Tag: prog

660. Spirit

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(July 2025) Episode 660 is SPIRIT. They’re known for three things: (1) the minor classic rock hit “I Got a Line on You,” (2) the object of the copyright suit claiming Jimmy Page nicked a guitar line for “Stairway to Heaven” (unsuccessful, correctly IMO), and (3) giving us Jay Ferguson, of the yacht rock classic “Thunder Island” and composer of the theme song from The Office (US). Otherwise, their three late-60s albums will be of interest only to deep divers of that period (like me). They are an eclectic mix of rock, psychedelic, prog and jazz, fittingly drawing from the LA scene at the time. For an unknown reason, though, someone kept giving them recording contracts afterwards and through the 1990s.

Favorite album: The Family That Plays Together

Favorite song: I Got A Line On You

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: The first three albums may be of interest to aficionados of late 60s California rock. But others can skip.

647. Captain Beyond

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Episode 647 is CAPTAIN BEYOND, a B-list supergroup from the mid-70s (with former Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly and Johnny Winter members). It’s a weird mix of heavy, prog rock, space and yacht rock, and thus a lesser-known archetype of the period. Their first of three albums has the heaviest sound, and thus the best.

Favorite album: Captain Beyond

Favorite song Mesmerization Eclipse

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Probably only relevant for 1970s rock completists

560. The Nice

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(April 2024) Episode 560 is THE NICE. There are some bands only worth knowing as the launching pad for a famous artist. The Nice is one of those. This is where Keith Emerson got his start performing wizardry and violence on his Hammond organ before doing the same with Lake and Palmer. Mixing rock, classical and jazz themes, the Nice helped introduced prog rock, so there is some historical interest. Apparently they got a cult following as a wild live act, although the appeal doesn’t transfer to the recordings, which suffer from weak vocals. Fun fact: Emerson’s trick of sticking a knife between keys to sustain the notes came from roadie Lemmy (yes, him) who gave him a Hitler Youth knife for that purpose. Also, they started out as the backing band for P.P. Arnold, a former back-up singer for Ike and Tina Turner who moved to London for a solo career.

Favourite album: Nice

Favourite song: Rondo

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: For prog rock enthusiasts only.

527. Blue Öyster Cult

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(October 2023) Episode 527 is BLUE ÖYSTER CULT. I was not into BÖC back in the day other than hearing their songs on FM radio. About a dozen years ago I tried out a couple albums but couldn’t understand their raison d’être and set them aside. But after seeing Blue Öyster Cult listed as an influence for several hard rock and heavy metal groups I’ve covered, I reviewed them for this project. I still don’t get it. Their music doesn’t easily fit in any category but also never develops its own identity. I suppose lacking an identity can be its own identity. I gave them my best shot but as a result I was bored.

Favorite album: Secret Treaties

Favorite song: Godzilla

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Pass, but I’m open to arguments from fans in case I’m missing something.

510. Deep Purple

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(July 2023) Episode 510 is DEEP PURPLE. I had never intended to review this band, figuring the over-saturated classic rock radio hits were enough. But since several rock/metal bands I like cite them as an influence, I thought I’d give it a go. This review give me an added layer of appreciation of their classic sound (the “Smoke on the Water” era) but I do not put them on par with the others (Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath) included in the ‘unholy trinity.’ I did find some interest in their first three albums, late-60s psychedelic and proto-prog affairs, including the syncopated groove they developed on “Hush” and other songs.  One thing that distinguished Deep Purple is the prominent use of the organ, deployed by Jon Lord as a second heavy guitar.  After Ian Gillan left in the mid-1970s (he would return, leave and return again) the band fell into pedestrian boogie rock and hard rock, recording 15 albums (up to the present decade) about which I found nothing remarkable.

Favourite album: Machine Head

Favourite song: Hush

Favourite song sung by Ian Gillan: Highway Star

Favourite instrumental: Playground

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: I can’t quite recommend a greatest hits album, so just turn on classic rock radio and wait for the hits to come on.  I do point out the three 60s albums to connoisseurs of that era’s psychedelia and proto-prog.

