Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Hats off Gentlemen It’s Adequate Out of Mind Review by Gary Hill I've reviewed quite a bit of stuff from this act, and you can always count on them for quality. This release is no exception. There is a wide range of sound here from mellower music to more rocking stuff. Textures here call to mind things like psychedelia, 80s pop, fusion and more traditional prog at different points along the ride. It's a compelling and entertaining journey from start to finish with some surprises at points along the road. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019 Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.

Track by Track Review

Coming Back (Time out of Joint) Rising up gradually, this works to a trippy kind of space meets fusion vibe at it starts in earnest. After the half minute mark it gets an infusion of hard rocking sound. The vibe on this has a healthy helping of Hawkwind built into it. It's a driving rocker that works well. A mellower instrumental movement around the half-way point of the track brings some Pink Floyd references in its space meets prog and fusion jam. I can make out some hints of Marillion at times on this number, too. It gets back to the song proper after a time.

When I Was a Ship This comes in as a pretty and rather intricate melodic prog motif. It grows out gradually from there in fine fashion. Around the two minute mark this launches into a more rocking jam with some killer keyboard work. A faster moving jam further down the road brings an almost 80s element blended with psychedelia and prog. As it approaches the four minute mark it drops to a piano dominated movement that brings it back toward the earlier modes of the piece. It powers back up to that 80s influenced sound from there. Piano returns to end it.

Defiance Smoking hot hard rocking jamming is on display as this kicks into gear. It's a real powerhouse number. This instrumental is such a hot tune, In fact, it's one of my favorites of the set.

De Humani Corporis Fabrica Piano opens this, and flute joins as it moves forward in a sedate way. This powers out after a time to more of a rocking jam. There are more of those 80s music hints here, but this is overall more of a crunchy AOR prog rocker. The closing bit brings some space rock to the proceedings.

The Rose That Was Red in the Dark The mellower segment that opens this makes me think of Wish You Were Here era Pink Floyd to some degree. This continues by exploring in more sedate ways. After the two and a half minute mark it powers up into more powerful territory to continue. This instrumental is quite a powerhouse jam. It's another standout with some cool territory covered.

Maze I dig the prog rock jam that opens this and drives it forward. There are hints of Mike Oldfield on this. This is another instrumental that's a standout. It runs through a number of cool changes and does a great job of combining prog rock with some fusion and more.

Stand Up I dig the keyboard sounds that open this piece. It fires out from there to some crunchy prog with flute dancing over the top of it. While comparisons to Tull are obviously with the flute, I'd consider this closer to something Nik Turner might do. It turns to a more dropped back and metallic jam from there for the entrance of the vocals.

I Miss the Stars Mellower and rather somber, this feels a bit like Marillion meets Pink Floyd in a lot of ways. The track drifts into some rather trippy sedate modes for the extended instrumental section that leads to the outro. This is a classy cut and another standout.

If You Think This World Is Bad... I'm reminded of Tangerine Dream as this works in with an electronic edged energized jam. This instrumental works through a number of changes and is dramatic and powerful.

Losing Myself I dig the trippy, moody kind of vibe on this piece. It has plenty of real prog in the mix, but also a lot of that 80s sort of sound. It's slow moving and rather sedate. It's also quite cool.

The Electric Ant I love the driving electronic groove on this number. A spoken female voice provides a lot of the vocals on this cut. As it grows out and starts rocking more I'm reminded of Hawkwind to a large degree. This is another killer cut.

Lidice Another mellower, moody piece at the start, this is quite pretty and dramatic. It does grow out a bit, but still remains rather dark and more sedate than a lot of the rest. I love the textures created by the keyboards, but everything on the track works really well. The instrumental section around the five minute mark is powerful in a mellow way, but it drives upward from there to the most rocking passages of the cut. Vocals come back in over the top as that segment drives onward. This becomes another section that makes me think of Marillion to a large degree.

More CD Reviews

Metal/Prog Metal

Non-Prog

Progressive Rock

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
© 2025 Music Street Journal Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com