Disclaimer: If you are reading this because you want insider details on recent events–sorry. No spoilers. Buy my book when it comes out.
Long Read Warning.
This post will be in three parts: the first, as the title says, is my particular journey with the best band in the world; the second is how I see their overall legacy; and the third is a commentary on the fate of the band and the reactions thereto. But read the disclaimer: I won’t be spilling too many beans.
Part I: Me and That Band
Not quite fifteen years ago I stuck a prog compilation CD into my player, and hit ⊳. A bunch of songs happened. “Meh,” I thought to myself.
Eventually, a ballad came along, by a band I knew nothing about. It was song no. 9: Riverside – Conceiving You (from Second Life Syndrome) the credits said. It turned out to be the best piece by far on that entire CD, blowing away offerings from Marillion and Transatlantic and The Flower Kings and a bunch of others. Down the rabbit hole I went, and within a very few days I knew I had discovered something extraordinary. That song would change my life in ways I could not imagine.