*FM - Surveillance. 1979 Passport (Canada). Nice original pressing picked up with Black Noise from Dr. Boom here in town (Oct). Musically it's very much the sound of the aforementioned Black Noise combined with City of Fear. Each album takes baby steps to more commercial realms, but they're proggers at heart, keeping the music interesting throughout. I've become a late-in-life fan of FM.
*FM - Black Noise. 1978 Visa. Got this one for a song from Dr. Boom here in town (Oct). Black Noise is an excellent example of proggy AOR music with fat sounding synthesizers, violin, and a strong rhythm section (Cameron Hawkins performs double duty on bass). Fits well in that unique Canadian niche of groups such as Saga, Dillinger, Klaatu, Avalon, etc... A couple of years ago I was pleasantly surprised by City of Fear, and so goes Black Noise.
French TV - 10: I Forgive You For All My Unhappiness. 2010 Pretentious Dinosaur (CD). Collection revisit (Sep). My opinion of this album is pretty similar to Panzerpappa's Astromalist. I can appreciate the structure of notes and arrangement of instrumentation. But I don't necessarily "get into it". I went too far with French TV's catalog, continuing to buy without giving it much thought. They start to run together after awhile. I think they peaked during the 2000s and I probably should have stood pat at that point.
Trace - Birds. 1996 Musea (CD) (1975). Collection revisit (Sep). This is just the kind of album that isn't making the cut for the collection. It's perfectly fine and fits the progressive rock idiom to a tee. Very much influenced by ELP's prime works, you get a pitch perfect classically influenced keyboard prog trio. I have plenty of that already and with no real nostalgia regarding this band (in fact, I avoided them in my initial foray during the middle 80s and early 90s, not sure why though) - this one can go.
Opus Avantra - Lord Cromwell Plays Suite for Seven Vices. 1988 Suono (Japan) (1975). Collection revisit (Aug). A hodge podge of classical, experimental, and rock. Generally that's a winning combination with Italian groups, but this album seems aimless. It's not a bad listen, far from it, but nothing really sticks out. I've owned this album in one form or fashion for over 30 years, and it's not something I ever remember or can't wait to hear.
Panzerpappa - Astromalist. 2012 Rune Grammofon (CD). Collection revisit (Aug). Over four months ago I wrote about the demise of Koralrevens Klagesang in my collection and further stated: "I sold Farlig Vandring a few years ago. That leaves Astromalist whose judgement day awaits." And here we are on said judgement day. Track 1) demonstrates more of a Canterbury element than prior (or at least as I recall, despite Richard Sinclair being on its predecessor). 2) is on more familiar terrain. Ticks a lot of the avant prog boxes with diverse chamber music instrumentation, tightly composed charts, quirky melodies. Like Miriodor or Samla Mammas Manna. 3) rocks out, but in a sophisticated manner, recalling French TV when in that mode. Mellotron sounds are apparent in various places, though probably sampled. And so it goes, mostly similar to track 2. It's hard to root against Panzerpappa. They know their audience and they're playing directly at them. In the same way a retro prog band would target me, Panzerpappa does similar for the avant prog world. The issue I have with this album is the same I have with many of its ilk: My mind enjoys it, but I don't feel it. You kind of wish a funk band like Faze-O would have walked in for a couple of jams. My other standby rationalization is that I have enough music like this, so I don't need more. Though if I say it too much, I'll run out altogether. lol. I think Astromalist is a very good album, but yea, I don't need to keep it. It doesn't excite me. This closes out Panzerpappa for my collection. They continued on for another two albums, which I'd certainly be willing to hear if given the opportunity.
