Thank You Scientist - Terraformer
Progressive Rock/Metal/Fusion
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of The Dear Hunter, Coheed and Cambria, Michael Jackson, Jazz, grey alien conspiracy theories, fun
Terraformer was the most interesting and exciting album of the year. I love this band and it's not just because they are from my home state. In a year full of amazing prog albums, and double albums at that, Thank You Scientist (TYS) released the best prog double album. These 2 CDs are still in heavy rotation in my truck and my wife's car, and you can still catch me once in a while singing the songs but replacing the lyrics with words about my toddler.
For those not in the know, TYS is composed of a drummer, violinist, trumpeter, saxophonist, keyboardist, a bassist who also plays the theremin, a guitarist who plays some of the best solos I've heard in years, and a dedicated singer who can sound like Claudio Sanchez (though I don't hear this), Casey Crescenzo, and Michael Jackson (it takes some getting used to), but who has a body and face you would never in a million years match to his voice.
Every track on this double album is just such a treat to listen to, I can't say much more than just go out and buy it on CD or Vinyl, or stream it on a hi-res service like Amazon Music HD et al.
Soen - Lotus
Progressive Metal/Hard Rock
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of Tool, Opeth
This album is nearly perfect. The album has a great range of moods from whisper-quiet to full on thrashing. Every single song is catchy. Though Soen have been accused of being a Tool ripoff in the past, they have really come into their own with Lotus.
My one and only complaint about the album is that the last track fades out for a good few minutes before the guitar and vocals finally come back in. I guess this is the only way to make a "hidden track" in the digital era, but I always fast-forward through the silence.
Another one to just go out and buy right now.
Flying Colors - Third Degree
Progressive Rock/Pop
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of Spock's Beard, The Neal Morse Band, Soundgarden, Steely Dan, The Beatles, The Beach Boys...yeah, it's that diverse.
This was my first exposure to Flying Colors, and the first thing that hits you is just how amazing of a singer Casey McPherson is. There are moments on the album where if I didn't know better I would swear I was listening to Chris Cornell. There are moments on the album where his voice and lyrics brought me to literal tears. He is that good.
The album is what you've come to expect from the dynamic duo of Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy over the last 10 years: catchy music that stays in your head and keeps you coming back.
Another instant purchase.
The Neal Morse Band - The Great Adventure
Progressive Rock
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of retro prog and, well, any of the other numerous Morse/Portnoy projects.
Another double album that rarely left my rotation, especially earlier in the year when it came out. The album is near-perfect. I say "near" because there is so much to it, there were bound to be some missteps here and there.
This is the followup to Similitude of a Dream, which is loosely based on Pilgrim's Progress. The Great Adventure tells the tale of the son of the main character in Similitude.
And yes, like most of Morse's current music, it does lyrics with a Christian theme, but this is by no means Contemporary Christian, Christian Rock, etc. The most religious it gets is the overall album theme of the search for "A Love That Never Dies."
The first thing you'll notice is how long the album is. For some it might be a bit much to listen to the entire thing in one sitting. If you, like me, listen to the bulk of your music in your car in CD format, you'll be amazed how quickly you'll come to love this one.
These songs get stuck in your head and stay there.
Big Big Train - Grand Tour
Progressive Rock
Clean vocals
Recommended for fans of Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Roman history, world history
As much as I love Folklore, I was really excited for this Big Big Train album because they said that they are done with folklore themed albums for now and moving on to other horizons outside of England. This album harks back to a time when wealthy men would travel Europe to gain experiences and knowledge.
There is a lot to take in here and it can be tricky to miss the larger point if you aren't paying attention. I would say that the lyrics and song notes help tremendously in understanding each song, so try to get a physical copy or at least the pdf with FLAC from Bandcamp.
Alive was pretty much the jam of the year - so upbeat and catchy! The Florentine is a fun piece about Leonardo DaVinci with great harmonies from Nick D'Virgillo. Roman Stone is a long track focused on the rise and fall of the titular empire. Nick D'Virgillo wrote a fun instrumental piece in Panthenon, and the Roman era wraps up with Theodora in Green and Gold which has some killer melodies and harmonizing.
Ariel is a track about the fairy from Shakespeare's The Tempest as though the spirit were real and influenced the famous poet who drowned, Percy Shelley. This song ... is ... awesome. From start to finish you'll experience every emotion from grieving sadness to bittersweet parting sadness. I don't want to give away more, just buy the album with the lyrics and listen to it.
Voyager is a song about VGER, that guy from Star Trek: The Motion Picture...uh, I mean the Voyager probes that were launched in the 70s to visit the 4 gas giants and beyond.
This lyrical matter might seem a bit unfamiliar for BBT, but they handle it majestically with some great memorable lines such as: "10 miles a second out there in the space between the stars" and "No life, no brave new world, just signals running out of time." This is another one you must have the lyrics and song notes for to fully appreciate.
Again, just buy the CD or better yet, download in hi-res from Bandcamp or your hi-res streaming service of choice.
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Progressive Metal/Alternative?/Who Cares Tool is Back
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of...hmm, it's weird for me to think about people never having listened to Tool or even heard of them before now, but I suppose they are out there. Suffice it to say that if you like prog in general, then you'll probably dig Tool.
