Absalom Review by Grant Hill Stick Men is a unique power trio. Founded by legendary and still cutting edge bassist / Chapman Stick artist, Tony Levin, Stick Men continues to expand the horizons of modern progressive music. More...
The excellent “Two of a Perfect Trio” tour was a well-publicized and equally well received series of concerts featuring the bands of King Crimson legends Tony Levin and Adrian Belew.
Moody and ambient music creates the format for these sedate soundscapes. There aren’t huge variants here, and everything moves very slowly, but it never feels redundant or samey either.
This single from Anderson, Bruford Wakeman and Howe is out of print, of course, but these days, it’s not that hard (or sometimes expensive) to get your hands on something like this.
This new five-CD collection is pretty amazing. I've said before, and will repeat it here, that this new version of King Crimson might well be the best lineup they've had, particularly in terms of live shows.
Various Artists - Back Against the Wall Review by Gary Hill There are few people who haven't at least heard of Pink Floyd's The Wall. I would hazard to say that those who have never heard the album are in the minority as well. More...
King Crimson - Beat Review by Gary Hill Of the trio of studio albums originally released by this version of King Crimson, this was the middle child. It was also a little less adventurous than either of the other two. More...
This instrumental set is intriguing and powerful. It's got plenty of King Crimson-like sound built into it, but there are also hints of space music, fusion, jam band stuff and more here.
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - BLUE Nights Review by Gary Hill This recording chronicles the live performances of Bruford Levin Upper Extremities from 1998. The disc showcases the band's unique blend of jazzy modes with Crimsonesque textures and, occassionally, just plain weirdness. More...
This single from Anderson, Bruford Wakeman and Howe is out of print, of course, but these days, it’s not that hard (or sometimes expensive) to get your hands on something like this.
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - Bruford Levin Upper Extremities Review by Gary Hill The musicians on this disc are Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson), Tony Levin (King Crimson; Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe; Bozzio, Levin, Stevens; Liquid Tension Experiment), David Torn (Mark Isham, Bill Bruford), and Chris Botti(Paul Simon, Blue Nile). More...
Moonbound - Confession And Release Review by Gary Hill This might not be the most obvious choice for the progressive rock section. Surely Moonbound’s music is quite pop oriented. More...
Robert Fripp's collaborations in the late 1980s and early 1990s with David Sylvian, in retrospect, clearly laid the groundwork for King Crimson's album Thrak.
King Crimson - Discipline Review by Steve Alspach These were interesting times for Robert Fripp, ye olde scholastic of the progressive rock scene. In 1978 he had released Exposure, an album that he described as "A Day in the Life" for that period. More...
California Guitar Trio - Echoes Review by Gary Hill California Guitar Trio are certainly well known for creating unique progressive rock instrumental pieces. More...
Steve Thorne - Emotional Creatures - Part One Review by Gary Hill What a pleasant surprise this album is! I had never really heard of Steve Thorne before, but you can bet after this one I'll be keeping track on him.
Various Artists - Encores, Legends and Paradoxes Review by Gary Hill With a cast of players that reads like a prog "who`s who", this ELP tribute takes the classics and makes them fresh and new again. The result is an incredibly listenable piece of music that really entertains.
Tony Levin - From the Caves of the Iron Mountain Review by Gary Hill This album is an incredibly unique work, beautiful and very difficult to categorize. The musicians on the album are Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta and Steve Gorn. More...
Peter Primamore - Grancia Review by Gary Hill This is an intriguing CD. It does a nice job of straddling the fence between jazz and progressive rock. More...
King Crimson - Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With Review by Bill Knispel Happy With What you Have to be Happy With was the second consecutive EP release from King Crimson, and presented a look at additional material that would, along with the instrumentals presented on the Level Five EP, form the majority of the band’s (at the time) forthcoming studio album The Power To Believe.
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This mostly instrumental album is released on Djam Karet’s new label. In fact, Gayle Ellett from Djam Karet guests on the disc, along with quite a few more notable names.
King Crimson - In the Court of King Crimson written by Sid Smith Review by Steve Alspach Few bands in progressive rock have a more colorful past than King Crimson. As Sid Smith says in the preface, the history of King Crimson is the "triumph of spirit over adversity. And sometimes the triumph of adversity."
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It would be really hard to slap a label on this album, other than just lumping it in as progressive rock. Much of it is freeform, largely instrumental, weirdness.
On the one hand, Nick D'Virgilio has been out of Spock's Beard for a while now. That means that perhaps the mentions of the band and comparisons aren't entirely appropriate.
