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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: The Letter M on April 26, 2012, 01:29:52 PM
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So I've been listening to The Tangent a LOT lately, going back through all their albums and finding lots of new and exciting things from each! I've been a huge supporter of this band ever since I discovered them in 2005 and A Place In The Queue came out the next year, which just blew my mind away (and it might possibly be one of my Top 5 albums of 2006). Since then, I've pre-ordered every album and even took part in the campaign to fund their 5th album and bought A Place On The Shelf.
Andy's vision through this band has been wonderful, and his songs and words have been truly interesting and give insight into a modern prog sound based on vintage feel and inspiration. I'm not big into classic Canterbury sound, but these guys really meld the jazz and prog very well, and throw in some other unique, often heavy and harder rock into their music as well. One moment you have Andy screaming, then the next there's winds and horns blaring, and then something else altogether!
And despite constant personnel changes, the band continues to evolve and develop their sound even more. I always look forward to hearing new Tangent music, and I cannot wait for their 7th album, (which will hopefully come sooner than later, as Andy is already working on it!).
-Marc.
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Wait, they have six albums out already? I had no idea; I lost interest after the third. I dug the first one a lot, and the second one had some good stuff, too, but, like I said, I lost interest after the third one. I still give that first album a whirl every once in a while, but that is about it.
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The vocals drag it way down for me, but the instrumental passages are pretty cool. I've actually been spinning COMM quite a bit lately. :hat
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First two are great. Third made me stop caring. Haven't heard anything since that made me want to come back to them.
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I have all their albums, and my favorites are the debut, and COMM. A Place In The Queue was the last album of theirs I got, so it's sort of still digesting, but I can tell it's one of their better ones.
My rankings:
The Music That Died Alone
COMM
A Place In The Queue
The World That We Drive Through
Down and Out In Paris and London
Not As Good As The Book
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The Music That Died Alone sounds really good from what I've heard... just wish it was on grooveshark.
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The Music That Died Alone sounds really good from what I've heard... just wish it was on grooveshark.
Just buy it. Before COMM came out, I had to buy every Tangent album except The World That We Drive Through because there was no other way to hear or sample them other than actually purchasing their music (I don't like sampling music on youtube or anything like that). COMM was the exception as my local shop had it on release day and I picked that shit up real quick.
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I love The Music that Died alone 100% all the way through. I bought that album solely for the album art and it turned into a fantastic surprise.
Down and out is a little more lopsided, where as I love Where are they now, but don't really listen to the rest that much.
Those are the only two albums I have so far.
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The Music That Died Alone
COMM
A Place In The Queue
The World That We Drive Through
Down and Out In Paris and London
Don't have Not As Good as the Book.
The only one I can't get into is Down and Out In Paris and London. Where Are They Now is good but the rest of the album drags.
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The Music That Died Alone
COMM
A Place In The Queue
The World That We Drive Through
Down and Out In Paris and London
Don't have Not As Good as the Book.
The only one I can't get into is Down and Out In Paris and London. Where Are They Now is good but the rest of the album drags.
Definitely get NAGATB - the epics on Disc 2 are worth the price alone, but Disc 1 is full of great stuff too!
Nice ranking, although interesting to see COMM so high, but it is pretty good. I do enjoy the "Fantasy Bootleg" cover of "Watcher Of The Skies". They nailed the Jon Anderson voice! :lol
Also, what are all your thoughts on A Place On The Shelf? I think Andy's take on "The Rite Of Spring" is very unique, if a bit hard to get into, but then again so was Stravinsky's original piece, so in all fairness, Andy did a good job of trying to convey the original's feel.
-Marc.
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The Music That Died Alone
COMM
A Place In The Queue
The World That We Drive Through
Down and Out In Paris and London
Don't have Not As Good as the Book.
The only one I can't get into is Down and Out In Paris and London. Where Are They Now is good but the rest of the album drags.
Definitely get NAGATB - the epics on Disc 2 are worth the price alone, but Disc 1 is full of great stuff too!
Nice ranking, although interesting to see COMM so high, but it is pretty good. I do enjoy the "Fantasy Bootleg" cover of "Watcher Of The Skies". They nailed the Jon Anderson voice! :lol
Also, what are all your thoughts on A Place On The Shelf? I think Andy's take on "The Rite Of Spring" is very unique, if a bit hard to get into, but then again so was Stravinsky's original piece, so in all fairness, Andy did a good job of trying to convey the original's feel.
-Marc.
The Watcher of the Skies cover is awesome! I really love Luke Machin's work on COMM, which is why its so high on my list. Also, Andy's keyboard playing is excellent.
I'm not familiar with A Place on The Shelf. I just looked it up and it sounds pretty interesting. I'll check that one out as well.
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Honestly, all 6 of their studio albums are fantastic, and it's kind of hard to rank them. I only put NAGATB at the bottom because it's my least preferred album, though it's still great. DAOIPAL is their 'weakest' album IMO, but it was my first, so it gets the edge over NAGATB (ugh, The Tangent albums are horrible for using initials)
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(ugh, The Tangent albums are horrible for using initials)
:lol
I have thought the same thing... TMTDA, TWTWDT, APITQ, NAGATB, DAOIPAL...but then we get COMM...they did the initials FOR us! :rollin
-Marc.
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Where's the Cosine Official Thread?
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(ugh, The Tangent albums are horrible for using initials)
:lol
I have thought the same thing... TMTDA, TWTWDT, APITQ, NAGATB, DAOIPAL...but then we get COMM...they did the initials FOR us! :rollin
-Marc.
Yea I thought that was funny when that album got announced last year.
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Strangely, I generally rank the albums in the order they came out, although I really never gave COMM a chance because it got lost in the wash of 20+ album binge and the first listen didn't do anything for me.
Big drop off after the A Place in the Queue. I really don't like the rotating line-up, doesn't allow chemistry to really build up, and the releasing of these albums in a rather short time has a put a lot of stale musical ideas in the later albums.
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A Place In The Queue is my favorite, followed by The Music That Died Alone.
Like others, have since lost interest. Didn't like Down and Out In Paris and London and only listened to a couple of the others once.
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Strangely, I generally rank the albums in the order they came out, although I really never gave COMM a chance because it got lost in the wash of 20+ album binge and the first listen didn't do anything for me.
Big drop off after the A Place in the Queue. I really don't like the rotating line-up, doesn't allow chemistry to really build up, and the releasing of these albums in a rather short time has a put a lot of stale musical ideas in the later albums.
I almost didn't give COMM a chance either, after the flurry of new albums I got last year, but revisiting it in the last couple weeks has allowed me to give it the proper appreciation it needed.
I initially didn't like NAGATB or DAOIPAL, but like COMM, I've come back to it with fresh ears, and NAGATB was always a bit hit-and-miss with me, more hit on disc 2 than disc 1, but now I've come to enjoy it entiretly. DAOIPAL, on the other hand, is still growing on me, but it's catching up to COMM.
It'll be interesting to see where Andy and Luke go with the new material this year!
-Marc.
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Sad news, everyone...
https://www.thetangent.org/
THE TANGENT - ANNOUNCEMENT 10/10/2012
Hello everyone. I'm really sorry to have to make this awful announcement but, after many months of trying not to, I am going to have to dissolve the current line-up of The Tangent. There are a number of complex and personal reasons why I have to do this, but top of the list, head and shoulders above all reasons is the continuing financial impracticality of running the band in its current state.
As a result of the current economic situation, logistical problems (250 miles between members) and other overriding commitments, this whole Summer we met once to play the Celebr8 concert, and once at a Maschine gig. We haven't recorded or rehearsed together since July 7. Along with that are numerous other issues far too complex to recount here.
The Tangent until now have managed to exist as a 100 percent professional band since 2003. This has been my living, and I've had to fight to stay alive against many competitors. The huge huge number of bands coming into this arena now, along with the the public's acceptance of piracy as the norm means that I have less and less money to finance anything like tours. I chose Progressive Rock Music as my life's work out of love, not desire for success. The choice was guaranteed to fail, from the moment I chose this path in the late 70s. The fact that we got as far as we did is testament to a success that some folks dream of. I'm proud of our track record, what we accomplished and how we accomplished it.
We've seen the world, we've played from Moscow to RoSfest, from Spain to Sweden, from Quebec to Parma. We've sold records to 100 and more countries. Without electronic pestering, without vote canvassing we've had the opportunity to stand at the top, yet never look down on anyone. We only had disagreements with a couple of other bands in all the many gigs and festivals we've played. We've shared our "headline" dressing rooms with other bands, we've refused to sign contracts that call other bands "support". We've stuck around to watch the whole festival rather than just appear for our slot. We've worked out how to do the fastest sound check on earth to make sure everyone else gets a turn. We played shorter sets when the festival was running late. We've seen every gig we do with another band as an evening of entertainment rather than our own showcase. A couple of times that attitude has been abused, but for the most part it's worked.
NOW
While of course I wish to apologise to all friends and supporters of the band who will surely be disapointed by this sudden announcement just before some scheduled gigs, of all the people I wish to apologise to, it's IO Earth. They are a true "heart and soul" investment band who work their bollocks off to do what they do. One stressful night in Leicester they managed to save the day for The Tangent and it makes me kick myself that I have to let them down on a tour that they enthusiastically promoted and worked hard for. I have spoken about this with them and in place of the full Tangent show, Guy Manning and I will do 4 special one off shows with IO Earth on all those dates. This set is well overdue. The set will feature songs from our intertwining careers which reach back over 25 years and will be rehearsed here at home making the trip at least possible if not profitable. I sincerely hope Tangent fans will still support the events and help to make this a profitable tour for IO Earth and the fantastic promoters that risk everything to keep prog alive in the UK.
THE FUTURE
People who know our songs know that "the future finds you" rather than any other way around. It's ironic, but during this very difficult and stressful time I have been writing some of the most ambitious music in the band's history. I hope to release Tangent album number 7 next year. Other than a few demo parts I never had the chance to get anyone from the band onto the recordings. I intend to find musicians who can help me complete this recording and I hope that with those musicians I can build the essence and workable framework of a new Tangent closer to home and thereby more practical.. The Y-Prog festival date next year is still in my diary and I fully intend to honour that commitment. Luke and Dan will of course continue the development of their excellent band Maschine and I wish them every success for the future.
THE PAST
At this crucial point I need to stress that all musicians involved since the inception of the UK band, (in order of appearance) Guy Manning, Jonathan Barrett, Theo Travis, Paul Burgess, Mike Gilbourne, Luke Machin, Tony Latham, Nick Rickwood & Dan Mash have provided the best moments of the Tangent's career to date. Sally Collyer has been a true brick in organising everything. All of them have been amazing, highly skilled and enthusiastic players and to lose them in this horrible way is heartbreaking. It is with seriously twisted lip that I remember that flying Beardfish in from Sweden on Ryanair to play with The Tangent at Summers End 2008 cost less money than it costs the current Tangent line-up to meet in London.
THE FUTURE NOW
I believe that I have earned the mandate to continue releasing music under the name The Tangent hopefully without the hurls of "tribute band" levelled at some bands who don't have the 'right' player. I accept that for many people the name has now become synonymous with the people currently in the band but I beg to suggest that the music has a continuity since that first album 10 years ago. The Swedish band had to be dissolved owing to running costs and impracticalities in 2008, and it now appears that the same thing has to happen here. I'll be rebuilding the Tangent. For now, I'll keep you posted on developments - there are over 2 hours of music written for the Tangent name already. This is an ongoing story, as it always has been.
Best to all
Andy
Looks like Tangent VII is on hold until a new band can be formed... sad :'( :'( :'(
-Marc.
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That really sucks but its understandable. Comm was a great album and I was looking forward to hearing new stuff from this lineup.
Tony Latham posted this on the comment thread on Facebook:
"All I can say to this statement guys and girls is there is more to the break up than meets the eye.. Me Luke Machin and Dan will be making our own statement. Meanwhile can I just say from the bottom of my heart a sincere thank you for being great fans friends etc its been a pleasure to play for you all xx"
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Here's the new lineup for the next album "La Sacre Du Tavail":
Andy Tillison - keys, vocals
Jonathan Barrett - bass
Jakko Jaksyk - guitar
Theo Travis - sax, flute
Gavin Harrison - drums
David Longdon (Big Big Train singer) - vocals
and a demo by Tillison and Barrett:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wkOgivtLy_U
This is going to be so good. Gavin Harrison on drums! :biggrin:
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Here's the new lineup for the next album "La Sacre Du Tavail":
Andy Tillison - keys, vocals
Jonathan Barrett - bass
Jakko Jaksyk - guitar
Theo Travis - sax, flute
Gavin Harrison - drums
David Longdon (Big Big Train singer) - vocals
and a demo by Tillison and Barrett:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wkOgivtLy_U
This is going to be so good. Gavin Harrison on drums! :biggrin:
David Longdon AND Gavin Harrison, as well as a few Tangent alum?! OH MAN this is going to be goooooooood! Contender for AOTY for 2013, for SURE.
-Marc.
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Gavin Harrison on drums? and Jakko returning to the lineup? As much as I was disappointed about the previous lineup dissolving, this is Awesome!!! :biggrin:
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Andy Tillison just announced that Jonas Reingold has rejoined on bass, replacing Jonathan Barrett. I like Barrett but I'm a bigger fan of Reingold so this is great news!!
The Tangent are very happy indeed to announce that Jonas Reingold will return to the project for the forthcoming album "Le Sacre Du Travail". Jonas, who is a founder member of The Tangent and has played on 4 studio and 2 live albums with the band in the past. For the majority of prog music fans he needs no introduction, the charismatic and acrobatic bass virtuoso from the Flower Kings and Karmakanik has established himself at the top of the prog virtuosos list over the past 15 years. Jonas' return also heralds the first ever collaboration between himself and Gavin Harrison (drums) - a mouthwatering treat for rhythm section enthusiasts the world over. The recording project has been a lot of fun and Jonas has contributed all the bass to all the pieces - this is not a cameo appearance. His involvement with The Tangent does not affect his position with any other artists, Jonas has just returned home from a highly successful tour with The Flower Kings. During that tour all of us decided to keep his name a secret in order to keep the focus on those gigs. Tangent illuminatii will now realise that this new album features a very similar lineup to "Not As Good As The Book". The Tangent Website www.thetangent.org has much more information and a new snippet where for the rest of today you can hear the new band with all personnel for the very first time. Jonas may well join us here, but at this precise moment he's on a tourbus somewhere between Hamburg and Copenhagen. It is F***ing great to have him back.
The Tangent Lineup for this album is therefore: (in order of joining the LSDT project)
Andy Tillison (Po90 & Big Big Train collaborator) - Vocals, Electronic Guitars & Keyboards
Theo Travis (Steve Wilson Band, Soft Machine, Gong) - Saxes, Flutes & Clarinet
Jakko Jakszyk (King Crimson Projekt, Level 42, Kompendium etc) - Lead Guitar & Vocals
David Longdon (Big Big Train) Vocal Arrangements and Vocals
Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, Stickmen, King Crimson) - Drums
Jonas Reingold (The Flower Kings, Kaipa, Karmakanik) - Bass Guitar
With special guest Rikard Sjoblom (Beardfish, Gungfly, Bootcut) - Spoken Voice
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What a rhythm section!!!!
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This is awesome news!!! What a lineup. It's too bad the COMM lineup couldn't do another album, especially that guitarist they had, but this will do. Big smile
Although, I thought the bassist who was on Down and Out In Paris and London came back. Guess not, and Jonas is better anyway. The man should claim the title of "Hardest Working Man in Show Business" from James Brown.
Great, great news!!!
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(https://www.progarchives.com/forum/uploads/31570/jonas.jpg)
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I still can't get over how awesome The Canterbury Sequence is; love the vibe in that tune! :coolio
Looks like I will finally be getting around to checking out COMM here real soon. :hat
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I still can't get over how awesome The Canterbury Sequence is; love the vibe in that tune! :coolio
Looks like I will finally be getting around to checking out COMM here real soon. :hat
Yes. Do. It's one of their best albums by far.
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COMM is my second favorite Tangent album after The Music That Died Alone. Too bad Luke Machin left the band as he was incredible.
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COMM is certainly one of their best albums. I like it slightly better than their previous effort Down And Out In Paris And London, although the opening epic of that album "Where Are They Now?" is a great call-back to prior Tangent works, and a great epic (despite the fade-out).
-Marc.
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COMM is certainly one of their best albums. I like it slightly better than their previous effort Down And Out In Paris And London, although the opening epic of that album "Where Are They Now?" is a great call-back to prior Tangent works, and a great epic (despite the fade-out).
-Marc.
I actually have a soft spot for Down and Out In Paris and London, as it was my first Tangent album; and yes, Where Are They Now? is an awesome epic. My least favorite is actually Not As Good As The Book, but it's still a great album.
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(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/941561_10151606132850519_1903785774_n.jpg)
STATEMENT FROM INSIDEOUT/CENTURY MEDIA TUE 7/5/13
On the 24th June 2013, InsideOut Music is set to release the seventh studio album by The Tangent entitled Le Sacre Du Travail (The Rite Of Work). The album is the group's first fully blown "concept album" but band-leader Andy Tillison is keen to point out that this concept is something that involves all of us now rather than a rambling fiction.
Formed from a single hour long piece of music in 5 movements and referred to by the band as "An Electric Sinfonia" based around a working day of a typical Western-world citizen, the album has a very personal feel. It's highly orchestral and 20th century classical in tone, very much inspired by Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring. Described by INSIDEOUT CEO Thomas Waber as "A very mature album" with "Stellar Musicianship" - this album sees the lineup of The Tangent revert to an earlier formation, Andy Tillison (composer/keyboards/singer) again bringing on board Jonas Reingold on bass (The Flower Kings, Karmakanic), Jakko M Jakszyk on guitar & vocals (King Crimson, Level 42), Theo Travis on wind instruments (Soft Machine, Steve Wilson Band) with the new additions of Gavin Harrison on drums (Porcupine Tree) & David Longdon on vocal harmonies (Big Big Train). In addition there are cameo appearances by Rikard Sjoblom (Beardfish) and Guy Manning amongst others.
