Anniversary Series - 1977!

The middle of the month means it's time for another Anniversary Article, and I have to tell you that this year is a killer one for great rock music.  So many big bands putting out great albums, as things shift in a more FM radio-friendly direction.  Still, progressive rock wasn't quite out yet, as a few bands were still putting out some epic material.

In fact, the year starts off with one of the biggest prog rock bands: Pink Floyd.  Inspired by Orwell's allegorical novella Animal Farm, their Animals album shows them at their darkest, as well as their proggiest, with three very long songs dominating the album.  At around that same time, the often overlooked Starcastle would release the first of two albums.  While not quite as strong as their debut, I've always liked their mix of Yes and Kansas sounds, making for some very underrated prog.  Jethro Tull also released Songs of the Wood, the first of three very folk music heavy albums, and Journey went Next, starting to shift away from jazz-fusion into the hard rock they'd be known for.  The band would hire Steve Perry later that year.

As the spring warms things up, we get a slew of great hard rock albums.  Foreigner had their debut album, with the big singles "Feels Like the First Time" and "Cold as Ice," Heart warned us of the "Barracuda," AC/DC released Let There Be Rock, and Judas Priest committed Sin After Sin, as they further refined their heavy metal sound.  The Steve Miller Band would bring more of their southern-fried rock with Book of Dreams, featuring "Jet Airliner," "Swingtown," and "Jungle Love."

Summer would give us some more prog, as Yes would bring back Rick Wakeman for Going for the One, featuring one of their most beautiful songs, "Awaken."  Rush would push themselves further into prog territory with A Farewell to Kings, known for the ballad "Closer to the Heart" and the exotic "Xanadu."  Alan Parsons would return with his Project to provide the Asimov-inspired I, Robot.  However, the big album of the summer was Styx's The Grand Illusion.   Half the album remains on classic rock playlists across the country, and it was the first album I ever reviewed for this blog.  With standout classics like "Come Sail Away," "Fooling Yourself," "Miss America," and the title track, it's easy to see why this one was such a massive release.

The rest of the year would finish quite strong.  As we get into the fall, The Electric Light Orchestra release the double album Out of the Blue, which had "Turn to Stone," "Sweet Talkin' Woman," and the nearly overplayed "Mr. Blue Sky."  Kansas would follow that with Point of Know Return, a very solid, proggy, hard rock album from start to finish.  Then thing get epic with Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, which I just reviewed, and Queen's News of the World, giving us the perennial stadium anthem "We Will Rock You," which flows into the titanic "We Are the Champions."  Eddie Money would then close the year out with his debut album, promising us "Two Tickets to Paradise."

Seriously, this is one amazing year, and I know I didn't cover everything, as you can see in the playlist below.  However, if you think I've missed something, just let me know.  Until then, rock on! \m/

Last Played - December 2020 Part Two!

Finally, I feel like I'm catching up on things I wanted to listen to, actually getting to some albums that released this same month!  While there are too many releases in a year to really listen to everything I want to, I feel like I've done well for 2020.  Here's what I've played this time!

Kansas - The Absence of Presence

After enjoying many of the singles, I figured I had better squeeze in Kansas's latest effort before the end of the year.  While I did enjoy their last album, The Prelude Implicit, I did feel if the members weren't feeling their age, as the album was a touch on the sluggish side.  Here, they double-down the progressive side of their sound, now with Tom Brislin (Yes, Anderson/Stolt, The Sea Within) on the keyboards.

The result is an interesting album, featuring plenty of lush layers and noodly guitar and violin leads, and plenty of going back and forth between the instruments.  The riffs felt particularly crunchy, and I do think they recaptured more of the classic sound this time around, though I also felt like there was a strong dose of Neal Morse in here as well with the very polished, uplifting prog rock style he's known for.

