True prog pioneers in Estonia, MESS were formed in 1974 around keyboard guru Sven Grünberg and master of electronics Härmo Härm (ex-POSITRON). With the help of a drummer, bassist and guitarist as well as artist Kaarel Kurismaa who provided ingenious stage designs full of props and intricate lightshows, MESS turned their every gig into a sonic and visual experience not to be missed. They were eventually joined on percussion by RUJA's founding member Andrus Vaht as well as by a host of musicians contributing oboe, French horn and church organ; even world famous Tõnu Kaljuste lent his choir to add flavour to their music. Highly recommended to fans of keyboard-driven space prog such as KLAUS SCHULZE, TANGERINE DREAM, JEAN-MICHEL JARRE and the likes.

2009 four CD antology from the British Jazz/Prog/Art Rock band. Pieced together with the active assistance of band leader Jon Hiseman, Morituri Te Salutant features extended highlights from Colosseum's original albums as well as numerous previously-unissued studio and live outtakes, including BBC session material, the aborted late '60s single `Tell Me Now' and a host of alternative recordings from the tour that was immortalised on what many admirers believe to be the band's definitive work, Colosseum Live. Lavishly packaged with hitherto unpublished photos and a 10,000 word essay, Morituri Te Salutant is the final word on one of the most individual and iconoclastic British bands to emerge from the musical and cultural revolution of the '60s.

Ruphus is probably one of the most important 70's Norwegian heavy prog rock band (there were a few of those back then: Aunt Mary, Titanic, Popol Vuh/Ace etc.) but their music evolution would differ greatly from those groups. Their debut "A New Born Day" is certainly one of the best Norwegian albums with a very exciting sound and its extraordinarily communicative enthusiasm, even if a bit dated. But three members left after the album release and a new singer was found for their second album "Ranshart", a more progressive record looking towards Yes and Focus, but it was not quite as exciting as the debut. Future jazz-rock legend Terje Rypdal produced their third album "Let Your Light Shine", a jazz-rock album that had much success in Germany, but again, personnel change struck at the worst of times, but their fourth album "Inner Voice" continued the formula…

Stick Men is an Eclectic Prog supergroup founded in 2007 by Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson), Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) and Michael Bernier. Since 2010, the lineup stabilized around Mastelotto, Levin, and Markus Reuter. The band was formed as a vehicle for progressive rock music performed almost exclusively with Chapman Sticks and drums. Needles to say, the fans of crimsonian prog will love it; there's also a lot of jazz and heavy chugging bursts, as well as avant moments and African soundscapes.

Genesis 1970-1975 is a box set of five studio albums by Genesis featuring Peter Gabriel. The 7CD box set includes newly remixed versions of the albums Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The band's 1969 debut album, From Genesis to Revelation, was excluded because of the band losing the rights to it. The fifth pair of discs includes B-side songs, 3 rare songs from BBC Sessions in 1970 and the never-before-released Genesis Plays Jackson soundtrack.

Garofano Rosso is an instrumental album. Now, why would a band with such a prominent singer as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso record an instrumental album? Because behind Francesco Di Giacomo's voice one finds strong instrumental compositional skills. And so the band was asked to write and record a soundtrack for the movie Garofano Rosso. (Keyboardists Vittorio and Gianni Nocenzi would later write a handful of other soundtracks, both together and separately.) But the album is not the actual soundtrack; two tracks, "Zobeida" and "Funerale," don't appear in the final cut, and the band fiddled with the track order to make things more interesting. Therefore, Garofano Rosso stands as a good album on its own, not as exciting as Darwin! or Io Sono Nato Libero, and not as impressive (or pompous) as Banco's other instrumental LP Di Terra, but still an honest effort…

When considering the finest releases of the Japanese symphonic rock scene, the first two albums by Mr. Sirius come to mind immediately, not only for their apparent absence of any immediately obvious influences, but also because of the crafty compositions, superb musicianship, tight arrangements, and outstanding vocals of Hiroko Nagai. Those albums are Barren Dream (1987) and Dirge (1990). The synergy of the five musicians is evidenced throughout these seven tracks: it's not clear if the the pieces were penned by Mr. Sirius himself or Mr. Sirius the band, but each of these is truly a group effort, a solid and powerful statement by five musicians sharing a common purpose. Their sound relies on gentle subtleties (acoustic guitars, flute) juxtaposed with moments of power (heavy symphonics, screaming guitar leads), often seemingly disconnected, evoking a different feeling from one moment to the next…

A very obscure and one of the rarest albums from Italian rock music scene of the 70's. This album takes on ecology as its theme and sings of the evil of polluting the planet. Terrific basic progressive music housed in a creative gimmick sleeve with window to flower. Blocco Mentale were a quintet, consisting of Aldo Angeletti (who wrote the music) on vocals and bass, Michele Arena on drums and vocals, Gigi "Roso" Bianchi on guitar and vocals, Filippo Lazzari on keyboards, harmonica and vocals, and Dino Finocchi on vocals, sax and flute. Musically Blocco Mentale is characterised by a progressive style with some personal touches. The best intruments are the horns and the keyboards. The album opens with angular staccato sax riffs and then slides into a lush melody somewhat reminiscent of Premiata Forneria Marconi in their early (and best) days…

The Mars Volta have never taken the easy route. Their sixth album since Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala quit seminal post-hardcore outfit At The Drive-In in 2001, ‘Noctourniquet’ is framed around a narrative based both on Superman villain Solomon Grundy and the Greek myth of Hyacinthus. If you need refreshing, that’s the one in which Hyacinth, the (male) lover of the god Apollo, attempts to impress Apollo by catching his discus, but gets struck by it and dies. The music follows the same recondite, abstruse path as the lyrics - an ambitious, avant-garde swirl of prog, rock, post-rock and quasi-metal that carries the weight of such intense cerebral pressure. Suffice to say, there are no songs about wearing the same jeans for four days…

Best known for its iconic, quite frankly hilarious cover art - featuring the four bandmembers riding three motorcycles, Easy Rider-style, only buck naked - the Flower Travellin' Band's 1970 debut album, Anywhere, unfortunately isn't as original where the actual music is concerned. That's because, with the exception of its minute-long, book-ending solo harmonica workouts, Anywhere was a covers album. And the second of its kind, technically speaking, following 1969's Challenge, which was recorded by the then simply named the Flowers with two different singers tackling Western rock and pop hits of the day by Janis Joplin, Cream, Hendrix, and the Jefferson Airplane. Come time for Anywhere, new singer Akira "Joe" Yamanaka had joined guitarist Hideki Ishima, bassist Jun Kowzuk, and drummer Joji "George" Wada, in the newly renamed Flower Travellin' Band…