Who remember's Ronnie Dio's "Hear n'Aid" single in the '80s?
Now there's to be a prog-rock equivalent. ProgAID's single "All Around The World", written by Rob Reed of Magenta, promises to feature a who's who of modern-day prog rock artists, representing bands such as Magenta, IQ, Karnataka, Shadow Gallery, The Flower Kings and Mostly Autumn.
ProgAID was set-up in the wake of the terrible earthquake and Tsunami disaster that tragically struck on the 26th December 2004. The sheer destruction and loss of human life was of a scale that shook the world. It was therefore decided, that maybe the Progressive Rock Community could do something, even in a small way, to help alleviate some of the suffering endured and therefore help towards the rebuilding of lives and communities.ProgAID at this point, is focused on this one particular cause, but now that it is up and running, our intention is to stay together and help where ever and whenever countries, communities and people need the support of people who care and want to help.
ALL monies paid to us go direct to the people we are aiming to help and your support is needed and appreciated. We thank you for visiting us and for being aware of situations that we can't control but can aid to put right.
It's being recorded at the end of January, and will be released some time in February. But will it be 20 minutes long, and will there be mellotrons on it?
Article comments
1 - Marty Dodge
Why don't they freaking re-release Hear' N' Aid on CD? I had that album and it was not that bad!
2 - Eric Olsen
if it doesn't noodle and meander in a most pretentious way I will be offended
3 - Tim Hall
Eric, Prog rockers don't do pretentious any more; they leave that to Indie. Some occasionally still do self-indulgent, especially if they're called The Flower Kings
4 - Eric Olsen
isn't there a certain amount of pretentiousness inherent in self-indulgence?
5 - Marty Dodge
Well I would agree that prog bands no longer do "pretentious bollocks" but can come durn close to pretentiousness quite often.
6 - Tim Hall
Before this gets bogged down in a futile argument about semantics, I don't see "Pretentious" and "Self-Indulgence" being quite the same thing, although it's quite common for something to be both at the same time.
Self-indulgence is endless noodling solos or triple albums on which only a third of the songs are any good.
Pretension is claiming what you're doing is much more profound and significant than it really is. Prog may have been guilty of this in the 70s, but I accuse some navel-gazing indie bands of being guilty of the same thing in the 80s, 90s and 00s...
7 - Eric Olsen
very clean and sharp distinction Tim, and best wishes to the proggers on this project!
8 - Tim Hall
Update from Jon (formerly of Karnataka, now of The Panic Room), who was laying down recordings over the weekend.
First, the single will indeed have mellotrons on it! Second, there are so many people involved, there may be four seperate versions of the song, each featuring different people.
No word yet of the release date.
9 - Marty Dodge
Wow, impressive. BTW: Tim you heard of a band called RPWL? Their latest release is stunning.
10 - Tim Hall
Never heard of RWPL; tell me more...
11 - Marty Dodge
I shall tell you loads more...wait for the review. It will be coming soon.