Prog Collective: Worlds On Hold

Surely Billy Sherwood is one of the hardest working musicians in progressive rock these past few years. From World Trade, to Conspiracy (RIP Chris Squire), to Circa (with Tony Kaye and Alan White), to Arc Of Life, to Yes, plus a healthy amount of solo material, and you have an extensive discography. A few months ago, the third Prog Collective album was released titled Worlds On Hold. The project has been a vehicle for Sherwood to gather some of the best and highly regarded musicians and vocalists on the planet and this new platter is no different in that regard.

The album proper is divided between six originals and four covers plus three bonus track covers tacked on the end. Some may quibble about there being only six ‘new’ tunes but that is neither here nor there. The album begins with the title track, featuring Todd Rundgren on lead vocals and L. Shankar on violin. A trippy synth winds its way through a somewhat darker soundscape where Shankar’s violin enters in a big way. As you might expect his playing is excellent. The vocals are also very good, quite dynamic and soar in all the right moments. The song veers towards heavier instrumentation including a fine guitar solo. Next is the first single “Two Trajectories� with Geoff Tate on lead vocals and Ron Bumblefoot Thal on lead guitar. Tate sounds great and Thal can shred with the best of them. Excellent track. The poppy prog of “Meant To Be� and the quirky “Glory Days Ahead�, with the lead vocals of Arjen Anthony Lucassen and guitar work from Steve Hackett are a couple more great tracks.

Regarding the covers, Roine Stolt’s vocal on “Solsbury Hill� is very good as Sherwood slows it down just a tad and on The Alan Parsons Project’s “Eye In The Sky�, Joe Lynn Turner nails the lead vocals. I also really dig the bluesy version of “A Whiter Shade Of Pale� featuring Graham Bonnet on lead vocals and Derek Sherinian on keyboards.

I think this may be my favourite Prog Collective album thus far. Very much recommended.

Track Listing:
1. Worlds On Hold (feat. Todd Rundgren & L. Shankar)
2. Two Trajectories (feat. Geoff Tate & Ron Bumblefoot Thal)
3. Anything But Goodbye (feat. Jon Davison & Patrick Moraz)
4. Meant To Be (feat. Billy Sherwood & Jan Akkerman)
5. Brave New World (feat. Sonja Kristina & Steve Hillage)
6. Glory Days Ahead (feat. Arjen Anthony Lucassen & Steve Hackett)
7. Solsbury Hill (feat. Roine Stolt & Billy Sherwood)
8. A Whiter Shade Of Pale (feat. Graham Bonnet & Derek Sherinian)
9. Eye In The Sky (feat. Joe Lynn Turner & Martin Barre)
10. Nights In White Satin (feat. David Clayton-Thomas & Geoff Downes)
Bonus Tracks:
11. Penny Lane (feat. John Wetton)
12. More Than A Feeling (feat. Alan White, Tony Kaye & Billy Sherwoo)
13. People Are Strange (feat. David Johansen & Scott Connor)

Added: September 26th 2021
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
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Language: english

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