Another year comes to an end and what a year it has been for progressive rock music brimming with magic, creativity, insight, virtuosity and empathy. To all those who wrestle to make these wondrous creations happen - thank you. The world would be empty and impoverished without you. This is not definitive in any sense at all. As always, my selections are based on the albums … [Read more...]
Alan Reed – Honey on the Razors Edge
Alan Reed’s enthralling second album takes a little while for the uncomfortably menacing significance of its title to make itself felt and understood. Fiercely passionate and enticingly absorbing, the experience it delivers is brutally uncompromising. Much like the iron fist in the velvet glove, the mental image it deliberately conjures evokes a seductively alluring, almost … [Read more...]
Steve Hackett – The Night Siren
The bewitching call of the Sirens is reported to have been irresistible. Mesmerised by the enchanting beauty of their songs, sailors were lured to their inevitable destruction on the rocks surrounding Scylla and Charybdis. Only two people are recorded as having escaped the compelling singing of these beautiful hybrid creatures: Odysseus returning home from the Trojan War who … [Read more...]