Paatos - Silence of Another Kind Review by Bill Knispel Silence of Another Kind is the third album from Sweden’s Paatos (Pathos). Led by Petronella Nettermalm chameleon-esque vocals, which can range from breathy sweetness to bitter disdain, this album shows Paatos at their heaviest.
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Paatos - Timeloss Review by Josh Turner Like they say on Sesame Street, this is different, but the same. For those of you familiar with their sophomore release (that would be "Kallocain"), this is certainly what we've come to know as Paatos. More
Pain of Salvation - Scarsick Review by Bill Knispel Sweden’s Pain of Salvation’s Scarsick is the follow up, nearly three years on, from the band’s critically acclaimed concept album Be. Released on InsideOut Music America, Scarsick sees the band continuing in thematic arenas, releasing an album that deals with the problems facing modern society.
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Pain of Salvation - Entropia Review by Vivian Lee In 1984, a band named "Reality" took the Swedish music scene's attention with not just the members' young age but their musical talent as well. Since then the band has had a few personnel changes and a name change. More
Paine's Promise - Mobius Review by Gary Hill Fans of Rush should find plenty to like on this album. The drums in particular feel a lot like Neil Peart's work and really stand out. More
Pallas - The Bringer of Dreams (Special Edition) Review by Bill Knispel The Bringer of Dreams is Pallas’s first studio effort in 4 years, following on from the powerful and successful The Cross and the Crucible. Much like its predecessor, this new album could possibly be termed a concept album, but perhaps only in the loosest of terms.
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Pallas - The Cross and the Crucible Review by Steve Alspach One of Scotland's finest, and longest running, progressive bands strikes again with this album. It's an ambitious effort, full of gothic choirs and grandiose themes involving theology and the origins of man. More
Carl Palmer - Working Live - Volume I Review by Gary Hill While fans of Emerson Lake and Palmer should be an obvious audience for this release from Carl Palmer and his new band, these guys don't do music that duplicate's ELP's sound. More
Matthew Parmenter - Horror Express Review by Bill Knispel Matthew Parmenter may be best known to progressive music listeners as vocalist (and keyboardist, and occasional guitars/violin/saxophones) and erstwhile leader of Discipline, a Michigan-based progressive rock band responsible for two highly regarded albums released in the 1990’s, including the modern masterpiece Unfolded Like Staircase.
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Matthew Parmenter - Astray Review by Gary Hill Matthew Parmenter has created in Astray that most elusive of beasts – the prog rock album that should please fans of modern and old school progressive rock equally. More
Alan Parsons - Pyramid Review by Gary Hill This 1978 disc has a bit of a bad reputation. I’ve seen it ripped apart as being overly pop oriented. Frankly, other than the track “Pyramania” I just don’t see it.
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Alan Parsons - The Time Machine Review by Gary Hill This album, the latest release by Alan Parsons, finds him doing the blend of prog and pop that has been his forte for many years. It is an album that has peaks and valleys, but overall is entertaining and rather substantial. More
For those who have followed the career of Alan Parsons this disc may seem rather strange at first. Parsons here embraces electronic music, with that sound driving the album. It even wanders into techno at times.
Alan Parsons - Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination Review by Steve Alspach In keeping with the theme of this issue of MSJ (Halloween), I hearken back to something truly frightening: Hurricane Smith. In 1972 former Pink Floyd producer Norman "Hurricane" Smith released an abhorrent piece of MOR saccharine called "Oh Babe, What Would You Say." More
Alan Parsons - Best of the Alan Parsons Project Review by Gary Hill With an album like this it’s always an iffy proposition. Greatest Hits packages are objective (best selling songs by the group) but when it comes to Best Of set, there is usually a lot of variation from one person to another with what is called the “best of” an artist. More
When this great album was released, I remember very well thinking how it would last, but that was a few years before I started to appreciate APP more and more, eventually falling in love with most of their songs.
The Pax Cecilia - Blessed are the Bonds Review by Bill Knispel The Pax Cecilia hails from RochesterNew York (according to their Myspace page). There’s not a lot of great info out there about them from a quick and dirty search of the net...while I have a band member list copied from the CD tray, I have no idea who plays what.
