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 Purple by VITOUS,MIROSLAV album cover Studio Album, 1970
4.72 | 10 ratings

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Purple
Miroslav Vitous Jazz Rock/Fusion

Review by BrufordFreak
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

5 stars Recorded in New York City on August 25, 1970, under the supervision and production of Miroslav's current bandleader, Herbie Mann. Herbie had just started his own music production label, Embryo, and here acts as both producer and distribution agent for this, 23-year old Miroslav's second record as a bandleader. Of the four hot-shot 30-somethings that participated in Miroslav's debut solo album nine months before, only John McLaughlin returns (and he only for one song).

A1 "Purple" (9:40) Billy Cobham's drums are so attention-grabbing that one forgets to listen to Miroslav's bass--which is supposed to be the lead instrument. Even when Billy is only playing rims and light toms (while Joe and Miroslav duet and duel) he is still mesmerizing. (Perhaps it's the way he's mixed: so forward and mostly on the left.) Still, Joe and Miroslav are both mighty impressive throughout. (This might be one of the more impressive Joe Zawinul performances I've heard--though it took two tracks of the electric piano to do so. I like it!) Billy's just putting on a show. (How can the others not want to just stop and watch in awe and wonder?!) Miroslav returns to bowing his double bass in the eighth minute (preparing us for Stanley Clarke). Great stuff! And not just for the phenomenon that was the young Billy Cobham. (He was 26 at the time of this recording). (18.5/20)

A2 "Mood" (7:34) Billy's on brushes for the opening of this one as Miroslav and Joe establish a soft, plodding pace with their calm spacing of their notes and chords. Miroslav picks up the bow to issue the first plaintive tones of melody and then Joe gets a turn to respond--just like a relaxed conversation over a bottle of red on a late-night couch review of a couples' day. The like attunement between the three artists throughout this song is really something to behold. A veritable masterpiece of three artists being mentally and spiritually "synched." (15/15)

B1 "Water Lilie" (8:57) the song opens with some quiet, spacious yet-very pregnant interplay between the three musicians (Miroslav, Billy and John McLaughlin) with Billy merely holding a beat on his hi-hat while the John plays around with some amazing chord selections (some of which was heard on Tony Williams' first Lifetime record [in Vashkar"] and some of which will be heard in their different states of evolution on his first Mahavishnu Orchestra albums). Miroslav is triple-tracked with electric bass, bowed double bass, and electric piano all playing within the same areas of the song. How interesting to have John's guitar chord play vying for attention with all three of Miroslav's instruments. I wonder how this was recorded: Did John have the benefit of playing with any of Miroslav's tracks--live or recorded? Unfortunately, the song is more interesting for trying to follow/predict each of its five nearly-independent feeling tracks. Fortunately for me, the listener, Seņor Cobham is never unleashed so I am able, therefore, to pay close attention to the work of McLaughlin and Vitous. (18/20)

B2 "Dolores" (4:10) recorded rather differently than the first three songs: with both drums and bass rather quieter or back further in the mix--the band is down to a duo now, but Billy Cobham and Miroslav have more than enough to offer on this Django Reinhardt-like jam. I love the way Billy's cymbal work matches all of the vim and verve that Miroslav puts into his bass and then the toms fill the spaces where Miroslav rests! Excellent entertainment. Too bad there wasn't anything as memorable as the album's opening song. (8.875/10)

B3 "It Came from Nowhere" (5:18) Another "quartet" with Billy Cobham delighting and impressing on his drum kit while Miroslav plays electric bass, bowed double bass, and a pretty impressive electric piano. Tbis one feels a little less finished, more haphazhard and uninspired (especially from Billy) than Side One's songs. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 35:39

This album may be where I find my favorite work from Joe Zawinul. The trio especially seem to have an incredible rapport and ease with one another as I've never heard Miroslav feel this much "a part" of an organic whole--though for three of the songs it took three tracks of his own expression to accomplish. Still, a very impressive album. I'm sure Herbie Mann felt no surprise (or misunderstanding) when Miroslav left him to fly off in another direction (to Weather Report) after their next album together.

A/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion featuring four artists reaching the absolute peak of their powers (but not yet fully aware of such).

