Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

It's a pretty safe bet that you have never heard a band quite like this one. Their mix of sounds is decidedly artsy and freaky weird.

I previously reviewed a set from Anthony W. Rogers. This release is from him, but this time under a band name.

Perhaps this isn’t all progressive rock music.

Cherry Red Records is reissuing this album with a nice booklet and multi-layer digi-pack.

Clint Bahr has been covered at Music Street Journal previously as part of the group Tripod. This is his new solo album.

This new album from David Bainbridge is quite a satisfying progressive rock excursion.

You just can't argue with the music of Dave Bainbridge. It's always so charming and high quality.

This brand new three-CD set is all class. It gathers together the three studio albums from Baker Gurvitz Army released from 1974-1976, but you probably get that from the title.

I've reviewed a box set of this band in the current issue of Music Street Journal. In addition, I'm doing individual retro reviews of this album and the first one.

I've reviewed this album, and another from this group, in this issue of Music Street Journal. They are also both part of a box-set, reviewed in the same issue.

You might not know the name Robert Lee Balderrama, but I bet you know one of his songs.

This new vinyl release is classy stuff. First off the record itself is nice quality vinyl. Then it also includes a CD of the music (with two bonus tracks) to accompany it.

This is pretty amazing. If you believe the story behind this (more about that shortly) this is a band that played famous clubs like the UFO in London on this 1960s.

The newest album from Bangtower, this continues the fusion rock explorations of the act.

You might be familiar with Peter Banks from his time in the early incarnation of Yes or perhaps from his work in Flash. This was an improvisational band that he played with in the early parts of the 21st Century.

So, this solo album from Peter Banks was released on CD in 2009.

I've always loved Peter Banks' guitar work. This album has a lot of great guitar work, but it doesn't stop there.

This album from Peter Banks is perhaps not his strongest solo set. That said, it has some very strong material. At times it seems to lack direction and get a bit on the wandering side.

This is the third (and final) album included in the new box set from Peter Banks titled "The Self-Contained Trilogy." This instrumental album is classy.

This new three-CD set is a classy thing. It includes three full albums from Peter Banks (arguably best known for his time in both Yes and Flash).

This double disc set is quite cool. It includes a sampling of songs from several Peter Banks albums, but there are also a number of previously un-released or nearly un-released cuts, too.

This set is a rehearsal tape. That said, the band set up in a studio to start working on material that was to be an album.

I like this new Tony Banks solo album reissue. For one thing, it’s just a great album.

This was Tony Banks’ second solo album. It’s a lot more pop oriented than the first one.

Richard Barbieri is best known for his work with Porcupine Tree. This is his new solo album.

Richard Barbieri is probably best known for his work in the bands Japan and Porcupine Tree. His keyboard skills definitely bring a lot to both acts.

This deluxe reissues is remastered and expanded.

This is a remastered and expanded version of a Barclay James Harvest album.

It seems odd looking back that a few years ago I’d never heard this band. Now I’ve become quite familiar with them through multiple reviews.

This new edition of the classic album is a three disc set. The first two discs are CDs while the final one is a DVD.

This new reissue of the first Barclay James Harvest has the full album along with a bunch of bonus tracks. This album was great by itself, but seems augmented with this extra material.

Here we have an interesting release of Barclay James Harvest's sixth studio album. The CD has a bonus track, and the whole thing sounds great.

This 1972 album from Barclay James Harvest gets a major deluxe release here. This set includes four CDs and a Blu-Ray disc.

Not everything here is progressive rock. .

Martin Barre is probably best known as the long time guitarist for Jethro Tull. I reviewed his Back to Steel album when it came out, and loved it.

I’m sure some will argue with this landing under progressive rock.

There is a dense, lush texture to a lot of this music. It's quite trippy.

As you might guess, I hear a lot of new music. It takes a lot to really excite me.

John Bassett is from the band KingBathmat and I love that group.

This is a reissue of a solo album from one of the founding members of Tangerine Dream. It was originally released in the last 70s.

Peter Baumann was a founding member of Tangerine Dream. The music on this reissue shares a lot of territory with the sounds of that band.

This is a brand new two-CD edition of Be-Bop Deluxe's Sunburnt Finish album. The first CD is a new master of the original album.

This is an expanded and classy reissue of Be-Bop Deluxe's 1975 album Futurama. The disc was aptly titled as the sound was really futuristic in a lot of ways.

