Paley's Watch (UK)
November (94)
Paley's Watch was a one-off band led by Marc Catley and Duncan Parsons, with singer Marianne Velvart. Catley is a guitarist known for satirical Christian solo works and his collaboration with Geoff Mann of Twelfth Night. November is a prog concept album in the vein of Renaissance, whom they sound a bit similar to. I like the album quite a lot. It's mellower prog in the Canterbury style, with Strawbs-like instrumentation and creative progressive augmentation to the conceptual piece, which details the lives of some average people in a small town in England. The only slight drawback is the female vocalist, Marianne, who takes some getting used to because of her heavy Hungarian/British accent. The spiritual aspects are a bit obtuse, but all in all its a worthy find if you can somehow drum up a copy. It was released on Plankton Records from the U.K. I believe it is available from Marc Catley's website at http://www.marccatley.com There is a dandy review of the album found at the Phantom Tollbooth at: http://www.tollbooth.org/reviewm/pwatch.html. {dt}
Phillips, Anthony (UK)
The Geese and the Ghost
This classic album from the 70's from former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips, with a young Phil Collins on vocals and Mike Rutherford adding all sorts of instruments, is one of the most beautiful and pastoral prog albums ever. Playing out like a lost Genesis record, lush with 12 string guitars and ancient acoustic instruments, it seldom gets tired. With it's medieval themes of knights and prayer chapels, invocation, and lines like "I sit in the sunset, watching God's evening," the album brims with subtle spirituality. And the bonus track on the Virgin CD includes Master of Time, a song about the power of Giving as demonstrated by the Master of Time. Anthony also played on an album by The Invisible Men, an apparently Christian band from the early 80's that was more "new wave" than prog. {dt}
Platypus (USA)
When Pus Comes to Shove (99)
Ty Tabor of King's X, Rod Morgenstien from the Dregs, and Derek Sherinian and John Myung from Dream Theater got together to jam and crank out some progressive rock masterpieces in the process. One part King's X style rock songs, one part prog shredding, and one part funky fusion instrumentals adds up to a fun, very listenable album of virtuosity. The song Platt Opus is my Prog Song of the Year, hands down. And of course, when Ty sings, he sings his own lyrics, written from his very Christian point of view. Go out and buy it today! (see King's X above, and buy some Dregs and Dream Theater while your at it)
The new album, Ice Cycles contains less instrumentals and more straight ahead rock and roll, although it contains a great 5 minute instrumental 25 and the 10 minute epic prog closer Partial to the Bean. The non-instrumental songs are tight and potent, my favorites being the hard rockers The Tower and Oh God, a plea for some divine intervention. A worthy follow up to their dandy first release. Platypus has since morphed into the band The Jelly Jam, minus keyboardist Sherinian. {dt}
Poets on a Pilgrimage (Germany)
The Other Side of the Mirror (97)
Prostontheon (UK)
Charis
Up and coming Christian band Prostontheon from England incorporates progressive influences with modern worship. Paul Caruana plays a mean Rickenbacker bass, and songs like Let Us Come and Reaching Out hold are uplifting and creative. There's also a cool instrumental called Turbulence and some proggy jamming in various spots. Unfortunately, the home grown project sounds too much like a rough demo, suffering from poor mastering, with instrument volume levels jumping through the roof on some songs but not others. There is also a faux-Reggae sogn called Melon Monster that detracts from the projects continuity. All in all, though, I look forward to what these guys come up with next, as they definitely hold a lot of promise and cite Neal Morse, echolyn, and DIS as influences. You can sample a couple of songs at http://christianbands.co.uk/bands/46/index.php {dt}
Proto Kaw (USA)
Early Recordings from Kansas, 1971-1973 (03); Before Became After (04)
In 2002 Kerry Livgren released a CD of pre-Kansas material called Proto-KAW on Cuneiform Records. I havn't heard the album yet, but according to Bill Evans, from Kerry's Numavox records, Proto-KAW is a full-length CD of Kerry Livgren's early compositions from 1971-1973. The music is performed by the second incarnation of KANSAS, the third being the group we know today. Kerry describes the songs as very much compositional, but more jazz-oriented and free-form in their execution. Listeners will recognize compositions and musical elements from the first Kansas album to the latest. The CD features all the studio tracks recorded by the band, and two live tracks selected by Mr. Livgren. All the songs were mastered by Kerry from the original recordings at his studio in Kansas.
In the early 70's, the band Kansas went through three large transformations. The sound of the band changed along with the the group members. The band the world came to know as Kansas was actually the third version of the band. Proto Kaw is the renamed, reformed second version.
