Review: Mike Oldfield's Amarok (1990)

Tubular Bells is overrated. I'm not saying it isn't any good. It's pretty amazing actually, considering the age of young Mr. Oldfield when he recorded the album, not to mention how commercially successful it was. However, scarcely in my own observations has the commercial acceptance of an album had any relationship to the actual quality of music it contains. Since he recorded Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield has been unable to shake his reputation being tied solely to that work. Well, you should be thanking me Mike, I'm going to set the record straight. While Tubular Bells is alright, it isn't even close to being the best Oldfield album. Not by a long shot. In fact, the real highlight of Mike's long and bloated career has to be Amarok.

What? Amarok? What's an Amarok? Well that depends on who you ask. If you ask the Inuit, Amarok is a wolf. If you would ask a German car company, it's a type of pickup truck. If you ask a computer geek they'd probably say it's an open source alternative to iTunes. Us Prog Rock fans, (aka you and me) should know it as one of the greatest instrumental albums of all time. (Also the name of a Spanish Folk Prog band, but we'll save them for another day) Apparently, Mike named his album Amarok simply because he liked the sound of the word.

When Mike Oldfield released Amarok, the world seemed to be entirely devoid of a musical soul. In 1990 we were still reeling from the musical abomination that was the 1980s and the best answer mainstream music had was the shallow and simplistic world of grunge rock. In the midst of all this, Mike Oldfield was in the middle of a bitter battle with his record label. In case you didn't know, Tubular Bells was once the first pride and joys of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label. While I'm sure things were all happy in Virgin land in the early 70s, but as time went on things turned sour. As Richard Branson's empire grew, the demands placed on Oldfield to continue to release commercially popular albums grew. As we all know, Mike's heart and soul was in the long instrumental works he did in the 1970s. Virgin's continual pressure on Mike to deliver 'hit singles' did yield some successes (remember Moonlight Shadow?), but you can't help but feel Mike was manipulated.

As his contract with Virgin began to come to an end, poor old Mike Oldfield had enough. He couldn't wait to get out of there. Unfortunately, he still had to release a few more albums to fulfill his contratual obligations. With Amarok, he decided it was time to get payback. The album was constructed by Mike to be Richard Branson's worst nightmare. His basic goal was to piss Branson off as much as possible. How did he go about doing this? Well, for starters, he decided to make the album one long 60 minute track. An hour long instrumental track on its own would probably be bad news for any record label, but Mike took it a step further. Due to the dynamic and constant shifting nature of the album, it would be impossible to cut out any given section and isolate it as radio-friendly single. Now you can just imagine how frustrating all this was for Richard Branson and Virgin records, but Oldfield didn't stop there.

- Hidden within the album is a secret morse code message. If you're able to decode the message you'll find it translates to "Fuck Off RB" (guess what RB stands for).

- This was also one of Mike's first albums that was designed to be released on CD. One of the many advantages of the format was the ability to have a wider dynamic range. This meant you could have a huge difference in volume in between the quietest moments and the loudest. There are moments on the album, specifically near the beginning, where the music seems to be really quiet. Apparently Oldfield pictured Richard Branson driving down the highway in his convertible listening to the album and turning it up loud to hear this quiet section. Then, just as he was comfortable, Mike hits a loud synth "BLAM" at full volume. This, I imagine, would blow Richard Branson's ears out. (Side note, modern CDs that are victims of the "loudness war" don't have any dynamic range)

- The album packaging came with a "Health Warning" on the back which read as following: "HEALTH WARNING - This record could be hazardous to the health of cloth-eared nincompoops. If you suffer from this condition, consult your Doctor immediately "

- While Virgin wanted Mike to release the next "Tubular Bells" and Mike does play them on Amarok, they are listed in the liner notes as "long thin metallic hanging tubes". Good luck marketing that!

While all these little trivia points are interesting, I don't want to undermine how good this album is in its own rights. You can forget that this album was made by "Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame" and just enjoy it for what it is. In my own opinion it stands the test of time as one of the best instrumental albums ever recorded, Prog Rock or otherwise. Throughout it's entire run time you never feel as though Mike is stretching things out. Its constantly shifting and always melodic. There are so many interesting ideas presented here and the structure is so dynamic and innovative that I find it imposible to stop this album once it starts. Oldfield's abilities as a musician also seem greatly improved since the days of Tubular Bells as his command of the guitar and piano are at an all time high.