Drastic Plastic was the final album from Be Bop Deluxe. It was released in 1978.

I’ve loved Beatallica since I first heard them.

While some might disagree with putting this under progressive rock, I just don’t see where else it fits.

Jef Bek is a composer and musician from Chicago. He has created an album packed full of intriguing progressive rock music here.

This is basically a fusion release. At Music Street Journal we generally include fusion under progressive rock.

This set features some strong music that focuses on the fusion end of the spectrum, but does work more toward pure prog at times.

This new CD is an intriguing one. It's definitely progressive rock, but of the hard rocking, guitar oriented modern variety.

This is understated at times, but it’s also proggy.

I always put Jeff Berlin under progressive rock.

This album from Jeff Berlin is a tribute to Jack Bruce.

This new set is a double CD with bonus DVD. It captures a concert that feels more like an event than just a gig.

This instrumental album is quite strong. One might quibble with the progressive rock heading, but if it fits anywhere else it would be under fusion.

This CD collects the two albums released by Bethlehem Asylum onto one CD.

At the time this album was recorded in 1988, The Bevis Frond was one guy: Nick Saloman.

Here we get another in a series of Bevis Frond reissues.

This is definitely not progressive rock in the traditional sense of the word.

Shoegaze, psychedelic rock, space rock and prog all seem to merge on this beast.

Music this strange shouldn’t be this compelling.

This is a music CD. It's also a video album. The double disc set includes both an audio CD and a BluRay disc.

This album is made up of two epic length pieces of instrumental space rock.

This is such a classy release. First off, the heavy red vinyl record is just a particularly nice product.

I have followed Blackmore’s Night a little over the years.

I have never heard a Blackmore’s Night album I didn’t like.

This new collection from Blackmore's Night continues their tradition of classy music.

Tis the season for holiday music. You can't go wrong with Blackmore's Night. This is a newly remastered version of their classic Winter Carols album.

You really can't go wrong with Blackmore's Night. I have a tendency to think that they just keep getting better with each successive release.

I previously reviewed an edition of this album that came out in 2017. They have released this new version with a few new songs added.

I've covered Jason Blake previously as part of the band Aziola Cry. In fact, I reviewed their most recent disc in the last issue of MSJ.

This was the first of two solo albums from Jason Blake in the last year or so. I've reviewed the other one in this issue, as well.

The latest solo release from Jason Blake, this is made up of Warr Guitar solo pieces. There is a good range of sound within this set.

Jason Blake is really building up quite an admirable catalog of solo music. Blake is a Warr guitarist hailing from my regional backyard, in his case, Chicago.

I have covered a lot of music from Jason Blake. The Warr guitar player delivers quality music.

Jason Blake puts out consistently strong music.

I usually mention in these reviews that Warr guitarist Jason Blake is best known for his work in Aziola Cry.

According to the liner notes, this album was recorded live.

While Tim Blake is best known for his work with Gong and Hawkwind, don't expect that type of music here.

I've reviewed two other discs from Tim Blake for this issue. Each of them has a distinct flavor.

This is a new reissue of an album from Tim Blake. Blake is best known for his work in Gong and Hawkwind, but he also built a name for himself with a series of keyboard albums.

This new anthology from Tim Blake is quite a nice release. You get three CDs of music, some of which is previously unreleased along with a DVD of a French TV special.

This new collection gathers up three albums by Tim Blake. Blake is best known for his work in Gong and Hawkwind.

This is quite experimental. Not everything works completely for my ears.

This is definitely progressive music.

At MSJ we put fusion under progressive rock. It just seems to fit. So, the question becomes "what is fusion?"

This compilation album from Blodwyn Pig is interesting.

There was a time when progressive rock sort of emerged from psychedelic rock. In the early days, the two shared a lot of territory.

This is one of two reissues I'm reviewing in this issue from this band. Of the two, I think I like this one better.

You probably remember Blues Image from their hit "Ride Captain Ride." There is a brand new version of that tune here.

Blues Image are probably most famous for their hit song "Ride Captain Ride." Mike Pinera was not only the founder of the band, but also wrote that song and played guitar on it and sang it.

This is great stuff. It’s basically a one man creation, that man being Andy Blunda.

There is a lot of retro tinge to the sound of this album.

This masterpiece of electronic music is getting its first release on CD with this edition. It was originally released on vinyl in 1981.

Before Steve Howe joined Yes he had played in a number of bands. Bodast was one of those groups.

