Reviews Archives - Page 29 of 41

Mark’s Quick Review: Musique Noise’s – Dans le Temps qui setire

by Mark Monforti | Sep 11, 2017 | News, Reviews

So this album hit my desk last month, and we want to thank them for send it to us.

This release, Dans Le Temps Qui S’Etire, is a bit more avant guard than I usually like but it still struck me on first listen that this is a quality album. The boot leg live track was probably not really good enough quality to add to this release in my opinion.

I think this is a good album for more adventurous prog listeners

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(1.5 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(2.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(2.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(3.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(2.5 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Here

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Review: Galahad’s – Sleepless in Phoenixville.

by Mark Monforti | Sep 10, 2017 | News, Reviews

So I am letting the PC pick older albums at random so we don’t end up with a bunch of 5 star albums in the collection of reviews.

But the computer is on a little streak of picking some great releases.

This one has a special place for me. I had never heard of Galahad before this introduction by Joel Craig at RosFest. Stu and company just blew us away. I have been a fan ever since. This live album is maybe a good place to start for you too if you never heard of the band.

This live album was in support of the wonderful empires never last album which is another great gateway album for progressive rock.

This band does have an open invitation to get an all expense paid trip to Chicago because of albums like this one.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(4.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(3.5 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(3.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(4.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.5 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Here

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Review: Euphoria Station’s – One Heart

by Mark Monforti | Sep 10, 2017 | News, Reviews

This is a pass for me. I really like their mission statement (below) but I just can’t find any highlights for you here. I am sorry to say. I do hear some interesting guitar in this. It might be that Saskia is way too high in the mix.

Euphoria Station was formed by vocalist/ lyricist Saskia Binder and guitarist/songwriter Hoyt Binder who share a passion for progressive music with commercial hooks. Saskia brings a powerhouse voice that recalls a time when radio was king while still sounding fresh. Hoyt equally brings a hard rock edge that nods to progressive guitar heroes of yesteryear while maintaining a modern feel.

To some it up. I quote the album “ewwwwwww not today”

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(2.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(2.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(1.5 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(1.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Here

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Review: Abydos’s – Little Boy’s Heavy Metal Shadow Opera About The Inhabitants Of His Diary

by Mark Monforti | Sep 10, 2017 | News, Reviews

So this is the live show that “got away”. This is an album good enough that I was going to go to Germany to see performed as a musical but I switched jobs and had no vacation time to see it.

If you doubt my high rating for this album consider the fact that this debut album by the amazingly talented Andy Kuntz was able to run in Germany for a 8 week run. Totally unprecedented achievement.

This album which was a cathartic project by Andy due to losing his father and two friends in a very short time, is an album that should be heard by all progressive metal fans. For those of you who don’t skew to liking progressive metal it is still worth a listen as this is an album that is very melodic as well. Think the heaviest porcupine tree album with a heavy metal voice on top of it.

So here we are one of my favorite voice in prog with a wonderful melodic and heavy piece of work. Go check out the DVD or the CD.

The DVD does have a catchy showtune added to it and a lot of German speaking with English subtitles. Really wonderful either one.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(4.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(4.5 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(3.5 / 5)
DRAMA:	(5.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(5.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Too many to mention Request Abydos to be played on Progrock.com

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Reviews: iNFiNiEN’s – Light At The Endless Tunnel

by Mark Monforti | Sep 9, 2017 | News, Reviews

The easy comparison for this band is Bent Knee thanks to Chrissie Loftus’s vocals which sound much like Courtney’s. The songs are about as accessible too. The complex song structure means that this album is going to grow on you after successive listens.

The Quality of the recording and the songwriting makes this an album for the slightly more adventurous but no more than normal for progressive rock album.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(2.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(2.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
"ARTWORK:	(0.0 / 5)
&:	(0.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.0 / 5)

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Aya, Infinien, If You where a song.

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Reviews: Robert Reed – Sanctuary Live

by Mark Monforti | Sep 4, 2017 | News, Reviews

Robert Reed is joined by legendary drummer Simon Phillips (Toto / Mike Oldfield / The Who) while the original “Tubular Bells” production team of Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth have once again made important contributions to the sound of the album.

The quality of the recording is impeccable. I seem to love all the work that comes out of New World Studios.

This album which is 85% comprised of 3 20 minute songs which are all parts of the Sanctuary opus is as I said before is beautiful and uses Tubular Bells as its Muse. The problem for me is if you are going to have a 20 minute song you need to have some drama. I personally don’t get that. That being said I would think that this album is going to be high on other people’s list. And had I been in the area I certainly would have bought tickets and gone to this. I just don’t see how I would spin this album over something like Steven Wilson’s Happy Returns, which evokes so much more emotion from me.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(0.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(2.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(1.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(5.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(3.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(1.5 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(3.5 / 5)

Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Sanctuary 2 part 1Sanctuary 2 part 1

Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING

PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.

ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture

HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park

MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House

OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live

See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page

https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists

Mark’s Quick Review: Musique Noise’s – Dans le Temps qui setire

Mark’s Quick Review: Galahad’s – Sleepless in Phoenixville.

Mark’s Quick Review: Euphoria Station’s – One Heart

Mark’s Quick Review: Abydos’s – Little Boy’s Heavy Metal Shadow Opera About The Inhabitants Of His Diary

Mark’s Quick Reviews: iNFiNiEN’s – Light At The Endless Tunnel

Mark’s Quick Reviews: Robert Reed – Sanctuary Live

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