Ad Maiora – Repetita Iuvant (2016)

4 out of 5 Stars!

From Italy, Ad Maiora appeared on the scene back in 2014 with the release of a fairly impressive self-titled album. So in 2016, when the band released its sophomore effort, Repetita Iuvant, I looked forward to hearing what the musicians had created the second time around.

Like the debut, Repetita Iuvant features a collection of tracks mostly in the Symphonic Progressive Rock genre, with even a few Jazz-Rock and Avant-Prog touches added for auditory tinsel. And once again, the level of musicianship shown during the typically intricate song arrangements rates high in my book, with guitarist Flavio Carovali delivering tasty riffs and occasionally rampaging solos, bassist Moreno Piva performing ultra-melodic runs and rhythmic counterpunches, and drummer Ezio Giardina adding splendid fills amidst his rock-solid tempos and smooth time-shift transitions. Moreover, I especially savor the wide variety of keyboards and synth tones Sergio Caleca employed throughout the album, including Clavinet and the generous use of the mighty Mellotron…the latter being always a welcome addition for Prog-Rock fans like myself to appreciate.

Although several compositions (“Torba,” “Repetita Iuvant,” and “Never Mind”) are dynamic instrumentals with varied styles, when lead vocalist Paolo Callioni makes his appearance on songs such as “Life,” “Invisible,” “Molokheya,” and “Etereo”—some of which he croons in his native language—his tone and style occasionally remind me of Saga’s Michael Sadler, only with a wider range and a slight accent (when he sings in English, of course)

Also of special note for Procol Harum fans, one of the album’s highlights (for me, at least) is the “bonus” track “Whaling Stories,” which Ad Maiora originally recorded for a Procol Harum tribute album—Shine on Magic Hotel—issued by Mellow Records in 2014. Thankfully, the musicians elected to include their rendition of the tune here also, since it’s simply terrific!

Anyway, to me, Ad Maiora is one of the more promising Italian Prog-Rock groups to have emerged in the recent past. Now I’m hoping the band sticks around for a good long while to concoct even more appetizing material for lovers of the genre like me who can never get enough.

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After Forever – After Forever (2007)

5 out of 5 Stars!

Unfortunately, I discovered After Forever, a female-fronted Symphonic Metal band from the Netherlands, way too late. Indeed, the group announced its break-up a few weeks after I purchased this particular album, which completely blew me away, and also introduced me to the genre of female-led groups that often used operatic falsetto vocals, thus sending me on a desperate quest to hunt for similar-sounding bands. I like to think that had I not stumbled upon (and taken a chance on) this release, I might have never subsequently discovered Nightwish, Within Temptation, Edenbridge, Leaves’ Eyes, Silentium, and numerous other artists of this nature.

Anyway, upon first listen, I fell in love with the extraordinary singer Floor Jansen, who would go on to form another exciting band (ReVamp) and is now the singer in Nightwish. Although after absorbing this album for several weeks, I started digging into After Forever’s back catalogue and eventually decided that none of the group’s earlier albums tops this final, stellar, and self-titled release, yet each deserves a listen since Floor KILLS on each and every album.

Here, the band offers a seemingly perfect combination of bombastic Symphonic Metal, barreling Power Metal, with even a burst of Progressive Metal, thanks to the intricate instrumentation and song arrangements. “Discord” opens the album with a mighty bang, with Joost van den Broek’s keyboards layered and grand, and Sander Gommans’s and Bas Maas’s guitars brutal and beastly. Bassist Luuk van Gerven and drummer André Borgman unleash their own furious backing, their musical foundation substantial and rigorous. And although the band includes some “growling” vocals on occasion (typically an aspect that often ruins many albums of this nature for me), I can tolerate them here since they are not dominant within the mix, allowing Jansen’s wide-ranging and pristine leads to shine through and impress.

Although the album contains plenty of other tunes to match the alluring fury of “Discord”—for instance, “Transitory,” “Who I Am,” “Withering Time,” “Evoke,” “De-Energized” and “Equally Destructive”—other songs follow different paths, offering up diversity. The ballads “Cry You a Smile” and “Empty Memories” offer lighter moments, allow breathing space for the listener from the high-voltage moments, and also thrust Jansen’s soaring and emotional vocals to the forefront. On the other hand, the eleven-minute “Dreamflight,” the album’s longest and most adventurous track, is a full-out foray into Progressive Metal—the myriad segments and divergent passages, not to mention the wide array of instrumentation, shines a fierce spotlight on the band’s formidable orchestrational skills. And then, my favorite track, the luscious and upbeat “Energize Me,” has a breathtaking chorus that repeated in my head for weeks on end, showing that After Forever also had a talent for writing memorable songs.

