Do you remember the progressive rock of the Seventies? It was the Age of the Concept Album with meaningless meanderings about Oceans of a Topographical nature. The sheer irrelevance of the subject matter to a boy like me growing up and finding out about girls, motorbikes, and partying was astounding. Music had been taken from three-minute songs about love, desire, and dreams into twenty minute Science Fantasy dirges.
Given that scenario, Punk wasn't a revolution. It was just reclaiming music back into teenage territory again. It could ask questions like "have you ever fallen in love?" rather than "have you seen the vermilion sands on Saturn's moons?".
And yet, there was something lost. Maybe it was the ability to fantasize, to allow a glimpse of things beyond our experience. The ability of music to take you on a trip to a place you would never visit and to allow you to feel the wonder in your emotional reaction. Of course, we still found it in Joy Division's reclamation of the insubstantial but denied that we were listening to the musical equivalent of Science Fiction. After all these years, it is time somebody reclaimed the concept/fantasy space for us mere mortals who only understand the emotional hit. Phideaux steps forward...
This is not a revival of old Prog Rock where technique and concept ruled, but a use of the vehicle to express emotional turmoil. The music is closer to early Bowie's "Cygnet Committee" and "The Man Who Sold The World" than the technocratic Yes, and it is all filtered through understanding of the creations of Siouxie, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Cure. I can guarantee that anyone who has ever loved Van Der Graaf Generator or Peter Hammill's solo work will find inspiration in this. We are introduced to a world of fleeing from rising waters, secret Government agencies, Armageddon, and The Rapture. Of course it's overblown and, some might even venture, pretentious. It's time to stop pretending that dark magnificence can have no effect on us.
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Nice Review...
I like your ability to describe your feelings about a release without giving away the essence of the album, though, I would probably stick to referring to Phideaux's material as merely psychedelic.
To me,in my opinion, it doesn't sound like it breaks any new ground to be considered pioneering and the landscape that technical musicianship has to offer isn't even close to being touched here to be called progressive, other, than maybe using the word "Progressive" from it's definition in the dictionary...But, again, that's my opinion and I definitely don't dislike this album as it is new to me and I appreciate when writers review new material as opposed to the same 'ol mainstream BS...
Again, Nice Review...
2 - Tim Hall
Is it possible for you to review any album like this without starting out with two whole paragraphs of tired cliches that have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual album?
The rest of the review is actually quite good, but I very nearly stopped reading after that beginning.
3 - Coolnoise
Thanks Brian. Yes, Psychedelic is a good description. I concentrated on the 'Prog Rock' idea because it kind of died in the 70s (not progressive music itself).
Sorry Tim. I probably haven't been reading enough over the past 30 years but I didn't think Punk was normally classified as a return to normality in muso cliches. I think I maybe over-laboured the point because of all of my years of searching for noisy Alt-Rock, and Phideaux (on this and his previous albums) has reminded me that allegorical/fantastic music can reach me as well.
4 - Tim Hall
Prog-rock didn't really die in the 70s, it just went underground. If anything, it's in better health now than for many years.
The reason I reacted as I did to your opening paragraphs is that it read like a boiler-plate rant from someone like Tony Parsons or Paul Morley. Large sections of the British media endlessly repeat their revisionist 'rock narrative' despite the fact it's based on stupid generational prejudice.
Judging the whole of 70s progressive rock on the worst excesses of Yes and ELP is like judging all 70s disco on Boney M.
5 - zingzing
"Judging the whole of 70s progressive rock on the worst excesses of Yes and ELP is like judging all 70s disco on Boney M."
truth.
"Prog-rock didn't really die in the 70s, it just went underground."
true and not true. prog withered under punks onslaught, but as soon as punk became a parody of itself, prog wormed its way in to revitalize the genre that had come so close to killing it. as early as '77, wire were signed to the harvest label making arty punk rock, and by '78 the same band had moved on to punky art rock.
the best parts of prog resurfaced in post-punk's vocabulary, better for the near-death experience.
and paul morley rocks. helluva writer.
6 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
As I have to, kind of, agree with Mr. Hall, I do also agree that "Prog Rock" in it's truest essence did die in the 70's because in the 80's alot of musicians who were influenced by those bands also focused on the jazz element that alot of the "Prog Rock" bands toyed with. Thus, in my opinion, I feel that the Progressive Metal movement created an outlet for musicians to re-visit that genre with a instinct that people would be thrilled to hear their contributions.
But, I do agree with Tim that alot of the Media, I can only speak for the US,truly don't have a clue about music in general nevermind any kind of underground scene.
7 - zingzing
prog rock's "truest" essence certainly wasn't rick wakeman's version of it. i would argue that 70's prog's best face was put forward by artists like eno (and roxy music), bowie, reed, wyatt (though not much of soft machine), the residents, etc.
a lot of that kind of stuff infiltrated the mainstream (at least in the uk), doing loads of damage throughout the 80's.
8 - Coolnoise
zingzing, I think you're mixing up 'influenced by Prog' and 'Prog'. You are mentioning all of the music I listened to and loved. But when faced with a list like Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, ELP, and Pink Floyd then I think the true horror of what it became can be expressed.
Did you notice how I carefully removed Van Der Graaf Generator from that list? They have always been my guilty secret and in-between the Pixies, Nirvana, Sonic Youth gigs I would always make time to see Peter Hammill play live again and again.
Maybe I should rewrite and begin the review with "My name is Dave and I love Prog Rock"...
9 - zingzing
nah. "influenced by prog?" influenced by progression? prog-rock was slowly defined as its worst excesses, when nothing could be further from the truth.
"progressive" isn't a genre, it's an attitude, an ambition.
are you saying eno wasn't progressive? that robert wyatt wasn't out-n-out prog-rock? or are you talking about my wire reference?
i'm no fan of fusions, and in my book there is nothing worse than taking pop-lite versions of classical music and putting it a pompous rock rhythm. fucking terrible.
the real progressive music of the 70's survived and mutated along with the rest of 70's music.
10 - Coolnoise
I think I just termed it 'experimental' myself. I suspect you and me are very close in musical terms.
Regarding structure though, are you be afraid of a 'concept album' that is a part of a 'trilogy'? I am, but I just like what Phideaux does. I remember John Peel playing Wire's "Crazy About Love" for the first and being really uncertain about playing a 15 minute song. At least it gve him a decent toilet break, but he worried that it was a sign of a return to the excesses of the past.
11 - zingzing
concept albums are always better when they are more about an idea, rather than a story. case in point: the residents.
commercial album and third reich n roll were much better than the mole trilogy, and, in my opinion, also better than eskimo (though only barely) and god in three persons (although that's only "because i don't get it" i am sure).
i'm not really too keen on concept albums overall, and trilogies are really excessive... but i don't mind the long songs.
that said, i don't think i've ever heard "crazy about love." but i did listen to "sister ray" and some really long, disturbing current 93 song today.
12 - zingzing
and 'experimental' is always a better term. "prog" has come to mean something that it never should have... it's because some of it got popular, i suppose.
can, most certainly a prog group, directly influenced pil, who directly influenced sonic youth, who directly influenced liars. therefore, can, and prog, live on.
13 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Seeing how I come from the other end of the spectrum and didn't care too much for the rock aspect of "Prog Rock", I can totally agree that the term progressive is too limiting. I do like the term fusion & experimental. Ofcourse, being the metalhead that I am with somewhat an attention deficit, I love concept albums as long as they cover plenty of different styles. What I truly love is when an artist pays respect to different genres and plays them accordingly while he/she mixes it up. I guess, in other words, when they truly blend the styles so that you can hear the differences...
14 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites.