What’s been on the CD player the last few days:
Pure Reason Revolution, The Dark Third.
This is one of these albums I keep forgetting how good it is until I play it again. Pure Reason Revolution may have been a bit of a pastiche, a sort of prog-rock version of The Darkness, but unlike the Lowestoft bunch, their album seems to have lasted. I’ve has random bits of ‘Dark Third’ have been stuck in my head all morning at work. It is a bit repetitive in places, but I find it just works as one continuous of music with recurring themes and motifs; very ‘prog’.
Led Zeppelin, In Through the Out Door
Recently picked this one up for a fiver on CD, as the only Led Zep album I still only had on vinyl, and therefore hadn’t heard for years. Conventional wisdom suggests LZ ended with a whimper rather than a bang, with Jimmy Page AWOL at least in spirit half the time, but while it’s clearly no “Physical Graffiti” it’s actually not a bad album. Songs like ‘Hot Dog’ might be throwaway fluff, but I’d forgotten that ‘Carouselambra’ is actually a little bit more than just a poor man’s ‘Achilles Last Stand’. And ‘In the Evening’, ‘All My Love’ and ‘I’m gonna crawl’ are pure class.
Yes, Fragile
Nothing quite like some classic 70s prog. “Sharp! Distance! How can the wind with so many around me, I feel lost in the city“. I’m sure this song is about Jon Anderson’s former day job as a milkman. It’s a pity this band are judged by the mainstream on what everyone but their fanboys accept is one of their worst albums, the overblown “Tales from Topographic Oceans”, rather than albums like this one.
Panic Room, Visionary Position
At the Breathing Space+Mermaid Kiss show a week and a bit ago, Jon Edwards (who was playing keys for MK) personally thanked me for my review of the album. I should have thought to thank him for recording it. It really is that good.
Porcupine Tree – Lightbulb Sun
Every time I dig out a PT album, I immediately think “This is their best one”. I think that’s one of the great things about Porcupine Tree – all their albums are quite different, but all have their strengths. This one catches them as their moved away from ambient soundscape prog towards psychedelic pop, but before they went metal. I love the sarcastic Britpop pastiche “Four Chords That Made a Million”.
I’m just about to start on Opeth’s new ‘Watershed’ – been looking forward to this release for a while now.
And, to sit nicely alongside the irreverence of “Four Chords”, can I nominate RPWL’s “This is Not a Prog Song”?
Opeth’s new one is out? I’ll have to get hold of it.
BTW, the new Uriah Heep is due out in a week or so.
Opeth’s UK release was Monday. Really excellent album, at least to me. Lots more of the quiet/loud contrasts that I so like – they really seem to be refining their art.
Already pencilled in the Heep release, although I haven’t actually ordered a copy as yet.
Since I’m not likely to get near a record shop in the next 10 days, I’ve ordered both from Amazon.
BTW, are you going to DEMU Showcase this Saturday?
Amazon are my preferred supplier, too, as it’s very rare I ‘m near a record shop these days. Stuff from Amazon turns up reliably next day and drops through the letter box nicely
No, I’m not going to Showcase, although I’ve no doubt it will be an excellent show.
I hear you with Yes. I could never get into “Tales…”, but “Fragile”, “The Yes” album, “Close To The Edge”, and even the underrated “Going For The One” are in the top echelon of classic prog rock.
As for Amazon, I buy direct from bands’ websites wherever possible; they way the band rather than middlemen get most of the money.
BTW, what do you make of Glass Shadows – I hope we didn’t scare you away from the MA forum.
Mike – I’d add “Relayer” to that list. Those five represent the essential Yes to my ears.
“I buy direct from bands’ websites wherever possibleâ€
Yeah, I do that where appropriate – Arena, Fish, Marillion, MA, etc. But most bands aren’t really geared up in the same way, not to mention all those Flash sites and German bands who don’t actually take credit cards when you get to the checkout stage.
It’s interesting to ponder where exactly this business model might go in the future. It works OK for me with a few favoured bands, but all of them? I just couldn’t cope! I’ve bought 170 music CDs and DVDs so far this year, and can’t really see a way to keep on top of reading e-mails and surfing multiple websites much beyond what I already do. Music is my hobby, not shopping!
“BTW, what do you make of Glass Shadowsâ€
Good album, but I don’t think Mostly Autumn will ever make an album that I think is excellent. That’s not a criticism, just personal taste.
“I hope we didn’t scare you away from the MA forum.â€
No. I popped up because of the new album, but there doesn’t seem to be much of interest there for me generally.
Tales from Topographic Oceans, now there’s an interesting one. Way back in my hair days, I was inclined towards the ‘it’s a bit of a bloater’ view, but I’ve mellowed a tad over the years. These days I guess I play it as much as any other Yes album, with the exception of Relayer which is still top dog for me 30 years on.
I suspect this is due to a number of things. Generally I’ve grown further away from the 3 minute bursts of my Glam and Punk roots. CDs, mp3s and playlists have removed the psychological barrier of turning over LPs which marked time in my youth. I just sit back and enjoy a few hours music.
On top of this, I’m into a lot more bands who produce longer stuff. I’ve got so much Flower Kings albums, for example, that Topographic Oceans just doesn’t seem the extended work that it used to.
Plus I’ve got all those Dream Theater triple CD live sets. You know, the ones where you need to book a day’s leave if you want to listen to one…
I think Jon Edwards (Panic Room) is getting the message about Flash. BTW, I’ve met Richard Pocock (the guy who built their site), and he’s a nice guy apart from the Flash fetish.
As for business models of the future, I don’t think there’s going to be a one-size-fits all model, and the mass-market and niche audience bands are going to do things very differently. The “give the records away free and make money from touring” is going to work for some bands, but not for others.