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 Veil by DRIFTING SUN album cover Studio Album, 2024
4.30 | 17 ratings

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Veil
Drifting Sun Neo-Prog

Review by alainPP

4 stars 'Veiled' begins rural, theatrical, with a Mecano tune yes 'Hijo de la luna' it's beautiful, nostalgic, cracklings and a crystalline piano arpeggio, the orchestral keyboard; we see the dancer in the bottle.'Frailty' entry into the album and the direct slap; two symphonic minutes reminding me of the best Arena in the neo-prog vein; an air of melodic gadget inspector, the Hammond bringing warmth, playful rhythm, the theatrical vocal imposing this operatic title on an enjoyable side. Break with choir and pom-poms, a vibrant Kansas violin that of Suzi; the melodic, gently sloping, grandiloquent finale and the distant guitar solo giving goosebumps, all for a goddess story; nostalgic genesisian finale. 'Eros and Psyche' again the airy piano, leering air on Alan Parsons Project; synth flirting with Arena's 'Butterfly', the neo well in place; the explosive, fresh, cheerful chorus of the nostalgic opening; Ralph all in delicacy. Jargon's solemn vocal 'The Thing' before the folk-prog refrain of a Viking assembly; the melodic air before starting on a creamy synth solo, yes it makes you want, eyeing what Tony did from Genesis; moving guitar solo which echoes the thoughts of the fighters, all amplified by Fudge; a cappella finale with Ralph showing his dexterity in breathtaking echo stereo.

'2-Minute Waltz' nervous grand piano, playing with the keys and showing the importance of classical in prog, a little virtuoso interlude. 'Through the Veil' with the Genesisian Hammond, the drums and the heavy guitar for the powerful intro, a redundant tune of 'Frailty'oui the inspector, before letting the sound go on a progressive flight handling rock, pop and synths modern Saga; text on dementia and its agonies with a solemn ending. 'The Old Man' nostalgic, melancholy atmosphere giving way to hope; the voice is more reminiscent of Michael from Saga; guitar supported by the keyboards before escaping on a solo where the wah-wah pedal lets go, rises and explodes for an enjoyable finale with deafening silence. 'Cirkus' syncopated tune, melody from 1001 nights, a waltz, a drunken work, beautiful work by Jon; the tune from the beginning of the album returns here, introducing the theatrical concept effect; the dissonance is required, jarring the listener accustomed to a neo-consensual sound; accordion break from the jerking 'Time of the Gypsies'; this hubbub becomes bewitching with a folk, Olympian chorus; the progression with the keyboard throwing out its notes for the guitar to land on; the haunting finale to create the lack.

Drifting Sun has released a very beautiful album of creative neo-prog rock, captivating, danceable and energetic, a new sound.(4.5)

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 Grand Opening and Closing by SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM album cover Studio Album, 2001
3.73 | 129 ratings

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Grand Opening and Closing
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum RIO/Avant-Prog

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

4 stars The debut album from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, opening with the immediately gripping Sleep Is Wrong, is the shocking answer to the question nobody thought to ask: "What if a band took its inspiration from the most horrifying moments of Mr. Bungle, then crammed in a bunch of influence from Rock In Opposition/avant-prog groups like Univers Zero or Thinking Plague at their most dark?" With Carla Kihlstedt's enigmatic violin work adding an extra dose of tension and widening the sonic palette, and the rest of the group splitting their duties between more conventional rock instrumentation and more esoteric instruments, this is certainly highly varied in sound, but a keen appreciation for their musical influences shines through and makes sure that whilst their approach is highly unusual, there's clearly a distinctive aesthetic vision involved and they're not just making random noise. Grand stuff indeed; their other two albums of the 2000s were great too, but they're clearly building on the foundations already laid by this album. Here is where their truly groundbreaking work took place.

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 Tales From the Thousand Lakes by AMORPHIS album cover Studio Album, 1994
4.13 | 5 ratings

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Tales From the Thousand Lakes
Amorphis Progressive Metal

Review by UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" is the second full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Amorphis. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in Finland, through Relapse Records in the US, and through Nuclear Blast Records in Europe in September 1994. It's the successor to "The Karelian Isthmus" from 1992 and there's been one lineup change since the predecessor as keyboard player Kasper M'rtenson has been added to the ranks, making Amorphis a quintet on this release. "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" proved to be a huge commercial success for the band and the label, and it kickstarted Amorphis international career.

