The latest album reviews, concert reviews, and interviews of progressive and alternative rock and metal.
As the year draws to a close, Crash And Ride Music has counted down its Top 20 Albums of 2015. It took some time to not only narrow down the large list to twenty, but to order them correctly as well. Keep in mind that only albums that were reviewed on the site were included…
Cameron Maynard is the lead guitarist for Indianan progressive metal band The Contortionist. His band released their latest album “Language” last year, and completed their latest tour with TesseracT. I had the chance to sit down with him and discuss his band, influences, and future plans. How long have you been playing music? How long…
After a much needed week off from the site, I’m back at it. Whether it was the musical A.D.D. from multiple submissions, or the sheer exhaustion brought on by the holiday season, I needed to step back for a little. During this time, I have still been listening to new music submissions, but have been…
It’s time to turn the lights off and spark some spooky candles for what I’m about to share. We’re talking about doom metal, specifically French doom/symphonic metal band Ixion and their newest album “Enfant De La Nuit,” or “Child Of The Night.” Formed over a decade ago, founder and multi-instrumentalist Julien Prat recruited the help…
English progressive/symphonic rock band The Moody Blues were considered one of the first inspirations for the progressive rock movement. With core members Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward, and John Lodge, The Moody Blues have released sixteen albums over the span of fifty years, their most recent being “December” in 2003. With their trademark sound of numerous…
I know I am absolutely late on this one, but sometimes news travels slow around these parts. Australian hard rock band Wolfmother will be releasing their upcoming album “Victorious” early next year, but have already released two singles last month, their most recent being “City Lights.” I’m personally a big fan of Wolfmother. I’ve seen…
Singer Tilian Pearson released his second solo album a few weeks ago. Known for his current work with post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance, Tilian is a gifted vocalist and songwriter. I found out about Tilian through his prior band Tides of Man, and have remarked about him before in a previous post. Ironically, not only…
This one is for all you sci-fans out there. Finnish progressive metal band Simulacrum has recently released its newest album “Sky Divided,” an album influenced by various sci-fi movies, literature, and video games. I may not be too much of a sci-fi reader or gamer myself, but I can definitely feel its impact on the…
I always get excited when I find a new album with female-fronted vocals. There isn’t enough of those bands in the world. Luckily, Californian alternative/progressive rock band Lucid Fly has made their way into my life, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Although they are currently finishing up their upcoming full length album…
I think we all read the headlines earlier this year: “Pope Francis to release prog rock album.” It’s enough to make you double-take, imagining the leader of the Catholic Church improvising solos alongside the likes of Steve Hackett and Steve Howe (#TrendyPope, or perhaps #PopeProg). Now this isn’t as radical as one would think, seeing…
Are you ever surprised by an album from its opening note onward? It was in sheer amazement that I played Our Oceans debut self-titled album for the first time. Why you ask? When you take members of progressive metal bands Cynic and Exivious, and members of black metal bands like Dodecahedron, one doesn’t think to…
I’m excited to write about this one. I’ve been meaning to share with you all my experiences listening to this absolutely beautiful album after I first heard them live earlier this year. But as most things in my life, time gets the better of me, and months later I’m left asking myself “Why haven’t I…
“Happy birthday to me,” I thought when I scrolled through Progarchives and found another contender for album of the year. Sure, my birthday was back in August, and I only found this album just last week. But looking at the release information for progressive rock/metal artist Amadeus Awad’s latest album “Death Is Just A Feeling,”…
It pains me to write this review, since Coheed and Cambria are so near and dear to my heart. First listening to them on their heavy, jammy, and very proggy album “Good Apollo, Volume I” over ten years ago, my life changed. Seriously, this band has had such a massive impact on my life. Whether…
As this site continues to fill up with mentions of amazingly talented bands from Australia, I must stop and thank one band in particular that has opened my eyes to the land down under. If it weren’t for progressive/alternative rock/metal band Caligula’s Horse, I might’ve simply passed over some of my current favorite records, including…
Swedish music label Ulterium Records was kind enough to send me a promotion copy of heavy metal band Waken Eyes’ upcoming album “Exodus” last week. Having heard that both bassist Michael Lepond of Symphony X and drum god Marco Minnemann were two members of this amazing supergroup, I couldn’t listen to this album fast enough.…
A couple weeks ago, the legendary David Gilmour released his latest album “Rattle That Lock.” You might be wondering why I’m mentioning it now instead of when it was first released. To be honest, I wasn’t overly excited about this release. For being arguably one of the greatest guitarists ever, I have a hard time…
Here we go again. With another major music release date happening this Friday, I’ve been gearing up for a busy weekend of listening and writing. Luckily, one of those upcoming albums was released early, made available to stream around the world this Tuesday. Thanks to progressive metal band TesseracT for making my job a little…
