New Album Reviews - Spring 2022

New Album Reviews - Spring 2022

The Flower Kings, Marillion, D'Virglio Morse Jennings, Pattern-Seeking Animals, Kaprekar's Constant 

There’s been a slew of important new album releases in the world of progressive rock this Spring, and several of them are quite noteworthy. Here’s my takes on the new albums I’ve been checking out recently.

The Flower Kings – By Royal Decree

This is the 15^th album from veteran Progressive rock band The Flower Kings, and 3^rd since their 2019 reformation with this current lineup. This is a double album, as each of their previous few have been as well, so it is quite expansive and contains a lot of music, 18 tracks of mostly shorter songs (thus, no long epics that they are somewhat known for) coming in at ~96 minutes of music. First, the album sounds great, and the musicianship and lush arrangements are superb throughout. The instrumental passages and sections within songs are the real highlight here, as they generally raise the level of the songs. Unfortunately, I have a bit of an issue with many of the songs themselves, particularly many of the verse and chorus sections, as they tend to be somewhat lackluster and just not very memorable. Overall, it’s quite pleasant and enjoyable, but not much more than that. For me, most of the songs pass by without generating much enthusiasm, doesn’t grab my attention, and just kind of fade into progressive background music. The album doesn't really take off until near the end of the first disc, with a great sequence of songs: 'We Can Make it Work' is a bright little pop ditty that is elevated by the unique instrumentation and wonderful arrangement (use of xylophone, various guitar fills, and vocals), followed by 'Peace on Parade', a great instrumental that shows what this band is capable of, too bad there are not more like this here, and then the disc closer 'Revolution', another album highlight. Disc 2 continues with hit and miss tracks, but includes several more highlights. So yes, overall, the album is quite good, and contains many great moments, but it is just not great overall. I do not think it measures up to their best work. There are several fine songs here, but also many just OK ones.  Best tracks: 'Peacock on Parade', 'Revolution', 'Evolution', 'We Can Make It Work', 'The Big Funk', 'Funeral Pyre', 'A Million Stars'. Weaker Tracks: 'World Gone Crazy', 'Blinded', 'The Soldier', 'The Darkness in You', 'Moth'. Rating: 3ó.

Marillion – An Hour Before It’s Dark

This is the 20^th studio album from Prog mainstays Marillion, but their first since F.E.A.R. in 2016. I have to admit that although I was a fan of the early days of Marillion (with vocalist Fish) in the ‘80’s, I haven’t really followed the band through the Steve Hogarth years, so was not very familiar with what the band has done in recent years. This album pushes forward presenting commentary on all the pressing issues of the day with an immersive sound and dark and moody atmosphere. But this album also offers a bit more hope than some of their previous ones, with very emotional and stirring lyrics and music. The album features four suites of songs covering 4 major themes, as well as a couple of standalone songs. Marillion fills the musical spaces with their own version of a wall of sound, as keyboards and synths fill the background creating a dark, flowing, moody atmosphere throughout. The music often reminds me of a somewhat gloomier version of those ‘80’s synth-pop bands like Tears for Fear and Talk Talk. At other times, there are definite similarities to U2, both in the music and emotional heft of the lyrics. There are certainly some powerful sections here and an immersive sound and feel throughout. One of the problems I have with it, however, is that it is a bit too much of that same brooding atmosphere throughout the entire album. And whether they are being somber and sad, rocking out, or being uplifted with a heavenly choir, the tempo barely changes, staying at the same slow mid-tempo pace. There is no question that these guys are very good at what they do, and they create lovely immersive soundscapes and emotionally charged moods. But, overall, it is just not my thing, and for me most of the songs go on a bit too long and without enough differences between the songs. However, the final epic suite, 'Care', is magnificent, and works beautifully, raising the entire album several notches. It starts with a funky beat and vibe reminiscent of Talking Heads and then proceeds through several different sections of ebbs and flows leading up to a magnificent soaring emotional finale. By far the highlight of the album, and possibly a highlight of the band’s career, as this one works on all levels. The rest of the album also has some stellar moments, but just not quite my cup of tea overall.  Still, a very good album, and I’m sure fans of this kind of sound will rate it much higher.  Best tracks: 'Care', 'Be Hard on Yourself'. Weaker tracks: 'Reprogram the Gene', 'Murder Machines'. Rating: 3.5ó

