Prog Rock for Life

nyarlothothep

I love the idea behind prog rock in that its fairly libertarian in its approach to music, different genres are incorporated, the structures are complicated, musical complexity etc. It should get more credit than it deserves, its like the pariah of rock music.

GLaDOS

I'm quite fond of prog rock/metal, although it can be a little hit or miss sometimes. Some of the best guitarists out there are in this genre imo

nyarlothothep

definitely, some of its great, although some prog can be frustratingly tedious, it really depends. True also about guitarists. It allows for music at its highest level, very much the opposite of dumbed down, which is so ubiquitous these days. Bands like Porcupine tree, Radiohead, The Mars Volta and Opeth are refreshing in these times of retro indie.

Mushy

nyarlothothep wrote: »

definitely, some of its great, although some prog can be frustratingly tedious, it really depends. True also about guitarists. It allows for music at its highest level, very much the opposite of dumbed down, which is so ubiquitous these days. Bands like Porcupine tree, Radiohead, The Mars Volta and Opeth are refreshing in these times of retro indie.

Must say I do like a bit of prog myself. And most certainly agree it can be hit or miss. Right now, Porcupine Tree is pretty much all I listen to, listen to Anesthize in all its glory. Nearly 18 minutes of perfection. Really hope I get my tickets for their show on time now.

galwayrush

I'm very much into Rush, Opeth, Porcupine Tree but that's about it.

mike65

Semi-Progger here but as I have a sense of humour as can see the delight of King Arthur On Ice!

Mike.

Karl Hungus

Big fan of Prog here. Rush, King Crimson, ELP, Yes, and especially the legendary Camel, who are far too under-appreciated in the grand scheme of things, and they were a huge influence on Opeth, give 'em a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1UYvS5PnOY

Terrific stuff.

mike65

Camel are exactly the kind of band that puts me off much prog. Its a bit ponderous and "precious", very redolent of Upper Sixth common rooms.

Heres Rush, this is one of thier best ever songs from the sadly underappricated/criminally ignored Grace Under Presure lp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VVDtRUfsFU

Mike.

Mushy

Actually, is anyone here going ocver to the Porcupine Tree gig in London Or are ye just fans that enjoy them, but wouldnt travel? The are my prog band to fill in my obsession before I finally see Rush live!

gucci

mike65 wrote: »

Heres Rush, this is one of thier best ever songs from the sadly underappricated/criminally ignored Grace Under Presure lp


Mike.

I never tire of watching Rush videos and imagining the damage i would do to such insane drum kits! (and it would not sound good!) :pac:

Really have to get some porcupine tree albums!

MoominPapa

Can't agree that prog is the pariah of rock - Pink Floyd head lined Live-8, Rush's last album and tour received positive reviews in british broadsheets, bands like the Mars Volta and Tool, while not mainstream, receive only positive coverage and mainstream bands such as Radiohead and the Smashing Pumpkins acknowledge their prog debt with pride. Also prog pops up in some unlikely places, like when I seen Massive Attack at Electric Picnic 2 years ago, half the show was prog-tastic.

Have to agree with Mike about Camel, same goes for Caravan, they just don't do it for me. Tend to be more into the robust 70s brit-prog of Van Der Graff Generator, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant, ELP. Then of course theres Rush, heres The Weapon,one of their early 80s prog highlights, for the also criminally neglected Signals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRw9wlOZ9Lg

A band I stumbled across recently is Tiles, kinda retro sound, but I really like them. The is Sacred and Mundane featuring Alex Lifeson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFoIkuSl0i8

The_Tempest

Well Muse are amazing and they're prog!

I know i'm gonna get killed for saying that but they're deadly!

ROLL ON 13TH AUGUST!

Oral Slang

Mushy wrote: »

Actually, is anyone here going ocver to the Porcupine Tree gig in London Or are ye just fans that enjoy them, but wouldnt travel? The are my prog band to fill in my obsession before I finally see Rush live!

Saw them supporting Dream Theater about 8 years ago, but unfortunately a ridiculously drunken mate of mine kind of ruined their set for me, falling all over the place and singing/shouting really drunkenly out loud during every song. Shut him up by the time Dream Theater came on, but unfortunately never got to enjoy Porcupine Tree. I've never really got round to buying any of their stuff, but really must as loads of people have told me I'd like them!

