T.A.P. "Paradigms" ALBUM REVIEW [Explorative Prog Rock Instrumental]

by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog Media     (Album released October 2023)

I remember my dad had one of the albums by The Ventures in the family collection. It's an instrumental surf-themed rock band from the '60s. Boy, how far we've come in the instrumental rock genre!

T.A.P. is a studio project featuring musicians from various parts of the world who are fluent in the rhythmic and musical language of progressive rock. They share a few things in common: good jam-sense and exceptional creativity. 

What's most interesting to me about this album is its richness and variety and the adventurous spirit that animates it. If you're looking for a jazz fusion album, this is not it, though there are some splashes of jazz. In fact I don't recall hearing that many instrumental prog themed records that are not dominated by jazz-rock. So T.A.P. manages to stay mostly away from those more commonly taken pathways and instead offers up truly unique musical vistas by leaning into ambient, ethnic, blues and psychedelic influences. 

The album meanders purposefully like a smooth volcanic lava flow from tune to tune, from idea to idea, never repeating itself, never treating any one idea as too precious not to follow and see where it takes its host musician. Be it Mike Jobborn on keyboards, synth, soundscapes, drum programming, or Mark Cook on the Stick-like Warr guitar, guitars, basses, drums, soundscapes, synths, samples or strings. Then you've got Suzi James on guitars, basses, oud, flute, random percussion and Gayle Ellett covering keyboards such as Hammond, Moog and mellotron (Ellett is from another instrumental prog band that apparently I need to look into called Djam Karet). A couple of tracks feature drummers in the flesh: Paul Sears (track 5) and Bill Bachman (track 8).  The tracks with drum programming are so good that I was fooled. 

I won't use the word 'metal' as a descriptive here either because the music is couched in rock and hard rock in general. This will be a plus to those who are not fans of djent or super-dense Dream Theater-type electric guitar distortion (just hints of it in parts). 

Prog dog scores this impressive album a solid 3 and 1/2 bones out of 5 bones. I would have given it 4 except we really value drummers in the flesh on all of the tracks if at all possible. We really do love this CD though. It commands your full attention and isn't a 'put it on and ignore it' album just because it's fully instrumental. (Correction: there are some vocalizations on a track or two that are ethereal and used for effect.) There's plenty here to 'study'. It has plenty of musical meat and potatoes and is a rare instrumental offering that proves you don't always have to rely on jazz tropes (except for a bit here and there) to create an instrumental prog buffet. So bring your appetite to this table of solid offerings, it's sure to fill you up. 

my YouTube video version review is here...

Genesis "...Calling All Stations..." ALBUM REVIEW [pop rock/bit of prog] (1997)

by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog Media  (album released 1997)

I had fun reviewing this album. It's one of the few remaining puzzle pieces of the Genesis discography that I had never heard and was hardly aware of til recently. 

It's their last studio album and featured a new lead singer due to the fact that Phil Collins left the band, and before that Peter Gabriel also had embarked on a successful solo career. 

I was surprised how '80s' it sounded being release late in the 90s. Perhaps too early to be retro-80s for America at least where it barely charted and sold poorly. However it did a 'solid decent' in Europe with a tour and some charting success. It was not a success compared to earlier Genesis blockbusters and therein lay its demise in the minds of Rutherford and Banks perhaps. If they'd stuck it out and committed to at least a 3 album run I'm sure there would could have built on the more modest success, because Calling All Stations 'aint that bad of an album. It showed much promise: people would eventually have warmed up to the new singer Ray Wilson's voice which is quite good really. 

However it has to be said Wilson's voice, great as it is, initially didn't fit the Genesis 'brand'. They had 2 singers who have super-unique vocal timbres and could have chosen someone with an equally out-of-the-ordinary sound. Wilson has a more 'standard' or universal-sounding voice. A few more albums as a unit and they could have ironed that out but Rutherford and Banks chose to quit instead, which is a shame. Wilson says he didn't get to have much input into the songs either. 

