Album Review: Saga - Sagacity

Sagacity is the quality of being wise or having good judgment. After listening to the new album from Saga, I would have thought it meant lazy or annoying. If the band wanted to show some sagacity, they might have written better songs and given a better performance. I've been a fan of the band for quite a while and I do know they have a tendency to release a good album and then a bad album, repeating that cycle. It's been a while since they've released anything remotely classic, so when I read that this album was an effort to sound like their first few albums, I was excited. I was duped.

Sagacity sounds like a very tired old band trying to hard. They have a new young drummer who is so pedestrian, he makes Steve Negus sound like Bill Bruford. Add to that that you really can't hear any keyboards and this is a band KNOWN for layers of keyboards. When you can hear them, there's very little intricacy like they were known for. What you can hear is Ian Crichton, LOUDLY. That wouldn't be bad if he wasn't constantly mimicking the vocal line so you can't always hear Michael Sadler like you might want to.

The main problem is the songs. They suck. There are a handful of tolerable songs but for the most part songs like "It Doesn't Matter," "Press 9," "Wake Up," and even the opener "Let It Slide" are just songs you'd rather skip than be forced to sit through. "Vital Signs," "The Further You Go," and maybe even "On My Way" are the tolerable ones. The rest are forgettable which considering the shit that I can remember, those songs are better off.

This album actually makes the new Yes album seem like a good idea. Bands who have a large catalog should only release new material if it can stack up. An album like Sagacity makes me reconsider ever seeing Saga live because I would not want to have to hear any of this album live. That only means they won't perform songs off those early classic albums of which this album bears no resemblance whatsoever.

New Music Review: Jason Rubenstein - New Metal From Old Boxes / This Is Not A Love Letter

The first thing you notice about keyboardist Jason Rubenstein is he is VERY talented. It turns out he also a really nice guy. I suppose that makes it easier not to hate him for being so damn talented. Jason can play prog, jazz, and can improv with the best of them. That's all well and good but can he write songs?

On his album "New Metal From Old Boxes", Jason states he is going back to his prog roots. We are all lucky he has. The songs are there, tightly arranged and with plenty of hooks. The thing that can happen with instrumental albums is that a sameness can creep in and the songs blend together. Jason makes sure the songs all stand on their own with his amazing playing, loud and aggressive. Think Keith Emerson joining Planet X. Nothing against Derek Sherinian but it sounds more like an album that Virgil Donati wrote with Emerson. Heavy prog!

Stand out tracks for me? The Steppes Of Sighs Part 2 (nothing wrong with Part 1!), A Burden Of Secrets (epic prog at its best), his cover of The Barbarian, and the heavy organ of Frankenstein On The Red Line. But the whole album just rips. How to make a piano sound heavy!



But wait! There's more! Prior to releasing this album, Jason released an EP called "This Is Not A Love Letter." The title reminds me of when Robert Fripp was speaking about the VROOM EP that was the prelude to the album Thrak. He basically said the EP was a "calling card and not a love letter." While Jason's EP might not be a love letter, there is a LOT to love in a tight space.

The title track and The Curmudgeon Invents The Future could have been on the album. Ok maybe any of the tracks could have. For me the EP is a companion piece to the album. If you have the album, you NEED the EP. Jason has a back catalog that needs to be checked out...by me as well! If I can actually stop enjoying these two, maybe I will look at the many sides of Jason Rubenstein!

A tale of 2 Dream Theaters: The old vs the young

Lately, I've noticed that I am pissing people off with what is basically an "anti" Mike Portnoy attitude. The truth is I do appreciate everything that MP did for Dream Theater but I get very annoyed by the people who seem like they are blindly following him and love anything he does. They also shit all over the last 2 post MP Dream Theater albums.

So it got me thinking, why is there such a strange division. This might not be the answer but it did occur to me that we have really 2 different Dream Theater bands in play and with these 2 bands, we also have 2 very different minded Dream Theater fans.

 Being an old fart of 48 years old, I got into Dream Theater waaaaaay back in 1992. Images And Words had just come out and I got it the week it came out. Many fans did the same back then. The band was VERY different. It was basically the John Petrucci/Kevin Moore show. They did the bulk of the song and lyric writing. MP was the very friendly and talented drummer but really nothing more. 2 amazing albums, then Kevin leaves. Things BEGIN to change but not completely.

