Thank you!
First of all we want to say thank you for giving TBP such a warm welcome in Musicland! Our debut album Sparrows has been received very well worldwide. The first pressing of Sparrows has been sold out in no time and it  even made it to “Album of the Month” in the German Eclipsed Magazine! As independent artists we are very proud of that and it gives us an enormous boost to go on the way we do and to make a fantastic new album. So again we say: Thank you very much!

New album!
Speaking of a new album: The songs on Sparrows were already written a few years ago. Due to various (time eating) circumstances the album was only released late 2009. In the meantime we wrote about 35 new songs and gathered up over a zillion cool ideas and jams. So it`s time for us to record our second album a.s.a.p.! Right now we are demo-ing all those songs and after finishing that we are going to have to choose which songs will actually appear on the new album. That won`t be easy because we can tell you there`s a lot of magic in the air!

After solving that “little problem” (and if we didn`t beat up each other to much while choosing), we will start recording sessions in October 2010. Drums first, followed by the other instruments. We hope that we can release the album somewhere in the first half of 2011. Again our keyboard player René Kroon will be responsible for the recording and production process backed up by the other Barstools. Our bass player Bas Hoebink will be responsible for the artwork. We`ve also got a working title for you: “Crossing Over”. More info soon!

Live
Unfortunately, our scheduled “Wishful Thinking World Tour 2010” didn`t took place. The guitarist couldn`t find anybody to watch over his cat. So now we are looking for some alternatives. More soon!
(Bookings & other: contact@thebarstoolphilosophers.com)

Other bands/projects
Besides keeping The Barstool Train to roll on, some members of TBP are also involved with other bands/projects.  Here are the latest updates about that.

Sun Caged, the other band of René Kroon, is on the verge of releasing their new album called “The Lotus Eater”. The album will appear through Lion Music and again it is recorded and produced by René and SC- guitar player Marcel Coenen. The artwork for the album has been developed by our bass player Bas Hoebink! More info here.

Our drummer Martin Kuipers will appear on “Turbo Avantgarde”, the upcoming album of Dutch death metal act INRI. He has recently finished recording the drum tracks for that album. Very heavy shit! He`s also doing some gigs with them right now. More info here.

Martin is also featured on drums at the upcoming album of his old band Mystrez and at “The God Machine”, the debut album of Gate6, a new Dutch prog/symfo project (more info click here). Release dates: tba.

Barstool Bas also did the artwork for the Gate6 album.

Well, that`s it for now. Of course we will keep you posted about the recording process and other things concerning TBP. Want to buy Sparrows? Visit our webshop “The Barshop“, and get a copy for only 10 euros!

Take care and cheers,
The Barstool Philosophers

Les neuf compositions, pratiquement toutes enchaînées, forment un tableau très homogène et cohérent, se rapprochant beaucoup d’un disque comme Operation : Mindcrime de Queensrÿche voire A Pleasant Shade Of Gray de Fates Warning (voir nos numéros 51 et 58), mais avec une dimension métallique légèrement atténuée, jamais trop agressive, remplacée plutôt par une certaine suavité proche de certains groupes néo prog (tiens, tiens !), tel Arena. Les ballades au piano comme “Fallen Angels” et surtout “Lies” sont à cet égard d’une puissance émotionnelle extrêmement tangible. La force de The Barstool Philosophers tient à plusieurs atouts. Outre la qualité de l’enregistrement, il convient d’insister sur le talent vocal de Leon Brouwer, dont l’organe se rapproche de celui de Geoff Tate mais surtout de David Bowie, excusez du peu ! Le mimétisme est parfois saisissant, et permet de satisfaire tous ceux qui regrettent que Bowie ne chante plus sur un disque prog depuis Outside… De quoi éviter de déplorer la prédominance du chant sur la plupart des morceaux, car des chanteurs de cet acabit ne sont pas nécessairement la norme au sein du prog. Seuls les quelques effets parfois utilisés sont en réalité dispensables. Les autres musiciens délivrent des prestations sans taches, mais l’objectif est davantage de se fondre dans le collectif au profit d’une ambiance sombre et mélancolique; la meilleure preuve en est la quasi absence de parties solistes centrales. Sparrows fait ainsi partie de ces opus dont il est difficile d’extraire des titres particuliers tant ils sont tous entrecroisés. “Descendent Of The Fall” et son thème joué au clavier pourrait néanmoins servir de vitrine à l’album, tant il résume le savoir faire de The Barstool Philosophers.

Les nappes de claviers sont chaudes, aux teintes légèrement orientalisantes, et enrobent à merveille les guitares, la section rythmique assure des parties suffisamment travaillées pour être accrocheuses, tout spécialement une basse arrondie très présente. Quant à “Away From Here”, son thème de guitare se rapproche, mais c’est probablement un hasard, de celui du “Quasimodo” du nouvel Ange ! Un album très réussi dans le genre du hard-prog le moins violent et le plus mélodique, atmosphérique, même s’il ne révolutionne pas pour autant le paysage musical.

