Dillinger. 1974 Canada-Ontario

In some ways, Dillinger's debut is darn near the perfect early 70s progressive hard rocker, with grungy organ and loud guitar, fronted by an extra-testosterone-laced lead vocalist. One can easily see this band being label mates of Spirit of Christmas (both were on Daffodil), though Dillinger were certainly not as ethereal. But there are a couple of downers – one is their rancid rendition of a Spirit track ('Nature's Way')  – and, gasp, the obligatory over long drum solo on the side long 'Live and Return'. Still, a great example of the Midwestern progressive sound. They were to improve on their second Don't Lie to the Band album.

Ownership: LP: 1974 Daffodil. Gatefold. Recent acquisition (2022) from JL. I'm wondering why this album isn't known as A Lease of Love? See label. My first copy was the Unidisc CD acquired in 2005. It offers nothing else, so it can go.

2005; 8/31/13 (new entry); 8/21/22 (LP addition); 1/27/23

Groon - Refusal to Comply. 1994 England

An obscure one-off from England, Groon present a very powerful instrumental guitar fronted power trio. Make no mistake, this isn't a guitar hero album. All fully composed with a very unique rhythm section, almost jazzy, and always scattered. Somewhat Crimsonish - Red era - in their approach of mixing jazz, progressive, and the avant-garde. You could almost say that Groon is to the 90's what Red (the UK group) was to the 1980's. What separates Groon from the crowd is the brilliant drumming of Steve Clarke which is both active and forceful. And what is the background of bassist Algy Ward and drummer Steve Clarke? The unlikely NWOBHM band Tank! Who knew? I recommend this album to all looking for something different in the too worn out genre of the guitar power trio.

Ownership: CD: 1994 Progressive International / Dissenter

4//95; 8/15/13 (new entry); 5/24/19

Lothlorien - Il Sale Sulla Coda. 1998 Italy

A fresh listen tonight reaffirms my position below.

For my tastes, Lothlorien were one of the finest of the late 90's Italian progressive rock bands, of which there were many. The differentiators are the strong keyboard work (in particular the piano), the flute, and the fantastic vocals in Italian. The music is constantly on the move, and the guitarist isn't afraid to take the proceedings into the 90s. Musically, the band's melodic style recalls the pastoral Errata Corrige - except as met up with 1989 period Nuova Era perhaps. This is a really fine effort, with a compositional style similar to the original 70s masters, but there's no mistaking this is from 1998. If I had a complaint, it would be the overly bright 90s production. Otherwise, excellent in every way. I would love to see this band reform for a second effort.

Ownership: CD: 1998 Lizard. Jewel case with nice fold open lyric booklet.

1998; 8/13/13 (new entry); 6/5/21

Rhun - Fanfare du Chaos. 2013 France

Like Caillou, Rhun are a new French band that fits squarely into the Zeuhl tradition. While Caillou were looking outward to the jazz side of the medium, Rhun sits very comfortably with the master creator of the genre itself: Magma. There are both jazz and classical references presented on Fanfare du Chaos, a CD from AltRock that combines the previous year's EP (first 3 tracks) with a 2008 unreleased demo (last 3). The music is rough and tumble for the most part, with the expected operatic Kobaian used as the vehicular language. Soft flute and bassoon are often juxtaposed against a blitzkrieg of fuzz bass, electric guitar, pounding drums, and squealing sax. Hard to imagine fans of both 1001 Centigrades and Mekanik era Magma - as well as the great Weidorje - not lapping this one up. It's a straight play for the hearts of traditional Zeuhl fans everywhere, of which I'm one. And they succeed for the most part. Rhun fortunately avoids the excess of modern bands such as early Koenji Hyakkei and second album Scherzoo, though I wouldn't mind if they traded a few of those pure noise improvisational parts (especially some of the atonal sax squonks) for actual songwriting. This is a band with tremendous potential. Let's see where they go next.

Ownership: CD: 2013 AltRock (Italy)

Discogs has quite the argument going over what the band name and title is! I'm going with how it was originally when released...

8/7/13 (new entry)