I can't recommend this album enough. The musical ideas, the instrumental skill and the production values represent the real peak of Mike Oldfield as an artist. Despite all the politics that went on behind the scenes of this album's creation, nothing takes away from just how amazing this album is to listen to. It's pure ear candy. If you don't own this album, then your Prog Rock collection has a giant hole in it that needs to be filled immediately.

A Prog Rock Guide to the Project/Object - Uncle Meat 1969

This album by the original Mothers of Invention came out during the decline of the summer of love. Frank Zappa had little sympathy for the hippie movement that was sweeping the western world at the time. There's no secret that he saw the whole thing as shallow and misguided. Looking back on that era with hindsight, it appears as though he was spot on with his assessment. All the optimism and hope that emanated out of the San Francisco area has panned out to be nothing but hot air (and pot smoke). While the rest of the world was gearing up for Woodstock, you get the feeling that Zappa was well into the 70s by this point of his career. October 1969 would bring about King Crimson's Court of The Crimson King and the start of Progressive Rock; Frank Zappa was already there, ahead of his time as usual, in April.

Uncle Meat was a bit of change of directions for The Mothers. This mostly instrumental album was their first double album since the debut Freak Out! and was almost unrecognizable in comparison. From the first notes of the title track you know that Zappa was taking huge steps forward in terms of his abilities as a composer. Having already dismissed the flower power movement on We're Only In It For The Money, Uncle Meat is more about pushing forward all sorts of musical boundaries. Though still classified as a 'rock' album, you get the feeling that Zappa was more interested in contemporary classical and jazz music at this point of his career. Steadily adding more musical-literate members to The Mothers in the late 60s, Uncle Meat presents Zappa the composer using his band as a small chamber orchestra. Zappa the producer was also taking on huge advancements, as there is no shortage of fancy tape manipulation and quick and quirky edits all over this album. The result is something that sounds as unique today as it did in 1969.

The centrepiece of the album resides on its fourth side. King Kong was Zappa the jazz fusion pioneer leading his band in an extended jam that travels the gamut of spaces and places. The main theme is easily one of Zappa's all time classics and would easily foreshadow his first solo album Hot Rats. If you're looking for something a bit more radio-friendly give Dog Breath, In The Year Of The Plague a shot. In four minutes you get a bit of catchy silly high-pitched vocals in the style of Only In It For The Money and then an instrumental section that perfectly sums up the rest of the album. Elsewhere you get more Doo-Wop parody in the form of the humorous and charming Electric Aunt Jemima, the neo-classical compositions The Legend of The Golden Arches and Project X and the avant guard in the form of Nine Types of Industrial Polution.

Don't get the impression that you'll be able to pick and choose individual tracks from this double album. Like pretty much everything Zappa did, it's best consumed entirely in one sitting. For an album with so many styles and shifts, it holds together surprisingly well as a whole. This is very true for it's original vinyl release, but probably less so for the CD version. You see, for reasons only known to Frank, the CD issue of Uncle Meat comes plagued with what fans have come to call "Penalty Tracks". Uncle Meat, in it's original form, was meant to be a soundtrack to a film that Zappa was working on at the time. He ran out of money and was unable to finish the film until some time in the 1980s. On the CD reissue he decided to add long audio excerpts from the film. These tracks go on for over half an hour and are really hard to listen to. They consist of people talking about, um...chickens and uhhh other things of no particular relevance. I've yet to see the completed the film, but I'll assume that you need the visuals to fully appreciate these pieces of dialog. As for as the album Uncle Meat goes, placing these tracks right in the middle of the CD destroys the perfection that existed on Vinyl. I might also mention the inclusion of the 1982 song "Tengo Na Minchia Tanta" (meaning "I've Got a Big Cock" in Sicilian), but I won't. Suffice to say it doesn't belong.

If you're new to Uncle Meat I highly recommending trying to track down a copy on vinyl. Not only is it missing the "Penalty Tracks" but it also sounds insanely better than the CD. In addition to adding tracks nobody wanted, Zappa covered the entire album with primitive 80s digital reverb on CD, making the whole album sound like cheap plastic. In comparison, the vinyl sounds full and lush. If you have no means to listen to vinyl and must resort to the CD, do yourself a favour and skip the adding fluff. You'll probably enjoy the album much more without it. All these technical issues aside, Uncle Meat is an essential part of any Zappa collection.