The Tangent add to the statement:
The artwork for the outside cover you see here, is by a remarkable gentleman named Martin Stephen. The interior artwork will be announced & featured extensively later.
Much more info on the Tangent Website updated today (please allow for bizarreness) www.thetangent.org And of course regular Pre-Ordering begins today!
Look out for more information on the album in the coming weeks!
https://progarchy.com/2013/05/07/new-tangent-ready-for-pre-order/
I hope the music is as good as the cover! I said the same about the new Spock's Beard, and that album certainly was as great as the artwork. I'm sure that will be the case for this album, too.
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I was wondering if anyone here would be interested in a Tangent Survivor starting in late August? It'll have been enough time since LSDT's release that it'll be a good time to do one, but I'd like at least a few (4 or more) members here participating.
Also - looking forward to receiving this album and it's companion album! So glad I saved up for the pre-pre-order!
-Marc.
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Also - looking forward to receiving this album and it's companion album!
-Marc.
What???
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Also - looking forward to receiving this album and it's companion album!
-Marc.
What???
Yeah, it's a companion to LSDT and a semi-sequel to A Place On The Shelf in terms of being demos by Andy of songs meant for Tangent albums. It's titled L'Étagere du Travail, "a bizzarre transliteration of "The Work Shelf". Forming part two not only of "Le Sacre" but also of "A Place On The Shelf", this album will feature almost an hour of completely new material in high quality demo format." It's an exclusive to the Tangent's website.
In agreement with INSIDEOUT - this album will be released shortly AFTER Le Sacre. Customers wanting BOTH packages can pre-order both now but should be aware that the companion disk will arrive separately within the following four weeks.
-Marc.
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Oh, I haven't checked out their live albums. I'm very cautious when it comes to live albums by prog bands. I always need to know why it worth having. Are there differences from studio versions? Improvisations/jams?
The news of Jonas rejoining and the new album has gotten me pumped and I've been slowly getting back into all the big modern prog bands like The Tangent, TFK, DT, Kaipa, SB, Transatlantic, Moon Safari, etc...
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So I have been listening to LSDT since Sunday evening, and I have to say - it's a worthy successor to COMM, and a musically-spiritual sibling to Not As Good As The Book, especially with 2/3rds of the same band performing, with the wonderful additions of David Langdon and Gavin Harrison!
This is their first full-on concept album, using ideas and themes that they've touched on before about the ordinary man's ordinary and common work day. A lot of The Tangent's lyrics have been about the mundane mediocrity of life, but this time, the whole album encompasses this thought process, by going over a work day, from sun-up to sun-down. It's an interesting idea, and while not entirely now, it's done brilliantly here.
The 5-movement album features 2 epics of the side-length variety, a short opening Overture, a medium-sized epic to close, and a short instrumental prior to it. It's got the same variety and quirkiness you'd come to expect from Andy and company, but with new and returning members, there's an interesting freshness about this album while being a great follow-up to COMM and their previous releases.
HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who is a fan of The Tangent, or even just curious as to what the Jonas Reingold/Gavin Harrison rhythm section would sound like, or hearing David Langdon's vocals on another wonderful album.
-Marc.
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I ordered it on Sunday. I was holding off on buying it because I figured I'd get it from Amazon when it was released, but the US release isn't for a month. Ordered it from their website, so hopefully it'll arrive from within the next week or two. Can't wait to hear it!!
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Listened to the new album for the first time today. As with all Tangent albums it's going to take a few listens, especially with two big epics starting things off.
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Got my copy in the mail today! I've listened it twice, and so far I like it but it's going to need a few more listens to sink in. Afternoon Malaise is the standout track for me so far, and Evening TV is great as well. Morning Journey & The Arrival didn't really do much for me, but I think it's going to grow on me after a while.
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From Andy Tillison:
As promised, here's a heads up on our plans for live work in 2014
We're very happy to announce that the Tangent WILL perform live with Karmakanic in 2014 and that the main focus of the Tangent gigs WILL be "Le Sacre Du Travail"
The hybrid group of SIX musicians will play two sets at each show, representing the music of each band. The line up will be the same for both groups and here is that line up:
Andy Tillison - Keyboards (both bands) and Lead Vocal (The Tangent)
Jonas Reingold - Bass Guitar/backing vocals (Both Bands)
Lalle Larsson - keyboards (both bands)
Morgan Ågren - Drums (both bands)
Luke Machin - Guitar and backing vocals (both bands)
Göran Edman - Lead Vocals (Karmakanic) Backing Vocals (The Tangent)
From the Tangent's point of view, this will see a return to the 2 keyboards player lineup from the band's early years as the material from "Le Sacre" will require this increase.
The UK show at The CELEBR8.3 Festival is on Saturday 31 May 2014 with Karmakanic headlining the afternoon session and The Tangent finishing off the evening after an as yet unspecified fabulous artist! Not only this but LUKE MACHIN will play a THIRD performance on the second day of the festival (Sunday June 1) with his band Maschine! It's shaping up to be a terrific event. I'm sure Geoff Banks will have more to tell us soon.
The gig at CELEBR8.3 will be at the end of a short European tour by The Tangent and Karmakanic (Not, sadly, Maschine) which is expected to commence in Scandanavia. Dates will be announced shortly. It's likely that one of the shows will be recorded and filmed!
BOOKING INFORMATION and GUESTS and many more details to follow of course!
At present www.thetangent.org is probably most up to date on this complete with some bio of the musicians involved
I doubt this will come to America, but it's great news that they may film one of the shows!
Also, it's nice to see Luke Machin back in the band as he's an incredible guitarist. :metal
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As a rabid Tangent fan, I have to update this thread with news of the newly redesigned website, as well as the announcement of a new album!
https://www.thetangent.org/
WELCOME
... and apologies for the long wait for updates to the site. Despite a number of personal family related problems, work has been continuing apace on the music itself and the new album by The Tangent is now in production in Stockholm, Lund, Otley and Brighton. Special "Pre-Pre Orders" are due to be available soon and of course for those people who decide to delve into that there'll be music to hear immediately, and the opportunity to follow the development of the album. Not only that, but there's a totally NEW Tillison solo project (not ambient) due later this year
"A SPARK IN THE AETHER"...
Will be the Eighth official studio release by the band now in its twelfth year of existence.
Andy Tillison: "This is an album that seeks to return to the core of what The Tangent means to me... after our big orchestral opus that we delivered in "Le Sacre Du Travail" we're, to an extent, reining in the instrumentation to the 5 piece electric Prog Rock band and focussing a little more on that all-important second word of the genre name 'Rock'. At least (grins with less than average teeth) for the first half!"
Ian Oakley, long term friend of the band and former manager: " "This is my favourite Tangent album in years. Full of thoughtful and amusing lyrics, singalong melodies, uplifting choruses, great guitar and synth leads (and just wait till you hear the brass!) Real "Prog & Roll""
A.S.I.T.E. is not without its ambitious pieces though. The one "long" track America On TV which occupies what once would have been "side two", is a nostalgic, wistful and humorous journey across the USA from coast to coast, using famous movies and TV programmes as the landmarks along the way. The group does expand into larger intrumentation here, this time into the world of brass sections which are used to evoke the atmospheres of shows and films like Kojak, Ironside, Dirty Harry, Shaft, Easy Rider, Thelma & Louise, Breaking Bad, Pulp Fiction, and more.
(https://po90.com/otter/dirty_harry_2.jpg)
Dirty Harry. made in the same year as "Fragile" by Yes
The album, overall, has a somewhat familiar theme....
"I think there's an element of it being "The Music That Died Alone 2" smiles Andy. "A lot of the subject matter in the lyrics to the first few songs is revisiting the state of Progressive Rock 12 years after the original album was made. That's obviously been a big big change. There's no apparent sign of the music being dead at all... but I still feel we have dangers and that we're not out of the woods yet. We all have a part to play in the development of this genre and becoming stilted and over safe is not the way to play this game. We need to support the younger guys as much as possible."
The Musicians lined up for the project are:
Andy Tillison Diskdrive: Keyboards & Vocals
Luke Machin: Guitar
Jonas Reingold: Bass Guitar
Theo Travis: Saxes & Flutes
Morgan Agren: Drums
It's likely that there will be a couple of nice guest appearances on the album too, more info as and when!
The album is due for release in the first quarter of 2015
Sounds like it'll be another amazing album from Andy and his recent touring band! Cannot wait to pre-order this and anxiously await it's arrival next year!
-Marc.
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https://po90.com/otter/shop.html
Pre-orders are up for the new album, due out early next year, as well as Andy's next solo venture!
I pre-ordered both in the MEGAFAN package, of course. Are there still any Tangent fans left on this board? I'm surprised this band doesn't have more fans here.
-Marc.
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Andy has posted a preview track from his upcoming album.
"Capes And Codpieces" (https://soundcloud.com/andy-tillison/codpieces-and-capes-test-mix) from the forthcoming album A Spark In The Aether (The Music That Tried Again).
Ed Unitsky has also returned to do all the album art.
The formerly titled "America On TV" is now called "The Celluloid Road". When I asked Andy on FB what the Track List might look like, he kindly responded with it! What a guy!
1. A Spark In the Aether
2. Codpieces And Capes
3. Clearing The Attic
4. The Celluloid Road
5. A Spark In The Aether (Part 2)
SPECIAL editions will include "AfterEugene" as an extended version of Clearing the Attic
Looking forward to this epic journey when it comes out in a couple months!
-Marc.
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Well, seems like I'm the only huge Tangent fan here at DTF, and that's fine by me. I love Andy and his work with The Tangent, and they've just released a fine album. Quite a different kind of album from Le Sacre Du Travail, it's very upbeat and funky, similar to early-Tangent, but fresh and new.
I've had the (digital) album for a few days now (since last Saturday) and it's grown on me a lot. There's a LOT to digest in its hour-long stretch, but it's great fun in only the cynical-kind-of-way that Andy writes.
-Marc.
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You're not alone, was my show's featured album just yesterday. :)
I've only gotten one full listen in thus far, but my initial reactions align with yours.
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You're not alone, was my show's featured album just yesterday. :)
I've only gotten one full listen in thus far, but my initial reactions align with yours.
:tup
I spun the album on my phone a couple of days ago whilst doing laundry at the coin-op and with headphones in, rather than a casual soft-listen at my desk at work, everything really stuck out for me. There's a lot to absorb on Andy's Tangent albums and this is no different. I like the over-all feel of the album and I'm sure it'll become a fast favorite for the year, especially in a year full of great albums (already! and it's only April!).
Definitely another winner with me, and I'm not saying that just because I'm a rabid Tangent fanboy. Andy does prog about prog like no one else, and I love his lyrics and music, and the Pink Floyd nod on the album is pretty intense, too. "Careful with that sax" :lol
-Marc.
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You described it well as prog about prog, but at the same time it can be a chore to listen to at times. Comparables like The Flower Kings just seem to have a more welcoming sound. With The Tangent it takes a lot more to get through it, but at the end of the day I certainly don't prefer it to a band like The Flower Kings. So while I enjoy them I've never been an overly huge fan. That said it's grabbed me enough that I own every album, and my favorite remains A Place in the Queue.
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The Tangent have diverges from the TFK-esque sound of prog, and I'm glad that Andy and company have found their own sound apart from being born from a core of TFK band members on guitar, bass and drums, even as Jonas has come and gone with the band a couple of times already.
I remember when I first got into them, I did find it a bit hard to get into Andy's vocals, and the first two albums with Roine got a lot more spins than anything else at the time (between APITQ and NAGATB), but once Queue clicked with me, it grew to be a favorite. I really like COMM, too, as well as the last two. Down And Out In Paris Or London is pretty good, but I don't spin it nearly as much as the first three or the last three - it and NAGATB are my least listened, but the epics on those two are pretty stellar.
If there's anything I've come to love, it's the epics on Tangent albums, and there's always at least one!
-Marc.
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I have a love love/hate relationship with The Tangent.
I got the music that died alone way back in 2003 and really enjoyed it. Everything after that was hit or miss.
At this point its a little bit too proggy for my tastes.
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So there is a Tangent thread here.
I bought Le Sacre du Travail last year and really enjoyed it. They make prog about modern life and times. And the "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" section is about something so instinctively British, it couldn't possibly be done by anyone else.
I heard the title track A Spark in the Aether when it was first released. That is such a catchy keyboard riff, isn't it?! A real stuck-in-your-head riff. I've ordered the album today, so I'll look forward to that getting here next week.
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So there is a Tangent thread here.
LOL Yes, yes there is, and by yours truly, the resident Tangent buff. Been a fan since APITQ's release and been ahead of the albums ever since then, usually pre-ordering EVERYTHING right from Andy himself. If anyone here owns the special editions with fans' names in them (like DAOIPAL, LSDT and now ASITA), you'll see "Marc Fernandez" in there - that'd be me! And if you're on the Tangent Facebook group, you'll probably have seen me there too.
I bought Le Sacre du Travail last year and really enjoyed it. They make prog about modern life and times. And the "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" section is about something so instinctively British, it couldn't possibly be done by anyone else.
LSDT is one of my favorite modern concept albums, and yes, it is VERY British. As an American, there's a lot I don't QUITE get about Andy's lyrics, but I can enjoy the intent and the feeling behind them.
I heard the title track A Spark in the Aether when it was first released. That is such a catchy keyboard riff, isn't it?! A real stuck-in-your-head riff. I've ordered the album today, so I'll look forward to that getting here next week.
Great! I cannot wait to hear your thoughts on the whole album once you get it! :tup
-Marc.
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Just finished giving it a spin. Enjoyed it... but there's a lot going on here. Tangent is one of those (many) bands that I enjoy when I listen to it, but can't say I feel any huge desire to go seek them out. There's lots of prog music I'd take over this, but that's not to say this wasn't good or enjoyable. It (they) was both
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Just coming to the end of my first full playthrough of A Spark in the Aether. I love it! Very jazzy at times, especially Clearing the Attic and Part 2 of the title track. The Celluloid Road will surely make for great driving music. Great stuff! :metal
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Hey guys, your resident Tangent/Andy Tillison super-fan here, just giving you folks a heads up that Andy's newest solo album, (Machte es) DURCH is now shipping to those of us who pre-ordered it. I think if you order it now, new orders might go out soon.
I'm still in the middle of spinning it in my car during my commutes, but I got through the first two pieces today after getting it in the mail, and it's definitely more of Andy's same, though the compositions seem a bit livelier than I remember on his more psychedelic and chill albums, FOG and MURK. He's also got some Theo Travis on flute in one piece, which is a nice addition.
Andy has also spoken of work beginning on a new Tangent album, at least that's what I recall from a recent Facebook post where he details his recent recovery from sickness, as well as talking about DURCH and Karmakanic (I'm pretty sure he's on the new album). So it's nice to hear that he's doing well and that more Tangent music will be on its way, hopefully next year.
-Marc.
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Wow, been six months since the last post, and by me no less... well, Andy has updated Tangent fans on Facebook that his next album, titled The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery (gotta love those long album titles), has been green lit and is set to be released by InsideOut / Sony sometime in July this year!
I finally got around to supporting Andy with paying for a pre-pre-order (as I have done for the last 4 or 5 albums), and I've been listening to an HOUR or so of album demos that he's releasing to those super-fans who haven pledged with a pre-pre-order, and I've got to say, even after 8 studio albums over the last 14 years, he's still writing excitingly fresh music. There's a lot of new-to-Tangent styles and sounds among these demos, and some great keyboard and guitar work, which will come to better life with Luke Machin. As usual, Jonas Reingold is playing bass guitar, and joining them will be Luke's bandmate in Maschine, Marie Eve De Gaultier.
Here's a preview Andy released last month in case anyone didn't see it!
https://youtu.be/Vy0CXBWqXMA
-Marc.
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Hooray! Thanks for resurrecting this thread!
I bought A Place in the Queue recently, and wow! Incredible album! I love the lyrics, with plenty of references to life in modern Britain that will bring a smile to those in the know. And it's generously filled too. The title track is like a modern twist on King Crimson with its prominent use of saxophone.
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Hooray! Thanks for resurrecting this thread!
I bought A Place in the Queue recently, and wow! Incredible album! I love the lyrics, with plenty of references to life in modern Britain that will bring a smile to those in the know. And it's generously filled too. The title track is like a modern twist on King Crimson with its prominent use of saxophone.
No problem. I seem to be the only huge fan of them on this forum. Then again, I've been a huge supporter of them for nearly a decade now. If anyone owns any of the albums from 2009 onward, you'll likely find my name in the booklets. Andy's music is so passionate and charged, I love how he's able to bring it all to life with such a vast array of musicians, English and Swedish, and otherwise, pouring in their talents while still sounding very much like his work/The Tangent. Every album is unique, but special in that they all have their own feel and sound to them, which is constant but changing.
The demos for the new album sound quite different than what I've heard before, but still retain that signature Tillison/Tangent sound in the vein of fast, jazzy prog. I've never delved into the world of Canterbury, or other such 70's jazz-influenced prog, but Andy's influences of them, combined with traditional symphonic prog, really make for some of the best underrated prog rock in the last decade.
Fans of instrumental music will be delighted to hear that the next album will feature longer instrumental sections, if not entirely instrumental songs, and of the demos, most of them were instrumental, and fairly long too, with two songs at 8 and a half minutes, one at 12 minutes, another at 14, and the previously released demo "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road" clocking in at an epic 17:29. He's still got one or two more pieces to work on (at least one more epic too), so this might shape up to be another fairly long album! Anytime there is a Tangent album coming out, it quickly becomes one of my favorites of the year, so I suspect this one won't be any different.
-Marc.
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I liked their first album a lot, but the next couple albums lost me and I've never gone back. I still love cranking up The Canterbury Sequence or Up-Hill from Here on occasion, however. :hat
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I liked their first album a lot, but the next couple albums lost me and I've never gone back. I still love cranking up The Canterbury Sequence or Up-Hill from Here on occasion, however. :hat
Their first two albums are pretty damn good, IMO, especially the first one. The work they did with the Swedish members from TFK was really something else, and the follow-up, A Place In The Queue, is just as great in my eyes. For the longest time, APITQ was my favorite of theirs, but it's harder to pick one now.
