Progressive Rock

[dave]

Progressive Rock which was pioneered such artists as
Chicago, Thier 1st Lp called Transit Authority has for a very long time time been a favorite style of music for me and countless others. Have any of you,
come across any gems that would fit into this catagory? heres what I've
found so far,

"IF"
"NEKTAR"
"CAMEL"
"TWIN AGE"
"ERE'G"
"RPWL"
"PINK FLOYD"
"YES"
"MOODY BLUES"
"GENESIS"(early stuff like taking england by the pound)
"WISHBONE ASH"
"SOFT MACHINE"
"FOCUS"
"JADE WARRIOR"
does anyone have anything to add to the list?

Regards, Dave...

[David Meek]

Oooh, good one Dave. Gotta think on it a while. Back later. . . .

[gd]

You want 'progressive'?

King Crimson

Try these titles:
- Larks' Tongues in Aspic ('72)
- Red ('74)
- Discipline ('81)
- Heavy ConstruKction ('00)
- The Power to Believe ('03)

Remember to fasten your seat belt.

[dave]

GD,, thanks for the input,I do already own "Larks Tongue In Aspic"
however I do have a question,,, have they ever released "The Beginners
Guide To King Crimson"??? I've got it on vinyl but have no table. Also don't
forget "In The Court Of King Crimson"
Regards,,, Dave...

[David Meek]

Okay Dave, you and Greg hit most of my easily remembered favs. Camel, Yes and Jade Warrior all have prominent locations in my music collection - along with some King Crimson, too.
;b>

How about. . . uh, well . . . okay, I'll keep trying.

[H.T.C]

I heard the band nektar live on a recording played on radio (not the mainstream fm stations that just play the same bands and songs over and over again} but at the end of the fm dial on a independent radio station and they did sound good.

I am not sure king crimson or moody blues or even pink floyed should be called prog rock though,thier just rock bands at least thats how we knew them to be.

[dave]

H.T.C. the recording of Nektar live is an O.K disc however the studio stuff
has alot more impact especially since they have recently remastered thier
cataloge "A Tab In The Ocean" is thier 1st effort and is a good one
"The Moody Blue's" stuff like In Search of the Lost Chord or Our Childrens
Childrens Children or even Question of Balance are nicely done statements
as well as "Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Some people even go as far as to say that Jethro Tull would fit into this catagory. It all depends on the individual and the way they percieve things. Thanks for the post,

Regards,,, Dave...

[gd]

have they ever released "The Beginners Guide To King Crimson"??? I've got it on vinyl but have no table.

Do you mean 'The Young Person's Guide...', the double LP from the mid-70s?... it was released on CD, maybe out of Japan, and is virtually impossible to find... it occasionally shows up on ebay, and is pricy... maybe because there are a couple tracks on it unavailable elsewhere.

There are other compilations... here is a source for releases with track titles: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ ... scroll down, look for 'King Crimson releases'.

Not prog?... Crim would probably not like to be considered 'prog' either, as it lumps them in with other bands with whom they have little in common... but they're hardly a regular old rock band either... few (if any) other bands have continuously created innovative and edgy music as they have for so long (35 yrs and counting).

[dave]

GD,, Yeh the Lp is called "The Young Persons Guide To King Crimson" I guess
I'm gonna have to see if I can borrow my buddy's Table and Phono Pre. so as to burn this one on disc. Another group that Im not too familiar with is
"Tangerine Dream"
I've heard a very few things by them , just enough to catch my interest.
Anyway thanks for the link, Im gonna check it out and look for some hidden treasures.

Regards, Dave...

[David Meek]

Tangerine Dream? Now you're talking! Check out these three discs:

soundtrack to the movie Thief
Underwater Sunlight
The Private Music Of Tangerine Dream

I've got others but these are my favorites. I never considered them "progressive" - to me they're more of an "electronic" or maybe "ambient techno" (I just made that up) sounding group.

[John Holmes]

Hmmmm, sounds like something new for me to checkout. Thanks Dave & David. I'll give them a listen. I know little about this genre but, I'm willing to give it a listen.

