If The Bends cracked the worldwide market in terms of attention and success, then OK Computer drove a 40-ton truck through it and catapulted Radiohead into the consciousness of rock fans the world over. This album achieved phenomenal success the world over, and in Paranoid Android, the standout track, certainly for prog fans, they achieved the type of airplay and chart success that was perhaps the most unlikely since Bohemian Rhapsody for Queen twenty years before.
The other major hit single was the bleak, anthemic, Karma Police, the video for which was fascinating and looked for all the world as if it was directed by David Lynch (in fact, it was by Jonathon Glazer, who had previously directed the ground-breaking Street Spirit video from The Bends).
This is a progressive rock album in the truest sense. A band seeking to push back the barriers of conventional rock and wisdom, performed, and produced in the most sumptuous terms, and hang the consequences. Even Q magazine in the UK declared it "pure prog, mate!".
We could argue about the definitions until we are blue in the face. What is important, though, is that this is unquestionably a landmark album. Futuristic, exceptionally bleak in places, and certainly featuring some of the most vital guitar work ever recorded in history by Jonny Greenwood. His performance on Subterranean Homesick Alien is simply staggering in its intensity, and what a title for a track!
I mentioned that Paranoid Android is a highlight. However, this is one of those albums which calls out to be considered and listened to as a whole. Imagine setting your iPod to random play and coming up with Fitter Happier, a two-minute dirge by a computerised voice set to a simple piano, on its own, but, in the context of the album, perfectly placed and vital in its lead in to Electioneering, which rocks along and is a gloriously bitter dig at modern politicians and the lies they put to us.
Mellotron fans also have a lot to cheer about, as Jonny Greenwood utilises the instrument to create a haunting overlay to the rest of the bands intense, bitter, and dark Exit Music For A Film. Never has bleak sounded so good. "We hope that you choke" indeed.
This in turn leads in nicely to one of the more musically upbeat tracks, Let Down, on which Jonny's elder brother Colin, especially, shines in his pounding melodic bassline. The intensity of this is such that the listener is virtually exhausted after such a torrent of emotion and musical storms.
This is an album which is utterly vital, and years ahead of its time in terms of its outlook and performance. Radiohead simply led whilst their commercial contemporaries were happy to regurgitate old Mod or Beatles themes. That is what is meant by progressive, and that is why it is right that us old proggers pay homage to such an outfit.
This album is a masterpiece of progressive rock music, no more, no less.
This is a long and sometimes difficult album to sit through in one go, and I tend to agree with a lot of previous reviewers that maybe it might have been better to have had just one CD of exceptional quality songs, rather than padding out the work into two CDs. Having said that, there is plenty to enjoy here, and I ardently feel that newcomers to this band would be better listening to this album before venturing into other works.
The whole album has an unashamedly retro feel to it, most markedly in the ELP inspired opener, In The Eyes of The World, to the glorious Yes symphonic inspired Church of your Heart, which, to me, is the outstanding highlight of the album, a glorious track which soars, uplifts, and is absolutely and rightly unapologetic about its roots. Other nods to glories past include Circus Brimstone, a marathon 12-minute homage to King Crimson from the classic Wetton, Fripp, and Bruford era. It's not as dark as that band though, there being some beautifully uplifting passages, thus avoiding falling into the trap that KC sometimes fell into, that of being overly complex and brooding at the same time (I state this as a massive fan of the band).
Even that track, though, is a mere stroll in the park as compared to the title track, the last on CD2, which weighs in at a massive 25 minutes. Having said that, it never feels overlong, and the band are genuinely awe inspiring when they reach the central theme of the song. This is a towering paeon to symphonic prog rock in all its glory, and exemplifies to me just why TFK are regarded as being at the forefront of the 3rd wave of prog in the aftermath of the UK dominated 2nd wave era of the early 80's.
At turns derivative, at others wholly original, never anything less than demanding, when it hits the high points, it makes for an extremely satisfying and rewarding listening experience.
SOLO EFFORT FROM STEVE HOGARTH (h) OF MARILLION, THERE IS A LOT TO ENJOY HERE
Steve Hogarth is, of course, well known to most prog fans as the successor to Fish in UK prog giants Marillion. It is somewhat fair to say that his tenure divide’s opinion outside of the fanatical following that the band still inspire. Less well known is this, his, thus far, only studio solo outing from 1997, released in the UK under the moniker H.
This, it must be said, is not an LP that will win over huge numbers of new recruits to the H fan club if you already dislike his work with Marillion, although it most certainly will appeal to those who approach their music with fresh and unbiased ears and appreciate differing influences and genres. For, we need to make it clear, this is not a “neo-prog” album, although it most certainly does carry influences and ideas that Hogarth was exploring with Marillion at the time of this release, namely This Strange Engine and Radiation, both exceptional albums and very underrated in my opinion. It also carries very strong influences from XTC, which was hardly surprising given the major work on the album by Dave Gregory. There are also world influences, and all in all, it seems to be to be a statement by Hogarth that not all progressive music has to sound like Gabriel era Genesis and the rest.
The Evening Shadows is a thoughtful and somewhat introspective opener, with Hogarth mainly accompanied by his own piano, before the track opens with Gregory showing what a talented guitarist he is, playing with understated breaks. Tim Wheater plays a lovely flute melody towards the close.
Really Like is trancey with vocals and keys underscored by strong percussion and bass. You could almost dance to this! Neo prog giant does techno and jazz, with barely a hint of Marillion at all. A good track to play very late at night with whatever chemical substance is your poison of choice.
The highlight of the album, to me, is You Dinosaur Thing, a fantastic rocking track which absolutely blasts young pretenders mocking artists such as H as being dinosaurs. This is a fantastic pop/rock track which carries more than a little influence from a certain Liverpudlian foursome late in their career. Catchy, simple, great instrumentation by the backing band make a great listening experience, and worth buying the album for this track alone.
The opening to The Deep Water could almost come from a Peter Gabriel album, circa IV or Passion, and this is again a gorgeous atmospheric track with vocals that will have H fans salivating. The keyboard textures create an imposing and dark background, almost like a storm coming onto the horizon. Then, halfway through the track, H returns to techno mode, with a repetitive drum & bass beat carrying his vocals and piano into more ambient trance territory, with strong world influences taking the track into even more experimental territory. This track is about as far away from Marillion as it is ever likely to get and doesn't suffer at all for that.
Cage is next. Do Not Feed The Animals! This is another hugely experimental track which strongly reminds me of a lot of XTC's work. If you really liked XTC, as I do, then you will love this track. A thoughtful lyric, accompanied by some exceptional guitar work by Gregory and more great percussive beats. The track ends in a joyous upbeat mixture of sampled keys, percussion, and vocals with Gregory lifting above it with his guitar.
Until You Fall is a far more straightforward rock track and an equally straightforward love song. This is again a very catchy track which, whilst not essential, is extremely enjoyable, and, to these ears, very reminiscent of the rockier Marillion tracks of this period.
Better Dreams is one of the best commentaries of the darker side American society I have heard, this is a very dark track underscored by Stuart Gordon's strings. Dark, poignant, atmospheric, and, to me, probably, the most proggy piece on the album.
Nothing to Declare rounds off the European version of the LP (I believe that the US version had an extra track, The Last Thing), this is another sad song which features some exquisite Hogarth vocals, very much in the mould of Radiation, and, again, the underplayed background instrumentation creates a somewhat bleak atmosphere.
Thus far, this is Hogarth's only solo effort, and I for one hope very much that there will eventually be a follow up. It's not an essential album, but it most certainly is an excellent addition to any prog collection, and, if you are a fan of the band, I would state that you absolutely should own it. I believe that it is still available from Racket Records.
ONE OF THE WORST ALBUMS EVER INFLICTED ON A POOR, UNSUSPECTING, WORLD, I AM ALMOST TOO EMBARRASSED TO UPLOAD THIS REVIEW, BUT IT IS A HISTORICAL RECORD AND, THUS, IT MUST BE HERE. BLOODY AWFUL, THOUGH.
