| # | Artist | Song (click to play) | Album | Year | CD label | My Gnosis Rating |
| 1 | Triumvirat | Old Loves Die Hard | Old Loves Die Hard | 1976 | EMI/Electrola | 11 |
|
Compared to most progressive music bands, Triumvirat is very slick
and highly produced. This album is richly orchestrated with layers
of piano, keys, synths, and choir-like vocals. This album may be
a disappointment for those who are looking for another _Illusions on
a Double Dimple_ or _Spartacus_, but I enjoy this album and _Pompeii_
very much in their own right as a different Triumvirat sound.
Triumvirat - Official Homepage | ||||||
| 2 | Tangerine Dream | Atem (excerpt) | Atem | 1973 | Castle Music | 14 (Mike's) |
|
"Atem was Tangerine Dream's last album for Ohr records, moving on afterwards
to Virgin records with a completely different sound. This still features all
the tripped out electronics, guitars and psychedelic bliss of their early
days including the side-long title track, featuring intense drums by Chris
Franke, great mellotron, and all-around unbridled invention. Perhaps not one
of their most immediate albums, it is still a classic study in atmosphere
and texturing." - Mike McLatchey
Tangerine Dream Home Page | ||||||
| 3 | Eden | Spatregen | Erwartung | 1978 | Pila Music | 10 |
| This is the first of 3 albums by Eden, a Christian symphonic progressive band. I have not heard the others, so do not know how they compare. This one has grown on me over the past couple of years. At first I had a hard time with it because of the German spoken word and vocals. But, now the music really shines through, which is quite good. The music is often comparable to lush symphonic bands like Eela Craig, Novalis or Renaissance, and sometimes adopting a more baroque style like Gryphon or Gentle Giant. | ||||||
| 4 | Carol of Harvest | Put On Your Nightcap (excerpt) | Carol of Harvest | 1978 | Poor House (boot cdr) | 10 |
| Symphonic folk-rock with very nice female vocals. I am reminded mostly of Barclay James Harvest by the compositional style and instrumentation. | ||||||
| 5 | Grobschnitt | Solar Music III | Solar Music - Live | 1978 | Metronome | 14 (Mike's) |
|
"Solar Music Live has sometimes been called the best live album of all time,
and often the best Grobschnitt. It was one of the band's signature pieces,
and strangely enough, for a very vocal-oriented band, mostly instrumental.
This is a guitar paradise, a 45-minute suite full of solos that resound over
a changing fabric of drums, bass and synths. As an introduction to
Grobschnitt, this is perhaps not quite representative of their zany
symphonic rock stylings, but, on the other hand, is arguably better for the
lack of them." - Mike McLatchey
Grobschnitt | ||||||