Spock’s Beard - Wind at my Back
18th September, 2007 by Chewbacca
Well known both by fans of progressive rock and Star Trek fans alike, Spock’s Beard is a powerhouse of good music. Although the band has had a number of albums, my favourite has to be the 2002 "Snow" - a double-CD concept album (described by some as a prog rock opera) about an albino psychic who gains himself a messianic following and then loses it all. Despite being a grand feat in production, the music and storyline come together so well. This is the last track of the first CD (and the second too, incidentally) which is quite a motivational, powerful track worthy of recognition. After the album, frontman Neal Morse left the band due to his recent finding of Christianity, and left the band in the hands of his brother, Alan. The later albums are good, but so far nothing has quite topped this. Here is today’s track by Spock’s Beard, "Wind at my Back":
Elfonía - an experiment rock band from Mexico starring the awesome voice (and violin playing) of 
- unfortunately I cannot find a UK online store with the album in stock. It’s seemingly quite a rarity, so grab it wherever you can! It is still available from the official website, but with delivery charges.
Mythic tales of fire, dragons, swords and Evermore - it doesn’t get more fantasy than this! Today’s track comes for the epic-sounding progressive rock band Ten, who we’ve 
So, if you didn’t already know, Coheed and Cambria tells the story (through progressive rock concept albums) of The Armory Wars: following the adventures of Claudio Kilgannon who crosses the star system, Heaven’s Fence, to seek help from his uncle, 
(their previous 2005 that makes up part four)
Members of the band Convey have been playing together ever since their time together in Elementary school - two years ago they got together to form their band. They describe their music as alternative progressive rock, “whose melodies, riffs, rhythms and lyrics derive from a free-flowing and metaphysical place”. It might sound a bit of a farce description, but the music is good - this high school band could definitely go somewhere, something worth watching! This is their first track of their eponymous EP, namely “Chalkboard”:
Porcupine Tree are a fabulous British progrock band started back in 1987 and in that time grown from strength to strength and released nine studio albums, their latest in April of this year. Today however, I’m going to play you one of their tracks which isn’t quite as proggy as the rest of their material, but its a brilliant song that was only released as a bonus track on the Europen release of their popular - and first major-label release - 2002 “In Absentia” album. It’s a dreamy, poppy, rocky, whatchamacallit song with dark undertones but amazingly upbeat melody. I have the urge to listen to it all the time, even though it is a bit of a departure from their more traditional tracks. Enjoy Porcupine Tree’s “Drown with Me”:
(Special edition including this track)
theEndorphins are a melancholic progressive-ish rock band from the Netherlands formed in 2003. The three band members Astrid van der Veen, Arjan Hoekstra and Dennis Edelenbosch create a smooth mix of music with many different instruments and dueling dual (see what I did there?) vocals. Astrid has also worked with previously featured 
3’s great new album, curiously titled “The End Is Begun” is released next week - and it’s full of the great dark, bizarre and catchy music we’ve come to love from the band. Personally I prefer the earlier albums over their last “Wake Pig” which was harder-sounding - but this new piece manages to get the balance just right. This song is a great example of some of the albums best tracks which really take full advantage of Joey Eppard’s voice put against the always-weird lyrics and atop of the excellent rock. It’s a great mix that makes “Live Entertainment” well worth a listen, and the album well worth a buy!
White Willow is a famous Norwegian band trained in the mystic arts of… art rock! Which can basically be described as a mix of everything in a big pot. Their latest album released last summer, “Signal To Noise”, features today’s track - the aforementioned melting pot of folk, progressive rock and the beautiful voice of their new vocalist, Trude Eidtang. Aptly titled, “Joyride” is one of the most upbeat tracks of the album, and you definitely need to hear it:
Now, as a rock fan, in general I shy away from