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Pendragon - Believe Review by Josh Turner This was way more than I had anticipated. I had my hands full with this listening experience. Nick Barrett said that this would be more guitar-driven and I can certainly vouch for that. More
Pendragon - Not of This World Review by Josh Turner In times when a short list keeps getting shorter, it is a rare occurrence to encounter a band that is an instant addition. Pendragon is one of these exceptions to the rule. More
Pentwater - Out of the Abyss Review by Gary Hill Combining heavy helpings of Yes, Genesis and ELP with the some of the weirdness of Frank Zappa, Out of the Abyss, and Pentwater in general had some of the quirkiest and most unusual progressive rock ever created. More
Pentwater - Pentwater (Reissue) Review by Gary Hill Pentwater may well be the best progressive rock band whose name you have never heard. The Chicago area band released one record on their own label in 1970's, their unique, innovative and quirky blend of humor, weirdness and musical virtuosity earned them a definite cult following. More
Pentwater - Ab-Dul Review by Gary Hill I don't remember when I've anticipated a CD release as much as I did this one. I've been a fan of Pentwater since their first incarnation in the 1970's. More
Persephone's Dream - Pyre of Dreams Review by Gary Hill Great progressive rock always comes with a learning curve. Well, I haven’t decided yet if this is great progressive rock, but it’s darn good and comes with a steep learning curve. More
Petland - Miss Roboto Review by Gary Hill The boundaries of what is and what is not progressive rock are really quite subjective and changeable. With that in mind, I am including this album in the progressive rock section of MSJ. More
John Petrucci - Suspended Animation Review by Josh Turner I'm not one for instrumentals, but I'll make an exception for this one. John Petrucci is one of my favorite guitarists, and I'm curious whenever his name is on the credits. More
John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess - An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess Review by Gary Hill This is actually a reissue of an out of print disc featuring Dream Theater's guitarist extraordinaire John Petrucci in duet with their keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess. There is, without any surprise, some great musicianship on show here. More
Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon Review by G. W. Hill I’ve enjoyed every Phideaux album thus far, but the truth is, they are going to have a hard time beating this one in the long run. It is a masterpiece that stands along all the progressive rock greats as an equal.
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Phideaux - The Great Leap Review by Gary Hill I’ve been trying to work Phideaux (the older releases) into Music Street Journal for a while. So, it’s a happy coincidence that I received the new CD in the process of creating the new issue.
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Phideaux - Ghost Story Review by Gary Hill I’ve gotten to know the music of Phideaux over the last couple years and really like it. So, it seemed a good time to have a look at something from their catalog. More
Phideaux - 313 Review by Gary Hill The more I hear from Phideaux the more I’m convinced they are one of the coolest bands around. I keep digging back into their older material here and am never disappointed. More
Phideaux - Chupacabras Review by Gary Hill I’ve recently gotten into Phideaux and really like this group. I’ve reviewed several of their discs and every one of them is great. More
Philharmonie - Le Dernier Mot - The Last Word Review by Gary Hill Released in 1999, this disc is sort of the swan song of French group Philharmonie. It is a fine prog album, and should stand as a great monument to the band. More
Perhaps progressive rock isn’t the best place for this review, but really, it’s not that far removed from the type of music Rick Wakeman does in his solo career.
Simon Phillips - Another Lifetime Review by Gary Hill Although this album is more of a jazz album than anything else, it is included in the prog section because of Simon Phillips involvement in many assorted prog projects, most recently the ELP tribute album also reviewed this month. More
Picture Books - Rochelle Rochelle Review by Gary Hill Yeah, I know a lot of you will disagree with this fitting into the progressive rock section.
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Pilgrim Speakeasy - Moon Emperor Review by G. W. Hill Prog purists will probably not embrace this as progressive rock, but as experimental and creative as it is, I think it qualifies.