While "The Karelian Isthmus (1992)" certainly is a decent quality Scandinavian styled death metal album, it's not an album which stands out much on the scene, and had Amorphis continued down that path it's doubtful they would have been able to make such a long and successful career from playing music. Stylistically "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" may retain some of the Scandinavian old school death metal elements of its predecessor, but Amorphis add a great deal of melody, ethnic folk atmosphere (the lyrics are inspired by the great epic book of national Finnish folklore "Kalevala"), vintage keyboards (Moog, organ), and more moderne keyboards/synths, clean vocals, and traditional heavy rock/metal influenced riff and rhythms, to their sound, which ultimately makes "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" a very different sounding album to "The Karelian Isthmus (1992)", and maybe more importantly it also sounds quite different from any other contemporary release. Other contemporary artists playing similar styles like Paradise Lost, Tiamat, Sentenced, and Cemetary, only share the heaviness and the melancholic leads and gloomy atmosphere of their music with Amorphis. Other than those features they are completely different sounding artists.

The most death metal oriented feature on "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" is arguably the growling vocals by guitarist/lead vocalist Tomi Koivusaari and even in that department there have been some changes as Amorphis have enlisted Leningrad Cowboys vocalist Ville Tuomi to sing clean vocal parts on the album. The clean vocals are not a dominant feature on "Tales From the Thousand Lakes", but they make quite an impact when they appear...maybe as a result of them appearing relatively sparsely. The use of keyboards/synths is quite dominant though and one of the defining elements of the music. The opening instrumental "Thousand Lakes" showcases this immediately, but a track like "Black Winter Day" also features dominant use of synth (moog) and on closing track "Magic and Mayhem" there's even an electronic and psychedelic tinged techno influence. It's a pretty interesting track when those influences are combined with the dark heavy rocking doomy death metal core sound of Amorphis.

"Tales From the Thousand Lakes" features an organic, powerful, and well sounding production, which suits the material well, and upon conclusion it's a high quality album release by Amorphis. It's not just a step forward for Amorphis, it's a giant leap and a significant change of their core sound, and they really did create something unique here, which their audience clearly embraced considering the fact that the album sold a large number of copies and became Amorphis international breakthrough release. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

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 The Uncrowned King - Act 2 by EVERSHIP album cover Studio Album, 2022
3.95 | 40 ratings

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The Uncrowned King - Act 2
Evership Neo-Prog

Review by TenYearsAfter

4 stars About the previous album The Uncrowned King, Act 1 by this USA five piece band I wrote "Evership its music is beyond original but it sounds very pleasant, especially if you like Seventies and Eighties Kansas, Styx and Journey." Well, during my first listening session of this new Evership album I notice that the band sounds more elaborate and less derivative than on The Uncrowned King, Act 1. The way they combine an accessible rock sound with strong vocal lines and inventive arrangements reminds me of Seventies Queen, but also early Saga. The 9 compositions (between 3 and 9 minutes) deliver a lot of variety, dynamics, tension and exciting musical ideas, it strongly appeals to the idea of a rock opera, embellished with tasteful work on guitar and keyboards, and topped with excellent vocals. My highlights.

First delicate classical guitar, then slow Minimoog runs join, blended with 'spacey' vocals in the spooky The Voice Of The Night.

A catchy beat with rock guitar, tight drums beats and powerful vocals, next the mighty Hammond organ and spectacular Minimoog synthesizer flights in the propulsive Missive Pursuits.

The Law Of Ages starts with tender piano, dreamy vocals and melancholical violin, then a sumptuous outburst with howling electric guitar runs, in a very intense atmosphere, and finally tender piano and vocals, violin and warm acoustic guitar, wow!

The Voice Of The New Day is a good example of the band its varied writing skills. First a cheerful climate with rock guitar, brassy synthesizer and powerful vocals (Michael Sadler from Saga), then the music alternates between mellow and bombastic, with a fine folky touch.

Uncrowned emphasizes the idea of a rock opera featuring a slow rhythm and bombastic climate with strong vocals, Hammond, propulsive rock guitar riffs and heavy guitar solo. Halfway tender piano, followed by flashy fat synthesizer solo and powerful drum beats, turning into an exciting sumptuous grand finale, wow.

The final track Pilgrim's Reprise is a strong goodbye. It opens with tender piano and soaring keyboards, then a slow rhythm and bombastic climate, with sensitive electric guitar, strong vocals and a propulsive rhythm-section. Finally a mellow atmosphere with fading synthesizer runs and chorus, simply beautiful.

