Frank Zappa: Jazz From Hell (Yesterday's Jukebox)

Frank Zappa's complex, electronic masterpiece showed what the late, great maestro could achieve by removing the human element and harnessing the power of a machine.

                                      
Music
    
        Threefifty: Gently Among the Coals
    
Mike Schiller

        11 Jun 2017
    
Music
    
        Mike Keneally: Scambot 2
    
Chris Ingalls

        06 Sep 2016
    
Music
    
        Reappraising Ian Anderson's 'Minstrel in the Gallery'
    
Sean Murphy

        04 Aug 2015

Recent

Music

Fractal Mirror: Garden of Ghosts

Fractal Mirror's sophomore set reaffirms the Dutch band's sophisticated sensibilities and makes a stunning step forward.

Music

Bart: Bart By Bart EP

If you like ‘70s music with the hint of a modern edge, Bart By Bart will more than fit the bill.

Music

He Can Do Quite a Few Things: Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips and Electric Würms

The Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd talks with PopMatters about new group Electric Würms, his thoughts on progressive rock, and decades of musical exploration.

Music

Asia: Gravitas

Gravitas is pleasant enough, but with watered-down pomp and too much texture, the men of Asia don't bring enough heat to the moment.

Music

The Alan Parsons Project: I Robot (Legacy Edition)

There's some great, if hokey, material to be had on I Robot, and yet it is also hugely entertaining and a must have for geeks interested in the late '70s sci-fi landscape

Reviews

'Portnoy Sheehan MacAlpine Sherinian' Deliver Impressive Prog and Fusion

Four titans of progressive rock demonstrate their individual and collective genius. The virtuosity is dizzying but no one gets hurt.

Music

King Crimson: A Prog-Rock Case Study

King Crimson, as much as or more than any other prog rock band, consistently shaped and refined a unique vision, arguably creating whole new types of music in the process.

Music

I've Seen All Good People: An Interview with Yes

One day, Jon Davison was singing in a Yes tribute band. Then, he actually became the touring lead singer of Yes. Now, he shares his tale, along with how he and the band prepping to play three albums in full every night of their upcoming tour ...

Music

The Best Progressive Rock (and Metal) of 2012

The albums you see below are a testament to the chameleonic nature of prog: Coldplay-esque stadium ballads, sludge metal, sample-heavy concept records, and classic-style prog all stand side by side.

Brice Ezell, Jordan Blum, Craig Hayes

Music

Muse: The 2nd Law

The grand irony for Muse is that the entropic metaphor of The 2nd Law reflects the major flaws in their sonic choices, not some important fact of the human condition.

Music

The Smashing Pumpkins: Oceania (take 2)

Oceania is a prog rock record. The songs might not be as long, but the sounds and the themes are just as portentous as all that dinosaur rock of the 1970s. And it's just as boring, too.

Music

The Best Progressive Rock of 2011

In 2011, there were only a few high-quality progressive rock releases, but those that managed to stand out are some of the best the genre has seen in awhile.

Brice Ezell

Music

Zechs Marquise: Getting Paid

Prog that doesn't actually progress anywhere.

Music

P.G. Six: Starry Mind

P.G. Six returns with inventive and mellow sounds.

Music

Cheer-Accident: No Ifs, Ands or Dogs

Midwest prog that aims for the AOR ideal: one kick-ass sound after another.

Music

The Phoenix Foundation: Buffalo

Buffalo is a consistent and engaging album. However, it lumbers at a snail’s pace at times, and is a bit too lazy and laconic for its own good.

Music

Skeletons: People

People is a dense, challenging listen, one that's grounded in reality and ever so more compelling as a result of it.

Music

Battles: Gloss Drop

Gloss Drop is the sound of a band forging its own identity and delivering on the promise initially unveiled on its previous album.

Music

Hotels: On the Casino Floor

Imagine if the Smiths collided with OK Computer-era Radiohead on the set of a spaghetti western, and you’ll get an idea of the cinematic scope that Hotels is shooting for.

