What are you listening to?

Autumn, Cold Comfort - Dutch prog-tinged goth-metal, which I reviewed for Trebuchet Magazine a few months back. One of two places where this really sounds like The Reasoning.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Weld - Double live album by the best bad guitar player of all time.

Marillion, Radiation - One of their underrated and often overlooked albums. The slightly grungy 90s production has dated a bit, but most of the songs are gems.

The Reasoning, And Another Thing - The new 4 track EP

Mermaid Kiss, Circles of Fire - New download single released yesterday, taken from the forthcoming album "Another Country". Great to hear something new by them, those 2008/9 live gigs supporting Panic Room and Breathing Space were a long time ago now. If you were at any of those you'll probably remember this song.

De Profundis, The Emptiness Within - British prog-metal band, remind me a bit of Opeth (with a hint of Iron Maiden). Album due in May, I've got a pre-release for review

Is no-one listening to anything these days? Must admit I've had a bit of a break! Still, this week (and on the train last Friday) I've got going again. So recently it's been:

Wally - Wally ~635~
Tr3nity - The Cold Light Of Darkness ~732~
Kill II This - Deviate ~1087~
Mannfred Mann's Earthband - The Good Earth ~1156~
Joe Walsh - So What ~1184~
Split Enz - True Colours ~1184~
Phil Collins - Hello I Must Be Going ~1194~
Jane - Fire, Water, Earth And Air ~1204~
Mott The Hoople - Wildlife ~1246~
Phil Lynott - Solo In Soho ~1250~
Dark Tranquility - Projector ~1258~
Mannfred Mann's Earthband - Angel Station ~1265~
Spandau Ballet - Journeys To Glory ~1269~
Fear Factory - Digimortal ~1290~
Camel - I Can See Your House From Here ~1298~
Rare Bird - Somebody's Watching ~1318~
Revolting Cocks - Linger Ficken' Good ~1330~
Vangelis - Albedo 0.39 ~1349~
Fear Factory - Demanufacture ~1353~
John Lennon - Mind Games ~1353~
Renaissance - Innocents & Illusion ~1362~
Mike Rutherford - Acting Very Strange ~1370~
Mike Rutherford - Smallcreeps Day ~1385~
Spooky Tooth - The Last Puff ~1389~
Mannfred Mann's Earthband - Messin' ~1413~
Camel - Nude ~1435~
Siouxsie And The Banshees - A Kiss In The Dreamhouse ~1438~
Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle ~1455~
Dire Straits - Communique ~1472~
Sepultura - Arise ~1479~

Of these, the Tr3nity one was a bit of a surprise. For some reason I'd though they were a noisy metal band, but in fact they're rather proggy - a softer version of Queensryche perhaps? Surprisingly good! And the Manfred Mann ones were a bit better than I remembered although nowhere near Solar Fire standards. Just goes to show that deciding to listen through everything you have can prove interesting. Only about 40 to go now...

Pink Floyd - A momentry lapse of reason
Pink Floyd - Piper at the gates of dawn
Pink Floyd - Is there anybody out there
Pink Floyd - Dark side of the moon
Pink Floyd - The division bell
Pink Floyd - Meddle
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
David Bowie - Space oddity
Robert Plant - Band of joy
Boston - Boston
Winter in Eden - Echoes of betral
Jethro Tull - Thick as a brick
Uriah Heep - Head first
Lita Ford - LIta
Lita Ford - Stiletto
Bon Jovi - Have a nice day
Bon Jovi - Keep the faith

U.K. - U.K. ~1353~
Rick Wakeman - Criminal Record ~1402~
High Tide - Sea Shanties ~1415~
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails ~1427~
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Join Hands ~1454~
Opeth - Orchid ~1472~

and Thick As A Brick 2

Anathema - Weather Systems
Ayreon - Into The Electric Castle
The Mars Volta - Octohedron
The Mars Volta - Ampitecture
Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation
Chantel McGregor - Like No Other
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Swans in Flight - s/t
Coheed and Cambria - No World For Tomorrow (I really don't "get" Coheed and Cambria - they seem to ape the form of prog-metal only without the substance)
Tarja - My Winter Storm
Magenta - Chameleon
Closterkeller - Nero. (English version, I think I prefer them singing in Polish)

Ian Anderson - Thick as a brick 2
Winter in Eden - Echoes of betrayal
DeeExpus - The king of number 33
Epica - The divine conspiracy
Derek and the dominos - Layla and other love songs
Magnum - Vigilante
Poison - Swallow this live
Poison - Open up and say ahh
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

Thick as a Brick 2 ... four times.

