1987 and 1989 recommendations

[spacefreak]

One Norway band/album that I find is totally unsung is Ravana's Common Daze (ok, it dates from 96, though

I'm not settled about it... my wife owned a copy and at the times I remember loving the first song (an excellent cross of the Anekdoten/Landberk school and Pink Floyd), but the remaining material left me cold. Probably they had an indie flavor not up to my tastes but I may be mistaken cause it's been ages since I had a full listen. Should dig it up for a relisten if it's still in the house...

[Scrotum Scissor]

^

There are some very good melodic ideas and certainly a genuinely melancholy vibe to that Ravana CD, but the overly raunchy post-grunge vocals and stuffed guitar distortion pretty much kills it off. I'm glad I kept it, tho'. However, to namecheck it as "the best ever Norwegian album" is... Well, I won't even say.

[Rarebird]

One Norway band/album that I find is totally unsung is Ravana's Common Daze (ok, it dates from 96, though )
Something's sooooooo bloodily melancholic about the album, yet there is an anger so clearly present as well. It oozes pain.
I find it Norway's best all-time album, TBH - well ahead of Panzerpappa and Elephant9

It's probably quite hard to find by now

I have that Ravana album and I really love it. Would like to have more by them. Great album. Got it to write a review and I think I was very positive.

[Trane]

^

There are some very good melodic ideas and certainly a genuinely melancholy vibe to that Ravana CD, but the overly raunchy post-grunge vocals and stuffed guitar distortion pretty much kills it off. I'm glad I kept it, tho'. However, to namecheck it as "the best ever Norwegian album" is... Well, I won't even say.

I used to call Ravana the progressive Nirvana

and in some ways, word pun aside, it wasn't totally false either.

[Rarebird]

I used to call Ravana the progressive Nirvana

and in some ways, word pun aside, it wasn't totally false either.

Could be. I liked that rough edge and the Fender piano.

[Scrotum Scissor]

^

I'm all for rough edges, but not in this sense and context. The Ravana singer is much better in quieter parts of the record, where you can easily detect his affinities with soul music. I also think they should have notched up the loungy bits and eased on the quasi-metallic ones.

[DoubleDrummer]

1987:
Zappa-Jazz From Hell
French Frith Kaiser & Thompson-Live Love Larf & Loaf
Al Di Meola-Tirami Su
Michael Brecker-s/t
Bass Desires-Second Sight
Pat Metheny-Still Life Talking

Jazz From Hell and Tirami Su are both great work.
They are also both examples of the SYNCLAVIER making it's way into prog recording.
Both artists also toured with the SYNCLAVIER in tow and made it part of the live act.
Good stuff..................

[moecurlythanu]

One Norway band/album that I find is totally unsung is Ravana's Common Daze (ok, it dates from 96, though )
Something's sooooooo bloodily melancholic about the album, yet there is an anger so clearly present as well. It oozes pain.
I find it Norway's best all-time album, TBH - well ahead of Panzerpappa and Elephant9

It's probably quite hard to find by now

And I think it's quite mediocre, which means that the divergence in taste betwixt us remains consistent.

[miamiscot]

Man, the 80's were brutal.

[Gruno]

Man, the 80's were brutal.

Brutally fantastic for some of us.

[Jacob Holm-Lupo]

Interesting discussion, especially since Thule was mentioned.
For my money Natt is the best record that has ever been made in Norway. But I agree with Richard that the lyrics may stop foreigners from fully appreciating it. Also, the interpretation of modern Western history through the lens of an arctic night might be a bit esoteric for some. But bloody hell, what an album. And done on a 4-track tape recorder. The passion, the darkness, the wildness. Unbeatable.

Another Norwegian gem from the era (1989) is Joah's Ark & the Beasts' "Speilet", a rather deranged mixture of modern Scandinavian Maypole anthems and Barrett-esque psych-rock. A Harvest release, in fact. Must be heard to be believed. Some heavy hitters from the 70s Norwegian scene on that album, all presumably out of their minds on acid while they recorded this in a commune somewhere in the deep Norwegian woods (true story).

As for Ravana - it was an interesting album, I was around the scene when it was made. They represented a different axis of prog to the typical retro-sound in Scandinavia at the time. It's an interesting mixture of grunge and prog, but it hasn't really stood the test of time very well. The writing is so-so, and the musicianship as well. But kudos for a different take on prog. Of course it had nothing to do with the 80s, I think it was released in '95 or so.

[aplodon]

My favorites for the years in question (at least some of them).
Some of them not mentioned before I think.

