I am a big fan of Agusa, the outstanding prog rockers from Malmö, Sweden. Their last album “Prima Materia” was a masterpiece as was their self titled album. They are heavily influenced by old school prog, you know flutes, organs, longer songs. I was excited to hear they had another new album coming out called “Noir.” But noticed it had 20 tracks. Hmmm. “Noir” is a soundtrack for the film ”Malmö Noir.” Stylistically it’s still very music Agusa. But the ideas and themes don’t quite get fleshed out since there are some extremely short songs on here. 2 minutes, sometimes less. It also sounds like ..read more

If you know who Ihsahn is, it’s because you love what he does. Those familiar with black metal or extreme prog metal know this incredible artist. Odds are if you aren’t into those styles of music, you aren’t going to suddenly like Ihsahn’s self titled album. At least not in it’s “traditional” format. Ihsahn is a guitarist/vocalist known for being the leader of Emperor and for having one of the most harrowing black metal voices ever. I’ve been a fan for many years now so honestly there is nothing that he can do wrong in my opinion. This self titled album is more proof. But let’s get back to wha ..read more

Many bands don’t recover from the death of a lead vocalist. Especially when it’s someone who also wrote a good chunk of the band’s songs. Big Big Train lost David Longdon on November 20, 2021. They were preparing to release “Welcome to the Planet” at the beginning of the following year. Ultimately that album served as a glorious farewell to an extremely talented and unique singer. The band were at a crossroads. They were arguably as popular as they’d ever been yet they had to decide if they could continue and if so, how? Enter the multi-talented Alberto Bravin of PFM from Italy for the new alb ..read more

When last we heard from Jim Matheos and Ray Alder, they had given the world the final Fates Warning album, “Long Day Good Night.” It seemed like the two wouldn’t be working on new music again. Little did we know they would! North Sea Echoes is a new collaboration between these two and while it does have the Fates Warning DNA running through it (especially Disconnected), it brings an OSI vibe as well. “Really Good Terrible Things” is a dark and moody album, not heavy in a metallic sense but in an emotional sense, it is heavy. What’s in a name really? The bottom line is this proves the chemistry ..read more

When I started the Facebook page, it was called “Progressive Music Page.” Nothing clever. I was trying to have a basic catch all name for “prog.” It wasn’t until I added the radio show that it had to be changed to “Progressive Music Planet.” The important word to me was “music.” I didn’t want rock or metal. I wanted all types. The progressive part was of course to bring people in, I guess. It also became the biggest problem. What people consider to be “progressive” or “prog” varies wildly. I prefer to loop in many styles that are somewhat fringe by definition. Part of this was because I like v ..read more

When I got into music as a kid, I didn’t know anything about musical genres. I just listened to whatever sounded good to me. Innocence. But then getting a “favorite band” meant having some sort of standard where anything not similar to them wasn’t cool. Then it was more about the style of music and not one band per se. Which subsequently led me down a path more and more. In the process I distanced myself from bands and genres that didn’t fit this narrow minded view. It was more about fitting a mold than music that I legitimately enjoyed. Having a public facing, opinion driven platform that con ..read more

I’ve been a fan of The Pineapple Thief since 2002. It has taken a while for the world to catch on to Bruce Soord and team but adding Gavin Harrison to the band has definitely helped with visibility. Initially Harrison was a hired gun but now he co-writes with Soord so this is a true collaboration. “It Leads to This” is the fifth album with Harrison (not including “8 Years Later”) and the fourth with him as a full member. The biggest thing that I noticed was the length of the album and the songs. The album is 41 minutes long and the longest track is a second under 6 minutes. Neither the album n ..read more

I’ve never hid my displeasure with some of the things Mike Portnoy has said and done over the years. I thought the majority of the music Dream Theater did with Mike Mangini was as good as anything they did. But I do understand this move on a business level. I think Mangini got screwed but he is handling it like a pro. But the keys for me are: Will Portnoy be willing and able to play the songs that Mangini did? Sorry but as good as Portnoy is, some of those songs are fucking insane. That will be interesting. The new album better be on par with the last 2 albums and not cut n paste bullshit lik ..read more

I hated the last two solo albums that Steven Wilson released. Not because of whatever genre he wanted to do. Rather, it was just that they weren’t up to standards in the song department. Wilson is a great songwriter and had always written great pop hooks, regardless of if the song was actually “prog.” The reason that the last Porcupine Tree album worked for me was not just the style but the songs were strong. The album included styles that PT hadn’t tried. It worked. So now Wilson is back with another solo album. Yes I was VERY apprehensive. “The Harmony Codex” is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. S ..read more

When is a Threshold album not a Threshold album? When it’s a sequel to their double concept album “Legends of the Shires,” but performed by Threshold keyboardist and writer Richard West with a backing band, known as Oblivion Protocol. West brought the sequel “The Fall Of The Shires” to his bandmates in Threshold and they decided to pass on it. The band proceeded to release “Divided Lines” instead. Undaunted, West asked them if they would mind if he pursued it as a solo project. Threshold gave the blessing. And now we have an odd situation where a follow up to a concept album is technically don ..read more