Progger's Deliight

No, it's not an Elf searching for the One Ring...it's Steve Howe! Maestro tours with Yes and Asia this summer to make sure everyone feels the heat of the moment in the roundabout. Late 70's blue Swedish jumpsuit not included.

I said a British/Rock Stars/Who Play Really Long Songs/That Don't Stop-oops, wrong genre. That was the beat to the first rap song I ever heard, "Rapper's Delight", what I mean to write about is that this is shaping up to be a Progressive Rock Summer. Progressive Rock, or Prog, is one of my favorite sub genres of Rock. It's a form that was popular mostly in the early 70's, where mainly British musicians were inspired by The Beatle's Sgt Pepper album to throw as much Classical music into their rock as they could. Lyrics usually were hippy-dippy about abstract, futuristic themes while the songs would be up to 30 minutes long with huge solos of every instrument imaginable. What makes this the Summer of Prog? I'm so glad you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway:

Yes

Dormant for about five years, the definitive Prog rock band returns for their 40th anniversary. One of my favorite bands of all time, 4/5ths of what's called the "Classic Yes" lineup hits the road. Jon Anderson (vocals), Steve Howe (guitars), Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums) are joined by keyboardist Rick Wakeman's son, Oliver Wakeman. So bust out your Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons gear, 'cause Yes is coming back to fill your head with magic forests, hobbits and 12 sided dice one 20 minute organ solo at a time. Get Close to the Edge for this one! (I've seen Yes about 8 times and have not heard "Close to the Edge" live yet. If I go, maybe this will be the year.)

Asia

Really excited about seeing this band, Steve Howe does double duty this summer joining the original lineup of John Wetton (bass), Geoff Downes (keyboards) and Carl Palmer (drums) for a new album and tour. The new album, Phoenix, has an early buzz of being frozen in time sounding like it was made twenty years ago. In other words, it could be one of the greatest albums ever made!

Dream Theater

The long running American Prog Metal band continues their unique path by touring behind the new two disc compilation Their Greatest Hit (...and 21 other pretty cool songs). As with all things DT, the timing gets a little off as they just released a second video for an album that came out last year-a song that's not included in their compilation. Why spend money to promote the previous album? I have no clue, but as with many things DT related I don't question it I just enjoy it.

The video, "Forsaken" was for one of the best songs from the Systematic Chaos album of 2007. A Metal ballad with Exorcist style piano (Mike Oldfield would be proud), the video is reminiscent of the old Heavy Metal mag and movie. Fully animated and not covering for horrendous self abuse like the Britney Spears video, the song seems to involve flying vampires, bright explosions of magical powers and drug metaphors. All it needs is a Barbarella type woman brandishing a broadsword and riding a dragon to be complete.

Dream Theater "Forsaken"