Hiroshi Kanai in Rose - Story of Murder (1984) and Bible Black

Now a fortnight of posts on rare Japanese prog.

The guitarist of Bible Black who made an official CD in 2012 obviously highly indebted to King Crimson and R. Fripp is named Hiroshi Kanai, aka Rose.  His first solo album, recorded in 1984, only released to cassette, presented two long instrumental compositions, Notebook on Murder and Story Without End.  It's unfortunate this didn't receive a wider release and audience, as it consists of classic progressive rock of the same level and caliber as the greatest King Crimson albums in its masterful 73-74 heyday, and everyone who is a fan of the style will appreciate it.  First track:





I guess those who felt really critical, perhaps on account of a bad day at the office, might complain that it's a little too much KC-based Frippery.  But I mean we're so desperate, after so many years of listening to those old classics, for some new music, aren't we?  I sure hope Tom Hayes is reading this blog for an idea of what he's missing out on.  I mean this is priority 1 level sh☆☆, bro. As you might expect there's tons of digital strings to create that symphonic aurora borealis and it seems, from the back info, that Kanai played all the instruments.

Story Without End's very Italian progressive finale:





Then if you were to compare this with the later more recent Bible Black album, which you should, you'd find the professionalism of his guitar playing has really improved with a very tight Les Paul taut precision but at the expense of the creative imagination, in my opinion.  A feature of all modern prog in comparison to its 70s heyday.