The Forgotten Heroes of Neo-Prog Thread

[GaetanL]

Gaetan -- I did stream the new Anubis and once again I did not care for what I was hearing ...... I cannot tell you what it is about this band that never caught my ear, but whatever it is, it's still there .......it does sound like something I should like, but I can't put my finger on why I don't ....... I will stream it one more time with headphones, and try to get to the root of it -- but it hasn't in all of these years, I don't think the light will go on for me with this band ......

I ordered the new one from The Laser's Edge but I have not received the CD yet. I'm taking a chance. Maybe after hearing the new one I will still only really like the 2nd album "A Tower Of Silence". The first track from this album is my favorite: "The Passing Bell (Part I- VI)" (17 min):
https://anubismusic.bandcamp.com/track/ ... -part-i-vi

Larry, have you tried this album or at least this first track?

[GaetanL]

Released in 1992.

I like it.

I don't think it has been mentioned before on this board so it is certainly forgotten, although the band members are not forgotten... Anyway this thread has become anything about neo-prog, this is not a problem, what matters is having a discussion. The singer is Geoff Mann who sings on Twelfth Night - "Fact And Fiction" (1982). Clive Nolan (Arena, ...) on keyboards, Karl Groom (Threshold) on guitar.

The album has an experimental feel like "Fact And Fiction".

[LarryD]

Gaetan -- I did stream the new Anubis and once again I did not care for what I was hearing ...... I cannot tell you what it is about this band that never caught my ear, but whatever it is, it's still there .......it does sound like something I should like, but I can't put my finger on why I don't ....... I will stream it one more time with headphones, and try to get to the root of it -- but it hasn't in all of these years, I don't think the light will go on for me with this band ......

I ordered the new one from The Laser's Edge but I have not received the CD yet. I'm taking a chance. Maybe after hearing the new one I will still only really like the 2nd album "A Tower Of Silence". The first track from this album is my favorite: "The Passing Bell (Part I- VI)" (17 min):
https://anubismusic.bandcamp.com/track/ ... -part-i-vi

Larry, have you tried this album or at least this first track?

***I did Gaetan - with headphones ..... it just doesn't click with me ...... some bands just don't connect, and this is one of them for me ........

[GaetanL]

Aragon - for sure. I think you searched this band out, but I never heard your response to "Don't Bring the Rain". This band was probably one of the hardest of all to find their discs, Ken hunted all of them down for me, and they are dear to my collection.

I finally listened to this band... I started with "Don't Bring the Rain" CD and I like it! This has been released in 1988, this is a special year for me, I had no choice to check them and I'm glad I did. Only "Mouse" is missing now to my collection. I ordered the 2 CD edition of "Mouse"... Thanks!

[GaetanL]

Released in 1992.

I like it.

I don't think it has been mentioned before on this board so it is certainly forgotten, although the band members are not forgotten... Anyway this thread has become anything about neo-prog, this is not a problem, what matters is having a discussion. The singer is Geoff Mann who sings on Twelfth Night - "Fact And Fiction" (1982). Clive Nolan (Arena, ...) on keyboards, Karl Groom (Threshold) on guitar.

The album has an experimental feel like "Fact And Fiction".

In fact, I now can say this is excellent!

[LarryD]

I don't think it has been mentioned before on this board so it is certainly forgotten, although the band members are not forgotten... Anyway this thread has become anything about neo-prog, this is not a problem, what matters is having a discussion. The singer is Geoff Mann who sings on Twelfth Night - "Fact And Fiction" (1982). Clive Nolan (Arena, ...) on keyboards, Karl Groom (Threshold) on guitar.

The album has an experimental feel like "Fact And Fiction".

In fact, I now can say this is excellent![/quote]

****It is indeed a great disc .... as is most of the Nolan / Groom combo discs ........I didn't mention this one because I figured it would be just about impossible to find......

Have you heard Clive Nolan's "Jabberwocky" and "Hound of the Baskervilles" ?? Two more great Nolan side projects ........

[GaetanL]

Have you heard Clive Nolan's "Jabberwocky" and "Hound of the Baskervilles" ?? Two more great Nolan side projects ........

No, and what about Tracy Hitchings "From Ignorance to Ecstasy". I haven't heard it either...

