The disc should be evidence to the prog fan that this band is one to catch live as well.
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I reviewed the two-CD set of this concert here at Music Street Journal and back then I felt that the audio was great and you didn’t need the video of the concert.
Marillion have been on a roll lately and their newest An Hour Before It's Dark is the perfect follow up to F.E.A.R.While the latter was a more somber and “glass half empty” affair, this new is a more positive and uplifting release.
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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Marillion - Anoraknophobia Review by Steve Alspach Marillion continues its path towards solid, rock-based music with Anoraknophibia, their most recent release. The band has its feet planted firmly in 2001 with its music that never gets too adventurous or exploratory.
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Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness Review by Gary Hill The leanings on this album are widespread (Neil Young, Yes, Beatles, King Crimson), and the changes are so fast as to be difficult to keep track of at times.
Circus Brimstone - Brimstoned in Europe (Live) Review by Josh Turner There wouldn't be any complaints if The Flower King's didn't make these official bootlegs available. As it is, they are so prolific it's profound.
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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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Marillion - Clutching at Straws Review by Tim Jones One of just four studio albums Marillion put out while Fish was still with them, Clutching at Straws delivers the expert lyrics and the heartfelt vocals that define the Fish-era Marillion. After this album and the band's tour, Fish left Marillion to work on a solo career; the music is awesome; the band chemistry wasn't.
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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Spock's Beard - Day For Night Review by Gary Hill Day for Night is the fourth studio album from Spock`s Beard. The album is a departure from their earlier albums in that shorter numbers has replaced the fifteen-minute suites.
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.
Karmakanik - Entering the Spectra Review by Josh Turner This is supposed to be a solo project by Jonas Reingold, but it really stands alone as a complete band. If it were good it would defy expectations.
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Marillion are now a band that does not need to pander to any record label or current trend. In fact, they create a sound that I can’t compare to anyone else.
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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The Flower Kings - Flower Power Review by Gary Hill The Flower Kings sound contains elements and leanings of the classic prog of the '70's, but is definitely still their own. Since the Stardust We Are disc, the band's writing skills seem to have matured.
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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.
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.
Marillion - From Stoke Row To Ipanema Review by Greg Olma This 2 DVD package is set in the time when Steve Hogarth took over the vocals from Fish. The first disc is kind of the bonus as it features items usually found at the end of a DVD or as the extra disc.
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Marillion - Fugazi Review by Josh Turner While Marillion is by no means a favorite among radio jockeys, it is an elite group to many progressive rock fans.
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Marillion - Happiness is the Road Volume 1: Essence Review by Bill Knispel Marillion has been fairly prolific over the past four or five years, releasing a regular stream of studio albums, live releases, DVDs and so on. When it was announced that the newest studio album would be a double, many people may have raised an eyebrow.
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Marillion - Happiness is the Road Volume 2: The Hard Shoulder Review by Bill Knispel Happiness is the Road is a double album, it is true. However, it is being released as two separate volumes. Volume 2 is subtitled The Hard Shoulder, and is a far more diverse release.
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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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The Flower Kings - Instant Delivery DVD Review by Ron Fuchs Instant Delivery is a great 2 DVD live document of the touring support of their latest (at the time) release Paradox Hotel, recorded in Tilburg, in The Netherlands on April 19th 2006.
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Neal Morse - It's Not Too Late Review by Steve Alspach Neal Morse is showing that there are two sides to his musical persona - one as the leader of Spock's Beard, but another that shows that he is at home writing well-crafted rock numbers.
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Kaipa - Keyholder Review by Josh Turner I was really curious to hear this album. At best, I digested the previous release, Notes from the Past, which left me with a little heartburn.
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Spock's Beard - Kindness of Strangers Review by Gary Hill Considered by many to be one of the best of the new wave of progressive rock bands, Spock`s Beard was formed in 1992 in Los Angeles.
Marillion - Less Is More Review by Gary Hill Marillion chose to record a collection of their Hogarth era songs with just acoustic instrumentation. More...
This brand new release from Neal Morse finds him moving from his usual Christian lyrical territory into slice of life stories that seem poignant and personal. Musically he creates sounds that are among the most mainstream and pop-rock based of his career.
