Continuing in the growing commercial vein of their previous releases, Porcupine Tree's In Absentia may be the most accessible release to ever spew forth from the group. Rolling electronic percussion blends with simple and solid live drumming to provide an understated backbeat as perennial Tree leader Steven Wilson pastes his complicated pop over the proceedings…

All Songs recorded live in Jacksonville / Florida, March 2nd, 1994 except tracks 9-12 of the 2nd CD recorded live in Seattle, May 21st 1986.

Marsyas is a progressive rock band and Emergence is their debut album. The word emergence describes the phenomenon that occurs when a group of things put together creates a new thing, which has different properties from both its parts and their sum. You can find examples of emergence in music, language, society, biology and anything that presents features that go beyond the simple merging of its components.

This awesome but underrated record from unjustly forgotten US band from Boston was released on Cotillion Records in 1972 and contained very ambitious, well-arranged and truly inspired, jazzy progressive rock with memorable and complex tracks, full of interesting ideas. Their music was characterized by fine electric guitar & Hammond phrases mixed with excellent and intensive violin, flute and sax solo parts. Because the Guns & Butter’s line-up was predominantly jewish, there was more than a hint of traditional jewish music in their sound, which gave them a unique and distinctive sound. This beautifully varied and simply stunning music can be compared to early Kansas, Jethro Tull and Darryl Way’s Wolf. Unfortunately, the record went completely unnoticed and as a result the band split up.

The Dave Matthews Band made their reputation through touring, spending endless nights on the road improvising. Often, their records hinted at the eclecticism and adventure inherent in those improvisation, but Before These Crowded Streets is the first album to fully capture that adventurous spirit. Not coincidentally, it's their least accessible record, even if it's more of a consolidation than it is a step forward. Early Dave Matthews albums were devoted to the worldbeat fusions of Graceland and Sting, but his RCA efforts incorporated these influences into a smoother, pop-oriented style. Here, everything hangs out…

For the first time on CD: The radio session of classical rock influenced great German krautrockers Amos Key. Amos Key owed great debts to Bach, Beethoven and Schumann, adding a heavy krautrock twist to a music closely resembling the Nice or Egg, full of angst and weird psychedelic and space-rock touches (Freeman Brothers: In A Crack In The Cosmic Egg). Amos Key lived in Munich and consisted of great organ-player Thomas Molin, congenial bass-player Andreas Gross and superb drummer Lutz Ludwig. This fairly competent outfit recorded the radio sessions before they released their famous and very rare album "First Key" in 1973 on label "Spiegelei". Sadly bandleader and organ-player Thomas Molin passed away in the 90ies but bass-player Andreas Gross tells the band story in a very vivid and funny way. 24 pages booklet contains also a lot of unseen photos.

Band principal Adrian Jones (Guitars) is supported by top class musicians from The Netherlands: Peter Vink on bass (Q65/Ayreon/Star One), Pieter van Hoorn on drums (Knight Area), and Britain: Marc Atkinson on vocals and Brendan Eyre on keys (Riversea). The package is completed by Antonio Seijas' beautifully haunting artwork. The result is a sonic treat with truly soaring moments on tracks such as Frozen Moment, A Secret, The Weight, and the epic title track. One Eye on the Sunrise is mandatory listening for prog fans and will surely be talked about as one of the best releases of 2012.

This important German hard/heavy/progressive rock band was formed in Berlin in 1968 and they started as a mainly instrumental jazz rock outfit. Despite some line-up changes they recorded four studio albums in four years' time. In these albums anyone can detect the changes of their sound, from the early jazz rock style to heavy prog rock. However, it's their 1975 release ''Plastic People'', which established them as a progressive rock band. This amazing album is a mix of heavy progressive music with krautrock, symphonic tendencies and jazzy doses. Keeping their well-known hard 'n' heavy style Birth Control added a lot of different elements in their music,making this album a must-have record. Numerous fantastic interplays, jazzy passages, great use of keyboards and a krautrock atmosphere with intense vocals are mixed with heavy rock to result a memorable release.

Steve Hackett's last release for Charisma Records in Britain is one of his strongest efforts. Hackett once again handles all the lead vocals, but sounds more assured in the role than he did on Cured. This album spawned Hackett's one and only solo hit single, "Cell 151," which charted in Britain…

Truly Tragic is the 2018 CD by New York progressive rock/indie rock trio Half Shell. This project was self-released, which means it was made for the fans and fans to come.

By condensing the sonic explorations of Meddle to actual songs and adding a lush, immaculate production to their trippiest instrumental sections, Pink Floyd inadvertently designed their commercial breakthrough with Dark Side of the Moon. The primary revelation of Dark Side of the Moon is what a little focus does for the band. Roger Waters wrote a series of songs about mundane, everyday details which aren't that impressive by themselves, but when given the sonic backdrop of Floyd's slow, atmospheric soundscapes and carefully placed sound effects, they achieve an emotional resonance. But what gives the album true power is the subtly textured music, which evolves from ponderous, neo-psychedelic art rock to jazz fusion and blues-rock before turning back to psychedelia. It's dense with detail, but leisurely paced, creating its own dark, haunting world.

There s no better way to start off a year for a progressive rock fan than with a new supergroup. Dave Kerzner, well known from Sound of Contact and his growing solo career, announced his new project In Continuum last year. Joining this new musical outfit are vocalist Gabriel Agudo (exBad Dreams) and Randy McStine (The Fringe, Lo-Fi Resistance), along with (fellow) Sound of Contact member Matt Dorsey on bass and the ubiquitous Marco Minnemann on drums as well as a handful of more than special guests. While leading the writing of the album, Kerzner shares composition duties throughout, even incorporating some music co-written with his former Sound of Contact bandmates that was meant for that group s second album that never happened.

Despite a standard line-up (keyboards, guitar-vocals, bass & drums-percussions), Tantra played elaborated and beautifully built and arranged Progressive songs in Portuguese, which figured at the same creative level as the best English composers (Yes, Gentle Giant, Camel…) but with a distinct character. This is a full symphonic sounding band with very good musicianship. The music combines intricate ensemble parts with energetic soloing. The vocals contain an astonishing lyricism, the musical constructions and combinations are complex and inventive, the sounds are originals and the melodies beautifully made.

Some older fans looked askance at Lightbulb Sun, feeling it was verging on overt commercialism (and admittedly, the near power ballad solo on "Where We Would Be" is a bit odd!). Then again, given Wilson's own explorations of avant-garde pop with No-Man, who's to say why a slightly more radio-friendly stance can't work? "Shesmovedon" may have been a single, but there's no question who wrote and performed it – the elegant cascade of backing vocals on the chorus shows that much…

The idea isn't bad, the result is rather convincing, and the added incentive is enough to make The Road Back Home a worthy addition to a Flower Kings fan's collection, but do read on, because you should know what you're getting. This two-CD set is a compilation album – a theme compilation album, in fact…