I have to admit that I’ve never really paid much attention to IQ, and I only own their 1993 album Ever. Still, they’re a huge part of the prog scene and have delivered quite a few great albums over the years. Some bands give up after that, other’s jus grow. It seems IQ is one of the latter, with their 2014 album The Road Of Bones appearing at the top of many lists. And it shows why, just listen to this track of the day, From the Outside In.
The track of the day for today is from one of my favourite Prog bands, and not only mine. It’s a long one, to make up for the fact that it is published 2 hours late. Supper was ready when I came home at the usual time, so I forgot…
The opening lyrics of this track killed me: “I feel like I’ve been doing this for a million years. Every note has been played before and in this exact order, too…”
Nothing to add to that, this track from the new Beardfish album +4626-COMFORTZONE – is a more than deserved track of the day.
House Of Prog runs a nice internet radio channel, with live shows throughout the week. On one of these shows, Prog Doctor Marty Dorfman did an interview with Peter Jones (alias Tiger Moth Tales), a blind multi instrumentalist from the UK. During the interview, he played all of Jones’ debut album Cocoon, released in December 2014. An album to be checked anyone how loves music rooted in symphonic prog, with a modern touch. This track, Tigers in the Butter, is a good example of what can be found on this album. A full album review will follow in the coming weeks – after the mail man decides to put it in my mailbox for a more detailed listen.
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Minstrel’s Ghost is a project headed by vocalist Blake Carpenter, who also sings in Voice of the Enslaved and performs as a guest vocalist in Corvus Stone. On the album The Road to Avalon he is accompanied by Colin Tench (Corvus Stone) on guitar, Marco Chiappini (Oceans 5) on keyboards, Troy James Martin on bass (LeeAnn Savage) and Zoltan Czorsz Jr (ex Flower Kings) on drums. Today I was listening to this album while driving to work, and the track Camelot made me want to push the throttle, and somehow Marco’s keyboards and Colin’s guitar made me whistle. So, here goes…
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An oldie as track of the day today. Steve Hackett needs no introduction, I’m sure. When I first heard his solo album Wild Orchids in 2008, this song found a spot in the back of my head and never left. A weird mix of Dire Straits, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and perhaps even vocal influences of Leonard Cohen make this Bob Dylan cover really enjoyable, just like the rest of that album. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfNYprKVXKI
Corvus Stone is one of my favourite bands of the past couple of years. A melodic, progressive rock project with members from all over the world, that plays whatever they feel like. Even if the influences vary from Renaissance chamber music, via jazz to Deep Purple, the unique sound of the band, characterised by the keyboards of Pasi Koivu and the guitar tunes of Colin Tench can always be recognised.
This track, of the album Corvus Stone II, is a perfect example of the potential of this band, of which the members and guest singers have never been all in the same location at the same time.
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Silhouette is a Dutch Neo-prog band, that has been around for a few years now. Their latest album Beyond the Seventh Wave, released in november 2014 is well received. The music of Silhouette is driven by the keyboards of Erik Laan, but he leaves enough room for the great guitar work of Brian de Graeve and Daniel van der Weijde.
This track, the instrumental Escape from the album shows what this band is capable of.
Cailyn Lloyd is a American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. She released an album called 4 Pieces in 2012, on which she bridged progressive rock and classical music. On her 2015 release Voyager, she has created an instrumental progressive rock concept based on the Voyager program and the composition The Planets by compose Gustav Holst. An amazing musical flight through space, brilliantly illustrated by this track, Jupiter.
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United Progressive Fraternity is the successor to the Australian band Unitopia. The band, plays music that can be classified as modern classic progressive rock, with influences from amongst other Yes. The first album of the band, Fall in love with the World deals with the way man treats planet earth. Today’s track of the day is The Water, from that album, with Jon Anderson on additional vocals.