Falling Into Infinity was really the last time that DT took outside advice and that came in the form of Kevin Shirley. Not long after that Jordan Rudess came on board but he has always yielded to JP and MP when it came to matters of DT. MP inserted himself more and more in the music related decisions. He also became the face of the band by doing all the interviews.

Round the turn of the century, the internet became important to the band. MP took to MySpace and then Facebook and then Twitter. He was the fan favorite and at that point the band added MANY newer and younger fans. The older fans were happy that their band was finally getting noticed. But more and more MP was steering DT away from the more balanced style into a more direct metal style, which added more fans who worshiped him. He saw himself as the official leader of the band.

It wasn't until he asked the band to take some time off that the band decided he was NOT the leader. MP left, Mike Magnini joined and the shitstorm began! Old fans who remember how balanced the band dynamic was (which included John Myung's lyrics!) were happy that he left. The fans that got into the MP-led band were pissed off and wanted no part of a DT without MP. It doesn't help that MP is very opinionated and he becomes a very polarizing individual. That just adds fuel to the fire.

I'll admit that I am way way too hard on MP. Am I happy he isn't in DT now? Yes I am. I also wish MP nothing but success because no one works as hard as he does. There's no question about that. I think DT fans would do well to consider that the history of the band have led us all to where we have a great band. It is what it is. They aren't perfect, but they never were. That's fine!

My Top 10 Rush albums

No one asked. But I saw a post on this topic and it got me thinking. What are my top 10 Rush albums? Can I come up with 10? Will people be shocked? Will anyone even care? So okay let's try it. From number 10 to number 1.

10. Vapor Trails (the remix): This album would not have come close to the top ten without the remix. Talk about a major change! Sonically it is a beast now. The songs were there, they just needed help. I wish they would remix Clockwork Angels since I detest the production and mix on it.

9. Counterparts: This album has probably my favorite production of their albums. Plus it has tracks like Animate, Stick It Out, Nobody's Hero, Between The Sun and Moon and the vastly underrated Cold Fire.

8. Moving Pictures: I hate the song Tom Sawyer. Yep I said it. I have NEVER liked it and it actually prevented me from loving this band. If I leave that song out, this album would be top 3. I LOVE Limelight and Witch Hunt. 2 of my all time favorites.

7. 2112: A tale of 2 sides. The title track is legendary and basically dwarfs "side 2". But I love Tears, another favorite of mine. The other songs are solid.

6. Power Windows: Based on Marathon and The Manhattan Project, this album jumps to number 6. Without either, it would not make my top ten. I do enjoy Middletown Dreams and Grand Designs.

5. Permanent Waves: Sure the first 2 songs are over played. But there is not a wasted note on this album. Entre Nous and Different Strings are perfection.

4. Hemispheres: The Trees. Seriously that's all that needs saying. But the title track is so underrated. La Villa Strangiato is the best instrumental ever done. And Circumstances pointed the direction the band was headed.

3. Signals: The first  Rush album I ever owned. Subdivisions is one of my favorite Rush songs. The Analog Kid, The Enemy Within and even New World Man are great.

2. A Farewell To Kings: For Xanadu alone, I have to rank this one high. But add in the title track, Closer To The Heart and the amazing understated Madrigal, wow just a great album.

1. Hold Your Fire: Ok yes this is my #1. Why? Mission is my favorite Rush song and Prime Mover is my second favorite Rush song. I LOVE Turn The Page, Lock And Key and Second Nature. Lyrically, I think this album is some of Neil's best work. And yes I even love Time Stand Still. The lyrics are so true.

So that's it. No death threats please.

New Album Review: Yes - Heaven & Earth

Yes is releasing their second album since parting ways with the great Jon Anderson. "Heaven & Earth" is the follow up to 2011's Fly From Here which received mixed reactions from fans and critics. Gone is vocalist Benoit David and enter Glass Hammer vocalist Jon Davison who, like David before him, sounds a lot like Jon Anderson. That's kinda the point isn't it?

What about the music? So far the band has released just clips of songs and the full length single "Believe Again." From what I have read, it is getting mixed reactions once again. Jon Anderson is impossible to replace. I will say I have liked Davison's work with Glass Hammer and he is a song writer which David was not. Davison's song writing is key to "Heaven & Earth" since he is credited on all but one song. He is not the problem with the album in my opinion.

