The More You Live, The More You Love

The entries were close to zero in the past month. Too much work on my mind, and although I played enough music there was little time to write an entry. All time was fixed on work, and besides that on a huge article about New Wave music. It is scheduled for somewhere this month, when iO Pages will release their first special. So it meant diving into the eighties, listen to a lot of familiar music and also buying some stuff again. Unfortuantly Fonos no longer excists, so if you're interested in a band that was up till now still only available on vinyl it means you have to search for it and then digitize it. So with a bit of luck I discovered a compilation cd early July of the new wave band The Dutch. Soon I was able to collect all their vinyl and then I turned my focus on another early eighties new wave band Secret Sounds. Through Fonos I had bought their album Wasteland ages ago but when I scrolled their page on discogs.com I discovered that their singer/guitarist WilmerWolf was ...

DEEEXPUS King Of Number 33 (EAR MUSIC / EDEL) From now on DeeExpus can count on the attention of a wider audience and their fame will only increase. Although I have to admit that their musical experience on King Of Number 33 also without the incorporation of Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly would have succeeded. Multi-instrumentalist Andy Ditchfield and singer Tony Wright wrote the album which is centered around the 26 minute King Of Number 33. A six-piece Magnus opus on the downfall of a local eccentric from Tony Wright's youth, who was obsessed with buses and the English monarchy in the past. The pallet from which this beautiful musical landscape has been created, shows references to Porcupine Tree, Marillion, Dream Theater and Riverside, where one does not shun even the gothic grunge. Opener Me And My Downfall directly shows the Porcupine Tree / Marillion references. Great riffs and the familiar strumming guitars. With the me...

Sean Filkins War And Piece & Other Short Stories (Festival Music 201103) The debut of the former frontman of Big Big Train is one you shouldn't have missed in the past year. Over sixty minutes of pure progressive rock references to a very gala of predecessor, with a most striking reference to the second instrumental part Sirens Song of Epitath Of A Mariner, which sounds very familiar to the eighties work of Tangerine Dream. Sean Filkins was a member of Big Big TRain at the time of the albums Gathering Speed and The Difference Machine. Precisely during the period when the band decided to broaden their musical horizon. This can clearly be heard on his debut. Filkins is a storyteller, who performs his stories like Nick Barrett, although vocally he is much stronger and sounds like a crossover of early Phil Collins and Alan Reed, while ex- Galahad bassplayer Lee Abraham, responsible for the instrumental support, covers the production, assisted by Karl Groom and Filkins him...

(AVALON RECORDS GHCD10) Empires Never Last dates back five years ago and finally here is the sequel: Battle Scars. An album which marks the parting of bassist Neil Pepper, who at 44 years old, died of cancer last year. Pepper, despite the discomforts of the disease, still managed to play all bass parts for both Battle Scars and Beyond The Realm Of Euphoria, with a planned release for later this year. Out of respect, the remaining band members decided to continue as a foursome and Pepper is mentioned on three tracks as the composer / writer. Mark Spencer (Twelfth Night) will take his place as bassist during the upcoming concerts. On Battle Scars the techno, ambient and dance influences, introduced since the recruitment of keyboardist Dean Baker, are strongly extended. The result contains a potpourri of styles and lifts Galahad, in terms of musical presentation, to the 21st century, while the progressive roots through Hammond and Mellotron samples are not forgotten. From th...

WHITE WILLOW Terminal Twilight (Termo Records TERMOCD009) White Willow belongs, since the release of their debut album Ignis Fatuus, to a small select group of bands, which with every new release raises high expectations. With the return of Sylvia Skjellestad they should consider themself lucky, because she has a wonderful voice that fits with White Willow. The listener therefore is not disappointed. Besides vocally, musically this album sounds great, which strongly depends to the 70's prog with a mix of jazz rock, fusion and folk, where the reference goes from King Crimson to Weather Report and Genesis to Muse with surprising contributions of Tim Bowness, David Lindberg and Michael S. Judge. Bowness together with Jacob Holm-Lupo wrote the No-Man-like Kansas Regrets, which in the second part recalls the days of Nurcery Crime, complete with vintage keyboards and whistles. Leaves in Bed, dedicated to Tony Banks, again follows the pattern of Genesis and in Floor 67 White Willow follow...

Konchordat The New Cruisade (Konchordat Music KMCD1002) Konchordat for me is a new name, though it appears the group released an album called English Ghosts in 2009. Driving force behind the group is Steve Cork (bass, keyboards and bass pedals) who in Stuart Martin (vocals, guitar and keyboards) found a new partner in crime. Martin was one of guest guitarists on English Ghosts. On The New Crusade, they are assisted by Liam Green on drums. Listening to the six-track album, I can only conclude that the gentlemen put their ears to a listen to Magellan, IQ and It Bites and they have forged their style. Frequently the keyboards, usually in combination with the guitar playing the same melody, bring the magnum opus of It Bites, Once Around The World, in mind, while the very sudden breaks and heavy pounding work with bombastic bladder samples have a strong Magellan’s Magna Carta reminiscent. Throw in the symphonic sauce of IQ, especially in the spherical portions, and a new Konchordat i...