Have you tried any since then? I'd highly suggest Le Sacre Du Travail, which has some great musicians playing on it (Gavin Harrison, Jonas Reingold returning, some vocals by BBT's David Longdon, and more), and is a modern work-day concept album, a bit like Days Of Future Passed but with modern British cynicism.
I'd also suggest A Spark In The Aether, which is a sequel-album of sorts to their first album, not in any lyrical sense, but a bit musically. It's hard to say that a band's newest album can stand alongside their classics, but Andy and company managed to do that with ASITA. Oddly enough, the last two Tangent albums I'd say I rank as highly as their first three albums. I only find that their 4th-6th albums have not held up as much for me, though I still spin COMM every now and then.
-Marc.
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It's funny...I only recently realised that David Longdon sang a bit on Le Sacre du Travail, even though it's clearly listed on the back cover. It's only been since I discovered Big Big Train and have become attuned to Longdon's voice that I notice the passages that he sings on Le Sacre.
I love the narrated passage in the Overture, by Rikard Sjoblom, formerly of Beardfish. Tillison narrated a short introduction to Beardfish's 2012 album The Void, so I assume that this was returning the favour.
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It's funny...I only recently realised that David Longdon sang a bit on Le Sacre du Travail, even though it's clearly listed on the back cover. It's only been since I discovered Big Big Train and have become attuned to Longdon's voice that I notice the passages that he sings on Le Sacre.
I was the same way, actually. I've been a Tangent fan for over a decade now, but only a BBT fan for the last 4-5 years, so when LSDT came out in 2011, I had no idea who David Longdon really was, or what his other projects were. Perhaps it was his appearance on LSDT that urged me to finally check out that English band with a silly name and stole NDV from Spock's Beard... :lol
I love the narrated passage in the Overture, by Rikard Sjoblom, formerly of Beardfish. Tillison narrated a short introduction to Beardfish's 2012 album The Void, so I assume that this was returning the favour.
Another BBT connection, Rikard is now a full-time member of that band. I remember reading about their trading of narrations between Andy and Rikard, which I thought was a nice touch. Andy has also done some work with BBT.
Honestly, I'd pay a large sum of money for a BBT/Tangent show.
-Marc.
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A bit in GPS Culture that put a smile on my face was in the line: "We think we've heard that riff before but where in the world?" For many years, that was the slogan of PC World, a computer store with adverts regularly on UK television in the 90s/00s. The jingle was sung exactly the way Tillison sings it in GPS Culture.
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An update from Andy the other day reveals that the album is DONE and they are in the process of sorting out the details of release and promotion, and that those details will come to light fairly soon. With a targeted July release date, I can expect solid information starting next month in early May, giving us a 2-month lead-in into the album.
I was on a mini-binge of Tangent music over the last couple of weeks, listening to the first three albums in my car, though I kind of have put that on hold as I gear up to listen to the new Big Big Train album coming out this week. I guess I can balance both British bands in my listening...
-Marc.
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(https://assets.teamrock.com/image/cd7bf23a-c747-417f-9066-b89ce42a13f2?w=800)
FROM INSIDEOUT music MAY 9 2017
The Tangent, the progressive rock group led by Andy Tillison, have announced the release of the first new music since 2015. Their new ninth studio album ‘The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery’ is set for release on 21st July 2017. The line-up for this album once again features Tillison on keyboards, vocals (and for the first time on a Tangent record – drums), Jonas Reingold on bass, Luke Machin on guitars and vocals, and Theo Travis on sax and flutes plus new member Marie-Eve de Gaultier on keys and vocals. There are also guest appearances from author/playwright and Chumbawamba founder Boff Whalley on vocals, and upcoming DJ/producer Matt Farrow.
Band leader Andy Tillison had this to say: "Roger Waters did prove the ability of Progressive Music to act as a vehicle to communicate ideas about the current world scene. In both Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" and his "Amused To Death" albums, Waters set a challenge to others in the genre. A challenge which has not been frequently accepted."
The album sees The Tangent in political commentary mode once again - this time often focussing on the horrendous plight of refugees from war torn parts of the world - and the way in which they are treated by the West, and in particular by the tabloid press. The album laments the new trend in building walls and defending borders across the world yet takes time to look at the breakup of friendships and other more personal issues - along with a song about the fate of wildlife in the modern consumer world.
And it's a Progressive Rock Record. Full of intricacies, long developed pieces, challenging arrangements and virtuoso playing from all members. New sounds and styles (the band have brought a DJ on board for some sections) - new voices and techniques (first female vocals in The Tangent since the "Not As Good As The Book" album 10 years ago). A new producer in the form of Luke Machin whose open and deep/clear sound is a major factor of this album, a new drummer in the form of Andy Tillison who decided at long last (after drumming for 30 years) to let his own performances guide the rest of the band rather than adding another musician later. And after 13 years of asking, Jonas finally agreed to play some double bass in a song where Luke also plays some Scat guitar and Andy does a full on drum solo.
"The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery" also features stellar artwork from Marvel / DC Comics artist Mark Buckingham. The sleeve of the album is totally based on the music it contains and was especially created for this project.
The album will be available on limited digipak CD, gatefold 2LP + CD, and digital download, and you can find the full track-listing below:
Two Rope Swings
Doctor Livingstone (I Presume)
Slow Rust
The Sad Story of Lead and Astatine
A Few Steps Down the Wrong Road
Basildonxit
The band will head out on tour in support of the new record, once again joining forces with Sweden’s Karmakanic to present albums by both bands. The full list of dates is as follows:
Aug 26th 2017 – Bierkeller, Reichenbach, DE
Sept 1st 2017 - 2 days of Prog +1 Festival, Veruno, Italy
Sept 9th 2017 - The Boerderij, Zoetermeer
Oct 8th 2017 - SUMMERS END Festival, Chepstow, UK
Oct 21st 2017 – Progtoberfest, Chicago, USA
Oct 22nd 2017 – Shank Hall, Milwaukee WI, USA
Oct 24th 2017 – Token Lounge, Westland MI, USA
Oct 26th 2017 – Roxy & Dukes, Dunellen NJ, USA
Oct 27th 2017 – The Regent Theatre, Arlington MA, USA
Look out for more information in the coming weeks!
The Tangent online:
www.thetangent.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/alltangentmembers/
INSIDEOUTMUSIC ONLINE:
www.insideoutmusic.com
www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV
www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic
www.twitter.com/insideouteu
www.myspace.com/insideoutlabel
Visit the new Insideout Shop:
www.insideoutshop.de
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Yay! With this and Steven Wilson's album, that's summer sorted! And an exciting day for our music.
Love the cover art...looks quite anime-like.
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Looks like a cover for a comic book.
Cool news. Will check out when it comes out.
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Looks like a cover for a comic book.
Cool news. Will check out when it comes out.
Funny you mention that because the artist for the album cover has done artwork for both Marvel and DC Comics before, so even if you didn't know that, it's cool that you picked up on that!
-Marc.
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Interestingly, the Burning Shed preoder page for TSROFM (new abbreviation time!) makes no mention of Basildonxit, listing just 5 tracks, but they're substantial ones...
1. Two Rope Swings - 6:32
2. Dr Livingstone - 11:58
3. Slow Rust - 22:31
4. Sad Story of Lead and Astatine - 16:00
5. A Few Steps... - 17:31
I thought Basildonxit might be a hidden track, but we've had the video for A Few Steps for a while now, and that song is about 17 minutes (the credits etc take the video to around 20 mins). But still, that's a good 70-minute + album we've got there!
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Interestingly, the Burning Shed preoder page for TSROFM (new abbreviation time!) makes no mention of Basildonxit, listing just 5 tracks, but they're substantial ones...
1. Two Rope Swings - 6:32
2. Dr Livingstone - 11:58
3. Slow Rust - 22:31
4. Sad Story of Lead and Astatine - 16:00
5. A Few Steps... - 17:31
I thought Basildonxit might be a hidden track, but we've had the video for A Few Steps for a while now, and that song is about 17 minutes (the credits etc take the video to around 20 mins). But still, that's a good 70-minute + album we've got there!
https://burningshed.com/the-tangent_the-slow-rust-of-forgotten-machinery_cd?filter_tag=The%20Tangent
It's there in the CD version of the album. Weird. I'll ask Andy about that.
It looks like it'll be a packed 79:53 long! Makes sense as even Andy said some material that we pre-pre-orderers got in demo form didn't make the album, so I suspected a full disc. I suppose we may get another companion album in the best future with leftover and bonus material!
-Marc.
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"CD in digipak with bonus track."
Just saw this in the description! Whoops...guess I should read more carefully! I had no idea it'd be a bonus track!
-Marc.
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Even with The Tangent's penchant towards lengthy songs, I wasn't expecting THREE 16-minute-plus songs on one album! Looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, I've been getting back into Le Sacre du Travail lately. I love that album!
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Part 1 of a track-by-track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln7YjfZqkM0) discussion of the new Tangent album, covering Two Rope Swings and Dr. Livingstone (I Presume?). Interestingly, the latter is the band's first self-contained instrumental piece. And at nearly 12 minutes, a substantial instrumental at that.
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Hard to believe the album will be out in about a month! It feels like yesterday that I just placed my pre-order, but that was 7 months ago... :lol
Part 1 of a track-by-track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln7YjfZqkM0) discussion of the new Tangent album, covering Two Rope Swings and Dr. Livingstone (I Presume?). Interestingly, the latter is the band's first self-contained instrumental piece. And at nearly 12 minutes, a substantial instrumental at that.
Saw this the other day. It's a good watch, I like their insight into the new work, and it gets me more excited for it! I'm anxious to hear Andy's biting political commentary!
-Marc.
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The album officially drops today, July 21st, and many pre-orders from Andy and co. have already shipped and been delivered to a lucky few, mostly UK and European fans. Those of us in the US will probably have to wait a few days, though he did say they mailed those out earlier this week, so if I am lucky, it'll come this weekend!
Other than one or two listens to initial demos and pre-release singles, I haven't listened to any of the new music much just so the new album can be completely fresh to my ears once I get it, and with a near 80-minutes of new music to digest, I cannot wait to hear what Andy and his band have churned out this time! I'm excited to hear Andy on drums and their new co-vocalist. I really enjoyed having female vocals on their earlier albums, so this should prove to be interesting!
Did anyone else pre-order the album 7 months ago, or am I the only one here? :lol
-Marc.
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Hopefully I'll be picking up my copy this morning. As a "prologue" to it, I put A Spark in the Aether on last night. That's an awesome album! Still in my regular rotation over 2 years after its release.
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First full spin now, but I had a little listen to some of it earlier, and I have to say, Marie-Eve de Gaultier's vocals really do add an extra shine to proceedings, both alone and in duet with Tillison.
(It's a real shame that there's only two of us holding this thread up at the moment. The Tangent should get more love. Their music is awesome!)
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First full spin now, but I had a little listen to some of it earlier, and I have to say, Marie-Eve de Gaultier's vocals really do add an extra shine to proceedings, both alone and in duet with Tillison.
(It's a real shame that there's only two of us holding this thread up at the moment. The Tangent should get more love. Their music is awesome!)
Gaultier's vocals are really something else, and I hope she sticks around for another album or two, I say with enthusiastic hope because the Tangent's line-ups are always fluid.
And yeah, I guess we're the only 2 Tangent fans on DTF, which is a real shame. I hold them and BBT in high regard as two of the best, modern British prog bands out there today! They tell their own stories with their own voices but fulfill different roles in the world of prog rock, and satisfy different aural needs for me. And Andy is one of my favorite modern prog writers, up there with Neal Morse, Roine Stolt, Steven Wilson, and Arjen Anthony Lucassen. For me, those five can do no wrong and whenever any of them have new albums coming out, I'm always sure to pre-order or buy on release day (finances willing).
-Marc.
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The "Binary choices" section of Slow Rust ("Like/Don't Like...Vote Up/Vote Down..." etc.) reminds me a bit of the rap section of Rush's Roll the Bones. The lowered voice and all.
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The "Binary choices" section of Slow Rust ("Like/Don't Like...Vote Up/Vote Down..." etc.) reminds me a bit of the rap section of Rush's Roll the Bones. The lowered voice and all.
Very good point! I was wondering why it sounded familiar, though I think Andy has done that voice/vocal effect before in previous albums, though not having listened to a lot of Tangent leading up to the release of TSROFM, I cannot quickly recall where I've heard him do that before.
After a few hard listens, this album definitely stands up as one of the best. It's hard to believe that Andy and the Tangent have held up such high quality of music through all these years, and they just get better and better. I love Andy's biting cynicism and politcal commentary along with his own brand of humor that fits so well with his music. There's a bit of RUSH in him and their music in that sense, where in, like Neil, Andy takes influence from current world events and applies it to his lyrics, if a bit more literally and less subtly, but does so in a way that is entertaining and pleasing to listen to. I *love* the ending to "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road"!!!
-Marc.
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It's been awhile since I, or anyone has posted in this thread, but I wanted to bump it up because I just remembered that the Tangekanic live album is due out sometime this month, from Jonas Reingold's website. I pre-ordered a couple months ago and of course paid for the option to get my name on the cover (I am the resident Tangent super-fan after all :lol ).
In addition to the live album, Andy's releasing a new solo project under the name Kalman Filter, available for pre-pre-order on the Tangent website. It's a mix of composition and improvisation from Andy, along the vein of his prior solo outings "Fog", "Murk" & "Durch". According to the website - "Lovers of early Tangerine Dream (Both Pink and Virgin eras) will find much familiarity here, but there will be forays into ECM Jazz territories as well as more modern DJ style techniques."
Sounds super interesting! I've enjoyed Andy's solo stuff, it's great to just put on and chill out to.
-Marc.
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there will be forays into ECM Jazz territories as well as more modern DJ style techniques."
-Marc.
This sounds very cool indeed. I'll have to check that out. I'm not that big of a Tangent fan, so I won't preorder it.
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I've been listening to Where are they now? alot this past week. Hot damn do I love that song. Down and out in paris is a pretty decent album.
I really love the music that died alone as well.
I just picked up Slow rust and its just ok I guess. Need to listen to it more. I will start investigating the rest of the albums.
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I'd definitely recommend A Spark in the Aether then. It's something of a sequel to The Music That Died Alone, made 12 years later. In the main, it's a fun album, with witty digs at the likes of ELP (Codpieces and Capes), Pink Floyd (Aftereugene), and the US television industry (The Celluloid Road).
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I ended buying A spark in the Aether last nite. Only $4.99 on amazon so I was like "sold". It pretty solid from what I've heard so far.
Comm was only $3.99 so I got that too and I really like what I hear so far. The tangent reminds me of king crimson a little in that Andy Tillison is the robert fripp and its always a rotating line up, which is pretty cool. The band always has a new sound.
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I certainly hear a King Crimson influence, especially with Theo Travis on flute and saxophones. I can also hear Yes, especially on tracks like GPS Culture. (From A Place in the Queue, yet another Tangent album I recommend, as if you haven't got enough already! :tup)
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A place in the queue is definitely next on the list. Sadly its not on Amazon digital or itunes anymore, so I have to order a physical copy. Soon though.
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ASITA is definitely a great album, and I feel like it feels more upbeat than the two albums surrounding it, which I feel are a bit more dense and thus, possibly harder to get into right away, but that's part of the charm of Andy's music and The Tangent in general. His music seems to go in waves like that.
APITQ was one of my all-time favorite albums when it came out, and I still think it ranks up there. The opening and closing epics are some of my favorite songs of that length, and showcase just how powerful Andy's writing was, even after the departure of Roine Stolt. I think having Jonas Reingold stay with the band for nearly it's whole life so far has been one of the best things about The Tangent - he is their Chris Squire, if you may. That isn't to say Jonathan Barrett's work on DAOIPAL or COMM isn't good, but Jonas' signature bass playing helped define the Tangent sound in it's first few albums.
If you find yourself listening to the first two albums, you'll definitely hear more of the Crimson, and even Van der Graaf Generator influence in there, especially with VdGG's own David Jackson playing sax and flute on the debut album TMTDA. He was replaced by the aforementioned Theo Travis on their sophomore release TWTWDT, and his playing, alongside Jonas, also helped define the Tangent sound.
-Marc.
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Tangent fans here should be happy to know that the new live album of Tangent and Karmakanic members is now out, recorded last October in New Jersey, this 77 minute disc offers 3 songs from each band, and a new track titled "Sanctuary In Music", dedicated to the victims of concert attacks in recent years, complete with a solemn 30 seconds of silence in the middle of the song.
Did any other Tangent fans here pre-order this album, or was I the only one? :lol
-Marc.
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Funny this thread should show up again while I'm listening to A Spark in the Aether. Can't believe it's been 3 years since this came out!
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Funny this thread should show up again while I'm listening to A Spark in the Aether. Can't believe it's been 3 years since this came out!
Wow, three years already? What's wilder is that Not As Good As The Book is a decade old this year, and their debut The Music That Died Alone is celebrating 15 years this year!!!
-Marc.
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Tangent fans here should be happy to know that the new live album of Tangent and Karmakanic members is now out, recorded last October in New Jersey, this 77 minute disc offers 3 songs from each band, and a new track titled "Sanctuary In Music", dedicated to the victims of concert attacks in recent years, complete with a solemn 30 seconds of silence in the middle of the song.
Did any other Tangent fans here pre-order this album, or was I the only one? :lol
-Marc.
I saw them live on this tour and will get the album for sure.
Love the title, btw! :hat
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https://www.loudersound.com/news/the-tangent-announce-brand-new-studio-album (https://www.loudersound.com/news/the-tangent-announce-brand-new-studio-album)
New studio album Proxy coming November 16th! Merely 16 months after their last album.
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https://www.loudersound.com/news/the-tangent-announce-brand-new-studio-album (https://www.loudersound.com/news/the-tangent-announce-brand-new-studio-album)
New studio album Proxy coming November 16th! Merely 16 months after their last album.
Has it only been 16 months?! That's nut...
Anyways, thanks for bumping this. I forgot to update after the excitement of the new this morning when I woke up! I, of course, pre-ordered the Mighty Mega fan package, as I typically do. Cannot wait to hear this one!
-Marc.
