by Mark Monforti | Feb 1, 2018 | Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.
Here is another Chicago band I am excited to share with you. Their second album Re:Psychle is a diverse sounding band. Sometimes silly sometimes serious, sometimes funky, sometimes jazzy, always interesting.
They don't particularly line up with my tastes on last.fm so if you are inclined like me to listen to the pink floyd side of prog and less the Gentle Giant side you might want to take a pass.
For fans of Gentle Giant and Caravan or other Canterbury prog you should certainly give this local band a spin.
This has special guest contributions from Grammy-winning musicians Nick Photinos (cello) and Michael Maccaferri (clarinets) of Eighth Blackbird, was mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Rick Barnes.
These ratings are a little low but that is more based on my own personal likes and is not a reflection of poor work.
[usrlist "PREVIOUS BAND RATING:0" "ACCESSIBILITY:1.5" "HEAVINESS:1.5" "MELODIC:1.5" "ARTWORK & PACKAGING:4" "DRAMA:2" "OVERALL RATING:2.5"]
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
by progrock.com | Feb 1, 2018 | Reviews
For some prog fans the name Fernando Perdomo might not be too familiar, unless of course you are a fan of Dave Kerzner. In the last few years, Perdomo has been the guitarist for Dave Kerzner on albums and live shows and making a name for himself in prog circles. His talent has certainly been on display as a great lead player, as has been his Bowler hat and black coat, which he will not leave home without. But take one listen to his debut prog-rock solo album, Out to Sea, and it will be astonishing that he is not one of the most well-known musicians on the planet. Not only are the songs beautiful and the production brilliant, but Perdomo plays all the instruments, guitars, bass, keys, and drumms (except for one song). Described by Perdomo as drawing inspiration from classic 70s Art Rock albums by the likes of Steve Hackett, Peter Banks, Steve Howe, and Jan Akkerman, Out to Sea is an album that must be experienced as it is truly a fantastic piece of art.
It is common to hear an artist was inspired by classic sounds when recording a new album. The uniqueness of this album is that it sounds straight out of the 70s. All the sounds, from the drums to the guitar and keyboard tones, sound real and organic, and the production recalls classic albums by Yes and Genesis. This alone is a great achievement. It takes you back and you feel lifted into another time and place. To further the point, the album artwork was done by Paul Whitehead who created the Trespass, Nursery Cryme, and Foxtrot covers for Genesis.
The opening track “The Architect” is listed as a tribute to the great Peter Banks, and it takes one listen to immediately get that vibe. The middle uptempo section is raw and groovy all at once before shifting into various time changes. Perdomo’s use of multiple guitars and layers is outstanding and demands that you listen to the songs multiple times so not to miss anything.
The highlight has to be the third song, “De Boerderij,” which says is a tribute to Focus, but also recalls the stylings of Steve Hackett. This is such a beautiful song, it defies description. The same can be said for songs “The Future According to Roye” and “The Dream” which is bridges the use of acoustic guitars and space age moog sounds. Of course, what would a prog album be without an epic, here in the form of the final track “Dreaming in Stereo Suite,” a perfect title for the song. The song begins with a delicate piano passage before drums break the softness. Genesis seems to be a clear inspiration in the early stages of the song, but that quickly changes as the song explores multiple moods.
This album was really a surprise. Many guitar solo albums are different versions of the same thing; not the case here. From the first listen, Out to Sea is captivating as it is different. In the album bio, Perdomo is quoted saying “This record is a tribute to the sounds that made me the person and musician I am today.” Congrats to Fernando Perdomo for having a vision and seeing it all the way through is such glorious fashion. Definitely pick up this album.
Released on Feb 9th, 2018
Key Tracks: Out to Sea, De Boerderij
“Out To Sea” Track Listing
Side 1
1. The Architect (Tribute To Peter Banks)
2. Out To Sea
3. De Boerderij (tribute to Focus)
4. Roses Spread All Over The World
5. The Future According to Roye (Tribute To Roye Albrighton)
Side 2
6. The Dream
7. Sonja
8. Dreaming in Stereo Suite
“Out To Sea” Credits
All songs written by Fernando Perdomo
All instruments by Fernando Perdomo
Drums on “The Dream” by Eddie Zyne
Produced and Engineered by Fernando Perdomo
by Mark Monforti | Jan 30, 2018 | Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.
This fusion-rock-electro-jazz band showed up a few weeks back and I just gave it a spin for the first and second time.
This is very "jazzy" for my taste but there is enough rock in there so you don't have to be a jazz musician to enjoy listening to it.
This project focuses on creating parallels between colors and musical modes (musical colors) but it is also an excuse to create a personal story.
So while this album is not in my sweet spot of prog I did enjoy it.
You can request it below.
[usrlist "PREVIOUS BAND RATING:0" "ACCESSIBILITY:1.5" "HEAVINESS:2" "MELODIC:3.5" "ARTWORK:3.5" "DRAMA:3" "OVERALL RATING:3"]
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
by Mark Monforti | Jan 29, 2018 | Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.
Organized Chaos is a progressive metal band from Belgrade, Serbia. Their music can be described as a mixture of different melodies, forms and orchestrations which unconventionally combine modern progressive metal with different musical styles like funk,classical music, Latin, hip-hop.
They are a new band to me and for once the released single I think is really great. I did nominate it for best track of 2017 with the song Cinnamon.
This a pretty heavy album at times but never really getting close to being extreme. Lalić’s vocals are memorizing and help accentuate the more melodic parts of the album.
The song writing is very solid and unique. Check out a track or two right here on new.progrock.com/. Just select a link below and request a track.
[usrlist "PREVIOUS BAND RATING:0" "ACCESSIBILITY:3" "HEAVINESS:4" "MELODIC:3" "ARTWORK:3.5" "DRAMA:4" "OVERALL RATING:4"]
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
by Mark Monforti | Jan 28, 2018 | Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.
So this album is the second I have heard by the band and, quite honestly, I can barely remember the first album. This one seems to stick out to me a bit more. I really like the vocals first of all. At times they actually sound a bit like Roger Daltrey.
The opening track should be the "walk on" music for Bernie Sanders. Trump fans feel free to skip this track just based on subject matter. For people that do not like rifling drums that might be another reason to take a pass. It can bother me sometimes but not at all with this album as its not constant by any means.
John Mitchell (Frost*, It Bites, Arena) contributes a guitar solo to the track ‘Dark Path’, and vocalist Miguel Espinoza (Persefone) features on the track ‘Possessive’ and I really like both guest spots a lot.
If you are still with me here I can say that I suggest this album. For fans of Dream Theater and other prog metal.
[usrlist "PREVIOUS BAND RATING:2" "ACCESSIBILITY:3" "HEAVINESS:3" "MELODIC:2" "ARTWORK:4" "DRAMA:3" "OVERALL RATING:3.5"]
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we'll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don't order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
by Mark Monforti | Jan 27, 2018 | Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.
So I had never heard of this band despite them having a 2013 release called Mirrors. I was quite happy listening to this album and thought there were some nice moments on this album. I didn't think it was consistently over average but if I were you I would give it a listen if you like crossover prog. The final track is quite good, why not request it below and hear it for yourself.
[usrlist "PREVIOUS BAND RATING:0" "ACCESSIBILITY:3.5" "HEAVINESS:2" "MELODIC:4" "ARTWORK:4.5" "DRAMA:2.5" "OVERALL RATING:3"]
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