Snake Pliisken

Love Prog, but recently I've found much of modern prog heartless and formulaic.

Heard a couple of Mastodons new songs, and by God, sounds like I'm gonna eat, sleep and drink this album for about a year.

Mushy

Oral Slang wrote: »

Saw them supporting Dream Theater about 8 years ago, but unfortunately a ridiculously drunken mate of mine kind of ruined their set for me, falling all over the place and singing/shouting really drunkenly out loud during every song. Shut him up by the time Dream Theater came on, but unfortunately never got to enjoy Porcupine Tree. I've never really got round to buying any of their stuff, but really must as loads of people have told me I'd like them!

Wow! That'd be absolutely animal. They'd be two bands who should play here together, so they'd at least pull a crowd big enough. Be amazing.

galwayrush

I'm going to see Porcupine Tree and Rush this year.:cool:

Mushy

galwayrush wrote: »

I'm going to see Porcupine Tree and Rush this year.:cool:

Where ya going to see PT? Am guessing its London. Lets hope tickets dont sell out in the next three weeks, otherwise I cant go. And saw your going to see Rush in Toronto on other thread:mad:. Thats me mad, mad with jealousy!

galwayrush

Mushy wrote: »

Where ya going to see PT? Am guessing its London. Lets hope tickets dont sell out in the next three weeks, otherwise I cant go. And saw your going to see Rush in Toronto on other thread:mad:. Thats me mad, mad with jealousy!

Yeah, London, apparently it's only a mini Tour. A friend of mine is sorting me out with a Ticket, same friend brought me to see Led Zeppelin at the O2Arena last december.:cool: There's about 10 of us going to Toronto to see Rush, and we'll get to attend the Rushcon annual event as well.

Karl Hungus

I got to see Porcupine Tree years ago, back when In Absentia came out, and again at the Download festival last year. They were absolutely fantastic live both times, and I'd love to see them again.

mike65 wrote: »

Camel are exactly the kind of band that puts me off much prog. Its a bit ponderous and "precious", very redolent of Upper Sixth common rooms.

I absolutely love their stuff, because of just how atmospheric they can be, and I would count The Snow Goose as one of my favourite instrumental albums of all time. Andy Latimer is just a terrific guitarist and composer, so melodic and so full of feeling... It just hits the right spot for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKBwku-PsPY

Oh, and I'm absolutely sorry as hell I made a grave omission...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdz_G1VGJ4c

The blatantly genius Jethro Tull!

mike65

The Tull w00t! :pac:

Martin Barre rocks. Hugely underrated.

Mike.

Karl Hungus

The Tull are just magnificent. No other way to describe them. Ian Anderson is probably the greatest frontman alive.

I keep meaning to invest in The Orchestral Jethro Tull on DVD, it sounds just so Spinal Tap (for want of a better description, just that kind of excessive vision), but it works in the way that only Anderson can pull it off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibcYor-Zta0

gucci

Totally, wasnt quite sure Jethro Tull was prog or not ( i struggle with genres at times! )
I have spent hours watching him on youtube, man he is on warped mo-fo! Over the top entertaining and just a serious performer!

damonjewel

As a big prog fan, I would have to say that it is treated like a pariah by the media. Take the BBC documentary on the history of rock a while back, it does the 50's rocknroll, 60's psychadelia, barely mentions prog but covers Glam and Punk, metal and grunge. I feel a lot of the influential journalists are too cool to go back on the punk attitude that most of them grew up with, like Tony Parsons, julie Burchill etc and the rest of the media have followed suit. The attitude of other influential people in the business such as Tony Wilson, John Peel to Prog hasn't helped either

Take for example a new program on early music on bbc4 which tries to rediscover Baroque and early folk music, the presenter opened the show having a go at the pre punk 'bearded academic following of the 70s' that took this music away from the common man, like what the **** has that got to do with anything? Perhaps if it wasn't for these guys this music would be truly lost.

I've been reading Johnny Rotten interviews, and he isn't the prog antichrist and he has since admitted liking Can, VDGG, Steeleye span and that he doesnt hate pink floyd he wore that 'I hat Pink Floyd' t-shirt just to piss people off. But the media will never change.

