This Dutch prog band never got the international recognition that they deserved. They started out as a prog rock band in 1973 (in particular the first two albums) and still managed to have surprising success in Holland with singles from those as well. Near the end of the seventies their sound had become a bit more pop, but was still great. In the eighties they recorded what we thought was their last masterpiece, the album Merlin. Side A of that album is a five-song suite based on the life of Merlin, and is in my opinion one of the best of that kind in the history of progressive rock. Then they quit, only to reform around 2000. A few years ago they revisited the original Merlin idea, re-recorded the original five songs and added nine more to make a 70 min concept album based on this story. This CD (Merlin - Bard of the unseen) is in my top 5 pop/rock CD's of all time. If you like prog, and can get hold of it, try it out!
