To Follow Polaris’ is a new "full on" Progressive Rock album by The Tangent. That's not necessarily a surprise…that's what the band are known for. But at the same time, it's something else too. In a year when members of The Tangent could be seen onstage all over the world with Steve Hackett, Soft Machine, Karnataka, David Cross, It Bites, Cyan and others, it became clear that there was not going to be time to get together for anything more than one gig in April 2023. So the band agreed that leader/main writer Andy Tillison would keep the material coming and would make an album by The Tangent entirely alone. It would still be The Tangent. For One.
In the twentieth year of the band's existence, The Tangent are pleased to announce their 12th studio album, Songs From The Hard Shoulder. This album sees The Tangent focusing almost entirely on their long format songs or "epics" with only one song being less than 16 minutes long. A very mature sounding record, the band have audibly focused on the compositional structure of this album which in the case of the three long pieces is also highly complex and "thought out". From a luscious and uplifting song about loneliness in Covid lockdown, to a full on 17-minute long jazz/prog/canterbury fusion instrumental, to a darkly electronic story of a homeless woman with shades of Nine Inch Nails, Po90, Japan and Van Der Graaf lurking within.
Addressing the effect that technological advances have had on society during the past 100 years, British prog rock outfit the Tangent's sixth studio album, Comm, shows that the band's ever-changing lineups haven't diluted their epic prog rock ambitions. Their first release since guitarist Luke Machin and drummer Tony Latham joined bassist Jonathan Barrett, saxophonist Theo Travis, and ever-present frontman Andy Tillison may only feature five tracks, but clocking in at nearly an hour, doesn't exactly suffer from a shortage of ideas. The cleverly titled opener, "The Wiki Man," is a sprawling 20-minute fusion of '70s proggy synths, vintage winding guitar solos, and dial-up modem bleeps, complete with several instrumental breakdowns, that highlights the pros and cons of the Internet age, while the equally lavish closer, "Titanic Calls Carpathia," is a 16-minute cinematic symphony…
Progressive rock, for the most part, has not been known for having a strong sense of humor. It was shaped, after all, by musicians who believed that if third stream jazz musicians could exalt Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Chopin as their idols, there was no reason why rock musicians shouldn't do the same. But Not as Good as the Book is a prog rock release that definitely has a sense of humor; in fact, humor is a vital part of this CD set. A highly conceptual effort, Not as Good as the Book is written from the perspective of aging baby boomers who lived to see the 21st century and are not happy with the ways in which the world has changed. Historically, most rock music - from punk to rockabilly to grunge - has been very youth-focused. But on this release, the Tangent offer the perspective of middle-aged boomers whose youthful idealism has been replaced by cynicism and pessimism - boomers who, back in the '60s and '70s…
In the twentieth year of the band's existence, The Tangent are pleased to announce their 12th studio album, Songs From The Hard Shoulder. This album sees The Tangent focusing almost entirely on their long format songs or "epics" with only one song being less than 16 minutes long. A very mature sounding record, the band have audibly focused on the compositional structure of this album which in the case of the three long pieces is also highly complex and "thought out". From a luscious and uplifting song about loneliness in Covid lockdown, to a full on 17-minute long jazz/prog/canterbury fusion instrumental, to a darkly electronic story of a homeless woman with shades of Nine Inch Nails, Po90, Japan and Van Der Graaf lurking within. The album's final track is the 4 minute bouncy Motown-style track "Wasted Soul", where the band anticipate a wonderful day in the future when the pandemic is over forever. Early editions and the Vinyl Edition will include the bonus track "In The Dead Of Night" which is of course a cover version of the classic song by UK.
L'Étagere Du Travail is a companion album to the 2013 release "Le Sacre Du Travail" and is only available on CD. No Vinyl Edition exists! This album is a Fan-Only release and is exclusive. Although the quality is high, these are demos nonetheless. Most of the instruments are played by Andy Tillison. Includes full extended version of "Dialogue du vent et de la mer" by Claude Debussy (featuring Luke Machin on guitar) as well as songs taken from an aborted Tangent album. Album comes in Digipack Case with colour cover. Number 2 in the bands Shelved Work Series. Also includes several revisited tracks!
The 7th studio album is a large scale orchestral/rock band hybrid. The Tangent is a Progressive Rock Band from Northern England. Based around keyboards player, composer and idiosyncratic vocalist Andy Tillison Diskdrive. Their music is cinematic and lyrical, full of narrative, often telling stories or making observations about the world we live in - often choosing subject matter more associated with Anarcho-Punk bands than with the genre in which the band choose to base themselves. "No Hobbits or Orcs in our songs" The band have, for 12 years now, released a steady output of well regarded albums through their record label Insideout Music. At the time of writing, the band's eighth studio album "A Spark In The Aether" is in production in four locations in two countries.