Attrition: The Attrition of Reason & Esoteria
Avant guard gothy mixture of neo-classical and ambient, these two are released in perfect time for Halloween. You could do worse than have either one of these CDs on during your All Hallow’s Eve party. It's a bit Munsters and Adams Family but intriguing nonetheless. Atmospheric and odd, not exactly the type of music you put on to relax. There is a certain mood that suits this kind of music... you know it when you get it.
Gentle Giant: Santa Monica 1975
The title says it all really. These veteran proggers cited as influence to many heavy rock and prog bands in all their glory live in 1975. The recording isn’t the greatest and the acoustics are rubbish, but it is a live testament to an influential band that still has relevance. This is an EP of six songs plus two bonus tracks recorded live two years later: "For Nobody 1" and "For Nobody 2". Far more successful in the US and in Europe than in the UK; they still managed impact. However, this release is probably just for completists only.
Rick Wakeman: Out of the Blue &; Fields of Green
Two more releases from the great man; one with his son and the New English Rock Assemble. OftB is a quite impressive seven track affair. Okay, there are several songs in several of the tracks, as is his norm, with all the pomp so hated by the punks but done so well by Rick. This is a live recording from 2006 and really shows Wakeman in a good light. This is pretty spectacular stuff and a great listen.
I would even suggest that anyone interested in Wakeman’s solo stuff might want to start here first. Fields of Green on the other hand is a re-release and includes music composed by Wakeman for Election Night 1997. Considering Wakeman is a long-standing conservative, who got creamed that night, it must have been bittersweet. None the less a good release of Wakeman music, done in the studio and showing all his talents. A couple more great releases from the talented man’s huge history of recording.
Jon Anderson: Searching for the Songs
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