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Burning Shed pre-order is up (https://burningshed.com/the-tangent_proxy-cd?filter_tag=The%20Tangent), and as is often the case with Burning Shed, they reveal the song lengths to us, so:
1. Proxy (16:07)
2. The Melting Andalusian Skies (8:51)
3. A Case Of Misplaced Optimism (6:13)
4. The Adulthood Lie (16:06)
5. Supper's Off (9:54)
Bonus Track:
6. Excerpt From 'Exo-Oceans' (10:25)
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Without the Kalman filter except, the album is 57:11 long, which is their shortest since their debut 15 years ago!
What's more, the vinyl leaves out the newly revamped "Supper's Off" (previously released in demo form on the limited LSDT-companion album L'Étagère Du Travail, released in 2013). The original was 8:17 long, so it looks like the new version is beefed up a little bit.
LP
A
1. Proxy (16:07)
2. The Melting Andalusian Skies (8:51)
B
1. A Case Of Misplaced Optimism (6:13)
2. The Adulthood Lie (16:06)
Ah well... either way, looking forward to these new songs!
-Marc.
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Looking forward to this release! Does anyone know who is going to play drums on this one? Andy played drums himself on the last one and he did a good job, but I would rather like to hear a drummer that doesn't just to the job, but really blows my mind, like Zoltan Csörsz, NDV, Marco Minnemann.
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Looking forward to this release! Does anyone know who is going to play drums on this one? Andy played drums himself on the last one and he did a good job, but I would rather like to hear a drummer that doesn't just to the job, but really blows my mind, like Zoltan Csörsz, NDV, Marco Minnemann.
Looks like the drummer will be Steve Roberts (ex Magenta, Godsticks). Never heard his work before, but I'm anticipating a suitable performance!
-Marc.
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Anyone here wants to interview Andy Tilson?
If so please send me a PM and check The available spots below
I got this message this morning:
Good morning Jorge,
Andy Tilison is available for phone and email interviews. See first available times below, but feel free to ask for different ones in case this does´t suite you.
I am looking forward to your replies. Thank you so much for your time.
Cheers,
Iván
THE TANGENT phoner slots
Tuesday October 02nd
18:30 CET -
19:00 CET -
19:30 CET -
20:00 CET -
20:30 CET -
Friday October 05th
18:30 CET -
19:00 CET -
19:30 CET -
20:00 CET -
20:30 CET -
Tuesday October 09th
18:30 CET -
19:00 CET -
19:30 CET -
20:30 CET -
Wednesday October 10th
19:00 CET -
19:30 CET -
20:00 CET -
20:30 CET -
21:00 CET -
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As it hasn't been posted here yet, the first full-song preview of Proxy was released last week: A Case of Misplaced Optimism. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1L13hM4_ck)
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Solid tangent. me like
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Solid tangent. me like
Exactly what I thought. A return to the signature jazzy, funky Tangent sound.
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Solid tangent. me like
Exactly what I thought. A return to the signature jazzy, funky Tangent sound.
Agreed. I think this album will be a good mix of what the Tangent has been known for over the course of the last 15 years, which is a lot considering how prolific the band has been, with nearly a release every year since their first album!
As a Tangent mega-fan, I am pretty excited to hear where Andy takes the band next, and I like what I've heard so far in the Super-Duper-Mega-Fan-Exclusive-Dropbox that I have access to, with some clips of the album, and a sneak peek at some demo versions of the songs on the album!
-Marc.
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Happy release day! Proxy is now available, though until today, I've heard most of the album being one of Andy's Mega-fan pre-orderers. Gotta say, they knocked this one out of the park again! Instantly love this album, though I will be spinning for days and weeks to come!
-Marc.
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My copy only arrived about an hour ago, so I'll be giving it a first spin this evening.
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Wait, this band has released 10 studio albums now?? Holy smokes, where have I been? :lol
Then again, after loving the first album, the next couple went downhill (despite having some good stuff), and I lost interest after that.
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Happy release day! Proxy is now available, though until today, I've heard most of the album being one of Andy's Mega-fan pre-orderers. Gotta say, they knocked this one out of the park again! Instantly love this album, though I will be spinning for days and weeks to come!
-Marc.
There are so many albums being released right now I haven't had the time (and money!) to get the new Tangent (between Muse, Knopfler, Gungfly, Grönemeyer).
Is it awesome? Is it jazzy? And Canterbury? And groovy?
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I think I'm really going to like this album. I listened in full last night and I stuck on The Adulthood Lie again while out shopping earlier. I love the fact that this band, while remaining resolutely "prog", continue to bring in other different influences to make each album unique.
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Here's a general question from someone who's never listened to this band.
I'm looking for a new prog band to get into and wonder what The Tangent has to offer - I'm curious about what's special about them, what makes them different from other modern prog acts and if there are any bands that they're similar to.
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Wait, this band has released 10 studio albums now?? Holy smokes, where have I been? :lol
Then again, after loving the first album, the next couple went downhill (despite having some good stuff), and I lost interest after that.
Yeah, Andy Tillison has been as prolific as ever, with at Tangent releases nearly every year since 2003 (be it studio, live, or limited exclusives), as well as various solo albums in between all of that. I don't blame you for not liking what came after their debut, but you should definitely give A Place In The Queue a chance (the album, AND the song), as well as COMM and the new album.
Happy release day! Proxy is now available, though until today, I've heard most of the album being one of Andy's Mega-fan pre-orderers. Gotta say, they knocked this one out of the park again! Instantly love this album, though I will be spinning for days and weeks to come!
-Marc.
There are so many albums being released right now I haven't had the time (and money!) to get the new Tangent (between Muse, Knopfler, Gungfly, Grönemeyer).
Is it awesome? Is it jazzy? And Canterbury? And groovy?
It is indeed very awesome and quite jazzy/Canterbury-y, but with a lot of other influences in there as well, with some dance and electronic bits here and there, as well as the typical prog musings (including a VERY ELP-influenced part in the title track). It's quite a bop!
I think I'm really going to like this album. I listened in full last night and I stuck on The Adulthood Lie again while out shopping earlier. I love the fact that this band, while remaining resolutely "prog", continue to bring in other different influences to make each album unique.
Agreed, there's a lot to digest on here that treads old and new ground, but continues to be prog in Andy's own ways. It's so distinctly Tangent-y, but still fresh and different enough from the last few albums. I also love the new life they breathed in to "Supper's Off", while mostly similar to the demo version Andy released several years ago, has some upgrades with the whole band playing on it now, especially Jonas's bass playing!
Here's a general question from someone who's never listened to this band.
I'm looking for a new prog band to get into and wonder what The Tangent has to offer - I'm curious about what's special about them, what makes them different from other modern prog acts and if there are any bands that they're similar to.
The Tangent is, well, very jazz/Canterbury influenced, along with a lot of 70's prog influences like VdGG and ELP, maybe a bit of King Crimson and Yes, but after the first couple of albums, the band really take shape into the sound they would become known for. Lyrically speaking, there's a lot of songs that seem only relevant to the modern age, and sometimes they can be corny and cheesy (but it's prog!), while also covering large ranges of topics from politics and history and anything in between. It's definitely NOT about dungeons and dragons and mystical arts and other fantastical prog-like lyrics. Andy writes very relate-able and grounded lyrics, sometimes very sarcastic and cynical in outlook, but those add to the uniqueness of the band! If you also love sprawling epics, they throw in at least one per album, of at least 16 minutes in length, and they're always a highlight for me upon every release, but the shorter tracks pack a lot of punch too!
Andy and The Tangent have cemented a place in my Top 10 bands of all time, and I've been a huge fan and supporter since before Not As Good As The Book came out in 2008. Andy never seems to disappoint with his releases, they fill in a gap in Modern English Prog that doesn't have anyone else like them, and their uniqueness in the prog landscape really keeps me coming back. They're unlike everything else I listen to in terms of modern prog. If you want bands like them, you'd have to view their individual influences, because they're really greater than the sum of their parts.
-Marc.
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Wait, this band has released 10 studio albums now?? Holy smokes, where have I been? :lol
Then again, after loving the first album, the next couple went downhill (despite having some good stuff), and I lost interest after that.
Yeah, Andy Tillison has been as prolific as ever, with at Tangent releases nearly every year since 2003 (be it studio, live, or limited exclusives), as well as various solo albums in between all of that. I don't blame you for not liking what came after their debut, but you should definitely give A Place In The Queue a chance (the album, AND the song), as well as COMM and the new album.
A Place in the Queue is the last one I bought; nothing from it really stuck, which is why I stopped buying their stuff. The title track from the second album is the only song I remember liking. And looking at my iTunes, a friend gave me the mp3s of COMM a while back, but I don't think I've ever listened to it.
I am still a big fan of the first album. I love all four songs, especially The Canterbury Sequence.
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One thing I noticed is that the movement titles for Proxy are on the back cover, but not in the lyric booklet.
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One thing I noticed is that the movement titles for Proxy are on the back cover, but not in the lyric booklet.
That's very interesting. I wonder if it was to save space for the actual lyrics? What about the movement titles for "The Adulthood Lie"?
-Marc.
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One thing I noticed is that the movement titles for Proxy are on the back cover, but not in the lyric booklet.
That's very interesting. I wonder if it was to save space for the actual lyrics? What about the movement titles for "The Adulthood Lie"?
-Marc.
They are included. It does make it easier to break that song down into its parts.
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:metal
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https://lotsofmuzic.weebly.com/home/the-tangent-are-back-with-their-latest-effort-proxy-and-heres-the-album-review-by-rich-lockrem
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A couple weeks ago, Andy revealed that he would be releasing some old works on Bandcamp, including various Tangent rarities and Parallel Or 90 Degrees albums, as well as older stuff like Gold Frankincense & Disk-Drive.
https://andytangent.bandcamp.com/
I've purchased the four albums (of the 9 currently available) that I didn't already own, which are the GFDD and PO90 ones. I haven't had time to spin them yet, but I am excited to finally own them, even if it's just digitally! If anyone never got some of these rarer Tangent titles and you don't care if you have them physically or not, here is a great way to support Andy directly and getting these albums in many digital formats! Please support him as he is currently working on new material and it would be a great way to help him get it out!
-Marc.
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Haven't listened to this band in a while, I've missed out on the last few albums, though I did check out the first tune from Proxy on Spotify and it sounded good. I actually did go back to the first 2 albums recently during a little Flower Kings binge but those albums have more of the TFK vibe than later Tangent albums.
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I absolutely love the passage from 11:21 on the opening title track of Proxy. The harmonica adds a nice extra touch during the long instrumental passage on that chord sequence. Shame the harmonica player isn't credited in the liner notes.
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Okay I still haven't heard it yet, and now I couldn't take it anymore. I just ordered it on Amazon Prime on vinyl, for 18 bucks :) Should be here by tomorrow. Very excited!!!
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I am almost through with the first listen. The melodies of the title track and Misplaced Optimism don't quite apply to me, but I always needed some time with new Tangent music.
I love the instrumental and especially The Adulthood Lie though! The latter is not your classical, fragmented 16min song, but it flows as a whole. And I love those EDM influences. This is where prog could go in the future.
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I am almost through with the first listen. The melodies of the title track and Misplaced Optimism don't quite apply to me, but I always needed some time with new Tangent music.
I love the instrumental and especially The Adulthood Lie though! The latter is not your classical, fragmented 16min song, but it flows as a whole. And I love those ECM influences. This is where prog could go in the future.
Glad you're enjoying it! Are you spinning the vinyl or the CD or both, because the vinyl leaves off the closing track "Supper's Off", which was previously a demo on L'Étagère Du Travail (the companion album to Le Sacre Du Travail). It's been revamped and recorded properly with the full band, and it sounds great, with all the cynicism and sarcasm that Andy is known for!
Honestly, their last 4 albums have been really good, and I think having Jonas on all of them really helped. Andy and Jonas are really the core of the band for me, and while I liked COMM and DAOIPAL, I did miss Jonas on those albums.
-Marc.
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So the only two tangent albums I am missing are A place in the Queue and Not as good as the book
Anyone know why they are so hard to find? Sure I can listen to them on Spotify, but wanted to get a digital copy just to have.
Also, are they decent?
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So the only two tangent albums I am missing are A place in the Queue and Not as good as the book
Anyone know why they are so hard to find? Sure I can listen to them on Spotify, but wanted to get a digital copy just to have.
Also, are they decent?
Not sure why they are rare or hard to find, but you can find them used on Amazon for under $30 each for the physical discs, though you might find that a bit pricey. Personally speaking, APITQ is one of their best albums, especially the Special 2-Disc Edition set. The epics are two of their best, and the other songs are all quality as well. The follow-up to that, NAGATB, is in the upper-middle tier for me. I don't spin it as much as their first three albums, but it's a decent follow-up to Queue.
If you love their first two albums, definitely seek out their third and fourth. If you join the Tangent Facebook group, you can probably ask there if anyone knows off-hand where to find these albums digitally. Andy himself might even comment and help you out as he interacts with his fans fairly frequently.
-Marc.
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It's been a bit quiet here in this thread, but Andy has recently updated progress on the next Tangent album, number 11 for those keeping track, and has even posted the tentative title of Auto Reconnaissance.
He has recently finished writing the album, and plans on getting the band back from Proxy to record it! This is HUGE considering the band have never been the same on any two consecutive records, so this will be the first time!
I cannot wait to pre-pre-order this one and back what will surely be another Tangent masterpiece. The last few albums have all been great and so I have high hopes for this next one!
-Marc.
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Well Marc, seems like your wait is almost over:
The Tangent, the progressive rock group led by Andy Tillison are pleased to announce the release of their 11th studio album ‘Auto Reconnaissance’ on the 21st August 2020. The follow-up to 2018’s ‘Proxy’, sees them continuing the band philosophy of celebrating the golden age of prog, whilst bringing it to the present and exploring new paths for the music to take in the future. On ‘Auto Reconnaissance’, they bend that philosophy to their will, taking in prog rock foot stomping, sublime Jazz, humour, narrative, a modern R&B love song, funk/soul and a 28 minute long emotional epic about the band's home country of England.
Andy comments: "I utterly refuse to accept that Progressive Rock Music is some kind of museum piece. It is actually a living and breathing movement that has a past, a present and above all, a future. It once had an album-chart-topping golden age, but the genre was never about that. It has subtly and virally kept itself alive for decades where many new musical genres have risen to glory and faded away."
For this release, Andy is once again joined by long-time collaborators Jonas Reingold, Luke Machin (who co-produced the album with Andy), Theo Travis, and Steve Roberts. Together they bring to life an album that has been influenced by the likes of ELP, The Isley Brothers, Steely Dan, Aphex Twin, National Health, Rose Royce, Squarepusher and Return To Forever amongst others.
‘Auto Reconnaissance’ will be available as Limited CD Digipak (incl. bonus track), Gatefold 2LP + CD + LP booklet & as Digital Album, all featuring the artwork of Ed Untisky, whose visuals have not been seen on a Tangent album since 2014’s ‘A Spark In The Aether’. The full track-listing can be found below:
1. Life On Hold
2. Jinxed In Jersey
3. Under Your Spell
4. The Tower Of Babel
5. Lie Back & Think Of England
6. The Midas Touch
7. Proxima (Bonus Track)
(https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/102384220_10158586630455439_4427790770241536000_o.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=NT_C71OxKYwAX8BT7GS&_nc_ht=scontent-vie1-1.xx&oh=2670ed13649d6647390ae12c5cdc3467&oe=5EFCFD6F)
I'm looking forward to this. The last two Tangent albums haven't exactly been my favourites of theirs, but I'm always openminded towards a guy that has created so much great music.
Also, Ed Unitsky (as usual) has made sure that this album is packed into a hideous cover artwork. Part of why I love vinyl is the big artwork size, but I'm not sure I want to look at this cover anymore than I have to. Of course this is all a matter of taste, but I don't understand why this guy gets hired over and over again by prog bands.
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Looks like we're getting the longest single Tangent song (unless you count Le Sacre du Travail as one song) on this album, the 28-minute epic mentioned in the blurb beating A Place In The Queue by c. 3 minutes.
Guessing you're not a fan of Roger Dean either, Fritzinger. Unitsky's magnificent work channels that of the great master.
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On the contrary, I love Roger Dean!
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Thanks to BurningShed, we've got the track lengths:
1 Life On Hold 00:05:34
2 Jinxed In Jersey 00:15:59
3 Under Your Spell 00:05:51
4 The Tower Of Babel 00:04:36
5 Lie Back & Think Of England 00:28:24
6 The Midas Touch 00:05:54
7 Proxima (Bonus Track) 00:12:30
Pre-orders on BurningShed have also begun, including an orange vinyl, all here - https://burningshed.com/tag/The+Tangent?utm_source=Newsletter+25+06+2020&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter+25+06+2020
-Marc.
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FIRST SINGLE:
The Tangent, the progressive rock group led by Andy Tillison, are pleased to announce the release of their 11th studio album ‘Auto Reconnaissance’ on August 21st, 2020. The follow-up to 2018’s ‘Proxy’, sees them taking the band philosophy of celebrating the golden age of prog, whilst bringing it to the present and exploring new paths for the music to take in the future. On ‘Auto Reconnaissance’, they bend that philosophy to their will, taking in prog rock foot Stomping, sublime Jazz, humour, narrative, a modern R&B love song, funk/soul and a 28 minute long emotional epic about the band's home country of England.
Today they launch the first track, titled ‘Life On Hold’, and you can listen now here: https://youtu.be/go1O7PI6oTI
Andy comments: “‘Life On Hold is the cheerful up-tempo Prog Rock foot-stomper we chose to kick off our album. It sits alongside pieces we’ve done in the past like ‘GPS Culture’ and ‘Spark In The Aether’, ‘Crisis In Midlife’ etc and it’s a flavour we do like to return to now and then. This one is influenced by things like that first Asia album, stuff like Kansas and Boston, and the kind of thing that Transatlantic might bang out at you. It’s part of our genetic makeup, but of course only one part. Although there’s a fair amount of accessible tunes on the new album, there’s some seriously deep water around too. And no, ‘Life On Hold’ has nothing to do with Lockdowns. It mentions Jean Paul Sartre, which is not normal in foot-stompers. Get it ON!! Bang, and the dirt is gone!”