Much of the album is rather slow and has no aggressive or epic nature to it. It's nice music. Very positive but nothing challenging at all. The best song as far as I am concerned is the closing track (the longest track) "Subway Walls" which was written by Davison and keyboardist Geoff Downes. It at least HINTS at what the band can do. Good melody (all the songs have that) and some technicality. Unfortunately I think Davison is propping up an aging band. Steve Howe doesn't really have any great memorable riffs. Chris Squire's playing is very laid back. Worst of all, Alan White just doesn't seem to be able to play anything tricky. His playing is basically "polite".

Granted this is just after a few listens and I will listen to it many times as I always do with Yes. I do think Jon Davison is a great vocalist and he really carries this record. It might be time to replace other members of the band! Overall, I like it but as a whole the album doesn't jump out at you and won't have you thinking "WOW". It's nice. Just nice.

UPDATE: After many more listens, I was right about the album being just nice. There are no "deeper layers" like some folks have said. My opinion. No real classics on this album either. Good music, nothing epic at all. The playing is extremely safe and there are no real fireworks to speak of. I'd say half the album is just average at best. It's really not overly progressive. Even 90125 is much more progressive in my opinion. If not for Jon Davison, I really don't think they could even make an album at this point. The closer "Subway Walls" at least TRIES to be epic, though Geoff Downes isn't a guy known to write epics, so it's close but nothing like classic Yes. The album is a good effort but far from great. I probably won't active seek the album out to listen to it.

New Album Review: Proud Peasant - Flight

 

Instrumental rock is a tricky business. Sure people like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have made a good living from it. They rely on showing off their technical prowess to do that. Nothing wrong with that. In the progressive metal realm, Scale The Summit are currently making waves but how prog are they really?

The debut album from Proud Peasant is a true progressive rock album. 3 epic tracks, none shorter than 12 and a half minutes. A very bold opener from this Texas band. "Flight" is not like other prog you may have heard. They do not rely on a billion notes to cover for the lack of vocals. Rather they set an atmosphere with each song. It sounds more like a movie soundtrack or even a video game than standard verse/chorus/verse structured songs.

The epic nature of the album is both is strength and "weakness" if you will. It can be daunting to tackle 3 massive instrumental pieces. This isn't "Tales From Topographic Oceans" but it definitely has more in common with that than say 90125! The references I hear are Gryphon and Änglagård, both bands have done a similar orchestral take on progressive rock. Proud Peasant's "Flight" could be a modern version of "Red Queen To Gryphon Three" which works just fine with me!

As far as epic debut albums, Flight also reminds me a little of The Light by Spock's Beard which also had extremely long, dense tracks on it. Proud Peasant isn't afraid to "go for it" and throw everything they have at you. SB did the same thing with the Light way back when. It's a bold move and it MIGHT scare the faint of heart away but this is a FUN album!! That is why Proud Peasant succeeds when many bands would fail. It's an epic journey but a worthwhile one!  

Current Playlist June 2014

This is my current playlist along with a "featured" title which is the new Voyager album "V" or self titled if you prefer. The albums can be from any genre but of course I tend to always learn toward progressive music, hence the title of the page.

The new Agalloch album might be their best work so far. This is a band that I think is America's answer to Opeth or Enslaved. They are just THAT good. The Chant reminds me of Anathema a little bit and the album "New Haven" took me by surprise. Very good songs and production. Coshish is a band from India whose album "Firdous" is a concept record sung completely in Hindu. I love that! The debut from Fire Garden has been reviewed on this blog so check that out.

Iluvatar makes their triumphant return after 15 years of silence with the aptly titled "From The Silence." And musically it is like they were never away. They are a band I have loved since their self titled debut and it is so amazing to have them back finally. IQ have released "The Road Of Bones" which if you are into them like I am, you NEED the double disc version of the album. The second disc is every bit as good as the first disc, it might be better! Proud Peasant have released their 3 song (3 epics!) debut album "Flight" which is a very unique blend of progressive rock, classical music and almost like a video game track. The album is very cinematic and yet intimate at the same time. All instrumental affair.

So Hideous is anything but that. Their debut EP was picked up by Prosthetic Records and it merges black metal with an epic classical style. They are very different from any of the black metal bands you have heard. Very good album!  I have reviewed the new Thine album on this blog so make sure you check that out! Tombs is a band that is very experimental, very heavy...they move from doom to sludge to prog to well whatever sound works. I could see them touring with So Hideous to be honest. I love their new album "Savage Gold".

