Kev Rowland releases volume three of The Progressive Underground

Progressive Underground
(Image credit: Progressive Underground)

Renowned prog author Kevin Rowland has released the third volume of his series of books The Progressive Underground by Gonzo Media Group.

The volumes collect Rowland's reviews of progressive rock albums between the period 1991-2006, during which time Rowland acted as secretary to the online MENSA Rock Music Special Interest Group, which would go on to become Feedback fanzine. Rowland also wrote for Rock ‘n’ Reel magazine, and for the Ghostland website in the early days of prog on the web.

"I am pleased to be able to announce that the third volume of the three-volume series containing all my progressive rock reviews and interviews from 1991-2006 has just been released by Gonzo Media," says Rowland. "It has a foreword by Artur Chachlowski and Steve Paine of Legend, while the rear cover features comments by Gary Chandler (Jadis) and John Dexter Jones (Jump). Volume 1 contained artists A-H, Volume 2 I-S, while this completes the alphabet and also includes small reviews, compilations, Video/DVDs, interviews and live reviews. It contains full colour cover artwork, as well as old band photos. This is very much my own personal favourite of the three, as the interviews and gig reviews really act as a time machine.

Following on from the success of Volume 1, which covers all reviews from 1991-2006 for artists A-H, and Volume 2 which contains all his reviews from I-S, Rowland has now returned with final part of the trilogy. This the rest of the alphabet, DVD and video reviews, various artist and short reviews, plus exclusive interviews, and gig reviews.

"There has never been another series of books available like this, placing the spotlight on a maligned genre of music in a period when very little was being written about it in a positive manner," adds Rowland. "The three books combined are nearly 1000 pages in length, with a total of half a million words, larger than Lord Of The Rings!"

Progressive Underground

(Image credit: Progressive Underground)
Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.