“I suppose it will turn some people off. It’s not a typical prog album. It’s not Yes or Genesis. But it’s not a metal album either. The concept is the 70s!”
Arjen Lucassen chooses his words carefully. But, as always, the towering Dutch prog rocker is spot on. We’re discussing The Golden Age Of Music, the debut album from Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution, a new quintet Lucassen has put together to celebrate an era of music that has left an indelible mark on the musician: the 70s.
However this time there’s a difference. Unlike the long list of projects that Lucassen has delighted prog fans with over the years – Ayreon, Guilt Machine, Star One, The Gentle Storm, Stream Of Passion, Ambeon – Supersonic Revolution feels different. True, as Lucassen states, it’s not wholly a prog record. But then neither is it a metal album. Yet there’s enough within the record’s 11 tracks (not to mention a bonus disc featuring covers of 70s songs by T. Rex, ZZ Top, Roger Glover and Earth, Wind & Fire) to satisfy fans of both. Put simply, if you enjoyed Pink Beatles In A Purple Zeppelin, the second track from Lucassen’s 2012 solo album Lost In The New Real, then you’ll probably enjoy Supersonic Revolution’s The Golden Age Of Music too.
“For me the 70s were the golden age of music,” Lucassen enthuses. “But that’s purely personal! If I’d been born 10 years later, I guess it could have been the 80s. I used to lie in bed under the blankets and secretly listen to pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline on a little transistor radio. Those pirate stations played all kinds of weird underground music and I loved it! I also loved 70s fashion, with the colourful shirts and bell bottom jeans.”
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Denne historien er fra Issue 142-utgaven av Prog.
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JAKKO M JAKSZYK
King Crimson's vocalist and guitarist shares anecdotes from his revealing new autobiography, discusses his lost career as a footballer and reveals what he said when he met the former king of pop.
A Part & Yet Apart
Sheffield-based 80s proggers Haze have returned with a new studio album, The Water's Edge - their third since their 2013 comeback record, The Last Battle. Prog catches up with threequarters of the band to discuss Haze's DIY ethos, the curse of prog and playing to Cumbrian sheep farmers.
CONTROLLED AIRSPACE
He's about to embark on Dream Theater's 40th Anniversary Tour, but keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess has taken time out to discuss his soaring new solo album, Permission To Fly.
On The Wing
Birds, break-ups, big choruses and the Charlie Chaplin effect can all be found on In Murmuration, the ninth album from Finland's Von Hertzen Brothers. But as they embrace their power pop influences, have the Finns cast off their prog wizard cloaks once and for all? Mikko von Hertzen talks about the Seattle influence, songwriting secrets and sax solos.
Fourth Dimension
The stock of melodic Northumberland-based proggers Stuckfish has been rising since they formed six years ago. Their fourth studio album, Stuckfish IV, represents an important watershed in the band's musical evolution. Co-founders Adrian Fisher and Phil Stuckey tell Prog about the diverse influences that have helped to shape it.
Symphly The Best
In the 70s, Barclay James Harvest almost bankrupted themselves by performing with an orchestra, but, several decades on, they’re celebrating last year’s performance with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic, captured on their latest live record, Philharmonic! The Orchestral Concert. John Lees reminisces over the band’s ambitious early years and bassist Craig Fletcher fills Prog in on JLBJH’s upcoming “progtastic” double album.
We've Not Been Expecting You
The unpredictable Frost* are back with Life In The Wires, a bold double concept album that revisits the mood of Milliontown. Bandleader Jem Godfrey tells Prog why he rolled out the solos on a record he describes as the most fun since their dazzling debut.
FAR HORIZONS AND PANORAMIC AMBITIONS
Dutch five-piece Lesoir have been steadily gathering momentum over the last 15 years, and they hope to build on that with their latest release, Push Back The Horizon. Vocalist/ instrumentalist Maartje Meessen and guitarist Ingo Dassen discuss the creation of their sixth album, working with Muse's production team, and their dream of bringing their intricate music to new audiences.
'I mean, what is classical nowadays?'
Tony Banks reflects on his role as a 21st-century classical composer.
There Can Be Only One!
Never meet your heroes, or so the saying goes, but Opeth have had a blast working with Ian Anderson on their latest, The Last Will And Testament. Bandleader Mikael Åkerfeldt and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson discuss the band's proggiest album to date, the return of the growl and why blood isn't always thicker than water.
