70's English Progressive Rock

Four discs have been added to the play list this week…

Robert Berry – Prime Cuts (2006)
This is a fun CD: Listening to nicely produced re-workings of classic prog rock tunes. A whole bunch of progressive stars adorn this CD; from classic stars like Steve Howe and Simon Phillips to younger proggers like Jordan Rudess. There is a fine balance here between being true to the originals and making the songs his own. If you like covers, you may find this enjoyable.

Esperanto – Esperanto Rock Orchestra (1973)
The first of their three CDs, this is much better than I remembered it from 30 years ago. The sound has not settled at this point, and this has a bit more of the sixties in it. But the beginnings of what should have been a great band are here.

Pink Floyd – The Division Bell (1994)
All of their music over the years has been very enjoyable. I admit that I haven’t spent a lot of time with them after the mid 70’s. It’s not because their music wasn’t good. I suppose it was because they were just so popular and I always felt that there was so much more good progressive music out there. So, I’ll keep adding their music to my stream, as I find it, but I’m not going to try and review it.

Tempest – The Double-Cross (2006)
I love these guys. The is potent traditional based Celtic rock; which means lots of fiddle in the music and stories masquerading as songs. This is a bit of a theme CD, focusing on pirates; specifically Captain Kidd.

# posted by Bruce Greenberg @ 8:51 PM