News: Do you feel like all good people? Peter Frampton and Yes to tour together this summer

The last time they hit the road together was in 1976. Now, for some unknown reason, they are going to share a dates during the summer of 2010. No, Jon Anderson still won't be part of Yes' lineup, and Rick Wakeman is still enjoying retirement from the hardships of touring. This will be the 3/5 Yes lineup that has enjoyed a fair bit of success since Oliver Wakeman and Canuck M. Benoit David joined the fold.

I'm still not sure if it's Yes opening for Frampton, or vice-versa. Heck, maybe they'll play an extended blowout version of Do You Feel Like We Do together as an encore. There are some dates already announced and more expected to come out over the next few weeks/months.

JUNE
Date	Day	City	Venue
15	SAT	Upper Darby, PA	Tower Theater
16	WED	Uncasville, CT	Mohegan Sun
18	FRI	Bethel, NY	Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
20	SUN	Meadow Lands, PA	Meadows Racetrack and Casino
23	WED	Vienna, VA	Wolf Trap Foundation for Performing Arts
JULY
Date	Day	City	Venue
4	SUN	Blue Ash, OH	Lake Forest Venue
7	WED	Albuquerque, NM	Sandia Casino
9	FRI	Los Angeles, CA	Greek Theatre
10	SAT	Valley Center, CA	Harrah’s Rincon-Open Sky Theater

YesWorld: The YES Online Service:

"Yes and Peter Frampton are reuniting for a twenty-five city national co-headline summer tour, which kicks-off in early June and runs through the middle of July.� The total length of the show is three hours.
The two performed stadium shows together in 1976, including a show to more than 100,000 at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Preliminary dates are now on the Tour page. More dates and on-sales coming soon."

Found Link: We're Sorry! Frank Zappa’s original band members denied entry into Canada

Wow. I'm not sure how this happened exactly. There must be some sort of mistake. On behalf of the population of Canada (all 10 of us) I would like to apologize to both Napoleon Murphy Brock and Roy Estrada for their treatment by Canadian Customs last week. I mean, surely this has to be a some kind of computer error or something. Why else would we refuse two former members of the Mothers of Invention into the frozen north?

I'll talk to the other nine Canadians and see if we can send some maple syrup or maybe some Tim Hortons to Mr. Brock and Mr. Estrada to make up for this strange mistake. I mean, sure they aren't hockey players or even great curling champions or something like that, but still. This is just wrong.

Again, we're sorry.

Frank Zappa’s original band members denied entry into Canada, sent back to L.A. - News - Canada - World - Truro Daily News: "When Napoleon Brock and Roy Estrada, both members of Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, were sent packing by Canadian customs officials, the rest of the band decided they couldn’t go on without them."

News: Anthony Phillips - Sides Remaster now available for pre-order

Sides is probably Mr. Phillips' most straight forward rock album. That doesn't prevent if from being a bit of a classic. As part of the ongoing series of Anthony Phillips remasters (which have been very nice thus far) comes an expanded 2 disc version complete with new mixes and previously unavailable singles. If you pre-order from Camino Record's website, you'll get a signed copy from the orignal Genesis guitarist himself. Sounds like a good deal if you ask me.

Camino Records - Anthony Phillips - Sides (2010 reissue) 2 CD:

"Expanded 2 CD remastered reissue - retailing at the price of a single album! Sides has been remastered from the original master tapes by Simon Heyworth and includes the extra non-album track ‘Souvenir’ on CD1. CD2 has variations and alternate mixes including unique new mixes made from the original multitrack masters especially for this release. The edited single version of ‘Um & Aargh’ (previously unavailable on CD) is also added. Originally released in April 1979 'Sides' was Anthony Phillips' rich and innovative response to 70's New Wave written to keep him nearer to the commercial end of the market. It’s possibly his most rock-oriented album"

News: The results are in, and the DPRP's readers have voted Porcupine Tree to the top of their 2009 poll.

The Oscars were last night? Really? Who cares? There's more important awards being handed out in the world of Prog Rock.

The Dutch Prog Rock Page (DPRP) have finally tabulated the results of their anual Prog Poll. It's hardly surprising that Porcupine Tree are king's of the Prog World in 2009. The veteran British quartet have not only taken the bulk of the votes in the best album category with the insanely successful The Incident, but have also taken home prize for best song of the year with Time Flies. They also topped the best concert of the year category.

