Rare Bird sure wasted no time in getting some music recorded. They formed in October 1969 and already had an album out within two months of their formation! How many other bands can make that claim? Apparently Tony Stratton-Smith (head of the then-newly established Charisma Records) was so impressed by the band’s demo tape that […] Continue reading →

It’s so interesting to note that Latin American has had their share of prog rock bands. In Mexico you have Iconoclasta, Delirium (not to be confused with the ’70s Italian prog band), Nobilis Factum, Códice, and one of the more popular bands, Cast. In Brazil you have latter-day Os Mutantes (post-Rita Lee), O Terço, Sagrado […] Continue reading →

Phantasmagoria is the third album by this wonderful, and often underrated British prog rock band. This was also the final album with the original lineup of vocalist Sonja Kristina, keyboardist Francis Monkman, violinist Darryl Way, and drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa. The band at this point was on to their third bassist, in this case Mike Wedgwood […] Continue reading →

Canada is not the first country people look at for prog rock. Many people associate the country with groups like Rush, FM and Saga. Many of these groups don’t always endear to all the proggers out there, mainly because of elements like New Wave, AOR, or (in the case of Rush) hard rock and heavy […] Continue reading →

Buy This CD! I know, I know, the name Chicago might get many of you running like hell. Cheesy hit ballads like “You’re the Inspiration” is enough to make me run as well. But that was another era: the 1980s. Genesis was also making cheesy hit ballads by then (that were pretty indistinguishible from the […] Continue reading →

There are just too many great bands that slipped right through the cracks. Case in point, this Greek band called Tidal Flood. This band got their exposure during the old days of MP3.com (which beared little relation to its current incarnation, which now seems more like a clone of All Music Guide). Ozric Tentacles is […] Continue reading →

Buy This CD! Anthem of the Sun was of course, the Dead’s second album, and the first to bring in Mickey Hart and Tom Constanten (although Constanten’s appearance on this album was unofficial, although that would quickly change). Tom Constanten was brought in for the most complex keyboard duties, since Ron “Pigpen” McKernan tended to […] Continue reading →

I reviewed one of Alan Stivell’s other albums, Renaissance of the Celtic Harp on this website, because that album was truly far better than the usual Celtic harp albums you come across (I have also a CD from a well-known Irish folk group, The Chieftains called The Celtic Harp from 1993 that included the Belfast […] Continue reading →

This out of the way, I was born in the 1970s, so I was obviously way too young to have participated in the 1970s, so I’ll tell you how I came about becoming aware of Pavlov’s Dog. Back in 1994, when I was 21, I ran into someone into music and he mentioned me this […] Continue reading →

Starcastle is a band you’re either going to like, or you’re going to hate. Those who hate the band call them nothing more than Yes clones. Those who enjoy the band still call them Yes clones, but they’re flattered enough to still enjoy their music. This self-entitled album is the first of four albums this […] Continue reading →