Blackwater Park (Opeth)

Year: 2001

This was my first taste of Opeth.  To this day, I consider it the most representative of the vintage Opeth sound as it not only shows both the soft and dark sides of the band, but uses a nice mix of Akerfeldt's trademark vocals (growls and all).  This is readily apparent with the first track ("The Leper Affinity") which comes out strong and then lulls you in a bit and then knocks you over again with the brutal force that Opeth does so well with its music.  Opeth's uniqueness is its amazing contrasting style and the creative transitions that bridge these contrasts.

The second track is the aptly named "Bleak" which highlights the dark and hard side of Opeth.  In true Opeth form, "Harvest" immediately follows which conversely highlights the soft side of Opeth as this track is almost entirely acoustic.

The fourth track is "The Drapery Falls" and is easily one of my favorite songs from this band.  A great mix of singing and growling from Akerfeldt with some oustanding musical hooks really make this a standout track and a great song to introduce people to these Swedish rockers.  The rest of the album continues along the same lines as each of the songs (except for the short instrumental "Patterns in the Ivy") takes the listener along an adventure of dark and light, harsh sounds and soothing sounds, for a satisfying experience no matter your mood.

I finally would like to point out that the cover art does a great job of conveying the mood/feeling expressed throughout the album.  Blackwater Park is a great place to start for people wanting to be introduced to Opeth and an all-around excellent album.

Paradox Hotel (The Flower Kings)

Year: 2006

I am relatively new to The Flower Kings, but have slowly been exploring their discography.  Paradox Hotel was recommended to me as one of their better albums so after being pleasantly surprised with Desolation Rose, I grabbed this one.  Paradox Hotel is a meandering affair full of social commentary which I have not fully digested.  While I love concept albums (where the whole is better than the sum of the parts), I feel like the music on this album really suffers as it seems to be an afterthought compared to the lyrics.  The band has something to say and by golly they say it!  The music just does not measure up, in my opinion.

While there is a lot of music on this double disc album, there are really only a few individual tracks that I find interesting.  The first album begins with a very solid offering in "Monsters & Men" which begins the commentary on the European aggressors of World War II (Germany).  While I haven't given the lyrics a whole lot of attention, a similar theme continues for the rest of the two discs with the music becoming rather boring and forgettable along the way.

The second disc has a few worthy additions in the tracks "Touch My Heaven", "Life Will Kill You" and "Paradox Hotel."  Again, this album is much better as a whole and is really the only way to listen to it as the individual songs just don't have very compelling melodies.  As a result, if I'm in the mood for The Flower Kings, I'd much rather listen to Stardust We Are or Unfold the Future.

Octopus (Gentle Giant)

Year: 1972

At one point, Gentle Giant was one of my favorite bands.  But my enjoyment of their music did not come naturally at first listen.  In fact, I distinctly remember my first listen to this unique band and my thought was "What in the world is this crap?"  That was my first impression of Gentle Giant and the album I was listening to was Octopus.

But after about three of four listens, tracks like "Knots" and "The Boys in the Band" caught my ear and grabbed me.  It wasn't long after that I bought Free Hand and In a Glass House, and my love affair with Gentle Giant had begun.

While I really like all of the early albums, I sincerely believe that this album is truly the best of the bunch.  Gentle Giant's signature sound is put on full display from the opening track "The Advent of Panurge," a haunting number with a quirky blend of vocals and instruments which builds in a dramatic fashion all the way to the final note.

"Raconteur Troubadour" immediately follows creating a rich medieval atmosphere with an appropriate storyline.  "A Cry for Everyone" is a rocker with various instruments providing some nifty solos.

"Knots" is one Gentle Giant's most famous songs as it establishes a type of sound that will forever be linked to them as multiple vocal parts are sung alongside music which initially seems to clash, but works in a dizzying array of musical complexity.  This is one of those songs that you hate the first time you hear it, like it on second listen and then fall in love with it the third time.

The rest of the disc is more prog goodness with "The Boys in the Band" being a fun instrumental, "Dog's Life" and "Think of Me with Kindness" being gentle ballads and finally "The River" as another quirky Knots-like number.  This is Gentle Giant's finest hour and strongest album from start to finish.  Definitely a must-have for any collector of prog.

Brain Salad Surgery (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)

Year: 1973

I can only give this album three stars and I feel mildly generous in doing that.  (I
gave the album a bonus due to the amazing art work and rounded 2.4 up to 3.)
While ELP is without a doubt an influential band in this music that we call
progressive, they struggled with putting out solid albums.  Brain Salad Surgery, in
my opinion, really has one decent song (Karn Evil 9).