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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Kino - Live at CalProg, Whittier, CA, 2006 Review by Lorraine Kay CalProg 2006 was a full day of great prog-rock from across the country and the UK. Held in the Whittier Community Center, in Whittier, CA, a small community in Los Angeles County, there is always a family-friendly atmosphere in the 400 seat facility
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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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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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Spock's Beard - Live in Chicago IL, August, 2000 Review by Steve Alspach Opening for Dream Theater, Spock's Beard played a surprisingly short set. With their new album, "V" due out shortly, one would think that the band would have played a few songs from that album, but it wasn't to be.
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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The Flower Kings - Live in Chicago, IL, August, 2008 Review by Josh Turner I had twisted my ankle earlier in the week and was experiencing heat exhaustion upon my arrival. It was an unusually bad day for me. Yet, everything with fine with the universe once The Flower Kings took the stage.
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When Marillion rolls into town, it’s a special event.Ever since their tour in 1997 for This Strange Engine, I have not taken Marillion touring the US for granted.
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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Marillion - Live in Chicago, June, 2005 Review by Josh Turner If you get a chance to see Marillion in concert, don't miss the opportunity. They were much better live than I could have ever imagined.
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Marillion - Live in Chicago, October 2nd, 2004 Review by Steve Alspach Marillion hit the Midwest for the first time in seven years as part of their world-wide "Marbles" tour. Before a sold-out crowd, the band played the songs from the single-CD version of the album as well as a history of the Steve Hogarth-era band.
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I was lucky to catch Marillion back in 2016 on their first run of F.E.A.R. tour dates,so when they decided to come back to the United States for another group of shows, I just had to attend, this time in Dallas.
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.
Having not followed Neal Morse’s post Spock’s Beard and TransAtlantic career, you could imagine my surprise when I learned that Neal Morse has redirected his amazing musical talents towards promoting God’s word, “Prog Style.”
By their own accord, they weren’t at their best. They were jetlagged and forlorn after a long flight and many hours of desperate searching for a needed piece of equipment at countless stores in the windy city.
The Flower Kings - Live In Palatine, IL, 2002 Review by Gary Hill Talking to those in attendance after this show it is obvious that there were two types of fans in the audience. On the one hand there were those who ate up the entire set, savoring, and even reveling in the improvisational jamming that was spread throughout the band's set.
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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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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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Marillion - Marbles Review by Steve Alspach Aylesbury's finest come back with Marbles, their first studio 2-CD. Marbles is prog at its finest - the band knows how to write and play in a more conventional structure, but they haven't lost their knack to construct longer pieces that never meander.
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The great thing about Marillion is that they are rewriting the way a band interacts with their fan base.They were the first (to the best of my knowledge) to use crowd-sourcing to put out music and fund tours.
Marillion - Marbles On The Road DVD Review by Greg Olma There have been volumes written about Marillion and the debate of who is/was better, Steve Hogarth or Fish, stills goes on to this day.While some will continue to bemoan the exit of Fish, most of us fans have given the “new” line-up a definite thumbs up. More...
Marillion - Marillion.com Review by Gary Hill Seeming to maintain some of the style of Radiation, this album also hearkens back to an older Marillion era while still reaching into the future.
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Dream Theater - Master Of Puppets Review by Greg Olma From the beginning, Dream Theater always gave the fans something special. When they go out on tour, if they have a 2 night stay at any venue, the second night becomes “cover” night.
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Dream Theater never do anything half way.They created the masterpiece Metropolis: Scenes From A Memory and then decided to play the whole thing on tour.
Kaipa - Mindrevolutions Review by Josh Turner I'm a big fan of Kaipa's "Keyholder". The year it came out, it was second in my book only to The Tangent's "The Music That Died Alone".
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Marillion - Misplaced Childhood Review by Gary Hill This album was my first exposure to Marillion, and the first thoughts that I had were that they sounded a lot like Genesis, and the real Genesis, not the pop stuff that the band was putting out by that time.
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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.
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.
Neal Morse - Neal Morse Review by Steve Alspach On "Day for Night," Spock's Beard songwriter, frontman, and head whisker Neal Morse said that he wanted to put emphasis on the songs rather than the long suites so prevalent on their first few albums.
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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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Neal Morse - One Review by Josh Turner While Testimony is spoken in the first person, One is in the third. Neal has the knack for relaying meaning through song. He tells a smooth flowing story, yet it's nowhere near a monologue.
