(407:00; InsideOut) I’ve said it before, and I will probably say it again, but it is all Ian Anderson’s fault. An unhealthy obsession with Tull in the Eighties led me to writing to Record Collector to see if anyone knew anything about Carmen, which in turn had me asked to write a piece on that band for the Tull fanzine ‘A New Day’, which then had me thinking this writing lark was quite fun. Thousands of hours and millions of words later and I’m still at it. What we have here is a reissue of the 2003 release, ‘The Jethro Tull Christmas Album’. It has been expanded so it has the original album, a complete remix by Bruce Soord (which is what I am listening to), the ‘Christmas Live at St. Bride’s 2008’ album (again remixed by Soord), the previously unreleased ‘Christmas Live at St. Bride’s 2006’ along with a Blu-ray featuring more remixes. When the album was originally released it featured no less than seven re-recordings of old Tull numbers such as “Ring Out, Solstice Bells”, Weathercock”...

(49:22; Melodic Revolution Records) Here we have the second album from the duo of Corey Stano (author, vocals) and Juan R Leõn (all music), following from last year’s excellent debut, ‘Myths Retold & Other Lies To Tell Your Children’. When I reviewed that release, I mentioned Hibernal, as Mark R. Healy have been undertaking similar works for more than a decade now, but the major difference between the two is Mark always brings in professional voice actors to take on the roles, where here Corey speaks her own words. That aside, we are in a futuristic world of robots, and one that is becoming sentient as it has started dreaming (perhaps of electric sheep?). What makes this album work so incredibly well is that it is an amalgam of two very different styles, namely the spoken word, which is often in the first person of 5-E, and soundscapes of music. Each of these could stand on their own (and there is a version of this album available which contains demos, unused and unfinished tracks ...

(178:06; Djam Karet) All the way back in 1984 four musicians from Topanga, California, started a new band, none of them ever thinking that forty years later they would still be going strong. There have been some guests here and there, but guitarists Gayle Ellett and Mike Henderson, bassist Henry J. Osborne, and drummer Chuck Oken, Jr. were there for 1985’s ‘No Commercial Potential’ and were still around for 2022’s ‘Island In The Red Night Sky’, and this collection brings together a track from all eighteen studio albums and two live, hence the witty title. At three hours in length, this is a collection of uncompromising music which may be too much for the unwary or is it? To celebrate their soon to end fortieth anniversary the guys are currently making this available free of charge from their Bandcamp site, but this is a limited time offer so get in fast as this not something you will want to miss out on. I first came across Djam Karet back in the Nineties when Cuneiform sent me an albu...

(44:16; Nuclear Blast)  In 1992 Blind Guardian released their fourth studio album: it was their major label debut and launched them into the world as they had hit the right formula of speed, heaviness, melodies, drama and choruses on 1990’s ‘Tales From The Twilight World’ and here they honed it even further. Fast forward to 2022 and the band planned to play the whole album live, in sequence, but then they started to worry about what might happen if the shows didn’t happen. Perhaps they should ought to record the rehearsals just in case? That led to the realisation that fans would not be happy with such an approach to what is viewed by many as a classic so why not go the whole hog and record it anew, compensating youth with experience but maintaining the hunger of yore. The basic tracks were recorded live, and then the harmonies and melodies were added on top to create something which is vital and true to the original but also feeling like it is from today, although with somewhat le...

(46:30; Bird's Robe Records) To celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band, and 15 years since they released a concept album as their debut, Sydney-based Anubis have returned to the concept theme again for their seventh. The story here is about a young man joining, and then escaping from a religious cult in the American Midwest known as The Legion of Angels. It is designed as a single piece, split into ten parts, which fits neatly over two sides of vinyl at 47 minutes running time.  One of my favourite sayings is “too much music, too little time”, but I must confess I am somewhat surprised to have only now come across this band as this is modern prog which is very palatable indeed.  The band comprise Robert James Moulding (vocal, guitar, percussion), David Eaton (keyboards, soundscapes, 12 string, bass pedals, vocal), Douglas Skene (electric and acoustic guitars, vocal), Dean Bennison (electric and acoustic guitars, vocal), Anthony Stewart (bass, vocal), and Steven Eaton (drum...

(27:32; Grim Day Records) In August and September 2023, Norwegian rock quintet Dim Gray toured the UK and Europe, playing 15 dates across nine countries as special guests of Big Big Train. Each show was recorded and now we have a six-song 28-minute-long EP which for me is a great introduction to the band as I have somehow missed out on both their albums to date. They were formed in Oslo by Oskar Holldorff (keyboards, vocals), Håkon Høiberg (guitar, vocals) and Tom Ian Klungland (drums), with Milad Amouzegar (guitar, keyboards) and Kristian Kvaksrud (bass) becoming permanent members in 2023 and that is the line-up on this set. Given there are two songs from London, and then one each from Oslo, Stuttgart, Veruno and Pratteln, I am guessing they took the best performance of each song on the tour and there are no overdubs. I don’t know if this is the complete set they played each night or not, but unless they screwed the same song up every night, I would imagine this is it. Oskar Holldorff...

