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Phaedra

SKU: 602577469589
Label:
Virgin
Category:
Electronic
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This is the one - the masterpiece.  1974's Phaedra featured the classic Froese/Franke/Baumann lineup.  The music became a bit less freeform as they started to rely on sequencers, creating what would be termed the "Berlin school" sound.  Dark and mysterious - an album to be played high or straight late at night.

Remastered edition from the original master tapes.  Includes 2 bonus Steven Wilson remixes.

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  • Magenta's latest is the follow up to Metamorphosis. According to band leader Rob Reed the writing/recording sessions developed material that caused a stylistic schism - of it was more "edgy" and contemporary while other tunes developed along a more traditional old school prog rock path. Chameleon represents the former. The music is more immediate and is missing a lot of the prog rock trappings. Perhaps closest would be Metamorphosis but frankly not quite as complex. It would be hard to classify an album with 7 and 9 minutes tracks as commercial but this is as close to that description as I think Magenta will ever come. Of course this is written from the perspective of someone that sits and listens to prog rock and metal 24/7. I'm sure the media will dub this as full on prog rock and I suppose at the end of the day it really is...its just that the ratio of prog to rock is a bit weighted more heavily on one side of the equation.
    $15.00
  • "Few bands of the era offered as much variety in material from night to night. King Crimson’s propensity for improvisation & fondness for playing its newest material – often unreleased on record at the time of the concerts - is legendary. Fewer bands still, whether by accident or design, recorded so many of their live shows.Starless offers an in depth overview of one of the era’s most significant bands in its most celebrated live line-up.Autumn 1973: As King Crimson’s second lengthy US tour of that year was coming to a close, a short series of UK concerts for the end of October, followed by a more extensive European tour in November was already planned. Three of these concerts; Glasgow, Zurich & Amsterdam, were recorded as full multi-track recordings, with material from the Amsterdam show being used as core material for the January 1974 recording of Starless & Bible Black. From mid-March to the start of April, the band was on the road in Europe again, promoting the album with their final European concerts of the decade, prior to undertaking a further US tour. A number of these concerts were recorded on stereo reel to reel machines, fed directly from the signal as sent to the PA system on the night of the performance. These soundboards are often referred to as “The Blue Tapes”, named after the outer colour of the original tape boxes & are especially valued for both the quality of recording & performance.This boxed set presents eighteen CDs of live concert performances, seven of them mixed from the 1973 multi-track tapes and a further eleven presenting the complete run of “The Blue Tapes” for the first time. CDs of the ORTF Paris TV performance & the 2011 stereo mix of Starless & Bible Black also feature. Two DVD-A discs & two Blu-Ray discs contain concert & studio recordings in stereo, quadraphonic & full 5.1 surround sound – all presented in high-resolution audio."
    $165.00
  • "'Hand. Cannot. Erase.' is the highly anticipated fourth studio album from Steven Wilson - four-time Grammy nominee and founder member of cult legends, Porcupine Tree.Hand. Cannot. Erase. follows the critical and commercial success of The Raven That Refused To Sing, released in February 2013, and a run of sold-out shows around the world including London's Royal Albert Hall. Steven will embark on an extensive 'An Evening With Steven Wilson' European tour in March & April 2015.Recorded at London's illustrious Air Studios, Hand. Cannot. Erase, reunited Steven with Guthrie Govan (guitar), Adam Holzman (keyboards), Nick Beggs (bass / stick), and Marco Minneman (drums), the spectacular band responsible for The Raven That Refused To Sing album and world tour.The album follows the critical and commercial success of 2013's 'The Raven That Refused To Sing' (Germany #3, UK# 28) and an international run of sold-out shows, including London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall.Joined by Guthrie Govan (guitar), Adam Holzman (keyboards), Nick Beggs (bass / stick), and Marco Minneman (drums) - all part of the world-class band that graced The Raven and the 2013/2014 world tours - Wilson recorded 'Hand. Cannot. Erase.' at the renowned Air Studios in London."