486. Flower Travellin’ Band

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(April 2023) Episode 486 is FLOWER TRAVELLIN’ BAND, an excellent Japanese psychedelic group from the late 60s/early 70s. They started out as a female-fronted band doing covers of UK and US rock songs (something my parents told me they heard a lot of when they visited Tokyo in the 60s) including, ambitiously, 21st Century Schizoid Man, but were mostly notable for two album covers in which all band members were naked.  They followed with three great psychedelic albums with tinges of prog and proto-metal.  It’s like a mix of Cream, King Crimson, Iron Butterfly and Rush’s first album, but FTB owned their own sound, which influenced others.

Favorite album: Satori

Favorite song: Satori II

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: highly recommend Satori, Made in Japan, and Make Up

474. La Colonie de Vacances

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Episode 474 is LA COLONIE DE VACANCES, a collective of four French bands PNEU, MARVIN, ELECTRIC ELECTRIC and PAPIER TIGRE. I didn’t know what to label this music until I came upon the term “math rock,” essentially the intersection of prog rock and indie rock, featuring irregular rhythms, guitars that eschew chords, hyperactive drumming and avoidance of melody. King Crimson would be the godfather of math rock. Among the groups, Pneu is a raw power trio, Papier Tigre features vocals, Electric Electric is techno-focused and Marvin is aggressive and techno-rhythmic. When they get together live as La Colonie de Vacancies the four bands arrange themselves in a quad and play at each other in controlled chaos. Sounds cool.

Favorite album: ECHT (by La Colonie de Vacances)

Favorite band album: Marvin (by Marvin)

Favorite song: L’amour universel (by La Colonie de Vacances)

Favorite song by a band: Roquedur (by Marvin)

Favorite song by another band: Catadioptre amidextre (by Pneu)

Ranking of bands: 1. Marvin, 2. Pneu, 3. Electric Electric, 4. Papier Tigre

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Try ECHT, which fuses the bands’ sounds together

432. Budgie

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(August 2022) Episode 432 is BUDGIE. An early hard rock/heavy metal band from Wales. The clear influence is Black Sabbath, but some have made comparisons to early Rush, both as a power trio and for Burke Shelley’s high register vocals. Tony Bourge’s guitar provides fine hooks and crunch, combining for a great groove with Shelley’s bass and Ray Phillips’ drums. While not well known in the U.S., they proved influential to Metallica, Van Halen and others, not to mention all the NWOBHM bands and boogie rockers.

Favourite album: Budgie

Favourite song: Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: any fan of heavy metal (or Sabbath in particular) should have Budgie’s first three albums

409. Procol Harem

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(May 2022) Episode 409 is PROCOL HAREM. You know them from their first single “A Whiter Shade of Pale” but they were more than a one-hit wonder. The first three albums, with Robin Trower’s fuzzy guitar and Matthew Fisher’s reverberating organ, are a peak late-60s mix of quasi-psychedelia and baroque rock. They are also considered one of the first prog-rock bands. Vocalist and pianist Gary Brooker, with a voice that is the love child of Steve Winwood and Pete Townsend, is the constant from the beginning though a long run of avoidable albums.

Favourite album: Procol Harem

Favourite song: She Wandered Through the Garden Fence

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: relevant for a deeper dive into late 60s British rock, as well as those interested in the roots of prog rock

283. The Soft Machine

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(September 2020) Episode 283 is THE SOFT MACHINE.  Not well known, but quite influential as one of the first prog -rock and jazz-rock bands.  This UK outfit started out as a 60s psychedelic band, and their debut album is my favorite. “Third” is one of the definitive prog albums, but they didn’t linger long in that genre, moving on to jazz fusion. There are many spinoffs, but I only did the albums under The Soft Machine name.

Favourite album: The Soft Machine

Best album/magnum opus: Third

Favourite song: Why Are We Sleeping?

Compared to expectations: ↓