If you like melodic prog that leans on the AOR side of the equation, you are likely to enjoy this release. It's a solid set that has some moments of sheer brilliance.
Ice Age - The Great Divide Review by Gary Hill It would be easy to describe this album by saying that it is very Dream Theater influenced. It would also be somewhat inaccurate. Yes, there are a lot of Dream Theater influences throughout, but there are other leanings here as well.
More
Ice Age - Liberation Review by Gary Hill Ice Age, Josh Pincus, Jimmy Pappas, Hal Aponte and Arron DiCesare have released Liberation, the follow up to their critically acclaimed debut, The Great Divide.
Illusion - Out of the Mist/Illusion Review by Steve Alspach There are fewer musical bedfellows stranger than the Yardbirds and Renaissance. The seminal 1960s blues-psychedelia-based band featuring Beck, Clapton, and Page seem to have little in common with the group that put the rock in Rachmaninov. More
Carlos Severe Marcelin is a busy guy. Not only is he part of the Sally Tomato group, but he just released a solo album and this collaboration project with drummer Eric Flint.
This is such a cool album. It's modern in some ways, but really the grounding is within the more old school type of prog. There are symphonic things here, jazzy prog elements and more.
As more and more of these projects come out, I wish I had organized the first ones differently. Each successive album from this act gets a higher number.
Here we go again with the name changing from album to album. I mean, it's somewhat cool and fitting, but it sure makes it hard for a site like Music Street Journal because all of these incarnations have to be pulled together by related article links.
This is quite a special album, in more ways than one. For one thing, the blend of electronic music, art rock, psychedelia, prog and more has earned it a place in my "best of 2018" list.
IO - Strange Tales From The Urban Circle Review by Gary Hill In fairly sedate prog modes, this is Canadian prog. The band seems a lot more interested in creating strong melody lines and coherent songs than they are in who is going to take a solo and in what way to enshrine the instrumental break.
More
IQ - The Seventh House Review by Steve Alspach I don't know what it is about bands like IQ that I find endearing - well, they're not one of those "bobblehead" bands that are springing up on every corner, for one thing - but I get the impression that they do what they do not to make a grand statement, but simply because it probably never occurred to them to do anything else.
More
IQ - Dark Matter Review by Steve Alspach Having reviewed the last Jadis album, my curiosity was piqued by the fact that two of the band members were from IQ. I found their latest CD (independent CD stores - ya gotta love 'em), and gave it a spin.
More
Izz - Ampersand Volume I Review by Josh Turner For those not already familiar with Izz, this is one of the best bands of the genre. As for their sound, there are many similarities to Spock's Beard in their songwriting and style.
More
Definitely progressive rock in the '70's tradition, this album takes elements of many classic prog bands and combines them into a mix all their own. Among the bands who Izz seems to give a stylistic nod to are Yes, Genesis, UK, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Renaissance.
This new release from Izz could well be their best yet. It's also a contender to land on my "best of 2019" list. The modern take on classic prog sounds works very well.
