Chris Squire- Fish Out of Water

Between 1974 and 1977, Yes released no albums. Instead, all of their members put out solo albums. Bassist Chris Squire, unlike some of the others, would never produce another. However, this 1975 album is more than enough to rest a reputation on. The title comes from Squire's nickname, "Fish", and Bill Bruford handles the drums.

This one kicks off with "Hold Out your Hand". Right from the get-go, we're treated to Squire's signature bass style, over top of keyboards. His vocals are surprisingly good for someone who only sung backup to this point. The song has a prog-funk sort of feel, and that bass is what really makes it an excellent song. This segues into "You by my Side", a prog love song. Thought the lyrics are a bit tacky, under all the layers of bass and piano they're not very noticeable. The song gets very grand and fleshed out by and orchestra towards the end (most of this album's tracks feature it.) Up next is the epic "Silently Falling", which I can't quite find the words to describe stylistically, but I guess it's a bit like a darker sounding version of Yes' sound. Keyboards and flute feature prominently, and there are many cool vocal effects. There's also a time switch from 4/4 to 5/4. Absolutely Fantastic.

On the other side of the record is a peice called "Lucky Seven" in 7/8 time. With the whole darker mood and the addition of the saxophone, this track has a funky, urban feel to it. A fine song, and it couples well with the 14 minute climax, "Safe (Cannon Song)". This goes for a Phil Spector-ish wall of sound production wise, and everything from latin percussion to horns can be hard in the mix. This song is the only one on the album to feature regular guitar prominently, but the bass still dominates, and even solos on this track. Bruford's drumming adds a special touch as well.

I often wonder why this album has remained mostly a Yes fan collector's item. Everything about this thing is immaculate, from orchestral touches, the vocals, and time switches to the atmosphere and piano. Yet, Squire dominates this thing entirely with his bass guitar, his style truly unique in the world of music. This is one that just can not be missed, and is one of my favorite albums of all time.

If you like the bass guitar and you like Prog rock, this album will give you an orgasm. Grade: A+

Richard Vimal- Transparence

This is far and away the rarest album in my collection. I've tried to search the Internet for information on Richard Vimal, and there's almost nothing about him. He's from France, but that's about all I can get on his background. What I was able to dig up was that this is the first of 3 albums he put out, and the only one with vocals. Transperance was released in 1977, and is one of the many sonic, atmoshpereic electronic prog albums released during the mid to late 70's.

The first track is called "Intro + âme soeur" (Intro + Soul Mate). It kicks off with a gentle acoustic guitar melody accompanied by a background synthesizer, and then transfers into a soft vocal of a man serenading his soul mate. In a similar vein, "Metomorphoses" involves some synthesizers (I believe they're ARPs) under the guitar, this time as an instrumental. The whole feeling of the album is very open and fresh, like mountain air.This album has a particularly strong melodic patterns, some of which repeat them selves. Song three is "Joli papillon" (Joyous Butterfly), another ballad about paying attention between lovers. "Léa" is the next song, and it's more of the same. This time however, Vimal includes some grand piano along with the mix. "L'ange des terres brûlées" (The Angel of the burnt earth) is the next track, and it's got some cool wah-wah synth effects to make it rather ethereal. I've been unable to detect where the side break is, but I think this is the time.

Side two begins with "De l'autre côté du miroir" (The other side of the mirror), and it's a creepy instrumental piece with lots of minor chords, unlike the first half of the record. Afterwords, "Tu es douce comme un fruit" (You are sweet like a fruit) is another piano heavy ballad, this time featuring very little synths except buried deep in the mix. "La clef des songes" is the next one, and it has a dark aura also. This song's lyrics deal more with rejection than happiness in love. "De ce côté du miroir" (This side of the mirror" accompanies "De l'autre côté du miroir" and has the same basic melody. Everything wraps up with "Derrière moi " (Behind me), one last little upbeat love ballad to end on a sweet note. This song also is the only one on the album to feature violin.

Transperances doesn't feel like a prog album. With an abundance of simple love ballads (great for French learners like myself) and a light feel, it doesn't seem like it would leave an impression. However, it has just the right amount of chill and intrigue to be infectious, addictive, and enjoyable. The tracks aren't very different, but they blend into one beautiful sonic trip. This album was never re-issued, so your only options are trying to track down the hard-to find vinyl or downloading it (also difficult to find).

This album is a gentle lulluby, a kiss goodnight. Not your everyday progressive rock album, but still a fantastic addition to your Prog collection. Grade: A-

The Artwork of Progressive Rock, Part 2

When things really got going for Prog illustration in about 1972, there were many wonderful designs with varied topics. The album covers emphasized form heavily, as many highly mathematical and geometric patterns adorned the album sleeves. This didn't actually take hold with many of the biggest bands, but is common with Krautrock sleeves, accompanying the jagged music. When they weren't mathematical, there were some very interesting selves, such as the see through hand X-Ray cover of Faust's self titled album.

Paintings, instead of photographs, became the norm. From Amon Duul II to Genesis to PFM, the paint and brush was very in vogue. In the pre-photoshop age, this was the only real way to truly express the visions of fantasy and wonder many of the Prog rockers had in mind. While many of Hipgnosis's studios famous Pink Floyd Covers were photographs, many of their outside jobs were painted. Of course, the king of Progressive rock painters was Roger Dean, who's Maxfeild Parish -esque landscapes brought light to many bands, most notably Yes.

