791210
Weight: 150.00 g

This is Alvarez’s debut album, but we only found it after doing so well with the best selling ‘Scenes’ CD, and this is just as good! Firmly synths/keyboards-dominated, and nearly all instrumental, this album showcases Alvarez as being the other Rick Wakeman that you never knew existed or another Keith Emerson working in a parallel musical universe! The arrangements over all 7 tracks are pure 70’s prog, only on a huge sounding scale, with synths stretching from horizon to horizon yet it stays dynamic, melodic and as familiar as it gets. The few vocals there are will remind you more of old Le Orme or early PFM than anything else, and that is no bad thing. The drum and synth bass work keep the army of keyboards superbly in time and they spread over the entire symphonic rock set to absolute perfection - Anyone into keyboard-led prog will treasure this gem, and its follow-up release for a great many years to come.

593736
Weight: 150.00 g

MAJOR PROG INSTRUMENTAL ALERT... Blimey, the spirits of Keith Emerson & Rick Wakeman positively leap out of this CD - A totally keyboards/synths-led slice of instrumental prog rock that is just fantastic! It’s a 70’s prog-rock fan’s dream, with Moogs, organ, keyboards and string synths all on site – the works basically! The drumming, bass & rhythm work is tight and lively, with guitars also used sparingly and for the maximum effect. The feel is rich and symphonic – a bit PFM at times, but there’s no pretentiousness goings on, as elements of a stack of the finest 70’s Manticorian prog bands fly by. There isn’t a wasted second on the entire 6 track album, but oh, that last half-hour epic  – it’s just immense and then some! That track also features the only vocal on the entire, near hour long CD, and this too is excellent – It’s not English, but to be honest the music is so strong, and the guy’s voice is so good that you hardly notice the language thing at all – HONEST! In actual fact, the harmony vocals are so good, that you actually wonder why they didn’t use them more on the album – yeh, THAT good! So overall, most of this album mirrors what Emerson and Wakeman were doing so brilliantly in the 70’s, and while they don’t make them like that any more – here’s one who does! Anyway, if you’re a fan of either, or you’re just into pure synths-led prog, you’ll positively flip over this suberb album.

518173
Weight: 150.00 g

With all the potential to be one of THE killer prog releases, you put it on with a sense of anticipation and expectancy. Disappointed? Not in a million years - this is a killer album that rivals the majesty, intensity and might of the classic Spock's Beard's album: ‘Kindness Of Strangers’. The Mellotron work flows thick and fast, and there’s acres and acres of it to revel in, but the electric bass work is just incredible - I urge you to listen to some of the bass runs going on at the back and at the heart of the mix, and prepare to be amazed! The guitar work shines without ever overpowering while the drums are tight and solid throughout. The vocals too, are excellent and used in a very dynamic fashion, allowing maximum space for the instrumental work to do its stuff – however, they still turn into real songs as opposed to just a bit of vocal as a throwaway before the instruments take over. The sheer magic of this fifty-minute album will overwhelm you and it has the potential to appeal to a masse of prog fans no matter what the musical persuasion might be, although the more fragile among you may be found hiding behind the sofa after the first play of these 8 tracks! Magnificent music!!

159998
Weight: 150.00 g

It's not often that, especially for a prog-rock band, that a live album becomes the definitive group statement of their career, when held up in comparison to the studio albums, but in the case of Argent, and this album in particular, that is exactly the case, and you know what - it still sounds good 25 years down the line. From early 1975, this double album is now a single seventy-eight minute CD that showcases the best of what the band were all about – A towering combination of long instrumentals with swirling layers of Hammond organ, Mellotron & Mini Moog, with biting, cruising electric guitar work - A sort of more urgent cross between early ELP and Camel. The mid-length songs are addictive, catchy and occasionally reflective, allowing the band to be featured along the way with hot ensemble work from the keyboards and guitar solos. The combination of their ‘greatest hits’ (including a scorching rendition of the Top 10 hit 'Hold Your Head Up') and the instrumentals passages on some of the four to over eleven-minute long tracks, all lead to a rather excellent album indeed.

993814
Weight: 150.00 g

A progressive rarity emerges for the first time in all its glory! It is all-instrumental prog from 1977/78 - an album of elaborate symphonic soundscapes with a powerful rock underpinning, in a way, very similar to The Enid, but more human and with touches of PFM, Camel, Greenslade, Gentle Giant, Genesis and Steve Hackett. The band features Nick Magnus (former Enid member and keyboard player for Steve Hackett's band for some years after Steve split from Genesis and now has one of CD Services all-time best sellers as a solo album), Robbie Dobson (another ex-Enid member on drums), Steve Hoff (bass) and Mark Easton (guitars and the inspiration for the re-issue of this prog gem). This is a superb little album that really, anyone into any of the above bands or artists will be proud to have in their collection. The keyboard arrangements sound very much of their time and move from complex to sublime. The guitar parts shine in a similar way to the heaven bound offerings of Steve Hackett and Stephen Stewart (ex-Enid). The end result is a timeless slice of progressive music!