COMEDY OF ERRORS Disobey (Own release COE001; distributed by ACH Media) Comedy Of Errors is a band which was active in the late eigthies progressive rock scene. Founded in Glasgow the first incarnation released three democassettes, One Mini-Album and a CD in their five years excistence. The CD contained the demo 24 Hours and the Mini-Album and was released on the disputed Ugum label. After various line-up changes their progressive rock style changes to mainstream hardrock. In the early nineties it seems the band disappered from the stage, and only last year the first signs of a recarnation are mentioned with a possible release of Disobey,their first proper CD. During all those years keyboardplayer Jim Johnson kept writing music and finally found Joe Cairney (vocals) and Mark Spalding (bass, guitar), both members of the first line-up, available to record the album together. Besides them Bruce Levick plays the drums, and Hew Montgomery (Abel Ganz) plays bass on The Student Prince Part 1....

BOLUS Delayed Reaction (Bolus Music Group 884502881691) Bolus, what's in the name*, are a Canadian band from the surroundings of Toronto. Delayed Reaction is their second album on which Nick Karch (vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards) and Mat Keselman (drums, percussion, vocals and flute) are influenced on the second half of the seventies Genesis, Rush and Yes. Although it isn't strange to hear some influences of Dream Theater and Spock's Beard now and then. Such a references makes curious and I can tell you the listener won't be disappointed. From the first song Those Who Saved Us it is clear that Bolus put a lot of work in their compositions. Strong songs with a start and an end, with fluid and natural lines. The keyboards, mostly piano, hammond and mellotron are mainly used for support and in some songs are behind in the mix. THe guitar parts are very strong. From the acoustic Genesis sound in Outside, including flute parts, and the Steve Hackett alike solo in Push To...

STEVE COCHRANE The Purest Of Designs (1998) (Spirit Compass Music SC103) 'My goal in life is to communicate a sense of optimism in our world - to project the image of a hero, not only as a character to be viewed, but also as a part of each of us, something to be experienced - the best within us. I try to create a musical picture of what should be and express the conviction that it is possible.' - Thus Steve Cochrane. With the Purest Of Designs this Canadian multi-instrumentelist releases what is already his third album, although he is still pretty much unknown in the Netherlands. His greatest inspiration comes from listening to the music of Rush, Renaissance, Mike Oldfield and Steve Hackett. After listening to this wonderful album I think I can include the Wind and Wuthering period of Genesis in this small list as well. Much of the atmosphere of the music harks back to this album, and several keyboard and guitar parts bring back to mind Wind And Wuthering. The opening track ...

I like to start with a new item within my blog. As an editor of iO Pages I wrote a lot of reviews in the past. Besides iO Pages I also wrote for SI Magazine and the DPRP, although the later was for a short while. Since most of these reviews are in Dutch, I will translate them to English and place them on this blog. All reviews are from the period 1990 - 2005. The new ones I am already placing on this blog, although I am a bit behind. The "from the vault" review series will start with one of my next blog entries. So keep visiting for more prog reviews from the past and present.

In The Wake Of The Moon is already the ninth album of the Swedish neoprog band Galleon in their 25th years of existence. Strong compositions with beautiful community singing, melodic music in which Ulf Hedlung Pettersson and Sven Larsson have the oppertunity to give their solo performance on keyboards and guitar. Göran Fors got a nice and good sounding voice and his bassplaying I strong while drummer Göran Johnsson controles everything. You can call Galleon a surpisingly very strong band, with a brought reference of bands, but surely their own sound, which makes them unique. The quality of the eight compositions is of a high standard. After the bombastic starters Stages and Wallflower and the instrumental Child’s Play the band slow down in the titletrack, a beautiful ballad with a strong Tangerine Dream ambience. The first part of War At Home, called Woodland Creatures, opens as an instrumental with mainly Hammond organ, after which the ambient Aftermath follows. Over the Hills And 3 F...

After a succesfull reunion tour in 2009 which resulted in the 2CD / DVD Return To Eden, Ultravox returned to the stage in 2010 to bring the tour to the European mainland, where they played the Paradiso as well. For this second leg of the tour they changed the setlist. In Germany they decided to play the Kraftwerk alike Mr. X in the German version, called Herr X a b-side of the Vienna 12” single. Together with the three other additions to the setlist they have been released on the Moments From Eden EP. All three songs, New Europeans, White China and Love’s Great Adventure, additions the fans had wanted to see the band put into the setlist, are more rock orientated, machine-made driving electronic tunes with power-melodies and strong delivery. For fans this release completes the whole setlist of the Return To Eden Tour and keeps the fire burning since the announcement earlier this year about the band working on new material for a late 2011 release. The release comes as a limited exclusiv...

It's been awhile since I went over to England to interview this band. The trip was nice. I spent some time with friends in Grimsby, and was able to make the trip to Appleby to have an interview with the band and their manager in a local pub. The interview was published in iO Pages 29 (December 2000). Over the years I always kept appreciating the music of Castanarc. Mark Holiday and David Powell confronted the listener with a mixture of ambient progressive rock and uptempo high-energy rocksongs, in which the band didn’t bogged down in copying their own work, or work of others. But it turned out that in 1999 Castanarc released their final album Little Gods, a beautiful diamond, which continued to follow the atmospheric and musical direction the band undertook in earlier releases like Burnt Offerings and Rude Politics. After the release of Little Gods Mark and David told me they had great plans with their label. Neil Duty had returned and they were setting out a course concerning gig...