[LarryD]

Have you heard Clive Nolan's "Jabberwocky" and "Hound of the Baskervilles" ?? Two more great Nolan side projects ........

No, and what about Tracy Hitchings "From Ignorance to Ecstasy". I haven't heard it either...

***I think what you're going to find with any Tracy Hitchings solo release is going to be more "pop" oriented than anything close to Neo-Prog .......

Definitely check out the two side projects I listed above ...... more rock oriented type prog, but still excellent .........Hound of the Baskerville is more instrumental than vocals, but still great ......

[GaetanL]

Definitely check out the two side projects I listed above ...... more rock oriented type prog, but still excellent .........Hound of the Baskerville is more instrumental than vocals, but still great ......

Thanks, I see now both releases on the Clive Nolan Website under Releases - Prog Rock - Clive Nolan & Oliver Wakeman

[LarryD]

NP:Landmarq / Infinity Parade .....

I'm on a Damian Wilson kick lately, and I'm loving this .......

[GaetanL]

NP:Landmarq / Infinity Parade .....

I'm on a Damian Wilson kick lately, and I'm loving this .......

To me, the first album "Solitary Witness" is at least as good as "Infinity Parade".

[LarryD]

NP:Landmarq / Infinity Parade .....

I'm on a Damian Wilson kick lately, and I'm loving this .......

To me, the first album "Solitary Witness" is at least as good as "Infinity Parade".

***I'm doing them all ..... no fear.

[LarryD]

NP:Landmarq / Infinity Parade .....

I'm on a Damian Wilson kick lately, and I'm loving this .......

To me, the first album "Solitary Witness" is at least as good as "Infinity Parade".

***After a listen, it may be even better than Infinity Parade....... excellent disc.

[GaetanL]

To me, the first album "Solitary Witness" is at least as good as "Infinity Parade".

***After a listen, it may be even better than Infinity Parade....... excellent disc.

For the 3 Landmarq albums with Damian on vocals, my preference is in the same order as the release date.

[GaetanL]

This time I really tried Everon and I do like this band! I would say that my favorites albums are "Fantasma" and "Bridge". This is very close to prog metal. Like Claus said, great production!

[introclaus]

This time I really tried Everon and I do like this band! I would say that my favorites albums are "Fantasma" and "Bridge". This is very close to prog metal. Like Claus said, great production!

Glad you like it - something really unique about them. I saw them live once at ppeurope and it was amazing. Got to spend some time with them afterwards and Oliver (who I’ve been a huge fan of for years at that point in time) was seriously one of the nicest guys ever and had no clue how much some of us appreciate his music.

[LarryD]

This time I really tried Everon and I do like this band! I would say that my favorites albums are "Fantasma" and "Bridge". This is very close to prog metal. Like Claus said, great production!

***Gaetan - go back and check out *North* when you can ....... usually when I'm in the mood for Everon, this is the disc I go to most of the time. Based on your post, I'm going to go back to Fantasma and Bridge.......

[GaetanL]

***Gaetan - go back and check out *North* when you can ....... usually when I'm in the mood for Everon, this is the disc I go to most of the time. Based on your post, I'm going to go back to Fantasma and Bridge.......

I did and just added Everon to my website. I like "North", it is very good to me. But after revisiting again them all, "Fantasma" and "Bridge" are still my favorites. "Fantasma" is the first CD I bought. I was impressed by the production. While playing the first track, the band that came to mind is the german prog metal band Soul Cages.

[introclaus]

CLIVE NOLAN & OLIVER WAKEMAN - JABBERWOCKY
1999

We've talked about this before, but it deserves it's own post on here - this album is by far one of the most well-thought-out neo-prog albums ever, written as a "rock opera", featuring multiple vocalists and musicians. Obviously with both Nolan and Wakeman, it's a lot of keyboards, but also some incredible guitar playing (Ian Salmon, Peter Banks, Jon Jeary). Tracy Hitchings from Landmarq does a great job here in her role as "the girl", but the real star is Bob Catley (Magnum) as "the boy" - he is just incredible!!! I remember the first time I sat down with the CD and I was blown away, and I still get all warm inside listening to it. Such a beautiful disc.

