A Progressive Musician, Could be someone to watch.
929801
I purchsed this album, thinking it would be a fair example of what independants were doing.  i was supprised to discover that the songs were fresh, catchy, and that days later, i still found myself singing the very few lyrics i knew from the songs.  this was one way i could tell this artist 'has it'.

add to that, that this guy can really sing - not just in the rythmic way or hip hop and rap, but he can really sing.  i would expect to here more from him as he progresses, and finds his signature sound.

the lyrics are a bit more real than the kind we hear today from most of the other artists in the genere, so it seems a real artist is fashioning himself some wings.  after hearing this album, and seeing that it was done on a tight budget, i wonder what would happen is he was to record with some real resources at his disposal.

i bought the album, both on amazon, and on i tunes, and i tucked the cd in a drawer...  this could be worth a pretty penny if someone recognises him, and his first album could be a conversation peice to say the least.
2223152
YES music was progressive and excellent for meetins/seminars/family and Team of lawyers/mediators/consultants/executives agreed. Law Judges professors agreed excellent ehtical music.
4391807
Read up on some bio and you'll understand the man behind the music. There was one song on the track that came across a bit creepy, which is
why it received a 4 star.
2717072
From his first experimental electronic release, Jason Rubenstein has made a radical move into heavy
progressive rock. The heaviness doesn't come from the guitars, but the keyboards. There are some
guitars here, but it's not obvious if it's programmed, like a synthesizer of if it's a real guitar.
Nonetheless, it's the keyboards that are the main instrument. And they are played like a hammer
hitting the dark note with repetitive notes that is a recurrent theme throughout the album. While
this pattern is heard, there's another keyboards part that is playing at the same time with more
symphonic melodies. The music is in the atmosphere of the dramatic style of Ars Nova and on some
specific songs, like "The Snowflake Defines the Weather" and "Frankenstein on the Red line", in the
style of Keith Emerson of ELP. The general dark mood of the music left some space sometimes to
lighter jazz part with piano. The song "Unspeakable Highways" has that horror movie atmosphere that
contains one of the most interesting grooves on the album. "A Burden of Secrets" is another standout
track that has some lighter passages that I mentioned earlier. But the dark style being a recurrent
them is still present. This is instrumental music that sounds like some soundtrack of your nightmare
with no ballads, but heavy stuff that combines elements of the old school of progressive rock to
some contemporary music of today. The album closes with no surprise here with a tasteful and
faithful rendition of "The Barbarian" of ELP.
400872
I like the idea of getting a complete set from 1 to 20.  The performer does a good job, but, after all, it is a one person performance, not an orchestra.
4962290
Ivo Pogorelich is without doubt one of the great virtuosos in the world today, and professional pianists will want to "see what he is up to".  His technical mastery is staggering.  However, I do not think this release is really best for the general musical-loving public, and especially I do not think piano teachers will want their students to see it.  As strange as it may sound, Pogorelich has some "bad habits" (or at least some weird or unusual mannerisms) that piano teachers will not want their students to emulate.

Because his virtuosity is for all intents and purposes unlimited (and I say this with all seriousness), he has no physical upper limit for speed of playing.  And so he can and does play the fast movements VERY fast (and face it, most Bach and Scarlatti are fast movements).  And yes, he can play them cleanly at those extreme tempos--BUT, much of it is faster than the music itself supports.  All those 16th notes should still be 16th notes, but at his tempi some of it sounds like little more than a hailstorm.  Of course, not everything he plays is too fast.  In fact some of it is unexpectedly moderate, and the slower movements can be quite tender and poetic.

The other issue is his hand position.  I know, who the heck am I to give advice to Ivo Pogorelich?  But he generally has his arms coming down so his wrist is below keyboard level, then his hands come up steeply, about 45 degree angle to keyboard level, his fingers arched tightly, and he pecks down with his fingers from this angle.  It is like the old Wanda Landowska video.  Now of course, they are great virtuosos, but, I believe teachers will not want their students to adopt or even try this technique.  The wrist angle alone will cause carpal-tunnel syndrome, this I know.

Miscellaneous details:  He does use pedal, if anyone is keeping track.  His facial expressions are among the most restrained you will find on any piano performer on video.  He has a totally professional appearance and demeanor, and I appreciate that.  The locations are gorgeous and the camera work is excellent.  Audio and visual recording are beautifully well-done.

So in summary, I do not wish to give a negative review, only give a few extra opinions in case someone would like to know.  (I have been helped by reading many others' opinions on Amazon reviews.)

And here is the program listing which I do not see anywhere else on Amazon:

Johann Sebastian Bach
English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807
English Suite No. 3 in G minor, BWV 808

Domenico Scarlatti
Sonata in C Major, K. 487
Sonata in E Major, K. 20
Sonata in E minor, K. 98
Sonata in G minor, K. 450
Sonata in D minor, K. 1
Sonata in C Major, K. 159