1987
Iva Bittova and Pavel Fajt - Bittova & Fajt (might be 1988?, not sure)
Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician
Doctor Nerve - Armed Observation
Charles Hayward - Survive the Gesture
Lars Hollmer & Looping Home Orchestra - Vendeltid
Roberto Musci & Giovanni Venosta - Water Messages on Desert Sand
Univers Zero - Heatwave (or is this from 1986?)
Ur Kaos - Ur Kaos
Wondeur Brass - Simoneda, reine des esclaves

1989
Fulano - En el bunker
Horizont - The Portrait of a Boy
Isildurs Bane - Cheval - Volonté de rocher
Lach'n Jonsson - Songs from Cities of Decay
Opus Avantra - Strata
Thinking Plague - In This Life

[aplodon]

Cooper, Lindsay Oh, Moscow

Great one, but released in 1991, I think.

[philsunset]

1987
The Bears - S/T
DB's - The Sound of Music
Game Theory - Lolita Nation

1989
Giraffe - The View From Here

[NogbadTheBad]

87
Thinking Plague - Moonsongs
Dr Nerve - Armed Observation
David Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive
Dead Can Dance - Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun

89
Thinking Plague - In This Life
Naked City - s/t
Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent
Cardiacs - On The Land & In The Sea
Lindsay Cooper - Oh Moscow
Pixies - Doolittle
Neil Young - Freedom

[spacefreak]

^

I'm all for rough edges, but not in this sense and context. The Ravana singer is much better in quieter parts of the record, where you can easily detect his affinities with soul music. I also think they should have notched up the loungy bits and eased on the quasi-metallic ones.

Checked yesterday and the CD isn't in the house anymore. Probably we gave it away ages ago. Shall check to Spotify or YT for a relisten... By having such memory lapses (very rare for me when it comes to music), I'm convinced that it didn't made any impression at all.

[spacefreak]

Another Norwegian gem from the era (1989) is Joah's Ark & the Beasts' "Speilet", a rather deranged mixture of modern Scandinavian Maypole anthems and Barrett-esque psych-rock. A Harvest release, in fact. Must be heard to be believed. Some heavy hitters from the 70s Norwegian scene on that album, all presumably out of their minds on acid while they recorded this in a commune somewhere in the deep Norwegian woods (true story).

An excellent one indeed...

[mellotron storm]

^

I'm all for rough edges, but not in this sense and context. The Ravana singer is much better in quieter parts of the record, where you can easily detect his affinities with soul music. I also think they should have notched up the loungy bits and eased on the quasi-metallic ones.

I haven't heard this one in years but I remember his vocals didn't seem to suit the music and overall I was disappointed because I usually love these melancholic albums. I need to re-visit maybe this weekend because my tastes have changed quite a bit over the years.

[AdventAlan]

Greetings,

Here are a few of my picks....

1987:

GLENN ALEXANDER - Glenn Alexander
JEAN PASCAL BOFFO - Carillons
PAT METHENY GROUP - STILL life (talking)
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA - The Central Park Concert

1989:

CARDIACS - On Land and in the Sea
CONGRESO - Para los arqueologos del futuro
ISILDURS BANE - Cheval — Volonté de rocher
VIENNA - Progress

Cheers,


Alan

[grego]

1987 - David Sylvian Secrets of the Beehive
1989 - Jethro Tull Rock Island

[grego]

1987 Holger Czukay Rome Remains Rome

[progeezer's ghost]

1987 PF- A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Marillion- Clutching at Straws

1989 King's X- Gretchen Goes to Nebraska
Fates Warning- Perfect Symmetry
Dream Theater- When Dream and Day Unite
Marillion- Season's End

[WytchCrypt]

As I started looking for albums, I realized it was pretty slim picking for prog these 2 years...oh well...limiting it to 5 per year, I'd go with...

1987
Dukes of Stratosfear - Chips from the Chocolate Fireball (more psychedelic than prog but lots of fun...XTC under a different name)
Niadem's Ghost - In Sheltered Winds (Peter Nichols band during his hiatus from IQ...not that proggy but if you love Nichols voice it's a must have)
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Sad Lovers and Giants - The Mirror Test (not generally considered prog but very close in my book)
Tull - Crest of a Knave

1989
Devil Doll - The Girl Who Was Death (like a cross between a black & white horror movie and a prog band)
Thinking Plague - In This Life
Edith - A Space Between Ever and Never (Italian neo-prog band...English lyrics)
Marillion - Season's End
Peter Murphy - Deep (more goth-rock than prog but many good moments)

[Vidiot]

Stay with it as this is the full version. Technically, it is "The Road To Hell: Parts I & II (U.K. Edit)"
I quite enjoy the guitar work here.

The full version is three minutes longer, 9:20. It opens with a traffic announcemet by Mr. Matti Kyllönen saying "Ruuhka-aikoja ja ruuhkasuuntia pyritään välttämään. Työt kestävät noin viikon, ja sitten on taas autoilijoilla uusi..."

The full album, and better sound quality

[Firth]

I know it was 6 months later in 1990, but Toy Matinee and Kevin Gilbert was awesome.

I'm 1987, Kevin and Giraffe released The Power of Suggestion.