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  • Withem is an up and coming Norwegian progressive metal band, inspired by the likes of Symphony X, Pagan’s Mind, Dream Theater and Circus Maximus.The band started to take shape in 2011 when Øyvind Voldmo Larsen (guitars) and Ketil Ronold (keyboards) met the gifted drummer Frank Nordeng Røe. Soon they were joined by the vocal talents of Ole Aleksander Wagenius and bass duties were taken care of by the special guest Andreas Blomqvist from Seventh Wonder.Withem’s debut offers varied sonic landscapes for the listener to explore, ranging from guilty-pleasure choruses permeated with memorable vocal hooks, to symphonic epic themes.  The unique vocal range of Ole Aleksander Wagenius gives the band a distinctive touch to tackle the overcrowded progressive metal scene.The passion and dedication put into the album is emphasized by the countless hours spent in studio perfecting each individual performance and making sure that the end result is a world class blend of progressive, symphonic and power metal.The Point Of You was mastered by Markus Teske (Vanden Plas, Saga, Spock's Beard)
    $6.00
  • "Originally released in 1979, these recordings show the first solo efforts by formerly Aera leader, guitar player and composer Muck Groh. But in fact this album wasnt a solo album but could be described at the third Aera album of Aeras first decade line-up. All those great musicians like sax player Klaus Kreuzeder, drummer Wolfgang Teske, violinist Christoph Krieger and a lot of guest musicians like Alto Pappert (formerly Kraan) and Aeras second decade musicians like Matz Steinke on bass and Limbus on percussions contributed to this great album. The first 4 titles on the CD (formerly A-Side of the album) are in the tradition of the second album "Hand und Fuss'. "Psychochinese im Stanzwerk" reminds to Amon Duul's Deutsch-Nepal. For the first time Muck Groh uses vocals in his compositions in a folky style and "Blinde Kuh" reminds a little bit to the early German new wave bands like Spliff or Nina Hagen Band. All in all this album shows many facets of Muck Grohs composer abilities and convinces with its clever arrangements. CD comes with comprehensive booklet with rare and unseen photos and there are 8 bonus tracks taken from a concert from 1981."
    $23.00
  • One of the great Italian symphonic prog albums of the 70s. Recommended to fans of Banco and PFM. New jewel case edition from Vinyl Magic.
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  • "Fatal Fusion play in a prog style which remains rooted in the genre's 1970s roots (with a strong flavour of 1980s neo-prog on the side), but avoid turning themselves into a sterile nostalgia act by playing in a loose, wild style which feels like it could have blasted forth from the stage of prog venues of old. Avoiding the overprecise, fussy production which less interesting retro-prog outfits pursue in the name of sonic perfection, Fatal Fusion instead create an album whose imperfections are, in fact, part of its charm - the rest of its charm being taken up with its gloriously sincere embrace of its fantasy themes as expressed in its lyrics.This is one of those albums like Galadriel's Muttered Promises From an Ageless Pond where somehow it ends up sounding incredible even though in terms of originality and technical excellence it's nothing special - there's a magic to Fatal Fusion's compositions which drips from every second of the album. Great stuff." - ProgArchives
    $11.00
  • "With "Street Lights Fail", the Swiss Progressive eccentrics led by mastermind Fredy Schnyder introduce the first part of a concept comprised of two albums which is going to be completed in 2015 with "Neon Light Eternal".After the "Nihil"/"Knell"/"Andromeda Awaiting"-trilogy and its subsequently released prequel "Golden Age", "Street Lights Fail" marks not only the start of a new concept, but also a radical aesthetical change. The album impresses with a contemporary, anti-nostalgic sound and takes a stand against the intolerable boredom of listening to predictable music. With qualities that have always been common to Nucleus Torn - expertise, creativity, bravery and the readiness to fail - the band has created an album of 40 minutes with a density which is, in terms of sound, style and emotion, unparalleled in Progressive Rock. A fair share of this can be ascribed to Anna Murphy (Eluveitie) as well, who for the first time acts as the only singer on an album by Nucleus Torn, thus leaving a distinct imprint.Fredy Schnyder backs his new work more confidently than ever: "With 'Street Lights Fail' - and later on 'Neon Light Eternal' - Nucleus Torn make good on their great promise. The albums show the group's entire potential, are both peak and closure. If Nucleus Torn are to be remembered by anybody, then hopefully through these two albums.""