My absolute highlight on this is album is the long and compelling ballad Nobody. First a dreamy intro with soaring keyboards, then romantic vocals and acoustic rhythm guitar, embellished mellow keyboards. Halfway the music turns into a slow rhythm, gradually the sound becomes more lush and powerful with intense vocals, a moving electric guitar solo and fat synthesizer flights. The final part contains first a mellow climate with tender piano, soaring keyboards, and dreamy vocals and electric guitar, then the mood shifts to more lush with powerful vocals, topped with subtle slide guitar, goose bumps!

What a stunning blend of Heavy Prog, AOR/melodic rock and Art-rock, highly recommended!

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 Heartquake / Redux by LEVIATHAN album cover Studio Album, 2024
3.92 | 20 ratings

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Heartquake / Redux
Leviathan Neo-Prog

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars Italy's first neo-prog band, LEVIATHAN, formed all the way back in 1985 in Rome and released its debut album HEARTQUAKE in 1988 alongside classic neo-prog bands like Marillion, Pendragon, IQ, Pallas and Twelfth Night and then released a couple more albums in the 90s but after the band's third album "Volume" in 1998 just disappeared from the scene and hasn't been heard from since. It's been 26 years since the band's last album and at long last in 2024 the band has come out of hiding and delivers a new release in 2024.

HEARTQUAKE / REDUX isn't exactly a new album but rather a reinterpreted re-recording of the debut HEARTQUAKE that first appeared 34 years ago. Obviously many changes have occurred in that time. For starters the only members to have spanned all four decades are vocalist Alex Brunori and percussionist Andrea Monetta with Andrea Amici (keyboards) joining LEVIATHAN in on the 1990 second release "Bee Yourself" and bassist Andrea Castelli and guitarist Fabio Serra only joining in for this newly recorded version of the debut.

The album features all the same tracks as the debut with the exception that the seventh track "There's Only Watershade" is missing as well as not including the bonus track "In the Dream of Up We Quake!" which appeared on the 1994 CD from Musea. This newer rendition clocks in at 41 minutes and features a completely different album cover. While it may seem strange that a band waits so long to release another album and then it happens to be a remake of its debut, apparently this is only a teaser for the new album "Testudo" that will show the band adapting to the brave new world of neo-prog in the 2020s.


As far as this HEARTQUAKE / REDUX album goes, it's pretty much a faithful restoration of the original without really bringing it up to date musically but rather focuses on all the production tricks that a modern sheen mixing job can bring to the table. Still sounding very much like that dated neo-prog style from the 80s, LEVIATHAN basically is letting the prog world know that it's still alive and well with every intent to continue but honestly after listening to this one after the original debut first, i can't say there are a lot of improvements here other than the obvious production. Personally i would've expected some stylistic shifts to update it into the new millennium but apparently the band found it fit to simply keep it as authentically retro as possible.

It's a decent representation of 80s neo-prog with that Marillion inspired bass groove and of course the Steve Hackett guitar sweeps along with the usual saturation of symphonic keyboard attacks. The musicians are all competent but honestly this remake doesn't really take things as far as i'd hoped considering the band's debut was a fairly average sounding release for 1988 long after the bigwigs of neo-prog had gotten underway. Once again the band sounds totally British without any clues of its Italian heritage. This is one of those albums i really don't get what all the fuss is about. It's pleasant. It gets the job done but doesn't beg a return visit like pretty much every modern album from Arena, IQ, Pendragon or Galahad. A good album but not really much more than that. A decent comeback but some brand new fresh material would have been more interesting.

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 Heartquake by LEVIATHAN album cover Studio Album, 1988
3.02 | 23 ratings

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Heartquake
Leviathan Neo-Prog

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars An unusual entry in the Italian 80s prog scene, the Rome based LEVIATHAN didn't look back to its homeland's 70s wealth of symphonic prog for inspiration but rather looked to the burgeoning neo-prog scene in the UK for its primary plan of attack. This band was formed all the way back in 1985 by Alex Brunon (vocals), Franco Pezzella (keyboards) and Andrea Monetta (drums) and released its first demo "7% Solution" which came out the same year. Suffering the fate of most underground bands the demo received little attention.

After a couple years of crafting a sound that was based on Genesis, Marillion and Pendragon, LEVIATHAN recruited Sabdro Widerk (bass) and Giorgio Carana (guitar) in 1987 and released its debut album HEARTQUAKE in 1988 which was considered to be the very first Italian neo-prog album. The band immediately embarked upon a long lasting tour that found quite a bit of interest and even extended beyond Italy's borders. Initially only released on the DMN label, the album found its first CD release in 1994 on the Musea label. It has currently found a complete re-recording in 2024 with several new band members under the title "Heartquake / Redux."

