Progressive Rock

Over the past 20 years Australian progressive/alternative/underground rock of the early 1970s has taken on a huge cult collector following throughout the world. This is particularly so in Europe, where vast sums are paid for scarce original vinyl albums by such bands as Kahvas Jute, Galadriel, The Masters Apprentices, Fraternity, Blackfeather, Company Caine, Tamam Shud, Pirana, and New Zealand's Dragon - outfits which forged a distinctive Oz Rock sound that would eventually be embraced by an international mass audience.

Rhino has a history of doing things up right, but this time it's outdone itself. More than five hours of prog, from The Nice to Golden Earring, presented thoroughly and largely chronologically. Depending on your outlook, it's either heaven or hell. There's plenty here to occupy the idle, drug-riddled mind; some well known (Focus's "Hocus Pocus," ELP's "Knife Edge," Genesis) and some wonderfully obscure…

Famous among Progressive rock fans worldwide for being probably the classiest (and most complete) publication in this style, the Finnish magazine Colossus had the great idea to ask thirty bands of the whole world to illustrate the national Finnish epic: "Kalevala". It is made of old ballads and traditional songs, but is also part of a huge group of legends, which has inspired both J.R.R. Tolkien for his mythic "Lord Of The Rings" and composer Sibelius, among others. The idea that contributed to the creation of "Kalevala - A Finnish Progressive Rock Epic" was to use exclusively instruments of the Seventies, in order to obtain the "Aging" that the story needed. The result is absolutely stunning: three albums included in a box-set designed as beautifully as the famous Colossus covers. As for the music, the listener won't be disappointed! He'll be delighted to hear about four hours of sumptuous and rich (Vocal or instrumental) Progressive rock…

The Finnish progressive rock appreciation and fan society Colossus has been making a rather good name for itself in recent years, ever since it started issuing a line of project releases back in 2000. In collaboration with the legendary French record label Musea, more than a dozen concepts have been conceived, executed and issued. The first of these projects was named "Tuonen Tytär", a double CD featuring tributes to various Finnish artists from the golden age of progressive rock. Come 2009 and the second instalment of this particular project,"Tuonen Tytär" is at hand, a massive 3 CD box set, and as customary with a Colossus project production, a large, informative booklet…

Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era is a 5-CD compilation of progressive rock from around the world. It was curated by Archie Patterson of Eurock, and released by Rhino Records in 1996. The cover art is by Roger Dean, longtime cover artist for the genre. Reviews of the set generally note the difficulty of summarizing such a broad and far-reaching genre, as well as the obvious omission of several big-name bands whose music could not be licensed for inclusion. However, several lesser-known tracks from a broad variety of bands make the set an interesting listen.

Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era is a 5-CD compilation of progressive rock from around the world. It was curated by Archie Patterson of Eurock, and released by Rhino Records in 1996. The cover art is by Roger Dean, longtime cover artist for the genre. Reviews of the set generally note the difficulty of summarizing such a broad and far-reaching genre, as well as the obvious omission of several big-name bands whose music could not be licensed for inclusion. However, several lesser-known tracks from a broad variety of bands make the set an interesting listen.

One of the best know and best loved progressive rock groups appear on this compilation with a host of fellow prog rockers to create a uniquely compelling listening experience…

Number three in a string of projects produced by the French label Musea and the Finnish magazine Colossus, The Colossus of Rhodes is The Spaghetti Epic's twin. Both albums were started at the same time, both are two-CD sets consisting of six epics, both are based on movies by Sergio Leone. But this time around, the Colossus team opted for a rather obscure Leone work, a peplum movie that predates his spaghetti Western years…