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Been a little while since this thread saw the light of day, but we are a WEEK AWAY from the band's 11th album! Been waiting on this one for MONTHS now, having done the usual pre-pre-order from Andy directly. Saw a recent post from Andy that he was expecting the albums to arrive sometime this week to get postmarked out from his place, so I'm hoping mine gets to me within the next week or two (though with the state of shipments and packages over the last few weeks, I'm not overly optimistic I'll get my album before the end of the month).
Either way, I hope Andy gives fans who pre-ordered with him a chance to listen to the album digitally with a download code! Feels like I just ordered the album last week - summer flew by REAL fast.
-Marc.
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I wasn't even aware of this until just now when I saw this thread. I'll be spinning this one first thing tomorrow morning at the gym since it will be available on Amazon Music. They don't appear to be selling CDs via Amazon. Only vinyl ???
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I wasn't even aware of this until just now when I saw this thread. I'll be spinning this one first thing tomorrow morning at the gym since it will be available on Amazon Music. They don't appear to be selling CDs via Amazon. Only vinyl ???
That's weird, that the CDs aren't on Amazon. You might be able to get the CD from the band's own store, but I haven't checked in awhile. Happy to hear you've finally heard about this, though from that, can I take it that you don't actively follow Andy and Tangent news? I've known about it since March/April, and even pre-pre-ordered from Andy back in mid-April (which feels like SO long ago). The preview tracks that I've been able to listen to have been great, and the videos they have released in the last month or so have been entertaining, but I've been keeping myself from listening to all that too much. I'd rather wait until I can hear the whole album together.
The reviews so far seem to be VERY positive, so I'm excited for this one. Any year there is new Tangent, they inevitably end up in my top album choices of that year, and I suspect this will do the same, despite so much good music coming out in 2020 (and still more to come).
-Marc.
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Yeah, there's been a space for the cd option on Amazon for months now, it's just always said "not available". Thanks to the pandemic, Amazon's how I've been getting cds, so that's disheartening.
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It seems to be available on Amazon UK.
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I've downloaded my MegaFans Pre-Pre-Order WAV files late last night (around 3:00am), and after sleepily converting them into MP3 for my phone before going to bed, I woke up and spun the album, and WOW, what another smashing album by Andy and the gang. About as good, if not better than Proxy, and I think having the same line-up for a 2nd album in a row really helped with that.
I'll definitely have to get a few more listens in this weekend, but I've been enjoying it so far!
-Marc.
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I wasn't even aware of this until just now when I saw this thread. I'll be spinning this one first thing tomorrow morning at the gym since it will be available on Amazon Music. They don't appear to be selling CDs via Amazon. Only vinyl ???
That's weird, that the CDs aren't on Amazon. You might be able to get the CD from the band's own store, but I haven't checked in awhile. Happy to hear you've finally heard about this, though from that, can I take it that you don't actively follow Andy and Tangent news?
-Marc.
In the last year or so I've been focused on writing and producing my group's next album so I haven't dedicated a lot of time to finding new music, but anytime The Tangent release something new I always check it out.
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I wasn't even aware of this until just now when I saw this thread. I'll be spinning this one first thing tomorrow morning at the gym since it will be available on Amazon Music. They don't appear to be selling CDs via Amazon. Only vinyl ???
That's weird, that the CDs aren't on Amazon. You might be able to get the CD from the band's own store, but I haven't checked in awhile. Happy to hear you've finally heard about this, though from that, can I take it that you don't actively follow Andy and Tangent news?
-Marc.
In the last year or so I've been focused on writing and producing my group's next album so I haven't dedicated a lot of time to finding new music, but anytime The Tangent release something new I always check it out.
Ahh gotcha, well I hope work is proceeding well on your next album! If you get a chance to check this album out, please let us know your thoughts!
Personally, I've been a part of the Tangent Facebook group for about a decade now, and it's run by Andy himself, so I've been on top of all the band news and pre-pre-orders since their fifth album, and have helped fund his works where I can, which is why you may see my name in the album booklets where Andy has listed people who had helped fund the production of those albums (which I think is almost all of them since DAOIPAL, except COMM). I'm what they call a "Mega Fan" :lol
-Marc.
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Man, am I behind. They have been pumping out albums. I know The Tangent's first 6 albums pretty well, but I fell off when Le Sacre du Travail came out, which I may have only listened to twice. So much music to explore.
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Man, am I behind. They have been pumping out albums. I know The Tangent's first 6 albums pretty well, but I fell off when Le Sacre du Travail came out, which I may have only listened to twice. So much music to explore.
Oh wow, you're quite behind dude! There have been a LOT of great songs and albums from Andy since LSDT, both as The Tangent and released by Andy solo.
I just spun Auto Reconnaissance earlier this morning and it's still one of my favorite albums of the year. Somehow, Andy never seems to run out of great ideas! He also recently said he's completed work on his next solo album as well, though I'm not sure if its another Kalman Filter release, or a normal ATD album.
-Marc.
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Man, am I behind. They have been pumping out albums. I know The Tangent's first 6 albums pretty well, but I fell off when Le Sacre du Travail came out, which I may have only listened to twice. So much music to explore.
Oh wow, you're quite behind dude! There have been a LOT of great songs and albums from Andy since LSDT, both as The Tangent and released by Andy solo.
I just spun Auto Reconnaissance earlier this morning and it's still one of my favorite albums of the year. Somehow, Andy never seems to run out of great ideas! He also recently said he's completed work on his next solo album as well, though I'm not sure if its another Kalman Filter release, or a normal ATD album.
-Marc.
I'm surprised The Tangent don't get more attention like TFK, Spock's Beard, or Neal Morse do, at least around these parts.
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I've been listening to Proxy again and I've gotta say I like it a lot better than Auto Reconnaissance. It's more focussed and more experimental, it's jazzier and it has a better cover ( :biggrin:) There are some cool tracks on AR too though, I love Jinxed In Jersey as a great follow-up to the Lost In London songs. I don't quite get Lie Back & Think Of England (yet) though.
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Picked up Auto Reconnaissance today. My initial takeaways are that it sounds like classic Tangent, with plenty of Theo Travis' flutes and saxes, perhaps more than on any other album. And I've noticed quite a few lyrical callbacks to phrases used on previous albums, not least Lie Back and Think of England probably being a sequel of sorts to In Earnest.
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Man, am I behind. They have been pumping out albums. I know The Tangent's first 6 albums pretty well, but I fell off when Le Sacre du Travail came out, which I may have only listened to twice. So much music to explore.
Oh wow, you're quite behind dude! There have been a LOT of great songs and albums from Andy since LSDT, both as The Tangent and released by Andy solo.
I just spun Auto Reconnaissance earlier this morning and it's still one of my favorite albums of the year. Somehow, Andy never seems to run out of great ideas! He also recently said he's completed work on his next solo album as well, though I'm not sure if its another Kalman Filter release, or a normal ATD album.
-Marc.
I'm surprised The Tangent don't get more attention like TFK, Spock's Beard, or Neal Morse do, at least around these parts.
I think it's Andy's vocals to be honest. His voice is a very difficult taste to acquire for many. Personally I find it charming.
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It's unfortunate, The Tangent is just as good, if not better, than TFK or Neal Morse, in many respects. They bring more jazzy elements than TFK, NM, and SB, and pump out more consistently great epics and shorter prog pieces than those guys as well. Plus, that first Tangent album is soooooo good, one of my favorite modern prog albums.
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I've always said that if The Flower Kings were the new Yes, Spock's Beard as the new Genesis, then The Tangent would be the new Van Der Graaf Generator. I think Andy has cited Peter Hammill as an influence, and his use of saxes definitely speaks to that, but more importantly, Andy's vocals have a similar feel to that of Peter's, and IMO, both are a bit hard to get into.
For me, since getting into The Tangent just before A Place In The Queue, Andy wasn't entirely the main vocalist quite yet, so I was kind of eased into him as a vocalist when he shared vocal duties with Roine on those first two albums. As things went along, I got more and more used to Andy's vocals. He is definitely an acquired taste, for sure, but his music and the band's performances really shine, IMO. I also really like Andy's scathingly real and honest lyrics, even the political ones. I can see how some might not enjoy his sing-speak and narrative/talking lyrics, but I find them amusing at times, especially in "Jinxed In Jersey" on the latest album.
Personally speaking, Andy has his a new stride with his albums, ever since LSDT, they've just gotten better and better, and I'd rank any of these recent albums as highly as the first four.
-Marc.
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Interestingly, despite being a huge fan of Roine Stolt's guitar playing, I think the band improved without him. In fact, I think Roine's presence on those first couple of albums bent the music in much more of an early TFK mode and it sort of obscured Andy's presence. Once Roine left I think Andy came out of his shell and the band has been releasing better and better material ever since.
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Interestingly, despite being a huge fan of Roine Stolt's guitar playing, I think the band improved without him. In fact, I think Roine's presence on those first couple of albums bent the music in much more of an early TFK mode and it sort of obscured Andy's presence. Once Roine left I think Andy came out of his shell and the band has been releasing better and better material ever since.
I feel the same with the early Karmakanic albums. Same deal. Both those bands seem to have sprouted out from TFK/Roine Stolt land, and they found their identity more once Roine left them on their own while he focused on TFK and other projects.
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I only ever know The Tangent with Tillison leading, and to me it sounds quite different from a Flower Kings-type band.
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I only ever know The Tangent with Tillison leading, and to me it sounds quite different from a Flower Kings-type band.
Have you heard their first 2 albums? Roine, Jonas, and Zoltan from TFK are there, Jonas is on most of their albums in general.
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Not yet, no. The earliest album I have is A Place in the Queue.
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Would you all be interested in a discography thread for The Tangent? I'm willing to run it.
Not yet, no. The earliest album I have is A Place in the Queue.
The first two albums are most reminiscent of TFK, especially with the lineup, and Roine sharing lead vocal duties with Tillison.
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I'm stuck inside with all this snow coming down, so I'm going through The Tangent's discography, everyone is welcome to join in.
Starting with the debut The Music That Died Alone. Keyboardist/vocalist Andy Tillison formed what was only meant to be a one-off project with multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning, and members of The Flower Kings, in 2002. They came out with TMTDA and for one, it is an instant classic debut album; even if it's a quasi Flower Kings album featuring Roine Stolt on lead vocals and guitar, recorded during a fertile time in The Flower King's history. I love anything with the rhythm section of Jonas Reingold on bass, and Zoltan Csörsz on drums. Another aspect I really enjoy about this band, is the incorporation of very jazzy textures, lots of Rhoades piano/electric piano, some sax and flute, but also loud heavy synths and some great guitar work by a few different guitarists throughout their discography.
In Darkest Dreams is a pretty cool epic, a wonderful intro and pretty good song portions. Very Flower Kings-like, but has that Andy Tillsion slant to it. The solo section is really fun and a part I look forward to. I think it could have used a trimming in the 2nd half though, as the energy just drops off for a while, but not bad overall. However, what is the deal with the track getting chopped up into 8 tracks?
The Canturbury Sequence is real nice to hear if you are familiar with bands like Soft Machine, Caravan, and other bands from that scene. This element remains throughout their other albums. Uphill From Here is a good rocker, Roine's solos on this album are some of his best. The title song closing the album is the one song I don't usually recall after listening, it's just kind of there for me, but what came before is a fun ride. This album is short and sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome.
The World That We Drive Through is a great follow up, same lineup as the debut, and where we hear Andy coming into his own, which I think coalesced on the next album. This album feels more like a collaborative effort than the debut which felt more like a Flower Kings spinoff. Although Roine Stolt handles the lead vocals on the opening song, it's obvious Andy has taken more control of the vocal department throughout the album.
The Winning Game is a jazz-prog masterwork, as is Skipping the Distance (A Magnetic Fantasy) some of my favorite Tangent songs.
Photosynthesis is more of a straightforward mid tempo jazz tune. One thing I always liked about The Tangent is Theo Travis in the band bringing that flute sound, which I find works so well in prog rock. The next song, the title song, is another slower mid tempo tune, though it picks up a little later on in the instrumental sections. Jonas really pumping it out. I love Roine's playing of the main theme.
A Gap In The Night is the closing epic, and really, the first classic The Tangent epic. Has a nice build up early on, really rocks hard for a while. This might be the best song from the first two albums, the most complete sounding song, and everyone is on fire. Zoltan's performance is some of his best. Andy's keys are always air-keyboard worthy, he is the modern day Rick Wakeman meets Keith Emerson meets George Duke. Jonas is always great, and knows when to be flashy and when to lay down the bass. Roine's guitar work is really fantastic here, plays some of his most involved stuff. He is the underdog MVP on this song.
Not sure if TWTWDT is better than the first album, but it's just as good, minus that bonus track.
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I played the first album last night. for the first time. i have to play it more to get my thoughts together.
but it felt like the Flower Kings with a new singer added. i enjoyed it a lot.
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The first two albums are definitely favorites of mine, and they were definitely steeped in TFK flavors given that the guitar/drums/bass core of the band were all Flower Kings, but they were utilized in such a different-enough way from TFK music that it helped the band stand apart from the likes of Unfold The Future and Adam & Eve.
When I discovered The Tangent, just around the time of A Place In The Queue, I always felt that the first two albums were two parts of a whole, since the line-up was (mostly) the same for them and then changed quite a bit going into APITQ, so I always go into them as a pair. Maybe as a break from binging Transatlantic's The Absolute Universe, I'll join along on a Tangent discography re-listen and spin the first two albums today (and maybe their first live album, the only one with Roine Stolt).
Edit - Another thought relating to my feelings that the first two albums are an absolute pair is that the first one starts with the epic "In Darkest Dreams" and the second album closes with "A Gap In The Night" which has the subtitle (In Darkest Dreams - Part Two), so both epics have a neat bookend effect for both albums.
-Marc.
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That's cool, I hadn't noticed that before. I did always felt these first 2 albums go together, mainly for the lineup, but also the distinct sound compared to what came later. I don't have the live album Pyramids and Stars, or any of their live albums, actually. Going Off on One is streaming so I'll put that one on when it comes up after the next album.
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A Place In The Queue, the band's third album. Roine is replaced by Krister Jonsson from Karmakanic, and with Zoltan replaced by Jamie Salazar, we now have the Space Revolver/The Rainmaker rhythm section with Jonas sticking around. Despite this, the band sounds less like The Flower Kings, and more like... The Tangent. Andy takes on all the lead vocals now, and is writing most of the music. Jonas makes his presence known, but I always felt he was quite tasteful most of the time in The Tangent, compared to his earlier work in TFK.
In Earnest kicks things off, a classic Tangent epic, a dense, 20 minute hard prog, jazzy excursions, with major peaks. One thing to note is Jamie has always been TFK drummer that rocked the hardest, compared to Zoltan, who leans more towards jazz side of things. And JS rocks hard on this song.
Another thing I notice with the production on this album is the dynamics are very good. The quiet moments are quiet, and when they crescendo and get louder, you feel it.
Lost In London and DIY Surgery continue the jazz-tinged prog and Canterbury sound, the latter being a little more of an odd track.
This album doesn't let up, with 2 mini-epics up next. First, GPS Culture brings us back to the big synths, keyboards, and is a great mini-epic. There's a Kansas tease in there somewhere. Speaking of keyboards, if you're a fan of fast Hammond organ in your prog, this album is full of it. Then, Follow Your Leaders starts, and is another solid mini-epic, which seems to get lost in the shuffle with me but this is another great track. An uptempo jazzy track. Can't get enough of that flute. and that soaring guitar lead around the 7 minute mark. Good stuff.
The Sun In My Eyes is a sort of dance number, and re-appears on the bonus disc of this album in a longer extended form. It's ok, I like the extended version a lot more. Sounds kind of like Umphrey's McGee playing a disco song. I'll listen to that bonus disc later on tonight maybe.. There's some goodies on there.
The album closes with the massive, 25 minute title track. It has a little King Crimson feel to it at times, in that Starless kind of way. Theo Travis sounds really good on sax during this one, really belts out a nice solo. Eventually this tune picks up but this was never my favorite of their epics. Feels more like a very long song instead, with a lot of slower or mid-tempo sections, and even some pretty laid back parts as well. Overall, a long album, but a pretty good album, there are few lulls.
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To me, the last 4 albums they've made are their best with Auto Reconnaissance being a bit of a step down from the other three.
My favorite is "A Spark In The Aether"
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To me, the last 4 albums they've made are their best with Auto Reconnaissance being a bit of a step down from the other three.
My favorite is "A Spark In The Aether"
For me, the last five albums, starting with LSDT, have all been varying degrees of fantastic. There are songs I love on each, but they're all great for different reasons. The last two sound good especially because they have the same exact line-up for two consecutive albums for the first time in the band's history, with a third eventually coming as well.
-Marc.
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Something I never thought I would say but I have grown to really enjoy Andy's vocals, especially the stories he drops into the middle of the longer tunes :lol
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Something I never thought I would say but I have grown to really enjoy Andy's vocals, especially the stories he drops into the middle of the longer tunes :lol
Andy certainly has a sort of "acquired taste" vocal style, but I agree - his narrating/story-telling style of vocal delivery makes his music quite unique and stand out in a GOOD way (for me at least). I really enjoyed "Jinxed In Jersey" on Auto Reconnaissance, as you can really get a sense of how crazy his journey to see the Statue Of Liberty really was. Of course, you cannot mention this style without going back to "Lost In London" and its sequel "Lost In London 25 Years Later".
Out of curiosity, how would everyone rank the band's side-length epics? I'll list them here, but it might take me awhile to sort them myself:
In Darkest Dreams
A Gap in The Night
In Earnest
A Place In The Queue
Four Egos, One War
The Full Gamut
Le Massacre du Printemps (demo from A Place On The Shelf)
Live On Air (demo also from APOTS)
Where Are They Now?
The Wiki Man
Titanic Calls Carpathia
Morning Journey & Arrival
Afternoon Malaise
The Celluloid Road
Slow Rust
A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road
Proxy
The Adulthood Lie (these last two are probably his shortest of these kinds of epics, just over 16 minutes each)
Lie Back And Think Of England (...then he makes his longest Tangent epic on the album following Proxy, over 28 minutes long!)