Prog, I think is being rediscovered, bands are reforming and playing (e.g. Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage have reformed Gong) and its great to see modern bands still carry it somewhat like Opeth, Anglagard, Radiohead etc. And as pointed out that the big acts still draw a big following such as Floyd.

Just on the subject of Camel, I really think they are not up to the mark compared to other 70's prog (yes, ELP, Genesis, King Crimson etc), The comment that they are ponderous is right on the money. In fact I would rank them along with Barclay James Harvest and the Moody Blues

For people looking to get into prog, check out

www.progarchives.com

because its all there

Mushy

Ah God, didnt the PT gig have to sell out:(. I do continue my search though, it wont end just yet!

Johnny Storm

And lets not forget these guys, back when Phil knew his place ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35wtfcByIY

damonjewel

actually there is a half decent thread on Genesis here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055313744

Karl Hungus

On the topic of Prog, what do people think of the more folk influenced stuff? Tull is a terrific example, of course, but other folk leaning prog might be a little more divisive. One excellent band was Comus (give a listen here, great song!) but you don't often hear people talking about them.

More modern stuff, Opeth have quite a bit of folk influence in their sound, and there's the exceptional Pain Of Salvation, they're completely unpredictable in terms of direction and influence, they take in so many different genres it's just astonishing, but they definitely have their moments of folk, such as this song for example.

Thoughts?

Johnny Storm

I really like Tull and I'm still waiting for them to become fashionable again.
The folk stuff became increasingly what they were about but IMHO a large part of their appeal was Ian Andersons voice. His voice is just very listenable. He could sing any old ****e (and often did) and make it sound profound and evocative. In terms of the musical qualities of his voice I'd put him up there with Peter Gabriel and ahem .... Cat Stevens

DublinWriter

mike65 wrote: »

Semi-Progger here but as I have a sense of humour as can see the delight of King Arthur On Ice!

The show was only 'on ice' because when Rick Wakeman went to hire the venue he found out that a Disney 'on-ice' show would be the previous booking and thought it would be a good idea to keep the ice for free.

...this was during his alcoholic years, you understand.

damonjewel

Karl Hungus wrote: »

On the topic of Prog, what do people think of the more folk influenced stuff? Tull is a terrific example, of course, but other folk leaning prog might be a little more divisive. One excellent band was Comus (give a listen here, great song!) but you don't often hear people talking about them.

More modern stuff, Opeth have quite a bit of folk influence in their sound, and there's the exceptional Pain Of Salvation, they're completely unpredictable in terms of direction and influence, they take in so many different genres it's just astonishing, but they definitely have their moments of folk, such as this song for example.

Thoughts?

Well thats the great thing about Prog it took on all styles and expanded them. I don't think Prog is Folk leaning, as for every Folk leaning Prog band I could give you a Classical music influenced band or a jazz, or an avant garde influenced band.

I agree Comus first album is fantastic. I must check out more of the Opeths/Mastodons etc.

For me Prog reached its excellence through the highly Jazz/Avant Garde influenced Bands from Europe, mainly Germany, but there is Focus, PFM also. mainly because the record labels there were more into signing bands that made music and indulged the artists rather than make money. However form the British scene there are some exceptional bands such as Gong, VDGG, Henry Cow, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant which really test the limits of music

Karl Hungus

damonjewel wrote: »

Well thats the great thing about Prog it took on all styles and expanded them. I don't think Prog is Folk leaning, as for every Folk leaning Prog band I could give you a Classical music influenced band or a jazz, or an avant garde influenced band.

I didn't suggest that prog in general has folk leanings, but rather I'm asking specifical what people think of those prog bands that do have folk influences.

damonjewel

Johnny Storm wrote: »

I really like Tull and I'm still waiting for them to become fashionable again.
The folk stuff became increasingly what they were about but IMHO a large part of their appeal was Ian Andersons voice. His voice is just very listenable. He could sing any old ****e (and often did) and make it sound profound and evocative. In terms of the musical qualities of his voice I'd put him up there with Peter Gabriel and ahem .... Cat Stevens

Ian anderson is one fantastic performer and his musicianship and as you put it the appeal of his voice do make Tull very listenable however I don't think the material stacks up, There best 3 albums in my opinion are 'aqualung', 'thick as a brick' and the absolutely essential 'Benefit', I wouldn't really be bothered with anything else

damonjewel

Karl Hungus wrote: »

I didn't suggest that prog in general has folk leanings, but rather I'm asking specifical what people think of those prog bands that do have folk influences.