Wow, 13 years since 10,000 Days, almost 20 years since their masterpiece Lateralus, and nearly 25 years since their then-masterpiece Aenima...holy cow do I feel old!
About a quarter of a century after I discovered them, Tool comes back into my ears and into my life. Now that we're all so much older, what has changed?
Thankfully not too much. The guitars and bass still sound just like they did 20 years ago, and that's not necessarily a bad thing! The second you hear that dry crunchy guitar juxtaposed with that deep, rich, mellow, chorus-laden, to-die-for bass guitar sound, you know who you're listening to.
And the other half of the band? Well, let's talk about Maynard James Keenan first. Holy Flurking Shnit! Maynard's progress as a singer blew me away. He phrases things now in a way I would never have imagined him capable of when listening to Opiate or Undertow. From his vocal embelishments and rubatos to his sense of melody and harmony, Jimmy is now James. Even his lyrics have improved from songs about sexual kinks and general misanthropy to something a bit more subtle and nuanced, which fits just so perfectly with Tool's style.
And now, the MVP of the album, let me introduce to you the one and only Billy Shea...uh, sorry I mean to say Danny Carey. This guy has just been practicing and experimenting with different electronic drum pads for the past 13 years. I imagine him counting 7/8 guitar riffs against 4/4 drum beats in his sleep and dreaming about how to make them more complementary and complex. I imagine him listening to the prog giants of the 70s and thinking about how to incorporate similar but new synth sounds into his already flavorful electronic (and physical) drum palette.
So I've gushed about this album for a few paragraphs now - why not ranked a bit higher? To be frank, I've grown up. The things that interested and inspired me when I first got into Tool when I was in High School aren't necessarily the same anymore.
All that said, Fear Inoculum still held up as one of my favorites this year and I keep going back to it. Although it may be hard to find affordably in a physical format, it is truly a double album, so you should buy the highest quality digital version anyway. You can get the album in hi-res FLAC from HDtracks.com.
One minor thing I should mention. Although not an issue for me (and likewise many fellow prog fans reading), all of the proper songs are over the 10 minute mark. So it's really only 6 songs, a drum solo, and some weird filler tracks that Tool always does to "tool" with you. If you've never really heard Tool before but also don't have that kind of attention span, I would implore you to at least give Lateralus and Aenima a listen. Tool has been and still is a great band.
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Progressive Metal
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of... Dream Theater (DT)? You either love them or hate them.
I don't really care to get into the Mike Portnoy vs. Mike Mangini battles. They are both amazing drummers, among the best in prog today. As a listener, I am enjoying the current situation with Portnoy working with Neal Morse's bands and his many other bands, and with Mangini in DT.
That being said, if you've been skeptical about getting back into DT after Portnoy's departure or after the last few albums (which I thought were all top-notch and should be re-evaluated by haters), you should really give Distance Over Time a listen or two.
This album is so good. John Petrucci comes at you with so many catchy riffs and James LaBrie with so many catchy vocal melodies.
There is this one part with Petrucci and Mangini end the song with this really long super fast and proggy run from high to low and it is jaw-dropping. I almost drool every time I hear it.
Another fantastic album available in hi-res from many sources.
IZZ - Don't Panic
Progressive Rock
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of Yes, King Crimson, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
This album is a partial concept album by the New York Prog group IZZ (pronounced like the word "is") based on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The two songs that kick off the album are Don't Panic and 42, with references to the book aplenty and extra nerdy lyrics about some Number Theory facts about 42, i.e., "Pronic, primary pseudoperfect," meaning that 42 is a pronic number (being the product of 2 consecutive integers, i.e., 6 and 7), and 42 is also a primary pseudoperfect number, being that it is equal to the sum of all of its prime factors dividing it and 1: 42/2 = 21, 42/3 =14, 42/7 = 6. So you have 21 + 14 + 6 = 41 and then add one to get the answer to life, the universe, and everything...wait, what was the question?
Musically this album is a real treat. With fantastic vocal arrangements by numerous vocalists, fun guitars and keys, and a rhythm section reminiscent of the glory days of Yes and King Crimson, Don't Panic is a winner.
This album has the goods to satisfy the SF/math/prog nerd in you.
RPWL - Tales From Outer Space
Progressive Rock
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of Pink Floyd, Science Fiction
I don't have a whole ton of stuff to say about this one other than they are a former Pink Floyd cover band from Germany who have been putting out albums for a long time.
This SF/Space themed album is just a solid prog release with great music to chill out to in the vein of Floyd.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium - South of Reality
Psychadelic Prog Rock
Clean Vocals
Recommended for fans of Primus, The Beatles, Les Claypool, Sean Lennon, John Lennon...dare I say Yoko Ono?
Not a whole ton of stuff to say for this one either, other than if you love Primus and love The Beatles, it's pretty much a no-brainer. Sean Lennon sounds almost exactly like John Lennon and uses just as many experimental sounds and lyrics. Les Claypool gives another over the top bass performance with great lyrics and vocals that harmonize surprisingly well with the son of John and Yoko.
There are some references to the story of the grasshopper from the first album by this collaborative, but I haven't had a chance to give the earlier one a listen yet. Either way, it won't affect your enjoyment of this album at all.
Another chill out and enjoy listen.
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Thanks for reading and join me next time for Tier 2 of my Best Prog Albums of 2019.
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