Speaking of those landscapes, nature was a big topic of interest on the album covers. There's a very high percentage that emphasize the outdoors, have the band pictured outdoors, or have landscapes as their focus. Water in particular was a favorite. Additionally, outer space and astronomy themes were rather common. If progressive rock had official colors, green, blue, and black may very well be the choices.

As the era drew to a close, the album art calmed down somewhat. There images became starker and more subdued in color, although the imagery was defiantly still there. As the 80's as a whole relied much more on the old photo of the band or singer tricks, this form of Progressive Artwork went underground for a while. However, by the mid 90's, a resurgence in the progressive inspired album sleeve came about. To this day, a number of notable artists draw upon the late 60's through mid 70's album art for inspiration and direction.

The Artwork of Progressive Rock, Part 1

A large part of Progressive Rock's character and finesse comes from the album sleeves that go along with it. This month, we'll be taking a look at what goes into those album covers. A cursory glance at a group of prog albums will reveal a few patterns. For one, there's either going to be an abundance of color or very little color at all. Secondly, nature plays heavily into the artwork. Last but not least, unlike pop genres, little emphasis is placed upon the name of the group or the album title on the cover.

Much like the music itself, the panache of the prog cover traces back to its mother genre, late 60's psychedelic rock. As well chronicled in Strom Thorgoson's Classic Album Covers of the 1960's, around 1966 there was a sudden explosion of vibrant, experimental and colorful album covers which replaced the boring, run-of-the-mill endless array of men in suits that had dominated 50's and early 60's covers. Just look at the difference between the covers of Early Rolling Stones albums and the holographic Their Satanic Majesty's Request and you can see that sudden burst of energy in action. The new art matched the new music with its sense of daring and adventure. Then, it disappeared just as suddenly as it came in around 1968 or 1969, with covers going back to the basics. This is a little harder to explain. I think it might have to do with the return to minimalism of the Beatles and the Stones covers in 1968, since they were always trend setters.

Prog artwork took a bit longer right out of the gate. Dark colors or heavily altered photos or cartoons of the band donned a lot of the albums in the 69-71 period. However, there were many exceptions, including King Crimson's Medieval and Mythological themed Lizard and In the Wake of Poseidon, as well as some psychedelic throwbacks. One of the most interesting is Van Der Graff Generator's H to He Who am the Only One, with it's time on strings theme. It was during the next couple of years following that things really took off, with Roger Dean landscapes and Hipignosis studio photographs making their powerful statements.

To be Continued

King Crimson- Larks' Tongues in Aspic

King Crimson is always best remembered for In the Court but right along side that masterpiece stands 1973's Larks Tongues in Aspic. By this time guitarist Robert Fripp was the sole remaining member of both the Original King Crimson and the most recent lineup. After mutating from Sympho-Prog to Jazz Prog, Fripp decided to reinvent King Crimson as a Hard Prog band. To do so, he recruited Bill Bruford of Yes (drums), John Wetton of Family (Bass/Vocals), David Cross (violin), and Jamie Muir (mixed percussion) to create the new sound. As with the prior member Peter Sinfield, lyricist Richard Palmer James is credited as a member but does not play on the album. The results of this experiment were something nearly as revolutionary as the first record.

The album starts out with the first of a two part instrumental Title Track, divided up into 13 and 7 minute segments. Marimba opens the album in a very low key and peaceful way, before a section of menacing violin takes over. Then, out of nowhere, one of the most bad ass riffs in rock music period drops on you like a brick, only to withdraw just as suddenly. From there, things go nuts with all kinds of percussion, guitar and bass riffs and assorted effects rapidly changing melody, harmony, tempo, chord, and timbre. This is pure musical chaos, and is strikingly beautiful. Then, it all calms down and fades away. "Book of Saturday", the next song, is a prog quickie, it's just a nice melodic rock song (with lyrics this time), calm after the storm of sorts. Afterwards, we have the great "Exiles", which revisits the Medieval themes seen on the In The Court and Lizard albums. This time, however, it is more subtle and soundtrack like, fleshed out wonderfully by Cross's violin. This piece is, in my opinion, the best of Crimson's entire career, which is a very big accomplishment.

Side B opens with "Easy Money", the last of the 3 tracks featuring Wetton singing. As you can probably guess, this song attacks money and greed in society. As far as the structure, it's not all that progressive, though its lack of a chorus means it's firmly not pop. The guitar dominates the instrumentation with some repeated riffs. Afterwards comes "The Talking Drum". If the album has a weak spot, this is it. While not bad, the endless percussive rhythms that are the entire song do get a little tiring sometimes. Last up is "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Pt 2." This section has more structure than the first, but is just as insane and aggressive. Here, the guitar and drums just smash up everything in a barrage of notes.

Between the two parts of the title track, King Crimson mange to do so many different progressive things in the hard rock context it's incredible. Once again the leaders, this album is the first step towards the eventual rise of Prog Metal. In addition to that, there's some subtlety and melody that juxtapose and work wonderfully together. Larks' Tongues in Aspic is one of the most intelligent and creative prog albums I've ever heard, and to these ears it trumps even In the Court of the Crimson King by the thinnest of margins.

Overall, this is a phenomenal piece of experimentation and rhythm, and shows many of Prog's great extremes without sounding jumbled or overwrought. Do not miss this one. Grade: A+.