Fair enough, I think in all the different parts of Prog there are good and bad. I certainly think that Folk sounding bands seem to have more than their fair share of excellent bands.

Karl Hungus

damonjewel wrote: »

Fair enough, I think in all the different parts of Prog there are good and bad. I certainly think that Folk sounding bands seem to have more than their fair share of excellent bands.

Aye, there's plenty of great Prog out there. I love it, but feel that at times I've barely scratched the surface.

Interestingly though, I was over on the Indie/Alternative board, and I was making mention of David Sylvian. He's done some fantastic stuff with Robert Fripp, and he was even approached to be the vocalist for King Crimson at one stage. Anyway, they made some exceptional music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgFrI81fMdY

mike65

damonjewel wrote: »

Ian anderson is one fantastic performer and his musicianship and as you put it the appeal of his voice do make Tull very listenable however I don't think the material stacks up, There best 3 albums in my opinion are 'aqualung', 'thick as a brick' and the absolutely essential 'Benefit', I wouldn't really be bothered with anything else

FAIL! You didn't even mention mention Stand up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo_aqcub9j4

Mike.

damonjewel

Well Stand up is good as is This was, but is it Prog? Its bluesy its folky & its hippy, proto-prog perhaps but anything post aqualung is not for me! Also did Tony Iommi play on this album? I know he was with them pre-sabbath but not sure he recorded with them. he plays with them in the Rolling stones rock and roll circus gig

Heres the clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIyvb2gtOSA

mike65

You better have another listen for tracks like A New Day Yesterday and For a Thousand Mothers which rocks out the album in fine style.

As for Iommi he was never commited to tape with Tull except as part of that Stones gig when Mick Abrahams left he filled in for that engagement. Just as well he never joined cos Martin Barre might have ended up in Sabbath and a whole different sound would have resulted!

Mike.

damonjewel

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Aye, there's plenty of great Prog out there. I love it, but feel that at times I've barely scratched the surface

I've been listening years and I can easily say the same!

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Interestingly though, I was over on the Indie/Alternative board, and I was making mention of David Sylvian. He's done some fantastic stuff with Robert Fripp, and he was even approached to be the vocalist for King Crimson at one stage. Anyway, they made some exceptional music

Ah King Crimson one of the best, and Fripp is a genius. The funny thing with David Sylvian is that he is very arthouse and would have had a lot in common with some of the more avant garde prog bands of the seventies. Also some of the 80's bands (including new romantics) had some wonderful musicians, musically its not to my taste but you have to admire some of the workmanship of these guys, and its interesting how some have forged alliances with old Proggies e.g. Trevor Horn and Yes, Sylvian and Fripp, Peter Gabriel and his many alliances, Im sure there are way more if I gave it some thought

damonjewel

mike65 wrote: »

You better have another listen for tracks like A New Day Yesterday and For a Thousand Mothers which rocks out the album in fine style..

Will give it a spin when I get home and get back to you. Years since I heard it

mike65 wrote: »

As for Iommi he was never commited to tape with Tull except as part of that Stones gig when Mick Abrahams left he filled in for that engagement. Just as well he never joined cos Martin Barre might have ended up in Sabbath and a whole different sound would have resulted!

Mike.

Totally agree here, imagine what could have happened?

Karl Hungus

damonjewel wrote: »

Ah King Crimson one of the best, and Fripp is a genius. The funny thing with David Sylvian is that he is very arthouse and would have had a lot in common with some of the more avant garde prog bands of the seventies. Also some of the 80's bands (including new romantics) had some wonderful musicians, musically its not to my taste but you have to admire some of the workmanship of these guys, and its interesting how some have forged alliances with old Proggies e.g. Trevor Horn and Yes, Sylvian and Fripp, Peter Gabriel and his many alliances, Im sure there are way more if I gave it some thought

Yeah, Sylvian's got a fairly big prog leaning, looking up on wikipedia he's even done some stuff one of the guys from Can, and the keyboardist from Porcupine Tree, although I've never heard any of that.

