Today’s track of the day comes in the shape of Classic Rock prog favourites, Pure Rock Revolution. Click here for previous Tracks Of The Day.

Contemporary CR prog favourites Pure Reason Revolution are back with a brand new album – Amor Vincit Omnia. For those of you that used to skive Latin classes at school, the title means ‘love conquers all’. Mainman Jon Courtney explains all to Henry Yates.

Do you seriously believe that ‘love conquers all’?

“Yeah, I think you’re bankrupt without love, really. We’ve not gone out of our way to shout about this being a concept record, but there is a constant mood. I wanted to sum up the euphoria of being loved and couple that with the inevitable bitter endings. I wanted to convey the victories and failings of love. It’s a shame we missed Valentine’s Day. Our manager did mention that, actually.”

It sounds like the work of a man with an extensive record collection…

“I’ve got loads of records. My obsession started with the grunge scene – Nirvana, Mudhoney, L7 – but I’m a bit of a collector and completist. When I get into something, I have to buy everything and learn all about the band. Later, I found the Beach Boys and got hugely into them, and then my old man played me Dark Side Of The Moon and that introduced me to King Crimson, Yes, Emerson, Lake And Palmer. But I don’t just buy old records and I don’t care about genre. I think there’s some good pop music and I won’t shirk away from telling people that. I’m not a music snob.”

This new album has more of an electronic feel – what inspired that?

“I know everyone in bands DJs now and it’s really naff, but over the last year I’ve had a residency doing electro-house nights, and that obviously filters into my classic rock tastes. I’ve always been an ELO fan, but now I’ve got more into the ’80s records. I’ve been listening to Depeche Mode and Fleetwood Mac’s ’80s albums like Tango In The Night, which is wicked. You digest it and it’s gonna affect your output.
“Some people might say the new record isn’t so proggy in a traditional sense. Some people might turn their noses up. Who knows. But our manifesto was always that there should be no rules. A lot of bands have vocals, bass, guitar and drums – and don’t bring anything else into it. That’s boring.”

Do you think the prog fans in your fanbase might struggle to dance to it?

“Yeah, their bellies might get in the way! We get a real mix in our audiences. There’s the classic proggy guys in the really cool ‘King Crimson 1975 Tour’ t-shirts. Then we get the younger, trendier crowd. Our manager says we’re still doing good business, despite the recession.”

Pure Reason Revolution are currently out and about on tour in the UK. Catch them at the following venues:

March 2009

Wed 11th – Glasgow, King Tuts
Thurs 12th – Leeds, Cockpit
Fri 13th – Nottingham, Bodega
Sat 14th – Birmingham, Bar Academy
Sun 15th – Bristol, Cooler
Mon 16th – Brighton, Audio
Tues 17th – London, Dingwalls

Get your free Pure Rock Revolution track here.

For more info visit the Pure Reason Revolution Myspace.

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Click here for previous Tracks Of The Day.