New review of The Progressive Underground has just appeared in the latest version of iO Pages, the important Dutch progressive magazine.
In iO Pages 158 I had the privilege to review the book The Progressive
Underground Vol 1 by Kev Rowland. Between 1991 and 2006 he was a contributor for
Feedback magazine and wrote many reviews about progressive rock and related
music. Rowland has chosen to bundle his reviews into three books. This is part
2 and deals with the I from Icon to the S from Syzygy. Part 3 will be published
later in 2019. Kev can be seen as a colleague of mine and when I read this book,
I feel encouraged to do something like that also (when I have the time…). The
preface of the book is provided by Mark Colton, the singer of the neo-prog band
Credo which is one of Kev’s favorite groups. Neo-prog is richly represented in
the book. That is a style that had a lot of releases in the period in which he
wrote for Feedback, especially from England. It was the time when artists
often sent cassette tapes with handwritten covers and self-burned CDRs in
cardboard boxes to the sheets. Yes, magazines, because there were more of those
then. I still have some of those private releases myself. Will they still be
playable? The beautiful artwork is again from Martin Springett. Again, I have
read this book with great pleasure. Kevin writes very entertaining, free and
honest. I like the latter very much. He is often quite positive but also knows
how to come up with a critical note if he finds it necessary. He not only
discusses the music but also deals with the histories of the bands and artists
that are discussed. I find that very readable and interesting. The book has
also been of extra use to me because I got to know a few names from it, of
which I am discovering the music and I read about many names that I honestly
had already forgotten or almost forgotten. I think this book is of great value.
My compliments.
©2019-Paul Rijkens, Dutch progressive rockmagazine iO Pages
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | The Progressive Underground Vol 2 Book - £12.99 |
 | The Progressive Underground Vol 1 Book - £12.99 |
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