Of note; there's a live CD (Oliver Wakeman Band "Coming to Town") where a bunch of the songs from this album are being performed live, with Paul Manzi (ex-Arena/ex-Cats in Space) on vocals.

[LarryD]

We've talked about this before, but it deserves it's own post on here - this album is by far one of the most well-thought-out neo-prog albums ever, written as a "rock opera", featuring multiple vocalists and musicians. Obviously with both Nolan and Wakeman, it's a lot of keyboards, but also some incredible guitar playing (Ian Salmon, Peter Banks, Jon Jeary). Tracy Hitchings from Landmarq does a great job here in her role as "the girl", but the real star is Bob Catley (Magnum) as "the boy" - he is just incredible!!! I remember the first time I sat down with the CD and I was blown away, and I still get all warm inside listening to it. Such a beautiful disc.

Of note; there's a live CD (Oliver Wakeman Band "Coming to Town") where a bunch of the songs from this album are being performed live, with Paul Manzi (ex-Arena/ex-Cats in Space) on vocals.

****Agree completely ...........a beautiful and fun disc all around ............... good call.

[introclaus]

COURT - And You'll Follow...

I'm in the middle of indexing all my music, and I've reached the letter C in the alphabet, which led me to pull out the first COURT album, "And You'll Follow The Winds' Rush 'Till Their Breath Dwells", from 1993. This is an Italian neo-prog band that has a strong background in the Italian "medieval folk music" (lots of short acoustic passages) but also knows their prog rock classics (King Crimson, Jethro Tull). It's quite eclectic in places, and almost reaches a psychedelic spin, which is rather interesting and makes the album really unique for the genre. The end result is like Marillion on LSD While listening to it, I couldn't help but feel sad about the fact that it's been at least 15 years since I last listened to this CD, because this is great and deserve to be listened to more often.

Stream of album:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5 ... B76O5798iQ

Listen (and purchase) on bandcamp:
https://court.bandcamp.com/album/and-yo ... ath-dwells

[GaetanL]

Here’s another band from main land Europe (it cracks me up to think that the first bunch of bands discussed in this thread aren’t even British considering most of the neo-prog movement comes from there), EGDON HEATH.

Four or five albums was all this Dutch band managed to release and all of them failed to find a big audience, probably due to the fact that their label (SI Music) didn’t do much to promote them. My favorite of theirs is by far the final disc, NEBULA, 1996.



Musically this is very symphonic, heavily keyboard driven, pop-prog nestled somewhere between Marillion, IQ, Saga and Rush. There’s a lot of similarities to late 80’s pop music in this but it retains a “hard rock” edge and definitely has a neo prog backbone.

Here are two songs to check out:

https://youtu.be/JQT7HOUqkAc

https://youtu.be/wXVv_u6mNQU

I do like this band. I agree that Nebula is their best album. I also agree that the two songs with Youtube link are excellent and are the best ones of that album.

[LarryD]

LANDMARQ / Turbulence - Live in Poland 2005 .......

I've had the DVD concert of this gem since it came out ...... just found the CD and grabbed it for posterity. Come to find out that the CD recording sounds superb for a live disc. Tracy Hitchings has the lead vocals here and it sounds absolutely first rate.

Gaeten I know you have this one - but if anyone is looking to complete their Neo-Prog collection, this one is a must !!!!!

[GaetanL]

Asgard - Arkana (1992)



I love it! This is actually the only album I love from this band. They fit well in the forgotten heroes of neo-prog category. They released a new album in 2020 but it's no longer neo-prog.

The song "Wulfstan":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VYkTYvHNoQ

[introclaus]

Asgard - Arkana (1992)



I love it! This is actually the only album I love from this band. They fit well in the forgotten heroes of neo-prog category. They released a new album in 2020 but it's no longer neo-prog.

The song "Wulfstan":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VYkTYvHNoQ

I always liked this one as well as the next one ("Imago Mundi"). The others, not so much, and you're right, the new one is nothing like the old stuff (they try to be symphonic metal and fail horrible).

[prog_powermetal99]

Slaughter to Prevail - Viking

[introclaus]

Slaughter to Prevail - Viking

Not sure this qualifies as neo-prog