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The Pineapple Thief - 10 Stories Down Review by Josh Turner This album surprised me. I felt earlier works lacked content and the production might have been a little shaky. It was okay back then, but this album brings the group to a new echelon of quality. To put it bluntly, this is extremely good material. More
The Pineapple Thief - Tightly Unwound Review by Gary Hill I’ve been hearing a lot about this band for a few years – mostly rave reviews, but I hadn’t actually heard them until now. Frankly, I was a little disappointed. More
The Pineapple Thief - 3000 Days Review by Bill Knispel The Pineapple Thief occupies an interesting place in modern progressive music, for reasons that I hope will soon become clear.
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Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (40th Anniversary Reissue) Review by Bill Knispel Pink Floyd in 1967 was a completely different musical beast than the band most people came to know and love in the 1970’s. Most of this was due to the genius (and insanity) of founder member Roger Keith (Syd) Barrett, the mastermind whose childlike innocence and penchant for psychedelic hook writing would rocket the band to the forefront of the British pop scene during the spring and summer of 1967. More
Pink Floyd - Meddle Review by Steve Alspach This album shows how well Pink Floyd was able to make the transition from experimental band to a song-based unit without losing any sense of musical adventure. More
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here Review by Josh Turner In the commercial world, two albums from Pink Floyd were hugely successful. Unless you've been a castaway on a remote island for the past couple of decades, you'd know I was talking about Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. More
Pink Floyd - Animals Review by Gary Hill I know a lot of people really focus on Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and possibly Wish You Were Here as the highpoints of Pink Floyd's career. Personally, I will take Animals over any of those discs, although I appreciate all of those, as well. More
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn Review by Gary Hill While we were working to assemble this issue the word came out about the death of Pink Floyd founder (and famed recluse) Syd Barrett. It seemed appropriate, especially since one of the themes this time around was the 1960's, to have a look at the only full album Barrett created with the band. More
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell Review by Gary Hill Many Roger Waters fans slagged A Momentary Lapse of Reason saying it wasn’t a “real Pink Floyd” album. Well, I just don’t understand the criticism of that disc as it really is one of the most consistent discs the band ever produced. More
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut Review by Gary Hill This was the last Pink Floyd release to feature Roger Waters. In sequence it was the disc directly after The Wall. More
Planet P Project - 1931 Review by Josh Turner Prepare yourself for some bold statements… This unknown commodity is one of my highlights from 2004 and deserves to be in any Top Ten Prog Album List for that year. More
Planet X - Quantum Review by Gary Hill I have to say that when I heard Alan Holdsworth was going to be featured on this disc, my interest skyrocketed. Don't get me wrong, I love everything Derek Sherinian has ever done.
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Planet X - Live From Oz Review by Gary Hill Oz in this case is Australia, not the land of that fabled wizard or the prison show. The album was recorded live on June 13th, 2001 at the Corner Hotel, Richmond, Victoria, Australia. More
Planet X - Universe Review by Gary Hill Building on styles started on the first Planet X disc, this is a strong prog outing that includes a jazzy sort of texture. This one comes across a bit more hard rocking than the previous. More
Platypus - When Pus Comes To Shove Review by Gary Hill Combining elements of many `70`s styles, including prog, in a fresh mode, When Pus Comes To Shove is a strong work that should really hold up to the test of time. More
Platypus - Ice Cycles Review by Gary Hill The second release from Platypus, this is good fun prog with a classic rock edge. At times it is Floydish, at times Dregsish, but all with this particular group's style all over it. More
Point of Ares - Enemy Glory Review by Gary Hill You really will probably never hear another band that sounds like this. Taking art rock influences and a very strong literary basis, Point of Ares adds in elements typically not seen in this genre of music.
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Point of Ares - Sorrows of Young Apollo Review by Gary Hill Point of Ares` debut showcased an unusual sound which introduced punk textures into the progressive rock landscape. This CD continues in that musical direction, but seems much more refined, showing that the band is honing their craft.
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Jean-Luc Ponty - Life Enigma Review by Gary Hill Jean-Luc Ponty's particular blend of fusion type music has always been intriguing and his violin work has always been top notch. I have included this review in the progressive rock category because I really feel that it fits the bill. More
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet Review by Bill Knispel Fear of a Blank Planet, Porcupine Tree’s third album on major label Atlantic Records, shows them refining their mix of progressive rock, pop and metal influences, adding in a few twists and new/old touches to keep their sound from becoming static.