HEARTQUAKE sounds very much like many of the 80s neo-prog bands before the style really got slick in the 1990s. While the style is primarily associated with British bands such as Marillion, Pendragon, IQ and back in the 80s Twelfth Night and Pallas, neo-prog actually attracted interest in many nations from the very beginning however bands such as the Dutch Arkus, the German bands Paradox, Zarathustra and Antares, the Swiss Flame Dream and the French band Step Ahead, who all released albums in 1982 or prior have been largely forgotten. LEVIATHAN was a bit more fortunate to have waited until the end of the 80s after bands like Marilliion had popularized the "comeback prog" scene and benefited from excellent musicians and a praise from both fans and the critics.

The original HEARTQUAKE featured only six tracks and clocked in at about 40 minutes and pretty much eschewed any connection to the Italian scene whatsoever thus sounding completely British in its musical approach and lyrical delivery. Singer Alex Brunori somehow convincingly delivered an accent-free lyrical performance with well developed English lyrics that don't feel stilted in the least. The sounds like typical 80s neo-prog with the usual symphonic approach based on catchy pop melodies, Genesis inspired keyboard work and a rather easy listening approach that focuses on lyrics over prog technical workouts. I can't help shaking though that Brunori's vocals remind me of 80s pop star George Michael at times!

Probably not an album i would've checked out if not for the fact the band released a re-recorded version in 2024 and i figured if i was going to review that album then i should have some context in how it compares to the original recording. The output of 80s neo-prog bands can sound pretty cheesy as the style hadn't quite gelled into the cohesiveness that Marillion would launch with its successful Fish-era run and in many ways HEARTQUAKE sounds like some of the earliest albums of neo-prog before the Marillion ear despite it emerging after. Overall it's not a bad set of songs that deliver a staunch British feel in the heart of Italy but would hardly qualify as one of the best albums the era had to deliver. Competent and totally listenable, HEARTQUAKE was a rather average album to have come from the first wave of the nascent world of neo-prog.

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 Pihkasilmä Kaarnakorva by POHJOLA, PEKKA album cover Studio Album, 1972
4.23 | 107 ratings

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Pihkasilmä Kaarnakorva
Pekka Pohjola Jazz Rock/Fusion

Review by BrufordFreak
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

5 stars Finnish bass virtuoso Pekka Pohjola's first foray out into the world as bandleader, here producing an album of his own compositions.

1. "Metsonpeliä - Capercaillie Games" (10:33) almost a big band sound, innocuous and friendly with very tight performances from the full band, with an exciting ten-seconds of sample bass virtuosity around 1:30 and then a full exposition (solo) filling the sixth minute. Pekka and drummer Reino Laine obviously have a great rapport as their tandem playing off one another seems very tight, almost scripted (though that seems unlikely when taking the speed of each performers' note-playing). The trouble is that it's a bit long. The whole band is conscripted to go back into the opening theme for the final 2:15. That means over five minutes were spent on masturbatory interplay with your drummer boyfriend! (The sign of youth?) Okay, so now you've shown me that you and your boys have chops. And you've shown me that you can compose complex music and make it listenable--even pretty! Now you've got to show me that you can do both of those things all at once, over the length of a song and an album, start to finish. (17.75/20)

2. "Virtojen Kiharat - Curls of Streams" (5:28) the presence of organ and flute in this neo-baroque song takes away some of the mediævalness of the folk themes used in the song, but there remains a whole lot of themes and motifs injected and overlapped into this one stuffed song. As impressive as any FOCUS song though perhaps not as smoothed out! (9.75/10)

3. "Armoton Idylli - Merciless Idyll" (3:47) another song rife with folk-like themes, the lightness and melodic "oompah" sense conveyed by the foundational rhythm corps is perhaps the most notable thing--something that allows the clarinet, violin, and sax shine like a Woody Allen New Orleans jazz song. (9.25/10)

4. "Nipistys - Pinch" (3:32) a little classically-oriented yet also more cinematic despite its thick multi-layered complexity. Again Pekka's bass and Reino's drums seem to propel the song almost effortlessly. (9/10)