While I like "Jerusalem" and think that ELP does a decent job performing it, it seems
sorely out of place on this album.  There is also a weird volume discrepancy early on
in the song (which may be a flaw in the remastered recording) which keeps the last
three-quarters of the song in an audio fog.  If that was the intended effect (the
sudden decrescendo), I am puzzled what the reasoning behind it was.

"Toccata" is a bit violent for an instrumental, which is why ELP liked it so much, no
doubt.  However, I can only take this song in small doses.  It's just too much for
even this well-developed prog palate to handle.  So despite the original composer
being impressed with Emerson's adaption, I am not as impressed as I reach for an
aspirin to calm the headache that usually accompanies the hearing of Toccata in its
entirety.

"Still...You Turn Me On" (while I hit SKIP).  Seriously, this is a great little tune.
However, for this prog lover, I was bored to tears after hearing it five times.  For
those of you wondering if a song is "progressive" or not, give it the unofficial prog
test by listening to it five times in a row (yes...even the epics...especially the
epics).  If a song sounds good and catchy on the very first listen, that spells trouble
(pop song...definitely not prog).  If by the fifth listen, you are bored and there is
nothing new to hear in the song, then it fails the prog test.  However, you know
you are listening to good "progressive" music if you are just starting to see (and
hear) some new things in the song on the fifth listen.  This is a long-winded way of
saying that Still... miserably fails the unofficial prog test.  I should have known when
I thought it sounded pretty cool the very first time I heard it.  Now I just have to
skip it.

I said "Toccata" was tough for me to listen to.  "Benny the Bouncer" is just
dreadful.  I dare anyone to try the unofficial prog test with this song.  You may
swear off music all together if you were forced to listen to this waste of vinyl five
straight times.  Let's face it, this song is a filler as part of ELP's "formula" which
they thought was popular.  (No guys, it's your good songs that make you popular,
not these silly capers into music hell.)  I'd like to try and describe "Benny" to you,
but really...what's the point?  It's a tongue-in-cheek vaudville act which makes me
appreciate the SKIP button on my CD player.  (That's two skips in a row, for those
of you keeping score at home.)

"Karn Evil 9".  Is this a planet?  Is it a weird carnival?  Is it a computer?  Ask ELP and
they will probably answer "YES" to all three questions as it relates to this song,
easily the highlight of the album.  It comes in four flavors, with each of them tasting
a little different.  I prefer Parts 1 and 2 of the first impression, mainly because I am
a sucker for lyrics.  The second and third impressions seem to drag on with nothing
but keyboards on top of other keyboards.  If you are a guitar man, you probably
don't like ELP in the first place.  But you also might come across this highly
acclaimed song and wonder what all the fuss is about.  Obviously, Keith Emerson
shows some dazzling talent in all three impressions of this song and I would have
loved to have seen him perform it live (as I understand ELP knew how to dazzle in
their musicianship).  Carl Palmer asserts himself nicely on the drums as well in this
epic.  If this song weren't so impressive, this album really would be a stinker, in my
opinion.  But this song alone makes Brain Salad Surgery a decent addition to a prog
lover's collection (you might just have to SKIP some songs along the way).

Close to the Edge (Yes)

Year: 1972

This album is truly timeless.  It is as impressive now as it was back in the early 70s.  But
despite that, I am not willing to give it the full five stars.  I am stingy with my stars and
I really have to be BLOWN AWAY by an album in order to label it "essential."  (I have
been told to have quirky tastes anyway, but I digress.)

"Close to the Edge" is a mesmerizing composition in many ways.  It ebbs and flows and
sucks you in before you know it.  (Having spoken American English all my life, what in
the world does "total mass retain" mean?  Again, I digress.)  Obviously, this first track
is considered to be one of the cornerstones of progressive rock and rightfully so.
Stunning guitar work layered on top of keyboard riffs combined with Jon Anderson's
entrancing vocals create an auditory feast.

"And You and I" really is a wonderful song, but often gets overshadowed by its greedy
predecessor.  Do not overlook this tune as it has all of the great components of "Close
to the Edge" but isn't quite as catchy.

"Siberian Khatru" is my least favorite song on the album, but I still think it is a decent
song.  However, compared to the first two, it is easy to forget.  In fact, I would be
willing to bet that if this song were on a different album, it would be a great song.  But
it always leaves me feeling disappointed after relishing the first two tracks of the
album.

