It began, as it usually does for me, at the end. Or near enough the end at the time, since Songs From the Hard Shoulder, the 12th album from The Tangent was the most recent at the time. I can’t remember if it was the video review from Sea of Tranquility or my friend Frank who had been pestering me about all the modern prog rock I was missing out on but either way I took a listen and fell for the stew Tillison and the gang were cooking. Thinking back over my time deep diving into the band’s catalog I wonder if this is why I’m so partial to the later albums, having made my discovery here, using it to judge the other records. Regardless, the band’s second album directly impacted by COVID is on the turntable and has a myriad of gems within, so let’s dive into our penultimate review of this fine, fine band.

Album #11 from The Tangent brings some healthy stability with all band members returning (and longtime artist Ed Unitsky even getting a credit as part of the band!) for Auto Reconnaissance. It’s a divisive record for a lot of fans, especially those who cling to traditional descriptors of what constitutes “prog” or “prog rock,” but I counter-argue that the fact that the band on this album stretch way beyond those clichéd (but oh so sweet) tenants of the form is the very nature of “progressive rock” – you just may not like the forms Tillison and Co. are experimenting with, That’s fine, I do – and that’s why this album works really well for me, especially as a broad diversion between their previous killer album and the one that comes next, which was my introduction to the band.

But we’re not quite there yet, so let’s see what cooking here.