(37:44; Joe Macre) To anyone really into progressive rock then the name Joe Macre is immediately recognizable, and if you have no idea who he is then you need to seek out the 1975 debut of Crack The Sky, which Rolling Stone Magazine placed in their list of 50 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time. He started work on this album in 2018, and invited in friends to help him out, including Chris Elliott and Jerry Oxendine of 86 Bullets, Pete Hewlett (Billy Joel), Jeff Adams (Facedancer), John Palumbo, Rick Witkowski, Jimmy Griffiths, Bobby Hird and Joey D’Amico (Crack The Sky) and many more. The result is something which is steeped in the blues, with hard-hitting rock numbers imbued with the swagger and groove of that genre. There are times when we almost move into Southern Boogie, others where he cannot help but let some proggy elements in, and the result is a blue-collar hard-working album which in some ways makes me think of classic Bachman Turner Overdrive. Even though there are different si...

(107:53; Pretentious Dinosaur Records) Track list: 1. Unexpected Secrets of the House of Mystery at the Witching Hour 8:32 2. This Decadent Poetry Is Awful 5:01 3. Stubby Index Finger 7:55 4. The Museum of Worthless Inventions 7:43 5. That Jigsaw Puzzle Is Tearing Our Family Apart 6:25 6. A Cornucopia of Riches 9:23 7. Ghost Zone/Noble Obelisk 8:31 8. This Decadent Poetry Is Awful (Version 2) 5:00 9. The Odessa Steps Sequence 9:44 10. Look at The Bears! Look at The Bears! Look at The Bears! 9:20 11. Conversational Paradigms 7:43 12. That Thing on the Wall 8:51 13. Black Pit 3:55 14. A Cornucopia of Riches (version 2) 9:50 Line-up: Katsumi Yoneda - guitars Mike Sary - bass, loops, samples Patrick Strawser - keyboards Jeff Gard - drums with: Mark L. Perry - drums Ludo Fabre - violin Prolusion. US band French TV have been providers of high quality progressive rock for almost 40 years at this point, with a large back catalogue of albums that all people with an interest in progressive rock ...

(40:33; Dusan Jevtovic) Track list: 1. Walking Seven 4:53 2. Babe (Grannies) 6:13 3. Blue 5:53 4. If You See Me 5:18 5. Something In Between 5:12 6. Once Ocho 6:12 7. Si Pooro 4:06 8. Ending 2:46 Line-up: Dusan Jevtovic - guitars Markus Reuter - touch guitar, loops Bernat Hernandez - bass Gary Husband - drums Aleksandar Petrov - tapan Prolusion. Spanish based guitarist Dusan Jevtovic has been quite the active artist ever since he surfaced with his first solo album back in 2014, and to date he has a dozen albums to his name as a solo artist or as a part of a collaboration. "If You See Me" is the most recent of the albums he has issued as a solo artist, and dates back to the spring of 2020. Analysis. As a solo artist, Jevtovic have rarely been focusing on any truly specific variety of what may or may not be described as progressive rock, and that is very much the case on this album as well. The compositions here appear to be all about moods and atmospheres, presumably with impr...

(56:34; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. The Launch 1:04 2. Promise of Gold 5:40 3. Faraway Worlds 5:26 4. Invisible Demon of Ideology 3:52    5. Where Is My Home 5:28 6. Acadia Morning Ride 3:58 7. Obstacle Illusion 4:21 8. Dragonship 5:31 9. Last Night in Tulum 4:36 10. No Mess, No Magic 4:15 11. Navigating the Apocalypse 12:23 Line-up: Joe Martignetti - guitars, bouzouki, vocals Ted MacInnes - drums, percussion, vocals David Joy - bass, vocals Bruno Neves - vocals with: Marcus Jidell - guitars, vocals Frank Navarro - bass Prolusion. US band Sunrunner have been a presence in the US music scene from 2008 and onward, and since they started to release material back in 2011 they have been quite the active band also on in terms of recording and releasing their material. "Sacred Arts of Navigation" is their most recent studio album, and was released in the spring of 2022 through German label Fastball Music. Analysis. While this is a band marketed and categorized as belonging in...

(53:52; Barking Mad Records) Track list: 1. I Have No Heart 4:56 2. Insensate 6:40 3. Larger Concern 5:52 4. Bleak 6:31 5. Mental Blindness 7:14 6. Lost - Part 1 3:44 7. Lost - Part 2 5:44 8. Lost - Part 3 2:06 9. Lost - Part 4 2:34 10. Lost - Part 5 4:12 11. Shine On 4:19 Line-up: Michael Moore - guitars, keyboards, mandolin, vocals Danny Grimm - vocals Duane Harvey - drums, percussion, vocals Andrew Harvey - bass, vocals Michael Johnstone - guitars with: Anisoara Balalau - vocals Prolusion. US band Belling the Tiger is one of those bands that suddenly just appeared with a ready made album and not revealing all that much of any previous history of the band. In this case the band appeared in 2021 with the album "Lost", released on presumed private label Barking Mad Records. Analysis. Belling the Tiger is one more of the bands that have chosen to explore a variety of progressive rock that should have a broader reach. Melodies and harmonies are at the forefront, the abrasive te...

(49:26; Glistening Leotard) Track list: 1. Vascular Access 5:19 2. Gloria 5:07 3. New Dawn 7:34 4. Parabolic Antenna 5:27 5. I Know You Know 5:18 6. Altered Ego 4:27 7. What If 5:22 8. Related Reflections 5:17 9. The Balance 5:35 Line-up: Andrej Henze - guitars Ralf Gemein - guitars Björn Müschen - bass Arthur Theuring - drums with: Marcus Dittrich - vocals Manuel Franken - vocals Tom Johannsen - vocals Kai Steckmann - vocals Annika Gemein - voice Lea Lenhart - voice Noelia Pohl Jimeno - voice Prolusion. German band Glistening Leotard have been a going entity for a decade and a bit, and have been steadily recording and releasing material along the way. They are now out with their new album "Alter Ego", which was self released at the start of 2022. Analysis. I seem to recall from the previous album by this band that they weren't the easiest to precisely place inside a specific context inside the progressive rock universe, and they do not make that task any easier on their...

(48:52; Timezone Records) Track list: 1. Exploring the Great Wide Nothing 3:56 2. The Fear Within 7:20 3. Around the Mind in 80 Lies 7:13 4. Those Who Leave the World Behind 3:52 5. Guardians of the Weather Machine 4:04 6. Silent Stranger Suite 10:06 7. Serotonine 5:14 8. Descent Into the Forsaken Valley 5:03 9. Moving On 2:04 Line-up: Timo Aspelmeier - Rhodes, Hammond, synthesizers, piano, drums, noises David Marlow - piano, programming, synthesizers, percussion Nico Walser - various instruments, field recordings Judith Retzlik - violins, viola, cello, vocals Prolusion. German band ELECTRIC MUD have since they started out in 2011 first and foremost been the creative vehicle of main men Hagen Bretschneider and  Nico Walser from what I understand. From 2013 and until today they have released 6 studio albums under the Electric Mud moniker. "The Inner World Outside" is the most recent of these, and was issued through German label Timezone Records at the start of 2022. Analysis. ...