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The Flower Kings - Paradox Hotel Review by Steve Alspach You gotta admire the Flower Kings' work ethic. On the heels of Roine's solo album "Wall Street Voodoo" comes the latest album from Sweden's no. 1 progressive group, and it's a 2-CD set to boot.
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Kino - Picture Review by Steve Alspach Any prog-rock "conglomeration" will get my attention. From Emerson Lake and Palmer (they pretty much were the first ones in that genre, right?) to today, you really can't go wrong with any of them.
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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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Marillion - Radiation Review by Gary Hill Radiation is an album that shows a band stretching so far from their origins that they are essentially redefining themselves
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Marillion was always a band that seemed to do things on their own terms.For example, the band released this live album after just two studio releases, which was not the norm for bands at the time.
Marillion - Recital Of The Script Review by Greg Olma In the early 80's, when I was a young lad, my life revolved around the music coming out of Europe. I was totally immersed into the NWOBHM and my trusty friend Kerrang magazine kept me up to date with all the new bands.
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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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Spock's Beard - Snow Review by Steve Alspach The parallels are amazing. A band, noticed for its work in progressive rock, releases for its sixth album an epic tale of a young man making his way in the world, only to have the band's lead singer surprisingly pack it in and leave the band.
Who says progressive rock can't be serious and showcase a spirit of fun at the same time? Obviously anyone who says that has never seen Spock's Beard live.
Neal Morse - Sola Scriptura Review by Josh Turner This album is outstanding. If there was any stronger word to use in its place, I’d have chosen that instead to sanction my approval.
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I don’t know why I always look at Somewhere Else as a companion disc to Marble, because they are very different releases.Marbles flowed from one song to the next whereas Somewhere Else has a more eclectic vibe.
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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The Flower Kings - Space Revolver Review by Gary Hill The newest release from the Flower Kings finds them both staying true to their trademark sound and moving in new and unusual directions. We definitely find signs of both on this potent album
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The Flower Kings - Stardust We Are Review by Gary Hill This album is the latest by Swedish band The Flower Kings. Featuring a fresh approach on influences from many classic prog bands, this is a strong release.
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The Tangent - Stars and Pyramids Review by Josh Turner If you missed them at ROSfest 2005, you missed the best thing they've done so far. If you haven't even seen them live at all, it is essential you hear this disc.
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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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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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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.
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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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.
Marillion - The EMI Singles Collection Review by Greg Olma I had no idea that Marillion had this many videos. I'm sure that many of these were never shown on MTV so I guess I can be a bit forgiven for being ignorant of these little video treasures.
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Spock's Beard - The Light Review by Gary Hill This album shows influences from many prog directions (Yes, Genesis, Alan Parsons) and nonprog directions (metal, Elton John). .
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.
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.
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.
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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The Flower Kings - The Rainmaker Review by Gary Hill The Flower Kings return with their latest dishing of their particular flavor of progressive rock. The group typically has a style that is very hard for journalists to keep up with because it changes so briefly.
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The Flower Kings - The Sum of No Evil Review by Josh Turner When I receive a Flower Kings’ album, it’s a personal event of the utmost importance. The only problem is finding a long-enough lunch, a shady tree to idle under, or a stretch of asphalt that’s sufficiently-straight.
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The Tangent - The World That We Drive Through Review by Josh Turner With all the hype, this was setting itself up to be the disappointment of the year. So, how good is The World That We Drive Through?
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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 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.
The Flower Kings - Unfold The Future Review by Steve Alspach Sweden's most prolific progressive band returns with another two-CD album of songs that shows the band's willingness to try any and all musical styles. Fans of this band will find this to be another excellent album in the band's catalogue.
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Spock's Beard - V Review by Steve Alspach The fifth album from Spock's Beard shows them to be at the forefront of current progressive music. In this album the band is able to play exciting, adventurous music without ever becoming self-indulgent or pompous.
Roine Stolt - Wall Street Voodoo Review by Josh Turner As usual, this artist is hard-at-work and boy is he busy. It's ironic when you consider how many artists are so preoccupied with the promotion of a single album and then take years to develop it.
Karmakanik - Wheel of Life Review by Josh Turner To say this disc would be as good as the band's debut would be saying a lot. The first one offered a variety of styles.
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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.
