The Prog Collective’s Seeking Peace is a great workout that wobbles and rolls through melodic twists and turns and avoids many of the current cliches (and heavy technical obsession!) of the neo-progressive rock grooves.
Perhaps my memory is faulty, but “And You and I” was played in the Key of Melodic Magic. Ditto for “The Cinema Show” and “Baker Street Muse.” Despite its rather hurly-burly construct, Gentle Giant’s “So Sincere” was also just a tough itch that just needed a longer reach to find that quite happy synaptic tingle. And don’t forget, of course, that “Esther” had a “Nose Job,” while Hatfield and the North informed us all that “Her Majesty is a Cream Donut.”
Rock — prog or not — should never take itself seriously enough to forget that it is, just like everything else (including a footnote from the Autobiography of a Yogi), pretty much “Thick as a Brick.”
The first song, “Electric World,” begins with a quirky vocal bit from Sonja Kristina, and then morphs into weird Jordan Rudess carnival ride of delightful prog colors. Early Kayak comes to mind, or perhaps Genesis in a playful “Counting Out Time” Lamb mood. There’s a nice guitar buzz through the song, while the percussion is precision Chester Thompson perfect. The tune is just a lot of prog fun.
The Prog Collective’s title song unfolds in the delightful Genesis mode (perhaps with a “Back in New York City” vibe) that touches friendly Famous Charisma synapses. Of course, there’s really great Patrick Moraz keyboards and James LaBrie vocals that roll through the melodic twists and turns of any Labyrinth where even the odd Minotaur really digs “Supper’s Ready” and doesn’t care much for “Invisible Touch” and “We Can’t Dance.”
Then things get seriously organic in an intergalactic Yes sort of way with the almost eight-minute “In an Instant.” This is, quite simply, beautiful prog rock music that combusts sonic Billy Sherwood keyboards, an explosive bass and drum engine room (thank you, Marco Minnemann), Steve Stevens’ rock-guitar bit, and a Flower King Roine Stolt vocal that punctuates the song with the organic sinewy drama of Yes’s “Perpetual Change.” There’s a bit of the Beatles in the tune, too. Big compliment, there.
That said, the music in the Key of Melodic Magic continues. “Finally Over” is slowly paced, with a rather glorious Steve Morse solo (or two), a David Sancious keyboard ride, the lone Billy Sherwood vocal, and even more “We Have Heaven” harmonies. The seven-minute plus “A Matter of Time” gets a Jon Davidson vocal, a celestial Steve Hillage guitar solo, and more of that organic health-food music of so many great ’70s prog bands who played music that sang to the stars.
Then, in contrast, “Take the Path” returns to a Rainbow rock ‘n’ roll ethos with the vocals of Graham Bonnet, albeit amid swirling synths, with a quite nice juxtaposed L Shankar eastern violin vibe. “All is Meant to Be,” with Frank DiMino on vocals and Geoff Downes on keyboards, flows with the colors of so many prog bands of the ’70s. Indeed, those were, to quote Procul Harum, the “salad days.” Sure. It sounds like Yes; but it also conjures the memory of Caravan, Gentle Giant, Nektar, England, PFM, Druid, and of course, (my beloved) Genesis.
My friend Kilda Defnut said of the Prog Collective’s Seeking Peace: “This is one for the guy who still loves to toss a melodic dart into the heart of a prog-rock dart board.” It’s a wonderful journey that catches the melodic color of any Tolkien-themed journey traveling “there and back again.” Perhaps, that’s what good prog music does.
The final two Prog Collective bonus songs glance “back to front” (thank you Caravan), as they are “full-length versions” of “Electric World” and “All Is Meant to Be.” These tracks complete the circle with a ’70s-prog creative buzz that in keeping with the universe’s law of conservation, insists that total mass – especially in keeps with great music – indeed must always be retained.
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