5. "Valittaja - Complainer" (10:22) Pekka's near-classical piano opens this one, at first just showing off his Scott Joplin- like chops before shifting (quite suddenly--as if by splice) in the second minute into a more melodic two-chord pattern in order to support an extended funky bass solo--one that goes on for the next six minutes (again!). Despite his proclivity to want to show off his skills--especially on the bass--Pekka shows here that he is able to manage to set up a very emotionally-engaging song, albeit with a two-chord base: those two chords and all of their subtle variations and nuances injected by the other instrumentalists (who are mostly himself plus Reino) really kept me groovin'. (I love the intensity of the sixth and seventh minutes!) The shift at the end of the ninth minute to a THIJS VAN LIER-like baroque organ solo is really quite bizarre. (Another splice job?) Despite my complaints of the Complainer, I actually quite like this song. The skills are all there: musicianship, multi-instrumentality, and compositionally! Now to pull it all together for a whole album! (18.25/20)

Total Time 33:42

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of youthful talent and skill--and confidence!-brandishing

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 Exposed by OLDFIELD, MIKE album cover Live, 1979
3.89 | 115 ratings

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Exposed
Mike Oldfield Crossover Prog

Review by BrufordFreak
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

5 stars I remember hearing this album when it first came out--long before I ever heard Incantations. I remember feeling amazingly surprised at the sound quality once I found out it was the recording of a live concert performed in Spain! Now as I listen to it 45-years later I am still so shocked at the wonderful (masterful!?) sound captured by the sound and recording engineers. (Some of you may know that I have a particular aversion to live recordings precisely because of the typically horrendous sound and mixes.) This is quite literally the first time I've listened to Exposed since about 1981. As I look at the lineup of musicians on board for the concert tour I am blown away to see a veritable Who's Who of Prog All-stars: Peirre & Benoit Moerlin! Maddy Prior! Pekka Pohjola! Tim Cross! David Bedford! And then to find a live performance video of the same tour on YouTube (from a 1979 performance at Wembley Conference Centre)! I am in heaven!

Though I later became quite familiar and fixated on the whole of Incantations (note my five star review from February of 2011), and had obsessed over Tubular Bells from the time I purchased it during the Exorcist craze, I never would have believed that they could have been performed live! With a travelling orchestra, of course! So, I don't mind the edited versions of the studio songs that I knew so well because the highlighted areas are so well done! I am just so happy that this era of the Mike Oldfield being has been so captured and honored! (I've not liked much of his output since 1979.)

I'm sad that you don't hear any of Pekka's play in the Incantations excerpts whereas he's quite prominent throughout Tubular Bells (though not given much room for improvisation). Also, I love the middle sections of Tubular Bells here performed with expanded rock and orchestral arrangements for their reminders of how much other great folk- and classical-themes were present on the original TB recording.

The music is great. The sound and recording is amazing. The performances are top notch. (They all appear to be having great fun throughout their campy performance of Tubular Bells.) Heck! I can even tolerate the discofied "Shaft"-"Popcorn" blend that is "Guilty" when it's in the flow of this lineup! And then I have only to remember that this is Mike Oldfield captured at the end of his best period. What more could you want?

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 Dice by DICE album cover Studio Album, 1978
3.28 | 62 ratings

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Dice
Dice Eclectic Prog

Review by Progfan97402
Prog Reviewer

2 stars I can see why people are divided over this album, and I'm sorry to say that my reaction towards this album isn't favorable. While they did have the chops to potentially make great prog, the major problem I have with these guys is Robert Holmin, the lead vocalist. I assume that's him doing the bulk of the singing, but his nasally, accented vocals really detract. This coming from someone who heard his share of Eloy albums and love many of them (Ocean and Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes are masterpieces). The problem with Dice is the vocals really sink the album. I understand the never-released-at-the-time The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is an all-instrumental album and for many listeners, including those not too keen on their sole album (released during their lifetime) seem to gravitate to that one. I do like the cover; it looks like a Salvador Dali painting (it's not actually him) with the band's logo done in the Disney font. I imagine that's a reference of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali actually meeting each other in 1946 to make a film called Destino (which was never finished and only to be completed in 2003 (long after Disney and Dali had passed away). I do like some of the humor involved, but this album simply left me cold. Änglagård were influenced by these guys, but I often wonder if it was The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that inspired them. There are lots of prog rock albums, some of them masterpieces as everyone says they are, there are overrated albums, and there are those albums that I just can't get into, and this is one of them.

