NEW MUSIC: Riverside: Friend Or Foe 

The Eighties are back!!! Great song. Excellent album. Love Riverside!!!

Scoundrel days of A-ha Is One of the best album in the history of Easy listening. Underestimated.

A-ha was a very importante band. Friend or foe Is a celebration. The music of Riverside Is good and identity Is a great album.

I was taken aback by this one at first. Then I asked myself.... If this wasn't Riverside ( thus removing preconceived notions and expectations), would I like it? The answer ? Yes. Not the first time I've had to do that with Riverside....or Rush , Steven Wilson , Porcupine Tree , Queensryche , U2 , The Police , Iron Maiden , Yes , Marillion....... You get the picture. My personal belief, is that most bands , with any longevity , evolve over time. As we have discussed, it would be torture for most artists to be forced into one creative box. Does it always work for the listener? Of course not. But for the artist , it is essential for their progress forward. It is often a catalyst for greater things. I rarely question a bands choices anymore, unless they are being derivative of their past work. I decided long ago to go along for the ride. I've returned to many albums I didn't have a shine for when I first heard them, only to really love them later......

Riverside officially announced as performing on Cruise to fhe Edge in March 2024

It`s a perfect mix of trying new elements and still being true to their id.entity. :) I really dig it.

Damn!

My favorite of the three singles. My vinyl from Germany hit the US shores this morning!

Hello Jim, thanks for chearing me up with great music, I'm cleaning my dad's place, he had piled up a lot of things which is very sad. My cousin Nicolas is helping me! Have a nice day

Big fan of this one. Love the bouncy and eerie synthwork and the chorus is an absolute earworm.

Back to the 80's

I got an A-ha vibe.

Best song of the album

I've loved this band for years. This is a surprise, but I actually like it. They're always exploring different styles; they started going almost ambient a few years ago.

Ghost meets aha meets rush. Awesome 😊

Also has an ASIA feel to it....just a brilliant song.

So excited for this album. I love all three singles so much. Gonna be a great year for Prog, super excited for new Haken and The Ocean this spring.

Thank you for this reaction. I can see its really a "first listen". Great reaction....great song.

Loved Wasteland to bits. This is very different but equally great and cool so far. Roll on Friday.

And A-HA 😀

They like to explore and incorporate different kinds of music. Really nicely done!

The keyboard is very A-ha but i like it. I believe the album version is 1 and a half minutes longer. I've received a dispatch email so was hoping the album would have been here today. No post yet, so looks like i'll have to wait another day.

This song made me awkward smile for 7 minutes my first listen......different, fresh, original but not?, while exploring a ton of rock genres....such a catchy tune....one to b proud of

Song is trippy like a mash-up of 80's new wave, Asia and Dream Theater. Love it! Never heard of these guys until this song showed up a couple of days ago. Been listening to this and a lot of their other stuff non stop. I'm hooked 🎶🎹👂🧠👍👏😁🤘

Seeing you upload a new material about Riverside gives me a warm and nice feeling. The same story happens to me so often. At first i was not at all impressed by the new singles. But then i listened to them 10 more times and i love all of them! Cant wait for my CD it's 2 days from now!

Just listen 👂 today outstanding album 💿 my friend , but I still think Out of My Self is unbeatable 😅 along with Second Life Syndrome

Incredible song. First time watching to one of your reactions. Thanks!

Hey Jim! Definitely has that 80's feel. Peppy pop.😎

The band you are hunting high and low for is AHA! Good record.

Hey Jim! Busy day. Will watch later my friend. 😎

The Ultravox reference was spot on. Once you said it, that's all i could hear.

Hump Day!

I cant wait tomorrow, im sure it will be a great album

between aha and lunatic soul super tube from 80 i love it too, commercial but great again!! the same feeling with the next album of haken( fantastic! nightingale) nice for the future nice for the planet

Ode to multiple 80's Genres, playful, risky, but it works so good. And yes I agree with that Metallica/ Megadeth riff section there!

Hi Jim a great format you have ...thank you for educating the new generations of PROG ..I grew up in the era of Yes ,ELP ,Genesis ,king crimson ,PFM, Tull ,I figure I was blessed to be witness to greatness some many prog bands to name ...Transatlantic was a great choice as well Please listen to The Flower Kings ,Glass Hammer , and liquid Tension Experiment a must It's funny I was about 14 and saw a concert featuring ...Framptons Camel which was Framptons first solo endeavor after leaving The pie great set ..opening act ...2nd was Mahavisna Orchestra featuring ....McLaughlin ,Jan Hammer ,Billy Cobham and JJ erry be Goodman on violin not jl pointy ...at 14 I was blown away at the skills of these true musicians I think this was 1971? Blown away fusion to Prog and grew from there oh the main act ...J Geils Band ...and they were good ....but Mahavisna Orchestra was overwhelming to say the least ...anyway keep up the great works ...oh and who can forget Gentle Giant 👍👍👍👍👍♥️💯🇺🇲☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️🇬🇧

Now I love Aha....nearly all their albums are brill ....even saw em at Wembley....means this might just be my first 2023 album investment💸💸💸....that kick into the chorus and the riffing is v good 👌🎸....a v nice and unexpected combo of 80s base and synth and guitar heavy rock

OMD shoutout! Great fun :D Oh with a few Rob Zombie interludes! Final thoughts: pretty good, catchy, but it feels like a slightly less insane take on muse. Still, great to hear something a tad louder in the morning

I love it! It's so fresh! However, I've just been expecting some culmination at the end but it just ended so softly, too softly. Perhaps it will be different to hear that song as a part of the whole album.

I love this song. For me it sounds like Aha

Hi Jim, At the start a mix of Abba, Duran Duran. Let’s say eighties synth-pop ( now you say the same; I type my comments while listening) Totally different from what I’m used to but it sounds good. I do hope they won’t follow the same path as Genesis who became a commercial pop band. I just have to hear the whole album but I have a good feeling. I love(d) the eighties synth pop bands.

Like if you heard A-ha & Metallica in this "80's" song xD

As I wrote in the Jinjer video, I'll watch some of the newer videos. Interesting that you hear OMD and Ultravox, my first thought, when I heard Mariusz sing, was that he sounds like A-HA 😂 I like the song and I like the album By the way, your video is much more "professional" now ... look at the background, but also the way you talk nowadays. But I think there is a certain "charme" in the old stuff

Hey Jim, thanks for the intro to another great song. One of these days (and I've probably said this before to you) you need to give a listen to Maciej Meller's prior band, Quidam. My favorite albums were Alone Together and suREvival.

Hi Jim! Are you going to do a reaction video for the whole album?

Hi Jim, I enjoy your reaction videos so much, thanks for the great music and insights! May I suggest a song for you to listen & react : The band is Nazca Space Fox, an instrumental psychedelic-space-stoner rock trio from Germany and I think they deserve much more recognition than they currently have. The song I'm going to suggest is Space Drift. It's a 10-minute piece that has great qualities in my opinion. I'll be delighted if you give it a listen & share your thoughts. And maybe that would be a little help for them to get a little more recognition. Cheers!