Enchant are one of American progressive rock’s most quietly cherished bands — a melodic, emotionally direct group from the San Francisco Bay Area, fronted by the soaring voice of Ted Leonard. Formed in 1989, they helped lead the 1990s wave of US prog revival alongside the likes of Spock’s Beard, pairing intricate, Rush- and Marillion-inspired songcraft with warm, heartfelt lyrics. Across eight albums they perfected a sound built on melody, feeling and superb musicianship.

The short version

Enchant are a melodic American neo-prog band formed in San Francisco in 1989, originally under the name Mae Dae. Led by the expressive Ted Leonard — later also the singer of Spock’s Beard — and guitarist Doug Ott, they debuted in 1993 with the Steve Rothery-assisted “A Blueprint of the World” and went on to release eight studio albums through 2014’s “The Great Divide.” Accessible yet intricate, emotional yet precise, they are one of modern prog’s great melodic storytellers.

From Mae Dae to Enchant

Enchant began in 1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area as Mae Dae, a band built around guitarist Doug Ott, drummer Paul Craddick and keyboardist Mike “Benignus” Geimer. When original bassist-singer Brian Cline departed, bassist Ed Platt and a striking young vocalist named Ted Leonard came aboard, and the group renamed itself Enchant. In 1993 they recorded their debut, “A Blueprint of the World” — co-produced in part by Marillion’s Steve Rothery — and announced themselves as one of America’s most promising progressive bands.

Melodic American prog

Enchant play melodic progressive rock with a deeply human touch. At the centre is Ted Leonard’s soaring, emotive tenor, a voice that favours feeling and storytelling over showmanship and has drawn comparisons to Kansas’s Steve Walsh and Dream Theater’s James LaBrie. Around it, Doug Ott’s melodic guitar and Ed Platt’s nimble bass build intricate but accessible songs, full of shifting time signatures and rich harmony, that explore love, struggle and self-reflection. The influence of Rush, Marillion and Kansas runs deep, yet Enchant always sound warm, personal and unmistakably their own.

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Eight albums of melodic prog

The albums gathered here span Enchant’s whole career. The debut “A Blueprint of the World” (1993) was followed by the more refined “Wounded” (1996), “Time Lost” (1997), the fan-favourite “Break” (1998) and the polished “Juggling 9 or Dropping 10” (2000), all featuring the original line-up. As members changed, “Blink of an Eye” (2002) and “Tug of War” (2003) continued the run, before a long hiatus — during which Leonard joined Spock’s Beard — ended with the welcome return of “The Great Divide” in 2014.

Album by album

Eight albums of melodic American neo-prog. Tap any title for its guide.

The players

Enchant have revolved around a stable, gifted core. Singer Ted Leonard — whose expressive voice later took him to Spock’s Beard and Pattern-Seeking Animals — and guitarist and chief songwriter Doug Ott have anchored the band from the start, with long-serving bassist Ed Platt a third constant. The original line-up included keyboardist Mike Geimer and drummer Paul Craddick; after 2000 the drum stool passed to Sean Flanegan and Bill Jenkins came in on keyboards, completing the line-up heard on the band’s later records. Tight, melodic and unshowy, it is a group defined by chemistry as much as skill.

Where to start

Start with “Break” (1998), often cited as the perfect entry point — dynamic, cathartic and packed with the melody and emotion Enchant do best. From there, the debut “A Blueprint of the World” (1993) shows their early promise and Steve Rothery’s guiding hand, while the polished “Juggling 9 or Dropping 10” (2000) finds them at their most assured. Three albums that capture the heart of their sound.

Why they still matter

Enchant matter as one of the warmest and most human voices in modern progressive rock — a band who helped keep the genre alive through the 1990s by trading bombast for melody, feeling and honest storytelling. Through Ted Leonard’s soaring vocals and Doug Ott’s melodic songwriting, they showed that prog could be intricate and accessible, ambitious and deeply personal, all at once. For anyone who loves their progressive rock tuneful and heartfelt, Enchant are a rewarding discovery.

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