From: schmidt@plg.u-nancy.fr 
Subject: Heldon page 
Date: 09/13/97; 11:12:58 PM 
 
Hi all! 
 
We've just opened a web page on Heldon, Richard Pinhas and all the 
musicians who got involved in this visionnary and revolutionnary 
electronic band that so many prog fans appreciate. 
 
HELDON Page: http://www.mygale.org/11/heldon/index.htm 
 
 
A HUGE page bilingual (french and english) with unknown photos, COMPLETE 
discographies, many articles and reviews of albums, section on Patrick 
Gauthier, Benoit Widemann, Bernard Paganotti, Pascal Comeldae, Norman 
Spinrad. 
 
all the infos on the next album of heldon in 1998. And very very soon, 
some titles of this album in exclusivity!! for our web page, directly 
from Richard Pinhas. 
 
There's already the legendary tune "Le voyageur " taht you can download 
from our site! 
Please tell it that you saw it in Gibraltar and forward the new to evbry 
people you know 
 
Thanks and enjoy the visit 
Jerome Schmidt and Jeremy Huylebroeck 
-- 
MAGMA Page: http://members.aol.com/sleeplessz/index.htm 
HELDON Page: http://www.mygale.org/11/heldon/index.htm 
 
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From: Roy DeRousse  
Subject: ProgDay '95 CD 
Date: 09/10/97; 12:48:46 AM 
 
At long last, the double CD from ProgDay '95 is ready!  I was there (as 
well as at the following two ProgDays), so I was eagerly awaiting this 
CD.  Most people, myself included, were especially looking forward to 
the live Echolyn tracks, but the other tracks are worthwhile too.  I was 
fortunate to receive an advance copy of the CD, having pre-ordered it 
many moons ago. 
 
Cloud Nine opens the collection with two hot tunes that sound something 
like what King Crimson would sound like if it had more of a fusion 
orientation.  They have changed their name to Ozone Quartet now and are 
even better than they were two years ago, but these songs are well worth 
hearing.  I'm a sucker for rock violin work anyway, and Hollis Brown is 
a joy to listen to. 
 
To be honest, Timothy Pure was my least favorite ProgDay '95 band.  They 
had an alternative/neo sound that was interesting, but only in small 
doses.  I enjoyed about half of their set and was bored by the rest. 
Thus, I was surprised to enjoy their songs on the CD more than I thought 
I would.  The first song, "Channels" is an instrumental symphonic/neo 
song that is quite enjoyable.  The rest of the songs are 
good-to-very-good neo-prog songs, although the vocals do annoy me 
somewhat.  The singer has a heavy-metalish feel to his voice that 
doesn't appeal to me too much, although it is very expressive. 
 
Discipline was the surprise of the day for me.  I wasn't too familiar 
with the music, and I was blown away by how powerful the performance 
was.  Much of the show's impact was due to Matthew Parmenter's 
theatrics.  He had his face painted and went through a number of costume 
changes.  "Yawn," you might  be thinking - but the theatrics were very 
well done and entirely appropriate for the material.  Obviously, none of 
this translates to the audio-only medium of the CD, and the music does 
lose some of its punch... but not much.  Their music is often described 
as neo-prog, but I find that to be too limiting to describe Discipline. 
The songs do have a strong melodic component, so maybe that's what 
people are thinking of.  This set is worth having for for the epic 
"Canto IV (Limbo)" if for no other reason.  It is a multi-part song that 
can stand proudly along side other prog rock mini-operas.  It hasn't 
been officially issued on any other album yet except in demo form on a 
Magna Carta sampler tape, although it is due on their forthcoming 
album.  The other songs are very good too, although I could live without 
"Homegrown," which is too plodding and doesn't seem to go anywhere to 
me.  "When the Walls Are Down" is perhaps the most traditionally 
neo-sounding song on the CD, and it is a good example of what can be 
done within the genre.  Sometimes Matthew's vocals are a bit too much 
for me, but they are always very expressive. 
 
Bon Lozaga played solo guitar in between some of the other sets and was 
a welcome change of pace during the day.  He is a very talented 
guitarist who doesn't get as much attention as he deserves.  Fans of 
Robert Fripp and David Torn would almost surely enjoy Bon's contribution 
to this CD - experimental yet very listenable. 
 
Echolyn was one of my favorite bands of the '90s.  Fans of bands like 
Happy the Man, Gentle Giant, and maybe Genesis and Yes (or even Phish) 
would surely enjoy them.  It was a thrill to see them at ProgDay '95 in 
what turned out to be their final performance.  Personally, I thought 
they were much better at ProgDay than when I saw them at an earlier 
ProgFest (although some of that may have been due to the poor sound at 
ProgFest).  Regardless, their performance at ProgDay was one of my 
all-time favorite prog shows, and it translates very well to CD.  Highly 
recommended to all Echolyn fans! 
--- 
 * OFFLINE 1.58 * General Failure reading John Dvorak 
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