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The Flower Kings are the Swedish Yes, 20 years removed. Melodies, such as they are are a little less memorable, drumming and guitar playing (my focal points to judge technical virtuosity) are less perfect and the singing, although not as annoying as Jon Anderson can be at times is, well, rather ordi...

The release date may seem confusing. This is indeed the famous ELP plus orchestra tour from 1978, but in a pimped version, doubling the original size. Like the Grateful Dead in 1974, and Pink Floyd with the Wall in 1980, Emerson, Lake and Palmer also went on tour in the decade of indulgence with a s...

Rick Rubin pulled a Johnny Cash here: take a famous singer / songwriter who seems to have become less relevant over the last ten years, have him perform some old or new songs in a simple, mostly acoustic setting, and Bam! rejuvenation, critical acceptance, major commercial and artistic success! I mu...

J.J. Cale has basically made 1 record in his life, with three types of songs: - easy going, bluesy, country&western-style, mid-tempo songs with a simple yet catchy riff - easy going, bluesy, country&western-style, up-tempo songs with a simple yet catchy riff - easy going, mid-tempo ballads. ...

With Pet sounds Brian Wilson wrote a record that amazed Paul McCartney. With Sgt Pepper’s lonely Haerts Club Band, the Beatles rose to the challenge an triggered Brian to come up with his next step. Due to a lack of interest to experiment in other band members (notably Mike Love) and his unstable me...

Kevin Ayers is, as they say in the trade, an enigmatic figure. He started out as a member of Soft Machine, and performed on their first album. Soft Machine is a kind of Pink Floyd in 1967 / 68 (but they went in a more jazz-rock direction after the first album, never scaling commercial highs like Pin...

Great 60’s pop! Yes it’s more conventional and less aggressive (less electric guitars) than the Beatles and can become a little monotonous. Yes there is less harmony singing than contemporary Beach boys albums and arrangements are (relatively) conservative. Yes the lyrics are nice but don’t set new ...

Yes was a shitty hippy band in the late 60’s. It was a major prog rock band in the first half of the 70’s and then went in a steady decline, to return in 1983 with a major pop hit, Owner of a lonely heart . Then they sort of lost it again and never returned. They played rather melodious music, compa...

Roger Waters can hardly play bass. His singing is an acquired taste, not unlike Paul Simon, Phil Collins or Mark Knopfler. It’s not plain awful or off-key, it just lacks any distinction, compared to, say, Peter Gabriel or Jim Morrisson. Sometimes a nasal whine, sometimes very sarcastic or even sadis...

Vangelis – Albedo 0.39 – 1975 Vangelis started out in a Greek prog rock group by the name of Aphrodite's child. They scored some hits because of their very special singer, Demis Roussos. In the early 1970’s they broke up and went for their respective solo careers. Demis Roussos scored some major hit...