[dave]

GD, I checked out Elephant talk, Wow it's a great Crimson & Fripp site !!!
while I was there I punched up Progressive ears.com and found some very cool stuff there too! There is one artist that has been forgotten and is quite possibly the ultimate in Progressive music, A good Buddy of mine got me has got me listening to Frank Zappa, over the years he has put out some good stuff and the musicians that play along side are amazing!!!

Regards, Dave...

[gd]

quite possibly the ultimate in Progressive music... Frank Zappa

FZ is my all-time fave... been a Zappa fanatic ever since the first record in 1966.

Recommended titles:
Uncle Meat (69)... best of the early stuff.
Hot Rats (70)... jazz-rock.
One Size Fits All (75)... very popular 70s band.
Lather (77)... comprehensive overview of the 70s, many styles.
Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar (81)... all FZ solos.
Them or Us (85)... a personal fave.
Jazz from Hell (86)... synclavier.
The Yellow Shark (93)... orchestral works, Ensemble Modern.
Civilization Phaze III (94)... synclavier, the final masterpiece.

[Danbry39]

Hey, I love Zappa and the Mothers, as well as many of the groups mentioned. Interesting that ClassicsToday recently awarded Frank Zappa a score of 10/10 (for sonic/performance) for a release of his classical music. Not as much a fan of his classical style, nor for that matter some of his humor, but early recordings including We're Only in it for the Money, etc. were well loved by me as was his first, Freak Out, which was one full album and one album recorded on one side when originally released on Vinyl. Later in his career, Frank surrounded himself with some great musicians who formed some of the tightest groups ever and, as always, he continued to push the envelope with his music. Love his reggae take off on Stairway to Heaven. Greatly missed.

GD, do you have his Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life. What a tight band that was!!! I only have a handful of his CD's, but am going to look at the ones you suggested for ideas on where to go from here. You'll be my Zappa Guru. :P

Of the others, I wish everybody would get a copy of Soft Machine's Third, despite its lousy sonic quality on the compact disc release. Two out of the original four songs (one side each song on the vinyl double album release) are extraordinary imo. Their first two releases were not all that distant from the first Pink Floyd release, but, in Third, they branch out into things such as jazz much more.

[dave]

I'm in full agreement with Keith about "Soft Machine's 3rd"
it's one that everyone who's into "Progressive" should take
a listen to. Another one of thiers worth a listen is "Softs"
Thanks GD & Keith and everyone else for your valuable input.


Regards, Dave...

[gd]

GD, do you have his Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life.

Yup!... TBBYNHIYL is part of a trilogy which includes 'Broadway the Hard Way' and "Make a Jazz Noise Here'... these discs document Frank's final tour in 1988, which sadly broke down over internal bickering within the band... even cut short, this tour contained an amazing variety of material, including covers of other artists' rock tunes and classical compositions... they even covered several Beatles songs, which are currently in the can and may or may not be released, pending permission... these 3 discs are WAY highly recommended!... especially MAJNH.

Soft Machine... haven't heard them in a long time... any idea if there are newly-remastered discs by them available?

[Danbry39]

Thanks GD,

I'll look into that Zappa CD for sure.

As for Soft Machine, I don't recall a remaster which is a shame since the music itself can be quite rewarding.

[dave]

Well heres another one to add to the list, I'm surprised that I've forgotten
this one.

"Brian Auger's Oblivian Express"

Has anyone heard the material this guy has put out over the years???
heres a small list.
1. Straight Ahead, 1973
2. Closer To It, 1973
3. The Best Of Brian Auger's Oblivian Express, 2 disc set, compiled 1994


One more artist for the list is,
Michael Oldfield


Regards, Dave...

[Foxman]

I dug up this old thread because I am in a Prog Rock mode right now and have been looking for some suggestions, here is where I am at right now.

I have always liked groups that have been more or less classified as Prog Rock such as older Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd and too some extent Queen. Recently though I have been on a bit of a run with some of the newer or lessor known Prog Rock bands and was just curious if anyone knew of these groups and could add to my wish list.

What I have:

Porcupine Tree: In Absentia, Deadwing & Stars Die
Blackfield: Blackfield
King Crimson: The Power to Believe
Dream Theater: Octavarium and Metropolis Part 2
Spocks Beard: Feel Eurphoria limited edition.