So let's get to the album which is quite long with 11 songs clocking in at over an hour- some are stronger tracks (like the title track and the 8 minute There must be some other way are some of my faves) and some are weaker tracks (like Ship Wrecked, Not About Us with its boring acoustic guitar intro and committee-written feel). Repeat listens do improve this album. One word that has always applied to Genesis is 'epic', and not just the prog pieces. Pop rock was turned into epic pop prog-tinged rock by bands like Genesis, Saga, Asia and Yes in the 80s. Calling All Stations should have been more consistent in its' epicness- that would be an easy standard to weigh which tracks should be tossed or re-tooled.

I did find myself wondering 'what ever happened to Rutherford's epic bass playing?' on this album. He used to be one of the best- right up there with Chris Squire- in the 70s. Now he just bumps along on all the root notes with very little adventurousness. Oh well....

Another thing I noticed while listening to this album I that I was reminded of a band I've been discovering recently called Pattern-Seeking Animals - and also Spock's Beard- whose drummer, Nick D'Virgilio is all over this album (along with Nir Zidkyahu). 

On tracks like The Divding Line Phil Collins' ghost hangs in the air with the production choices featuring the big drum sounds he carved out with producer Hugh Padgham in the 80s. Kind of part of the whole Genesis brand as well. 

So yes, there's more 80s than 90s here, and basically zero 70s Genesis feels. If you were an 80s Genesis fan, and you are open to a new singer, you might be surprised and should enjoy this album with repeat listens. It's not garbage! It holds together and keeps it interesting melodically (the occasional boring bits zoom by quickly). It's nicely produced overall and I believe is a 'decent solid' effort by Rutherford/Banks plus the 'new guy'. They should have tried at least one more album together. I like it. Prog dog score is 3 out of 5 bones. 

Video version of this review on prog dog channel here: https://youtu.be/0fH38j3vpcE

Trevor Rabin "RIO" ALBUM REVIEW [prog-pop rock/eclectic]

by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog Media    (album released October 6, 2023)

In a press release about his new album 'Rio' Rabin stated: “I wanted to get into many different areas. Of course there are ‘prog things’, but overall there are a lot of styles going on.” So he's softening the blow to those expecting 40 solid minutes of 'Yes 2.0' minus Jon Anderson and crew. 

I can easily classify as one of those Yes nerds with unrealistic expectations, so let's do this review from that perspective: It sucks! No! I'm just kidding! It's actually very good! Perhaps not on the first listen as much due to the album's diversity, but like any good album, repeat listens have been required to catch it all for what it is- a bunch of Trevor's songs. 

After the first couple of tracks that have all the satisfying flavours of Big Generator/Talk and Union era Yes (and get revisited throughout the album) we move into the 'other styles' Trevor was talking about. Most surprisingly perhaps are the fierce chicken plucking tracks and even one track that is downright country western- but not to worry, Trevor screws around with them so much - in a good way- as to satisfy most prog fans. 

There are plenty of jazzy moments as well...and bluesy moments. Trevor totally owns all of these moments. His vocals are satisfying to listen to - he can still really belt it out and serve it all up with his own winsome style. His ceaselessly good....no, great guitar work dominates the album- and it's downright awe inspiring. This album reminded me of how much I miss Trevor's guitar work. There's steel string acoustics in some songs too. 

The prog dog score is 4 out of 5 bones. A pleasantly surprising energetic and radiant album. It feels a bit disparate or project-like as solo albums often tend to be. He's not the next Sting or Phil Collins- two examples of singers who broke free of famous bands and styled their own stand-alone brand. Mostly Rabin comes across as a hard-working remarkably great guitarist and creative songwriter/producer who sings well and he does it all in good fun. 

Trevor obviously enjoyed creating this album. That gets communicated well in the final product. You can also feel the ghost of Chris Squire hanging over this album, and Alan White in parts too. Open minded Yes fans should enjoy what Trevor offers- cool, twisty, catchy songs sprinkled with proggy pop delights and sensibilities.

Link to the video review: https://youtu.be/Bt9weC-mL78