My yearly Prog thread..if you don't listen to any of the following sort your life out ffs.
It's literally mindblowing what came out of England in the heady days of Prog Rock back in the late 60's and 70's.
Currently listening to Foxtrot by Genesis after spending most of the week on Selling England by the Pound. You could literally write a book on each album. Unreal musicianship, talent, vision, genius really.
Foxtrot an unusually claustrophobic album, chock full of fairy-tale meets dystopia meets the middle ages and everything in between and beyond. Just listen to that first song Watcher of the Skies..what an almost black metal vibe to the thing. Supper's Ready is the masterpiece of course..incredible.
Then Selling England..musically perfect and the production is very bright and beautiful. Could do without the Phil Collins tune on it, but otherwise just pure quality. Complex, deep and way ahead of it's time, though it captures it's time so well. Firth of Fifth is probably my favourite tune..sublime. The title track, Epping Forest, The Cinema Show..no band sounded like them before or since.
Haven't listened to Lamb lies down in a while and I won't gush over one of the greatest albums ever again.
Despite my love of Genesis there are gaps in my collection. Anybody recommend another album?
On to King Crimson. Been spinning loads of Lark Tongues, Thraak and Discipline lately. I think for metal heads trying to get into Prog Thraak might be worth a listen. Dark and unusual and with a more modern feel to it seeing as it was recorded relatively recently. Red gets loads of attention and while it's cool, I'd tend towards the likes of Discipline and the above two or the first album myself. It's still a great album..a definite entry point for those not familiar with them.
Apart from all that the Steve Wilson Yes remixes have been on constant daily loop in my gaff since they were released back last year. A band I'll be listening to when I'm grey and old and my cock is fizzled to fish bait.
Any other prog heads on here? Despite listening to plenty, I reckon I've only scratched the surface over the years. Any recommendations welcome.
I've never been big into prog, but I think this is maybe one of the best albums I was introduced to from WCD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChBCww96RKo
Ozric Tentacles is an old psychedelic prog band (late 80s/early 90s) that I never see mentioned much anymore. Not sure much about their background as musicians but almost all of their albums have ambient/chillout sections with some rock solos thrown in randomly. Odd band, I always liked 'Pungent Effulgent' personally (1989).
Quote from: leatherface on October 11, 2019, 11:36:37 PM
Ozric Tentacles is an old psychedelic prog band (late 80s/early 90s) that I never see mentioned much anymore. Not sure about their background as musicians but almost all of their albums have ambient/chillout sections with some rock solos thrown in randomly. Odd band, I always liked 'Pungent Effulgent' personally (1989).
'Strangeitude' is also great.
I'm probably as big a fanboy of Rush as I am of Death. A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres are my two face for sure.
Really dig Yes' widdly era, Camel, Van Der Graaf Generator.
Love UK' self titled and Bill Bruford's "Feels To Me".
I've got "Nursery Crimes" sitting somewhere but I never got into Genesis!
Quote from: leatherface on October 11, 2019, 11:36:37 PM
Ozric Tentacles is an old psychedelic prog band (late 80s/early 90s) that I never see mentioned much anymore. Not sure much about their background as musicians but almost all of their albums have ambient/chillout sections with some rock solos thrown in randomly. Odd band, I always liked 'Pungent Effulgent' personally (1989).
Ding... Great shout.
Re Genesis, Trespass and Wind & Wuthering are worth a listen too. Love Yes up to Relayer, Owner of a lonely heart can fuck right off tho. I'm convinced there's a KC album for every mood and would happily give my left bollock to see them live. I'd give the right one too if I could time travel and see the Belew / Bruford / Fripp and Levin line up live.
Any Rush is good Rush (except Hold You Fire ... fair enough).
Try these for less well known classics
Khan - Space Shanty
Steve Hillage - Green
Steve Hackett - Voyage of the Acolyte
Quote from: Pedrito on October 11, 2019, 10:20:52 PM
Despite my love of Genesis there are gaps in my collection. Anybody recommend another album?
Genesis die-hards won't thank me cos Gabriel had left ... but I love A Trick Of The Tail ... possibly my fav.
Quote from: wiped on October 14, 2019, 02:46:46 PM
Any Rush is good Rush (except Hold You Fire ... fair enough).
I love Hold Your Fire. There's some great tunes on it (Time Stand Still, Turn the Page) and it sounds good. Which is a lot more than I can say for Presto, my least fave of their albums by a good stretch.
It's funny because as much as the outside world would consider Rush prog, lots of more CULT prog heads would say they're a heavy metal/hard rock band with some bells and whistles. I am a big Rush fan, though in recent years I find myself listening very little to them. That is sure to change in future. For me personally, I think Rush almost sounded better when they started honing their sound more.
Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves and even Power Windows would be my go to albums. Love Hold your Fire also. Hemispheres is let down by the opening track for me, though the rest of the album. Is amazeballs. 2112, Farewell to Kings, excellent, though with some iffy stuff going on in there too. Waves and Pictures are far more complete and high quality for me.
Lots of metal head Rush fans would be apalled with me for saying the above but I think we can be a bit too forgiving at times with some of the stuff.
That said, when they are good they are incredible. I'll never forget seeing them in Dublin. Me and Johnny my buddy got 4 or 5 of those massive beers each, sat directly in front of them and song along to every lyric, drum beat and solo, people progressively moving away from us throughout the gig until we were on our own almost. Amazing gig.
Yeah but those kind of people are the same type of unrelenting mouth breathers that exclude the likes of Converge and Deftones from Metal Archives. 2112, Cygnus X-1, Book-2, La Villa Strangiato, Natural Science, Xanadu - how can any of those songs be anything other than prog?
I mostly agree with you about their sound and consistency - Freewill is my favourite song (Permanent Waves got me into them) and I probably like Witch Hunt, Vital Signs and Between the Wheels more than any of the individual tracks from the earlier albums, and I certainly prefer the direction Peart went with his lyrics. I think all their 80s releases bar Presto are great.
I think if Bastille Day wasn't on Caress of Steel it'd be their worst album. And bar the title track and Bangkok, 2112 really isn't all that good either. For me, Farewell is their first consistent record.
I've pulled them up on Spotify for a listen and wow, the 40th anniversary editions of 2112, Farewell and Hemispheres... they've never had very appealing album art, but these require eye bleach, the one for Hemispheres is particularly bad.
Was at the 2011 gig too, fucking amazing. And now that we're 7 years on from Clockwork Angels it genuinely holds up as one of their best records, what a way to bow out.
Haha agree with everything you said there. Caress of Steel is muck in fairness. 2112 has it's charms, but yes Farewell to Kings saw them really create something very interesting indeed. Fly by Night also has an oul stomper or two.
Peart's lyrics definitely improved the longer they went. Show of Hands is a great live dvd if you can get past the haircuts and 80's suits. I also love Signals the album and Grace under Pressure. The later albums have some class songs spread throughout them. Might dust off my cd collection give them a blast..quality.
Yeah I think Fly By Night is decent, but it has such a weird flow - the first four songs are great, By-Tor (which is great) s slap in the middle and the last few songs are shite acoustic tunes.
I've got the Replay x 3 DVD set, Show of Hands is class! Even though Presto is my least favourite album, I'd have love to have seen the tour - Dimension Hatross-era Voivod opening for them - sound! They have enough good songs on the latter albums to do a full set of them.
Just looking on Spotify here and the one album they don't have on it is the original version of Vapor Trails. I know the original is clipped to fuck and sounds cack at times, but the remix version was almost too cautious and sounds a bit flat. Think I might be rooting out the original tomorrow evening! (Vapor Trail and Earthshine are fucking class songs).
Earthshine one of their best songs..love it.
"The Lamb" is my favourite Genesis. and one of my favourite albums ever.
More recently can I just urge everyone in this thread to check out Kairon;IRSE because they're incredible. The "Ruination" album on Svart from a couple years ago is pretty much a perfect record. Elements of old 70s prog but incorporates bits of shoegaze and drone in places. This song in particular is fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwvYoxZpJo
Time of Orchids were great too - like Shudder to Think channeling King Crimson. This is one of the more straight forward songs and some of their earlier stuff veers close to Mr Bungle but the stuff on Tzadik is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prD-pNVgME
Singer has a solo project called Stern now which has elements of this but is less prog and gloomier/weirder overall
Am I allowed talk about the Cardiacs now? :laugh: or Art Zoyd and Univers Zero??
Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4
Forgot to recommend "Anekdoten - Until All the Ghost Are Gone" from 2015 .... christ I love that album.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
More recently can I just urge everyone in this thread to check out Kairon;IRSE because they're incredible. The "Ruination" album on Svart from a couple years ago is pretty much a perfect record. Elements of old 70s prog but incorporates bits of shoegaze and drone in places. This song in particular is fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwvYoxZpJo
Thanks for that ... liking what I've heard. I'll give the whole album a spin.
Has anyone mentioned Rush?