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  • Evergrey are back and better than ever!  I think the general consensus is that as the band became more and more popular the music became a bit more commercial and the production slicker.  Tom Englund has gone back to the basics and its clearly the right move.  Jonas Ekdahl (drums) and Henrik Danhage (guitars) have returned to the fold and production has been handed over to Jacob Hansen.  This is a return to the "classic" Evergrey sound - that perfect balance of melody and heaviness with the right amount of "prog" injected when necessary.  COMEBACK ALBUM OF THE YEAR!  BUY OR DIE!"One of the leading names in the power/progressive metal world is the Swedish five-piece, Evergrey. Forming in 1995, the band has released eight full length albums, with number nine releasing this fall. The band has been known for relatively dark lyrics and concept albums since their debut, and because of this fact, it was very difficult for me to get into their music. I can easily count the amount of times I thought “I should listen to Evergrey” on one hand. Though I wasn’t well versed in their discography, what I had heard was moving quite slowly, was downright melancholic, and just couldn’t catch my attention. That was until the Hymns for the Broken album landed in my inbox.First off, the notable changes in the lineup, with the return of Jonas Ekdahl (drums) and Henrik Danhage (guitar) grabbed my attention immediately. Though the band briefly spoke about the addition of the two previous members on their Facebook, “What can we say? We missed each other.” I truly believe that this decision, and the amazing mixing by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Amaranthe, Primal Fear) and production quality are what set this album up for its coming success.The album kicks off with a very eerie intro track, then jumps into the first single and video, “King of Errors”. Even without being an Evergrey fan in particular, I have always known who Tom Englund was, as his voice is so unique and legendary in the industry that I couldn’t ever really escape it. This song is a great display of the power and ability he has as a vocalist to truly bring a wonderfully written song to an entirely new level. The blend of the guitar riffs and keyboard work is perfection to say the least, but when the awe-inspiring guitar solo hit, I knew this album had me by its teeth.Immediately following is another one of the strongest tracks on the album, “A New Dawn” with a strong and hard-hitting guitar and bass riff that doesn’t ever really let go throughout the song. This song features one of the more beautiful keyboard solos on the album, but yet again that guitar solo just comes out of nowhere and destroys any solo I have ever heard this band release. “Black Undertow” is another perfect example of why Englund is so well-respected in the music world. It begins with his chillingly lower vocal range, but builds back up to where he truly shines. This song not only features another soaring and strong chorus, but the rhythm work between all instruments keeps it dark and eerie, though the keyboard lightly dances above it all.The title track to the record explodes into this phenomenal musical intro, but fades just as quickly as it hits. Boasting some of the strongest, most emotional lyrics on the album, the song hits a chord in many personal ways. “Scream loud, these hymns are for the broken,” are just some of this crowd enticing chorus that Englund sings flawlessly throughout. Bringing the album to a close is the over seven minute song “The Aftermath” which begins in a ballad-like fashion, but builds to a very strong finale. The tempo remains slow, but the flawless movement in the instruments keeps it absolutely enthralling. The last half of the song is entirely instrumental, and the conversations between keyboard, bass, and drums is something that I could listen to on repeat for hours, especially when the haunting lead melody soars above it all.If you can’t tell, I can’t think of a single moment on this album I don’t absolutely love. As someone who could never get hooked by an Evergrey album, I can assure you this is not just ‘fandom’ talking. Hymns for the Broken is a perfect album that even after weeks of constant play, I can not get enough of. Perhaps it is indeed perfection, or perhaps it just hit me at the right time in my life, either way I am in love. Easily a current contender for album of the year, it’s so full of beautiful melodies and amazing arrangements that any fan of power or progressive metal will absolutely love. I don’t doubt that all previous fans of the band will appreciate this album as much as I do, but I sincerely hope that new listeners give this record a fair and objective chance as well.This is definitely their most ambitious release yet, and they absolutely nailed it!" - Metalholic 
    $15.00