Winter in Eden & DeeExpus again
also
Marshall Tucker Band - Searchin' for a rainbow
Poison - Look what the cat dragged in
David Bowie - Hunky dory
Macc Lads - The Lads from Macc
MTWA - New live dates I
MTWA - New live dates II

[quote="ColinCamel"]Winter in Eden & DeeExpus again
also
Are you going to see them soon or something?

Finally, I think, I've reached the end of the original albums for the second time, as evidenced by the ones at the bottom of this list - which largely I hope/intend never to (try to) listen to again! Sorry, but Cradle Of Filth et al really don't work for me. So here they are:

Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick 2 ~196~
Christina - Broken Lives And Bleeding Hearts ~624~
Genesis - From Genesis To Revelation ~1245~
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats ~1351~
Television - Marquee Moon ~1375~
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral ~1399~
King Crimson - Discipline ~1407~
Mike Oldfield - Collaborations ~1421~
Focus - Mother Focus ~1434~
Little Feat - The Last Record Album ~1434~
Vangelis - Heaven And Hell ~1445~
Hives - Your New Favourite Band ~1466~
Labelle - Phoenix ~1470~
Public Image Ltd. - Public Image Limited ~1476~
Venom - Possessed ~1489~
Gang Of Four - Songs Of The Free ~1490~
Deftones - Adrenaline ~1490~
Neil Young - Zuma ~1497~
Slits - Cut ~1505~
Deftones - Around The Fur ~1505~
In Flames - Colony ~1518~
Anthony Phillips - 1984 ~1534~
Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn ~1536~
Cradle Of Filth - The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh ~1541~
Hecate Enthroned - Upon Promethean Shores ~1542~
Slayer - Divine Intervention ~1543~
Catamenia - Halls Of The Frozen North ~1545~

Must now go through some more freebie compilations to see if anything interesting emerges.

Various - Classic Rock 128 - New Music For 2009 ~~

Winter in Eden - Echoes of betrayal
Winter in Eden - Awakening
XTC - Nonesuch
Cult - Love
Riversea - Out of the ancient world
Delain - April rain
Delain - Lucidity
New York Dolls - Dancing backwards in high heels
Nightwish - Angels fall first
Breathing Space - Below the radar
Breathing Space - Coming up for air
Breathing Space - Below the radar live
Praying Mantis - Time tells no lies

Now that I've got to the end of the original albums, I'm having a run through loads of Classic Rock samplers to see if there's anything good on them...

So last week it was Progs 19. 20, 22 and 23, and P1, P2 (aka 24 and 25), plus CR 68, 73 and 87.

Worth considering, I thought, were:

Ayreon (1011001), BJH (Once Again), Cosmograf (When age has done its duty), Hawkwind (Onward), Citizen Cain (Skies Darken), Paul Kusick (P'Dice)

Other possibilities:

Karmakanic (In a perfect world), Eloy (Floating), Steve Hackett (Highly Strung), Presto Ballet (Invisible Pieces), Phaedra (The Sea), Draginforce (Sonic Firestorm).

And I ordered:

Flying Colors, John Wetton (Raised in captivity) and Ebony Tower (Dead planets new stars) which has azrrived today...

Any thoughts?

The Ayreon album is about their worst imo, but still worth a listen. Steve Hackett, highly strung is very good imo, as is Eloy's floating. Not a fan of the Karmakanic or Hawkwind albums when I heard them.
And I need to get the Ebony Tower CD

today its been
Sultans of Ping - Casual sex in the cineplex
Sultans of Ping - Teenage drug
Praying Mantis - Sanctuary
Edgar Broughton Band - Wasa wasa

And I need to get the Ebony Tower CD[/quote]

It's not at all bad although only a 4 track EP with a different vocalist. Funnily enough, the vocalist (Zanda) was at the Stolen Earth gig in York with Heidi on Wednesday!

