Author Archives: alanjones

Album Review: CRYSTAL PALACE – The System Of Events

Posted on September 5, 2013 by alanjones
Crystal Palace

Gentle Art Of Music   [Release Date: 04.10.13] The history of rock music is peppered with great albums – but the ones that truly sit in the Pantheon of iconic albums are those which have that one defining track, that … Continue reading →

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Album Review: ACTIVE HEED – Visions From Realities

Posted on August 12, 2013 by alanjones
Active Heed

Self Released – 30 June 2013 Active Heed, despite having a name that suggests something a Glaswegian would use in a Saturday night ruckus, is actually the musical brainchild of one Umberto Pagnini – an Italian composer and lyricist who … Continue reading →

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Album Reviews: DODSON & FOGG – Dodson & Fogg,Derring Do,Sounds Of Day And Night

Posted on August 3, 2013 by alanjones
Dodson & Fogg

Wisdom Twins Records  [Released 2012/2013] wisdomtwinsbooks.weebly.com/dodson-and-fogg.html Despite having a name that sounds like an engineering firm making flanges for the automotive industry, Dodson & Fogg are essentially one person. His name is Chris Wade – a multi-instrumentalist par excellence who … Continue reading →

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Album Review: POOR GENETIC MATERIAL – One Day In June

Posted on July 1, 2013 by alanjones
Poor Genetic Material

QuiXote Music  [Release date 31.05.13] In the last couple of years or so the number of progressive rock concept albums released has been going through the roof. Always known as a genre that spawned over-indulgence on an epic scale – … Continue reading →

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Album Review: SPLIT SOFA – Coloured Dream

Posted on June 28, 2013 by alanjones

        Self-released – 3rd April 2013 Good news folks – dig out the kaftans, it’s 1967 all over again. If the so-called ‘Summer Of Love’ did it for you way back in the day when The Fabs, … Continue reading →

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Album review: TICKET TO THE MOON – Dilemma On Earth

Posted on June 25, 2013 by alanjones

      Brennus Music – Released November 2012 The tidal wave of superlative progressive rock emanating from continental Europe shows no sign of dissipating anytime soon and, for all aficionados of the genre, surfboards should be waxed-up and this … Continue reading →

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Album Review: MILLENIUM – Ego

Posted on June 23, 2013 by alanjones
Millenium - Ego

Lynx Music  [Release date 25 May 2013] Despite the wave of fabulous progressive rock emanating from Eastern Europe at the moment, don’t get the idea that Millenium are just another new Polish band riding on the coat-tails of the likes … Continue reading →

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Album Review: FLYING CIRCUS – Ones And Zeros

Posted on June 5, 2013 by alanjones
Flying Circus

Self-released – 2013 OK, let’s get all the Monty Python out of the way shall we? And breathe… Flying Circus are a German neo-prog outfit with four albums behind them who cite comparisons with Rush and Led Zeppelin, and ‘Ones … Continue reading →

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Album Review: CORVUS STONE – Corvus Stone

Posted on June 1, 2013 by alanjones

        Melodic Revolution Records: Released November 2012 I do a radio show for Get Ready To Rock Radio (third Sunday of the month at 5pm -you should check it out!) that goes by the name of ‘The … Continue reading →

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Album Review: ROME PRO(G)JECT – Rome Pro(g)ject

Posted on May 31, 2013 by alanjones
The Rome Pro(g)ject

Self-released  [7 December 2012] There’s a line in the classic film ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ where John Candy and Steve Martin are being driven round and round in a taxi in this hick town in the American mid-west where Candy … Continue reading →

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Album review: MAJESTIC – V.O.Z.

Posted on May 5, 2013 by alanjones

Self-released [Release date 17.12.12] In these days of risible TV talent shows where the sole ambition of the participants is the acquisition of fame and fortune (however transient that may be), the word ‘genius’ is frequently bandied about to describe … Continue reading →

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Album review: FLICKER – How Much Are You Willing To Forget?

