Song Spotlight: My Fairy King by Queen

Queen has been in the spotlight of late.  This is mainly the afterglow of the unexpected success of the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic.  More recently the band had a big showing at the Academy Awards. One of my favorite scenes in the Bohemian Rhapsody movie is the brief appearance of the pre-Queen band Smile. The band, …

My A To Z Music Challenge: Letter I – I And Thou

I And Thou is a music project led by Jason Hart. To date this project has released one album entitled Speak (2012). Jason Hart wrote, produced, sang and played several instruments on the album. Hart is ably assisted by several other mega talented musicians and singers, including Marillion's Steve Hogarth. Hogarth takes lead vocals on the …

My A To Z Music Challenge: Letter A – Algebra

Algebra was an interesting, but obscure, Italian progressive rock band. They released two albums of which I own one. That album is entitled Storia Di Un Iceberg. The bulk of the album was recorded in 1994, with two tracks dating back to 1983. On the album Algebra played a melodic style of prog mixing influences …

Song Spotlight: Taking In The View, By Kansas

The 1980's were very difficult years for progressive rock. It's safe to say that every major progressive rock band was affected by the transition from the 1970's to the 1980's. Many bands streamlined their sound while others simply disbanded. American progressive rock band Kansas did both. Thankfully their breakup was short lived. Kansas opened the …

The Music Of Cirrus Bay: A Trick Of The Wind, A Wuthering Tail

Cirrus Bay are a U.S. based band with its musical heart firmly rooted in 1970s progressive rock. One of the great things about this band is that they do not sound retro. They may be playing 1970's styled progressive rock, but their sound is throughly modern. The band's predominant influence is 1970's Genesis, with a …

The Music of Valensia, A Queen Fan’s Dream

Valensia is an ultra talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.  Unfortunately he has spent most of his music career in relative obscurity.  Musically he combines the influence of 1970's Queen, Kate Bush, The Beatles and 1980's pop music; i.e. Duran Duran, The Police, and Culture Club. Vocally he sounds like an amalgam of Freddie Mercury and …