Jean-Guillaume LANUQUE

(chronique parue dans Big Bang n°76 – Juillet 2010)

„Sparrows“ ist erhältlich unter www.justforkicks.de.

„Mit ihrer Kombination aus Saga, Marillion, Pendra- gon, Fates Warning und Queensrÿche spielen sich THE BARSTOOL PHILOSOPHERS in die Herzen der Prog-Gemeinde. Über dem atmosphärisch dichten Teppich aus schwebenden Keyboards und hypnotischen Gitarrenriffs thront Sänger Leon Brouwer, der Vergleiche mit Geoff Tate nicht zu scheuen braucht. Album des Monats!”

Also the song “Dreamscape” is featured on a sampler cd that comes along with the april-issue.

An interview with Leon will be featured In the may-edition (5/10) of Eclipsed.

“…Like Fish-era Marillion & Pendragon crossed with Parallels & Inside Out period Fates Warning, maybe add some of Queensryche’s more laid back but powerful moments, this band know when to act on release and retention to behold the musical mantra implemented on this record, where there is a ‘balance’ and not a ‘zig-zag’ of tuneage brought forth. Sparrows possesses the big melodic standing of what a good progressive hard rock album should be, the tunes hold strong alongside the musicianship – certainly a band to keep an eye on…” (4/5)
- Ytsejam.com

“…The Barstool Philosophers self released debut Sparrows shows that this band has spirit and talent in abundance from start to finish. Sparrows is filled with great hooks and melodies in true prog metal fashion. Some of the highlights include but are not limited to “Silence”, “Lies” and “Descendents of the Fall” yet with each listen I find another stand out track. The production is clean very well recorded, mixed and mastered by the very talented keyboard player René Kroon” (4/5)
- Power of Prog.com

“…While listening to Afterglow, the opening track from Sparrows, my prog heart beat a bit faster. This track shows that the music of the Dutch Barstool Philosophers, has everything to please people who are interested in progressive rock music with metal influences…Lead singer Leon Brouwer has a fantastic voice…The compositions combined with the lyrics make this album a strong musical concept. I couldn’t find any weak spot at all on this fine album…”
- Background Magazine

“…For me Sparrows has only excellent tracks with some higlights in the excitng Afterglow, the melodic Silence, the emotional Dreamscape and the furieus and slightly experimental Eyes Show The Heart. ..Leon Brouwer is a truly excellent singer, his voice refers to Jamers Labrie (Dream Theater), Mac (Threshold) and Ian Gillan (Deep Purple). …It is the quality that does The Barstool Philosophers protrude above ground level…” (4/5)
- Proglog AFTERGLOW

“…The Barstool Philosophers offers music very similar to that which Queensrÿche at their golden age played (between 1986 to 1994)…” (6/10)
- Progressia.com

“…this is a top album, it can be described as genius.. The album contains 9 tracks, all with the predicate “Art with a very big capitol A” …Did the Netherlands had in recent years masterpieces of bands like Knight Area, Mangrove and FeedForward, It has with The Barstool Philosophers a fantastic new progressive rockband.”
- Metalkrant.com

Some Dutch reviews:

- OOR MAGAZINE
- PROGWERELD

Click on the links for the full reviews.

Nominations for Best Debut Album and Best Artwork!

Official announcement by Progawards:

“Dear The Barstool Philosophers,

“…the music on the disc is marked by an exquisite singer of Leon Brouwer, but also enormously stable and good musicians that have obvious and real playing pleasure, …undoubtedly the band’s music has to be taken seriously, then this undeniable disc is very well thought out and eloquently., …this disc adds that little extra that is so important, …Also The Barstool Philosophers have a fabulous precision, fine detail and harmony and partly therefor, an abundance of tasty substance, so one must just get carried away, …and we proclaim this album without hesitation to the year’s best debut.”
- Merlinprog (Norway)

“…therefor our nominaton for the Italian Progawards 2009 for Best Debut Album and Best Artwork…, a band that promises much, because it has the potential to become one of the great modern progressive rock manifestations….8/10″.
- Manticornio (Mexico).

“…the truth told by these Philosophers are rare in the current music circus…, great melodies, great feeling, great drama…, an unbelievable good frontman (wundersanger)…, one of the top albums of the year…, impressive!”
- Gaesteliste (Germany).

Click HERE to order Sparrows (only 10 euros!).

From now on Sparrows is also available at Popeye Hengelo (NL) and Music Store Almelo (NL).

Thanx for your support!