I liked most of it, with highlights being the title track and "Throwing Mountains," both of which show the band really going big and epic.  "Propulsion 1" felt driven for a short instrumental, and "Animals on the Roof" is rather quirky.  However, the proggiest track is the last one, "The Song the River Sang," as it starts off with this dramatic energy that builds up pretty well, before hitting a quieter section full of pokey notes that just loop in their own way.  Very strange.  Still, a fascinating album from a band with a long history of straddling the line between prog rock and hard rock.

Majestica - A Christmas Carol

If my previous remarks about how I enjoy both Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Twisted Sister's Christmas album, then it should be no surprise that I was pretty excited for this one.  I mean, power metal telling a classic Christmas story?  I couldn't wait!

And that's pretty much what they're going for: telling Dicken's A Christmas Carol with tons of double-kicking drums, symphonic theatrics, and high-speed riffing.  Everything here has that extra layer of cheese that makes power metal so decisive.  The extra twist they've done, though, is that they've worked in the melodies of several classic Christmas songs (or carols, if you will), ranging from "Deck the Halls," to "Joy to the World," making the album a bit more a delight than I expected.

For example, I did like the shifts in mood on "Ghost of Marley," and the interesting shift during "Ghost of Christmas to Come" from a kind of polka sound to an epic 6/8 section based on "Carol of the Bells" (one of my personal favorite carols).  The story-telling does take center stage though, as is the nature of such a concept album, and as a consequence, I don't know if the songs really hold up as individual tracks.  It may take a few more spins this season to really decide how I feel about it, but I'm glad this band took the time to do something that's pretty fun to listen to.

Iron Savior - Skycrest

I can't believe they have another album out already.  I was still digging the songs from their last one!  Still, I'm not one to turn up my nose at more epic power metal, and Iron Savior seems to be a pretty consistent band at it.

If there are any differences from the last one, there's a bit more variety, as well as a few more symphonic touches, in my opinion.  I wasn't sure if I heard them as much on Kill or Be Killed.  Also, I don't think this on is as much of a concept album as their earlier ones, as they have all sorts of themes, from end of the world stuff, to werewolves, to a power ballad, to a song that's more fantasy (I guess even Iron Savior gets tired of military sci-fi!).

However, this doesn't mean there's any real deviation in style.  It's still gritty, German-styled power metal, full of fist-pumping choruses, crunchy riffs, and Piet Sielck's iconic voice plowing through it all.  I don't think this one is as strong as Kill or Be Killed overall, but there were a few standouts, such as "Skycrest" and "Hellbrearker" going epic in 6/8, the metal anthem "Raise the Flag," and the closer "Ode to the Brave."  Despite only being familiar with their more recent stuff, I'm getting the impression that this band is a sure thing each time they come around.

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This year's Top 5 is going to be very interesting, I must admit.  I don't know if there's a real standout winner this time, like there was with Monkey3 in 2019.  Still, 2020 was no slouch, and it will take some serious consideration to decide what was the best.

As for the rest of this year, I think I'll try to get in at least one more videos article before the end of the year.  However, I'm already prepping for next year and the articles I have planned, which should be fun.  Until then, rock on! \m/

New Videos - December 2020!

I'm still trying to wrap up videos for this year, and I've got quite the variety here for you.  We're starting to see some previews of what next year will be like, and it seems as promising as ever, with plenty of rock and metal to look forward to.  

I clearly need to get on this album, as I think I've liked every video they've put out for it.  This is definitely the band on their proggier side, with shifts in tempo and mood throughout, with shades of their classic 70s sound.  Kansas has really turned into an interesting and curious band, recently.

W.E.T. is another one of those supergroups that Frontiers Records like to put together, this one being from multiple AOR groups.  I've featured them before, but now that they've got a new album coming, I'll have to check them out more fully.  This is an interesting track, with heavy riffs and a lighter chorus, but solid enough all around for my tastes.

