Ah, these music taxonomies...
Anyway, ProgArchives files Italians under "progressive metal" umbrella:
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1268
while Wiki puts both bands into "symphonic power metal" drawer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympho...ic_power_metal
Last edited by Jay.Dee; 07-14-2015 at 12:17 PM.
Does Rhapsody - the stupid-ass music service that made them change their name even though they existed first - still exist? I hope not.
I got into Ars Nova with the early CDs and saw them at the Middle East (the line-up was supposed to be them, Mastermind, and Deus Ex Machina, but DEM dropped out and were replaced by Boud Dean).
I really liked their early work and their live performance was fantastic.
Got out The Goddess of Darkness last night, this for the first time in about 15 years. Only the title itself tells stories here. But yup, they're really good all of a sudden.
Gimme Jim Reeves, daddy'o.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
For those who want to relive the unforgettably good (/bad/awful/sexy/embarrassing/ire-causing/amazing etc.) Arsnova performance from ProgDay 2001, two of the tracks appear on the special limited edition ProgDay 2001 2-CD retrospective. Only 1000 copies were pressed, and of these, only several hundred remain. Act now, to get your copy before they are all sent to a landfill somewhere.
Yeah, Citadel was amateur hour at the cheese factory. I didn't make it back for the 2nd Progfest, but I have a hard time believing that Episode's performance was anything like that train wreck. As for Quill, while I'm not a huge fan of the ELP sound, but they were alright, and they weren't some guys having a mid-life crisis, they were an actual 70s band who were presenting their music to a potentially sympathetic audience, most of whom had not heard it. I expect that Greg Walker had a lot to do with cajoling them into reforming for that gig.
Another Episode fan here. ItE was issued on LP as well, not too long after the cassette came out.
I'm a huge Gerard fan. They were still making albums up through the 2000's and their drummer wound up defecting to Ars Nova at one point (!) (??) Their new drummer was not as manic and their last album was kind of soft, not as frantic. Everything I've heard from Ars Nova did absolutely nothing for me. I love the turbocharged assault of Gerard, they are everything Ars Nova isn't.
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
If Arsnova released it,I bought it. I have 2 dvds/2cds that I purchased directly from their website a few years ago,which I think are now long oop. I saw and met them @ Progfest '95 and they were awesome in my world. I don't care what anyone else here thinks..to each his own. Again,I placed the info in here for those that like them. I do hope they film this upcoming reunion.
*Yes, Masuhiro Goto. Gerard's last fully instrumental album was in 2004, but they've put out two more since: Ring of Eternity (2010) and Visionary Dream (2011). I haven't heard 'em, but per the reviews they seem consistent with their previous output.
I'm surprised to hear you don't like Ars Nova at all. I figured albums like Transi and Book of the Dead would be in your wheelhouse.
Have to say that I like Gerard better than (the rather awful) Ars Nova, but I'm really not that much of a fan of them either. Or of Social Tension or those other pseudo-ELP/UK type of nippon units like Midas and so on. Mr. Sirius were good, but if I'd want a keyboards-heavy Jap progressive band I'd much rather take something like Pochakaite Malko, Le Silo, Opabinia or Koenjihyakkei.
Wouldn't mind seeing Gerard in concert, though.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
I never understood why Mr Sirius seems to be so highly regarded - what I'd heard seemed very mediocre. Marge Litch, Providence and Pageant were a little more my style, though I can certainly see how they'd have their detractors. --peter
Providence were killer. Did they ever do anything after Night Of Choko-Muro??
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
They were demos alright, but it was distributed here in the west as a CD-R, IIRC. There was another demo cassette even before that one, marred by very bad sound, I believe. But Old Myth showed a lot of promise for 1990, although I personally feel that most of the 80s Jap "symph" phenomenon has aged terribly and frankly pales next to all the magnificently original and quirky progressive music coming out of Japan since then.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
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