  • "These guys might be late to the party, but deserve every bit of your attention regardless. This album really took me unawares, being my first experience with this fairly new yet incredibly accomplished sounding female fronted Australian unit. Their seemingly auto-generated band name may not inspire a lot of confidence, but nonetheless, on Liberator, Divine Ascension serve up progressive power metal of the highest rank. Really any power metal fan craving something heavy and guitar driven is urged in the strongest possible terms to have a look.Vigorous and eager to prove itself at every turn, this is a very full-bodied, attacking presentation, almost bringing Outworld to mind in its all-out directness. For prog/power, Liberator is a veritable ass-stomping of ripping riffs and lead runs, and a metal album first and foremost. Think Mercenary's crunching, at times Gothenburg-flavored axework and you're close. Neck muscles aching, airguitar strings breaking; not what I typically look to this sub-genre for, but there you have it. Keyboards and symphonic elements are given no less priority, being remarkably well arranged and produced and naturally composed in harmony with the metal. Orchestral arrangements in the vein of Rhapsody and Nightwish are employed, as are more electronic strains of bands like Pagan's Mind and Edenbridge. There's a lot going on on top of the already busy guitar work, but every piece of it is complementary, making for music that is constantly epic, and constantly heavy as bricks without the need to sacrifice one for the other. Sit back and soak in the chorus of "Stronger": total Within Temptation-style bombast and grandeur ala "The Howling," but made even more intense by big, riffy guitars that chug and harmonize along with some truly serene keyboard arrangements. It's one of the most stirring, spine-chilling metal moments I've heard in years.The label "progressive" in metal is elusive and subject to debate, but these guys I think make a decent claim for it, other than through sheer genre trappings (i.e. sounding more like Symphony X than Helloween). Key and time changes abound, keyboards and guitars play off each other in creative ways, and individual riffs and whole song structures both often detour from paths conventional. The band is confident in their ability to draw in the listener by piling on cool instrumental parts, and so the songs on Liberator often take a minute or so to establish before the vocals start doing their part, without ever feeling slow in getting to the point. So much going on and so much of it good: between all instruments, most songs here carry enough good ideas to provide for two songs for other bands. This is not as restrained and subtle an affair as something like The Black Halo (although Kamelot's heavier bits are at times not a far off comparison for style), but there's nary a sense of overreaching or a "more is less"-kind of effect. The intro of "Hideaway", by Gods go jam that shit: somber yet lush ambience straight out of a movie score, then razor sharp Children of Bodom-like axe ripping ("Black Widow" is a good point of comparison for the whole intro) that twists and mutates a bit until SMASH descend the fast double bass drums interlocked with another rousing riff that just leaps from the speakers – so much is accomplished within the first minute, and hey, there's the splendid remaining 80% of the song waiting to greet you beyond that! The album as whole is truly an exhilirating but also dynamic and not at all wearying listen.Vocalist Jennifer Borg is a somewhat unconventional but expert choice, as she delivers a more restrained performance than the rest of the group. Not weak or unenthusiastic; restrained, like the best kind of actor who knows to best serve the movie or play at hand by stepping into and becoming a character without feeling the need to draw attention to oneself by "putting on a show." Big vocal acrobatics or soothing, "angelic" stylings expected of female vox in a symphonic metal band are not what she's about, and needn't be. Utilizing a lower and narrower range than usual for the style and putting aside excessive drama, Borg's vocal lines give off so much soul, power and depth with subtle elements. All in all, a mature (horribly cliché word in music critique, but I insist) and dignified effort that contributes a good deal of artistry and uniqueness to the package.Throughout the album's 64 minute filler-free runtime, it amazes me how many typical genre pitfalls the Aussie sextet manages to sidestep. Excessive and confusing technicality for the sake of being "prog" that just kills the flow? Nope. Dragging "atmospheric" sections where nothing happens just to have variation? Also not here. Aiming for "epic" but arriving at "pretentious?" Look elsewhere! At least the closing acoustic ballad is an insufferable cheesefest, right? Actually, power/prog's poignant answer to "More than Words" is more like it, what with its percussive guitar slapping bringing that one to mind. If I'm going to dock the album for SOMETHING, well, "The Final Stand" does feature a real pet peeve of mine: that gimmick where the sound mix goes from demo/wet towel on speakers at its onset, to proper studio quality at a flip of a switch (e.g. Slayer - Ghosts of War). I find it overused and generic to the point of befitting the band moniker, but it doesn't hurt the song much and I've heard it done worse.Prog/power is rarely where I look for new metal these days; the genre's heyday is long gone and that may be for the best. That's not to say I'll disregard an island of brilliance like this one though. Good art is good art and while Liberator may sound a decade old, it still exhibits an identity of its own, cool chops aplenty and little triteness. Could Australia simply be a decade behind on this brand of metal, and thus less mined for talent than Europe or South America? Oh, I do hope. For the follow-up, I'd be curious to see how DA can expand their sound from here; perhaps adding elements from more modern metal would help revitalize the genre some? Until then, this is one shining example of tried-and-true that I wouldn't want my worst enemy to miss out on." - Metal Archives
    $16.00
