Jesus Christ Superstar started life as a most improbable concept album from an equally unlikely label, Decca Records, which had not, until then, been widely known for groundbreaking musical efforts. It was all devised by then 21-year-old composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and 25-year-old lyricist Tim Rice. Jesus Christ Superstar had been conceived as a stage work, but lacking the funds to get it produced, the two collaborators instead decided to use an album as the vehicle for introducing the piece, a fairly radical rock/theater hybrid about the final days in the life of Jesus as seen from the point of view of Judas. If its content seemed daring (and perhaps downright sacrilegious), the work, a "sung-through" musical echoing operatic and oratorio traditions, was structurally perfect for an album; just as remarkable as its subject matter was the fact that its musical language was full-blown rock music…

The Quest is the twenty-second studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 1 October 2021 by InsideOut Music and Sony Music. It is their first studio album featuring Billy Sherwood since The Ladder (1999), having replaced founding bassist Chris Squire following his death in 2015, and their first without any original members. It was produced by guitarist Steve Howe. After completing touring commitments in July 2019, Yes began to collaborate on new material by exchanging ideas for songs online. The subsequent COVID-19 pandemic caused all touring to be cancelled in March 2020, which presented the opportunity for them to focus on the album during lockdown. When the songs had been arranged, the album was recorded in California and England and orchestral arrangements by Paul K. Joyce were performed by the FAMES Orchestra in North Macedonia. Frontman Jon Davison was the main lyricist, who wrote about various themes including hope, optimism, and environmental issues.

Following a long-established production pattern, Mike Oldfield assembled some relatively simple pop- and rock-flavored numbers following one long introductory piece on his 1983 Disky release, Crisis. The 20-minute opening title-track is a quintessential Oldfield texture study that consists of sparkling synth washes with edgier material weaving in and out…

Released at the beginning of 1978 (recorded August to November 1977), there was one minor change in the Eela Craig lineup. And that was the return of vocalist Wil Orthofer, apparently because the band he was in between his absence with Eela Craig, called Ice Planet (a blues outfit that never recorded, that also featured two other ex-Eela Craig members, Heinz Gerstmair and Horst Waber) broke up due to the deaths from two non-Eela Craig members from two separate automobile accidents. The funk has more or less disappeared, going for a more conventional late '70s symphonic prog rock sound.

Fusion Orchestra was a highly talented progressive rock ensemble from the UK that did tight but not over-worked heavy prog with an honest, classic but unique sound. Singer/flautist/synthist Jill Saward, apparently the axis of the group, leads with a high squall and quite good flute, and paralleled the vocal sound the Wilson sisters would cultivate. Though unlike Heart, Jill Saward, Dave Bell (drums), Colin Dawson (guitar), Dave Cowell (bass), and Sten Land (synth, guitar, horns) did a very complex and multi-layered music with many roads into jazz-fusion, folk, and Celtic.
The album "Skeleton In Armour", especially for 1973, is a model of Prog Rock successfully integrated as a viable popular medium and though not truly competitive against the likes of bigger peers, is far better than many bands that have become well known…

In many ways, the extravagance of this package equates the profligacy of the prog rock combo themselves. After all, how else but on a triple-LP collection could one hope to re-create (and/or contain) an adequate sampling of Yes' live presentation? Especially since their tunes typically clocked in in excess of ten minutes…

Jeff Lynne revived Electric Light Orchestra in 2015 – due to legal reasons, they were now called Jeff Lynne's ELO – releasing a comeback album called Alone in the Universe and steadily mounting a return to the road. Several dates happened in 2016, but the tour reached its apex in June 2017, when the group played in front of 60,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium. Released five months after that June 24 gig, Wembley or Bust – which was accompanied by a concert film – features the entirety of the gig, and if it's not heard too closely, it could sometimes be mistaken for an ELO greatest-hits album. Lynne re-creates the arrangements of his studio work throughout the concert; even when the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care" is hauled out, it sounds like it did on record. The vocals are where the seams show, as Lynne is a little rougher and lower than he was at his peak. Although this is a noticeable difference, it's hardly enough to mar what amounts to a thoroughly enjoyable – and perhaps a tad triumphant – return to live performance for Jeff Lynne.

Afraid of sunlight was Marillion's first real progressive album since Fish had left the band. While it does not rank as high as classics like Script for a Jester's Tear or Fugazi, it still has some very strong moments. "Cannibal Surf Babe" is a tribute to the '60s (sort of). It starts off like the Beach Boys' "California Girls" before turning into the nightmarish tale of a cannibal woman! But the best moments are in the second half of the album, with tracks such as "Out of This World," "Afraid of Sunlight," and "King." As usual with Marillion, the keyboards stand out the most. There are some very beautiful melodic moments and perhaps a better mix between calm and agressive melodies than on previous albums made with Steve Hogarth.

How is it that Eela Craig haven't gotten more attention from lovers of ‘70s Euro-rock? Is it because they were too Austrian or too arty for Krautrock lovers, who prefer the grittier, more visceral sounds of German bands like Can and Guru Guru to Eela Craig's sophisticated prog stylings? On the other side of the fence, did they miss out on inclusion in the pantheon of classic prog bands because they weren't from England, or were lumped in with the Krautrock scene? Whatever the case, their second album, One Niter, is a grand-scale prog rock masterpiece. There was a five-year gap between One Niter and the band's debut album, which gave Eela Craig plenty of time to evolve from the post-psychedelic sounds of their first effort…

A touch more immediate and song-oriented than its predecessor, but no less enchanting and lovely to hear, Deluxe again features the trio experimenting with a variety of approaches, most particularly including vocals here and there for the first time. There's also a guest musician helping out, namely Mani Neumeier from Guru Guru, and while he's not playing all the time, where he does appear, as on the wonderful lengthy jam "Walky-Talky," a blend of his percussion and swooping guitar filigrees and keyboards, it's a fine choice. His slow, subtle build throughout the song helps send it higher and higher without seeming to. The various vocals really do fit the music in a lovely way, and it's little surprise that Brian Eno might have felt even more of an affinity with the group than before, being non-musical but still affecting, like mysterious chants or barks…

The Pineapple Thief, one of the leading lights of Europe’s experimental rock domain, led by post-progressive mastermind Bruce Soord and reinforced by Gavin Harrison (King Crimson) on drums, have announced the multi format release of “Nothing But The Truth” on Kscope on 22nd October…

The mighty PFM’s 2021 studio release is a Sci-Fi-themed conceptual opus. Powered primarily by Franz Di Cioccio (lead vocals, drums) and Patrick Djivas (bass, keyboards) - who started the recording process in their home studios. As a real treat PMF invited a couple of musicians they have been friends with for a long time: Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) on flute and Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis) on electric guitar. "I Dreamed of Electric Sheep" is simultaneously released in both English and Italian versions, hence the Italian subtitle, "Ho Sognato Pecore Elettriche".