Not far behind Porcupine Tree is the freshly reunited Transatlantic. The huge-massive-epic Whirlwind album was a big winner amongst plenty of Prog fans around the world who ate up all 77 minutes of the album's title track. Also big winners were neo-proggers Pendragon and prog-mettlers Dream Theater.

Check out all the results in detail on DPRP's 2009 poll page.

Found Link: All About Jazz reviews Pete Sinfield's Still Expanded Edition

While there have been previous CD reissues of this obscure classic, (remember 1993's Stillusion?) this album has always been a bit of a vinyl-only listen for me. This might change now that Pete Sinfield's only solo album has received a proper reissue. All About Jazz gives the 1973 classic a fair but critical review, citing that it is a product of its time and is understandably dated now. For me, the biggest problem was always Pete's singing. That said, it has some great lyrical moments and even a guest vocal appearance by Greg Lake.

The two disc reissue comes with a whole second CD filled with early mixes of the album's tracks. If you're a collector of all things Prog, or are interested to hear what the ex-King Crimson/ELP/MacDonald and Giles/PFM's wordsmith's only solo album sounds like, this might be the way to go.

What do you think? Is it a forgotten classic or a dated piece of history?

Pete Sinfield | Still (Expanded Edition):

"Sinfield's solo debut, Still (Manticore), was largely lambasted when it was released in 1973. Esoteric's double-disc reissue, however, reveals an album undeniably of its time which—despite certain unavoidable weaknesses—does fare better four decades on, now assessable on its own merits rather than in comparison to Crimson."

News: Dream Theater to tour with Iron Maiden this Summer

Huge news for all fans of the harder rocking side of the Prog Rock. Dream Theater will be opening for the legendary metal band Iron Maiden for a pretty extensive North American tour this summer. Here are the dates announced so far:

Wed June 9th - Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center

Fri June 11th - Houston, TX - The Woodlands

Sat June 12th - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center

Mon June 14th - Denver, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheater

Wed June 16th - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavilion

Thurs June 17th - Phoenix, AZ - Cricket Pavilion

Sat June 19th - San Bernardino, CA - San Manuel Amphitheater

Sun June 20th - Concord, CA - Sleep Train Pavilion

Tues June 22nd - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheater

Thurs June 24th - Vancouver, BC - GM Place

Sat June 26th - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place

Tues June 29th - Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre

Sat July 3rd - Toronto, ON - Molson Amphitheater

Tues July 6th - Ottawa, ON - Blues Fest

Sun July 11th - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center

Mon July 12th - New York City - Madison Square Garden

Wed July 14th - Pittsburgh, PA - Post Gazette Pavilion

Thurs July 15th - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center

Sat July 17th - Detroit, MI - DTE Music Theatre

Sun July 18th - Chicago, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheater

Tues July 20th - Washington DC - Nissan Pavilion

More details available on the Dream Theater official website.

Dream Theater - The Official Site:

"Prog rock/metal institution DREAM THEATER will spend their summer supporting Iron Maiden on the band's month-long tour of major US and Canadian markets. The tour launches on June 9 and runs through July 20, and includes a stop at the storied Madison Square Garden in NYC, marking the first time in a lengthy and respected career that Dream Theater have played the world's most famous arena."

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Found Link: The Tampa Tribune calls Peter Gabriel's new album "audacious"

It appears that most critics are generally confused by Peter Gabriel's new album of cover songs. I haven't given it a thorough listen yet so I can't quite comment, but the general feeling seems to be that of amazement. The rearrangements of old songs are apparently really bold and adventurous. Curtis Ross of The Tamps Tribune has gone as far to say that this album is even more audacious than The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Seems like a bit of an overstatement to me.

If you've heard the album and have a more balanced opinions, please share them in the comments.

Gabriel's latest CD goes beyond a cover album: "'Scratch My Back' may be the most audacious album Peter Gabriel has been involved with.

That's saying something, considering his last album with Genesis was 1974's 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,' a sprawling prog-rock concept album about a Puerto Rican kid who … well, go listen for yourself."

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Found Link: Frank Zappa: The Freak Out List DVD

I love an inspired concept. There have been so many documentaries on Frank Zappa, it's becoming harder for newer film makers to explore the musical genius on an original level.

