Monday, February 21, 2011

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....

1 comment:

R S Crabb said...

Never really thought the Dixie Dregs as Prog rock but rather more fusion although I prefer Dregs Of The Earth over What If. Later live albums such as Bring Em Back Alive showcase a sense of humor as Steve Morse adds Kashmir and My Sharona in a medley, and California Screaming he tackles Frank Zappa's Peaches en Regiula with Drezil Zappa guest starring.

For Starcastle, find their 1st album, which is as close to YES as any band from Illinois ever got to. Later albums tended to seek a more pop sound and Reel To Real is when they turned into the US version of Prism. Not bad but not prog rock. ;)