When Tesla released Five Man Acoustical Jam back in 1990, who would have thought that a new type of performance would emerge within metal and even prog?  

Asia may not have been the first band to tour Russia but they certainly made their mark during this concert that was captured in 1990.  By this time, the band had lost Steve Howe and replaced him with Mandy Meyer for the Astra album.  

Dr. Space is the main guy behind Øresund Space Collective.

This act is definitely not progressive rock. However, they play a form of fusion that is often heavily informed by world music.

On the one hand, Nick D'Virgilio has been out of Spock's Beard for a while now. That means that perhaps the mentions of the band and comparisons aren't entirely appropriate.

This new CD is a real powerhouse. It is jazz, but a fusion-based jazz.

This act is generally not considered prog. I, however, think that the dreamy, trippy sort of texture in the mix, along with a lot of the jazz elements put it within striking distance of the genre.

I've reviewed quite a few releases from this act. They always produce compelling and intriguing progressive rock.

This is a new CD release of an album only available on vinyl (and cassette - I know because I own the cassette still) previously.

Chris Ianuzzi's music is not progressive rock in any kind of strict definition. He produces a form of freeform artsy electronic music, though.

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 new set is part of a series of releases, that I treat as separate artists. Perhaps I should have started doing it differently.

Jupiter Hollow's brand of prog is certainly not something that a lot of prog purists will get behind. It's often metallic.

While this isn't traditional progressive rock, it has plenty of prog built into it for it to land there.

I'll say right out front that this is perhaps not the most obvious choice to land under progressive rock. The music is largely electronic, though, and has proggy vibes to it.

This is being billed as jazz, and certainly that is the main element here, though. It's really a fusion-leaning type of jazz, though, and we generally land that under prog.

This is an intriguing set. I've landed it under the prog rock heading because much of it fits as "art rock." There is an artsy vibe to most of the set, really.

This new album features multi-instrumentalist Carlos Severe Marcelin who is part of the Sally Tomato band. The album is instrumental except for one cut.

This is quite an intriguing release. L. Shankar performs the vocals, the violin (technically double violin) and keyboards.

The sound this California band produces is melodic rock. There is plenty of modern AOR styled prog in that tapestry, though.

This new reissue of a 1977 album from The Strawbs is classy. It includes the original album along with a number of bonus tracks.

This album in some ways is a bit an oddity. It was recorded in 1978, but for various contractual and other reasons, it wasn't released until 1995.

These guys don't qualify as progressive rock in a traditional sense. However, their brand of indie-rock is proggy enough to fit the bill as far as I'm concerned.

I tend to be a bit liberal with what I put under the progressive rock heading. I'll admit that part of that comes from the fact that half of each issue has to be prog.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this album. Well, it really blew me away.

This single is heavy and quite classy. It is definitely not old school metal, but it clearly fits into the nu-metal zone.

I have put this album under heavy metal. That's mainly because of the guitar sound.

A multi-continental band, RSC (at least on this tune) ply a form of heavy metal that's well rooted in classic hard rock. These guys would have been at home doing music like this in previous eras.

Let's make this clear right at the start, this album is not heavy metal, really. After all, it's an acoustic guitar based set.

This EP showcases a cool band. While the lead vocals are of the female variety (Vicky Starr), I actually only realized that on one song. This is an edgy, old-school hard rocking release in terms of the vocal presence.

Patrick Ames' political goals for this song are obvious. Fans of the current occupant of the White House might have a problem with that.

There are instances where less is more. I think that might have been the case here.

This is a very strange set. Look at the cover to the disc, and scan the titles to the songs.

This new release is all class. From the cool looking vinyl to the bonus postcard, the packaging is great.

I previously reviewed another set from this act. I think I like that one a bit better than this one, but I'm not positive about that.

I previously reviewed another set from this artist. In that review I remarked that it probably wasn't for people who like a high level of polish to their music.

This feels quite retro. That said, it doesn't fit into one time period.

Alternative rock with a pop music edge is perhaps the overlying theme here. There is some definite variance along the road.

There is a definite country vibe here, but I wouldn't consider this to be country music. It's probably closer to folk rock, but even that doesn't really capture everything about this.

There is quite a bit of variety on this set. There are a few constants, though.

This is a hard set to pin down. There is a lot of Americana here, but it also works toward dreamy territory, psychedelia and more.

Here is proof that you can create modern pop songs, with all the usual trappings, and make them work.

If you dig old-school jazz, you should find plenty to enjoy here. This set features a nice variety of sounds and pieces, all set in a vintage jazz style.

As you can probably gather from the cover, this act is essentially a duo (Merideth Kaye Clark and Jenn Grinels)., but there are joined by a couple of other musicians on some of the tunes here.

This is the first single from British act SONI. The tune has a real retro feeling to it.

Sonic Fuel is a Tennessee based rock band, and this is their new single. These guys (at least with this song) don't seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel or create a particularly unique sound.

I've previously reviewed another set from this set. I remarked in that review that there were definite hints of Steely Dan.

This new set is a real powerhouse. Don't expect a lot of polish here. This is raw rock and roll that leans heavily on the punk end of the spectrum.

This a brand new release from Les Techno. I guess the mask on the cover probably tells you that it's new, though.

This new set is quite strong. It has a lot of retro texture built into it.

This is the latest single from Shawna Virgo. The cut finds her referencing roots music along with alternative rock and more. It's an intriguing number that works well.