D'Virgilio, Morse, Jennings - Troika

This is a collaborative project between three illustrious veteran Prog rockers Nick D’Virgilio (Spock's Beard, Big Big Train), Neal Morse (Spock's Beard, Neal Morse band, Transatlantic, Flying Colors), and Ross Jennings (Haken), but the resulting album is not what may be expected from this union. Here, rather than creating a Prog epic, they break out their acoustic guitars, bongos, 3-part harmonies, and catchy pop-rock hooks, for a wonderfully light, breezy, and refreshing album, with many of the songs more reminiscent of Crosby, Stills, and Nash or America than anything from the Prog realm. It's a fun album, with clever arrangements, instrumentation, and vocal arrangements. The first 2/3 of the album keeps this light acoustic pop vocal feel. Later in the album they do start to rock a bit harder, especially on the much heavier 'Second Hand Sons', but these tracks are, surprisingly, less successful, and mainly serve to disrupt the flow and fun spirit of the rest of the album. Still, overall, a very good album and a nice change of pace from some of the rather downbeat and dreary music out there. Best tracks:  'Everything I Am',' Julia', 'You Set My Soul on Fire', 'Another Trip Around the Sun', 'If I Could', 'What You Leave Behind'. Weaker tracks: 'Second Hand Sons', 'My Guardian'. Rating: 3.5ó.

Pattern-Seeking Animals – Only Passing Through

This is the 3^rd album from Pattern-Seeking Animals, following their self titled (2019) and Prehensile Tales (2020) albums. The band was formed in 2018 and consists of current and former members and collaborators of Prog stalwarts Spock’s Beard, including guitarist and lead vocalist Ted Leonard, Dave Meros (bass), Jimmy Keegan (drums), and John Boegehold (synthesizers, guitar, mandolin). Apparently they formed to develop songs they were writing that didn’t necessarily quite fit for Spock’s Beard, which gave them opportunities to explore various other musical directions. They incorporate a lot of pop and power pop sensibilities in establishing great hooks, melodies, and vocals, but also mix in good bits of jazz, folk, classical, and film score prowess, but also never abandon their eclectic Prog approach (with plenty of odd-time curves and proggy instrumental breakouts) . Each successive album has been better than their previous one, and here on their third they really soar. Great stuff throughout. What I am most impressed with is how imaginative and inventive the songs and arrangements are. They put in whatever extra instrumentation and arrangement flourishes that will enhance each song (horns, mandolin, sitar, bassoon, violin, cello, specialty percussion).  Even the songs that seem like they will be relatively straight-forward pop/rock songs go into very interesting and unexpected directions (such as ‘Much Ado’, which starts out as an all-out rocker, and then drops into a cool acoustic vibe for the vocals and builds back into a rockin’ anthem). From the very opening notes of ‘Everdark Mountain’, I was hooked, with its unique dark woodland prog sound, and it just takes off from there. Although the album is a bit frontloaded (The very best songs are all in the 1^st 5 tracks), it is nonetheless great throughout, with the mini-epic ‘Time Has a Way’ probably the highlight. The album also includes two ‘bonus tracks’, which are also quite good, but I think it was a good call to classify these as bonus tracks and not an actual part of the album, as they are both a somewhat different style, and decidedly less ‘proggy’ than the rest of the album, with ‘I’m Not Alright’ being a straight rocker, and ‘Just Another Day at The Beach’ being a fun, lighter pop-rock ditty. Overall, this is certainly one of the best albums of the year so far, and was my fave of the year for a while, that is until I heard the next album (below). Best Tracks: 'Time Has a Way', 'Everdark Mountain', 'Much Ado', 'I Can’t Stay Here Anymore'. Weak Tracks: None. Rating 4.5ó.