Rymo is a shortened form of Ryan Moran's name, and he's best known as the drummer for Slightly Stoopid. This solo album finds him joined by a number of musicians.
This instrumental album features experimental music that has a lot in common with modern King Crimson. The group includes two touch guitar players, a keyboardist and a drummer.
There is certainly something to be said for truth in advertising. Looking at the group name and the album title, really sets the stage for the music within.
Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment Review by Gary Hill Due to be released on March 10th, this album by Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe), Jordan Rudess (Dregs, Rudess Morgenstein) and Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci (both of Dream Theater), much like the Black Light Syndrome CD by Bozzio, Levin, Stevens was written and recorded over the course of six days (with the exception of some keyboard and guitar overdubs). This album is in fact rather similar to Black Light Syndrome, but with the musical changes being a bit more dynamic and possessing a generally higher energy level.
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Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment 2 Review by Gary Hill If you are into prog, and buy only one album this year, by all means, make it this one. The first Liquid Tension Experiment album was wonderful, and this one is even better.
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Paul Simon - Live From Philadelphia DVD Review by Gary Hill Let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat. If you are a Paul Simon fan and own the Live at the Tower Theater DVD you have this.
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Peter Gabriel - Live in Athens 1987 DVD Review by G. W. Hill So, I’m going to go about this backwards. Normally I talk about the main course of a DVD release first and then look at the bonus stuff.
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I had never seen the mighty King Crimson play live before - not surprising, as I was only ten years old when the band last played my home town in 1974!
Tony Levin - Live in Chicago-June 23rd, 2000 Review by Gary Hill Tony Levin and company did two shows for Chicago on June 23rd. The set consisted mostly of material from his new release Waters of Eden.
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It seems that there is quite a bit of live material being released from this version of King Crimson. That's a great thing because this line-up might be the best ever.
Various Artists - Magna Carta Guitar Greats – Volume I Review by Gary Hill These Magna Carta sampler discs serve as a great way for people to sample a number of their releases without having to shell out the cash for each and every one of them. I'd have to say that as these things go, this is one of the better ones – and they are all quite good.
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I have to say that for my money, the modern incarnation of King Crimson really is probably the best. The reason I say that is that there are distinct periods of the band throughout their history.
King Crimson - Neal and Jack and Me DVD Review by Bill Knispel King Crimson’s ‘return to the throne’ in the 1980’s must have been viewed with a degree of skepticism. The band made a name for themselves in the 1970’s with their dark blend of symphonic grandeur and intense heaviness, mixed with an improvisational spirit that would drive them to push every song and performance into parts unknown. More...
Tony Levin - Pieces of The Sun Review by Gary Hill Tony Levin consistently puts out musically strong, artistically driven albums, and this one is no exception. Pieces of The Sun does differ in some ways from his previous releases, though. More...
Tuner - Pole Review by Gary Hill Wow, as strange as this CD is, I love it! A collaboration between Markus Reuter and King Crimson’s Pat Mastellotto, this thing conveys a dark sort of progressive rock that is very much focused on textures.
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Mike Portnoy - Prime Cuts Review by Gary Hill Mike Portnoy now has his own entry in the Magna Carta Prime Cuts collection. This disc, as the rest of the series, features selected tracks from albums that the artist has contributed to, presented here as sort of a slice of some of the best of the work from him. More...
Jordan Rudess - Prime Cuts Review by Josh Turner Jordan Rudess is "technically" the best keyboardist in the business. When you limit this contest to progressive rock, it's a no-brainer. More...
KTU - Quiver Review by Gary Hill KTU is Trey Gunn, Kimmo Pohjonen and Pat Mastelotto.
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So many people these days give lip service to this charity or that, but you really have to admire the people who put their money (literally) where their mouth is. Such is the case with Simon Apple as they are donating a portion of the sale of each CD to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Peter Gabriel - Secret World Live DVD Review by Gary Hill This video was originally released in 1994. It actually won a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. The sound and video quality are exceptional.
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Markus Reuter in combinations with various musicians has created quite a catalog of intriguing instrumental progressive rock. This new collection with Tim Motzer and Kenny Grohowski is no exception.
Vapourspace - Sonic Residue from Vapourspace Review by Steve Alspach Here's an interesting concept - take songs from various releases from a progressive rock record label and let the music be transformed by a techno mix until it's nearly unrecognizable from the original source. More...
