When RS Tangent

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 But on this release, the Tangent offer the perspective of middle-aged boomers whose youthful idealism has been replaced by cynicism and pessimism - boomers who, back in the '60s and '70s…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.

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…

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.

The Tangent is a collaboration between British keyboardist and singer Andy Tillison and several moonlighting members of Sweden's Flower Kings. The band's overall sound is distinctly British, though, drawing heavily on the mystical Canterbury Scene of progressive rock and, equally heavily, on the sounds of 1970s jazz fusion. The world is divided into two kinds of people: those for whom this sounds like a description of heaven and those who would rather have their brains eaten by monkeys. Neither school will be surprised by anything on this album, which features dramatic vocals, inward-looking lyrics and lots of elegantly drawn-out guitar and keyboard solos, and on which the average track length is about 12 minutes.

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!

For this project, members of the Flower Kings (guitarist Roine Stolt, bassist Jonas Reingold, and drummer Zoltan Csorsz) and one ex-member of Van der Graaf Generator (sax player David Jackson) team with the core of Parallel or 90 Degrees (singer/keyboardist Andy Tillison, guitarist Guy Manning, and keyboardist Sam Baine), hence the name of the group. Parallel, tangent – take a few seconds to figure it out. Stolt and Tillison share an undisputable love for old-school symphonic prog rock and epic songs. They indulge in both here. "In Darkest Dreams" is the main course, an eight-part, 20-minute suite that adds some of the Flower Kings' bright colors to Po90s usually darker (VDGG-esque) delivery.

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.

This is the difficult third album with which they overshoot the mark and risk to escape their roots… but they don’t care". Andy Tillison, singer, songwriter, and keyboardist of the Swedish-British prog rock group The Tangent pulls his own leg and at the same time kiddingly prepares the gentle listener for a few changes. However, the innovations A Place In The Queue can offer, one and a half year after the brilliant The World That We Drive Through, will send every fan into raptures. A Place In The Queue is not really a concept album but all songs deal with the idea that our place in society is similar to a queue where everybody lines up.

The world of contemporary prog seems to solidify on bands who either comply to the museum piece values of the 1970s progressive rock or make it a priority to deny being a part of the movement at all - and then there’s The Tangent, an English progressive rock outfit, which wears a plethora of hats simultaneously. In short, the band plays modern symphonic prog somewhat similar to Spock's Beard and The Flower Kings, taking the occasional stab at the classic Canterbury blend of jazz and rock. Apart from the obvious vintage prog influences, you can hear subtle traces of bands such as The Isley Brothers, Steely Dan, and Return to Forever. That is to say, The Tangent is eclectic prog of the finest caliber…