Prog me, baby

[tintin]

To Satori,

There's so much great rock out there. First of all, try Miles Davis, In a Silent Way or Bitches Brew. Then go to his early 70's period, an album like Pangaea is two songs, both 45 minutes each, recording live in Japan. The heaviest music I've ever heard. Also look at Parliament/Funkadelic or Sly Stone for heavy funk/rock. Try Coltrane's late 60s stuff, Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, Don Cherry....

From the same period try exploring Krautrock. Bands like Amon Duul II, Can, early Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schultze, Ash Ra Tempel, Popul Vuh, Kraftwerk. These bands are like listening to an acid trip, the really freaky kind. These will lead to other 70s Euro prog bands like Gong, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant, on and on.

There is so much amazing music out there. Go to www.allmusic.com and just start searching.

 

[JesusChristPose]

Dream Theater and Spock's Beard - they are both excellent.

 

[Alucard]

In response to the original question....

Mahavishnu Orchestra are a great instrumental proggy jazz fusion band. I don't think anyone mentioned them yet. The Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire are two good albums.

 

[Lakestream]

Anything by Leo Brouwer
he's the god of progressive classical guitar music
=)

 

[Satori]

Wow, I simply can't understand how most of you could not think that DT is very commercial. Then I figured it out: "Commercial" is a relative term, not an absolute one, so it all depends on what you compare it to. Compared to Britney, they aren't, compared to opeth they are (but then, compared to opeth, what isn't commercial? Not much).

thanks for all the great suggestions, I'm going to reply lots when I get some time..

Satori

 

[Satori]

Originally posted by bleedingskeptic
Satori: "We need more progressive death/black metal bands, I think."

okay, are u blind?

i listed death, atheist, and cynic. and how about some dimmu borgir, katatonia, and anathema if you want more of an opethish type sound. progressieve death/black metal anyone?

You misunderstood me, I didn't mean in this thread, I mean in general, in the world.

I've always been intrigued by death and atheist, do you know where I can get samples? I already have the cynic album, they are amazing, especially the drummer (drool).

As for dimmu, katatonia, and anathema, are they really progressive, or just mildly progressive?

(please compare everything to opeth as a measuring stick we can all relate to)

cheers

Satori

 

[Satori]

Originally posted by nyleve
Genesis: Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Trick of the Tail, And then There Were Three, Wind and Wuthering.

Shit, what about Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound? These are the 2 most proggy ones I think!

Thanks for your long list of suggestions, I will check out every one of them with time.

Satori

 

[Satori]

Originally posted by Hannu Mutanen
Here are a few albums I would suggest you seek out and listen to...

RUSH - Moving pictures. Even if the singer was at that time more whiney than anyone else...(it is not bad though as his voice has a very distinct power.)

Ever hear Hemispheres? It's incredible.

I loved your suggestions, sounds like some really obscure stuff that I'll have to look into!

Satori

PS: Dream Theater sucks. heheh

 

[Hannu Mutanen]

I loved your suggestions, sounds like some really obscure stuff that I'll have to look into!

Thank you very much! I can give you some more even more obscure choices, though...

AMON DÜÜL II - Phallus dei. Really weird atmosphere, and like someone already said, it is like listening to an acid trip.

OZRIC TENTACLES - practically any album, The hidden step, for instance. They are the world's premiere mushroom band.

HÖYRY-KONE - Huono parturi. Freaked out prog with some bouncy metal leanings and some spooky strings. Strange Finnish lyrics, take the album title as an example: "Bad barber", of whose life the title track tells.

WIGWAM - Nuclear nightclub. A classic finn-prog album (in the 1970's Finnish prog was a wide, abundant scene, prosperous with new groups emerging all the time) that has survived the teeth of time. Reminds me of the greater British bands at times.

IN THE WOODS... - Strange in stereo. A very peculiar album that's hard to get into. Full of atmosphere and wavering guitars in the distance.

CIRCLE - Pori, Zopalki. Progressive through repetition. Hypnotic rock with occasional strange time signatures.

RAKOTH - Jabberworks. A very original take at mixing metal, folk and prog into an impressive piece of art.


Hm, I think that is enough for now..