If you own Frank's first album with The Mothers Of Invention, then you must have spent some time pouring over the extensive liner notes. They're some of my all time favorite. Zappa really allows himself to speak openly and honestly, giving each track a little paragraph worth of explanation on the meaning and inspiration behind the composition. Amongst the information and humorous anecdotes, Frank provides us with a detailed list of every band/musician/composer that has had an influence on his musical style. Needless to say, the list is extensive and diverse as heck.

The producers of this documentary are using that list as a springboard to explore how Zappa's music has been influenced by the list in Freak Out. The Freak-Out List documentary features footage of Mothers-Alumni Ian Underwood, Don Preston and George Duke. It sounds like an interesting concept, but until I see it I can't comment on if it's going to be any good. The running time is a relatively short 60 minutes. I've seen some pretty horrible documentaries on Zappa over the years so I'll hold my breath in regards to how good this thing is going to be. Still, GREAT idea!

Oh look! It's available for Pre-Order. Won't be out until late April, however.

Frank Zappa’s Movie: The Freak Out List:

"This film�explores the musical roots of Zappa by putting The Freak Out List under the microscope and tracing its lineage from the most pivotal names to the recordings and performances of the man himself. The film includes exclusive interviews with The Mothers Of Invention’s Ian Underwood, Don Preston and George Duke, plus 1950’s Doo Wop legends The Cadillacs"

News: New Porcupine Tree DVD/Blu-Ray coming this May

The long awaited DVD/Blu-Ray of Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet Tour is in the final stages of production. The official PTree website offers some pretty tasty morcels of information including the announcement of a special edition that will come out a month before the official release. The fancier (and probably more expensive) edition will contain both the DVD and Blu-Ray plus two audio CDs including a bonus track that won't be available on the proper release in May.

The Blu-Ray should be good news to both folks with fancy TVs, but also to those keen on high quality audio. The Blu-Ray format contains specifications that allow for uncompressed 5.1 surround sound that should be significantly better than the usual DTS mix on the regular DVD.

Porcupine Tree - Official Website:

"Porcupine Tree's new live film is approaching completion and a special edition will be available in April, with a regular version to follow in May. Anesthetize was filmed live over 2 nights in Tilburg, The Netherlands in October 2008, at the end of the Fear of a Blank Planet tour. The 130 minute live film includes a complete performance of the Blank Planet album and 11 other tracks, and was directed and edited by Lasse Hoile on high definition cameras, with the soundtrack mixed into stereo and 5.1 sound.

The special edition will take the form of a cloth bound hard back 120 page book (as per The Incident and Insurgentes deluxe versions) featuring live photography of the band taken over the last 5 years. The book will house both a DVD and a much higher quality Blu-Ray disc version of the film, as well as 2 audio CDs of the soundtrack including one bonus track not featured in the film. The book and audio CDs will not be included with the standard retail versions of the Blu-Ray/DVD."

News: Asia's new album 'The Omega' and tour

While my own interests in this project are rather weak, I suspect many readers of this weblog would be quite keen on this information. Turns out the would-be 'Prog' supergroup Asia is going to be releasing a new album this spring entitled "The Omega". John Wetton, Geof Downes, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer promise that the album will be full of songs with positive upbeat messages. If this sounds like a good idea to you, check out the link below. If you live in Europe, you may want to see the band on tour starting late-April. Here are the dates for the upcoming tour announced so far:

Apr. 21 - Helsinki, Finland - House of Culture
Apr. 22 - Moscow, Russia - B1 Club
Apr. 24 - Rome, Italy - Auditorium
Apr. 26 - Prague, Czech Republic - Lidovy dum Kbely
Apr. 27 - Winterthur, Switzerland - Salzhaus
Apr. 28 - Graz, Austria - Orpheum
Apr. 30 - Paris, France - Casino De Paris
May 1 - Uden, Netherlands - de Pul
May 2 - Asschaffenburg, Germany
May 3 - Nuremburg, Germany - Hirsch
May 4 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
May 6 - Reichenbach, Germany - Die Halle
May 7 - Bochum, Germany - Zeche Prinz-Regent-Strasse 50-60
May 8 - Osnabruck, Germany - Rosenhof Rosenplatz 23
May 9 - Bonn, Germany - Bruckenforum

They'll be coming to North America this Summer, so don't feel left out if you live here.

ASIA - The Omega and the Tour | ACED Magazine:

“We are embarking on our European tour around the middle of April, then straight in to Japan for the middle of May” says Downes. “It's going to be fun working out the new set list because obviously we have another album under our belt now with Omega.”