More prog metal than rock but The Vicious Head Society 's album Abject Tomorrow is worth a listen. Especially the title track. Band hails from Ennis of all places. It's on Spotify.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
More recently can I just urge everyone in this thread to check out Kairon;IRSE because they're incredible. The "Ruination" album on Svart from a couple years ago is pretty much a perfect record. Elements of old 70s prog but incorporates bits of shoegaze and drone in places. This song in particular is fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwvYoxZpJo
I'd completely forgotten about this! I think it was you sharing it before that alerted me to it in the first place. Good call anyway, beautiful album!
Quote from: Don Gately on October 15, 2019, 11:41:38 AM
More prog metal than rock but The Vicious Head Society 's album Abject Tomorrow is worth a listen. Especially the title track. Band hails from Ennis of all places. It's on Spotify.
This dude used to be a regular over on Eurogamer, sound guy. Didn't he get Kevin Talley to record the drums?
Smoking bit of playing.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4
Wow, what a find. That album is mental, Doom Prog or Dark/Black Prog in many ways. A great listen but I can only do it every now and again.
I love prog and over the years have found some stunning stuff on the site below - still visit it regularly. The charts are especially good for finding new stuff.
http://www.progarchives.com/
I know Van der Graaf Generator have been mentioned but check out - Peter Hammill - The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage.
Genesis and King Crimson are essential but a few others worth checking are:
Gong - Radio Gnome trilogy
Camel - Mirage
Focus - Focus III / Hamburger Concerto
I admit I'm not exactly a connoisseur of Genesis' material, but the one album of theirs I really do love is A Trick of the Tail. I tried the Peter Gabriel albums a few times and i just didn't love them for one reason or another. Have it on here now, it's really great. I must try a few of the old Prog albums. I've always been a bit afraid of them because that whole medieval aesthetic sort of fucks me up.
Listened to a couple of Rush albums and I really enjoyed Hemispheres, but I don't really buzz off the vocals. Liked the 2 Yes albums I listened to and also liked the one King Crimson album. I also like Porcupine Tree and some Steve Wilson stuff, which is obviously very derivative of the 70's stuff that I am generally afraid of.
So which one album do ye reckon would draw me in, if you had to pick only one?
What kind of metal do you normally listen to? Or music in general?
Quote from: Pedrito on October 15, 2019, 01:40:16 PM
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4
Wow, what a find. That album is mental, Doom Prog or Dark/Black Prog in many ways. A great listen but I can only do it every now and again.
Had a feeling it was gonna be this vid... What an experience.
The last few minutes of White Hammer (from "The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other) sounds like the apocalypse - which is all the more impressive when you consider this record is a few months shy of its 50th anniversary (kicks off at 6:26)
https://youtu.be/t-6QXVFcczw
Funnily enough White Hammer was what got me interested in them
Same as that, knew a few of their tracks but they hadn't clicked, heard White Hammer and it blew my head off. Really got into them after that.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
"The Lamb" is my favourite Genesis. and one of my favourite albums ever.
More recently can I just urge everyone in this thread to check out Kairon;IRSE because they're incredible. The "Ruination" album on Svart from a couple years ago is pretty much a perfect record. Elements of old 70s prog but incorporates bits of shoegaze and drone in places. This song in particular is fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwvYoxZpJo
Time of Orchids were great too - like Shudder to Think channeling King Crimson. This is one of the more straight forward songs and some of their earlier stuff veers close to Mr Bungle but the stuff on Tzadik is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prD-pNVgME
Singer has a solo project called Stern now which has elements of this but is less prog and gloomier/weirder overall
Am I allowed talk about the Cardiacs now? :laugh: or Art Zoyd and Univers Zero??
Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4
That Time of Orchids tune is incredible, been on repeat all day. What album should I start with?
Quote from: astfgyl on October 16, 2019, 09:40:24 PM
Listened to a couple of Rush albums and I really enjoyed Hemispheres, but I don't really buzz off the vocals. Liked the 2 Yes albums I listened to and also liked the one King Crimson album. I also like Porcupine Tree and some Steve Wilson stuff, which is obviously very derivative of the 70's stuff that I am generally afraid of.
So which one album do ye reckon would draw me in, if you had to pick only one?
In fairness, Hemispheres is by some margin the most difficult album to get into - and his vocals are part of that. Pretty sure Geddy Lee regretted singing in that register for the album.
Give their two seminal 80s records a go - Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves. Permanent Waves was their first record where they moved away from full on prog and tried to streamline the sound (it was the direct follow up to Hemispheres). Most of the songs are fairly digestible but still have some crazy playing on them. The instrumental section of Freewill (my favourite Rush song) sounds like something Atheist could've recorded
Agreed. Exit Stage Left a good live best of too.
