Neo - Neo (1980 fra prog)

Instrumental, Jazz-rock avec quelques dérives Canterburiennes et effleurements Neo-prog mais surtout une sorte de Space Rock à la Ozric bien que ce goupe n'existe pas encore à cette époque. J'achève la description par des moments Jazz-Fusion du meilleur effet et vous aurez compris que ce disque est une merveille. A la charnière des années 7O-8O, années du Neo et de la quasi-inexistence du rock progressif dans le grand public, cet album fait figure d'OVNI musical en plein boom de la Disco, Funky et New Wave music. Un très grand disque qui est réédité avec bonus... Mais d'où diable sortent-il ces titres bonus ?? Y en a t-il d'autres ? Si oui où sont-ils, pourquoi ne pas en faire un CD ?? 1. Osibirsk (6:53) 2. Scene De Chasse (7:32) 3. Joiwind (3:57) 4. Neoplasme (3:14) 5. Sortie De Bain (10:42) 6. Plage II (2:59) Bonus tracks (CD reissue) : 7. Jazz ‘N’ Roll (7:20) 8. Song 4 Miles (5:20) 
From RYM (BronDune)

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Sammy - Sammy (1974 hard rock, prog)

It's doubtful many folks have ever heard the British band Sammy - I certainly hadn't which was kind of surprising given the band's impressive pedigree. Drummer Mick Underwood was apparently the band's driving force, with the line up rounded out by a collection of rock veterans including ex-Audience horn and woodwinds player Keith Gemmell, ex-Billy J. Kramer keyboardist Mick Hodgekinson, former Ginhouse guitarist Geoff Sharkey, and ex-Roy Young Band bassist Paul Simmons. Signed by Philips, the band debuted with a 1972 45 'Goo Ger Woogie' b/w 'Big Lovin' Woman' (Philips catalog number 6006 227). While the single did little commercially, it attracted enough interest and attention for Philips management to green light an album. Co-produced by Louie Austin and Deep Purple's Jon Lord, 1973's "Sammy" offered up a competent, if slightly worn set of mid-1970s hard rock. Largely penned by Sharkey and Simmons, lyrically and musically there wasn't a lot of originality going on here (kind of like the album cover) - Gemmell's sax adding occasional jazz-influenced runs to the band's blues and rock oriented sound. As lead singer Sharkey wasn't bad; his raw raspy voice sounded surprisingly good on tracks like 'Give Me More', their unlikely cover of 'I Ain't Never Loved a Woman (The Way That I Love You)', and 'Get Into a New Thing'. Imagine uriah Heep-lite with the saxes, a little more boogie and variety ('Who Do You Really Love') and you'll be in the right aural neighborhood. The band was actually far more impressive on their isolated stabs at more-pop oriented material like 'Sioux-Eyed Lady' and 'Jo Anne'. Elsewhere the album spun off a UK single in the form of 'Sioux-Eyed Lady' b/w '70 Days' (Philips catalog number 6006 249). Brainless fun, it's actually not a bad effort, especially if you approach it with the right mindset. One LP and two 45s appears to cover the band's recording legacy. By the way, the British album release featured different cover art. 
From RYM (RDTEN1)
 

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Norrbottens Järn - Drömmarnas Värld (1975 swe prog folk prog)

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Ocarinah - Première vision de l'étrange (fra prog space prog 1978)

Imagine the first two Clearlight albums as strictly a keyboard trio (with occasional guitar), combined with a strong dash of metronomic rigidness similar to the Canterbury movement, in particular the early albums by Egg. Five long tracks of incredible creativity and complexity. 
From RYM (ashratom)

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Public Foot the Roman - Public Foot the Roman (1973 prog jazz prog uk)