P.S.: I like "Images and words" by DT, even though there are some revolting songs (like "Another day", which sounds horribly much like Elton John.) The best moments on the album are great though. And by the way, you just HAVE to check out Alamaailman Vasarat! Go to www.vasarat.com for sound samples and a video for "Kebab tai henki!" which, roughly translated, means "Give me your kebab or die!"

 

[bleedingskeptic]

i'm not gonna even bother defending fream theater anymore. its ridiculous how someone could glorify liquid tension experiment and then bash dream theater in the same paragraph. like i said before, dream theater is good, but they aren't great. whatever, at least your dissing dream theater cuz your comparing them to cynic and other prog greats and not because your a slipknot fanatic or think that linkin park conveys emotion. so i'll allow it, especially if its cuz you compare it to opeth, one of my favorite bands

in response to satori...

hmm...i don't know where you can find any death or atheist samples, but if you love cynic don't bother with samples, run out and buy these cds today!! great progressive death metal, it doesn't get much better. and i'm gonna pedal spiral architect still, even though you think you've got them figured out. THEY SOUND NOTHING LIKE DREAM THEATER!!!! they have high vocals, but its very unorthodox, nothing like labrie's. its not emotional, either, its just a middle range singer. c'mon, if you like cynic, you'll love this band. the bass playing is phenomanal, the musical concepts put into the songs are VERY intelligent and techical, the guitar switching between strange technical metal to melodic trance passages (like cynic). if you can handle the ball-less vocals of rush, journey, and the like, you will handle spiral arhcietect no problem. if your still not sure go to www.spiralarchitect.com and download the song "insect" and see. as for the cover art looking like dream theater, i have no idea where that came from. it looks like the cover art for cynic alot more than any DT cover. you may also want aghora and gordian knot, both side projects of ex-cynic memebers sean reinart and shawn malone. gordian knot is like the softer cynic stuff, like the cynic song "textures", but its got this cool fusion feel to it. aghora sounds almost exactly like cynic, only with female vocals. don't be tunred off by this, you'll bemissing out on a great band if you stick your nose up at it because it has femal vocals, she doesn't scream at all, her vocal styling is very soft and melodic.

as for the black metal bands i listed, your right, they are nowhere on the same level as opeth, but is any band? (besides death, atheist, cynic, and spiral architect) if you want some progressive black metal you can try therion or earlier amorphis stuff (trust me, amorphis's old stuff is really good, like "tales from the tousand lakes"). and if if anyone wouldn't mind, please give a list of bands that are in the same vein as opeth. i'm sure eveyone will want to see that. alot of the stuff people have been posting is awesome, it covers everything from jazz to prog rock to death metal. there may be hope for REAL music to prevail over this simplified nu-metal trend yet.

 

[Soul Forlorn]

I like Spiral Architect. I fucking love the bass. To me the singer sounds almost exactly like a cross between John Arch (Fates Warning's first singer) and Ray Alder (Fates Warning's present singer). He's not as good as either one though. He does not sound like James LaBrie, that is, unless you lump all somewhat high-pitched singers into that category. Despite all the absolutely remarkable musicianship of Spiral Architect, they get old very fast. It's like you're listening to a bunch of dudes who are basically just saying "Hey, let's make some music that's the most insanely technical shit we can come up with. Let's hit as many notes as we can and do it as fast as we can. Let's go through different time changes as much as possible. Fuck emotion and fuck melody, let's just prove that we're some bad motherfuckers." Every once in a while in their songs they have a nice melody, but it only lasts a few seconds. So you end up in a state of despair because it is never repeated. To sum it all up, I basically only listen to Spiral Architect (and similar musicians/bands) when I want to get a big hard-on to improve my skills as a guitarist/bassist.

 

[Mad Poet]

Pain of Salvation commercial?

Do you even realize what you are talking about? I'm scandalized!

Wimpy?

Sometimes, but then what's wrong with that? They do it very well. Do not insult the greatest band in the world. I'm gonna cry often if you do.

Check out Tristania... World of Glass, especially. Or Moonspell (preferably The Butterfly Effect). Not "wimpy" at all.

 

[HoserHellspawn]

Originally posted by Satori
As for dimmu, katatonia, and anathema, are they really progressive, or just mildly progressive?

