So, on to the next three, and then we've had the first 20 albums on my list! Moving back into prog territory with these, I give you:
33. Transatlantic – The Whirlwind (2009)The single longest song in my whole top 50. That’s right, I consider The Whirlwind to be one song. One great, large song consisting of multiple equally great parts. As with many bands I got into Transatlantic pretty late into their career, shortly after they had released this album. Transatlantic is a progressive rock supergroup consisting of Neal Morse, RoineStolt, Mike Portnoy and Pete Trewavas. This band always makes me think of Yes for some reason, and somewhere that seems entirely logical, but on the other hand they are stylistically quite different from each other. Anyway, on the music. With The Whirlwind, Transatlantic created one HUGE epic, spread out over 12 different tracks, each with their own themes, both lyrically and musically. Though it might sound boring in a writeup, this isn’t really that much of a special album in the sense that it doesn’t bring a lot of interesting or new things, it’s just that this is some very good progressive, symphonic rock in every sense of the word(s) and musically it’s very good and as an album, this is about as coherent as stuff can get.
Favourite song: The Wind Blew Them All Away
Other songs worth checking out: Dancing With Eternal Glory, Out of the Night, Evermore
32. Karnivool – Sound Awake (2009)Karnivool are probably one of the lesser known bands on my list. They are a progressive/alternative rock/metal band from Perth, Australia and have released two albums so far. The music on this album however is not the same progressive metal as you hear from other bands. Karnivool has been compared to the likes of Tool and their styles are not too far apart. There’s a heavy focus on rhythm and rhythmic changes and great drumming, accentuated by heavy, downtuned guitar sounds and beautiful vocal melodies. If you’re unfamiliar with the band, the first song on the album,
Simple Boy is a great song to start off with, as it showcases all those elements very well. Though not exactly a fast record by any means, the band does get quite intense in other ways, as for example in the song
Set Fire to The Hive, a heavy riff-driven song. Well, this is not your standard prog, but even though this stuff is ‘different’ in some ways (I don’t really have something to compared it to I’m afraid) it is for the better of the music. If you’re looking for something interesting, try this out.
Favourite song: New Day
Other songs worth checking out: Umbra, Set Fire To The Hive, Deadman
31. Shadow Gallery – Carved in Stone (1995)Shadow Gallery are a band that have been greatly underestimated for some reason and I never really understood why. Knowing this is somewhat of an obscure band, I thought I would find more people into them at the time I joined DTF. That didn’t really turn out to be the case, but that certainly didn’t stop me from liking them. Carved in Stone is Shadow Gallery’s second album, after their self-titled record with a drum machine. Lucky for them, and for us, the production on Carved in Stone is a lot better and they have found a proper drummer for this album. Shadow Gallery are a six-piece progressive metal band from the States and on this album they really shine. Although all the tracks flow into each other through untitled instrumental ‘bridges’, this is not a concept album as far as I know. Fun fact for those who own the CD; the untitled tracks aren’t listed on the back, skipping a number between the tracks on the back cover. With the first song
Cliffhanger the band sets off on a journey through some very powerful and good progressive metal music. With a mixture of ballads like
Don’t Ever Cry, Just Remember and
Alaska, and heavier stuff like
Crystalline Dream and
Deeper Than Life the band arrives at the epic of the album, the song
Ghostship, split into 7 parts, including a brilliant solo piano piece as the sixth movement, titled
Enchantment. Singer Mike Baker was at the top of his game when he recorded the few words he sings in this song, and the rest of the band is on fire as well. This whole album is a great mixture of progressive rock/metal and ballads, great vocal harmonies, good riffs and excellent songwriting.
Favourite song: Crystalline Dream
Other songs worth checking out: Cliffhanger, Ghostship, Deeper Than Life