King Crimson Arena

Upon its release, the 1973 LP Brain Salad Surgery had been hailed as Emerson, Lake & Palmer's masterpiece. A long tour ensued that left the trio flushed and begging for time off. Before disbanding for three years, they assembled a three-LP live set (something of a badge of achievement at the time, earned by Yes in 1973 with Yessongs and, somewhat more dubiously, Leon Russell with Leon Live)…

The final classic album by this pioneering French band is also, not without coincidence, one of their best, representing the last flowering of Golden Age Progressive ideology before the Punk Rock revolution pushed it rudely off the musical map …

The period cover by this collection was of course Asia's halcyon days when they were a true supergroup who's members origins included ELP, YES, KING CRIMSON, URIAH HEEP, etc.. Asia are the subject of great controversy among prog fans, with many feeling that with such a strong and talented line up, they should have created prog masterpieces to surpass their peers…

The group's debut album, ASIA, was released 26 years ago in 1982, and remains one of only 4 albums in history to stay at the Billboard album chart position of #1 for a staggering nine weeks! Formed at the dawn of the MTV era, ASIA was the first super group of the 1980s, featuring members from Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and The Buggles. Videos made for the band's first two albums, Asia and Alpha, were a staple part of the historic music channel's initial programming. ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC captures the best of Asia featuring Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer and John Payne…

When Rush issued Vapor Trails in 2002, they revealed that – even after Neil Peart's personal tragedies in the 1990s had cast the group's future in doubt – they were back with a vengeance. The sound was hard-hitting, direct, and extremely focused. Lyrically, Peart went right after the subject matter he was dealing with – and it was in the aftermath of 9/11 as well, which couldn't help but influence his lyric writing…

Frank Us and his friends have created a debut album that delivers an enormous bandwidth and that was clearly inspired by the golden era of progressive rock. Bands like ELP, Genesis, Marillion, UK, Yes, Rush, the early Queen or King Crimson were the influences that cemented Frank's love for this genre. "Con Brio" features many big names in the scene: Marco Minnemann (UK, Steven Wilson), Steve Morse (Deep Purple), Todd Sucherman (Styx), Steve Rothery and Mark Kelly (Marillion) and John Mitchell (Arena, Cinema), to name but a few…