Shocking. Awful. Appalling. Think up any similar superlative, and you have the essence of the state of this album, by far the worst thing that any of them put their names too.
Wakeman had gone (bye bye part five) owing to the management chaos inherent in the band, so Igor Khuroshev from Eastern Europe was drafted in for the subsequent tour to this LP, whilst Squire had insisted upon Billy Sherwood, an American Yes tribute guitarist he had been working with, being involved in the recording of the LP, most likely because most of it had started off as a collaboration between the two of them.
Sherwood adds absolutely nothing to the band, and the inevitable falling out between him and Howe came after The Ladder.
I have not even got the heart to review each individual track. Suffice to say that it was a completely misguided attempt by the band to recreate the sound and commercial success of 90125 without the involvement of Trevor Rabin who, by this time, was writing soundtracks. Well, Sherwood is many things, but Trevor Rabin he ain't.
I saw the subsequent tour in Birmingham, and the band redeemed themselves somewhat by only playing From The Balcony, a pleasant Howe & Anderson duet, which is pleasant and at least reminiscent of Yes, from this LP, the rest of the setlist being older stuff, with, amusingly, Owner of a Lonely Heart played in Howe's absence.
This really is only for people who simply MUST own every single Yes LP (like me I suppose!). If you don't feel that urge, then please don't waste your money. This was undoubtedly the lowest point of a great rock band. Thankfully, things did improve with what was to come.
The beginning of a new era for the band - the first release on an independent label, and an LP that marks the transition from the old Marillion to the modern band.
I think this is a great LP.
The opener, Man of a Thousand Faces, is all Hogarth. From a slow, acoustic opening, to a rousing end with swirling, powerful, lyrics shouting a choral note.
One Fine Day is a fine ballad, and the bands homage to touring, 80 Days is simply a fun track, and you sympathise with the expressions made.
Estonia is a good, serious, long piece. The next track, Memory of Water, is simply a throw away track and quite boring.
An Accidental Man & Hope for the Future are both solid tracks.
The LP's finest track, however, is saved until last. The title track is a backward look at Hogarth's childhood, and he tells the story very well. It is very long at over 15 minutes and builds up very gently to the climax. There are some beautiful passages of play from the band to complement the story told, and the climax when it comes is all Hogarth emotionally bringing the narrative to a conclusion.
This album sets the template for much of what follows and is a very good piece of work. Highly recommended.
I still think that this album, the last Genesis studio effort, and the finality is real, is unfairly maligned and believe that a second album with Wilson would have been a killer. Oh well………..
Like other recent reviewers of this LP, I, too, have come back to this after quite a long layoff, and it is not nearly as bad as some reviewers would have.
Sure, it’s not great, but, having said that, for fans of Genesis since the old days, no LP since Duke has, with most of us hanging on to longer Banks inspired tracks and the odd gem of a single such as No Son of Mine.
I like Ray Wilson's voice, and I saw them live on this tour. I thought that Wilson was somewhat hard done by.
The title track is excellent, and I also like the atmosphere in Alien Afternoon. One Man's Fool is a good bookend to the opener, and I quite like the quirky humour in Alien Afternoon.
Yes, Congo is awful, but the remaining tracks are certainly not out of synch with other later Genesis LPs and at least they tried something different rather than a Collins clone.
All Genesis fans retain their love for Gabriel and the earlier Collins era prog records. However, the later LPs all have their moments, and this one is no different.
I very much remember the day I first saw this CD, without the benefit of any music magazine or other reviews to guide me. Not long after its release in 1998, I was browsing in a wonderful record shop in Wrexham, North Wales, near to where I used to live, when I just saw the magic word Blackmore.
Ritchie Blackmore was easily my earliest idol. I had got into Deep Purple & Rainbow before I was introduced to prog as a quite young lad by neighbours. I loved them both, and then, as now, I regarded Blackmore as a genius, incapable of doing much wrong. I, of course, bought the CD and spent what seemed an age trying to get my head around the fact that he had joined with a female vocalist and gone all Olde Worlde.
