More American Prog (updated)....

Will Romano's MOUNTAINS COME OUT OF THE SKY asks if America can export progressive rock, then Xamines only work by the bands Kansas & Styx, perhaps dropping discussion of any other American prog acts due 2 space restrictions.
Well, I have no such space limitations, + I'm going 4 a personal record 4 most blog posts in a month, so here's some quick capsule reviews of some other American prog-rock albums that Romano could've discussed in his book. (A couple of them R included in his list of "Top 300 essential prog-rock listens" at the book's end.)
I'm repeating myself with some of these, but whatthehell. Some of them R at least as good as Kansas's LEFTOVERTURE:
* Group 87: (1st) (1980) -- Gorgeous all-instrumental album headed by guitarist Peter Maunu, trumpeter/keyboardist Mark Isham, bassist Patrick O'Hearn, & drummer Terry Bozzio. Every track's a winner, especially the gorgeous life-affirming closing anthem "One Night Away From Day," thru the hypnotic "The Bedouin," the frankly mechanical "Future of the City" (fades out just as it's getting REALLY good) & "Magnificent Clockworks," 2 the great sleeper "Moving Sidewalks." Every piece flows with layers of sonic gorgeousness, even the stuff that 1st seems like background music. Unfortunately, their later album A CAREER IN DADA PROCESSING isn't even 1/2 this good.
* Happy the Man: CRAFTY HANDS (1978) -- Almost all-instrumental & nearly as gorgeous, & with tons of energy from the Xplosive opening blowout "Service With a Smile" 2 the REALLY mechanical rave-up "Wind-Up Doll Day Wind." Some of the trax R simply beautiful mixes of keyboard, gtr & sax, like "Open Book" & "Morning Sun." The jumpy "Steaming Pipes" & "Ibby it Is" also have sections of pure beauty. The 2nd side tends 2 trail-off, tho. Their (1st) album (1977) is mostly good background music, tho it takes a step up from the gorgeous & moving "On Time as a Helix of Precious Laughs" (track #7 of 10) thru 2 the end.
* Glass Moon: (1st) (1980) -- Sorta a Genesis-soundalike, this Florida band turned Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" in2 the shoulda-bn-hit it was always meant 2 B. & that's not all their good stuff: From the dramatic opener "Blue Windows" thru the silly "Killer at 25" (with some hilarious lines about Paul Simon's folkie-singer-songwriter angst), a cover of former-Stories-member Ian Lloyd's "Follow Me," thru the hit-single wanna-be "I Like the Way You Play," & thru some rather more-avg stuff on Side 2, to Jamie Glaser's thunderstorm-like gtr solo on the closer "Sundays and Mondays," this is a great lost prog-pop album -- better than what Genesis was doing in the same period. Their 2nd album, GROWING IN THE DARK (1982) was supposedly more commercial, & all I ever heard off of it was a kinda-good cover of the old Hollies hit "On a Carousel."
* Providence: EVER SENSE THE DAWN (1972) -- The best Moody-Blues-style album ever, produced by Tony Clarke & released on the Moodies' Threshold label. Crossing Xcellent vocal harmonies with lite keyboards & autoharp(!) & a nimble string trio, this Pacific Northwest sextet scored singalong classics with "Fantasy Fugue," "If We Were Wise" & "Neptune's Door," & trax like "The Stream," "Mountain" & "Island of Light" wouldn't have embarrassed an FM station of the period. & they go all Moodies-cosmic on the closer "Behold: A Solar Sonnet." They were sposta have released a 2nd album, HEAVENLY HARMONIES, but the master tapes were stolen & the group broke-up soon after....
+ Dixie Dregs: DREGS OF THE EARTH (1980) -- Tho I think the Dregs only had about 4 tunes that they kept shuffling-up 2 fill-out their albums, EARTH has no overtly stupid barnyard instrumentals on it, & the good stuff is REALLY good: "Hereafter" may be their best piece ever, "The Great Spectacular" is nearly as great, "I'm Freaking Out" stretches out & spaces-out 4 more than 9 mins, & "Old World" is a refreshing closing acoustic gtr & violin piece. Their earlier WHAT IF? (1977) also hasa few great trax: the lengthy gtr showcase "Night Meets Light," many Dregs fans' fave piece "Take It Off The Top," bassist Andy West's memorable "Travel Tunes," + "Odyssey" & the punchy "Ice Cakes." I'm still not sure about the rest of their albums, tho....
...+ a few I forgot:
* Steve Tibbetts: YR (1980) -- Some of this Minnesota guitarist's later albums veer toward a more New Age/Jazz sound; SAFE JOURNEY barely rises above a low murmur. But this 1 rocks, especially on the gorgeous, stunning opener, the Xplosive, speaker-melting "Ur." Play it LOUD & it just gets better. None of the other trax R quite as great, but they've all got some nice tunes & moods & textures that keep this all-instrumental album intresting. Especially good: "Three Primates," "You and It," "The Alien Lounge," "Ten Years," "One Day," the folky/acoustic "Ten Yr Dance," & the percussion workout "Dance of the Sphexes."
* Grace Slick: DREAMS (1980) -- Well, I thot it was Prog. Not only does Grace SOUND great, but there's LOTsa great flashy gtr from Scott Zito, & Ron Frangipane's production & string arrangements R HUGE. There's only a coupla letdowns along the way, & summa the songs R just great. Melodramatic, sweeping, soundtrack-like, almost over-the-top. & it didn't sell diddly. Best: "Full Moon Man," "Let it Go," "Garden of Man," "Face to the Wind," "El Diablo," "Dreams," "Angel of Night."
+ Synergy: SEQUENCER (1976) -- "Synergy" is Larry Fast, who plays a multitude of electronic keyboards. This 2nd album features a pretty-great 1st side, opening with a really great fast-paced # called "S-Scape," moves thru some rather more leisurely pieces, & closes with a pretty-good cover of Mason Williams's "Classical Gas." Side 2 opens with an Xcellent electronic version of the haunting "Largo" from Dvorak's NEW WORLD SYMPHONY, moves thru a rather good version of the jazz classic "Icarus," then brings on the 11-minute epic "(Sequence) 14," which doesn't quite work 4 me. Fast's earlier ELECTRONIC REALIZATIONS FOR ROCK ORCHESTRA (1975) includes 1 absolute killer, the eerie & moving 13-minute "Warriors." Fast went on 2 release a series of synth albums thru the end of the '70s & in2 the '80s.
& if you feel brave....
+ David Sancious and Tone: TRANSFORMATION (THE SPEED OF LOVE) (1976) -- Sancious was Bruce Springsteen's keyboard-player 4 The Boss's 1st 3 albums, but this sounds NOTHING like Bruce. Closer 2 a jazz-rock-fusion album, but with a coupla strikingly gorgeous tunes, especially on the piano showcase "The Play and Display of the Heart," & on the 18-minute side-long title track, in which Sancious & his band take a brief, gorgeous theme & elaborate it clear in2 outer space. At 1 point a choir of angels heralds the moment when Sancious apparently Sees Ghod ... & then after a series of synth screeches, squiggles & breakdowns, the band returns 2 that gorgeous opening theme. The album's worth it just 4 these 2 trax. There's also some virtually unlistenable Hendrix-like gtr Xplorations on "Sky Church Hymn No. 9" -- perfect 4 emptying your house of unwanted guests....
...& if I ever stumble over any albums by Starcastle, Ethos, Cathedral, Babylon or Fireballet, or if I ever get all the way thru any albums by the early, proggy version of Utopia, I'll review them here....