As always, I'm a sucker for epic power metal, and this band has caught my attention.  Sitting somewhere between Gamma Ray's lighting speed riffing and Stratovarius' symphonic keyboards, this some excellent metal right here.  Another band to add to my ever-growing list of music to catch up on.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this, actually.  Technical melodic progressive metal with two lead vocalists and an aesthetic borrowing from 80s gritty sci-fi films.  Epic, yet visceral, with lots of jarring time-signature changes.  At the very least, they're on my radar now, and I'll have to check out more!

So here's a project centering around Joel Hoekstra, who has been a guitarist for Whitesnake and TSO (among others).  While the song is decent hard rock, it has quite the lineup, with Russell Allen on vocals, Vinny Appice on drums, Derek Sherinian on keys, and Tony Franklin on bass.  I'm definitely curious to see what else these guys have for 2021.

So they did another silly music video of them playing in their car.  I like their little flag.  As for the song, it's another one of those metal anthems, along the lines of Judas Priest or Saxon.  Still, Piet Sielck sings it with authority, and the riffs are solid, so I can't deny that it works.  Raise the flag, indeed!

New Videos - July 2020 Part Two!

So here's another nice round up of videos.  A lot of good AOR this time around, with a few other genres mixed in.  Check'em out!

Kicking things off with some big 80s rock.  Not a lot of surprises, but it has that arena-ready, Def Leppard style that I like.  Anthemic, with lots of layers on the vocals for the chorus, and some solid riffing that knows that sometimes less is more.

Yeah, these girls are on my radar now.  Again, the vocals do take some getting used to, but it's great, upbeat power metal that puts a big smile on face.  I clearly need to put their albums on the top of my list!

More One Desire!  Melodic riffs?  Check.  Epic chorus?  Check.  Big 80s sound?  Check.  Clear, massive vocals?  Check.  Lighting-fast guitar solo?  Check.  Honestly, if haven't caught up with these guys, then you're missing out on some great rock 'n' roll.

So here's a neat band from Chile, channeling some of the prog metal stuff from Europe, like Evergray or Symphony X.  The singer definitely has that Russell Allen vibe going.  Oh, and the guitars are way crunchy.  Some of the heaviest stuff I've posted here.

Creye is a band I've seen around, but this is the first time I've really liked their particular brand of melodic AOR.  The song has this really nice, driving energy.  Not a million-miles-an-hour, but cruising along at a solid, manageable speed, with some nice riffing and solid production.

Okay, now this has an old-school Kansas feel.  The right balance of crunchy guitars and light violin, with hammonds backing it all up.  While it might not be as uptempo as "Carry On Wayward Son," this shows the band still that classic sound up its sleeve!

New Videos - June 2020!

Good heavens!  It's been a while, hasn't it?  It's not like there wasn't good material released in the past few months, I just wasn't getting around to it like I normally do.  Excuses aside, here are some new tracks worth listening to!

Modern Kansas is not quite like the 70s material, but they do have moments where it comes together pretty nicely, and this definitely shows the promise of their new album.  Thoughtful, broad, with that violin which adds that nice touch that's made this band stand out all these years.

I admit I haven't followed DeYoung's career after he left Styx, but here we see him aiming for that classic sound.  Tons of vocal layers, some classic proggy synths, the build to the catchy chorus, it has a lot in common with the sound he forged with his band in the 70s.  It could use some crunchier guitars, though.

After being blown away by them back in February, here they are again with another great song.  It's pretty poppy and melodic, but retains the heavy, crunchy guitars of the other song, making for a pretty epic number.

Nice piece of melodic prog metal, in the vein of Dream Theater and Vanden Plas.  With some interesting syncopated riffing and great vocals, this band just released their debut and from this track, they seem to have a lot of promise!

You can always trust Vega to lay down a solid rock song with a big chorus.  This one is the title track of their latest album, and probably one I should go pick up.  I really liked Only Human, and this sounds like it's more of the same!

More melodic prog metal!  I was impressed by Noveria back in March, and this one is just as epic.  Italian prog seems to have this perfect balance of melody, drama, energy, and crunchiness that works for me, and this track is a prime example.