Basil Francis

Ziferblat

Eurovision season is upon us again, and the continent has once again proffered an interesting selection of tunes to be blared into the homes of more than 150 million people in May. This year, I decided to follow all the…

Dream Theater – Parasomnia

You go on a date. On paper, they look great and have all the qualities you’d expect of a potential match. You meet the person and they’re fun, friendly and feel very familiar. Too familiar. They remind you of an…

Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion (2024 Re-issue)

In 2012, one of the most hotly anticipated collaboration projects in the progressive sphere came to fruition (no, I am not talking about Squackett). Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt had been working together for a decade and Opeth had plunged…

Opeth – The Last Will And Testament

As a longtime Dream Theater fan, Opeth has always been on my periphery (pun slightly intended). From the start, they were billed to me as “more metal than Dream Theater” which put me off exploring them, as I’m more interested…

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band – Still Barking (20 Disc Boxset)

Dear reader, I’m Bonzoed out. When I took the reins in reviewing this mammoth twenty-disc boxset, I fully intended to explore every facet just as I did with Keith Emerson’s similarly-sized Variations. But after stumbling through five bizarre LPs and…

Various Artists – Lazy Days: The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1975

At the beginning of this year, I reviewed Patterns on the Window, which chronicled the year 1974 in terms of British prog, pop rock and pub rock. While I was disappointed that very little of the compilation could be deemed…

Dream Theater

Arena Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Tuesday, 29th October 2024 A year (almost to the day) before this very gig, Dream Theater announced the return of founding drummer Mike Portnoy. This wasn’t news I took happily as I was upset by the…

Alphataurus – 2084: Viaggio Nel Nulla

Of all the Italian progressive rock bands of the 70s, Alphataurus was one of them. Not blessed with the chops of Area, the creativity of PFM or the unique musical talent of Banco, this Milanese band produced one perfectly decent…

Eyes Of Blue – The Light We See: The Recordings 1969-1971 [3CD Box Set]

How often have you wished that obscure, short-lived band you once enjoyed had just made one more album? It doesn’t count when they reunite several decades later, of course, because their energy and influences will have changed completely. For some…

Rick Wakeman – Yessonata

It’s understandable that one could be sceptical of a release such as this. After all, Mr Wakeman has cashed in on his Yes connection as well as his own back catalogue more times than I can possibly count. Yessonata certainly…

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Author: Basil Francis