Willie Oteri - Spiral Out Review by Bruce Stringer Produced, recorded and mixed by Ronan Chris Murphy, "Spiral Out" is an extension of the improvisational outings that made acts like John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and Tony Williams Lifetime, King Crimson and even Frank Zappa the uniquely memorable experience that made musical history. More...
I generally like things like this where an album is created by taking the track list of a famous album and having different artists reproduce the songs.
You know you are in for a treat when the lineup of the group is Markus Reuter, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. You can also figure that the music will be along the lines of King Crimson and Stick Men.
Tony Levin - Tales From The Widow Jane Mine VHS Review by Gary Hill When Levin chose to record an album in the unusual venue of an old cave, it seemed a very strange choice. This video chronicling the process of creating that music goes a long way to making it look pretty obvious. More...
While this is released under Xavi Reija's name, the full lineup here is full of exceptional musicians. Reija handles the drums while Tony Levin delivers bass, standup bass and Stick.
King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair Review by Gary Hill When King Crimson reformed in the 1980’s to create the Discipline album the sound they presented was quite different from the classic Crimson of the 1970’s. While I liked all of the discs from this Belew, Bruford, Fripp and Levin lineup, I still preferred the “old school” stuff.
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This is classical music, but not in the traditional sense. It’s more like the freeform classical that emerged in the early part of the 20th Century. Yet, it’s also ambient and space music. Is it rock? No, definitely not. It is, however, progressive music.
Tony Levin - Tony Levin Band - Double Espresso Review by Gary Hill Tony Levin and his band tour fairly frequently, bringing their unique show to enthusiastic fans on a regular basis. It wasn't until recently, though, that those fans could have a musical documentation of that group at home. More...
Tuner - Totem Review by Gary Hill This is the first disc that was released by Tuner – a collaboration of Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Markus Reuter (Centrozoon). More...
Yes - Union Review by Gary Hill The great experiment - at the time of this album's recording there were essentially two versions of Yes out and making music. The first was the Trevor Rabin "Yes West" lineup (consisting of Rabin, Chris Squire, Alan White and Tony Kaye - Jon Anderson had left the group, but been working his way back into the fold) and Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe (the splinter group of one of the most classic lineups). More...
Peter Gabriel - Up Review by Steve Alspach Peter Gabriel has always been one to have a keen lookout on where music is, or where it's going. More...
This album is fully instrumental. It’s a great disc, too. Some of the music here has appeared elsewhere (although most of the time in different arrangements)
King Crimson - VROOOM Review by Bill Knispel 10 years following the dissolution of King Crimson following a trilogy of world and gamelan influenced albums, the band quietly rejoined forces in a small studio in Woodstock New York to create a new band and a new sound. Expanding beyond the quartet that created those 1980’s albums, the core group (Robert Fripp. Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford) was joined by new members Pat Mastelotto (drums, formerly of Mister Mister) and Trey Gunn (Stick) to create what founding member Robert Fripp called a “double trio.”
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Steve Hackett - Watcher of the Skies Review by Gary Hill Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has assembled a wide variety of musicians to rework many classic Genesis songs. The end result is quite interesting.
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Tony Levin - Waters of Eden Review by Vivian Lee Since the age of ten, bassist/stick-player Tony Levin has been a chameloid powerhouse in the world of music, having played with artists like Seal, Peter Paul and Mary, and Andy Summers; or with supergroups like King Crimson, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities and Liquid Tension Experiment. More...
Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare Review by Gary Hill To many this classic album represents Alice Cooper at his theatric best. It is a loosely knit concept album that at times is a bit weak, at times a bit over the top, but in many ways a spooky masterpiece.
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Tom Griesgraber - Whisper in the Thunder Review by Gary Hill Featuring guest appearances by Jerry Marotta, Pat Mastelotto and the California Guitar Trio, and with the fact that Griesgraber's instrument is the Chapman Stick, one might expect this disc to sound like Tony Levin's solo material. More...
I know Judy Collins might not seem like the kind of artist that a prog and metal fan like myself enjoys. I've always liked her music, and especially her voice, though.
California Guitar Trio - Whitewater Review by Gary Hill The first thing that I feel compelled to say is that I love the cover of this disc. It is arguably the best album cover of the entire year.
Tony Levin - World Diary Review by Gary Hill Featuring a large number of diverse musicians, this album is a considerably varied work. Released in 1995, jazz, art rock, and world textures dominate in this unique and intriguing CD, Tony Levin`s first solo album and the first release on his Papa Bear label. More...