Bit like a German Emerson, Lake and Palmer but a great listen
Triumvirat - Illusions on a Double Dimple
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCoIWItQ0Xs
And for something much more recent that channels the spirit of early prog bands - Genesis, Gentle Giant etc. I really like this one.
Wobbler - From Silence To Somewhere (2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2W_UAIqwbk
I've got Triimvirat's first record (Mediterranean Tales) and have always meant to dig in more.
Quote from: Pedrito on October 15, 2019, 01:40:16 PM
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4
Wow, what a find. That album is mental, Doom Prog or Dark/Black Prog in many ways. A great listen but I can only do it every now and again.
I've never listened to VdGG, but I can hear where Orne took their inspiration in that song.
Forgot to mention ASTRA ..... they have two albums, The Weirding from 2009 and The Black Chord from 2012 ... well worth having.
This is a great fan made video from clips taken from Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Wizards movies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD0HWo0T_xQ
Sounds very cool, a big Hawkwind vibe off it.
Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - Galactic Zoo Dossier
More towards the psychedelic / space rock vein but still very much 'prog'. It's fantastic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXkHekx-J3k
Favourite bands of the genre for me are Hawkwind (Space Ritual one of the best live albums ever recorded), King Crimson and Jethro Tull (especially the albums Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses).
Genesis I find quite 'dense' musically - not easy to get into, but lots going on - but the band should have changed their name after Hackett left as they moved in a much more mainstream direction and not in a good way.
Yes I just can't get into, with the possible exception of bits of Fragile and Relayer. Anderson's voice is just so fruity and flowery.
ELP are actually pretty good, despite the fact they usually get held up as an example of prog's ridiculousness. Yes they are pretty OTT but there's also a sense of fun about it all too, I find them more entertaining than a lot of the other bands.
Rush are fine up to the early 80s but their entire 82-90 output is garbage IMO, with the exception of a couple of songs. Albums like Power Windows sound like corporate ad jingles for Bank Of America, Geddy abandons his bass and mindlessly tinkers away at endless banks of keyboards, and there's a sense of a band trying to make 'deep' and 'mature' music which ironically sounds more superficial and obvious than their 70s work which is supposedly less 'adult'. Those albums have dated horribly, and in all the videos for them Geddy looks like he's lost his mind. Their 2000s output is much better though.
So if ever there was a time to explore Prog it is now. Time of Orchids and Astra from the recommendations I have listened to extensively so keep the recommendations coming.
At the moment I am completely obsessed with Genesis´ Nursery Crymes. An album I hadn't given huge attention to a bit like the Yes Album in the past, but which crept up on me and became an absolute favourite among favourites. The variety on the album, the weirdness, the beauty, the darkness, the oddity..I can't help but feel that modern metal bands and bands in general especially could really take note from some of the themes explored on this album and the shades and tones also. So inventive, so different, unique, odd..Musical Box shows what heaviness could be achieved without reliance on heavy amplifiers. Also the best way I could describe the music is it's the Dickens to Zepellin's Tolkien. It lacks that nostalgia and ethereal, mystical, Celtic feeling, it is about as British as anything can be..there's emotion in there, but it always comes with a caveat; controlled and distant. Class, class, class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35wtfcByIY
Ayreon are an excellent prog band. Maybe more along the prog metal side of things.
Some excellent rock operas in their catalogue.
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
"The Lamb" is my favourite Genesis. and one of my favourite albums ever.
More recently can I just urge everyone in this thread to check out Kairon;IRSE because they're incredible. The "Ruination" album on Svart from a couple years ago is pretty much a perfect record. Elements of old 70s prog but incorporates bits of shoegaze and drone in places. This song in particular is fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwvYoxZpJo
Time of Orchids were great too - like Shudder to Think channeling King Crimson. This is one of the more straight forward songs and some of their earlier stuff veers close to Mr Bungle but the stuff on Tzadik is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prD-pNVgME
Singer has a solo project called Stern now which has elements of this but is less prog and gloomier/weirder overall
Am I allowed talk about the Cardiacs now? :laugh: or Art Zoyd and Univers Zero??
Oh, been digging into Van Der Graaf Generator recently based on this. Amazing song, and equally amazing piece of footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPDvjUYFy4
Time of Orchids wow, working my way through their back catalogue. Can't understand how I missed em'.
Quote from: blessed1 on April 09, 2020, 11:45:04 AM
Ayreon are an excellent prog band. Maybe more along the prog metal side of things.
Some excellent rock operas in their catalogue.
Love some of the Ayreon albums. I was obsessed with the 01011001 double album.
i understand they filmed a DVD of one of the rare live gigs they did. Haven't seen it yet but it's on my watch list.
