As supergroups go, the Prog Collective is – well, it really isn’t one. The third recording by multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Billy Sherwood is enjoyable at times, but given its disparate smorgasbord of special guests and special songs, it fails to hold together as a group effort.
As did past Prog Collective recordings, the recording brings together a vast array of singers and instrumentalists from across the prog-rock universe: Todd Rundgren, Geoff Tate, Steve Hackett, Martin Barre, Roine Stolt – the list goes ever on. Sherwood is responsible for most of the instrumental backing, demonstrating his ability on bass, guitar, drums and keyboards. The album is half new songs written by Sherwood and half prog classics, including Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill,” Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” “Eye in the Sky” by the Alan Parsons Project.
However excited progressive rock fans might be (and there’s certainly some reason for that excitement), this is really a Billy Sherwood album with special guests. Lots of special guests, some of whom are not prog, but interesting nonetheless. The questions are really twofold: Does Worlds On Hold work? And what do the guests bring to the party?
The answers: Sort of. And it depends. Take the opening “Worlds On Hold.” Todd Rundgren gives an edgy emotion to Sherwood’s reflections on the pandemic (“Wondering when the storm will pass, killing time”). But L. Shankar’s violin is little in evidence. That’s true in other cases, such as Jan Akkerman’s lead guitar on “Meant To Be,” which doesn’t go much of anywhere.
Longtime member Sherwood enlists some of fellow Yes contributors, such as Jon Davison and onetime keyboardist Patrick Moraz on “Anything But Goodbye.” It’s one of the best tunes on the album, and while it has that Yes DNA it stands on its own, rather than just being Yes Lite.
The choices for covers are interesting, though not always successful. “Solsbury Hill” loses the intricate push that Gabriel’s rhythm sections give it, both the original and live, with the drums seldom in evidence. Graham Bonnet’s vocal on “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” is spot on, but the instrumental backing does indeed pale in comparison to the original.
The Prog Collective features some surprising figures – like David Clayton-Thomas, the once and always voice of Blood Sweat and Tears, singing “Nights in White Satin” with Yes’s Geoff Downes on keyboards, and David Johansen taking on the Doors classic “People Are Strange.” David Clayton-Thomas is fine, but who ever thought the Doors were progressive rock? And Martin Barre appearing on a cover of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” feels like a waste.
Then you hear the late John Wetton’s version of “Penny Lane.” Sherwood’s backing guitars, bass, keys and drums are the perfect accompaniment, and hearing Wetton’s massed vocals on the harmonies is exquisite. He’s greatly missed, and this tune alone makes the entire project worthwhile.
Overall, the Prog Collective’s Worlds On Hold is a qualified success. But the scattershot approach means there are as many misses as hits.
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