Is this album progressive rock? Probably not. It’s definitely progressive music, though.

Xavier Boxcher can always be counted on for some killer progressive rock music. This is a fine example.

The latest set from Xavier Boscher, this is truly a solo effort as he does everything here.

This CD features guitar heavy instrumental music.

This is guitar dominated instrumental rock. That said, it's not noodly or repetitive.

Although this is rather weird at times, it’s also quite cool.

Psychedelia and a lot more show up on this release.

This is a new edition of a classic Brainticket album from the 1970s.

This set features two different recordings, one from 1983 and from 1984. It's all instrumental and quite electronic in nature.

This is a new edition of this Brand X album.

This is a newly reissued live album from Brand X.

I like this album a lot. It seems to be more diverse than some of the rest of Brand X’s catalog.

This isn’t the easiest thing in the world to classify.

This is the latest album from French artist Patrick Broguière. The music is definitely progressive rock, but perhaps not always a completely tight fit.

I really like this album a lot. It's obviously not pure progressive rock, but there are a number of pieces that definitely qualify.

This band dates back all the way to the 1960s. This recording is from 2021.

The new set of Edgar Broughton Band music features four albums across four CDs. One of the albums has a bonus track, the other three do not.

I really wish I'd gotten this CD a month or so earlier. It would have been a perfect fit in our October issue because it definitely has a spooky angle to it.

This is a reissue of an Arthur Brown album from 1974. I generally include Brown under progressive rock in general, but most of this album fits there to some degree, either way.

I have to admit to not being all that familiar with Arthur Brown's work. Sure, I know about the stuff he did with Hawkwind and Robert Calvert and things like that.

While both songs I've reviewed from this act for this issue are dynamic, I'd say this is the further reaching of the two.

This instrumental album is pretty good.

I really love this album. It’s instrumental and powerful.

This instrumental album is truly a solo release, with Charles Brown doing everything here. There is a decent range, and this lands well in the progressive rock zone.

This is a joint disc from Claudia Brücken and Jerome Froese. Brücken (who provides the vocals - except for a few that are provided by a couple guest vocalists and just a couple songs) was best known as the lead singer of the group Propaganda in the 80s.

This 1980 release from Bruford features Bill Bruford (obvious, right?), Dave Stewart, Jeff Berlin and The Unknown John Clark. It has a number of instrumentals along with some songs with vocals.

This album, the second from Bill Bruford's solo project that went by his last name, is just getting a great remastered vinyl release from his own Winterfold Records.

This is an intriguing set. It features new rendition of various progressive rock based pieces, hence the title. These guys don't play it straight, though.

This is quite an intriguing set. It has a lot of modern, crunchy, crazed prog rock in the mix.

I guess I should mention at the start that this band is not a trio, and none of them is named "Bud Collins." It's a band name rather than a description.

Perhaps this doesn’t fit as progressive rock.

I can see some people arguing about this landing under progressive rock.

This is a purely instrumental disc.

There is something to be said for the tactile experience of opening up a new vinyl LP, pulling out the disc and feeling that heft in your hand.

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.

You can always count on Dewa Budjana to deliver high quality and inventive fusion, no matter who he's playing with. This album fulfills that promise with style.

The instrumental works presented here run a fairly wide swath.

This new album from Roland Buehlmann continues the trend of his previous release. It's truly a solo effort.

This is an instrumental album that's a bit hard to pin down. Parts are fusion oriented.

Are the Buggles progressive rock?

I’d bet you’ve not heard anything like this before. In some ways, it’s not far removed from things like Giant Squid or Green Milk from the Planet Orange.

The first disc I reviewed from these guys I decided didn’t really fit under the progressive rock banner.

You might argue with me putting this under the progressive rock heading.

This new release from Burnt Belief is all class. Like the previous one I reviewed, it's fully instrumental.

I had heard Kate Bush before the Hounds of Love album, but it was that disc that made me a fan. I still consider that set to be a masterpiece and her best release.

This 1978 release was the debut album from Kate Bush. It established her as an art-rocker and really fits well with the rest of her catalog.

The third studio album from Kate Bush, I tend to feel this was the one where her sound started to move into more dramatic and cinematic territory.

I remember that when I first tried to listen to this album years ago, I gave up on it fairly quickly. ll.

This is clearly not progressive rock in any kind of traditional sense of the word.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
© 2024 Music Street Journal Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com