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Prog Lounge

Prog Polls

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TOP PROG ALBUMS
  1. Close to the Edge
    Yes
  2. Selling England by the Pound
    Genesis
  3. In the Court of the Crimson King
    King Crimson
  4. Wish You Were Here
    Pink Floyd
  5. Thick as a Brick
    Jethro Tull
  6. The Dark Side of the Moon
    Pink Floyd
  7. Foxtrot
    Genesis
  8. Red
    King Crimson
  9. Animals
    Pink Floyd
  10. Fragile
    Yes
  11. Godbluff
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  12. Pawn Hearts
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  13. Nursery Cryme
    Genesis
  14. Larks' Tongues in Aspic
    King Crimson
  15. Mirage
    Camel
  16. Moonmadness
    Camel
  17. Per Un Amico
    Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)
  18. Moving Pictures
    Rush
  19. Relayer
    Yes
  20. Hemispheres
    Rush
  21. Darwin!
    Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
  22. Aqualung
    Jethro Tull
  23. Io Sono Nato Libero
    Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
  24. Hot Rats
    Frank Zappa
  25. In a Glass House
    Gentle Giant
  26. Kind of Blue
    Miles Davis
  27. Hybris
    Änglagård
  28. Si on avait besoin d'une cinquičme saison
    Harmonium
  29. A Farewell to Kings
    Rush
  30. Storia Di Un Minuto
    Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)
  31. From Silence to Somewhere
    Wobbler
  32. Crime of the Century
    Supertramp
  33. H To He, Who Am The Only One
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  34. The Yes Album
    Yes
  35. Birds of Fire
    Mahavishnu Orchestra
  36. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
    Genesis
  37. Metropolis Part 2 - Scenes from a Memory
    Dream Theater
  38. Octopus
    Gentle Giant
  39. In the Land of Grey and Pink
    Caravan
  40. Zarathustra
    Museo Rosenbach
  41. Scheherazade and Other Stories
    Renaissance
  42. The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories)
    Steven Wilson
  43. The Power and the Glory
    Gentle Giant
  44. Images and Words
    Dream Theater
  45. Meddle
    Pink Floyd
  46. The Snow Goose
    Camel
  47. The Grand Wazoo
    Frank Zappa
  48. Still Life
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  49. The Mothers of Invention: One Size Fits All
    Frank Zappa
  50. The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage
    Peter Hammill
  51. Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
    Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
  52. Still Life
    Opeth
  53. Free Hand
    Gentle Giant
  54. Hand. Cannot. Erase.
    Steven Wilson
  55. Ommadawn
    Mike Oldfield
  56. Dwellers of the Deep
    Wobbler
  57. Fear of a Blank Planet
    Porcupine Tree
  58. A Trick of the Tail
    Genesis
  59. Blackwater Park
    Opeth
  60. The Inner Mounting Flame
    Mahavishnu Orchestra
  61. Ghost Reveries
    Opeth
  62. Mekanīk Destruktīw Kommandöh
    Magma
  63. Misplaced Childhood
    Marillion
  64. Obscura
    Gorguts
  65. Acquiring the Taste
    Gentle Giant
  66. Romantic Warrior
    Return To Forever
  67. Permanent Waves
    Rush
  68. Space Shanty
    Khan
  69. Rock Bottom
    Robert Wyatt
  70. Depois do Fim
    Bacamarte
  71. In Absentia
    Porcupine Tree
  72. In A Silent Way
    Miles Davis
  73. A Drop of Light
    All Traps On Earth
  74. Hatfield and the North
    Hatfield And The North
  75. Script for a Jester's Tear
    Marillion
  76. Second Life Syndrome
    Riverside
  77. Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 3 - You
    Gong
  78. 4 visions
    Eskaton
  79. Symbolic
    Death
  80. Viljans Öga
    Änglagård
  81. Voyage of the Acolyte
    Steve Hackett
  82. Felona E Sorona
    Le Orme
  83. Arbeit Macht Frei
    Area
  84. Of Queues and Cures
    National Health
  85. Ashes Are Burning
    Renaissance
  86. Hamburger Concerto
    Focus
  87. Elegant Gypsy
    Al Di Meola
  88. The Road of Bones
    IQ
  89. If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
    Caravan
  90. Bitches Brew
    Miles Davis
  91. On Land And In The Sea
    Cardiacs
  92. Spectrum
    Billy Cobham
  93. Emerson Lake & Palmer
    Emerson Lake & Palmer
  94. English Electric (Part One)
    Big Big Train
  95. Remedy Lane
    Pain Of Salvation
  96. Operation: Mindcrime
    Queensr˙che
  97. Crimson
    Edge Of Sanity
  98. Maxophone
    Maxophone
  99. Ys
    Il Balletto Di Bronzo
  100. Anabelas
    Bubu

* Weighted Ratings (aka WR), used for ordering, is cached and re-calculated every 15 minutes.

