Pure Reason Revolution is a British rock group formed at the University of Westminster in 2003. Their music incorporates elements of progressive rock and electronic. They began as a band named The Sunset Sound in Reading, Berkshire, featuring the Courtney brothers, Chloë Alper and Jim Dobson for a short while. On 12 October 2018, Pure Reason Revolution was announced as co-headliners of the Midsummer Prog Festival to be held in June 2019 at the Openluchtheater, Valkenburg, Netherlands. Jon Courtney and Chloe Alper were the only members of the band to return. “Coming Up To Consciousness” is Pure Reason Revolution’s sixth studio album, and the third of its post-hiatus renaissance that began with 2020’s “Eupnea” and continued in 2022’s “Above Cirrus”. Like those two predecessors, the new record is intensely personal. While the band’s distinctive style remains, melding prog and pop through dreamy moods, epic riffs, and angelic harmonies, Courtney and Greg Jong also tried to go somewhere a bit different, drawing on influences like Talk Talk, Elliot Smith, The Smile, and even Arctic Monkeys in addition to perennial favorites – especially Pink Floyd.

I am increasingly surprised by the musical quality of new bands that emerge from various parts of the planet. It doesn’t matter which part of the world they emerge from, however, I am specifically impressed by one of these new bands, mainly, which comes from France, composed of four musicians playing Instrumental Progressive Rock that manages to bring past classic sounds into a modern context. Their name is Quetzal, they released their first album in April 2024, entitled “Quetzal”. This amazing debut contains 7 tracks ranging from 3 to almost 10 minutes in length. Of course, one of the amazing debuts for this band offers an instrumental sound with prominent keyboards, including interesting guitar inserts. You bet your life, enjoyable listen, recommended for lovers of instrumental Progressive Rock with references to the sounds of the second half of the 70s and a modern touch. The band formation is Christian Laur – Guitars, Daniel Borrego – Bass, Frederic Schneider – Keyboards, Synth bass, and Denis Louvel – Drums. It’s highly recommended. https://quetzalprog.fr/

During Jon Anderson’s 39-year Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career as the lead vocalist of YES, he was seen as one of the leading proponents of the Progressive Rock movement. During his tenure with YES, he recorded 19 studio and multiple live albums, many of which have been certified gold and platinum. Albums such as The “YES” album, “Fragile”, “Close to the Edge”, “Tales of Topographic Oceans”, “Going for the One”, “Relayer” and “90125” remain classic albums to this day. But, after some years In, 2023, after connecting with a group of New York musicians called The Band Geeks, Jon embarked on a summer 2023 tour performing 2 hours of YES epics and classics. With The Band Geeks, Jon found a group of musicians he felt could collaborate with him to create a body of work that rivaled the classic YES sound of the 70s and 80s. The result of this collaboration is “True”, Jon’s debut album for Frontiers Records. The 9-song album harkens back to the sound of classic YES and features compositions of all lengths with the centerpiece being the 16-minute song “Once Upon a Dream”. it’s Highly recommended.