Whew...that's a lot of epics! It seems that he puts up at least one 16+ minute epic on each album, with "Lie Back" being his longest to date from last year's Auto Reconnaissance. And of course, he is working on a new epic for the next Tangent album, and has even posted the first video in a series of videos explaining his methodology in crafting these long pieces.
Not yet ranking them, I can already pick out that "In Darkest Dreams", "A Place In Queue" and "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road" are definitely in my Top 5, probably with "The Celluloid Road" and maybe "The Adulthood Lie".
-Marc.
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I haven't heard all the Tangent albums so I couldn't rank all the epics yet. Haven't heard the last 2 or 3 albums yet, going to be changing that soon.
I really enjoy the epics on COMM. Andy is pretty consistent in pumping out quality epics.
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I liked Not As Good As The Book more than the last time I was actively listening to this band.
This album is a great example of a topic that came up in either the TFK thread or the Transatlantic thread recently. With music available in so many digital forms nowadays, the concept of separate discs for one album and listening to them and comparing them is de rigueur if you listen to your music on your phone, ipod, etc. The flow of the album doesn't really work right if you don't listen to the 2nd disc right away, the album feels uneven otherwise, so listening straight through is the way to go. I like many of the songs here, my favorite might be the Lost in London sequel, the opener is also got a nice dance feel to it, A Sail of Two Souls has some great guitar leads, but there are many great moments throughout the album.
The two epics at the end are good, I prefer the last track over the first one, but I feel like there are better epics elsewhere in The Tangent discography. Original member Sam Baine is out, as is Krister Jonsson, who is replaced by Jakko Jakszyk of current-King Crimson fame, but we still have the rhythm section of Jonas and Jamie, and Theo Travis on sax and flute. Everyone puts on a great performance, but I don't know why, I never connected much with the material on this one. Overall, this isn't one of my favorite albums of theirs, but I do like it when it's on, just not one I grab when I want some Tangent (maybe that last epic The Full Gamut or LIL25YL, occasionally)
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Something I never thought I would say but I have grown to really enjoy Andy's vocals, especially the stories he drops into the middle of the longer tunes :lol
Andy certainly has a sort of "acquired taste" vocal style, but I agree - his narrating/story-telling style of vocal delivery makes his music quite unique and stand out in a GOOD way (for me at least). I really enjoyed "Jinxed In Jersey" on Auto Reconnaissance, as you can really get a sense of how crazy his journey to see the Statue Of Liberty really was. Of course, you cannot mention this style without going back to "Lost In London" and its sequel "Lost In London 25 Years Later".
Out of curiosity, how would everyone rank the band's side-length epics? I'll list them here, but it might take me awhile to sort them myself:
In Darkest Dreams
A Gap in The Night
In Earnest
A Place In The Queue
Four Egos, One War
The Full Gamut
Le Massacre du Printemps (demo from A Place On The Shelf)
Live On Air (demo also from APOTS)
Where Are They Now?
The Wiki Man
Titanic Calls Carpathia
Morning Journey & Arrival
Afternoon Malaise
The Celluloid Road
Slow Rust
A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road
Proxy
The Adulthood Lie (these last two are probably his shortest of these kinds of epics, just over 16 minutes each)
Lie Back And Think Of England (...then he makes his longest Tangent epic on the album following Proxy, over 28 minutes long!)
Whew...that's a lot of epics! It seems that he puts up at least one 16+ minute epic on each album, with "Lie Back" being his longest to date from last year's Auto Reconnaissance. And of course, he is working on a new epic for the next Tangent album, and has even posted the first video in a series of videos explaining his methodology in crafting these long pieces.
Not yet ranking them, I can already pick out that "In Darkest Dreams", "A Place In Queue" and "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road" are definitely in my Top 5, probably with "The Celluloid Road" and maybe "The Adulthood Lie".
-Marc.
I have to admit I don't know some of those well enough to comment but my favorites are from the last 5 albums for sure. "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road" is great as is "The Adulthood Lie" and "A Spark In The Aether" but I love "The Celluloid Road" "A Place in the Queue" and "In Darkest Dreams" quite a bit, not to mention "Jinxed in Jersey" "Slow Rust" and "Proxy" are great too. Dude is one prolific mofo!
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Something I never thought I would say but I have grown to really enjoy Andy's vocals, especially the stories he drops into the middle of the longer tunes :lol
Andy certainly has a sort of "acquired taste" vocal style, but I agree - his narrating/story-telling style of vocal delivery makes his music quite unique and stand out in a GOOD way (for me at least). I really enjoyed "Jinxed In Jersey" on Auto Reconnaissance, as you can really get a sense of how crazy his journey to see the Statue Of Liberty really was. Of course, you cannot mention this style without going back to "Lost In London" and its sequel "Lost In London 25 Years Later".
Out of curiosity, how would everyone rank the band's side-length epics? I'll list them here, but it might take me awhile to sort them myself:
In Darkest Dreams
A Gap in The Night
In Earnest
A Place In The Queue
Four Egos, One War
The Full Gamut
Le Massacre du Printemps (demo from A Place On The Shelf)
Live On Air (demo also from APOTS)
Where Are They Now?
The Wiki Man
Titanic Calls Carpathia
Morning Journey & Arrival
Afternoon Malaise
The Celluloid Road
Slow Rust
A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road
Proxy
The Adulthood Lie (these last two are probably his shortest of these kinds of epics, just over 16 minutes each)
Lie Back And Think Of England (...then he makes his longest Tangent epic on the album following Proxy, over 28 minutes long!)
Whew...that's a lot of epics! It seems that he puts up at least one 16+ minute epic on each album, with "Lie Back" being his longest to date from last year's Auto Reconnaissance. And of course, he is working on a new epic for the next Tangent album, and has even posted the first video in a series of videos explaining his methodology in crafting these long pieces.
Not yet ranking them, I can already pick out that "In Darkest Dreams", "A Place In Queue" and "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road" are definitely in my Top 5, probably with "The Celluloid Road" and maybe "The Adulthood Lie".
-Marc.
I have to admit I don't know some of those well enough to comment but my favorites are from the last 5 albums for sure. "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road" is great as is "The Adulthood Lie" and "A Spark In The Aether" but I love "The Celluloid Road" "A Place in the Queue" and "In Darkest Dreams" quite a bit, not to mention "Jinxed in Jersey" "Slow Rust" and "Proxy" are great too. Dude is one prolific mofo!
Yeah, no kidding! Eleven studio albums from The Tangent in 17 years, with the 12th on the way, not to mention his solo career of five albums since 2007. Counting live albums and compilations, the Tangent has released an album almost every year since 2003 - I think the only exceptions were 2014, 2016, and 2019, but Andy released his Electric Sinfonia No. 2 in 2014 and Durch in 2016, so it's not like he wasn't releasing SOMETHING.
And of course, later this year will be the second Kalman Filter album, The Moons Of Neptune, that Andy has been working on. Looks like we'll get another year of both a new Tangent album and another project from Andy!
-Marc.
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heh, I don't know about any of that other stuff, I just follow The Tangent
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heh, I don't know about any of that other stuff, I just follow The Tangent
His solo work is comparable to songs like "Exponenzgesetz" (from The World That We Drive Through) and "Kartoffelsalat Im Unterseeboot" (from A Place In The Queue), very atmospheric and groovy synth stuff, except for his Electric Sinfonia No. 2 (which is kind of a solo effort follow-up to his first Electric Sinfonia, Le Sacre Du Travail (by The Tangent of course). Kalman Filter is just the new name for his solo project stuff, and the first album was released in 2018 titled Exo-Oceans (which is available on Bandcamp).
-Marc.
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Based on your description it's not anything I'd be interested in. It's all good though, I still don't have enough time in my life to listen to all the music I want to listen to
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I may check out that stuff at some point, I kind of like that atmospheric stuff on A Place In The Queue bonus disc.
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When I was first getting into The Tangent, I was really listening to a lot of The Flower Kings at the time, and at some point I found out about this band The Tangent, and that Roine, Jonas, and a few others were/are in the band. After some research, I knew I wanted to get the first 2 albums first, as they had Roine, Jonas, and Zoltan, when I went to my local shop that has a prog section, the only album they had was Down and Out in Paris and London, and I knew this one didn't have any TFK members on it (in fact the first without Jonas and first with an all-English lineup) but I figured it was still probably worth getting anyway, as I had read reviews of their albums online. This was their newest album at the time as well.
From the opening guitar riff on Where Are They Now? to the final track Ethanol Hat Nail, I was intrigued and eventually grew to really like this album. I noted the strong synths early on, odd time signatures, I didn't mind Andy's vocals. Loved the jazzy/Canturbury parts right away. Because this is my first Tangent album, I have a soft spot for it, I see this isn't really anyone's top album in the Tangent discography, but I consider it one of my favorites. I wouldn't call it their best, but they don't have any bad albums right? WATN? is one of The Tangent's best epics and worth the price of admission alone, anyway. Maybe some don't like this one as much because there are no TFK members here? The members at this point all sound pretty solid. Along with the keys, Andy also handles most of the electric guitar work on this album.
I always associate this album with a rainy late-winter/early Spring day, probably because that was the time and conditions when I got this album. That is contrary to the follow up to this album, more on that later.
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When I was first getting into The Tangent, I was really listening to a lot of The Flower Kings at the time, and at some point I found out about this band The Tangent, and that Roine, Jonas, and a few others were/are in the band. After some research, I knew I wanted to get the first 2 albums first, as they had Roine, Jonas, and Zoltan, when I went to my local shop that has a prog section, the only album they had was Down and Out in Paris and London, and I knew this one didn't have any TFK members on it (in fact the first without Jonas and first with an all-English lineup) but I figured it was still probably worth getting anyway, as I had read reviews of their albums online. This was their newest album at the time as well.
From the opening guitar riff on Where Are They Now? to the final track Ethanol Hat Nail, I was intrigued and eventually grew to really like this album. I noted the strong synths early on, odd time signatures, I didn't mind Andy's vocals. Loved the jazzy/Canturbury parts right away. Because this is my first Tangent album, I have a soft spot for it, I see this isn't really anyone's top album in the Tangent discography, but I consider it one of my favorites. I wouldn't call it their best, but they don't have any bad albums right? WATN? is one of The Tangent's best epics and worth the price of admission alone, anyway. Maybe some don't like this one as much because there are no TFK members here? The members at this point all sound pretty solid. Along with the keys, Andy also handles most of the electric guitar work on this album.
I always associate this album with a rainy late-winter/early Spring day, probably because that was the time and conditions when I got this album. That is contrary to the follow up to this album, more on that later.
When it comes to bands like The Tangent (prog bands that probably have a niche audience), I think every album is some fan's favorite album, and it's nice to see that DAOIPAL is someone's favorite. It's not in my top-half of Tangent albums, but I do find it enjoyable. The "middle-era" of Tangent (that is, DAOIPAL and COMM) are two albums I don't typically go back to very often, but there are some great songs on those two. I really like all of the callbacks and references in "Where Are They Now?", and "Ethanol Hat Nail" is an awesome closer.
The thing that is special about DAOIPAL for me is that it was the first album of theirs that I helped fund through Andy's pre-pre-ordering process, and you'll see my name in the booklet for the album (and every subsequent album where fans' names are listen as helping financed the album - and actually my name appears in a booklet TWICE, for financing the album and as a special thanks, I think inside ASITA), and it was awesome to receive the "A Place On The Shelf" original-run demos album from Andy as part of that special pre-pre-order to help finance the making-of DAOIPAL.
Having become a fan around the release of APITQ and getting on board with the band with NAGATB (getting the special edition with said book), it was a great feeling being able to help Andy and the band by pre-pre-ordering, and I've been doing that ever since, for Tangent albums and his solo stuff (when possible). Andy Tillison and The Tangent have become one of my favorite bands in the last 10-15 years, so even if there are albums I don't go back to very often, I still love them all. Besides, no band can every produce winners every time - otherwise, how are we able to choose favorites? :lol
-Marc.
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That's pretty awesome! Has to be cool to think that you played a role in the creation of these albums.
The Tangent are consistent, if nothing else, so really any album can be your favorite depending on your mood. I wouldn't say any particular album is way better than any other ones, they're all at least very good. It's more that some of their albums have very exceptional individual songs. They rarely seem to hit the heights that contemporaries like TFK or Neal Morse have hit, but as far as I know, they haven't come close to hitting any of the lows that those acts have hit, either.
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I just thought i'd did this up too say. i have bee on quite the journey with the Tangent.
So far i've heard A Spark in the Aether
The Music that did alone through My favorite so far has been a place in the Queue. that album has just PERFECT!!! In earnest may be my fav epic i've heard in years. the first time i played the album i diddn't get past that song, lol i replayed it.
I enjoyed the first 2 albums but i kinda prefer them sans Roine as they become less TFK version 2 and more their own thing.
of the albums i have played over the past weeks (i've been addicted, lol)
1. A Place in the Queue
2. Not As Good As the Book
3. A Spark in the Aether
4. Down and out In Paris and London
5. The Music that Died Alone
6. COMM
7. The World that We Drive Through
8. Le Sacre Du Travail
Have 3 more albums to catch up on. but been very impressed.
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I'm always surprised how TFK, Roine Stolt, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse, BBT, Beardfish (Rikard), Dream Theater and many other prog bands get all this attention, yet The Tangent does not spur the kind of excitement the aforementioned acts create. Just look here, at progarchives, or other music forums that discuss prog rock. Never understood it.
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I'm always surprised how TFK, Roine Stolt, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse, BBT, Beardfish (Rikard), Dream Theater and many other prog bands get all this attention, yet The Tangent does not spur the kind of excitement the aforementioned acts create. Just look here, at progarchives, or other music forums that discuss prog rock. Never understood it.
they are fantastic. I've been devouring their stuff like a starving man. and i may prefer them too TFK honestly TFK have a few albums i'm not as keen on. but i did not hear 1 Tangent album i disliked.
they are brilliant.
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I'm always surprised how TFK, Roine Stolt, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse, BBT, Beardfish (Rikard), Dream Theater and many other prog bands get all this attention, yet The Tangent does not spur the kind of excitement the aforementioned acts create. Just look here, at progarchives, or other music forums that discuss prog rock. Never understood it.
I'm not quite sure what you mean. Sure, DT is a different issue. But I don't think The Tangent get less attention than Gungfly (to mention Rikard's current band instead of the disbanded Beardfish) or The Flower Kings. Not sure if either of those two bands play concerts with more than 300 (okay, maybe 500 in TFK's case?) people attending. Coincidentally, in another thread I mentioned some of those prog bands issue colored vinyl versions of their albums limited to 100 copies. Gungfly did that in September with their new album and you can still buy it regularly on InsideOut.
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I have grown to love Andy's vocals but I think that's the biggest difference among that group of bands.
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I have grown to love Andy's vocals but I think that's the biggest difference among that group of bands.
i like Andy's Vocals too. his cadence and delivery rind me vaguely of Roger Waters. i think that's why i enjoy them.
He's not as harsh as waters. However the vibe is there.
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There is something about the way he delivers his spoken parts too that just appeals to my sense of humor and every time I listen to this band I end up laughing out loud at some point, I can't help it. Especially when he does imitations of New Yorkers fuck that shit is hilarious :rollin
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COMM was my first new Tangent album as a fan, and this one I've always felt was one of their strongest albums. I always liked the downfall of society thanks to tech and social media theme throughout the album. The lyrics hit the nail on the head all over this album. The 20 minute opener The Wiki Man is a fantastic composition, and one of my favorites of theirs. High energy, a nice cool down section, and just all around great song. New guitarist in the band Lucke Machin is a really great player, and for me, is a big reason this is one of their best albums. Up til this point he is possibly the most talented and creative guitarist the band has had. He brings riffy sound to the proceedings here and there as well. The 20 minute closer Titanic Calls Carpathia is also high quality epic prog with a little funkiness to it. Both are really fun pieces. The songs in between are pretty good. The Mind's Eye is a typical hard rockin' shorter Tangent track with heavy synths all over, it's almost a metal song. Shoot Them Down is a slower song, nothing controversial, musically pleasing for a slower tune. Tech Support Guy is a fun, quirky rock song about.. tech support guys.
The sound quality is really good here, and the injection of old school computer sounds is neat. This album has a lot of funky moments throughout, as noted earlier, lots of clavinet, lots of proggy grooves. Lots of great soaring synths and powerful lead guitar.
I totally get the Roger Waters comparison in Andy's vocals, not that he sounds like Waters, but more has that cynical English feel in his voice like RW has had since around Wish You Were Here. He stays in the mid to low range of his voice. Something The Tangent could use, though, is some stronger background vocalists, maybe someone who could hit higher notes.
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I'm gonna tell you something i noticed. Andy has a very negative view on technology i'm guessing. it pops up a lot. not just on COMM and it kinda grates just a bit. as someone who is big on tech. i hear old man yells from his lawn. ;D
but still rapidly becoming a big fav band in my house.
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COMM was my first new Tangent album as a fan, and this one I've always felt was one of their strongest albums. I always liked the downfall of society thanks to tech and social media theme throughout the album. The lyrics hit the nail on the head all over this album. The 20 minute opener The Wiki Man is a fantastic composition, and one of my favorites of theirs. High energy, a nice cool down section, and just all around great song. New guitarist in the band Lucke Machin is a really great player, and for me, is a big reason this is one of their best albums. Up til this point he is possibly the most talented and creative guitarist the band has had. He brings riffy sound to the proceedings here and there as well. The 20 minute closer Titanic Calls Carpathia is also high quality epic prog with a little funkiness to it. Both are really fun pieces. The songs in between are pretty good. The Mind's Eye is a typical hard rockin' shorter Tangent track with heavy synths all over, it's almost a metal song. Shoot Them Down is a slower song, nothing controversial, musically pleasing for a slower tune. Tech Support Guy is a fun, quirky rock song about.. tech support guys.
The sound quality is really good here, and the injection of old school computer sounds is neat. This album has a lot of funky moments throughout, as noted earlier, lots of clavinet, lots of proggy grooves. Lots of great soaring synths and powerful lead guitar.