Overall, the album blazes with a luxuriant beauty that most female-led Symphonic Metal/Gothic Metal acts would kill to possess. About the only band I subsequently discovered that could, in my opinion, occasionally match the sheer nuclear grandiloquence of this material is (ironically enough, considering Jansen’s future) Nightwish, but even that group has never delivered a collection of tracks with such consistent vigor and majesty as this.

Regardless, Floor Jansen has me as a lifelong fan, and this swansong release by After Forever is one album I have never removed from my I-Phone since purchasing it all those years ago. Five Stars all the way!

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AC/DC – Let There Be Rock (1977)

4 out of 5 Stars!

I’ll never forget how I discovered this band…back in 1979, I found myself in the hospital for several days—nothing too serious, thankfully—and coincidentally, my roommate just happened to be a high school buddy whom I hadn’t seen since our graduation the previous year. Not only did the poor guy have a nasty, dysfunctional appendix, but before leaving for the hospital, he had the foresight to bring along with him a bunch of cassette tapes, two of which were by an unknown (to me) band from Australia called AC/DC.

One afternoon after his inevitable appendectomy, he played Let There Be Rock (along with the band’s follow-up release Powerage) on his portable cassette player, and needless to say, I found myself immediately hooked. So within days after being released from the hospital, I headed to the record store and purchased both albums, and I must say, I have never grown tired of either.

On Let There Be Rock, AC/DC’s fourth studio effort, the band displayed a raw and dirty, no-holds-barred style of barreling and bluesy Boogie Rock, the rhythm guitars (thanks to Malcolm Young) blasting and metal-tinged, and the bass and drums (respectively assaulted by Mark Evans and Phil Rudd) punchy, pounding, and pumping. Meanwhile, Angus Young’s six-string solos sliced through the thundering chaos like feisty bolts of melodic lightning, as if he used razor blades as guitar picks, while singer Bon Scott’s roaring and shredded tonsils helped to provide the band with not only an instantly recognizable sound, but a discernible and unapologetic attitude, one of rebellious, punk-like belligerence.

The tracks “Dog Eat Dog,” “Problem Child,” “Whole Lotta Rosie,” “Go Down,” “Overdose”—heck, every single tune, as it turned out—left a profound impression on me that day in the hospital, but it was the rollicking title track that truly seared its way into my brain, and I sensed it would one day be recognized by Hard Rock fans as an undeniable classic. Add to all of this Angus Young’s unusual image and fashion sense, not to mention his antics being that of a hyperactive schoolboy on acid, and it came as no shock to me that AC/DC would quickly become a driving force on the worldwide music scene.

So to this day, whenever I hear this band—especially Let There Be Rock and Powerage—I instantly think of my friend Rollo and his near-bursting, seeming worthless appendix, which (in a truly bizarre and macabre way), ended up being quite valuable to me regarding my further musical enlightenment.

(RIP Malcolm Young & Bon Scott)

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Alaska – Alaska (1998)

3 out of 5 Stars!

Not to be confused with the numerous other groups bearing the same name, this particular band (actually, a duo from Pennsylvania comprised of vocalist/guitarist/drummer Al Lewis and keyboardist John O’Hara) released a single album in the late-’90s. To me, Alaska’s music seemed a lighter, keyboard-dominated version of Yes or Cairo, mainly due to the highly symphonic arrangements and, especially, vocalist Al Lewis (also appearing on Starcastle’s final album from 2007), who has a range and delivery style similar to Jon Anderson (Yes) and Terry Luttrell (Starcastle’s original singer).

On this eleven-track collection, most of the compositions, including “WellsBridge,” “Forests of Heaven,” “Anyman’s Tomorrow,” “IceSpirits,” and “Tiananmen Square,” have an array of dreamy melodies and wonderfully rich and layered keyboards and vocal harmonies. And, truth be told, although I find nothing overly exciting in the way of varied orchestrations or rhythms, no tense dramatics or chord pattern surprises, the overall nature of the album makes for a decent, non-intrusive experience nonetheless.