However, once I began to appreciate what I was listening to, I fell in love, and have got every release since. Moreover, I recognised in this album some very important points. Candice Night has a fantastically sensual voice and is almost a female version of Dio in his more mellow moments. Blackmore was still an incredible guitarist. The song writing and arrangements were exceptionally strong. And, perhaps more to the point, the music was exceptionally warm and drew me in until I was hooked. I have seen countless reviews and articles bemoaning the fact that Blackmore had "abandoned" his true rock roots, Geoff Barton being the chief culprit.
Ignore them. What we have here, and in subsequent releases, is about the perfect fusion of traditional English folk with prog and rock sensibilities. The musicianship is never less than excellent, the production is lush, and, for those of you who love their folk prog in the shape of a certain Beastie, it features about the finest ever Ian Anderson flute solo put to record in the exciting and boundless energy of Play Minstrel Play.
None of the tracks are anything less than gorgeous. There are, though, some outstanding moments. The opener, the title track, announces itself in rip roaring fashion, and draws you in. Renaissance Faire will have you dancing a sixteenth century jig with your partner, that is, unless you are both tone and rhythm deaf.
Play Minstrel Play is simply incredible. I love the narrative that Night so sensuously provides, Blackmore has never sounded better on an acoustic guitar, and Anderson blows away as if his very life depended upon it.
Ocean Gypsy is a copy of a track by those other English prog folk giants, Renaissance. If anything, this version is better, and that is stated without any disrespect whatsoever to a band I have admired for many years. Candice Night's vocals are enough to send shivers down your spine, and she is backed by perhaps the finest pastoral music it has been my pleasure to hear. A track with which to fall in love with with your loved one by your side.
Lastly, Greensleeves is a stunning reworking of a traditional English folk tune, something that Blackmore had tried in a different fashion, very well, with Sixteenth Century Greensleeves on Rainbow's original. This is quite different and far better, simply because the arrangement is closer to the spirit of the traditional work. You also marvel at Blackmore's dexterity on his guitar.
Elsewhere, it is simply excellent folk rock, combined with a couple of poppier tracks and also fusions of pop/rock and classical music such as Writing On The Wall, which is fun without being in any way essential.
I would highly recommend this album to anyone wishing to explore the latter career of a true rock God. I would certainly recommend it to anyone wishing to take themselves out of a tiny little stereotypical box and who wish to explore something a little bit different from a man who had the guts to reinvent himself, without care for the consequences.
An excellent addition to any prog rock music collection which only just falls short of being a true masterpiece - not by much, though.
Sunsets on Empire was released in 1997, and, to me, rather clearly marks out the first instalment in the second part of Fish's duel solo career. This career started promisingly with the rather good Vigil in A Wilderness of Mirrors (itself, a logical follow up to Clutching At Straws), but rather swiftly degenerated into a morass of record company splits, dubious musical direction, and, frankly, a descent into commercial oblivion.
So, when this was released, I did not have too many hopes, but had seen some decent reviews, got it, and found that said reviews were fully justified. Although I do not feel that Fish has, unlike his former band mates, released a bona fide indispensable masterpiece, this is most certainly the first in a very consistently excellent series of albums, that has continued to 2013's Feast of Consequences.
What does, of course, set this apart, right from the crashing and heavy tones and riffs of The Perception of Johnny Punter, an overtly political piece about the shocking ignorance of the British general "bloke", is the involvement of a certain Mr Steven Wilson, he of Porcupine Tree fame. Not only did he lend guitars and keyboards, thus creating an altogether harder edge to more "traditional" Fish music, but also co-wrote six tracks and, crucially, produced it, providing us with both a lush sound (the vocal harmonies are never anything less than beautiful), and a glimpse of his own future career direction. Certainly, I don't think that anyone else aside from Wilson could make the monologue of Jungle Ride sound so enticing and exotic. And, talking of political, the title track is a gloriously expansive pure rock track referencing, and, of course, celebrating the decline of that great institution, the British Empire, with bittersweet lyrics reminding all of said decline.