I totally get the Roger Waters comparison in Andy's vocals, not that he sounds like Waters, but more has that cynical English feel in his voice like RW has had since around Wish You Were Here. He stays in the mid to low range of his voice. Something The Tangent could use, though, is some stronger background vocalists, maybe someone who could hit higher notes.
Some very good points there! The two epics are definitely the highlights of COMM for me, especially making up 36:50 of the album (which is only 57:39 long anyway). I remember when it came out, I spun it A LOT, and quite a bit even after LSDT came out. two years later. For me, COMM was a step up from DAOIPAL, and the album had a stronger line-up with the introduction of Luke Machin.
Of course, I gotta bring up the two VERY fun bonus tracks on this album - "The Spirit Of The Net", which is obviously a Rush pastiche, is a fun listen, even if it's still just a demo by Andy. Makes me wish he got the whole band to record it! And the other bonus track is a "Fantasy Bootleg" - what if Yes, along with Peter Gabriel, had played their own rendition of "Watcher Of The Skies". It's a very well done cover that really encapsulates that early-Yes sound and feel while the vocals really emulate Peter's style from back then as well.
Sadly, there has been a distinct lack of live Tangent recordings over the last 10 years, and so the only released live track from COMM has been "Titanic Calls Carpathia" from the London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea official bootleg. The live version starts with a loud and rousing drum and keys extended (two minute) intro, very ELP-ish, pushing the song to nearly 19 minutes!
-Marc.
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This is where we start getting into the part of the discography I'm not as familiar with. In the months leading up to the release of Le Sacre Du Travail which I believe was released in the summer of 2013, I was drifting away from progressive rock bands. I checked this out because I heard Jonas was rejoining the band, and that Rikard from Beardfish and BBT was on it (but only for narration as I later found out) but I probably only heard this a handful of times when I got it, and I haven't listened in years. With a fresh set of ears, this is clearly classic The Tangent, and it's nice to hear Jonas back on bass again. We're also rejoined by Jakko Jakkszyk on guitar, and new to the band Gavin Harrison which is a nice treat. I just think this band sounds a lot better when Jonas is there, the bass on the last two albums was solid, but not very much in the forefront and Jonas is just a fantastic player.
This album is one 63 minute piece of music, with some bonus tracks. It's so weird to listen to music you haven't heard in a long time, music you didn't get to know well, and go back and forth between recognizing a melody or riff here and there, but elsewhere it feels like all new music. I was commenting on the backing vocals on the last album, COMM, and I notice the backing vocals here are a lot better sounding to me (Jakko's vocals?)
Jonas makes his return to the band known early in the piece. There are some strings here and there, sometimes reminding me of 20th Century Classical music in spots. Lots of other ethereal and earthy sounds subtly mixed in what from I hear. Of course, there is plenty of the symphonic rock mixed with jazzy Canterbury influenced sounds and prog-disco grooves. I'm not one to usually comment on lyrics, but the lyrics are even more cynical here than the last album. I think the band's lyrics get more cynical with each release, really. Overall, this album is a lot better than I recall, but that's because I wasn't in the mood for this music at the time of release. I'm even more excited to continue progressing through the band's discography now as it seems they really never let up.
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Of course, I gotta bring up the two VERY fun bonus tracks on this album - "The Spirit Of The Net", which is obviously a Rush pastiche, is a fun listen, even if it's still just a demo by Andy. Makes me wish he got the whole band to record it! And the other bonus track is a "Fantasy Bootleg" - what if Yes, along with Peter Gabriel, had played their own rendition of "Watcher Of The Skies". It's a very well done cover that really encapsulates that early-Yes sound and feel while the vocals really emulate Peter's style from back then as well.
Sadly, there has been a distinct lack of live Tangent recordings over the last 10 years, and so the only released live track from COMM has been "Titanic Calls Carpathia" from the London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea official bootleg. The live version starts with a loud and rousing drum and keys extended (two minute) intro, very ELP-ish, pushing the song to nearly 19 minutes!
-Marc.
My copy of COMM doesn't have the bonus tracks, or maybe I didn't rip them to my hard drive (I'd have to pull out the CD to look) but on Spotify the bonus tracks aren't there either, same for the bonus tracks for DAOIPAL, and A Place In The Queue (though that was a separate disc.)
Le Sacre Du Travail they are there, so that's kind of strange.
I'll probably get to the live stuff after the most recent album. I was thinking about going through a bunch of live Tangent as well as live TFK, Transatlantic, Neal Morse, DT, etc... in the coming weeks. I've never been HUGE into live albums by prog bands for the most part. But I always like to have at least one release per band. Unfortunately I have none by The Tangent and only Going Off On One is streaming, I'd be interested in checking out the first live album with Roine and Zoltan.
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My copy of COMM doesn't have the bonus tracks, or maybe I didn't rip them to my hard drive (I'd have to pull out the CD to look) but on Spotify the bonus tracks aren't there either, same for the bonus tracks for DAOIPAL, and A Place In The Queue (though that was a separate disc.)
Le Sacre Du Travail they are there, so that's kind of strange.
That is quite strange. Of all the bonus tracks, I'd say the ones on APITQ were pretty strong. In the case of DAOIPAL, I'd say it's worth having. COMM's bonus tracks are a take-it-or-leave-it deal, as they don't really add too much to the album other than being fun curiosities. Same with LSFT, since one is an album edit, another is a super short live track, and the other is another All-Andy demo-type piece.
On Proxy, I find it odd that they couldn't find a way to fit "Supper's Off" on the vinyl, as I think it's the essential album closer for the album (as it is on the CD). And thank goodness I'm going through bonus tracks now because I *just* realized I never ripped "Proxima" from Auto Reconnaissance, even though I've had the album for well over 6 months now.
I'll probably get to the live stuff after the most recent album. I was thinking about going through a bunch of live Tangent as well as live TFK, Transatlantic, Neal Morse, DT, etc... in the coming weeks. I've never been HUGE into live albums by prog bands for the most part. But I always like to have at least one release per band. Unfortunately I have none by The Tangent and only Going Off On One is streaming, I'd be interested in checking out the first live album with Roine and Zoltan.
Sadly, the live albums from The Tangent have become few and far between. The first two are definite high lights, and I think you can buy the first one digitally from the band's Bandcamp page (though if you can wait til the first Friday of April, the band/Andy will get all the profits for the purchase). Going Off On Two is a live-in-the-studio type deal that, IIRC, features the all-English line-up playing 90 minutes of music. It's a fun watch on DVD, but to be honest I have not revisited it very often.
Then there is the Official Bootleg, London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea, which features about 94 minutes of live music from the COMM tour, I believe, back in 2012. That one is also available on their Bandcamp page. Then their last live album was a co-release with Karmakanic, Hotel Cantaffordit, which is a great listen if you're also a fan of Jonas Reingold's band Karmakanic, and the mixed line-up is fun to listen to as well!
-Marc.
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What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?
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What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?
Starting last summer, Bandcamp would waive their own profits on the first Friday of every month in order to give artists selling their music 100% of the profits, so if you wanna give full support to any bands on Bandcamp, it's best to wait til the first Friday of the each month.
-Marc.
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What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?
Starting last summer, Bandcamp would waive their own profits on the first Friday of every month in order to give artists selling their music 100% of the profits, so if you wanna give full support to any bands on Bandcamp, it's best to wait til the first Friday of the each month.
-Marc.
Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind. I'll be blunt, though, I have no desire to hurry and check out the live albums other than the first one with Roine and Zoltan, and I'll check out GOOO (:o) since it's on streaming services.
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What's the deal with waiting til the first Friday in April?
Starting last summer, Bandcamp would waive their own profits on the first Friday of every month in order to give artists selling their music 100% of the profits, so if you wanna give full support to any bands on Bandcamp, it's best to wait til the first Friday of the each month.
-Marc.
Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind. I'll be blunt, though, I have no desire to hurry and check out the live albums other than the first one with Roine and Zoltan, and I'll check out GOOO (:o) since it's on streaming services.
Those first two are definitely the better ones to check out, but if you really like the DAOIPAL and COMM material, find time to check out the London Or Paris, Berlin Or Southend On Sea release!
-Marc.
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I've heard some live albums. i think listening to these guys in the studio way more.
I was listening to A place in the Queue Again. It's great the influences i hear in these guys. Lost in london reminds me of Al Steward circa his Year of the Cat era.
could be me just hearing that but i love it.
also i still think they haven't surpassed a place In The Queue. my fav. it's perfect.
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Well, I've been pretty surprised by A Spark in the Aether. To me, it sounds fresh and quite inspired. The guitarist from COMM, Luke Machin, is back and I think he's the best guitarist for this band. Will give this a few more listens before I say much more. I really enjoyed the epic, and all around great playing from all involved.
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ASITA is quickly moving up the ranks as one of my favorite Tangent albums. It's just a scorcher all the way through, the energy level is very high. Jonas and Luke in the band combined with Tillison's keys and vocals, is a great combo. To me this is possibly the best lineup so far, if Zoltan was on drums it would be unstoppable but of course the drums on ASITA are just fine. Andy doesn't hire anything less than competent musicians. I really think the ideas and the flow of the music on this album is fantastic. My only gripe is the vocals, mainly the name drops of celebrities that are already dated as of 2021. But otherwise, I'm loving all the music. The epic in particular has a real groovy feel much of the way through, and I really like how it sounds. Everyone is just firing off great riffs, melodies, solos. I'm not sure what the reaction to this one was in the prog community at the time of its release, but I have to imagine some people may have gotten on board with the band (though it still feels like no one except us chickens are into this band, TFK/TA/NM and a few others seem to garner much more attention in comparison.
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ASITA is quickly moving up the ranks as one of my favorite Tangent albums. It's just a scorcher all the way through, the energy level is very high. Jonas and Luke in the band combined with Tillison's keys and vocals, is a great combo. To me this is possibly the best lineup so far, if Zoltan was on drums it would be unstoppable but of course the drums on ASITA are just fine. Andy doesn't hire anything less than competent musicians. I really think the ideas and the flow of the music on this album is fantastic. My only gripe is the vocals, mainly the name drops of celebrities that are already dated as of 2021. But otherwise, I'm loving all the music. The epic in particular has a real groovy feel much of the way through, and I really like how it sounds. Everyone is just firing off great riffs, melodies, solos. I'm not sure what the reaction to this one was in the prog community at the time of its release, but I have to imagine some people may have gotten on board with the band (though it still feels like no one except us chickens are into this band, TFK/TA/NM and a few others seem to garner much more attention in comparison.
ASITA is a great album! If you're curious, there was some discussion about the album when it came out in this thread, somewhere halfway down page two, but since there haven't been many Tangent fans here in the past, the discussion was very short-lived. Whenever there is an update with Andy or The Tangent, I'm typicaly the one to revive the thread after months/years of time between posts! :lol
I'm glad you like the drumming on ASITA, though, as Morgan Ågren is a great drummer. If you didn't know, he's the drummer for Kaipa (the modern incarnation) and Karmakanic, so he and Jonas have had chemistry for awhile together. I'll be curious to see what you have to say about the drumming on the following album, The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery.
-Marc.
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Not sure this needed it’s own thread, but surely some of the Tillison/Tangent fans here have checked out the Tillison Reingold Tirantos album “Allium Una Storia” that came out a few weeks ago? I think Marc is actually thanked in the liner notes even.
For those who don’t know, it’s Andy Tillison’s attempt to recreate the music from an Italian prog band called Allium that he heard at a festival as a teen in the 70s while on a family vacation in Italy. He apparently managed to meet the band and jam with them during that vacation, and they gave him a demo tape of some of their music that he listened to over and over again, but was either lost or stolen from him at some point years ago. This album is not their actual music, but the music he imagines they might have made if they ever had a chance to release a full studio album. It’s really more of a tribute to that whole 70s Italian prog scene (the lyrics are Italian).
Maybe that sounds a bit silly, but the music is really really good. They tried to record and mix it using only technology available in the 70s, and it definitely has that sound and feel. The album contains a more modern mix of the songs as well (it’s only 3 songs long, so 6 tracks total). Anyway, it’s fantastic and if you haven’t heard it you should check it out. It’s up there with a few others in contention for my album of the year at the moment.
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Not sure this needed it’s own thread, but surely some of the Tillison/Tangent fans here have checked out the Tillison Reingold Tirantos album “Allium Una Storia” that came out a few weeks ago? I think Marc is actually thanked in the liner notes even.
For those who don’t know, it’s Andy Tillison’s attempt to recreate the music from an Italian prog band called Allium that he heard at a festival as a teen in the 70s while on a family vacation in Italy. He apparently managed to meet the band and jam with them during that vacation, and they gave him a demo tape of some of their music that he listened to over and over again, but was either lost or stolen from him at some point years ago. This album is not their actual music, but the music he imagines they might have made if they ever had a chance to release a full studio album. It’s really more of a tribute to that whole 70s Italian prog scene (the lyrics are Italian).
Maybe that sounds a bit silly, but the music is really really good. They tried to record and mix it using only technology available in the 70s, and it definitely has that sound and feel. The album contains a more modern mix of the songs as well (it’s only 3 songs long, so 6 tracks total). Anyway, it’s fantastic and if you haven’t heard it you should check it out. It’s up there with a few others in contention for my album of the year at the moment.
I got my copy of the Tillison Reingold Tiranti (not Tirantos) album last week and have listened to it a couple of times. Pretty good 70s-era prog! I'm not very familiar with the Italian prog scene so I'm not sure how authentic the music is to that area and era of prog, but it was definitely enjoyable! I do wonder if they'll continue to make music as a unit!
I'm surprised I never brought it up in this thread considering I was one of the mega-fans who paid the premium to help produce the album, even with my name in the artwork. I guess it slipped my mind!
-Marc.
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Not sure this needed it’s own thread, but surely some of the Tillison/Tangent fans here have checked out the Tillison Reingold Tirantos album “Allium Una Storia” that came out a few weeks ago? I think Marc is actually thanked in the liner notes even.
For those who don’t know, it’s Andy Tillison’s attempt to recreate the music from an Italian prog band called Allium that he heard at a festival as a teen in the 70s while on a family vacation in Italy. He apparently managed to meet the band and jam with them during that vacation, and they gave him a demo tape of some of their music that he listened to over and over again, but was either lost or stolen from him at some point years ago. This album is not their actual music, but the music he imagines they might have made if they ever had a chance to release a full studio album. It’s really more of a tribute to that whole 70s Italian prog scene (the lyrics are Italian).
Maybe that sounds a bit silly, but the music is really really good. They tried to record and mix it using only technology available in the 70s, and it definitely has that sound and feel. The album contains a more modern mix of the songs as well (it’s only 3 songs long, so 6 tracks total). Anyway, it’s fantastic and if you haven’t heard it you should check it out. It’s up there with a few others in contention for my album of the year at the moment.
I got my copy of the Tillison Reingold Tiranti (not Tirantos) album last week and have listened to it a couple of times. Pretty good 70s-era prog! I'm not very familiar with the Italian prog scene so I'm not sure how authentic the music is to that area and era of prog, but it was definitely enjoyable! I do wonder if they'll continue to make music as a unit!
I'm surprised I never brought it up in this thread considering I was one of the mega-fans who paid the premium to help produce the album, even with my name in the artwork. I guess it slipped my mind!
-Marc.
Bah, I was wrestling with auto-correct on Tiranti (kept changing it to something else) and still didn’t get it right!
I’m most familiar with PFM from that era (though I’ve heard a few others as well), but this definitely captures a similar vibe. I just think this project is really unique and a lot of fun to listen to. Thanks for helping to bring it to life!
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I didn't know this existed.
I'm familiar with PFM, Area, and a couple of other Italian prog bands I can't recall off the top of my head, so this sounds really interesting.
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It's been a few months, but new Tangent activity is on the horizon! If you're a member of the Tangent Facebook page, Andy has posted clips and links for the upcoming 12th Tangent album, tentatively titled Songs From The Hard Shoulder, featuring the same lineup as the past few albums.
As usual, I've preordered the MEGAFAN option, and I cannot wait for this one next year! Hard to believe we are at their 12th album and on their 20th anniversary next year as well!
-Marc.
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I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.
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I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.
So you never got past their debut album in 2002? Well, you've got a LOT of catching up to do, my friend! Ten studio albums, several non-album song collections, and a few live albums. Since you've only gotten as far as their debut, I suggest just going through their catalog in chronological order, that way you get the full sense of their evolution from album to album, line-up to line-up.
-Marc.
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I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.
So you never got past their debut album in 2002? Well, you've got a LOT of catching up to do, my friend! Ten studio albums, several non-album song collections, and a few live albums. Since you've only gotten as far as their debut, I suggest just going through their catalog in chronological order, that way you get the full sense of their evolution from album to album, line-up to line-up.
-Marc.
I'll try to check out the second one some time. Stolt stuck around for at least one more album after the debut, right?
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I feel like I should check out The Tangent albums post The Music That Died Alone, which is the only one I have. I really like it, but I kind of went through a non-prog period for a little bit soon after it came out and never really checked out their subsequent releases.
So you never got past their debut album in 2002? Well, you've got a LOT of catching up to do, my friend! Ten studio albums, several non-album song collections, and a few live albums. Since you've only gotten as far as their debut, I suggest just going through their catalog in chronological order, that way you get the full sense of their evolution from album to album, line-up to line-up.
-Marc.
I'll try to check out the second one some time. Stolt stuck around for at least one more album after the debut, right?
Correct, the line-up for the first two albums is almost identical, the only difference being their wind player switched from David Jackson (VdGG) to Theo Travis (who has been with the band ever since).
-Marc.
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And we've only relatively recently gone past the 1st anniversary of Auto Reconnaissance.
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And we've only relatively recently gone past the 1st anniversary of Auto Reconnaissance.
It's been almost 1 year and 4 months, but The Tangent are used to putting out new albums every 2 years. Just looking at their main studio album release dates:
2003, October 7th
2004, October 12st
2006, January 31st
2008, March 3rd
2009, November 16th
2011, September 23rd
2013, June 24th
2015, April 17th
2017, July 21st
2018, November 16th
2020, August 21st
The longest time between any 2 studio albums is 27 months, between ASITA and TSROFM, with the shortest time being between their first two albums as just over 12 months.