Not much this week really :
Edgar Broughton Band - In side out
Pretty Things - S F sorrow
Delain - Lucidity
Guns n Roses - Chinese democracy
Guns n Roses - Appetite for destruction
Praying Mantis - Time tells no lies

Panic Room - SKIN. For which I've got to try and write a review without coming over as drooling fanboy. Which might be difficult.

Breathing Space - Breathing Space ~29~
Curved Air - Second Album ~38~
Breathing Space - Coming Up For Air ~49~
Curved Air - Air Conditioning ~154~
Ebony Tower - Dead Planets New Stars [EP]
Various - Classic Rock 122 - Prog Spawn
Various - Classic Rock 121 - Southern Rock Uprising
Various - Classic Rock 120 - Feelgood Hits For The Summer
Various - Classic Rock 119 - Sons Of Guns III
Various - Classic Rock 118 - Maximum Overdrive
Various - Classic Rock 116 - Buried Treasure

A few more interesting things on the samplers - really must get some Credo; Treat, Steve Lukather and Mystery are now on the Possibles list, with Eamonn McCormack, Journmey (Revelation) and Danny Bryant perhaps too.

It's all gone a bit quiet again here... still I can't talk as I've hardly played anything recently except on train trips at the weekend.

Various - Classic Rock 133 - Sons Of Guns IV
Various - Classic Rock 132 - Powerage
Various - Classic Rock 130 - Lost Tunes
Various - Classic Rock 127 - The Best Of 2008
Various - Classic Rock 126 - Hellraisers
Various - Classic Rock 125 - TNT
Various - Classic Rock 124 - Guitarmageddon
Various - Classic Rock 123 - Songbook Vol 1
Curved Air - Live Atmosphere ~47~
John Wetton - Raised In Captivity ~459~
Flying Colors - Flying Colors ~537~
Ginger - 555% (CD1)

The John Wetton album is still growing on me. I'd recommend the latest live Curved Air album, although it would benefit from a few more tracks from the current set (especially Metamorphosis). I've only heard one of the three CDs of the new Ginger Wildheart album - Lynda says the first is the best. Hhmm. A bit disappointed by Flying Colors - OK but perhaps it will grow...

Various - Stormwatch (Prog Magazine cover disk)
Various - The Butterfly Effect (ditto)
Various - Prog Rocks! (ditto, from when it was called Classic Rock Presents Prog)
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks. Strangely not filled with an impulse to burn all my Pink Floyd CDs
Stolen Earth - A Far Cry From Home. Review of this on my blog
Panic Room - SKIN. My review will be appearing in Trebuchet Magazine in the next day or so.
Diamond Head - The White Album.

Listening to my Soil CDs

Still failing to switch my CD player on... but in the car over the weekend, Stolen Earth, latest Larry Miller and the latest Prog sampler.

Anti-Nowhere League - We are the league
Epica - Design your universe
Stolen Earth - A far cry from home
Soil - Redefine

Finally kickstarted my musical appreciation!

Ginger Wildheart - 555% ~235~
Stolen Earth - A Far Cry From Home ~367~
Tr3nity - Precious Seconds ~538~
Dee Expus - Half Way Home ~540~
Glass Hammer - Chronometree ~578~
Credo - Rhetoric ~659~
Eloy - Dawn ~666~
Dragonforce - The Power Within ~699~
Arena - Contagion ~729~
Larry Miller - On The Edge ~729~
Glass Hammer - Journey Of The Dunadan ~933~
Eloy - Colours ~1018~
Dead Like Harry - Red Dress ~1227~
Joe Perry - Classic Rock 142 - Have Guitar Will Travel
Joe Bonamassa - Classic Rock 167 - No Hits No Hype
Various - Prog 26 - P3: The Butterfly Effect
Various - Prog 27 - P4: Suits You Sir

The Stolen Earth album is growing on me each time I listen to it. Larry's latest definitely seemed better listened to at home rather than in the car. The Ginger album is a bit different and having 30 tracks is probably cheating - on that basis some of them ought to be good! Perhaps I should consider each of the three CDs separately - the 'official' album 100% is split across all three, Lynda says. To be fair, all of the above were new to me so one listening probably isn't enough for a fair view...

Maidu featuring Heather Findlay - The Way I See You
Riversea - Out of the Ancient World
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Van der Graaf Generator - ALT