Doris Brendel & Lee Dunham 'Not Utopia' (Sky Rocket) 4.5/5

One of most interesting releases of 2010 was the album 'The Last Adventure' by Doris Brendel a remarkable album that manged to capture every type of rock genre from prog to punk and wrap it up in one very coherent whole. That album became a listener favourate and ended up being nominated for the Album of the Year award.Now, two years on, Doris is back, this time working with Primary Slave guitarist Lee Dunham (NOT the racing motorcyclist) on this her latest opus.

Not Utopia sounds like The Last Adventures older and more grown up brother - as with the earlier album this one is another glorious mating of styles and genres, but Not Utopia is a far more together and complete work, it dances smoothly from style to style. And what a range of styles we have on offer. Opening cut No Lonely Girl sounds like a female fronted Pendragon on a Hawkwind trip, Going Out is a meaty slice of disco influenced dance rock that hints a little at the Scissor Sisters in feel and bounce. Beyond Words is a strings lead sadly introspective ballad and Too Bad To Be Good is a quirky post rock and roll ditty with a shade of the Jim Steinmans about it.... and so it continues.

However whatever the style the music, the real killer here is Doris' voice. She has the power and range of the true greats and whats more has a real earthy and warm Janice Joplin type edge to it. What is even better; she does none of that annoying cat wailing and flash vocal gymnastics that often passes for 'good singing' these days (just watch any episode of the 'America has the voice factor' to see what I mean), just good old school gusty rock steady old school rock and roll vocalisations. Just check out the post prog excellence of Conflicted to hear one of the vocal performances of the year so far.

It must not also not be over looked that this is not a solo album, a lot of praise must be heaped on Lee Dunham as well, playing everything on here apart from the strings, saxophone and the piano (yup he did the drums as well) and producing the whole kit and caboodle he has forged a series of emotive and sonically stunning soundscapes  that not only bring the best of Doris distinctive voice and song writing talent, but also marks himself out as an arranger, producer and musician of real note.

Highlights? Well I'm getting to like this album lots, but if I had to pick just one track to take to a desert island it would be the closer Your So Not a sweet folky influenced prog track in the Jethro Tull / early Genesis vein with some fantastically dark and cutting lyrics. (and the hidden bonus track is pretty sweet as well of you can find it)

All in all this is a damn fine album from a couple of great British musicians, who deserve to be far better known.

Well worth a spot purchase

For fans of... Joni Mitchell, The Subways,  Janice Joplin, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac, ...and many more.

OSI - 'Fire Make Thunder' (metalblade) 4.5/5

Fates Warning / Arch Matheos guitarist Jim Matheos must be a contender for the hardest working man in rock award. Just six months or so after the release of the most recent Arch - Matheos album, he's back, working once more with Chroma Key (and ex Dream Theater) keys man Kevin Moore and Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison to bring us this the fourth album from OSI.


Now I'll admit I'm rapidly becoming a bit of a fan of Mr Matheos, and with this release he has cooked up another winner. From the dark and almost paranoic opening of Cold Call, which builds and builds for almost two minutes before the first killer guitar riff cuts in; to the desolate and bleak closing chords of Invisible Men; this whole album is a sonic ride through a glorious texture of sounds, styles and musical excellence. You get gloriously powerful metal riffing, some infectious pseudo electronic beats and rhythms and some truly inspirational prog rock moments, yet its all blended together into a superb whole that keeps the listener hooked from beginning to end.


Highlights include the almost Pink Floyd like Indian Curse, the Porcupine Tree influenced Wind Wont Howl and For Nothing, a track that has a certain blues feel about it.


In short Mr Matheos and Mr Moore have served up a fantastic album here, and with the once great Dream Theater falling apart at the seams and vanishing up their own backsides, it is one that may well catapult OSI into the top slot of US prog.


Very highly recommended


For fans of... Dream Theatre, Porcupine Tree, Panic Office, Opeth etc.....

Delusion Squared - 'Delusion Squared II' (self released) 4.5/5

One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of 2010 was the debut album from French prog outfit Delusion Squared, a dark yet alluring concept work about corporate control, genetic engineering and revolution. Now two years on we have this nugget of a follow up.

Once again we have a concept work, this time dealing with a dark and complex tale about the end of the world, and once again it is a tale well told through first rate musicianship and song writing.

Vocalist Lorraine Young has a sweet, almost innocent sounding voice, coming over a tad like the great Errin Williams - all restrained and with an almost childlike charm. Yet it works so well, when the other two (who I'll get to in a moment) a playing the soft folky type stuff it blends perfectly, then when the guys start to lean on it and rock it up a bit the juxtaposition is spine tingling. Just check out the middle section on Recipe For Disaster to see exactly what I mean.