Been listening to a lot of Alan Parsons Project myself the last few months
Quote from: if6was9 on April 09, 2020, 07:16:22 PM
Quote from: blessed1 on April 09, 2020, 11:45:04 AM
Ayreon are an excellent prog band. Maybe more along the prog metal side of things.
Some excellent rock operas in their catalogue.
Love some of the Ayreon albums. I was obsessed with the 01011001 double album.
i understand they filmed a DVD of one of the rare live gigs they did. Haven't seen it yet but it's on my watch list.
Been listening to a lot of Alan Parsons Project myself the last few months
You should check out their most recent one called The Source. It's excellent
If early Genesis / Yes are floating your boat , Big Big Train are worth a listen ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4JeLGchO7s
Quote from: Pentagrimes on October 15, 2019, 09:17:06 AM
Am I allowed talk about the Cardiacs now? :laugh:
Yes. Do.
Quote from: wiped on April 10, 2020, 12:40:11 PM
If early Genesis / Yes are floating your boat , Big Big Train are worth a listen ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4JeLGchO7s
That's cool
Another album I love is Sound of Contact's "Dimensionaut" from 2013. It's a concept album about space and time travel. Phil Collin's son Simon plays drums and lead vocals - there are parts were he's unbelievably like his dad - vocal wise but also drumming style.
It's a great album although I'd probably call it "pop-prog" (not that there's anything wrong with that). Recommend giving the album a full listen ... the 19min finale "Möbius Slip" is excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t1U3rFjQu8
I tend to shy away from the likes of the Porcupine Trees of this world, preferring the older Prog, but them 2 recommendations sound great. Anything else comes to mind, I'm all ears.
Anyone a fan of Pure Reason Revolution, or are they a bit too mainstream to qualify? I loved The Dark Third, never got into anything else but apparently they've reformed and have a new one out (or about to come out), it's getting good reviews.
Quote from: Pedrito on April 12, 2020, 11:06:52 AM
I tend to shy away from the likes of the Porcupine Trees of this world, preferring the older Prog, but them 2 recommendations sound great. Anything else comes to mind, I'm all ears.
Give Steve Wilson's "The Raven that Refused to Sing" a go, it's his most overtly old school prog record and all the better for it.
Totally agree with Ducky regarding Wilson's "Raven That Refused to Sing". Don't dismiss it cos you're not a PT fan ... it's very much Wilson's most "prog faithful" album if you know what I mean.
Another pure 70's sounding prog album - plenty of jazz noodling - would be Diagonal's 2012 album - The Second Mechanism. These remind me more of Van Der Graaf Generator. It's a good album - if a little unremarkable. Worth a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUQuzRzvEPs
I was trying out some of the Peter Gabriel era Genesis from this thread and it did very little for me. Then for some reason I tried out PG solo albums, and with the exception of one of them I love them all. He has a real goldmine of stuff there and I ended up buying nearly the whole discography including the soundtracks.
A great find and I love how all of the albums are really different from one another
He is an incredible artist alright. If you like Gabriel then The Lamb Lies Down is the album I would say you might enjoy. It takes a bit of time though.
That song Solsbury Hill, what an exclamation of a song...joyful, life affirming stuff. It was written upon leaving Genesis and he had a spiritual experience on the hill he said. Something very Nietzschean about it all looking at the lyrics now. Class...I need to listen to more of his solo stuff.
Something I really love about PG is how he doesn't repeat himself. Like if you like one song, don't be surprised if you don't find anything else like it in his collection. I don't mean that in an off putting way because he does have certain elements that are consistent but the variety is something to behold. If you like the Genesis stuff I would recommend starting from the beginning of his own stuff because it's the closest to that even though it's pretty different from the off.
Must try The Lamb... again now that I've gotten into his stuff
Agree completely, and it's what I feel is the difference between so much modern music, and I'd lump a lot of metal into this generalisation...a sticking to the already tried and tested and a failure to really try something unique and new. I was in a band in my early 20's, and while I love metal I also love punk and (good)pop stuff, prog, whatever, and that can be a very tricky think to try and manifest once you go down the metal road. That said, it shouldn't be, and the metal that has stood the test of time like The Priests and Sabbaths of this world, often blurred the lines, being really infectiously poppy, writing love songs etc etc. We see it now in film especially where exciting, new, risk taking ideas are cast aside for the tried and trusted, churning out more of the same old Star Wars pap, for example, something that was fresh and exciting in it's time, but has become cliché now. Great point there about Gabriel. The likes of Bowie was similar, Iggy Pop, John Lydon amongst others.