by Dean Wolfe, prog dog media. Album release 2025/ first physical media release 2026.
Finally luxurious prog rock you can slow (and medium) dance to!
The Sunday Goose, an original sounding Dutch progressive/symphonic rock band from the Netherlands, was originally founded in 2009 by keyboardist Bram van Risp, who wanted to set up a progressive rock project. Finally, here it is: Where My Heart Lies, their debut album which was criminally kept hidden on a shelf in a Windmill somewhere in the Netherlands for almost 15 years.This is an album which fills a mostly empty niche in the progressive rock canons--and in suggesting it be called soft-prog I don't mean weak or wimpy. It's music on a high order of quality, like silk sheets with a very high thread count.
Yes, you can actually put this album on the turntable and serve your special partner a romantic candle-lit home-cooked meal!
It's so funny that I first listened through this album for the first time early on Sunday morning given the band's name The Sunday Goose. I just happened to wake up too early in the morning to actually get up and out of bed, and so I scanned my emails and came across this album via a Bad Dog Media promo and was struck by the cover art and name of this band I'd not heard of before.
The music is quite gorgeous and intricate throughout. Ly's vocals are a treat, rich as they are with emotional strength (the promo material does not provide a last name: just Ly). An obviously natural singer her voice is world class. She works in the tradition of Sting: lead vocals plus holding down the rhythm section playing her Music Man bass. Oh, and the odd Moog Taurus pedals...not unlike Geddy Lee?
There are some adventurous inter-song transitions reminiscent of classic Pink Floyd. There are plenty of gorgeous keyboards gracing the songs throughout the album.
Fave track- Time. This track does rock out in parts. The composition is representative of the entire album- taking the music down unexpected paths. Some of the guitar work is recalling one of my favourite guitarist Steve Hackett of Genesis. There's some gorgeous acoustic guitar work too. Much of the analog synth work reminds me a bit of Tony Banks work with Genesis as well, with healthy doses of Melotron. Plus classic acoustic piano sections.
The album is so well produced- I would dare to say near perfectly done. I don't feel there was much more they could have added but perhaps they could have edited the length just a hair (minor quibble!).
Certainly fans of Magenta will embrace The Sunday Goose as well- another prog band with strong female lead vocalist
There's moments that raise the hair on the back of your neck like a string section in the 8 minute track 'Oceans'. Any album can benefit by as many tiny-hair-raising moments as possible!
These are the kind of discoveries I live for: when your expectations were just blank or vacant- and you trip across something that just excites you down to your soul. It's been happening a lot to me lately, which tells me we are living in a time of prog rock renaissance. And mostly it's happening on a small scale necessarily as this niche genre is not as massively adopted and popular as it was in the early 70s when albums with side long songs were selling in the millions and filling stadium-sized concert venues.
With the more album reviews I do I am figuring out why an album deserves a high score. I definitely rate them as a whole- the best albums having zero 'skip-it' or 'filler' tracks. I see albums as an art form to be judged from the first grooves on side A to the final groove of side B. And so it is not really a competition with other artists as much as it is judging whether the album is a fulfilment of its' own promise. I can't see any other score than 4 1/2 out of 5 prog dog bones. Bravo guys: great album.
The bonus track 'My Town' is super-cool and gets a 'hit repeat' award for catchiness. It could have been great official album track. I suppose the production sounded a little different than the rest of the album? For example in parts the vocals sounded 'cloudier' in recording quality, but regardless it's notable for its originality, hints of reggae drum textures, and clever guitar rhythms.
Based on some of the promo material The Sunday Goose has invested a lot of time and work into this album. All that were involved are talented and deserve more recognition.
(author's note: This review is A.I.- free. Occasionally I have used A.I. to help clarify a paragraph here or there, but not in this one.)
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