Therefore, this one and only Alaska album contains nearly seventy minutes of gentle, melodious material, which is great for when I’m in a mellower mood, and for when I’m craving a massive amount of synth-driven Progressive Rock to fill the silence.

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Architecture Of The Absurd – Beluga (2013)

4.5 out of 5 Stars!

Wow, Beluga is extremely fun! The music on this debut album is sort of like a marriage between Gentle Giant and Zappa / Mothers Of Invention during the Apostrophe / Roxy & Elsewhere / One Size Fits All era.

Nothing on this release is in the least bit “commercial,” but is nevertheless melodic, with some vocal sections (most very Zappa-esque) even catchy. The instrumentation on tracks such as “Photosynthesis,” “Under a Black Cloud,” “Monologue,” “Trying to Be a Court Clown,” and the wickedly entitled “Sunny View (For Douchebags)” is quirky, often jazzy, and wonderfully impressive. Along with Zappa-like guitar soloing on occasion, there’s also a heavy emphasis on keyboards, many sounding like older synthesizers (which is where much of the Gentle Giant and Zappa comparisons pop up) with even a Mellotron tossed in for extra pizzazz (and fairly dominant) on the tune “Thylacine.”

Generally speaking, the band’s name, Architecture of the Absurd, perfectly describes the seven diverse tracks contained on the album. Now I can only pray the absurdly named band releases more of the same type of material…and soon! Prog-Rock these days does have a tendency to get rather boring (in my opinion, there’s too much “atmospheric Prog-Rock” along the lines of Porcupine Tree, Riverside, and Pink Floyd-wannabes droning on and on album after album with lazy rhythms and keyboard washes). So bands such as Architecture of the Absurd, with odd and often-changing time signatures, complicated and upbeat arrangements, and impressively diverse instrumentation, are sorely required to keep things exciting. Toss in some fun and quirky melodies and what you have on Beluga is music that reminds me of why I fell in love with Prog-Rock many decades ago.

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Alan Reed – First in a Field of One (2012)

4 out of 5 Stars!

After leaving his long-time band Pallas in 2010, lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Alan Reed (also formerly of Abel Ganz and Strangers on a Train) released his first solo album shortly thereafter, a collection of melodic and accessible tracks in the Symphonic Prog/Neo-Prog variety.

Aiding Reed on this release is an all-star cast of gifted musicians, including guitarists Jeff Green (Jeff Green Project) and Kelle Wallner (RPWL), keyboardist Mike Stobbie (Pallas), percussionist Scott Higham (Pendragon), and the always wonderful Christina Booth (Magenta) on background vocals, so that fact alone says a ton regarding not only the high quality level of this release, but also the style of material included here.

Pallas fans (and lovers of similar groups such as IQ and early Marillion) will certainly enjoy First in a Field of One as much as I do. Tunes such as “Kingdom of the Blind,” “The Usual Suspects,” “The Real Me,” “Teardrops in the Rain,” “Begin Again,” and the highly dramatic, Pallas-like track “Darkness Has Spoken” are simply awash in delightful and often-dreamy melodies, not to mention dazzling musicianship (as one might expect, considering the panoply of talent). The wide range of instrumentation on display, with a seemingly flawless balance of both electric and acoustic guitars, plus an endless array of keyboard sounds to provide lush and symphonic textures, adds even more to the diversity of the eight tracks. And of course, Reed’s recognizable voice shines throughout, his delivery spot-on and loaded with emotion.

Although perhaps unfair to state, yet in many ways, this solo debut by Reed, a former singer of a successful Neo-Prog band, reminds me of the solo debut by Fish, another former singer from a successful Neo-Prog group. Coincidence, no doubt. But still, I couldn’t help notice how the well-produced material on offer here, being similar to Reed’s former group yet not a direct copy, as well as the atmosphere and generally passionate performances, provided me with the same feelings as I had when listening to Fish’s solo debut, which shared those same traits. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, listening to Reed’s debut (and Fish’s) left me hungering for more.

So thankfully, as the album title implies, First in a Field of One wasn’t simply a one-off project, as Reed subsequently delivered a second solo collection (Honey On The Razor’s Edge) featuring most of the same guest-star musicians, plus the legendary Steve Hackett, and is also supposedly working on material for yet a third release. Therefore, it seems as if First in a Field of One was indeed the first in a field of numerous albums to follow, and happily so.

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Astral Doors – Of the Son and the Father (2003)

4 out of 5 Stars!