As for the other two members of this project, Steve Francis and Emmanuel de Saint Meen - here are two performers of the highest level. Not only are they first rate musicians, but they have read the prog rock 101 instruction manual - Mark Kelly style keyboard widdles, Andy Latimer style guitar solos, interesting time signatures and key changes... and know how to apply them and keep just the right side of cliche - and they have also learned the biggest lesson of all. In music rules are made to be broken. And that is what makes Delusion Squared stand out head and shoulders above so many other of the generic proggy wannabes out there.

Highlights? well this is a smooth and seamless concept work, so picking out any individual track would be wrong, but my favourate moment has to be the shiver inducing Vertical Paradox.

In short this is another great album, but a truly great band.

Highly Recommended

For fans of... Mostly Autumn, Porcupine Tree, Pendragon, Camel, Darwins Radio....

Demon Dudes Revenge - 'An Adolescent Fantasy Vol.1' (self released) 4.5/5

For most of the 1980's keyboard wizard Steve Watts was a key member of Demon, one of the NWOBHMs most eclectic and influential bands.Playing on and later writing the music for classic albums such as The Plague, British Standard Approved, Breakout and Taking The World By Storm he helped pave the way for and create a whole new sub genre of music, progressive metal. Steve left Demon in 1991 and since then has been below the radar. But now he's resurfaced with a whole new project, Demon Dudes Revenge - a project involving something like 20 other musicians, and has just issues this new album.

Now anyone who has heard any of Steve's work with the mighty Demon will know not only is he a mercurial talent but also has a great ear for forging some wonderful soundscapes and wrapping them up in a blanket of first rate rock and roll attitude. This album shows those attributes off to the max. You get some great out and out rockers like the glorious instrumental prog metal workout of The Slicer, the disturbingly driving Tea Cosy Mong and the punk fueled It's Message Is... (Brimstone And Treacle); and by contrast there are some wonderful spaced out and trippy moments such as the sample powered Air Conditioned Ego (a track that hints at the wonderful Hemispheres from the classic Demon album British Standard Approved) and the superb acid soundscape of Damaged, a track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Quarkspace album.

However a word of warning for anyone picking this one up expecting something like those classic Demon albums, while indeed the ghost of Demon does haunt the tracks on offer (and the albums cover for that matter - Demon fans will spot it), this album is far more diverse and far far darker than anything Demon ever recorded. There are no Dave Hill style upbeat vocals to lighten the mood and get you chanting the chorus. Instead this album is dark, in your face and and takes the progressive rock element into places Demon just didn't get to (well maybe just a bit on British Standard Approved - but they didn't take it this far).

But that's not to to say this album isn't one incredible piece of music, that works on so many levels. My personal highlight has to be the three part Glorious Pretension of Being, an epic piece of music that sends a real shiver down my spine every time I play it.

Inshort, Mr Watts has with this project cooked up a rather remarkable album that reminds us all what a talent he is. Volume 2 of An Adolescent Fantasy is due out late 2012 - I for one can't wait.

Very Highly Recommended

For fans of... Demon, Quarkspace, Eloy, Wim Oudjik, Pink Floyd, Hawkwind....

Wim Oudijk - 'Tree' (folkwit / disco fair) 5/5

Now I first discovered Dutch musician, composer and producer Wim Oudijk via his work with Florida based Canterbury Sound legend Todd Dillingham (their most recent collaboration is Todds excellent 'Songcycle 2011' release) and now for the first time I am experiencing the genius of Mr Oudijk's solo work.

Tree is in effect a 46 minute long concept piece in ten parts telling the story of a pine tree from its birth from a cone, to its maturity, its felling and a number of possible afterlives as the wooden horse of Troy, boats, furniture, Christmas trees and firewood. And all I can say is 'wow'. I've been sitting here all day listening to this one over and over trying to work out exactly what to say about it, apart from the old 'fuck me this is fantastic'.

This album runs the full range of musical styles from neo-classical sections, acapella vocals, folk influenced moments, snatches of progressive rock and lots and lots of well tripped out psychedelia. It's all blended together with Wim's distinctive and flawless production style, immaculately played and superbly realised into a spine tingling whole that easily ranks alongside the lost Beach Boys classic Smile as one of the truly great psyche concept works of all time.

This is indeed a work of true genius, a masterwork of the highest order and one that all lovers of really great music should have in their collection.

A masterpiece.

For fans of... Todd Dillingham, The Beach Boys, The Pillbugs, Electric Crayon Set, Caravan etc...