Finally, album number three of the mighty release day that occurred last Friday. I feel I’ve been waiting for this album the longest of the three, considering it’s the next part of a series of albums left off back in 2009. For six long years I’ve been waiting for the next installment by The Dear…
Album two of the massive release day that occurred last Friday. In a way, I kind of enjoy that the official release date for music is now on a Friday instead of a Tuesday. It gives me an entire weekend to soak in the entire depth and scope of each newly released album. I had…
So it’s a big release day today. There are three albums I want to share with you, but I only have room to review one. What to do, what to do. Because of Iron Maiden’s long history and hall of fame career, I decided to share with you all my thoughts of their latest album…
In my youth, Friday nights were spent particularly seeing concerts, whether they were my favorite bands or simply a band worth seeing. That is how I spent my last Friday, having the privilege of seeing The Aristocrats live at UCSD. Being a student from rival SDSU (Go Aztecs!), I immediately felt lost upon arrival since…
In anticipation of my next concert this Friday, I want to share with you all the amazing supergroup The Aristocrats. Consisting of guitarist Guthrie Govan (Steven Wilson), drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson), and bassist Bryan Beller (Joe Satriani), this jazz-fusion/progressive rock band consists of some of the most well-renowned musicians at their respective instruments. Their…
It’s been a busy year for Iron Maiden, especially for frontman Bruce Dickinson. After overcoming two cancerous tumors in his tongue and neck, then crash landing a plane in recent months, Bruce has narrowly avoided catastrophe. With a clean bill of health, Iron Maiden has returned to the studio and teased their upcoming album “The…
Dead Letter Circus is one of those bands I’ve purposely refrained from mentioning on this site. Feeling I’ve already mentioned too many Australian progressive rock bands on this site (albeit very good ones), I tried my hardest to refrain from their music. Their latest release (available August 14th) has broken my restraint, though, as “Aesthesis”…
Big news was released from Kscope yesterday: TesseracT has revealed its first single off their upcoming album “Polaris.” After another lineup change, singer Daniel Thompkins has returned to the band, providing a lower registered voice left off by former frontman and falsetto master Ashe O’Hara. The single, “Messenger,” is a perfect teaser to fans of…
Even without the slightest knowledge of their songs or albums, I still have heard of the band Symphony X. That’s how big of a name this band is in their music scene. Another one of those bands that’s been recommended to me over the years, progressive metal giants Symphony X has released a new album…
Slaves has gone through a lot the last couple weeks. Being accused of pretty severe allegations, being booted off the Vans Warped Tour, and having a song leak off their upcoming album “Routine Breathing,” the band is in a dark place right now. What they need most is some routine breathing of their own, but…
Yesterday, I wrote about my experience meeting the members from Between the Buried and Me and Animals As Leaders. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. If you thought my night couldn’t get better than that, then be prepared for Part 2 of my concert review! Before I even begin about the…
Last night, I experienced one of the best concert-filled evenings I’ve had in a long time. There is so much I want to say that I feel it easier to split this concert review into two posts. The first one I will elaborate on my VIP session, and the second one I will review the…
Starting every Friday, Crash And Ride Music is going to do one of the following posts: New Release Friday or Week In Review. Considering there weren’t any releases coming out today that interested me, I thought I’d write the site’s first Week In Review. Whether you can believe it or not, more happened in the…
Steven Wilson is one tough person to see live, especially when one lives on the West Coast. Mr. Wilson tends to stay in England or Europe in general, and the few times he does make it out to the United States, he rarely travels west of the Mississippi. I was lucky enough to have seen…
Another single was released last week that I wanted to share with my readers. It comes from a band that I’ve yet to mention on my site, although I have mentioned the lead singer’s side project in the past. Polish progressive rock veterans Riverside introduced to the world their new single, “Discard Your Fear,” a…
The moment I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. After several months of anticipation, I have finally wrapped my hands around Between The Buried and Me’s latest release. Well, figuratively, because I downloaded it off iTunes. I couldn’t begin to tell you how impatient I’ve been for this release in particular. Hearing so many rumors…
So I normally don’t do this, but today is a special occasion. I found out this morning that my favorite band Coheed and Cambria will release a new album in October called “The Color Before The Sun.” On top of that, they released the first single off their album, “You Got Spirit, Kid.” This is…
So I normally don’t do this, but today is a special occasion. I found out this morning that my favorite band Coheed and Cambria will release a new album in October called “The Color Before The Sun.” On top of that, they released the first single off their album, “You Got Spirit, Kid.” This is…
Every now and then when I talk music with my friends, one of them will ask “How do you find all these different bands?” My friends, the Internet is a wonderful tool. Besides wasting hours of your day searching for irrelevant things, the Internet can also help you find some great music. Whether they are…
Before I start this post, I wanted to thank everyone that has stopped by my blog. Since its inception, we’ve hit close to 500 views, which is more than I expected this early! This is just a fun hobby of mine, and I’m glad others have enjoyed my blog as well. So I wanted to…
This next album really crept up on me; I had totally forgotten the release date until last night. In a panic, I got home from the office, purchased the album later that night, and sat in a cold, dark room, being what I felt was the perfect setting considering the style of their prior work.…
I was listening to some Ayreon over the weekend, and couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing vocal talent on all of his albums. That got me to thinking about reviewing an individual on his latest album that I believe shined amongst a stacked lineup of vocal extraordinaires. Fronting a smaller band with a devout fan…
On the ever constant search for new music, I found this next band because Last.fm suggested I might like them (They were right). I found this band last year, but cannot get enough of their latest album. Considered a band on the rise in their scene, I feel it is my duty to share their…
It’s difficult to mention Hackett’s performance on “Wolflight” without bringing attention to his original band Genesis. One of the most famous and successful progressive rock bands, Genesis has an interesting history, mixed with tension, turmoil, change, and division. I could easily suggest for my readers to pick up a copy of one of Genesis’ more…
If my readers haven’t already figured it out by now, I must confess that I’m a sucker for concept albums. The easiest way to win my heart musically is to play me a concept album; I can’t deny a concept album a thoughtful listen. Even for albums that aren’t necessarily following a concept, I can’t…
The night sky is black. The clouds cover the moon. It’s 9:00 pm, and I race to my computer in anticipation of the big event of the week. To my excitement, his latest album is already available for download. A few minutes later, it’s sitting there on my laptop, enticing me, urging me, wanting to…
The time has come: It’s time to announce the winners of this year’s Keno Awards! Without any delay, here are the winners! Best Rock Album of 2014 “Hitchhiking to Byzantium” – Anubis There are so many reasons why Anubis wins this category. 80 minutes of pure progginess, “Hitchhiking to Byzantium” has everything the listener wants…
Side projects: It seems that everyone has one. During the breaks between tours and writing, some musicians cannot stop doing what they love. I have heard many side projects over the years, some I ended up falling in love with, and others I ended up hating. This next album obviously falls into the prior category.…
Hey everyone! I was bored one day while watching the Critic’s Choice Awards, and I thought in the spirit of award season I would create my own awards. So, here it is: The First Annual Keno Awards! I’ve decided on three categories with six nominees each, all contenders being albums or bands that I have…
Searching through Progarchives over my Labor Day weekend, I stumbled across this next band. Earlier that weekend, I decided to learn some heavier music on guitar, which made me interested in finding some new harder songs to listen to. In comes Hemina, a band suggested numerous times on Progarchives. Hemina is a band from Sydney,…
When I purchased my tickets to see Coheed and Cambria for the 8th time earlier this year, I saw who would be opening for them. As I always do, I checked out their material online to see what I was in for. Sadly, most opening acts go seemingly unnoticed when touring with bigger bands. For…
This past week, I was able to see two bands whom I’ve listened to for some time, but have never seen live: Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails. I found both of them long after their most celebrated albums, but have enjoyed listening to both their older works and newer releases. When I found out that…
This next album features a band that was included in this year’s Sonisphere lineup in the UK. After scrolling through the long list of bands in attendance, I came upon the band TesseracT. Before Sonisphere, I had never heard of them. After some basic research, I found out how renowned the band was in other…
This next album comes from a band that has a long track record. Since the mid-80’s, this band has put out some of the most influential progressive metal album in rock music history. The band I’m referring to is Dream Theater. This five-piece from Boston consists of some of the most influential musicians in their…
This next band is another one that I’ve found since I started my Twitter account. When I first started my account, I was scrolling through my list of followers and noticed how many bands were following my page. I felt impelled to go through them and start sampling each band, a ritual I still do.…
This next album is a definite “must listen” to all who read this post. It is by my all time favorite band: Coheed and Cambria. As I was driving through the wilderness over the weekend, I came across a thought. I couldn’t help but think that Coheed and Cambria has the best following than any…
Over the weekend, I had the chance to see a symphony perform at the Balboa Theater in downtown San Diego. Not having seen one in a long time, I was truly mesmerized by the sights and sounds of the orchestra. I was not only entertained by the sounds of the various instruments, but also by…
The album I will be reviewing today comes from a band that I’m sure everyone has heard of. The band I am talking about is none other than Pink Floyd. Whether you know of the band’s history or not, all you need to know is this foursome has produced some of the most influential albums…