Of the Son and the Father is the debut album from Sweden’s Astral Doors, a band that offers up dark and dastardly Heavy Metal from the same musical playbook as the band Dio, or Black Sabbath during its Ronnie James Dio period, only with the addition of a full-time keyboardist. Even vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson (Lion’s Share/Space Odyssey/Wuthering Heights) has the Dio sound and style of delivery down to a science.

From the energetic and thundering opening track “Cloudbreaker,” the band doesn’t let up the intensity for one solitary moment. Each of the eleven tunes included in this collection, from the delicious title track to “Burn Down the Wheel,” “Slay the Dragon,” “Night of the Witch,” “The Trojan Horse,” and “Rainbow in Your Mind,” holds fairly true to the Dio/Black Sabbath style. Indeed, for the most part, the performances by each musician, the album’s overall dark, dense, and driving atmosphere, and especially the songwriting (right down to the fantasy-laced lyrical content of which Dio was so fond of penning) pays full and glorious homage to the late/great Ronnie James Dio himself. Certainly, there are a few deviations, which gives Astral Doors a flair of its very own and keeps the band from being a direct copy of the aforementioned musical style, yet any fan of Dio’s work, whether with his own band, with Black Sabbath (or Heaven & Hell), and even with Rainbow (due to the heavier use of keyboards), will likely appreciate much of the material delivered on this debut.

Thankfully, Astral Doors didn’t disappear from the scene, but went on to release a string of additional albums, the most recent appearing in 2017, and each of them includes music within a similar realm and retains the same high quality as this debut. So to those RJD admirers who are still unfamiliar with Astral Doors, investigating this band will likely make you feel as if you’ve been catapulted into Heavy Metal Heaven.

One final note, if hunting for Of the Son and the Father, keep in mind that the album was released under this title with the cover shown here, but was also released under the title Cloudbreaker with an alternate cover and two “bonus” songs.

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Asia – Arena (1996)

4 out of 5 Stars!

Since its debut release, Asia has been a band bordering on the edge of both Pomp Rock and AOR as well as the Progressive Rock genre, and on no other album within the band’s catalogue is this merging of genres more evident than on Arena, the group’s sixth studio collection (and the third with vocalist/bassist John Payne).

Including memorable tracks such as “Two Sides of the Moon,” “U Bring Me Down,” “Never,” “Arena,” “Words,” and the exceptional nine-minute “The Day Before the War,” the longest song Asia ever recorded, Arena is probably the most adventurous album in the band’s overall catalogue. When it comes to song arrangements and instrumentation, and with the inclusion of various percussion instruments (provided by guest Luis Jardim) that lend extra zing to several tracks, this is also the Asia album that contains the strongest Progressive-Rock influences, a development I eagerly welcomed with open arms. The Pomp-Rock keyboards of Geoff Downes are generally outstanding, while guitarists Aziz Ibrahim and Elliott Randall, along with drummer Mike Sturgis, display mastery of their own instruments.

Moreover, this is also the collection where I truly came to fully appreciate John Payne’s identifiable vocals, finally recognizing the fact that his contributions to Asia’s overall sound were not only the most enjoyable to me, but generally left me yearning to hear more. Once savoring this album, I no longer viewed Payne as just the “new kid on the block” or “Wetton’s replacement,” but as an extremely powerful and expressive vocalist in his own right, and a highly influential, full-fledged member of the group.

Therefore, due to the band’s more Progressive leanings on this collection of tracks, along with the strong performances by all the musicians involved, Arena became the Asia album I found myself playing most often through the years, followed closely by 2004’s Silent Nation.

Oh yeah, and the Rodney Matthews’s cover art (also featuring the Roger Dean-designed band logo) is pretty darned cool as well.

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Alice Cooper – The Eyes of Alice Cooper (2003)

3.5 out of 5 Stars!

After the original and legendary band fell apart midway through the ’70s, Alice “Vincent Furnier” Cooper went on to produce an endless string of solo albums that, for the most part, never really impressed me. Apart from one or two releases (most notably Welcome to My Nightmare, his first solo outing), none of his material from the late ’70s and through the ’80s/’90s truly brought to mind the high level of creativity, amusing theatrics, or raw “garage band” energy of that original lineup. Instead, typically backed by a slew of faceless and glossy studio musicians, Furnier’s music often proved too slick, too sanitized, too over-produced, and sometimes even too “Bon Jovi-ish” for its own good, despite the often “dark” lyrics, which (aside from the spidery eye makeup) seemed about the only holdover from the olden days. Plus, since I still continue to replay the classic albums from the original band (Killer, Love It To Death, Easy Action, Muscle of Love, etc.) on a surprisingly regular basis, Furnier’s solo material just never could compete for my attention.

