Progressive Palaver

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,...

Bonus Episode – Force Ranking Fish Album Covers The group has some lighthearted discussion around the Fish catalog of album covers. The work of Mark Wilkinson is broad across Fish’s career and while the Fish logo is an all-time great, the album covers range from the sublime to the mundane. The impact of the music on our impressions of the art can sometimes prove quite revealing. Enjoy! Twitter: @p...

Episode 125 – Peter Gabriel Part 10, Peter Gabriel Soundtracks Ken and Joe take a trip back to the Peter Gabriel catalog to consider three of his soundtrack records Birdy, Passion, and OVO. This group of records provided quite a musical journey. Birdy provided a unique experience with previous material in the context of feature film. The music is not new, but certainly not what we had before. It i...

Bonus Episode – Force Ranking Fish Albums Having gone through the whole Fish solo catalog, it was time for some force rankings. We consider all ten solo studio albums. There are some surprises as you might expect. No two Palaver rankings are exactly the same. Ken brings in some math to clarify what the final rankings are. Enjoy some light and fun conversation on an amazing and enjoyable catalog. T...

Ken and Joe provide a brief update to explain the summer '22 hiatus and provide a short preview of what's to come on the podcast!

Bonus Episode – Steve Hackett In Collinswood NJ 2022 Pre-Show Palaver The group has a fun, light pre-show discussion before attending the Steve Hackett show in Collinswood NJ. Bad weather was brewing as Paul, Ken and Joe balance the excitement of being together for a concert with the concerns of growing older. We hope you enjoy this silly, unfocused discussion before the SCS episode for the first...

Episode 124 – Fish Part 10, Weltschmerz The end of the Fish catalog, forever! It is a bittersweet moment for the Palaver as we consider this most enjoyable album. Fish heads off into the musical sunset in a most delightful and powerful album. At first listen, the understated beauty of this album seems almost quaint, but more time spent is rewarded with discovery of a rich sonic and lyric tapestry....

SCS23 – Barry Manilow, Feb 2022 Special Concert Series continues with Barry Manilow. Yes, you read that correctly, Barry Freaking Manilow! Paul had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas to catch Mr. Manilow in his residency and have some other fine adventures along the way. Paul and Joe relive the fun by discussing Paul’s trip and experience seeing the man who writes the songs. Enjoy! Twitter: @p...

Episode 123 – Fish Part 9, A Feast of Consequences While one of us knew the joy that is A Feast of Consequences, most of us did not. This is a powerful, thought-provoking work. We continue to discover how powerful Fish can be when he has the proper inspiration and working partner. There are few bumps in the road (looking at you, All Loved Up), but generally Feast is a gem worthy of your considerat...

Bonus Episode – Isaac Asimov’s Foundation SPOILER ALERT! This podcast is recommended for people who have both seen the TV show (season 1) AND read the source novels (all of them). Joe and friend of the Palaver Sarah Caffey explore the classic Isaac Asimov work Foundation. This is a free-ranging palaver on many different aspects of the Foundation, both the books and the TV series. Having recently d...

Episode 122 – Peter Gabriel Part 9, New Blood Peter Gabriel’s New Blood generates a wide range of reactions here at Progressive Palaver. In turns, we are all awed, inspired, turned off or bored. Those reactions will differ for each member from track to track. It was a bold move by PG to reinterpret his own works orchestrally to this extent. Some of the results are sublime while some are suspect. L...

Special Episode – Interview with Joe Bailey, Feb 2022 The Palaver welcomes back Joe Bailey to talk about his new record Devil in the White City. Joe provides us a full tour through the thoughts and inspirations behind the songs in this new concept album about American serial killer H. H. Holmes. An album over a decade in the making, Devil in the White City addresses most of the major story arcs of...

Episode 121 – Fish Part 8, 13th Star Palaver in a Cavern – We have to fess up right away to the sound quality issues on this record. Joe was in a large and very empty room and, well, you can tell. We embrace the absurdity and manage to have a fun and informative discussion on this most interesting of albums. A huge step forward after Field of Crows, 13th Star shows Steve Vantsis taking the musical...

Episode 120 – Fish Part 7, Field of Crows The group returns to the Fish catalog with the, at best, uneven Field of Crows. An album showing tremendous, if ill-advised, range with a large touch of whimsy, Field is perhaps not the follow-up to Fellini Days we were looking for. There are some good moments here that are certainly balanced out. We see this album as a transition for Fish. Twitter: @progp...