Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

First off, I’d like to say that this is probably not progressive rock.

I'm not sure about the whole concept of putting this under the "progressive rock" heading. It's on the MoonJune label, and that's a prog label.

This is an unusual and unique release. It's very freeform. It's all done by one musician.

Except for one of its four tracks, this is a truly solo album. Natsuki Tamura plays trumpet, piano and wok.

This is an unusual release. It's under progressive rock at MSJ because of it's experimental nature.

This makes it under the heading of prog because that's where we put fusion, and that is probably the closest fit here. Then again, much of this isn't far removed from Rock in Opposition, either.

This is an unusual release in so many ways. First, there is just the configuration of the set. We have three CDs along with a nice book all in a box.

The title of this set really goes a long way toward telling what this is.

This massive set of live Tangerine Dream is part of a series.

This album finds Tangerine Dream landing heavily in the keyboard oriented electronic sound for which they were often known.

This is a recent EP from Tangerine Dream. The story behind this and the album that followed is an intriguing one since it was a path started by Edgar Froese and realized after his death by his wife and his musical cohorts.

This new double disc set includes not just the latest album from Tangerine Dream, but also the EP that preceded it.

This album is a musical exploration of a number of parks in different parts of the world. Each track, like each park, I assume, has its own distinctive flavor and character.

This album from Tangerine Dream is focused on the world that exists underwater. While this has the same electronic keyboard based sounds you expect from the band, there is a lot more guitar here.

This disc from Tangerine Dream is quite an intriguing one. It's definitely different from a lot of the catalog.

This is a brand new four-CD set from Tangerine Dream. It collects four individual albums.

You can likely figure out what this is about by reading the title. Each concert is on two CDs.

This box set of Tangerine Dream live performances is massive. It is spread across seven CDs and includes more than six hours of music.

This is a new release of a soundtrack album from Tangerine Dream. The electronic, and mostly ambient sounds here definitely fit as a movie soundtrack.

This album is designed to raise money for the Wounded Warriors project.

I've included this under progressive rock. Clearly it's not tied to the prog of the 1970s, or perhaps it is.

This is an unusual and oddly compelling set. The music lands quite firmly in progressive rock, while the vocals are often more in keeping with weird alternative rock styles.

I reviewed a previous set from this Chicago act. In that review I mentioned that the music was unusual, and even a little odd, but yet compelling.

This is a reissue of a 1969 album. It is definitely proto-prog.

I recently reviewed another album from these guys. This, like that one, is a reissue of an old album.

This new single is apparently inspired by the Charlottesville violence between white supremacist groups and protesters.

In a lot of ways this seems like Tangerine Dream or Synergy to me. It’s electronic music.

I liked Telergy’s last album, but this one is definitely superior.

Telergy consistently releases strong progressive rock albums.

To some degree you know what you are going to get with a new Tempest album.

It's hard to believe that Lief Sorbye first formed Tempest 30 years ago. This new album is a celebration of that rich history, whether you can believe it or not.

You just can't go wrong with Tempest. They consistently deliver quality music that encompasses traditional Celtic elements, progressive rock and hard rock.

This album from Tempest was released almost two years ago, July 1st 2020.

The music here was recording during virtual live performances in 2020 when the pandemic had much of the world locked down.

This probably doesn't really qualify as progressive rock. There is little to no rock music here at all.

I am sure I’ll get an argument with some readers about putting this under progressive rock.

Stephan Thelen is a member of the band Sonar, who we've covered before at Music Street Journal. This new solo album features a number of extended instrumental pieces that fit reasonably well under the "space rock" banner.

Stephan Thelen is no stranger to Music Street Journal. We've covered him with his band Sonar, but I also reviewed the first Fractal Guitar album.

As you might imagine from the title, this set features remixes of songs from Stephan Thelen's Fractal Guitar 2 album. It includes three different remixes of the song "Point of Inflection."

Stephan Thelen music is always high quality. It's also always interesting. I think this might be my favorite release from him, though.

This is progressive rock. There is a wide range of ideas within that general label, though.

I previously reviewed another set from this act. As good as that album is, I'd have to say that this surpasses it.

I’m sure a lot of people will argue with me putting this under progressive rock.

This is an intriguing set, but you can pretty much say that about everything from this act. This 2014 release is apparently a concept album that almost qualifies as musical theater.

I'm reviewing a number of releases from this act in this issue. That is in addition to some others I reviewed in the past.

I have reviewed several discs from this act in this issue of Music Street Journal. This is a disc from 2015, and it showcases their usual blend of prog angles from psychedelia to alternative rock and more.

You might notice that I have done quite a few These Curious Thoughts reviews for this issue. In fact, I think, with the ones already in the archives included, we might now have all their albums reviewed.

I have landed this under progressive rock, but it's not a tight fit, but does qualify as art music.

Third Ear Band were a band that had a unique sound. A lot of their stuff (mostly instrumental) had improvised sections.

I previously reviewed another set from this act, and this is a new reissue with all kinds of cool bonus material. These guys aren't progressive rock, but they are proto prog.

This is quite a cool set. It’s definitely heavy.

The newest disc from Third Ear Experience, if anything, this is stronger than their previous one.

With this act you can always be sure that you'll get a lot of exceptional space rock. This disc is no exception.

One thing you can almost always say about space rock is that generally changes aren't quick within the music. That's true of this album for the most part.

This was a disc I was pre-determined to enjoy. I like space music, a lot.

You can always count on 3rd Ear Experience for quality space rock styled music. I think this might be their strongest album, though, so that says a lot.

This Is It! is a trio consisting of Satoko Fujii (piano), Takashi Itani (percussion) and Natsuki Tamura (trumpet).

This is a new collection of music from Ray Thomas. You probably know Thomas as a member of the band The Moody Blues.

Chris Thompson came to fame as the lead singer for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

This is such an intriguing set. It is perhaps not a perfect fit under progressive rock, but the non-mainstream approach with space rock and psychedelia as driving factors clearly aligns it there.

3 was essentially a variant on Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but it was its own band, too. The group played ELP music, but also their own stuff that leaned a little more on the mainstream rock sound.

This is a new digitally remastered edition of a 1971 album. This band might be one that got lost in the mists of time, but that's a shame.

Once upon the time there was a band called 3. That band was Robert Berry, Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer.

The history of this act is well-known to some, but perhaps not to others. It should be of interest to all fans of progressive rock, though.

I consider this album to be prog rock. I’m sure there are plenty of prog purists who will disagree, but honestly, I can’t see it fitting anywhere else.

This might be an odd choice for progressive rock. I think it fits, though.

This album has a cool mix of progressive rock, psychedelia and a lot more.

This is certainly not included under progressive rock in the traditional sense. However, this is literally music that progresses from the norm.

If you want to hear a 1970s album that is very hard to categorize or label, you might want to give this one a try.

You really can’t go wrong with Tohpati.

You can always count on Tohpati to deliver some great music.

In a lot of ways this fits into a heavy metal or mainstream hard rock sound.

Since the last issue of Music Street Journal we’ve lost three exceptional musicians. I’m doing a retro review featuring each of them.

This retro review looks at one of Tomita's most famous albums. I've always liked this one a lot.

Prog fans who feel that Dream Theater is metal rather than progressive rock will want to steer clear of this release.

We generally land fusion under progressive rock at Music Street Journal. There are a number of reasons for that. First, most progressive fanatics also like fusion.

This is electronic music. It might not be progressive rock.

This live album was recorded at a concert to celebrate forty years of Toto music. It seems even more poignant now that it's been announced that they are hanging it up as a band.

This band bore the name of its lead singer Toyah Willcox.

Toyah has had a recent resurgence in name recognition and fame in a large part due to her videos with husband Robert Fripp that started during the pandemic.

This new set includes a CD and DVD of a concert that was recorded for the BBC in 1981. It should be noted that the DVD (and CD) include three songs that were cut from a VHS release of the concert.

This French outfit has produced an intriguing instrumental album here. It seems to live within some sort of zone that's part fusion, part classical music and part progressive rock.

I've put this act under progressive rock both because they think of themselves as a prog band, and because I think they are a modern prog outfit.

This classic Trans-Siberian Orchestra album has just been reissued on vinyl.

This is a classy set. I used to own the Medusa album on vinyl many years ago. I don't remember being all that impressed with it.

The mix of sounds on this is great.

This live album is quite good. It’s almost all instrumental.

I have reviewed the CD version of this previously.

This album is a new reissue of an album from 1991. The music here ranges from classical to more pure prog, but there are things like African tribal sounds and more here.

This new double CD set is a compilation of music from two different albums released by the outfit The Trio between 1970 and 1971.

I've debated and gone back and forth on where to land this. Psychedelia and alternative rock are big parts of the sound of this release.

This project is the new thing from Greg Lounsberry. He's a busy guy who has been the main man behind projects from Laserdogs to October Tree and more.

I’ve placed this one in the progressive rock section of Music Street Journal.

You know you are in for a treat when the lineup of the group is Markus Reuter, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. You can also figure that the music will be along the lines of King Crimson and Stick Men.

Following closely on the heels of their last release, Tu-Ner has unleashed another thrilling set of instrumental music on the world.

I reviewed the DVD of this last issue, but this time around it's the CD release. I have to say, the Tubes are a hard band to classify.

The most obvious reference here is to David Bowie.

The guitar hero type sounds of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are probably the closest reference point here.

Martin Turner is best known for his work with Wishbone Ash.

This set captures a live performance from 2010. As many will know, Martin Turner was a founding members of Wishbone Ash, and this particular tour was all about the 40^th Anniversary of that band.

This is a new album in this configuration. The whole thing has been released before, though.

Martin Turner is perhaps best known as having been part of Wishbone Ash. In fact, if you'll notice the cover of this actually says "Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash."

Nik Turner is probably best known as a former member of Hawkwind.

I was not expecting this set. It’s an instrumental album.

This is the new album from Hawkwind co-founder Nik Turner.

The latest disc from Hawkwind founder Nik Turner, this has some definite links to the sound of that band. The space rock drives this, but it's not the only game in town either.

This is an Israeli progressive rock band.

This is quite a unique and effective set.

I've never heard of these guys before. Given the strength of this set, it's my loss.

This band can be looked at as a spin-off from King Crimson. They play music that's very much in line with earlier King Crimson here.

If you just listen to the first song here, you won't understand why I landed this set under progressive rock. Stepping past that one, though, there is a prog angle on every single track.

This is a female fronted progressive rock band from the Pacific Northwest, with a strong metal feel.

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