More PA TOP LISTS
100 MOST PROLIFIC REVIEWERS

Collaborators Only

ratings only excluded in count
  1. Mellotron Storm (4898)
  2. Warthur (3394)
  3. Sean Trane (3161)
  4. ZowieZiggy (2931)
  5. apps79 (2629)
  6. siLLy puPPy (2561)
  7. UMUR (2285)
  8. kev rowland (2236)
  9. b_olariu (2053)
  10. BrufordFreak (2028)
  11. Easy Livin (1932)
  12. Gatot (1811)
  13. Windhawk (1699)
  14. Conor Fynes (1613)
  15. SouthSideoftheSky (1597)
  16. Matti (1516)
  17. Tarcisio Moura (1455)
  18. Evolver (1425)
  19. TCat (1407)
  20. kenethlevine (1375)
  21. AtomicCrimsonRush (1365)
  22. Bonnek (1333)
  23. snobb (1233)
  24. erik neuteboom (1201)
  25. Finnforest (1146)
  26. tszirmay (1138)
  27. Rivertree (1068)
  28. octopus-4 (1036)
  29. ClemofNazareth (1011)
  30. memowakeman (959)
  31. Cesar Inca (928)
  32. loserboy (897)
  33. Rune2000 (879)
  34. Marty McFly (840)
  35. Guillermo (794)
  36. DamoXt7942 (776)
  37. VianaProghead (760)
  38. Neu!mann (759)
  39. Chris S (753)
  40. Eetu Pellonpaa (725)
  41. Aussie-Byrd-Brother (719)
  42. greenback (685)
  43. progrules (666)
  44. Seyo (660)
  45. admireArt (648)
  46. Prog-jester (624)
  47. Epignosis (624)
  48. friso (624)
  49. lor68 (601)
  50. andrea (598)
  51. Prog Leviathan (582)
  52. Ivan_Melgar_M (560)
  53. philippe (540)
  54. hdfisch (492)
  55. stefro (486)
  56. Chicapah (486)
  57. The Crow (479)
  58. Menswear (476)
  59. Dobermensch (464)
  60. zravkapt (460)
  61. colorofmoney91 (459)
  62. J-Man (449)
  63. ProgShine (445)
  64. russellk (440)
  65. Atavachron (429)
  66. Sinusoid (403)
  67. Queen By-Tor (396)
  68. Progfan97402 (377)
  69. tarkus1980 (369)
  70. fuxi (367)
  71. Nightfly (365)
  72. Zitro (365)
  73. Greger (365)
  74. Modrigue (360)
  75. rdtprog (355)
  76. Cygnus X-2 (353)
  77. lazland (352)
  78. Andrea Cortese (348)
  79. Negoba (336)
  80. EatThatPhonebook (326)
  81. richardh (323)
  82. Guldbamsen (322)
  83. FragileKings (321)
  84. Tom Ozric (306)
  85. patrickq (302)
  86. Flucktrot (300)
  87. Kazuhiro (299)
  88. progaardvark (290)
  89. GruvanDahlman (290)
  90. DangHeck (289)
  91. Proghead (288)
  92. OpethGuitarist (287)
  93. Second Life Syndrome (281)
  94. daveconn (266)
  95. Trotsky (264)
  96. Muzikman (263)
  97. Slartibartfast (261)
  98. aapatsos (254)
  99. clarke2001 (254)
  100. Dapper~Blueberries (241)

List of all PA collaborators

NEW RELEASES

Metal Face (as Aron Scharfegger) by Arnioe album rcover
Metal Face (as Aron Scharfegger)

Arnioe

One and Only by Collage album rcover
One and Only

Collage

Brain Damage by Alvarado, Leon album rcover
Brain Damage

Leon Alvarado

Souvenir From Holland (Live at Progdreams X Boerder - Zoetermeer) by Millenium album rcover
Souvenir From Holland (Live at Progdreams X Boerder - Zoetermeer)

Millenium

Time Voyager by Barock Project album rcover
Time Voyager

Barock Project

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