Beggars And Thieves - 'We Are The Brokenhearted' (frontiers) 4.5/5

New York rockers Beggars and Thieves have been around for a while now, although they haven't always had the best sense of timing, they arrived on the world stage just at the time when the world and his wife were going grunge crazy and attempted a come back at the height of the Nu Metal revolution. The result was their distinctive brand of prog influenced melodic hard rock just was never right for the time and they seamed destined to remain firmly in the also ran camp. However Louie Merlino and his crew are a persistent bunch, and at times persistence can pay off. So when they issued a low profile ep to great acclaim last year it looked like this time the world may take a bit more notice of the band, so as a result we have 'We Are The Brokenhearted' their fourth full length studio offering, and the first full album in 12 years.

Now I've been living with this one for a few weeks now and I've been meaning to review it for a while; but you know how things go, you sit down to start typing, the phone rings or something else crops up that demands immediate attention and you put it off for another few days... but when this has happened I've tended to leave the album playing in the background, and I've grown really fond of it as a result.

The over all sound is a very ear friendly blend of old school melodic hardrock that sounds not unlike Warrant meets Magnum; poppy prog in the It Bites, Asia style and even a slice or two of early U2 / Simple Minds / Energy Orchard type of celtic influenced stadium rock. all in all a nice and diverse blend of influences and styles that sit together nicely and make for a damn good listen.

There are some damn fine personal musical performances on show here, Mr Merlino has a great voice, it's natural sounding, mid ranged and very distinctive. There's none of that cliched power wailing or screamed high notes that singers in this genre are often suckered into - here's a guy who knows his own voice and uses it to maximum effect. The guitars of Ron Mancuso are a real joy to listen to, there no over the top hysteronics, just some very nice playing that ranges from some soulful and beautifully under played acoustic lines to some tasteful melodic lead lines that Floyds Dave Gilmore would be proud of. Add in the rhythm section of former Left for Dead Stickman Bobby Borg and bassist Phil Soussan returning from his various outings with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol and Dio and you have a well tasty line up capable of peddling some first rate, intelligent rock music.

Picking individual highlights from this one is tough, the whole album is damn good, but I have a big soft spot for Midnight Blue, a great hardrock number which resolves into a very tasteful piano lament at the end. Then there's the title track that sounds a bit like Simple Minds jamming with Bruce Springstein, turns into an air punching anthem to die for and ends up going sort of left field jazz at the end; and then there's Oil & Water a prog rock influenced little number that wouldn't sound out of place on a classic Pendragon album - complete with a Nick Barret style solo. Or how about Seven Seconds with its sleaze rock riffage and Paul Toner (Energy Orchard) style guitar bridge section....

...I could go on, but don't wanna give you a full track by track breakdown (it annoys me when reviewers do that - I like to give a few pointers and let the listener explore the record for themselves), but I will say I don't think there's a single weak moment on show here, this is a great record and if there's any justice in the world it will be the record that after all these years will show the world what a great band Beggars and Thieves are.


Well worth checking out.

For fans of... Simple Minds, Warrant, Boston, Pendragon, Queen...etc

Yes - 'In The Present - Live In Lyon' (frontiers records) 5/5

Classic Prog Rockers Yes have been staging a bit of a revival recently, with a new vocalist on board in the shape of Mystery front man Benoit David, the return of Drama era keys-man Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn back at the production hem, they have already hit us this year with the remarkable and fresh sounding Fly From Here studio opus, and now we have this live set to fan flames of revival.

Ok before you mail in saying as such I will say that the line up here differs a tad from the Fly From Here album in as much as the keys here are played by Oliver Wakeman, (son of Rick) and I will point out that performances on this album date from late 2009, before work on the Fly From Here album started.

Gotta say that from the off I'm liking this lots. First up I'm loving the set on offer; we get stuff from Time And A Word (Astral Traveler), The Yes Album (I've Seen All Good People & Starship Trooper), Fragile (Roundabout & Southside Of the Sky), Close To The Edge (And You And I & Siberian Khatru)... etc, even 90125 is represented by Owner Of A Lonely Heart (natch), but there are some suprises on offer as well in form of Onward from the much maligned Tormato and a brace of cuts (Machine Messiah & Tempus Fugit) from my fave Yes album - Drama.

Benoit Davids vocals are superb, he takes all that Anderson era Aled Jones stuff in his stride, and breathes new life into these old classics. As for the rest of the band - well when your talking about the likes of Steve Howe, one of the three Steve H's (along with Hackett and Hillage), on the guitar, Chris Squire on bass and Alan White on the kit you know your in for a as near as flawless performance as can be expected. Add in Oliver Wakeman who besides being a chip off the old block has previously cut his teeth working along side the likes of Clive Nolan from Arena and played along side the likes of Magnums Bob Catley, and you have a great line up, capable of playing classic tracks with a vibe and energy that makes them sound like brand new material.

