Label: Vendlus Records Released: February 14, 2007 Prog rock’s faults aren’t usually related to technical skill at any stage of the process, from writing to playing to producing. In fact, the genre’s greatest difficulty stems from its artists being too good, too musical. Prog bands have a tendency to lose the emotional connection with their audience that is essential in… Read more »
Listening to Take Cover reminds me that the word “good” cannot be made from the letters in “Queensrÿche,” but the word “cheesÿ” can.
I have a copy of Queensryche’s new covers collection, cleverly titled Take Cover, for giveaway. I’ll send it to the person who has the best definition for what a queensryche actually is. The best answer might be serious or it might be funny, who’s to say. Go ahead and post your answers in the comments and I’ll choose a winner… Read more »
Label: Equal Vision Records Released: September 4, 2007 After finding a fair amount of success with 2005’s All’s Well That Ends Well, Chiodos were in a position to coast safely into their next album. Instead, they chose to further break out of the emo-screamo scene that spawned them and follow their arena-sized prog-rock dreams. Bone Palace Ballet has some leanings… Read more »
Label: Mars Hill Records Released: July 1, 2007 Concept albums are a difficult endeavor with a variety of pitfalls. Only the very best avoid all of them. Most of these complex albums fall into at least a few of these traps and Torman Maxt’s The Problem of Pain Part 1 is no exception. Nonetheless, that shouldn’t completely overshadow its strengths…. Read more »
Label: The End Records Released: September 4, 2007 For anyone truly familiar with Kosmos’ drummer Michel “Away” Langevin’s longer term project, Voivod, this album should come as no real surprise. For those who think of Voivod as merely a metal band, Kosmos will be a shock though. The self-titled debut is an organ-heavy tribute to 70s prog rock dipping heavily… Read more »
Label: Tee Pee Records Released: March 20, 2007 I don’t take drugs and because of that, I believe I am much more discerning about my psychedelic music. It isn’t an accompaniment to my trip, it is my trip. From the space rock explosion that opens Ekranoplan, across its mind-altering landscapes and through its soul-inflected finale, this is a tour de… Read more »
Label: Polyvinyl Records Released: March 6, 2007 Often a great album is one where everything comes together in ways unimagined with hooks that make one wonder how anyone could write something that instantly likable. Other times, great albums take effort. The Days and Nights of Everything Anywhere, 31Knots’ fourth full-length release, is like that. A consistently unsettling work, it achieves… Read more »
Label: Tee Pee Records Released: February 6, 2007 The problem with Emerson, Lake and Palmer is that they don’t put enough rock in progressive rock. Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of ELP, but they do tend to lean a bit too far to the classical side. Over 30 years after ELP’s peak, Titan comes along to correct… Read more »