Posted on April 27, 2013 by alanjones

Self-released – 28.1.2013 I wonder, historically, how many really good albums have never been given the chance to shine or be commercially successful due to an opening track being so naff that most reviewers Frisbee the disc to the wastebasket … Continue reading →

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Album review: PRIMITIVE INSTINCT – One Man’s Refuge

Posted on April 22, 2013 by alanjones

Self Release – November 2012 Any band that starts their recording career on Cyclops Records is always worth keeping an eye on as they progress and Primitive Instinct, signed to the label in 1994, are no exception. Following on from … Continue reading →

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Album review: ZENIT – The Chandrasekhar Limit

Posted on April 20, 2013 by alanjones

Galileo Records – [Released date: 28.1.2013] Often the clue’s in the name isn’t it? ‘The Chandrasekhar Limit’ (a mathematical term regarding black holes) could only be progressive rock couldn’t it? And not just any old progressive rock either – with … Continue reading →

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Album review: THIEVES’ KITCHEN – One For Sorrow, Two For Joy

Posted on April 1, 2013 by alanjones

Self-released – 2013 Well, where to start with this one? There are just so many good things going on and so many influences here that it’s difficult to pin down exactly where it’s coming from. A simple distillation would be … Continue reading →

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Album review: ILLUMION – The Waves

Posted on March 24, 2013 by alanjones

Freia Records – [Release Date: 20.12.12] Ahhh -  remember the good old days prog fans, when you could march down to your local record emporium, lay down your pound note and skip out with the latest waxing from King Crimson … Continue reading →

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Album review: JADE VINE – Nothing Can Hide From Light

Posted on February 26, 2013 by alanjones

(Self-released: 7.1.13) There is an old adage that states that you should never judge a book by the cover. I think another maxim should be never judge an album by its first track. ‘Last Day Of Apathy’, the opening track … Continue reading →

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Album review: GATE 6 – God Machines

Posted on February 25, 2013 by alanjones

. (Self-release: September 2012) What is it about Europe and fine progressive rock music at the moment? The likes of Poland (with Riverside, Believe, Satellite et al), Sweden (with Airbag, Katatonia, Aoria, etc.) and Germany (Frequency Drift, InVertigo, etc.) are … Continue reading →

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Album review: OCTOBER TREE – The Fairy’s Wing

Posted on February 14, 2013 by alanjones

      (Canvas Productions, 2012) If there’s one thing in life that really gets up my nose it’s indulgence. Self indulgence is bad enough, but pandering to somebody else’s indulgence is just plain wrong. And this is what has … Continue reading →

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Album review: SAILOR FREE – Spiritual Revolution

Posted on February 14, 2013 by alanjones

      (Tide Records, 2012) This is definitely an album of ‘despites’. Despite not having English as their first language, despite this being a concept album and despite having a band name like a John Inman sit-com – this … Continue reading →

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Album review: X11 ALFONSO – Charles Darwin

Posted on February 14, 2013 by alanjones

(Self-release, 2012) Every so often an album like this appears, that is so left-field, so out of kilter with the way things are, that it is extremely difficult to listen to and be totally objective. Not that it is totally … Continue reading →

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Album review: KOMPENDIUM – Beneath The Waves

Posted on February 11, 2013 by alanjones

      7 Stones Records (Release Date 11.2.13) Every so often, and it’s becoming ever more rare, an album comes along that is so fine it assumes iconic status. Sergeant Pepper, Pet Sounds, Led Zeppelin 4, Tubular Bells, Dark … Continue reading →

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Album review: TOMMY EMMANUEL & MARTIN TAYLOR – The Colonel And The Governor

Posted on February 10, 2013 by alanjones

Mesa/Bluemoon Records [Release Date 4.3.2013] So, what happens when you put together one of the finest jazz guitarists in the world with one of the greatest finger-style fretmeisters around? Well the answer is…. not quite what you would think. Martin … Continue reading →

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Album review: UNITOPIA – Covered Mirror Vol.1

Posted on February 3, 2013 by alanjones

Bird’s Robe Records – (Release date 31.10.12] Covered Mirror – or to give it its full title ‘Covered Mirror Vol.1 Smooth As Silk’ is Adelaide proggers Unitopia’s paean to some of the tracks that have influenced the band over the … Continue reading →

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Album review: AORIA – The Constant

Posted on January 29, 2013 by alanjones

Version Studio Records, 2012 There must be something in the water in Sweden at the moment. Following in the (rather large) footprints of progressive metal contemporaries, Katatonia and their magnificent ‘Night Is The New Day’ and ‘Dead End Kings’ albums, … Continue reading →

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