Zachary Houle

Music

Trey Gunn: I’ll Tell What I Saw

The hired Gunn of prog rock's current generation collects the highlights of his work in and around his own solo career. Prepare to show some respect, if you're not already completely dazzled.

Music

Jupe Jupe: Invaders

Jupe Jupe, in part, definitely bring home the 1980s-style party anthems, crafting music that’s similar to old-school European pop acts like Depeche Mode (particularly around the Speak and Spell era) and Duran Duran. At least, that's what they do before they go totally prog.

Music

Lye By Mistake: Fea Jur

At once disorienting, awesome, and destructive, Lye By Mistake has produced a staggering record that will thoroughly impress and confuse, depending on who’s listening.

Reviews

Collapse Expand Reviews

BROWSE ALL ALBUM REVIEWS

Features

12 Essential Performances from New Orleans' Piano "Professors"

The 50 Best Songs of 2007

How the Template for Modern Combat Journalism Developed

Collapse Expand Features

PM Picks

Collapse Expand Pm Picks

Frank Zappa's complex, electronic masterpiece showed what the late, great maestro could achieve by removing the human element and harnessing the power of a machine.

Fractal Mirror's sophomore set reaffirms the Dutch band's sophisticated sensibilities and makes a stunning step forward.

If you like ‘70s music with the hint of a modern edge, Bart By Bart will more than fit the bill.

The Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd talks with PopMatters about new group Electric Würms, his thoughts on progressive rock, and decades of musical exploration.

Gravitas is pleasant enough, but with watered-down pomp and too much texture, the men of Asia don't bring enough heat to the moment.

There's some great, if hokey, material to be had on I Robot, and yet it is also hugely entertaining and a must have for geeks interested in the late '70s sci-fi landscape

Four titans of progressive rock demonstrate their individual and collective genius. The virtuosity is dizzying but no one gets hurt.

King Crimson, as much as or more than any other prog rock band, consistently shaped and refined a unique vision, arguably creating whole new types of music in the process.

One day, Jon Davison was singing in a Yes tribute band. Then, he actually became the touring lead singer of Yes. Now, he shares his tale, along with how he and the band prepping to play three albums in full every night of their upcoming tour ...

The albums you see below are a testament to the chameleonic nature of prog: Coldplay-esque stadium ballads, sludge metal, sample-heavy concept records, and classic-style prog all stand side by side.

The grand irony for Muse is that the entropic metaphor of The 2nd Law reflects the major flaws in their sonic choices, not some important fact of the human condition.

Oceania is a prog rock record. The songs might not be as long, but the sounds and the themes are just as portentous as all that dinosaur rock of the 1970s. And it's just as boring, too.

In 2011, there were only a few high-quality progressive rock releases, but those that managed to stand out are some of the best the genre has seen in awhile.

Genesis is alive and well.

Prog that doesn't actually progress anywhere.

P.G. Six returns with inventive and mellow sounds.

Midwest prog that aims for the AOR ideal: one kick-ass sound after another.

Buffalo is a consistent and engaging album. However, it lumbers at a snail’s pace at times, and is a bit too lazy and laconic for its own good.

People is a dense, challenging listen, one that's grounded in reality and ever so more compelling as a result of it.

Gloss Drop is the sound of a band forging its own identity and delivering on the promise initially unveiled on its previous album.

Imagine if the Smiths collided with OK Computer-era Radiohead on the set of a spaghetti western, and you’ll get an idea of the cinematic scope that Hotels is shooting for.

The hired Gunn of prog rock's current generation collects the highlights of his work in and around his own solo career. Prepare to show some respect, if you're not already completely dazzled.

Jupe Jupe, in part, definitely bring home the 1980s-style party anthems, crafting music that’s similar to old-school European pop acts like Depeche Mode (particularly around the Speak and Spell era) and Duran Duran. At least, that's what they do before they go totally prog.

At once disorienting, awesome, and destructive, Lye By Mistake has produced a staggering record that will thoroughly impress and confuse, depending on who’s listening.