Letters
Send your letters to us at: Prog, Future Publishing, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London, W2 6JR, or email prog@futurenet.com. Letters may be edited for length. We regret that we cannot reply to phone calls. For more comment and prog news and views, find us on facebook.com under Prog.
WHERE WORDS FAIL, MUSIC SPEAKS
Thanks for the latest copy of my favourite magazine. Still so enjoyable, with just the right balance of old and new prog. I am getting increasingly interested in the wonderful world of instrumental prog, where pure melody can often be expressed, beyond the limited confines of a song. Whilst I am aware of many of the classic names of instrumental music – Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream, Rick Wakeman, Brand X, Soft Machine, Camel (The Snow Goose), etc – I am less aware of the more recent, new artists who are opting to focus on this enriching element of prog. Sometimes, the reviews of albums make it clear that a work is instrumental, often it is not so clear. Is there any chance that all new instrumental prog albums could be more clearly highlighted as such, or, if possible, listed separately? In addition, any chance of an article on instrumental prog?
Thanks for your message, Colin. We’ll pass your comments on to our reviews team .
ALL BOXED UP
So many box sets have come out since 2020, but the cost of them is so expensive. Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon – 50th Anniversary is over £200, the new Porcupine Tree set is over £150 and the [super-deluxe edition] of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells is over £200. Great music, great bands, but the cost of living is going up.
I love the music but I hope some of the prog bands and artists [can appreciate] how expensive box sets are.
A DREAM PIECE
I’ve never been moved to write to Prog or indeed any other publication in the past but having recently received my copy of Karnataka’s new album, Requiem For A Dream I am now so‘moved’. [It’s] absolutely magnificent throughout, with each and every song being an absolute joy to behold. It’s the best thing that’s come into my possession in a long, long, time!
MISPLACED ADULTHOOD
I first picked up an issue of Prog – Genesis were on the cover and I love Genesis – a few years ago (Prog 109, May 2020) when Genesis announced that they were embarking on a farewell tour. I read in that issue all about one of my favourite bands of all time, Rush, as well as Genesis, and I just loved this magazine that was definitely speaking my language. I waited until I think August of 2020 to subscribe and at the time, I kept saying to myself, “the whole point of this subscription is to hopefully find a new band I’ve never heard of that I can obsess over.”
It seemed almost every issue kept bringing up this band I�
