Progressive Palaver

Bonus Episode – 1977 Desert Island Palaver Predicament The group revisits a fun episode from our past; the desert island comparison. In this case, five albums from 1977 (A Farewell to Kings, The Grand Illusion, The Point of Know Return, Going for the One, and Animals) are considered. Our highest ranked album is declared. Then we consider which of the five we would trade for some crackers to augmen...

Special Episode – Interview with James Beach and Brian Heaton, Authors of Building an Empire In this special episode we have the chance to speak with two of the authors of Building an Empire: The Story of Queensryche. Brian and James bring a long history with Pacific NW and with the band. They are uniquely situated to provide insights into all facets of the band’s history. We cover from the beginn...

SCS25 - Duran Duran, The Fixx, And Peter Hook & The Light - August 2022 Ken and Joe take a side trip into our New Wave pasts to discuss a trio of live shows from August 2022. Joe saw Duran Duran and The Fixx on consecutive nights, while Ken saw Peter Hook and the Light independently. The feel for each of these shows was quite varied and Ken and Joe explore each in turn. Duran Duran created a time...

Bonus Episode - Duran Duran And The Fixx Pre-Shows & Immediate Reactions In the summer of 2022, Joe and friend of the Palaver, Sarah, saw Duran Duran and The Fixx on sequential nights in Fort Worth and Austin. This bonus episodes collects their pre-show discussions and immediate reactions after the shows. Think of this episode as a companion piece to SCS25. Enjoy! Twitter: @progpala Email: progpal...

Star Wars Palaver – Andor, Season 1 SPOILER ALERT – The episode will spoil Season 1 of Andor. If you do not want to be spoiled, watch the full season before listening The group spends some exploring the magic that is Star Wars: Andor. Excellent storylines and character development combined with first-class world-building make Andor the cream of the Star Wars crop in our opinion. We spend time with...

Special Episode – Interview with Terry D and John R of Total Mass Retain – March 2023 In this special episode we catch up with John Rittweger and Nad Sylvan lookalike Terry Dey of the Yes tribute band Total Mass Retain. On the heels of the Palaver seeing TMR in Philadelphia in January and their groundbreaking Chris Squire tribute show at Daryl’s House in early March 2023, we catch up with the sing...

Special Episode – Interview with Mark Anthony K of Projekt Gemineye, March 2023 We finally find some time to catch up with Mark Anthony K of Projekt Gemineye (and so many other things!) to discuss the upcoming release What Lies Beyond. We cover the inspiration for this new batch of songs and Mark treats us to a lively discussion of their topical nature. It wouldn’t be the Palaver without some disc...

Episode 135 – Queensryche Part 10, Promised Land Promised Land is the album that found Queensryche grappling with the impacts of their own success. As the last of what we proclaim “the main sequence” of Queensryche albums, Promised Land presents us with some delightful material to work with. Expansive and heavy. Introspective and questioning. Promised Land is from its predecessors, but something w...

Bonus Episode – Ranking Epic Yes Songs Inspired by seeing Friends of the Palaver, Total Mass Retain, the group returns to the world of Yes music to consider epic Yes songs. After arbitrarily defining an epic (original studio version runtime greater than 15 minutes), Progressive Palaver set off to discuss and rank the eleven songs that meet our criteria. From the classics Close to the Edge and Gate...

Episode 134 – Queensryche Part 9, Empire Pt 2 In this second episode on the monster album Empire, the group completes our discussion from Della Brown through the end of the album (with a bit of extra time on the bonus tracks). Hopefully, we will leave you pondering deep philosophical questions like does Empire have the Whitesnake production, but with more thoughtfulness? Do parts of Empire sound t...

Episode 133 – Queensryche Part 8, Empire Pt 1 Empire, the album that broke Queensryche wide open. This episode sees the group reliving more fond memories of our friendship as we consider the merits of this most excellent and yet commercial album. There is plenty of hyperbole on both ends of the spectrum fueling our palaver. Empire provides much to satisfy a progmetal fan. Excellent drumming and dr...

Bonus Episode – Why Joe No Longer Supports Roger Waters In this Palaver for one, Joe lays out his reasons for no longer supporting Roger Waters. Joe briefly explains his somewhat difficult history with Roger and frames the whole story with the live shows of 2017 and 2022. Ultimately the tale ends with an explanation of how Roger’s online behavior has led to the decision to simply move on from the...

Episode 132 – Queensryche Part 7, Operation: Mindcrime Live We are not QUITE finished with Operation: Mindcrime. In this episode Joe and Paul, with a cameo from Ken in the middle, consider live performances of this epic concept album. Of course we have to start with the (apparently) timeless Operation: Livecrime. While Livecrime captures the band and their height, Mindcrime at the Moore provides a...

Star Wars Palaver – The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1 SPOILER ALERT – The episode will spoil Season 1 of The Book of Boba Fett. If you do not want to be spoiled, watch the full season before listening The group spends some time catching up on The Book of Boba Fett. As usual, we consider the general landscape of the series including, characters, plot points, and visuals. We explore the connections be...

Episode 131 – Queensryche Part 6, Operation: Mindcrime Pt 3 The group finally reaches the end of Operation: Mindcrime! Picking up with The Mission, the Palaver continues this labor of love. We touch on all the story points, the stellar music, and, of course, Tate’s mind-bending vocals. The second half of Mindcrime is rich with indicators for where the band will go next, while maintaining the relen...

Special Episode – Interview with Joe C, Joel S, and Johnny B of Total Mass Retain – January 2023 In this special episode we catch up with Joe Cass, Joel Simches, and Johnny Bruhns of the Yes tribute band Total Mass Retain. It’s been about a year since we’ve chatted together and it was great to talk about the wonderful music of Yes. It was the first time for us at the Palaver to meet guitarist John...

Episode 130 – Queensryche Part 5, Operation: Mindcrime Pt 2 We finally get into the music of Operation: mindcrime (after a short detour into the myriad differences between heavy metal, hair metal, and hard rock). We narrowly avoid the pitfall of “is Chris DeGarmo the Phil Collins of Queensryche” (that’s a joke!) before we get eyeballs deep in the delightful soundscape that is the first half of thi...

Episode 129 – Queensryche Part 4, Operation: Mindcrime Pt 1 There was tremendous excitement leading up to this first (of several) discussions of Operation: mindcrime. High spirits and hyperbole abound as we consider the general aspects of Queensryche’s landmark third full-length release. We consider all the appropriate (and inappropriate) context we could find as we walk around the outside of this...

Special Episode – Interview with Karl Eisenhart and Simon Godfrey of Tribe of Names, October 2022 In this special episode we sit down with friends of the Palaver Karl and Simon to discuss the “debut” album from Tribe of Names. We get to cover topics ranging from songwriting during the pandemic to integrating new members into a group to how to throw a proper release party. Tribe of Names’ album Evo...

Episode 128 – Queensryche Part 3, Rage for Order Pt 2 The group completes our discussion of Queensryche’s Rage for Order with this delightful episode. Turning the vinyl over to side two, we consider the back half of this landmark album. We continue to delight in the acumen displayed by this band on only their second full-length album! From Chemical Youth’s nod toward the future to London’s vampire...

SCS24 – Steve Hackett, Collingswood NJ, 2022 The Palaver finally gets to experience Suppers Ready live! Performed by a terrific band no less. This special concert series episode of the Palaver captures our VERY late-night conversation (after a long and wonderful day) following the Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited Seconds Out show. There was so much to talk about, but it all centers around the excel...

Bonus Episode – Ranking Peter Gabriel Album Covers The group spend some relaxing time considering the album art of the Peter Gabriel catalog. Who doesn’t enjoy a fun, light hearted ranking episode? Is PG3 (Melt) a masterpiece? Is PG4 (Security) understandable on any level? Does the red of Us send us any message? Is the cover of Up genius or disposable? Join us for this fun discussion of these icon...

Bonus Episode - Gateway Live Albums; Yessongs, Exit Stage Left, Plays Live & Seconds Out Progressive Palaver does not often talk about live records, but classic prog rock live albums have served as a gateway for many of us into the music of these great bands. The group considers this collection of live albums that have had the most impact on us. Yessongs providing a huge cross-section of classic Y...

Episode 127 – Queensryche Part 2, Rage for Order Pt 1 The palaver decades in the making. Rage for Order is an album we here at the Palaver have been obsessing over since we first heard it. As we consider this timeless classic, songwriting, musicianship and storytelling all factor into our extreme enjoyment of this record. Rage represents a huge leap forward for a band that will go on to combine el...

Episode 126 – Queensryche Part 1, Self-titled EP & The Warning The Palaver goes back to high school! We go back to the carefree days of our youth to start this new segment on one of the all-time best prog metal bands: Queensryche. In this episode we consider their self-titled debut EP and their first full-length album The Warning. Both these releases were a tiny bit before we discovered this band,...