Trotsky

Date of birth: May 3, 1973 I was first introduced to progressive rock in ...

well, it's 1986 if you count Queen's first four albums ...

but perhaps a more telling year is 1990 (my first year in college!) when I got into (classic) Genesis, ELP, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues, Traffic, Procol Harum and Mannfred Mann's Earth Band for the first time My favourite progressive bands/artists are (in alphabetical order) Genesis, Gentle Giant, Gryphon, Hatfield And The North, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Van Der Graaf Generator and Yes. I should also add that I'm also in the process of falling in love with numerous classic Italian symphonic prog bands (PFM, QVL and LDF in particular).

My favourite progressive albums include (in alphabetical order) Genesis' Nursery Cryme and Selling England By The Pound, Gentle Giant's Three Friends, Gryphon's From Red Queen To Gryphon Three, Jethro Tull's Aqualung, King Crimson's Lizard, Procol Harum's A Salty Dog, Queen's Queen II, Uriah Heep's Salisbury and Yes' The Yes Album. There are also some lesser known classics by the likes of Comus, East Of Eden, Gnidrolog, Khan, Marsupilami, Quiet Sun and T2 that come to mind. And then there are stunning offerings from Quebec's Pollen and Harmonium, Brazil's Bacamarte, Chile's Los Jaivas, Finland's Haikara .

.. I could go on!

Other comments: Discovering great music is one of life's thrills. I envy those who have yet to discover what I have discovered, and thank those who have opened my eyes and ears to new delights ..

. long may it continue! Oh yes, one more thing .

.. you'll notice that each of my reviews concludes with an MPV scale rating .

.. that's simply because I often find myself having to give two albums the same star rating despite thinking that one of them is significantly better than the other .

.. this little guide might give you a better idea as to how highly (or lowly!

) I rate a particular album ...