But thankfully, and finally, 2003’s The Eyes of Alice Cooper album comes close, or at least it does when talking about a more “garage band” sound. That became crystal clear the moment I heard the blazing opener, “What Do You Want From Me?” followed by another driving tune, “Between High School and Old School.” The guitars are thick and loaded with feedback, while the bass is thumping and the drums are slamming, just like the good ol’ days of the original group. Although for a variety of reasons, some tracks still don’t work for me on a guttural level (such as “Man of the Year,” “Be With You Awhile,” or the overly poppy “Novocaine”), there are enough old-school rough ‘n’ rowdy rockers like “I’m So Angry,” “Detroit City,” “Love Should Never Feel Like This,” “Spirits Rebellious,” and “Backyard Brawl,” plus the weird track “This House is Haunted,” that periodically mirror the original band’s glam rock/shock rock/garage rock genius. Indeed, after all these many years, with the punchy and punkish sound quality and the (mostly) consistent style of the songs, I can almost imagine guitarists Glen Buxton (RIP) and Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith wielding the instruments and backing up Furnier’s snarling, rebellious vocals.

Granted, I still feel this album lacks an ultra-snappy single as strong as (for instance) “Eighteen” or “Under My Wheels” or “School’s Out,” and no song comes close to resembling the creepy magnificence of a classic such as “Halo of Flies” or “Ballad of Dwight Fry” or “Dead Babies,” yet the stripped-down sound of the original band has been somewhat replicated on The Eyes of Alice Cooper, so to me it’s one of most enjoyable of Furnier’s solo albums since the original Alice Cooper’s Muscle of Love from 1973.

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Aether – Inner Voyages Between Our Shadows (2002)

3.5 out of 5 Stars!

I stumbled across the two albums from Brazilian band Aether about a decade ago, long after the group had already ceased to exist, and although I cannot claim to have added either of the two albums to my “most played/favorite” list, I can acknowledge that both releases generally contain likeable Progressive Rock of the Symphonic and Neo-Prog variety.

On Inner Voyages Between Our Shadows, the band’s second and final album (and, in my opinion, the most enjoyable of the two), the group delivers some occasionally light and periodically majestic material, nothing to set the world on fire, but certainly pleasant enough for repeated listenings. When it comes to the overall mood, performances, and orchestrations on lengthy tracks such as “Forgiveness,” “The Gate,” “Scenes of Wondering Beyond,” and “Prayer for a New Meeting,” I would liken Aether as a delicate cross between acts such as Airbag, Galleon, Abel Ganz, and (Poland’s) Millennium, mixed with touches of Pink Floyd, Nektar, and (most definitely) Camel being other chief influences. Typically, the music here is melodic and laid-back Prog-Rock, often with a spacey and dreamy atmosphere, and with a fair share of dramatic moments.

Additionally, since on this particular album, the band also includes its own nineteen-plus-minute rendition of Mussorgsky’s multi-part “A Night on Bald Mountain” suite—also recorded by Fireballet on its 1975 Prog-Rock album christened after this very composition—then Fireballet would have to be another potential influence. Yet to me, Aether’s arrangement lacks some of the overall “combustion” I was used to hearing on Fireballet’s older version, offering instead a less-urgent and—frankly—less-spicy rendition of the tune. Certainly, the arrangement appearing here is still highly ambitious, wonderfully symphonic and even more classically oriented, but with a gentler approach. Definitely not bad at all, yet—and it’s certainly a matter of taste—I still prefer Fireballet’s more bombastic, more rocking, more Uriah Heep-ish execution. So no offense to any Aether fans or its talented band members, but the groups obviously differed in their approach to covering such a magnificent piece of music, and both ended up with commendable interpretations, but with divergent areas of emphasis, instrumentation, and (in the end) resplendence.

Therefore, Inner Voyages Between Our Shadows is a fairly savory album, with some intriguing material that should certainly appeal to the majority of fans seeking music similar to the aforesaid groups. And although it might not be on my regular “playing rotation,” it’s an album I revisit periodically, especially when I’m in the mood for lush yet easygoing Prog-Rock.

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