Kaprekar’s Constant – The Murder Wall

Wow! What an unexpected fantastic gem of an album. This is the 3^rd album from Kaprekar’s Constant, a ‘musical collective’ from the UK started by childhood friends and multi-instrumentalists Al Nicholson and Nick Jefferson in 2017 that specializes in their own brand of ‘symphonic melodic progressive rock’ that features beautiful melodies, grand themes, lush arrangements, and great vocals, in addition to a passion for history and storytelling. And the results on this album are just fabulous. In addition to all the guitars, bass, piano, and keyboards provided by Nicholson and Jefferson, the band features wind player extraordinaire David Jackson (of Van der Graaf Generator) on all sorts of saxes, flutes, whistles, recorders, and just about anything he can blow into. Also featured are the dual lead vocalists Bill Jefferson and Dorie Jackson (daughter of David), who have contrasting vocal sounds and styles but blend well whether singing together or separately. Rounding out the band are Mike Westergaard on keyboards and Mark Walker on drums and percussion. And OK, no, I had never heard of these guys prior to about a month or so ago, but so glad I found them (thanks to an enthusiastic review from Scot at The Prog Corner (Youtube channel) I just had to check them out. Thanks Scot!). This is a concept album with all the songs dealing with stories about various attempts (both successful and unsuccessful) by mountaineers to scale the North Face of The Eiger Mountain, known as the Murder Wall, due to all those that have lost their lives on it. Although this may sound like a very dark theme, the music is anything but dreary, filled with beauty from simple melodies to majestic anthems. There are 17 individual relatively short songs (a total of 74 minutes of music), but many of the songs are part of multi-song suites, as the album tells the true stories of 6 different attempts to scale the mountain (dating from 1935 to 1962). But you don't necessarily need to follow or care about the lyrical content, as the beauty of the songs and arrangements carry the show (but you probably will want to find out more about these events after hearing the album, as the stories are quite compelling). Musically, probably the closest comparison to other contemporary bands would be Big Big Train, especially their more pastoral aspects, as they share Kaprekar's Constant's feel for beautiful melodies and arrangements, grand themes, as well as their penchant for British history and storytelling. Another band with some similar aspects might be Moon Safari. As far as more classic Prog bands, I can hear some similarities to bands such as Camel, Renaissance, and such works as Anthony Phillip's The Geese and The Ghost. Although maybe a bit too laid-back for many Prog fans (and this album is even a bit less ‘proggy’ than their previous albums), I found it to be brilliant and enthralling from start to finish, filled with such beautiful and inspiring music, it is just breathtaking. If you enjoy any of the bands mentioned here, you should really like this album. The music is quite accessible, with much in common with good pop-rock and folk-rock, but just much more thoughtful, elegant, and majestic than anything you would hear on the radio. It's hard to pick out the best tracks, because they all are great, and fit together to make the whole thing flow so well. It really needs to be heard in its entirety from beginning to end. For me, this is unquestionably the best album I've heard so far this year, and will be hard to beat on a best of the year list. Fantastic from start to finish. Best Tracks:  'Tall Tales by Firelight', 'Failure Takes Care of Its Own', 'Another Man's Smile', 'Hope in Hell', 'Third Man Down', 'A Silent Drum', 'The Stormkeeper;s Daughter', 'Endeavor/Mountaineers/Hall of Mirrors'. Weak tracks: None. Rating 5ó.

What did you think about any of these albums? Or are there other recently released albums that have been especially great for you? Let me know your picks and views.

BB’s Rating scale:

1ó – Terrible, torturous to have to listen to

1.5ó - Poor, not worth your time

2 ó – Fair, maybe a couple half-way decent songs, but sub-par overall

2.5ó – Average, OK, meh, not bad but not that good either

3ó – Good, solid album, several good songs, but not spectacular. Certainly worthy, but may not be something you come back to very often

3.5ó – Very good album. Some stellar tracks, very enjoyable overall

4ó – Great album, filled with great songs, one that you will want to come back to over and over again

4.5ó – Excellent album, beyond great, superb in every way, just short of a masterpiece 

5ó – A Masterpiece, among the greatest albums of its type, and has stood the test of time