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Porcupine Tree - Deadwing Review by Steve Alspach Porcupine Tree may be strangers to these shores, but 2002's "In Absentia" made people stand up and take note, and with good measure. This outfit may have found the perfect balance of prog, metal, and gothic melancholia, and "In Absentia" was met with excellent reviews all around. More
Porcupine Tree - Staircase Infinities Review by Gary Hill This disc is made up of outtakes from the Up The Downstair album. It is a brief, but quite strong, nearly instrumental album. More
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia Review by Steve Alspach Steve Wilson's pet project (the group started as nothing more than just a fictional band several years ago) released their latest work, In Absentia, last year. The album is a thoughtful blend of melody, metal, and progressive. More
Porcupine Tree - The Incident Review by Bill Knispel Porcupine Tree has been riding a pretty significant wave since signing their first major label contract with Atlantic.
Port Mahadia - Echoes In Time Review by Gary Hill This CD is a concept album and has both an epic and personal angle to its story. More
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
Portugal The Man - Church Mouth Review by Gary Hill OK, this one might not be progressive rock – or it might. It all depends on your definition of prog. If you think of it as a musical format that tends to borrow from numerous musical styles while creating a sound all its own, then these guys are all over it.
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Nic Potter - Nic Potter & Friends – Live in Italy Review by Bruce Stringer The triumphant return of ex-Van Der Graaf Generator bass man Nic Potter contains an intriguing mixture of songs old and not so old in celebratory performances with Italian musicians on their home turf. To have chosen a live forum to display his renewed invigoration is no surprise; he is a man that sets his sights and hits the mark with the flair and finesse of a great artist. More
Poverty's No Crime - The Chemical Chaos Review by Josh Turner You'd be hard-pressed to get these guys to admit it, but there are definitely some Dream Theater influences here. I'm thinking Scenes from a Memory era. More
Roger Powell - Fossil Poets Review by Gary Hill Fans of Todd Rundgren's Utopia should find this release of particular interest as Roger Powell was a member of that band. Those who enjoy mellow fusion instrumentals should find plenty of common ground here as that style makes up the whole disc. More
Presto Ballet - Peace Among The Ruins Review by Gary Hill I have to say that there is a big buzz about this band. To hear many tell it these guys are the best new prog band to come out since the heyday of progressive rock in the 1970's. 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
Procol Harum consisted of Gary Brooker, Chris Copping, Mick Grabham, Alan Cartwright, B. J. Wilson and Keith Reid on this disc. This is a solid live recording featuring some good prog sorts of music from this classic outfit.
I really like this album a lot. Profuna Ocean’s blend of progressive rock conjures up a lot of different acts, but they still maintain a unique identity.
Project Morfeo - Dicotomia Review by Gary Hill While this disc might be called gothic or even techno music, I think there are enough shades of dark prog acts like Blackfield to include it in the progressive rock section. While this disc is gloomy and melancholy it is also quite beautiful and eloquent.
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PropheXy - Alconauta Review by Gary Hill There are those who would call this metal, but it’s a safe bet most metal fans would be turned away by a lot of this. More
Proto-Kaw - The Wait of Glory Review by Gary Hill The second new disc for Proto-Kaw since they reunited, there isn't a bad cut on show here. The band was called "Kansas" in the early '70's and Kerry Livgren took that name with him when he joined another band that was destined for fame. More
Proto-Kaw - Early Recordings from Kansas 1971-1973 Review by Gary Hill This disc is exactly what the title says, a collection of early demos and two live tracks from the band that would eventually take the rock world by storm under the name of Kansas. Much of the material is far closer to old King Crimson than to the sound that we all know of as that Midwestern group. More
Proto-Kaw - Before Became After Review by Gary Hill Proto-Kaw was one of the early groupings of the band that was later known as Kansas. When Cuneiform records released an album of their old material in 2002 it got the creative juices in Kansas/Proto-Kaw man Kerry Livgren. More
Puppet Show - The Tale of Woe Review by Gary Hill When people start compiling their lists of the “best of 2007,” I'll bet this disc will make a lot of them. These guys have produced a killer album.
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