I probably shouldn't admit it, but the truth of the matter is I bought this album based entirely on the bizarro band name, the label (Capitol's short-lived Sovereign imprint had some interesting acts on its roster), and the interesting Hipgnosis cover (a bunch of folks standing in the middle of a Chelsea's soccer stadium looking up at what appears to be a UFO). These guys actually had an interesting background. Irish-born singer/guitarist Sean Byrne had been a member the California-based The Count Five who had a classic one-shot single with 'Psychotic Reaction'. When that band fell apart Byrne eventually returned to Ireland where in the early 1970s he ended up as a member of Public Foot the Roman along with lead guitarist Greg Knowles, drummer Jaime Lane, keyboardist Dag Small, and bassist Ward (guess he couldn't afford a last name). Produced by Derek Lawrence who handled a bunch of the Wishbone Ash catalog, 1973's oddly titled "Public Foot the Roman" was kind of an odd hybrid of AOR and progressive moves - occasionally blended together in the same song ('When You Lay It Down'). With Byrne responsible for all eight tracks on the surface that wouldn't sound particularly promising (I can see folks thinking along the lines of a second tier Genesis or Gentle Giant). The fact of the matter is that while there wasn't a great deal of originality here, the band played with considerable energy and with one of two exceptions (the country-tinged 'King for a Day'), this album was a lot of fun to hear. Byrne, Lane, and Small all handled lea vocals, though Byrne seemed to be the most prominent of the three. All of them had decent if slightly anonymous voices that managed to cover the band's entire catalog. For his part Knowles was a truly overlooked guitarist who turned in some first-rate performances on this overlooked set.. That said, the band's secret weapon (well I guess he really wasn't much of a secret) was keyboardist Small who managed to salvage virtually everything he touched. - 'Land Owner' opened the album with a fairly conventional slice of AOR. The highlight came in the form of a nice Byrne and Knowles double lead guitar solo that sounded like it had been borrowed from an early Allman Brothers track. Small kicked in some nice Supertramp-styled keyboards. rating: *** stars - In contrast to the first track, 'When You Lay It Down' found the band diving headlong into progressive rock. Mind you the results were still fairly mainstream with a recognizable and enjoyable melody and some tasty lead guitar and keyboards from Knowles and Small. The album also showcased some very nice harmony vocal work from the band. rating: **** stars - Completely unlike the rest of their catalog 'King for a Day' sounded like a cross between Commander Cody and early UK pub-rockers like Brinsley Schwartz. Once you got over the initial shock, the song kind of grew on you with Knowles turning in a simply blistering Telecaster solo. Very commercial, you could just hear progressive and rock fans scratching their heads trying to figure how someone slipped a pub-rock song on their turntables. rating: *** stars - Probably because it had the highest 'progressive' content and bowed in non-too-subtle aural homage to Yes and other English progressive bands, 'Judas Returns' (along with "Decline and Fall') was one of the two PFTR songs that folks typically acknowledge off the album. If you liked Yes at their most commercial and didn't mind some really dumb lyrics (c'mon, they were from Cambridge, so you couldn't be blamed for expecting something a bit more substantial ("men in shields control our days ..."), then you probably weren't going to have a problem with this one and to be honest, it grew on you after a couple of spins. Unfortunately, just as the Knowles - Small jam was really beginning to kick into gear the song faded out. Shame. rating: **** stars - 'Don't Bite the Hand' started side two off with some more Allman Brothers-styled twin lead guitar opening into a rollicking, fairly straightforward slice of AOR. The guitars saved the song from falling in the also-ran category. rating: *** stars - 'One (On My Mind)' was another atypical performance. With pretty melody and layered harmonies this one sounded a bit like something out of the Crosby, Stills, and Nash catalog (something Crosby might have penned). Small turned in some beautiful keyboards. rating: *** stars - The album's longest and most complex composition, 'Decline and Fall' was another Yes-influenced number that gave Small an opportunity to showcase his impressive array of keyboard talents. Twisting and turning through a series of entertaining segments, the song actually became more focused as it went along and served to showcase some really nice keyboard and guitar interplay by the members. Such jamming normally doesn;t do a great deal for me, but this was one of the exceptions. Very nice. rating: *** stars No, it isn't a lost classic, but it's far better than you would have expected judging by some of the lukewarm reviews. Shame they didn't get a second shot at it. "Public Foot the Roman" track listing: (side 1) 1.) Land Owner (Sean Byrne) - 4:38 2.) When You Lay It Down (Sean Byrne) - 5:40 3.) King for a Day (Sean Byrne) - 3:39 4.) Judas Returns (Sean Byrne) - 6:00 (side 2) 1.) Don't Bite the Hand (Sean Byrne) - 5:05 2.) One (On My Mind) (Sean Byrne) - 4:54 3.) Decline and Fall (Sean Byrne) - 8:31 From RYM (RDten1)