Found Link: Jethro Tull compared to The Catcher In The Rye

This is recommended reading. While much like the author of this article (found on a site called "Pop Matters" of all things) J.D. Salinger's much renowned novel had little impact on me during my angst-filled teenage years. In fact, I'd go as far to declare that The Catcher in the Rye was a terrible read for yours truly. To put it bluntly: I hated it. I didn't relate to the protagonist at all. While this book is required reading for most English speakers in North America, it has very little impact on a young Paul. Most of my peers, however, seemed to get quite a bit from the novel (which probably goes to show how strange I was as a teenager). I just found the whole thing phony.

Where this somewhat strange and lengthy article connects with my own youth is in the impact of Jethro Tull's early albums on my psyche. I did find the words and music that Ian Anderson penned in the early 70s spoke more honestly to my own troubles and fears than J.D. Salinger's prose ever did. Unlike this article's author, I was discovering this ambitious music in the form of used vinyl discarded when folks of his age were trading them in for shiny compact discs.

One thing to note is that Ian was in his 20s when he wrote of these rather mature and provocative subjects. It just goes to show that perhaps my own concern for such things isn't entirely unheard of at my present age. It all fits together. My music, my interests and my cynicism. Who knows?

J.D. Salinger and Jethro Tull: The Coming of Age Story Soundtrack < Features | PopMatters:

"As it happens, when I first experienced The Catcher in the Rye I was in the early (but intense) stages of what became a lifelong love of Jethro Tull. Which naturally coincided with my burgeoning obsession with all-things progressive rock, which happened to coincide with the release of so many classic recordings on that new-fangled technical revelation called compact discs. It would be near impossible for anyone who didn’t live through those days to imagine a world when you waited for anything: i-Pods and online access have made everything that has ever happened available, immediately."

Trey Anastasio to induct Genesis into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I'm not entirely sure how they decide these things, but it looks like Phish's guitarist Trey Anastasio will be inducting Genesis into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be on March 15th in New York. As you probably already know by now, Peter Gabriel will not be there. The rest of the band, including Steve Hackett, should be on hand to accept the induction. I'm not sure if Anthony Phillips will be in attendance, but he should be.

Trey Anastasio, Wyclef among Rock Hall presenters - Yahoo! News:

"Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio is inducting rock group Genesis into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month."

News: Possible Rush Documentary in the works

Apparently, Rush's induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame has finally spurred on the creation of a documentary about the band. Apparently Geddy Lee is having a hard time reliving the past during the making of the film:

"To be involved in the documentary has been hard from that point of view, because they're making so much of things we've done in the past, and asking questions about details 25, 30 years ago — a lot of them have just gone out of my head," Lee told Walrus magazine.

"It's a bit uncomfortable dwelling so much on what has happened. I'm more comfortable looking forward and not being constantly aware of how long i've been in the same band.

"The very business of looking back — through archival footage and photographs — can feel self-indulgent. You want to spend your time thinking about things other than your own face."

Personally speaking, I think it's about time for one of Canada's most important bands to finally get a proper retrospective documentary made. I'll be looking out for future news on this and I'll post whatever I find right here.

Rush Documentary Out In May? | CHARTattack:

"But that will change with Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen's aptly titled Rush: The Documentary, which could be released as early as May 18, according to Rush fansite Power Windows. No official announcement's been made yet."

The High Voltage Festival to feature Emerson, Lake & Palmer amongst a slew of Progressive Rock bands

It looks like that the High Voltage Festival in London is going to be a huge event for British Prog Rock fans. Classic Rock magazine is putting on a three stage musical festival this July at Victoria Park in London. Of interest to readers of this blog would have to be that an entire stage is going to be dedicated to Prog Rock. The lineup includes Transatlantic, Zappa Plays Zappa, Asia, Marillion, Argent, Steve Hacket, Focus, Pendragon, Uriah Heep, Magnum, Wishbone Ash and more. They've recently announced that Emerson Lake and Palmer would be featured on the main stage as well. You can find out more details at the festival's official website.

Altsounds.com News | High Voltage announce Emerson, Lake & Palmer and ZZ Top & more:

"High Voltage is the must-see rock event of 2010 – a two-day festival featuring the very best in classic rock, progressive rock and metal. Custom built by rock fans, for rock fans."