Sunday, May 06, 2007

Progtastic mate

Now that the dust has settled on the elections I am looking forward to catching up with a batch of excellent British (and prog influenced) rock that has been released recently.

The new Marillion album was released a few weeks ago and even hit number 24 on the album chart. Called 'Somewhere Else' it is a very listenable collection of songs highlighting Steve Hogarth's emotional writing and voice and some fantastic guitar playing by Steve Rothery.

The band is currently on tour in Europe and heading for the UK soon. Details here. Tickets are selling fast though, with the Leeds gig, which I am going to, already sold out.

A week later came Fear of a Blank Planet from the mighty Porcupine Tree which aslo charted, at 31.

For those unfamiliar with this band they remind me of the Floyd in overall feel and depressing lyrical content, with a slightly heavier sound. This album's theme is that youngsters nowadays are growing up in a consumerist hell of a world. Cheery stuff!

They have just toured the UK (I missed them due to the elections, grrr) but return for an appearance at the metaltastic Download Festival in June, so I'll see them there.

Finally rock veterans Magnum have released their latest album Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow. This is one of their best, perhaps influenced by doing the anniversary gigs for their classic On A Storyteller's Night album last year.

All three will appeal to any classic rock fans out there.

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