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Out of Darkness - Out of Darkness (1970 uk hard rock prog)

none too consistent, but very good overall, guitar driven bluesy prog hard rock, with Christian lyrics, and mixed with some softer rock. Grades - 1 A-, 3 B+'s, 2 B's, 3 B-'s, 2 C+'s, and a C. 
From RYM (tymeshifter)

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Phylter - Phylter (1979 Bel prog)

PHYLTER is an almost unknown Belgium band born in the late 70’s in the borderline that divides Classical Symphonic from Neo Prog, a school that we’ll be adding soon with the name of Neo Symphonic for those bands previous to the birth of Neo but already having some elements of this 80’s sub-genre.The band was formed by Patrick Philips (Organ, Fender Rhodes Piano, Acoustic Piano, Eko Piano, Strings, Synthesizer, Vocals), Marc Van Bortel (Lead Guitar, Vocals), Paul Van Bortel (Bass Guitar, Vocals) and Christian Zaman in the DrumsFor their first and only self titled release in1978 and upgraded to CD the year 1993 by the French Spalax label they counted with Jean-Marie Aerts playing rhythm Guitar ad guest.Despite the almost absolute lack of information, “Phylter” is easy to find in almost any good online music store and it’s a pleasant surprise, their main influence is the 4 men era GENESIS blended with special skills with CAMEL and PINK FLOYD atmospheres plus a bit of fusion.The album is mainly instrumental and the vocals in very good English are simply delightful but their highest point is Patrick Phillippe, an incredible keyboardist from who there’s also rare info.The album has all the ingredients that would make it desirable for any Prog collection, strong and dramatic changes and beautiful melodies, specially in the closer, the excellent 15 minutes epic “Down and Mood for Change”.Honestly can’t understand why they vanished so soon when their material is absolutely strong, if there’s a chance get their album, it’s worth.

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Morse Code Transmission - II (1972 prog canada)

Hard rock with strong prog flavor. An improvement over their debut. Grades - 3 B+'s, 1 B, and 5 B-'s, quite consistent. 
From RYM (tymeshifter)

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In Spe - In Spe (1983 est prog)

After discovering the wonderful compositions of Erkki-Sven Tuur it came as a surprise for me to learn that he had once led a prog-rock group in the eighties. Some digging around on internet unearthed an MP3 of their impossible-to-obtain first album and it is indeed a treasure trove of finely played (mostly) instrumental prog. Slightly jazzy, a little bit of classical and folk influences and a sound that is somehow entirely its own. I did keep expecting Mike Oldfield to drop in at some moments, there are definite links to his music circa 'Incantations' and 'Ommadawn', another point of reference would be the albums of Pekka Pohjola. Anyway, a worthwhile discovery and I only hope that somebody has the good sense and taste to reissue it sometime. 
 From RYM (reeves)

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Smoke - Everything (1973 jazz/prog)

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San Michael's (70-71 swedish prog)

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Vindication - Vindication (1973 Xstian Prog)

Indiana based Christian progressive rock band. No mistaking its Midwest identity, with those unique bowling-alley-beer-binges-meets-barbershop-quartet harmony vocals. Music is insanely complex for the time and place, and especially for the subject matter. It would seem Ohio's The Load may have heard or known Vindication as well, though they weren't near as complex as their brethren to the West. This one seems to get better with age. 
From RYM (ashratom)

