King’s X: Three Sides Of One [Album Review]

King’s XThree Sides Of OneInside Out Music [2022] When a band with a 40-plus year history and a modest but devoted following returns to the recording studio for the first time in 14 years, you can expect heightened expectations among their most ardent fans. Such is the case for King’s X, a rock power trio … Read more

Pattern-Seeking Animals – “Rock Paper Scissors” [VIDEO]

Pattern-Seeking Animals, the California-based band featuring Ted Leonard (lead vocals & guitars), Jimmy Keegan (drums & vocals), Dave Meros (bass) and John Boegehold (keyboards), have announced the band’s third studio album titled Only Passing Through, on April 1st, 2022 through InsideOutMusic. The album is the follow up to the critically acclaimed 2020 release Prehensile Tales. … Read more

Yes: The Quest [Album Review]

YesThe QuestInside Out Music [2021] Love them. Hate them. There are few bands that generate the kind of emotions from audiences that Yes can. They are, by turns, confounding and astounding – often at the same time. Throughout their 52 years as a band there have been numerous lineup changes, lawsuits, multiple bands calling themselves … Read more

NMB (The Neal Morse Band): Innocence & Danger [Album Review]

NMB (The Neal Morse Band)Innocence & DangerInside Out Music/Sony [2021] The Neal Morse Band may have had a descriptively inaccurate name all along but the label wanted the Morse name-recognition thing to help sales. With all five members actively writing and arranging (and four of the five singing lead) it was probably the right time … Read more

Transatlantic: The Absolute Universe [Album Review]

TransatlanticThe Absolute UniverseInside Out Music [2021] For fans of Progressive Rock the name Transatlantic resonates like few others. They need no introduction to the faithful but to the rest of the world they better known by their day jobs: Neal Morse (ex-Spock’s Beard), Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) and Pete Trewavas … Read more

The Flower Kings: Islands [Album Review]

The Flower KingsIslandsInside Out Music [2020] A global pandemic may not be the most pleasant of origin stories but the new double album from Sweden’s The Flower Kings argues that from great struggle often comes greater returns. At this point in his career Roine Stolt (the band’s leader, singer, songwriter, guitarist, etc.) has absolutely nothing … Read more

Neal Morse: Sola Gratia [Album Review]

Neal MorseSola GratiaInside Out Music [2020] If the idea of religion as subject matter for progressive rock seems a little ridiculous at first then I completely understand. I do. But in all actuality nothing could be better suited for the complexity and grandiosity of the genre. Certainly bands like Yes always had a spiritual quality … Read more

TFN Interview with Neal Morse

Back in the early nineties progressive music was on life support. Grunge was King and the thought of someone starting a Prog Rock band in that era was insane. Utterly. But that is exactly what Neal Morse did when he founded the legendary Spock’s Beard and the band released their debut album, The Light, to … Read more

Kansas: The Absence Of Presence [Album Review]

Kansas The Absence Of PresenceInside Out Music [2020] It’s one thing to find the right musicians to fill in key slots in a classic band like Kansas so that you can reproduce their sound and recreate the hits for fans who’ve memorized every guitar solo, every nuance and riff in the band’s repertoire. While a … Read more

Karmakanic: DOT [Album Review]

Karmakanic DOT Inside Out Music [2016] Fire Note Says: Explore the universe with Sweden’s Karmakanic. Album Review: Karmakanic began as a side project for The Flower Kings’ bass player, Jonas Reingold. On their debut album, 2002’s Entering The Spectra, the band consisted mostly members of Reingold’s primary band but with each subsequent release (this is … Read more

Riverside: Love, Fear And The Time Machine [Album Review]

Riverside Love, Fear And The Time Machine Inside Out Music [2015] Fire Note Says: Polish progressive metal band drops the metal and releases a gem. Album Review: If you’re like me you’ve probably never heard this band, let alone delved into their back catalog. So enthralled am I with this record that I went back … Read more

Spock’s Beard: The Oblivion Particle [Album Review]

Spock’s Beard The Oblivion Particle Inside Out Music[2015] Fire Note Says: Album number twelve finds Spock’s Beard finally settling into their own skin. Album Review: Since Prog legend Neal Morse left Spock’s Beard in 2002 they have been struggling to find an identity. For four albums after that major defection, drummer Nick D’Virgilio, in true … Read more

The Tangent: A Spark In The Aether [Album Review]

The Tangent A Spark In The Aether Inside Out Music [2015] Fire Note Says: Andy Tillison’s love letter to progressive rock hits all the right notes. Album Review: The Tangent is a strange beast of a band. If Yes were part of the Canterbury Scene of English bands back in the seventies (a clutch of … Read more

Beardfish: +4626-Comfortzone [Album Review]

Beardfish +4626-Comfortzone Inside Out Music [2015] Fire Note Says: Eclectic Swedes take listeners on a strange and diverse journey. Album Review: Beardfish is, as their name might imply, one strange band. Through eight albums since their formation in 2001 they have never locked into one sound nor have they become beholden to any particular set … Read more