*Lucifer's Friend - Where the Groupies Killed the Blues. 1975 Passport (1972). Way late US issue of Lucifer's Friend's second album, Passport acquires Billingsgate and subsequently gives up on the German market. They also radically reworked the original order by placing the closing ballad as the opener, among other adjustments. That makes no sense. But whatever the case, Lucifer's Friend's sophomore effort is much different than the debut. Whereas that album is a great example of German hard rock, Where the Groupies Killed the Blues is also a very nice representation of German prog rock, with touches of the former. Neither are Krautrock in the slightest. From here they went on to classic rock, and (apparently) a bit of jazz rock, though I haven't heard Banquet yet. Strange band. And not really a good representation of the German scene of the era, though it appears American audiences appreciated them more at the time than some of the others. Acquired from Dr. Boom here in town. (Jul)
*Van der Graaf Generator - World Record. 1976 Mercury. Just acquired a stone mint original at Tiger Records this past weekend. About as loose and jammy as VDGG gets - which is to say this is still mostly charted and complex music. I really like this, more than the predecessor Still Life, though I should caveat that with the fact I haven't heard that album since the late 90s. This LP replaces the Japanese papersleeve edition which includes 2 live bonus tracks. (Jul)
Yochk'o Seffer - Delire. 1978 Mosha-Naim (1976). A very good rendition of avant prog / Zeuhl styled music. Similar to Zao, though a bit more unhinged in the jazz style, which I can appreciate more now than ever. I would have kept this even a year ago but I'll let someone else own it. (Jun)
Vangelis - Hypothesis. 1980 Affinity (Italy). Picked this up for a buck at the Austin show. I've had it before but my opinion remained unchanged on this revisit. I'll sell it again. I had a review from nearly 20 years ago and it pretty much reflects my current thoughts: "Hypothesis and The Dragon are loose jazzy rock jams from 1971 recorded prior to Vangelis' masterwork 666 with Aphrodite's Child. Vangelis treats these two recordings much in the same way as Klaus Schulze does with the Cosmic Jokers, in that he's distanced himself from them and claims they were never meant to be released to a larger audience. This argument can be further advanced by the fact that the LP's were released some seven years later. And Vangelis successfully sued to have them removed from the market. Though not in time for them to proliferate worldwide." (May)
Gryphon - Midnight Mushrumps. 1974 Transatlantic (UK). On the last day of the Austin show some dealers were essentially giving away albums. This one was $2. I can't let albums like this sit for $2 no matter my feelings about them. Been many a year since I last parted with my first copy (mid 90s). I'm not too fond of traditional English folk, even if mixed with prog rock as is the case here. Lots of recorders, krummhorns, and harmonium to frolic in the field with, and I enjoyed a +1 listen. But still not something I need to hold onto. (May)
Machiavel. 1994 Spalax (CD) (1976). Most of these weed out revisits are "fence items" that require a tough decision on whether to keep or not, but in the case of Machiavel, the latest listen resulted in a -1. It's for certain gone now. But what happened? Primarily it's the vocals. As you can probably tell by reading this blog, I'm very tolerant of vocals (outside of death metal grunting and growling). I don't mind crazy affectations, screaming, bizarre foreign adaptations, etc... But if you sing out of tune, monotone, and flat - and the music relies on you to propel it further, yea that's going to be a problem. Some bands have similar bad vocals, but when the music is 80% or more of the overall product, I can look the other way. I just talked about that on the first two Alquin albums for example. On the other hand, Machiavel's music is very good, though nothing exhilarating or head turning. Kind of a standard issue European mid 70s prog sound. Which in my book is A-OK, but not enough to save it. I have their second Jester on LP, so we'll see how that fares whenever I get to it. (May)
Tempus Fugit - Tales From a Forgotten World. 1997 PC Melody (CD). Collection revisit (Apr). Bought this when it was released and it represents the kind of international progressive rock being released during the era. Though coming from Brazil, Tempus Fugit could have been from anywhere, though they sound more French or German in approach. Their use of English is passable but not stellar, and there's a lot of music to digest. It's a very well done album, better than average for certain. It's a mix of classic big-name 70s UK prog mixed with neo tendencies, especially noted in the synth and guitar work.
London Underground. 2000 Record Heaven (CD). Collection revisit (Jan). Italian group who goes hard for the 1970 UK psych-into-prog sound. Which on paper sounds fantastic. And this isn't a poor facsimile at all, but lacks any highs. Love the cover, really encapsulates the era perfectly.
*Stencil Forest - The Abyss. 2005 private (CD). Collection revisit (Jun 2022). Second album from Stencil Forest, some 23 years later. Though relocating from Ft. Wayne, Indiana to nearby Denver, the band hasn't changed their sound much. If you miss the proggy AOR days of 1978 to 1980, then Stencil Forest is here to remedy that. The album features eight short radio friendly songs sandwiched between two lengthy prog suites, including the 24 minute closer. As noted on the Opening Act review, I have a very good friend who is related to the band, and that group member sent me the CD back when it was released. No chance for objective analysis from me. I do really enjoy the music here, though I prefer the debut by some measure.
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