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The music of only a few rock acts is so predestined for a symphonic realization as that of the Alan Parsons Project. Here rock sounds, electronic components and orchestral music merge to form an art rock jewel. Andrew Powell, who has worked with avant-garde composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and György Ligeti, took on the role of arranger and conductor on the albums. His work comes fully to bear in the live implementation. Alan Parsons (67) reports how it came to "Live In Colombia".

eclipsed: Your music has always had an orchestral touch. How did the Alan Parsons Symphonic Project come about?

Neoprog experienced its heyday in the middle of the eighties. The reference works of the genre, which resumed the melodic prog of the seventies and poured into a new, more modern (with some bands also: more kitschy) form, originate from this time. Some few acts like Pallas or Marillion grabbed Majordeals, the latter even filled the big halls. But this high didn't last long: Only ten years later the MTV stars were Oasis, Spice Girls and Jamiroquai, on the radio they played "Killing Me Softly" by the Fugees and Alanis Morissettes "Ironic". Prog and Neoprog were considered to be extremely uncool in the rock scene of the nineties and initially lived a wallflower existence again.

There is nothing left of the death metal roots and the growl singing that could still be heard on their 1993 debut "Dance Of December Souls". One can compare the evolution of Katatonia with that of her compatriots Opeth. In 2003 they had their commercial breakthrough with "Viva Emptiness". Creative stagnation has always been a foreign word for the band from Stockholm, which is why they don't shy away from experiments like on the last recording "Dethroned & Uncrowned". On the current album "Fall Of Hearts" a warmer sound has surprisingly crept in. Singer Jonas Renkse and guitarist Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström tell us how this happened.

eclipsed: "The Fall Of Hearts" sounds more concentrated than your last album. A conscious effect?

For Latin rock fans, it's a surprise that the original Santana band has reunited for the album entitled "IV". In addition to Carlos Santana, 2016 keyboarder Gregg Rolie, drummer Michael Shrieve and percussionist Mike Carabello as well as guitarist Neal Schon are also in the game. Only drummer José "Chepito" Areas is not included, just like bass player David Brown, who died in 2000 at the age of 50. Instead, "IV" was joined by some interesting younger spitballs, whose elan rubbed off on the older colleagues. Anyway, Gregg Rolie is enthusiastic during the conversation, as if he had fallen into a fountain of youth.

eclipsed: Santana in the original line-up - was this surprise coup planned a long time ago?

From Minnesota, he moved out into the world at the beginning of the sixties to reshape the music scene to his liking - which he did impressively. He will influence people who are not even born today with his work and his life just as he influenced his contemporaries with it. Bob Dylan celebrates his 75th birthday on May 25th. eclipsed celebrates and summarizes 75 magical moments of an unprecedented career.

In the over 55 years of his career, Bob Dylan has shaped popular music like no other. Originally coming from the traditional folk movement, which was strongly politicized in the sixties, Dylan began early on to sound out boundaries, not infrequently to cross them and to change not only his own art, but rock music as a whole time and again. He shocked the folk disciples by turning abruptly and consistently to rock music.

At the end of July it's time again: "The mountain calls!" Then the "Burg Herzberg Festival" in Breitenbach in eastern Hesse opens its doors to thousands of old and young hippies. This time under the motto "Back To The Garden", based on a line of text from Joni Mitchell's anthem "Woodstock". As usual, there's something for almost every music lover: Blues rocker Walter Trout is there, punkivaldi Nigel Kennedy fiddles Jimi Hendrix, the noble German rock chansonnier Element Of Crime are performing for the first time at Herzberg, the Belgian retro rockers DeWolff could be won for the now cult final chord at the "Freakstage".

Last year the "Night Of The Prog" festival, idyllically situated in the middle of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site, celebrated its tenth anniversary. But after the festival is before the festival, and so the organizer had his hands full during the last months to present another impressive line-up. After all, there should be something for every friend of progressive music.

Legends like Hawkwind, Focus or Lucifer's Friend are among the highlights, as is the exclusive live reunion of Spock's Beard with their ex-members Neal Morse and Nick D'Virgilio. Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy will also be coming to the Loreley open-air stage: the drummer will present a special program for his recently deceased buddy Keith Emerson. The famous Genesis interpreters The Musical Box join the band with a "Foxtrot" show deluxe.

On Sunday, 16 April, the Donz village near the Swabian Alb is visited by journalists. The idyllic spot in Lautertal is the home of Nuclear Blast. Since its foundation in 1987, the record company has become a global player in the metal business. In the meantime, however, the label makers have also turned to the less metallic rock sector.

Besides acts like the Black Star Riders and Kadavar there are at the moment mainly the Swedish high-flyers Blues Pills who have Nuclear Blast in their pool. Since the release of their self-titled debut album two years ago, the band around exceptional singer Elin Larsson has made a truly impressive ascent. The quartet has already become the flagship of Retro Rock, the area dedicated to the sound and feeling of the seventies.