To summarize, I think this is a very strong album and would certainly be considered a
classic of the genre.  However, at no times am I "blown away."  For that, I give this
album 4 stars and highly recommend it.

echolyn (Echolyn)

Year: 2012

Echolyn is typically a difficult band for me to evaluate.  From the albums that I have listened to, I know I like their music, yet I'm not sure what exactly it is that I like about them.  They are known for their quirky, off-beat, Gentle Giant-like rhythms peppered with intricate vocal harmonies.

This particular album consists of two discs and a total of eight songs.  While the first song ("Island") is quite good and interesting, the rest of this album does absolutely nothing for me.  I wish I could better articulate why I find it so lackluster, but there's not much to say other than there is nothing over these two discs which grabs me.

The lyrics are fairly dark and brooding with the music sometimes (but not always) following suit.  As a result, the listening experience (especially when accompanied by the unimpressive cardboard case) leaves me cold and wishing I was doing something else.

Based upon others' reviews, it would appear that I am in the minority when it comes to this "self-titled" album.  (Self-titled is in quotes because their first album was also self-titled creating unnecessary confusion, in my opinion.)  Perhaps I am missing something even though I've listened to this well over twenty times.  It is not in my nature to give a negative review, especially of a band that I really like.

Echolyn took the risk of putting together lots of music in a double album format, but for me it doesn't work because there's just not enough interesting music here.

Momentum (Neal Morse)

Year: 2012

Momentum is now the seventh solo prog album from Neal Morse.  Those familiar with Morse's work know that he is a prolific songwriter always able to craft strong melodies which highlight his skills as a multi-instrumentalist while relying on significant contributions from Mike Portnoy and Randy George.

Momentum consists of five relatively short songs and one 33-minute epic ("World Without End").  The album opens with the title track "Momentum."  I consider this to be high-quality pop/prog as it showcases an engaging upbeat melody and a blistering guitar solo from guest artist Paul Gilbert.

"Thoughts, Part 5" is next.  This may just be the best song on the album and is very reminiscent of King Crimson's "Red," but with Gentle Giant-like vocal harmonies.  After the heavy guitar riffs and vocal acrobats, the song ends with an instrumental jam with some really nice playing from both Portnoy and George.

"Smoke and Mirrors" follows and is a gorgeous piece very unique to what you might normally expect from Morse.  I consider this to be the best ballad he has ever written and feel that it fits very nicely on this album.

"Weathering Sky" is the fourth track and while catchy and hard-driving, this is probably my least favorite song on the album.  Neal says on the "Making of" DVD which is included with the Special Edition that he doesn't know what "weathering sky" means, but he liked the sound of it.  While I find that mildly humorous, I personally prefer lyrics with meaning over lyrics that have none.  I will discuss this a bit more later in this review.

"Freak" is next and is another slower song that I would consider to be "prog-lite."  It has a catchy bridge that leads into a dynamic modulation giving the song a nice dramatic finish.

"World Without End" is the final track, clocking in at 33 minutes.  This is another strong epic which was have come to expect from Neal Morse.  The song is divided up into six distinct parts all of which add quality parts to the whole.  It is worth noting that there are some really interesting guitar solos peppered throughout the song, including a nifty bass solo toward the end.  This song takes some time to truly appreciate.  On the first few listens, nothing really stood out to me, yet I never grew tired or bored or felt like the song was bloated.  Now after about ten listens, I've come to really enjoy almost everything about this epic track.  My only quibble is my primary grievance with the album as a whole which is...

The lyrics!  The scuttlebutt surrounding this album is that Morse wrote all of the music in two weeks with the lyrics presumably penned in that same time frame.  The music is great, but the lyrics (primarily on "Thoughts," "Weathering Sky" and "World Without End") leave a lot to be desired.  Now many listeners are going to be thrilled that the Christian references are virtually nonexistent, but they have been replaced with lyrics that are silly at best and at times, nonsensical.  One of the things that I have loved about Morse's music is that his music and lyrics are usually pretty gripping and moving (whether you agree with them or not).  I feel that aspect is completely missing on this particular album and as a result, brings it down a notch in my estimation from some of his better albums (One, ?, Sola Scriptura and Testimony 2).

Overall, I highly recommend the album and really feel as if all of the tracks are strong and perhaps more diverse musically from the typical Morse album.