Progressive Rock 90,s

The Visitor is the third studio album by the British progressive band Arena, released in 1998. One of prog's great records of the 90's and beyond. With The Visitor Arena became a 'real' band, not just a Clive Nolan (Pendragon) project with ex original Marillion drummer Mick Pointer. Now with their best ever line up that included John Mitchel on guitar, John Jowitt (IQ, Jadis) on bass and vocalist Paul Wrightson they produced one of prog's masterpieces of all time. This concept album about a man facing a near death experience is really thrilling, both musically and lyrically.

After the breakup of Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1978, Greg Lake set out to launch a solo career. He teamed up with guitar virtuoso Gary Moore and enlisted the talents of Bruce Springsteen's sax player, Clarence Clemmons, as well as Toto veterans Steve Lukather, David Paich, and Jeff Porcaro. The result was his 1981 self-titled debut album. After more than a decade with prog-rock legends ELP and King Crimson, it is clear Lake was looking for a musical change and a chance to perform as a guitarist, his primary instrument, after more than a decade mainly playing bass.

One of the first progressive bands from Brazil, O Terço (meaning rosary beads) first formed in 1968, but didn't hit its stride until the mid '70s. Personnel changes would become part of the bands dynamic, with Sergio Hinds assuming the Robert Fripp (or Chis Squire) role of band anchor. The group owed a lot of its early sound to such Italian favorites as Locanda Delle Fate, Quella Veccia Locanda, and Premiata Forneria Marconi. They also manged to mix in other styles, like folk, heavy metal, and funk. On the first album, O Terço was not yet full on prog, but it is a seminal work in the history Brazilian progressive music. There are obvious influences of the Moody Blues, and Pink Floyd…

Camel's The Single Factor is my least favorite Camel album up to 1982 and many would argue that this is also their weakest. Fresh off their release of the concept album Nude, Camel delivers a pop rock smorgasbord. There really are some woeful tracks here, but on the flip side, some pretty good ones as well. Latimer writes or co-writes everything here (not all that surprising) and The Single Factor did achieve mild success at the time of its release in the UK. As always, there is a decent amount of guitar work spread throughout the album to keep Latimer fans happy…

This concert was recorded in Budapest in April this year on the final show of the European tour in support of Hackett's most recent album 'To Watch The Storms'. It combines songs from across his career including classic Genesis tracks like 'Blood On The Rooftops' and 'Firth Of Fifth', early solo material like 'Ace Of Wands' and 'Spectral Mornings' and more recent tracks such as 'Mechanical Bride' and 'Darktown'. The evening ends appropriately with the old Genesis showstopper 'Los Endos'.

"Santana Brothers" (sometimes credited as simply Brothers) is a 1994 album by Carlos Santana, his brother Jorge, and his nephew Carlos Hernandez. It reached 191 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Carlos joins brother Jorge (ex-Malo) and young nephew Carlos Hernandez in a six-string summit that puts the three guitarists in all-instrumental solo, duo and trio settings. This album is full of delicate ambiances, a subtle marriage of styles and influences.