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 11 in B Flat Major, Op. 22
Bagatelle in A minor, WoO 59 "Fur Elise"
150727
I saw a clip of Cat's Eyes which intrigued me enough to order it blind. The English music press (I read most of the major magazines) was not super enthusiastic, but on repeated listening I found this intriguing  blend of a vocalist with classical training and a multi-instrumental musician who has a long background in goth/punkish collaborations. It was recorded in part in the Vatican; don't know how they pulled that off and the result is original and well recorded. The second track,"The Best Person I Know" has a dreamy quality but is not sweet or simple. The primary vocalist, Rachel Zeffira, has an attractive voice and is credited with multiple instruments, some quite obscure. This record was delayed in release in the US, but is worth looking for if you are in the mood for something different. Deserves its 4 star rating.
3474110
It is interesting to listen to Justin's music and track his evolution from "boy band" singer to a more complete "entertainer".  He shows an imagination and talent for growth in ways not predictable by the industry "moguls".
3768970
You can tell a lot about a person from their reaction to first hearing this album.
3685080
It is different, fun, a bit funky--not Foo fighters, nor Nirvana.  Does show the depth of David Grohl since he is on the bulk of the tracks!
1216686
He has to be cool...I mean he has played with Iggy Pop, Johnny Thunders, Henry Rollins and GG Allin...I wish I could say the same.
4848557
I personally believe Harold Budd is a musical genius.
He has his own unique musical vision that surpasses technique. Something rare and something I always seem to notice is a trait all of my favorite musicians have. A vision of their own.
I put him in a category along with people like Terry Riley, Eberhard Weber, Ralph Towner, Toru Takemitsu, and others .
In my book he can do little wrong-and i've been following and buying his music since "Pavillion Of Dreams' came out in the late 1970's.
Recently he has done a ton of collaborative albums (mostly with guitarists), but his solo works have focused for quite some time now largely on acoustic piano. His piano playing is as lovely as his compositions but personally i've been waiting for a solo disc of his where he gets back into weaving his electronic textures into some new music-and that is this disc.
Although I can't really compare it with his earlier well-known solo electronic classics like "Lovely Thunder" and "The White Arcades", well, it IS about 30 years after those late 1980's recordings.
The new edition of "Jane" includes a DVD of the 55 minute album accompanied by scenic videos shot by Jane Maru. Some of these seem to be filmed (possibly) around Budd's home area in the California desert. Just scenic stuff, some of it very well done, but pretty much exactly what you would expect from a video that accompanies Budd's music.
There are no additional scenes or interviews or anything else on the DVD.
My one big desire one of these days is to get a really "deluxe" set of CD/DVD where the DVD has a long interview with Budd about his musical vision, inspiration, writing process, and personal history along with scenes of Budd at home in his studio working on material, composing, then scenes of him recording in a studio. For me that would be something certainly worth the money spent as well as having a high re-viewing factor.
Seeing that Budd is hardly a pop star the "music" channels on TV aren't ever going to show us this and I think he's got enough long-time fans to validate shooting some simple video of such things.
Hey it doesn't need to be a surround-sound hi-def thing at all. But i'm still hoping to see it all one day...
3976037
As a longtime fan of Yes, Pink Floyd, ELP and other such "classic prog" rockers, I usually find it hard to find such intelligent music as that of Dream Theater.  Though this is not their most prog-oriented album (that would be their masterpiece, Scenes from a Memory), it is still a whopper of an album, at least the 23 minute, seven-movement epic title piece.  The title track is hugely ambitious, artistically done, compositionally unconventional and intriguing (with more mixed meter changes than I care to count), superbly played and just damn good.  From the moment its ominous acoustic guitar line bursts into the crunching opening riff, it captures you and holds you until the very end.  Although some of the sections do not have smooth transitions, for the most part "A Change of Seasons" plays like a single song - a feat that some prog bands sometimes fail to do (think Spock's Beard, good as that band may be).  The theme, about acceptance of mortality, is seemingly dark but has an uplifting message, characteristic of progressive themes.  Buy the album for this song alone, if anything.
The covers that take up the rest of the album seem somewhat like filler.  They are certainly well played, of course, as Dream Theater seems to have some of the music industry's most prolific musicians today, but most are straight-ahead covers with little variation.  I liked the Elton John cover more than the original, and I love the Deep Purple cover, but being a HUGE Led Zeppelin fan didn't help my opinion of their cover of said band.  The medley at the end did not really impress me either.  As was said in another review, there are tons of tracks on Napster that weren't released on CD, many of which are better (check out the Rush and Yes medleys they do - apparently Steve Howe can really crank up the distortion when he wants to).  This is a good album for the title track; if you're looking for a perfect 80 minute album, get Scenes from a Memory, but if you already have that and want some more progressive goodness, this is a good choice, moreso than their other "masterpiece," Images and Words.  Also, if you like this album, consider checking out Transatlantic (which drummer Mike Portnoy founded), Spock's Beard (which is a bit more poppy but still good), or the Flower Kings (more psychadelic but still great).
3031919
Folks, if you want to see a real performer, get this dvd, you will not be disappointed in watching and listening to this genre of music.
211711
Kollar Attila is the flutist for the Hungarian progressive rock group Solaris. With this effort, he has a mostly mellow, folksy style of music that incorporates some progressive rock elements. Most of the Solaris band members helped in the making of this CD, so their influence is noticable. The second track has a little bite to it, reminiscent of some of Solaris' more sonically driven pieces. It is, however, foremost a showcase of the flutist's talents, which I happen to be fond of. I've always enjoyed his contribution to Solaris' unique sound, so if you would like a mellower, folksier version of Solaris rock, then you should appreciate this work.
4449420
The 1st album from a potential superstar artist. A multitude of sounds that span the musical spectrum.
1827901
Evergrey are a progressive metal band from Sweden who record on the Inside Out America label.  This is the only album of theirs that I own, but I like it a lot and want to explore the band further.  The band is fairly typical progressive metal with twin lead guitars, keys, bass, drums and anthemtic vocals.  The musicians are all rock solid.  The vocalist does not have the range of some others in this genre, but overall has a powerful voice and fits the music well.  The album is a concept piece about an individual who joins a religious cult.  The music is mostly pounding metal (with two ballads) that probably lean on the heavier side of the progressive metal spectrum.  They remind me a bit of Symphony X (although a bit heavier), and the clean vocal side of Opeth.  I don't think Evergrey are quite at the same level as these two bands, but they are very good at what they do and I would think most fans of hard progressive metal would really enjoy this disc.