Andy sure has been pretty prolific since 2003, though, putting out at least one release every year except 2010 and 2019 (near as I can tell) between Tangent albums, solo albums, collaborations, and other releases.
-Marc.
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I'm still a couple albums behind, I still need to check out the last two albums.
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From Andy in The Tangent Facebook group:
Hi there - and today we, myself, Theo Travis, Luke Machin, Jonas Reingold and Steve Roberts are happy to officially announce the new Tangent album "Songs From the Hard Shoulder" Our 12th album in our 20th year as a band.
The album will be released by Insideout/Sony Music on June 10 this year (USA MAY differ) on CD and Vinyl. The album has been a very close knit production between the five members and our respective partners with photographs from Sally Collyer, Christine Lenk and Sara Mirabbasi - and Sara took on the job of lead sleeve illustrator for this album - her first album front cover - capturing the character from our song "The Lady Tied To The Lamp Post" almost exactly as I saw her.
Today IO have released a Youtube presentation - a "single" if you like - a nearly 5 minute long edit of the 17 minute track "The Changes" You can hear that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lep4yoM6me8 The full length version of the song is described by Martin "Wallet Emptier" Hutchinson of the Progradar site as his second favorite of all The Tangent's long pieces - and he says it "always brings a big smile to the face" And no, I don't know which his favorite is. Ask Martin! And he's promised a review real soon.
Something that MAY interest you :) is that early "special edition" versions of the CD and all Vinyl copies will include a bonus track which is a cover of "In The Dead Of Night" by UK. Our 16 minute cover which is performed by Myself, Jonas and Luke is largely based around the main song at the beginning and end, with our own irprovisations on it sandwiched between. (All the CDs we sell at Tangent feature this track subject to stock availability)
You can pre-order the CD version of this album directly from us at the Tangent website which is at www.thetangent.org doing this is the best way to help the band in its future endeavours - but any purchase, from anywhere is good too. We don't handle vinyl here, please order from your regular supplier.
Megafan preorder customers should check their members spaces today.
Now here is the official blurb from Insideout: Please share this post....
The Tangent, the progressive/jazz-rock collective led by Andy Tillison, are pleased to announce the release of their 12thstudio album ‘Songs From the Hard Shoulder’ on the 10thJune 2022. This album sees The Tangent focusing almost entirely on their long format songs or "epics" with only one song being less than 16 minutes long. A very mature sounding record, the band (who are celebrating their 20thyear in the business) have audibly focused on the compositional structure of this album which in the case of the three long pieces is also highly complex and "thought out".
Today, you can check out an edit of the album’s opening track and first single “The Changes (single edit)”:
https://youtu.be/lep4yoM6me8
Andy Tillison comments:
“The Changes was written in the depths of the first and strictest of the Covid Lockdowns. During this strangest of times there was an emptiness in all of our lives and this song explores my own such feelings in that time. I began to wonder whether the band would ever meet again, and more importantly, how long it would be before I could see my family again. Some of the song is focused on the minutiae of being on tour with a band... not so much missing the gigs, the stages and the playing, but missing he crazy little things like not being able to find a hotel, being lost and the general camaraderie that is all around when a band is out on the road. It’s important to say that this single edit is just 5 minutes of what is a 17-minute song – and this only gives a hint at what is there in the full version... which includes a standout Luke Machin guitar solo of unbelievable quality which isn’t represented in this at all...”
Tracklisting:
The Changes (17:06)
The GPS Vultures (17:01)
The Lady Tied To The Lamp Post (20:52)
Wasted Soul (4:40)
In The Dead Of Night (Bonus) (16:11)
The album is available now for pre-order as:
https://thetangent.lnk.to/SongsFromTheHardShoulder
From a luscious and uplifting song about loneliness in Covid lockdown, to a full on 17-minute long jazz/prog/canterbury fusion instrumental, to a darkly electronic story of a homeless woman with shades of Nine Inch Nails, Po90, Japan and Van Der Graaf lurking within. The album's final track is the 4 minute bouncy Motown-style track "Wasted Soul", where the band anticipate a wonderful day in the future when the pandemic is over forever. Early editions and the Vinyl Edition will include the bonus track "In The Dead Of Night" which is of course a cover version of the classic song by UK. The band lineup remains from the previous 2 albums as Andy Tillison (Vocal/Keyboards), Jonas Reingold (Bass), Luke Machin (Guitar/Vocals), Steve Roberts (Drums) and Theo Travis (Sax & Flute).
The Tangent online:
www.thetangent.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/alltangentmembers/
INSIDEOUTMUSIC ONLINE:
www.insideoutmusic.com
www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV
www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic
www.twitter.com/insideouteu
www.myspace.com/insideoutlabel
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Big news for the band! Just over 2 months until release, but or course, I've ordered mine way back in mid-December.
-Marc.
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Great news. I'm still behind with their discography but glad to see they're going strong.
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I like the new single.
Man, I don't listen to band enough
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Great news. I'm still behind with their discography but glad to see they're going strong.
You should catch up! Their last few albums have been nothing but stellar, that is, if you're already a fan of Andy/The Tangent. Otherwise, you might not like it as much, but there is a definite settling of their sound now that the line-up has been maintained for the last couple of albums.
I like the new single.
Man, I don't listen to band enough
I haven't really listened to them in awhile either, but I think in the lead-up to the new album, I'll probably do a discography listen-through starting next month. Maybe as I do that, I'll post my thoughts on each album here if anyone wants to join in on that discussion, and it'd be a great way to celebrate 20 years of the band!
-Marc.
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In the six weeks leading up to the release of the new album, I'm revisiting the band's back catalog in chronological order, starting with the first two albums this week! I figured if anyone else wants to join in and re-listen, we can have some discussions about the music two albums at a time.
So far, I've been listening to their debut for the last few days and I have to say, it's one of the better debut albums for an early 00s prog band. I think the term "supergroup" was being tossed around a lot during that time with groups of Transatlantic, OSI, LTE, basically anything Mike Portnoy was a part of, but Roine Stolt was coming off TA and a string of great albums from his "home band" The Flower Kings, so hearing him bring the stellar rhythm section of Jonas and Zoltan to a new band felt like another supergroup hitting the scene. Before The Tangent, I hadn't heard of Andy Tillison or his previous band PO90 (Parallel Or 90 Degrees, from which Sam Baine and Guy Manning also came from), so when I first heard The Tangent, I was going in with wanting to hear more from the TFK members.
I discovered them in late 2006, after A Place In The Queue, and after getting that album, I rushed to get the first two knowing that the Flower Kings trio of Roine/Jonas/Zoltan were a part of that line-up, and BOY what a line-up it was. Knowing that David Jackson was also the band's saxophonist, I was curious as to how the debut would sound because, while I tried getting into Van der Graaf Generator, they never stuck with me during my prog discovery years. Either way, I was hyped to hear a modern prog album that was so steeped in classic 70s prog influence but not in the same way that bands like The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, or Porcupine Tree were in the 90s.
The jazzy sounds, especially Jonas' bass work, was a breath of fresh air for me at the time, hearing a lot of Genesis and Yes influenced modern prog, and the prominent keyboard work from Andy really struck a chord with me. At a relatively short 48 minutes, when most albums at the time were pushing 70-79 minutes (maybe because they could), this album features just four songs (although the CD has three of its songs split and indexed into their individual movements, a practice I'm glad they haven't revisited).
The opening epic, "In Darkest Dreams", is probably one of my favorite prog epics of the early 00s, and sets the tone and mood for what kind of album (and band) this is. Andy's opening keys are somewhat iconic for me now, almost nostaligic whenever I come back to this album. Having only been familiar with the TFK members of this line-up, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Roine be the first vocalist on the album, but Andy provides some great variety with his unique vocal stylings as well. There is some great grooves and solos peppered throughout this epic, and while one generally thinks of side-length epics as album closers, "In Darkest Dreams" opens the album in powerful ways that songs like "2112" or "Close To The Edge" do for their albums.
"The Canterbury Sequence" is a great jazzy number that refers to a subgenre of prog that I wasn't, and still am not, very familiar with, but hearing it played by these musicians, I really dig what they're doing here, Jonas in particular, especially his bass solo around 3 minutes into the song. The song then carries on with some more great jamming as it fades out and we head into the next song "Uphill From Here", the shortest song on the album. It's a fast-paced rocker and a bit different than anything else on the album, but a fun track nonetheless. This is definitely the kind of song that Andy would continue to write on later albums, and I believe he's the only lead vocalist on this track here as well.
The album closes with another epic, the near 13-minute title track "The Music That Died Alone", which opens with some great piano work from the heavy runs and chords, to some more jazz-influenced parts peppered with some of Roine's great TFK-sounding guitar lines. If there's a song that anyone could possibly call as "Tangent classic", this one might be it. It doesn't end with a grandiose symphonic ending, but it closes the album in a way that seems fitting for the band, and the lyrical message of the song. A very appropriate ending for this fairly strong debut.
I know some folks don't really jive with Roine's or Andy's vocals, but hearing them together here really shows their strong points, as players, writers, and singers. I'd say Roine's two albums with The Tangent are probably two my favorite albums he's ever been a part of (and to be honest, I'd take them over any other side-project he's done outside of TFK or TA, mostly because, as enjoyable as things like The Sea Within or Agents Of Mercy were, these two Tangent albums are where he was able to shine outside of The Flower Kings and do something a little different than the typical symphonic prog he was doing in TFK and TA).
After a few days of listening to their second album, I'll come back and post my thoughts on it, but if anyone wants to discuss the first two, please feel free! I hope there's at least a few people here willing to revisit these albums with me and discuss them a bit as The Tangent, for me, are a Top 10 band.
-Marc.
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Songs From the Hard Shoulder came out yesterday. Another excellent offering from these guys! We have four longbois, one of which is a U.K. cover which they take on a tangent.
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Songs From the Hard Shoulder came out yesterday. Another excellent offering from these guys! We have four longbois, one of which is a U.K. cover which they take on a tangent.
I've listened to it a couple of times now, and I went in fresh without hearing any of the samples or singles prior to the release. It's definitely another great Tangent release, and the performances are top notch. I can't wait to get my physical CD in hand, hopefully in the next week or so, as it makes its way across the Atlantic from Andy's home.
-Marc.
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I didn't know the fifth song was a deluxe edition exclusive. Was wondering why my copy was only four songs. :-[
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I didn't know the fifth song was a deluxe edition exclusive. Was wondering why my copy was only four songs. :-[
Yep, special edition bonus track, I think for the digipak releases. It should be available to listen to on most streaming sites if you want to listen to it.
-Marc.
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I learned about them completely by accident. It was 2003, I didn't not have a computer. And I did not internet.
Literally just walked into a Borders, liked the album cover art and bought their first album sight unseen. Loved them ever since
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I didn't know the fifth song was a deluxe edition exclusive. Was wondering why my copy was only four songs. :-[
When my physical copy arrives from Germany, I can send that track to you if you want :tup
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I learned about them completely by accident. It was 2003, I didn't not have a computer. And I did not internet.
Literally just walked into a Borders, liked the album cover art and bought their first album sight unseen. Loved them ever since
Nice! Their early covers by Ed Unitsky are certainly striking and unique. His art definitely helped the band stand out in the early 00s.
-Marc.
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I didn't know the fifth song was a deluxe edition exclusive. Was wondering why my copy was only four songs. :-[
When my physical copy arrives from Germany, I can send that track to you if you want :tup
Ah that'd be awesome, dude, thanks!
I've usually preordered Tangent albums through Amazon and when they've shown up, they've always had the bonus track, so it threw me off that I wound up with the standard edition for once. Woops!
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I didn't know the fifth song was a deluxe edition exclusive. Was wondering why my copy was only four songs. :-[
I didn't even realize there was a "standard edition". Usually InsideOut put "bonus tracks" on even when that's the only version you can buy.
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I didn't know the fifth song was a deluxe edition exclusive. Was wondering why my copy was only four songs. :-[
I didn't even realize there was a "standard edition". Usually InsideOut put "bonus tracks" on even when that's the only version you can buy.
I've seen a jewel case version of the album posted by someone in the Tangent Facebook group. I assume that's the "stamdard" edition that is missing the bonus track, which seems exclusive to the digipaks and gatefold vinyl versions of the album.
A quick look at Discogs shows me that it seems like this is the first time since their earlier albums that they've released two different CD versions of their album. I'm guessing this was a label thing from Inside Out and/or Sony Music.
And speaking of Sony Music, they've apparently produced a single LP vinyl version of their debut album without Andy's consent or knowledge. He'll get residual pay for those sales but they didn't even bother asking him for the music or artwork (which will probably be blown up from the CD and not look that great). It's an odd situation altogether.
-Marc.
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https://thetangent.org/polaris?fbclid=IwAR23UMw9_FsGFnTgAwNrzB10ZC5QWzybjE1Ja4N6REFkMByKUcLFZ3TRtlg
Andy Tillison has officially unveiled the next Tangent studio album, worked on entirely by himself from conception to release, but it's not the end of the band! Andy has already begin work writing the 14th album, which will include Jonas, Steve, Luke, and Theo as usual.
The Tangent (For One) announce new studio album ‘To Follow Polaris’; launch first single ‘The North Sky’
‘To Follow Polaris’ is a new "full on" Progressive Rock album by The Tangent, set to be released on the 10th May 2024. That's not necessarily a surprise, that's what the band are known for. But at the same time, it's something else too. As Andy jokes, playing on the Jaws strapline, he says "well this time it's actually no personnel".
To coincide with the announcement, they have launched a video for the track ‘The North Sky’, albeit in an edited form. Watch it now here
https://youtu.be/x5CAzcKZXvA
In a year when members of The Tangent could be seen onstage all over the world with Steve Hackett, Soft Machine, Karnataka, David Cross, It Bites, Cyan and others, plus on recordings by those artists and The Anchoret, The Michael Dunn Project, Argos and Retreat From Moscow, it became clear that there was not going to be time to get together for anything more than one gig in April 2023.
So the band agreed that the band’s leader/main writer Andy Tillison would keep the material coming and would make an album by The Tangent entirely alone. It would still be The Tangent. Just for one.
"Besides Which" Andy says, "I've always wanted to do this, use what I have learned from Luke, Jonas, Steve, Theo and many other alumni and take it to final production. Now was the time!"
What transpired over the following year is in one sense an "absolutist" solo album and is entirely the work of one person in all aspects including artwork, layout, design, lyrics, composition, performance, recording, production, mixing, mastering and authoring. But in another sense it's totally Tangent. "I could not have begun to make this record without having had the experiences of working with the band. So although the different instruments are not attempted to be played in the actual style of the normal lineup, they are inspired by the kind of things these guys do"
‘To Follow Polaris’ will be available as a Limited Deluxe Collector’s Edition CD Mediabook (including bonus track and extensive 24-page booklet, Gatefold 180g 2LP vinyl (also including bonus track), & as Digital Album. Pre-order now! http://thetangent.org
1. The North Sky 11:36
2. A ‘Like’ In The Darkness 08:19
3. The Fine Line 08:04
4. The Anachronism 21:01
5. The Single (From A Re-Opened Time Capsule) 05:51
6. The North Sky (Radio Edit) 03:42
7. Tea At Bettys (Bonus Track) 17:32
Produced between January and November 2023, the album features Andy using his multiple keyboards system as normal, but adds to the mix his first ever released performance on Bass Guitar and his second on stick driven (electronic) drums. Add electric and acoustic guitars and electronic wind controller and this is a full band recording in every sense of the word. A recording which shows Andy's lifelong influence by artists such as Yes, Van Der Graaf Generator, Porcupine Tree, Groove Armada, Earth Wind & Fire, Roger Waters and his bands, Return To Forever, Deep Purple, Gentle Giant, Steely Dan and any band featuring the keyboard player Dave Stewart.
Conceptually Andy claims the album is, ahem, "highly optimistic" but regular listeners to his work will anticipate correctly that this optimism will not be ill founded or over-easy and will be highly critical of obstacles to that optimism and the album will look as much into the dark as it does into the light.
The album is intended to be thought of as a regular Tangent album - but not as the future of the band. It's everyone’s intention to make the FOURTEENTH album as The Tangent. For Five.
The Tangent online:
http://thetangent.org
https://www.facebook.com/groups/alltangentmembers/
INSIDEOUTMUSIC ONLINE:
www.insideoutmusic.com
www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV
www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic
www.twitter.com/insideouteu
https://www.instagram.com/insideoutmusic/
-Marc.
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So it's a solo album but also not a solo album. Weird but I'll vibe with it.
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So it's a solo album but also not a solo album. Weird but I'll vibe with it.
Yeah, there's quite a backstory behind it. It was originally going to be a project titled "Tangent For One" or T41, with just Andy alone, but he had some issues and the album production got delayed. Inside Out offered him to release it and allow for more funding behind it, but they wanted it to be released as a Tangent album proper, so he took up the deal and now it's finally coming out.
As the press release says, though, the other members have been quite busy with their own projects and bands, so I respect Andy for wanting to put this out as a Tangent album, especially after getting their blessing on it. Maybe some day they'll play this material live and we'll hear what it would sound like with the full band!
Regardless, I'm excited for it. Any year that there's new Tangent music is a great year for music for me, but to also get new music from my other favorite band (Big Big Train) as well, we're off to a great start in 2024 for prog music!
-Marc.
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Why are they blocking me from the Facebook group? Same with BBT why did they block me too?
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Somebody answer me please. Letter M I'm looking at you specifically as I know you're on there as well. How are they just allowed to block people without even giving them a chance? I will keep bumping this until I get an answer.
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Somebody answer me please. Letter M I'm looking at you specifically as I know you're on there as well. How are they just allowed to block people without even giving them a chance? I will keep bumping this until I get an answer.
I'm not sure, and I'm definitely not the guy to ask. I do not moderate any of those FB forums and I'm just a member like anyone else. If you want to message the mods or even band members themselves, feel free, as I'm sure they could tell you more than I could. TBH, I rarely visit those forums anymore anyway, maybe like once a week or less frequently, and only pop in often when new album cycles happen, but that's about it.
-Marc.