And then there is Voyager. The next big review I will be doing is for this album so I won't say too much but I will say this album is a contender for best of 2014. A crowd funded album that exceeded the pledge and because of that I think the band fed off it. They created their masterpiece. Highest possible recommendation!

New Album Review: Thine - The Dead City Blueprint

Sometimes listening to something randomly can really pay off. I'd never heard off Thine nor did I know anything about their new album "The Dead City Blueprint", but I saw the cover of it and for whatever reason, I was drawn to it. I found out it was actually on one of my favorite record labels, Peaceville Records. Was it metal? It didn't look it. And it isn't quite metal.

What "The Dead City Blueprint" is is modern prog, in the vein of Anathema or maybe earlier Porcupine Tree. The British band regrouped after a 12 year absence and wow, what a comeback! If you want time changes or a billion notes a minute, look elsewhere. This is moody and atomospheric. As I said the closest I can say would be Anathema but Thine really has their own sound.


The band features former My Dying Bride drummer Dan Mullins which might explain the band signing to Peaceville Records but they aren't doom band either! The songs are rich with melody and emotion, good harmonies and some crunchy riffs too. The highlights for me are the epic "Scars For Limbo", the opener "Brave Young Assassin", the uptempo rocker "The Precipice and what I think would make a good single/video "Out Of Your Mind & Into The Void".


Highest possible recommendation for this album. Make sure you check out "The Dead City Blueprint" and buy it at: http://www.omerch.eu/shop/thine/
 

New Album Review: John Bassett - Unearth

The new John Bassett solo album "Unearth" has the same psychedelic vibe as his day job Kingbathmat but muscle is replaced with mood, as his acoustic guitar is the lead instrument. John can flat out write a good song and regardless of the arrangement, a good song always carries his albums and this debut solo album is no exception. John plays everything on this except for some drums, making this a true "solo" outing.



From the first single/video "Stay Away From The Dark" to the title track to the instrumental "Kylerhea", the album is packed with melody and mood. This feels more personal than any of his work with Kingbathmat which stands to reason. The interesting thing to me is I can hear full band versions of many of these songs in my head. John can just as easily strip down a Kingbathmat song to this format as well as "beef" up some of these tracks to be a Kingbathmat song.



"Unearth" will be on my list of best albums of 2014. John is a true talent. Nice work, John!

To purchase "Unearth" or any Kingbathmat album, visit: http://kingbathmat.bandcamp.com/

New Album Review: Fire Garden - Sound Of Majestic Colors

Chicago based prog-rockers Fire Garden have released their debut full length album, "Sound Of Majestic Colors." This follows their EP "The Prelude" which the band gave away for free on their website http://firegardenmusic.com/. Just prior to recording the album, the band changed singers from Chase Carter to Kevin Pollack. In most cases, a switch like that would be risky but in this case, the band have the right man for the job. Fire Garden's music walks the line between progressive rock and progressive metal, sliding from side to side as needed and Kevin's voice fits the style perfectly. He is similar to Steven Wilson without being a clone. I can't go on without mentioning the mastermind behind the band, Zeeshan Baig or as he is better known to everyone, Zee. Zee is the guitarist, producer, songwriter and writes the lyrics with his vocalist (now Kevin). Zee believes in writing actual songs rather than just bars of music that he and keyboardist Frank Lucas can solo over. This is not to say these guys don't solo but it always suits the song first. And yes Zee can PLAY. But what about the songs? The album is a balance of mini-epics like "Behind The Face", "Redemption" and "The Last Step" to shorter, catchy songs like the lead single/video "Alone" and "Endless Memories". A good song is a good song, regardless of length and Zee knows that. The arrangements are tight and allow the band to stretch out when it warrants. All in all, the debut from Fire Garden more than delivers on the promise shown on the EP. Sound Of Majestic Colors was an album that I was definitely looking forward to hearing. I consider Zee a friend but if the album wasn't any good, he knows I would be honest with him. Luckily we don't have to worry about that. Fire Garden shows the world who they are and does it with confidence and style. Highly recommended!

To purchase "Sound Of Majestic Colors", click below: http://www.firegardenmusic.com/shop
or on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sound-of-majestic-colors/id878272569