(please compare everything to opeth as a measuring stick we can all relate to)

Naaaah, not really. A lot of Katatonia's stuff is pretty straightforward (it's GOOD! Don't get me wrong, I love Katatonia) but I wouldn't call it "progressive", really, at all, especially not compared to Opeth. Anathema's "Judgement" is progressive in terms of it's forward flow, the relative lack of repeated sections. It's a greatly emotional album and a solid concept record, but I wouldn't dub it highly progressive, either, it's still somewhat structured.

 

[Till Fjalls]

Originally posted by Satori

As for dimmu, katatonia, and anathema, are they really progressive, or just mildly progressive?

(please compare everything to opeth as a measuring stick we can all relate to)

cheers

Satori

Dimmu=Not progressive. Standard metal mixed with black/thrash(though with killer clean vocals.

Katatonia=uhhhh......not progressive. Regressive is more like it. Simplistic pop-like songs with distortion at times. Good though. But progressive, no....Old stuff is much cooler.


Anathema=well, I haven't listened to them much, so I will let someone else comment.


To say it again (in comparison to Opeth): Sinkadus!!! Dammit, these guys are a more twisted version of Opeth with more clean riffs, and less cheesiness!!! Well, it's hard to think of a cheesy opeth riff, but in the rare event they do, Sinkadus still have less! If you are just unwilling to look for samples, send me your damn address and I'll send you some samples on a cd!!! This band must be heard!......

(ps, I'm serious! Same for Demonspell, I want to see these guys in the songs to Watch column!)

tillfjalls@hotmail.com

 

[Ordeith]

Originally posted by Mad Poet
Check out Tristania... World of Glass, especially. Or Moonspell (preferably The Butterfly Effect). Not "wimpy" at all.

Seeing Tristania and Forlorn on Saturday ! Woohoo...

 

[Satori]

Originally posted by bleedingskeptic
in response to satori...
.....alot of the stuff people have been posting is awesome, it covers everything from jazz to prog rock to death metal. there may be hope for REAL music to prevail over this simplified nu-metal trend yet.

You have presented a very well-thought argument. I will have to give Spiral Architect another whirl and also check out death and atheist (I love those band names btw) and also look into the cynic side projects for sure (I play drums and I consider Reinhart to be a fucking GOD! the guy just blows me away and confuses the hell out of me).

Thank you very much,

Satori

 

[Satori]

Originally posted by Till Fjalls
To say it again (in comparison to Opeth): Sinkadus!!! Dammit, these guys are a more twisted version of Opeth with more clean riffs, and less cheesiness!!! Well, it's hard to think of a cheesy opeth riff, but in the rare event they do, Sinkadus still have less! If you are just unwilling to look for samples, send me your damn address and I'll send you some samples on a cd!!! This band must be heard!......

Fuck, you make Sinkadus sound sweet. I love it twisted. I'll check them out for sure, thanks.

btw, how's the weather on the rock? Are you buried in snow yet?

Satori

 

[Vortex]

Originally posted by Satori

I've always been intrigued by death and atheist, do you know where I can get samples? I already have the cynic album, they are amazing, especially the drummer (drool).
Satori

Check out the Atheist thread earlier for my description. As for Death's progressive period, try the albums Sound Of Perseverance (insane drummer), Individual Thought Patterns (Gene Hoglan, what more needs to be said) and Human (does Sean Reinert play in Cynic? he's on this album as well). They are not overtly prog, more like technical but Death have this unbeatable style of their own. Steve DiGiorgio also plays fretless bass on the latter two albums.

Hannu, I echo your words for Wigwam, and that Genesis song in your signature is brilliant - my favorite by them.

 

[Till Fjalls]

I don't know man, I'm in the big city of Toronto right now, won't be back home until Dec 18. Wish I was though, could've had halloween at home (I always used to set up our front lawn into a massive field of scary lifesize creatures, graves, and tricks).....I am sure the snow will be there soon though!!

And Sinkadus will do you much good!

 

[Onan]

Originally posted by bleedingskeptic
Satori: "We need more progressive death/black metal bands, I think."

okay, are u blind?

i listed death, atheist, and cynic. and how about some dimmu borgir, katatonia, and anathema if you want more of an opethish type sound. progressieve death/black metal anyone?

i fail to see how dimmu borgir and katatonia can be labeled as "progressive", not saying they're not good, just not prog.