Formed in 1971 and disbanded in 1973, "Kansas II" played mostly original material written by Kansas composer/guitarist Kerry Livgren. Kerry composed nearly 60 songs during this period. Nine of the songs from this period songs were professionally recorded in the 70's and became the material for the CD. Kerry and Proto-Kaw followed it up with an album of mostly new material called Before Became After.
Reviewed by Dave Taylor, November 2004
I finally got around to buying this album from Amazon.com a few weeks ago. I picked up the special edition, which contains a bonus disc with some extra songs. I had heard some old mp3's of the early Proto-Kaw stuff, so I sort of knew what to expect. However, had I really known how good this album was going to be, I would have picked it up far sooner. If you are any kind of fan of early Kansas, this album really takes you back. Livgren's writing and guitar and keyboard playing are in top form. Lynn Meredith has a great voice, and this album really rocks in a most progressive way. The other original members of the band are all great musicians as well. From psychedelic and spacey, to obtuse and foreboding, to dynamic vocal hooks and blistering solos, Before Became After is far and away the most progressive new project Livgren has been involved with for many years, even eclipsing in some ways his return to Kansas with Somewhere to Elsewhere.
From the fat Hammonds to the wispy flutes to the psycho-sax, this album evokes many memories from the early 70's, yet benefits greatly from 2004 production standards. Every note and nuance is crystal clear and bounces from the speakers. These are musicians that are obviously having fun playing together again after decades of other pursuits. The songs take their time to develop, they meander joyously, and they take you on wonderful musical journeys. There's the classic "can't get it out of your head" Livgren ballad/anthem (Words of Honor, which has a single edit on the bonus disc), which really deserves radio play. There's the 11 minute spiritual epic finale, Theophany, which may be one of Livgren's finest compositions. And there's seven more standout tracks, not one of which induces you to hit the skip button. Alt. More Words Than Known offers a gripping intro to the album. Leaven offers a trip into off-kilter Soft Machine prog. Axolotl (don't you just love the song names Kerry comes up with?) is a fantastic tune reminiscent of Monolith era Kansas. Quantum Leapfrog is one of my favorites, featuring John Bolton's jazzy sax playing over an almost Canterbury-feel groove. Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David, Smith and Jones, the only non-Livgren tune, offers some humorous classic rock mayhem. Glorianna is another fantastic progressive tune with Kerry's great lyrics. He's always been my biggest inspiration as a lyricist, and all of Before Became After does not disappoint. Occasion of Your Honest Dreaming is one of those classic rock songs that you swear you heard somewhere before, back in the early 70's. It actually reminds me a bit of early Moody Blues. Heavenly Man is a remake of one of the more interesting early Proto-Kaw songs, a psychedelic vision of an otherworldly visitor. Spiritually, Kerry's Christian beliefs surface here and there on the record, but he in no way proselytizes, but rather offers many poetic and introspective themes colored by his world view, like much of his early Kansas writing.
Before Became After is a fine return to form by one of the earliest American prog bands, and it stands head to head with the majority of the Kansas catalog, standing taller in my book than their entire 80's output. This is certainly one of my top picks for album of the year in 2004. {dt}
For more information, go to the band's website at: http://www.protokaw.com
Pursuit (USA - Iowa)
s/t; Quest (05)
Quest
Pursuit is a new name in the Christian progressive metal scene, but not a name you'll soon forget. Their new album Quest is definitely one case of not judging a book by its cover. The poorly designed CD graphics initially threw me off, but once I stuck it in the CD player, wow! Pursuit is the real deal. I was overwhelmed by their original progressive rock, talented musicians, a really great singer, creative licks, a power drummer, and well-written songs that openly glorify Jesus Christ. Dan Wolfe is the main songwriter, and he provides the virtuoso guitar and keyboard licks. John Sebring is a monster drummer that powers this beast of an album. And Andrew Zuehlke is the guy with the golden pipes that delivers the message loud and clear. Together they have put together a disc that will no doubt get a lot of label interest, these guys are that good. Heavy guitars, double bass drums, melodic piano, sweet synth solos, and really creative song arrangements set the table for their earnest lyrics, which are delivered right on the money. You have to call it prog metal because of the heavy guitars, but I normally don't get into that genre, and yet I really liked this album. Yeah, perhaps its closer to Rush and Dream Theater than to Yes, but Pursuit have their own sound that comparisons don't really do justice to. There's not a bad song on Quest, and my favorites are Automaton, the title track, and the potent three-song Trilogy. A band this talented should probably invest in some professional artwork, a'la Glass Hammer, I think it would get them a lot more attention. They could use some help with their web page design too, but it's functional for information, and they have short sound clips available as well as CD's for sale, including their debut, which sounds more 80's metal. Check them out at http://www.iowatelecom.net/~dwolfe/ . {dt}