An Unexpected Musical Journey
I just wanted to briefly convey an unexpected but delightful musical journey/exploration that happened to me recently, as an example of how new musical discoveries are out there and can happen all the time when you venture to look beyond your current musical mainstays. So, a little over a month or so ago, I heard some talk about a new progressive rock album (through the various Prog-oriented YouTube channels and websites, such as Sea of Tranquility, Nathan on Shuffle, Notes Reviews, etc) that sounded interesting by a band I had not heard of that seemed like it might be worth checking out. The album was Cyan - King and Country (2021), which is in the Symphonic Prog tradition, with various influences from the classic Prog bands. When I checked around, there were a couple songs available on Youtube, and they were very good. Eventually, I was able to hear the entire album, and I liked it alot. As I checked into the album further, I learned that Cyan was a band that was formed many years ago by Welsh keyboardist Rob Reed that released a couple albums in the 90's (and it actually was primarily Reed playing all of the instruments as well as vocals), and the first album he released as Cyan was King and Country (in 1993). The new 2021 album was actually a re-working and re-imagining of that earlier album, but now with a stellar cast of musicians and more elaborate arrangements and production. In addition to Reed on keyboards, the new album features Peter Jones (Camel, Tiger Moth Tales) on vocals, Luke Machin (The Tangent, Maschine) on guitars, and Dan Nelson (Magenta, Godsticks) on bass.
But that was just the beginning of the journey, because, although I was not familiar with Rob Reed's work, he is most well-known for the band he started after experimenting with Cyan, and that is Magenta (I guess he has a thing for color names). Now, I had heard of Magenta, but had never really listened to them previously. But now with a new interest in Rob Reed's work, I checked out multiple albums by Magenta. Magenta released their first album, Revolutions, in 2001, and they have released 8 studio albums (as well as live albums) over the
past 20 years, with their latest being We Are Legend (2017) and Masters
of Illusion (2020). The core of the band band features Reed and vocals by Christina Booth and guitars by Chris Fry, and their music features a blending of 70's-style symphonic progressive rock (with influences of Yes, Genesis, Renaissance, Mike Oldfield, and Steve Hackett among others), but also with a sound and and modern style all their own. I have listened to about half of their albums so far, and have liked and enjoyed all of them. But the journey also continued in other directions. Another aspect of the King and Country album that I was very impressed and intrigued by were the wonderful vocals by Peter Jones. So, in looking further into his background and catalog, I discovered that in addition to playing live with the current re-formed version of Camel, he also has a series of solo albums (in addition to being a fantastic vocalist, he is a multi-instrumentalist as well) under the name Tiger Moth Tales. His first album under that name was The Cocoon (2015), which has been followed by Storytellers - Part One (2015) and Part Two (2018), The Depths of Winter (2017), and Still Alive (2020). I've only just begun to explore those albums, but they appear to be quite good as well.
Anyway, the point of this is not just to highlight these artists, but mainly to show how finding one new album or artist you enjoy (which doesn't even have to be 'new' at all) can lead to so many other musical adventures and 'discoveries'. In this case, hearing one new album that I enjoyed lead to a plethora of 'new' music and more than a dozen 'new' albums and artists that I am still in the process of checking out, and will continue to lead to other new odysseys and adventures. That is the beauty of these times where there are so many avenues and opportunities for hearing and enjoying new music. Through YouTube, streaming services, blogs, and other internet resources, it is possible to check out so much different music and determine what you really like (or dislike). Hopefully, this blog has enabled some people to check out some artists they were not familiar with and led them on their own musical journey of discovery and enjoyment. Then you can support and purchase the official recordings by those you enjoy (always need to support the artists you really like). Now, of course, it doesn't always work out this way, as there are many times that someone raves about or recommends some new album or artist, and when I check them out, they are very disappointing or just not at all for me, but that's just how it goes. But it is so exciting when you do find new music that you really connect with and that can open up whiole new avenues of adventures. There are just so many possibilities and opportunities available out there for enjoying music and continually finding new music to enjoy. Just wanted to share that.
And now, since I am still (sort of) currently featuring female vocalists on the blog now, my next post will be a live show from Magenta, featuring the powerful vocals of Christina Booth. So, stay tuned for that.