It is difficult to pull any track as a standout. I personally love the commercial prog rock of Goldfish and Clowns, the powerful funk of Brother 52, and the lush Celtic love of Tara, but, in truth, all of this is damned good, and quite how it flopped commercially so badly (Fish had to close his record company as a result) is a bit of a mystery, except, I suppose, that the musical sins of the past had rather caught up with him.
I am rather clear about this superb album, one of his best. It is well worth revisiting if you haven't heard it for a while, and, if you do not have it, buying to add an excellent, hard, bitter in places, and never less than fascinating release to your collection. Certainly, those of you "'ard and 'eavy" proggers (neo? Too soft for me, mate!) will find a great deal to enjoy here (What Colour Is God? should have been a PT track, it is that hard), and I really do wish that there was a hope of a further Dick/Wilson collaboration in the future.
There is a reason sometimes when a wallow in sheer nostalgia is something more than wallowing in glory days of yore. There are certain times when you listen to a certain slab of music and remember just how damned good it was. No, change that. Just how damned good it IS!
I had not listened to this wonderful concept album in a fair while until this evening, when, looking forward to the latest IQ opus I have pre-ordered, I thought, let's go back. Let's remind myself of just why I am taking a punt on music I have not even heard yet and won't receive until at least two months after shelling out hard earned money.
This album, perhaps more than most, is why. I loved IQ from the very beginning and followed them alongside the other exponents of the new wave of British prog. This one, released in 1997, demonstrated to me that IQ, perhaps better than any other "neo" act, were capable of staying true to their roots and influences, but also taking them forward with the lush, almost orchestral, modern digital era sound. For this is an album not rooted in 1974, but the late nineties.
It is a "deep" concept, for sure, and certainly one that many classic original prog bands would have been proud of. The story revolves around a man tortured and imprisoned in solitary confinement experimentation, who is released into the wider world with unpleasant consequences and tortured internally, returns to his lone self and world.
Just how, then, such a tome can give rise to such a brilliantly uplifting track such as Speak My Name is a bit of a mystery and speaks genius. The title track, following a Who-esque Overture, sets the scene perfectly for what follows, a perfect blend of symphonic musical storytelling and precise, clinical, but also heart-warming in places, and never anything less than captivating vocally and musically. It also contains a marvellous guest sax piece - note to naysayers.....Genesis never had this!
Peter Nicholls is absolutely at the top of his game, more so than on Ever in my opinion, his voice gorgeously fragile in its strength (yes, much like Gabriel in that manner), but the real star and driving force behind all that is so Progressive on this album is Martin Orford, whose soundscapes dominate and provide such a lush musical storyline in themselves. Just listen to his burst on State of Mine especially, which lead a gloriously heavy symphonic passage of music, which, itself, leads to a beautiful, expansive, duo on piano and electric guitar with Mike Holmes on Laid Low. When these segue into the dark and hard Breathtaker, you realise that this album is rather more than a carbon copy of days gone by, but something utterly unique and new.
The end epic, The Narrow Margin, clocking in at 20 minutes brings proceedings to a suitably grandiose end. In fact, it would not be until the ridiculously brilliant Harvest of Souls that the band would outdo themselves in how to bring expansive, epic, loud, and proud prog rock to life in such a warm way. This is a track of a band at the top of their game, a collective bringing complex fantasy to expansive life.
In a couple of months’ time, I, and other collaborators on this site who have followed IQ for over 30 years now, will, no doubt, wax lyrical about the maturity of the new album. There will be more than a few reading those reviews who were either babes in arms, or, God forbid, not even born, when Subterranea was released. You will, no doubt, wonder just what all the fuss is about in the 21st century.
This album is what the fuss is all about. This album is more than just a paeon to 1970's glory, it is the sound of a band who produced a work of such beauty and wondrous sounds in 1997 that made many of us just know that seventeen years later, we would still be listening to classy progressive rock, because such gorgeous sounds and thoughts simply could never die. To summarise, you are still listening to prog because of albums such as this.
Essential. Wondrous. Beautiful. Grandiose. Nicholls, Orford, Holmes, Jowitt, and Cook. IQ. No further explanation is necessary.