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Decennium

Decennium - Song of the Sad Times (hol 1974 soft prog)

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decennium_-_1975_-_songs_of_the_sad_timeholP2soft_prog

Piska Mig Hårt - Elisabet (1974 prog swe)

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Galaxy - Visions (1978 kraut prog germany)

This is somewhat commercial sounding prog with some garage influences and fairly typical for it's vintage, soft-into-hard style on many of the cuts. Inconsistent quality too; of the 8 tracks, 1 cut gets a B+, 4 get B's, 1 B-, a C+, and a C-. I guess with better than half at or above the dividing line between good and average, this is overall a decent album. This reissue comes with the giant Germ/Eng. booklet that most of the issues on this label have. Hardcore krautrockers may have a tough time with this, but if you have leanings towards late 70's proto-metal, this may be more up your alley. From RYM (tymeshifter)

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Gash - A Young Man's Gash (1972 kraut prog germany)

This album is an unexpected surprise! I can think of few albums that start so horribly and end so incredibly! “Angel and Mother” is SO appalling on every level (soppy music, terrible lyrics, cheese-grater-to-the-eardrum vocals) it nearly made me want to throw the disc out of the window when I first heard it! But I stuck with it through the balance of the A-side (“Twentyone Days” is nearly as bad, but “In The Sea” is slightly better, sounding like one of Jane’s cast-offs) to make it to the “A Young Man’s Gash” suite. People, let me tell you this is one of the most amazing, fascinating and one-of-a-kind half-albums I have ever heard! It almost sounds like a completely different band! A blend of haunting rock & roll, orchestration and dark textures (the crazed screaming in Part 2 makes this a must to play around Halloween time!) that sound like nothing else I’ve heard before or since. Wow! Worth hearing for the mind-blowing title suite, but you might want to give the first three tracks a pass. From RYM (progbear)

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Noir - We Had To Let You Have It (1971 uk prog)

This is a very difficult record to describe. To start with, it’s different than anything else I’ve heard from this period. Overall the record is heavy on the keyboards (organ, piano) and is VERY percussive in nature (no drum solos though). Plenty of good wah-wah and fuzz guitar solos as well. The 9 minute opener is dog slow with an almost gospel tinge to it (the vocals throughout have this spiritual, almost Native American feel). It picks up the pace considerably from there. Has a strong white boy R&B vibe, as if Rare Earth recorded an album for the Dawn label. Also hear slight references to Indian Summer as well. (RYM Ashratom)

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Fantasia - Fantasia (1975 fin prog)

From 1975; a Finnish one-shot obscurity which, as far as I can tell, has never been released on CD. Undoubtedly they didn't have much of a recording budget, but they nonetheless managed to put together a fairly unique set of music. Blend Bardens-era Camel with Nuclear Nightclub-era Wigwam, subtract the virtuoso playing, add an unconventional approach to composition and an appreciation for brevity, and you get the idea. It's not a mind-boggler by any stretch, but it has a certain melancholic charm to it, and it deserves a better fate than to be dismissed out of hand. From RYM (reginod)

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Spontaneous Combustion - Triad 1972(superb hard rock-prog)

 

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Indexi - Modra rijeka (ex yug prog 1978)

Modra Rijeka is album based poetry of Mak Dizdar, one of the greatest Bosnian (and Yugoslav) poets of the of the twentieth century. But poetry is not the only thing on this album, so if you don't understand language don't worry. Except 2 spoken word tracks there are 7 tracks of great music. The mayor problem if you live outside of ex-Yugoslavia is that it is difficult to find it in Music Shop, but you can find in somewhere on internet for sure. Modra Rijeka - Spoken word track. Blago (7/10) Brod (9/10) More (11/10) - In my opinion, and probably many others this is best track on album. Zapis O Zemlji - Spoken word track. Slovo O Covjeku (8/10) Pustinja (7/10) More II (9/10) Modra Rijeka II (8/10) From RYM (itakoto)

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