(162:00; InsideOut) ‘A Flare On The Lens’ features the band’s full show at Cadogan Hall from the second of their two nights there last year and also includes seven songs which were played only on the first night, which means we have eighteen songs and a total running time of more than 160 minutes (note, this has been cut back on the double vinyl release). From some comments and fades it is obvious this is not a complete set run through as such, something I always like my live albums to be like, but the performances from all those involved are so sumptuous I am prepared to overlook it. The line-up for these shows was Alberto Bravin (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Nick D'Virgilio (drums & percussion, vocals), Rikard Sjöblom (guitars, keyboards, vocals), Greg Spawton (bass, bass pedals), Oskar Holldorff (keyboards, vocals), and Clare Lindley (violin, vocals) along with Maria Barbieri (guitars) and The Big Big Train Brass Ensemble which takes me back to the days when prog bands ...

(73:25; Melodic Revolution Records) For those of you who have somehow not yet heard of Melodic Revolution Records, they are an independent label based in the USA who have been releasing music for more than 17 years. They are music fanatics and musicians who aim to deliver music which inspires...music that will stand the test of time, hence the title. This fifteen-track set contains 12 songs from this year’s releases along with three “hidden” bonuses and is designed to show just how vital and important MRR in the current musical landscape. The set starts with The Gardening Club and the excellent “Mr. Forster Reflects”. In an ideal world Martin Springett would have been recognised as much for his music as his art long before now, but the reissue of his 1983 album in 2017 has finally seen a wider public understand his talent, since when he has been releasing one gem after another. But as well as his Camel/Roy Harper approach we get the out and out modern prog of Overture, the delicate ref...

(70:36; Melodic Revolution Records) Nick Katona at Melodic Revolution Records also has a tradition of releasing a Christmas compilation, and here he is back with the eighth in the series. Unlike most compilations like this, there are no reworkings of classics (I hate to think how many versions of “Baby, It's Cold Outside” I have in my collection), but instead each of the ten tracks is an original recording, and only Juan R Leõn gets more than one as he has been allowed two in this 57-minute-long set. This is not an album aimed at the mass public, but for those who wish to sit a little outside the mainstream. While most people will enjoy the poppy style of giGO (Nick – I owe you an apology, I may not have enjoyed the album but “Christmas Bells” is delightful and caused me to have a rethink), Orchestre Celesti is much more for those who enjoy following the twisting paths of music which is beautiful and moving in multiple directions, truly progressing. We also get songs like the wond...

(43:24; Nuclear Blast) Gentle piano, with lovely use of the sustain pedal, leads us delicately into the clear soprano of Veronica Bordacchini as she commences the journey which could easily be the opening of an opera. Strings come in, and we sit back, relax, and bask in her wonderful vocals, so much so that when she hits the high notes and demonstrates her training we reach over and turn it up just a little more, so the music becomes all encompassing. It may be only just over two minutes long, but it is transformative, and then there is a slight gap, and the choir are back with Francesco Paoli singing the words “I Can Never Die”, which leads us into the 10-act story inspired by the tragic mountain climbing accident which nearly killed him in 2021.   I actually think this album is a step up from the last two, which is not something I thought could happen as they have mixed the symphonic death with styles which are more classical and one can imagine fans of Nightwish or Epica en...

(79:10; Cuneiform Records) It is only two years since Frédéric L'Epée (guitars, synth, chorus), Laurent James (guitars, chorus), Nico Gomez (bass, chorus), and Volodia Brice (drums) released their last album, ‘Designed for Disaster’, which makes their fifth album the fastest to follow another yet. That might have something to do with the review of that release which Frédéric read where it was compared to America’s Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. That led him on a voyage of discovery as that band was new to him, and he realised their singer, Carla Kihlstedt, would be perfect for the work they were doing so he invited her to take on lead vocals. He found himself writing with her voice in mind and providing lyrics with meanings as he wanted her to be driven by them the same way he was. There is no doubt that many will think of Yang as followers of King Crimson, and their complex, syncopated and polyrhythmic guitars certainly brings to mind Fripp, but only in the sense that they are incredi...

(92:00; Gentle Art of Music) What I have here is the audio of the latest release by Sylvan, which has been released on Blu-ray, double vinyl, double CD and streaming on all platforms. It is a record of their performance on 23rd October 2024 at the Poppodium Boerderij, NL-Zoetermeer, and I expect the film is quite spectacular as the music is pretty special on its own. The line-up has been consistent for quite some time, although they often have additional musicians in the studio, but here we have just the core quintet of Marco Glühmann (vocals), Johnny Beck (guitars), Volker Söhl (keyboards), Sebastian Harnack (bass & bass pedals), and Matthias Harder (drums). It had been two years since the release of their last album, ‘One To Zero’, and given it had been sixteen years since their only other official live release, ‘Leaving Backstage’, it was deemed appropriate to capture the night and I am very glad they did. Sylvan have long been known for releasing wonderfully emotional albums ba...