877385
Weight: 150.00 g

Following the split of BJH some time ago, two new incarnations of the band have emerged, both featuring two members of the original line-up. We’re not sure whether this Holroyd/Pritchard pairing or the Lees/Wolstenholme camp own the BJH name, but all that matters for us is the music, and that is excellent! For us, this album is the best of the three released since the split. The songs sound more like Polydor period BJH, but where Les Holroyd’s contributions to these older albums might have been seen by some as music fixed firmly in the symphonic/romantic rock line, there is a definite feel of aggression present on some tracks from this set. The album still has its share of ballads and the hooks are still present in abundance, plus there’s plenty of the richly layered keyboards (check-out the fantastic mellotrons on ‘Sleepy Sunday’) and melodic soaring guitars that BJH were famous for. The quality of the song writing and playing is, as always, pretty much rock solid through the entire 63 minute set. With a line-up of other musicians providing instrumental back-up (including John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick on keyboards for ‘Totally Cool’), this pairing have produced an excellent album that really suits the mood of the times. Click on extra info link for the track details.

755344
Weight: 150.00 g

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Holy smoke!!! It’s not often that this happens, but here we have a band that seems almost apologetic for this album in the sleeve-notes, if anything, doing themselves a disservice by quoting the scandalous economic facts behind this release without saying too much about the music. Which is a bit bizarre, because… this is one of the best Camel albums…EVER!!!  Why? For a start, you get 5 tracks over the seventy minutes plus playing time, four taken from BBC Radio One ‘In Concert’ broadcasts, exciting enough in itself, as many 70’s bands did most of their best work in that medium, but when you see they are taken from ‘74 and ‘75, your heart positively leaps in anticipation – and, boy, do they deliver. Then, the album ends with the only performance of ‘Snow Goose’ (or the majority of it as a single rearranged piece) from the time that featured just the band and nothing but the band – but also a band that literally blows the roof off, as the playing is simply inspired, emotional and breathtaking. Rarely did the band sound so hot, and this version wildly eclipses the original studio session by miles, and it is quite possibly the best ever recorded version of it I have heard. The other three tracks from the ’74 session, including an equally incredible rendition of ‘Lady Fantasy’ that will leave you wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the sheer impressive timelessness of it all – and it still sounds as strong now as it did way back then. But if all this wasn’t enough, the opener just adds the icing to the cake, as you witness the full sixteen-minute majesty that is the finest recorded version of the extended ‘God Of Light’ track, originally from a solo album recorded by the late Peter Bardens. The band are on red-hot form as they build the intro bit by bit so that when they launch into the main theme at just under the two and a half minute mark, the hairs on the back of your neck stand upright and the heart beats that little bit faster, as they drive forth to climax after climax. If there were only one 70’s Camel album that I could keep on my imaginary desert island, this would have to be the one!

461950
Weight: 150.00 g

Stephen Caudel is a brilliant multi-instrumentalist that first came to our notice back in the early 1980’s when his debut epic symphonic rock masterpiece ‘Wine Dark Sea’ became one of the first all instrumental albums to make it on to CD, which was a format in its infancy at that time. ‘Wine’ was easily the best of all the Coda label releases of the period and was regularly featured (almost on a daily basis!) on television’s ‘Art Of Landscape’ daytime programmes. Caudel's music can only be described as "one man rock symphonies" – This is an album full of glorious guitar / keyboard based themes that will thrill and move any fan of the more symphonic based styles in the progressive movement. The album starts in the realms of instrumental rock, and crossing right over the musical spectrum to touch on symphonic classical music, with its superb blending of celestial and grandiose keyboard themes, together with the craftsmanship of intricate guitar work. Fans of Austria's multi-instrumental genius Gandalf will derive much pleasure from listening to this wonderful composer’s music, as will lovers of Anthony Phillips’s symphonic instrumental works, as well as Steve Hackett's magical merging of electric/acoustic guitars with keyboards and percussion. Mike Oldfield is also a good reference point, but Caudel's music is much more majestic, considerably less quirky and more solidly structured than the earlier Oldfield material was. Veteran rock DJ Alan Freeman gave the ‘Earth In Turquoise’ album support on his ‘Rock Show’ for Virgin Radio in 1996, and knowing ‘Fluff's’ musical tastes as we do, it was hardly surprising that he was championing Stephen Caudel's music. We have often said that had Mike Oldfield not emerged from the depths of Virgin's Manor studios with his ‘Tubular Bells’ and ‘Hergest Ridge’ epics under his arm, then Stephen Caudel may have been making his own brand of multi-instrumental sound paintings for Richard Branson’s fledgling label!

570804
Weight: 150.00 g

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A lone sailor through the charted waters of distance-spanning symphonic prog oceans, following a line that moves from Camel, early Wakeman, through Hackett and Pink Floyd to Gandalf and ultimately, Xang, this is the sound of the talented multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer and producer at the peak of his craft, and it’s only his first album! Yes, my friends, this is one stunning album of instrumental prog, heavy on the keyboards and dynamic on the guitars, with some of the most moving arrangements around. It’s an emotional roller coaster like no other, alternately bringing a tear to the eye and lump to the throat before sending you off into stirring raptures of high-flying ecstatic delight. What more can you say about such a class album – The arrangements are positively jaw-dropping, but never at the expense of the mood, feel and melodic dynamics - Guitars, keyboards and rhythm section working in perfect harmony for almost sixty-four minutes, with 7 excellent tracks that will put a smile on your face every time you hear them.

281886
Weight: 150.00 g