I probably wouldn't be as familiar with other 80's artists who've collaborated with prog musos, so you'll have to fill me in on that one... If it's half as good as Sylvian/Fripp, it'll be worth checking out.

damonjewel

Karl Hungus wrote: »

I probably wouldn't be as familiar with other 80's artists who've collaborated with prog musos, so you'll have to fill me in on that one... If it's half as good as Sylvian/Fripp, it'll be worth checking out.

Now there's a challenge, must give that a thought but would be difficult to top. Some more 80s and prog alliances come to mind, not to my taste but there's Eno and U2, and a bit more tenuosly The power station Robert Palmer with half of duran duran and Tony Thompson from chic.

My point here is that when you look at the hairstyles and fashions of the 80's bands, it is easy to overlook that some of these guys could really play and probably if they were a decade younger they'd be probably in a prog band

Karl Hungus

damonjewel wrote: »

My point here is that when you look at the hairstyles and fashions of the 80's bands, it is easy to overlook that some of these guys could really play and probably if they were a decade younger they'd be probably in a prog band

I wouldn't disagree with you at all man.

You could even say the reverse of that though, consider Phil Collins a prog musician turned typical 80's pop fare. I've got a soft spot for Phil though.

damonjewel

Well there are a lot of guys as well as Phil Collins who had credible 70's prog credentials that went seriously commercial by crossing over to Pop, such as Peter Gabriel (So) Bryan Ferry (Boys and Girls), Godley and Creme, Yes (90125). There's probably hundreds of more examples.

Arucard

i've been listening to 3s The End is Begun all week - easily my favourite album at the moment. alas its all i have *right now*. ****ing great album

MoominPapa

Getting back to the 70s heres a semi forgotten gem Nektar
Journey to the centre of the eye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmva-dBiiRU

I have their 3rd album Remember the Future, haven't listened to it in ages and dont remember it being as dark as this

On a different tack any fans of Kansas out there?
I don't know much of their stuff but fear we may be entering the afore mentioned Barcley James Harvest territory :eek: (Poor mans moody blues indeed)
Wayward Son is class though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB17uWuBrL0

PattheMetaller

Anyone know where stocks a wide range of Prog CD's in Ireland? Apart from Dream Theater, Opeth, King Crimson, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard etc in HMV I've had to use www.progrock.co.uk to complete my Flower Kings collection and get stuff by acts such as Tiles. I'm interested in Seiges Even, Kaipa, Beardfish etc

Ruaidhri

Hey,

I honestly urge you to check out Gordian Knot if you like prog -- seriously amazing band. You're best bet is Emergent (hint: First time all former members of Cynic perform together since they disbanded in 1994).

Here's the official youtube vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLbAs7boRHc

galwayrush

Opus Tide, new band from London, worth checking out, Album called Open the Gates. Amazing Drummer.:cool:
http://www.myspace.com/opustide

Arucard

Ruaidhri wrote: »

Hey,

I honestly urge you to check out Gordian Knot if you like prog -- seriously amazing band. You're best bet is Emergent (hint: First time all former members of Cynic perform together since they disbanded in 1994).

honestly, i think the self titled is a FAR better album. its ****ing stunningly good.

damonjewel

Some nice clips there. Had to laugh at Kansas, I actually find the American prog scene very odd, as you have the radio friendly Kansas, Styx, Journey etc whilst you have the other end of the out there Zappa and Captain Beefheart. One American band I found Viola Crayola are really good they had one album breathing of statues, well worth checking out if you come across it.

Maybe some of you will appreciate this, this Grobschnitt from Germany, not considered Krautrock by many as it seems to be more in line with British prog (Camel, ELP, Genesis etc). This is their masterpiece Solar Music, takes a few mins to get going but you have to love the bassists sleaves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P4ndS-6Lmk

damonjewel

Actually here is a stream of viola crayola to listen to, enjoy

http://www.imeem.com/people/iWsurYO/music/-y_wcvsm/the_viola_crayola_mr_leroy_pepe_is_lost/