This is indeed a band reborn, and coming on the heals of the excellent Fly From Here we can be left in mo doubt Yes are back, they mean business and they are here to stay.

(And finally my take on the whole Anderson vs David debate. Personally I have found the last few albums from the Jon Anderson fronted Yes had been lacking in both life and direction, almost like Yes had become the Jon Anderson band. To be honest I had never really been that much of a Jon Anderson fan anyway, all those 'own backside inspecting' lyrics and that castrati style everything in the top register vocals often did as much to turn me off Yes as Mr's Howe, Wakeman and Squire etc did to attract me. But Mr Davids vocals are to me a real treat, ok he's got the Jon Anderson register, but his voice is more human, it has the hint of Geddy Lee about it and none of the shriek Mr Anderson used to produce when he leant on it, and to all the detractors who are claiming all this 'no Yes without Jon Anderson' crap, all I can say is wash yer ears out, get over yourselves and move on. Jon was good Benoit is better, End of.)

Superb, buy it and love it forever!!

For fans of... King Crimson, Mystery, Opeth, Pallas....

Cypher 16 - 'The Metaphorical Apocalypse' (self released) 4/5

London outfit Cypher 16 are an outfit that has been making a bit of name for themselves of late having toured places as diverse as the states and India as well as playing shows opening for the likes of Lacuna Coil and Mudvayne. To date they have put out a string of eps of which this is the latest.

 Now imagine if you can a mad mix of Tangerine Dream and Megadeth, and you'll get where these guys are coming from. You get walls of brain smashing metal of the first degree - all razor riffs, blast beats and relentless bludgeon, all over laid with a glorious almost ambient keyboard wash. Tracks like The Metaphorical Apocalypse, I Am Scientist and Lonely Road and all killers that stand up to repeated listening and I'm impressed with the quality of Jack Doolan's vocals. He's got the power, the control and the melody without having to resort to the cliched pig grunt or screaming.

If I have a compliant about this ep, then its a small one, a lot of the songs are very vocal heavy, and whilst Mr Doolan is a great singer with something to say, I get the feeling that on most of the tracks the rest of the band seam to be crowded out and don't get chance to shine. It's only on the track Stone that they really come into their own, and its a shame for all of them really do have something to show, especially guitarist Stuart Deards. A guy I would have loved to have heard more lead work from.

That gripe aside I really do like this five tracker and I would recommend it to everyone who likes their metal intense and intelligent.

For fans of... Awake, Spires, Fates Warning, Megadeth etc...

Get this ep FREE from here - http://www.mediafire.com/?txkmgol8jd89ilt

Steve Hackett - 'Beyond The Shrouded Horizon' (Inside Out / EMI) 4.5/5

I find Steve Hackett albums are a bit of a glorious lucky dip, you never know what your gonna get until you give them a first spin, will it be the traditional prog Steve? Steve the blueser? classical Steve? World music Steve? or a combination of some some or all the above...

Now this is the 22nd solo studio release from the former Genesis six stringer and all around guitar legend, and I'm glad to say it falls into the all of the above category. It's not that Steve is any less a blues player or classical player than he is in any other style, it's that Mr Hackett is such a diverse and inventive player that you really do want to hear him cover all bases.

So whats the new album like? Well if your familiar with his solo work you will know what to expect. If not, well then your in for a treat. This album is a cracking listen from the atmospheric and uplifting opener of Loch Lomand (NOT the cheesy Scottish folk tune) to the twelve minute closing epic of Turn This Island Earth with its 300 track orchestration - there is not a weak moment on show. And you get all sides of Steve to marvel at as well. The old school proggers will love the prog Steve on tracks like The Phoenix Flown and A Place Called Freedom; fans of classical 'Bay Of Kings' style Steve will dig tracks like Wanderlust and Summers Breath; whilst fans of Steve the blueser are in for a real treat on Catwalk when his joined by Yes bassman Chris Squire and ex AC/DC and Judas Priest drummer Simon Phillips for one of the dirtiest low down slow blues sleaze outs you'll hear in a long time.

I could go on for hours praising the pants of this album, but I have a stack of other albums to process and review - but take it from me Mr Hackett is a man who never fails to deliver goods, be it as a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter or producer and Beyond The Shrouded Horizon is another winner that should in everyone's record collection.

For fans of .. great guitar work and great music in general.