  • Digipak reissue features partially remixed and newly mastered by Roine Stolt with updated artwork."Sometimes it seems that one of the great groups questioned by paying homage to the greats of the genre is The Flower Kings. The reality is that the progressive symphonic rock should not credited with anybody in full. Phenomena as far apart as Yes / Van Der Graaf Generator / King Crimson / Supertramp / Genesis / ELP / Mike Oldfield, to name a few, have forged an undeniable style. But while they have drunk from many sources before them to finish defining your method or character. And the legacy of the above is extraordinary, superlative.Clearly, The Flower Kings took inspiration from some of those giants, as some of them did of The Beatles, for example.Retropolis is an album that attempts to reinvent something already done. The band manages to further polish their sound, although the composition of the songs do not reach the level of previous albums, including The Flower King (Stolt) and Back into the World of Adventures. True, it is a proposal less original than others, but more complex, better executed and more transcendent than most there.I just remove The Judas Kiss, the rest is an accomplished and varied musical offerings worthy of being appreciated by the audience progressive.Fantastic cover art." - ProgArchives
    $15.00
  • There are not a lot of unreissued Italian prog albums from the Golden Era but little by little BTF Records is chipping away at them. This is a little known album from a one-off band, originally recorded in 1972 and not released until 1974 on the Pan Records label out of Munich, Germany (Pan was a weird label - they licensed New Trolls "Atomic System" as well). Collectors have known about this album for some time but it's eluded legit reissue until now. Hero was a trio consisting of Massimo Pravato (guitars), Robert Deller (vocals, keyboards), and Umberto Maschio (drums). The music has equal roots in hard rock and well as prog (as so many bands of the day did). Deller sings in English relatively accent free so my guess is he is an ex-patriate Brit or American. While Parvato's killer leads tend to dominate there is plenty of color on organ to lend comparisons to bands like New Trolls, Le Orme, Garybaldi and on a lesser level Black Widow and Uriah Heep. There is a pervasive dark vibe to the music and lyrics that evokes VDGG, Genesis and early Faithful Breath. BTF has done a spectacular job reissuing this disc with a bonus track, liner notes, and unreleased band photos. To top it off they stuck it one of those fancy mini-lp sleeves so we can all get nostalgic. Highest recommendation and one of the best reissues I've heard in years. And no...I'm not parting with my vinyl copy!
    $17.00
  • "The second, along awaited album from the italian multi-talented band is finally out! And "it's not so far" (in italian language "Non è poi così lontano" is a Perigeo work) from the expected!During the preceding months the band has given to fans information about their hard work in studio, but nothing let us know what would be their new musical orientation, though they were noticing it would be different from the debut one!Now we know at last! Though it's not so far from the first one, with a similar melancholic ansiogenic mood and the same powerful expressivity, there's a great melodic research and this gives easy pleasure to the listener, notwithstanding the harmonic and structural complexity. Let me tell you, this is only from talented and inspired musicians: the others entangle themselves in boring and uselessly complex structures.The opening track 'Wait For Me' starts with a powerful intro in Echolyn - Änglagård style, but it suddenly changes in a melancholic mood when Calandriello starts his beautiful singing.It's very difficult to find out what are the more representative tracks since the whole work is very high level. Surely the opener 'Wait For Me' has its big impact, as 'I Feel Like Snowing', the crimsonian 'Pleasure of Drowning', the dramatic 'Open Window' and the intense 'Not Now', this last sometimes recently performed LIVE. The whole work is enriched with musical and sound effect refinements which often bring pleasing surprise to the listener. For a NOT lazy listener this is a pleasure.. hasn't it?Calandriello, in my opinion, reaches his highest in intensity and melodic inspiration, the sound effects and the registers of Botta's keyboards are charming and refined, Zago's guitar work, in counterpoints, accompaniment or solo, has always the right tune and visionary intensity, Malacrida's refined drumming is a powerful support for Cassani's complex bass patterns.King Crimson is reborn in Italy? Not so true! Though the crimsonian inspiration is alive and well, as painful moods, ostinatos, harmonic and structural constructions, NAGS are actually the melodic counterbalance of another italian band where Zago and Botta are involved: Yügen.Sadly in the last days NAGS announced that Zago will not take part to the project anymore. We all hope that Gian Marco Trevisan, the one who will take his heavy inheritance, will be able to grant to the band the same visionary and technical support in future compositions.The last track 'Farewell' is Botta's special gift to Zago." - ProgArchives
    $16.00
  • Epica finally releases a live set and in typical fashion its nothing short of over the top and immaculate. The performance was recorded as part of the Bartok + Miskolc International Opera Festival in Miskolc, Hungary on 6/14/08. The set starts out a bit weird...the orchestra starts off with some classical pieces and then they are joined by the band who kick in and energize these warhorse tracks. They even do some oddball covers of movie soundtrack music. Finally Simone Simons takes the stage and the band soars through a selection of material from their catalog - all with the backing of the orchestra. I don't think there is a DVD planned although I wish there was - this must have been a sight to see. Once again Epica are EPIC! Highest recommendation.
    $16.00