Is anyone else as excited about Prog in 2016 as I am (and have been)?!

[The Letter M]

Going into the new year just over four months ago, I already knew there were some great albums coming out in the world of prog, between the then soon-to-be-release Dream Theater album, as well as the eventual new releases by bands like Marillion, Big Big Train, and Frost* (the latter two of which will be out in just over 4 weeks).

But since then, we've had more albums by bands like Tiles (who have their first release in EIGHT years!) and Haken (who deliver another different, yet great album), with now more announcements for the summer, including a new solo album by Neal Morse Band guitarist Eric Gillette (featuring drummer Thomas Lang, as well as Diego Tejeida and Connor Green of Haken!!!), and not to mention the debut album from prog trio The Fringe (Randy McStine, Jonas Reingold of The Flower Kings, and Nick D'Virgilio of Big Big Train and Spock's Beard). And speaking of Jonas Reingold, he's finally releasing the new Karmakanic album this summer, as well as appearing on Invention Of Knowledge by Jon Anderson and Roine Stolt (which is one of my highly anticipated albums of the year). I'm sure there are TONS more coming out this summer, but I haven't kept track quite yet.

Then by this fall, we'll have the new Marillion, as well as yet another double-disc concept album this year, this time from the Neal Morse Band, and I'm excited for this one because Neal hasn't done a proper concept album since 2011's Testimony 2 (which in itself is just a sequel to his autobiographical Testimony from 2003, so it wasn't really a *new* concept - in that case, his last new concept album was 2007's Sola Scriptura). New music from Neal is ALWAYS an auto-buy for me, so this is one that I've been waiting for.

And these are just new albums from bands and artists I already like, quite a few that have already coming out, a few more coming out soon, and even more later this year, but I am sure there are TONS more prog bands that I'm only partially familiar with, or don't even know, that are coming out with great albums this year that I'm sure YOU guys are really excited for.

Are YOU guys excited for prog this year? It seems like, at least to me, there hasn't been a lot of great stand-out prog in the last year or two, at least to me. There have been some great albums here and there, but 2015 and 2014 were kind of "meh" to me in terms of getting a LOT of great music. Maybe I reached a burn-out point in the last couple of years, but this year, I Feel rejuvenated, like I'm ready for any and all new prog rock and prog metal that I can handle! So what's got you all excited? Maybe we can all share what we're waiting for and cross our tastes a bit and help expose our favorites to everyone!

-Marc.

[Dr. DTVT]

You left off the best album of the first quarter of the year - Avantasia.  But so far this is the only album that met or exceeded expectations.

The Astonishing was a big let down.  I just can't get into it.  I love Tiles, but that album was just OK.  Haken is really good, but it's not as good as The Mountain - expectations were probably unrealistic on that one.  The Mute Gods is decent effort, but nothing earth-shattering.  Spoiler alert: Frost* is ok, but it's not anywhere near Milliontown.

I'm looking forward receiving the new Lee Abraham and Big Big Train albums, which I expect to be solid.  Karmakanic has big potential, but they also meh'ed The Wheel of Time.  I would say the same for The Fringe, just because it seems TOO good to fail.  Marillion could surprise, but I think my expectation for them is just "ok" at this point.  Eric Gillette's album has potential if he surrounded himself with that much talent,  but who knows what his songwriting is like?  Most solo albums by people tend to be underwhelming compared to their original band.

We'll see, but this year hasn't hit it's potential for the most part.