Non- English Prog.

[Metman]

Ok, I know I will get a lot of slack on this topic ( Including Ken)... But I cant get into Prog. cds that are recorded in other Languages other than English..Even though the Music is dead on & it kicks ass, If I dont understand what the Vocals are I just get turned off totallity.....I know that a lot of my cds are in French, Italian & Spanish, but they just get pushed aside due to the non- English.. Not to take anything Away from the Bands, Especially if its a concept cd ,How can I know whats going on or what the Band is trying to say.....Oh well ,let the critiziem begin..

 

[lasercd]

Not a criticism. I was like that when I was a kid.

I'm more tuned into the music than I am the lyrics. Personally I think there are about 5 or 6 lyricists that are worth a damn. Probably if I could understand Italian I would expand that number a bit. Once you get beyond Peter Hammill, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Ferry, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan its a lot of trite shit.

Growing up I used to pass up all these great looking albums at Korvettes because the vocals were in Italian or French. Eventually I got past this and now I wish I could go in the Wayback Machine and scoop up all those albums I passed on and ultimately bought for $$$$$$ years later.

 

[Metman]

I Dont Know if this is true or not, But my father years ago told me & My older brother that Korvettes stood for


E (Eight)
J( Jewish)
Kor(Korean)
Vettes(Vererians)

8 buddies who were in Korea during the war put their G.I. Bills together (or part of it) and started the store????

 

[lasercd]

From the E.J. Korvette wiki page:

"According to Korvette's founder, Eugene Ferkauf, the name E.J. Korvette was coined as a combination of the initials of its founders (Eugene and Joe) and a re-spelling of the naval term Corvette, which was the name of a Canadian marine sub-destroyer during World War II. This claim, and the fact that the name pre-dates the Korean War by three years, contradict an urban legend that the name stood for "Eight (or Eleven) Jewish Korean War Veterans".[

 

[Leyth Mulla]

This post covers more than this thread's topic so please read on only if you're interested...

I've never really minded the non-English vocals. Somewhat similar to Ken's experience, 90% of my enjoyment is related to the musical complexity/depth (including the vocal lines/harmonies) of the compositions and performance. There are perhaps a few more great lyricists in existence than Ken mentioned but, in totality, they number in the less than 0.5 percentile of the folks that are out there.

Part of my musical evolution is that, as a child, my folks started me on classical music (inlcuding numerous non-English choral works) very early on and I really did not become aware of more modern music until I was about 7 when I heard the full version of the Moody Blues' "Night's In White Satin" for the first time.

That experience was catalyst for me to shift time away from my classical records to the FM radio stations of the time where I quickly began developing a taste for The Beatles, Elton John, Queen, Pink Floyd and Genesis. Purple, Tull, Yes, Crimson, Heep, Zeppelin and Wishbone Ash came later. By 1975, I was in full-fledged hard/prog rock mode and starting to look beyond the English-speaking world for new sounds.

 

[DeepestPurple]

I usually don't mind either way. As I currently struggle through studying foreign languages, the prospect of understanding the lyrics to great bands who sing in other languages is actually a nice motivator.

 

[chrisg]

Upon hearing the first 2 PFM imports back in the early 1970's, I was hooked on non-English vocals and to this day I'd rather hear a Vocalist sing in his or her native language if they are more comfortable doing so.

 

[Mallery7]

Sometimes it's better off not knowing what they're saying

 

[lasercd]

Sometimes it's better off not knowing what they're saying

Agreed. Its also more disconcerting to hear a vocalist sing in English when they are clearly not comfortable with it. Compare Francesco Di Giacomo's vocals in Italian vs. English. Ugh!