What I am considering
Flower Kings has been suggested and some that I think I would like are:
James LaBrie: Elements of Pursuasion
Riverside: Out of Myslef
Neal Morse: ? and One
Spoks Beard: Octane
Porcupine Tree: Sky Moves Sideways & Up the Downstair
King Crimson: Larks Tongues in Aspic
Dream Theater: Awake & Train of Thought.

I think I tend to lean towards the harder end of the Prog spectrum. Plenty of synth and stuff is fine, but I like there to be some hard stuff in there as well.

[bigburner]

I'm not exactly sure what Prog Rock means because the definition is quite broad if you look at the musicians listed in this thread. Anyway you guys can decide.

Argent
Ashton Gardner & Dyke
Jeff Beck
Blind Faith
Blood, Sweat & Tears
The Doors
Emerson Lake & Palmer
Flo & Eddie
Foghat
Free
Groundhogs
Iron Butterfly
Jethro Tull
John Lennon
Johnny Winter
Led Zeppelin
Little Feat
Lou Reed
Steamhammer
Supertramp
Traffic
Weather Report

[bigburner]

Recommended titles:
Uncle Meat (69)... best of the early stuff.
Hot Rats (70)... jazz-rock.
One Size Fits All (75)... very popular 70s band.
Lather (77)... comprehensive overview of the 70s, many styles.
Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar (81)... all FZ solos.
Them or Us (85)... a personal fave.
Jazz from Hell (86)... synclavier.
The Yellow Shark (93)... orchestral works, Ensemble Modern.
Civilization Phaze III (94)... synclavier, the final masterpiece.

Gee, I hope you'd include these two albums on the list:
Apostrophe (') - 1974 (includes some cool bass from Jack Bruce on the title track)
Zoot Allures - 1976 (sublime guitar from FZ on Black Napkins)

[David Meek]

One more artist for the list is,
Michael Oldfield

Good one Dave. Of course Tubular Bells is the standard against which all other Mike Oldfield efforts will be judged, but one that I like even more than TB is his The Songs Of Distant Earth. It's an album inspired by the writings of Arthur C. Clarke (of sci-fi fame).

[bigburner]

Jan Akkerman & Kaz Lux - Eli

[PewterTA]

Foxman, if you don't have the these discs from Dream theater. Get them now!

Dream Theater:
Images and Words
Awake
A Change of Seasons (Just for a Change of Season as the rest are live (but very good)
Falling into Infinity (it's okay, not as spectacular the rest).
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is pretty darn good.

James LaBrie: Elements of Pursuasion - While I like James' voice (one of the best -- range wise -- of many... I just didn't get into this as much. It felt like the disc was forced... To me it seemed like a rip-off of Dream Theater. The musicality of the disc just didn't have that "good" feel to it. I felt like it was made with a cheesy drum kit and synth (though it's not and honestly is good in its own right -- just not DT caliber).

Slightly OT: Rush is releasing a 2disc DVD set this week!

[Foxman]

Thanks for those suggestions I bought DT Live at Budakon and ordered Awake and Train of Thought. I am really digging DT right now and will end up owning everything they have out, Octavian and Metrpolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory are very good disks. The Budakon disk I bought was the CD and almost imediatly I knew I should have gotten the DVD as I would like to see that show now after hearing it.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on Labrie's solo disk. I am taken back by how much stuff is out there under the radar and a lot of it is very good music, at least to me.

[dave]

It's been a long time since I've looked in on the Guide.
Was surprised to see the thread still chugging along, you guys have posted
some excellent material here. Argent for one is one of my favorites
Heres what I've come up with lately.

1. Frogg Cafe, Fortunate Observer Of Time. On the Progrock Label
2. Renaissance, Innocents & Illusions. On the Castle Records Label
3. Thieves Kitchen, Argot. Disc# TKCD002
4. Dream Theater, Awake. Eastwest records america, this one was mentioned earlier and it rates as one that should be definatly considered along with
Porcupine Tree In Absentia on the Lava Label.

Anyway you all have a Happy Thanksgiving,
Dave...