seeking prog rock advice from the proggers among us

J

jimbobhickville

Tyrant in Distress
Oct 12, 2001
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Pleasant Grove, UT, USA
www.librariusmetallicus.com
This has come up intermittently on other threads, but I figured I needed a thread to keep advice centralized for me. Anyway, I've been on a prog rock journey over the last year or two, and so far it has been excellent. This thread is to look for advice for where to go next. Here's where I'm at:

Yes - got all of them up to Drama, except for Going For the One, which I might or might not get. Don't care much for their 80s or newer stuff.
Rush - have all them up to Grace Under Pressure, excluding Signals, and then from Counterparts on
King Crimson - have all the 60s/70s stuff and Thraak and The Power to Believe. Should I get Construktion of Light? The 80s stuff I heard I hated.
Genesis - Trespass through Trick of the Tail, don't want any more
Camel - Camel through Moonmadness, what later ones should I get?
Anglagard and Anekdoten - have 'em all
Gentle Giant - Octopus. Where to next? BWD mentioned Acquiring the Taste and Three Friends

I haven't cared for what I've heard of Porcupine Tree.

Please make suggestions, thanks.
 
Looks like you're good with King Crimson and Camel. What about Jethro Tull? Thick As A Brick is a great place to start.
 
jimbobhickville said:
Should I get Construktion of Light?
Click to expand...
YES. This one is overlooked too often, if you like The Power to Believe you'll dig this. I'm not a huge fan of the 80's stuff either, except Elephant Talk and Thela Hun Ginjeet of course. Well, I guess most of Discipline. Always forget I actually like that album since Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair are poop.

Also look into The ProjeKcts if want something really loose and experimental.
 
Rush... my favorite albums come right after P/G. "Power Windows" and "Hold Your Fire" are the apex of what they had been moving towards in the 80's. Very moving material. 89's "Presto" is packed with great songs but suffers from flimsy production. That's their last essential release.

King Crimson... make sure to get "Discipline"... certainly one of their greatest acheivements (even though it's 80s)

Genesis... if you like "Trick of the Tail"... follow-up "Wind and Wuthering" is pretty much the same thing... and is one of their best albums IMO. Though it's often derided as the beginning of their downfall, I think 1978's "And Then There Was Three" is an excellent album. It's still quite progressive, but a lot of the excess has been trimmed. I think the material is more focused and concise. Worldwide hit "Follow You Follow Me" closes the album, but is not indicitive of the preceding tracks.

Gentle Giant... "Acquiring the Taste" and "Three Friends" are fantastic earlier works... but if you like "Octopus"... I would suggest getting their subsequent releases "In A Glass House", "The Power And The Glory", "Free Hand" and "Interview". I think GG got better on every album up through "Free Hand". "The Power And The Glory" is often considered their most complex work. Basically... you can't go wrong with anything up through "Interview"... 1977's "Missing Piece" is the beginning of their commercial downfall... but still has the amazing "Memories of Old Days"... 1978's "Giant For A Day" is worthless quasi-disco... and 1980's "Civilian" is non-essential hard rock.
 
"Going For The One" is the most progressive Yes album, so you might want to check it.
Also i enjoy much the "recent" Camel albums, especially "Harbour of Tears", but i wouldnt recommend them much.
 
Gentle Giant: DUDE, if you like "Octopus", you MUST get "Three Friends" and "Aquiring the Taste" immediately! "The Advent of Panurge", the first track from AtT, is probably on my list of top 20 songs ever. Absolutely amazing interplay between woodwinds, jazzy drumming, folky vocal harmonies, and a Led Zeppelin-esque guitar solo. I need to get the band's whole catalogue...

Genesis: what more can I say? You have all their best albums (although I really really like "Duke"). You would enjoy the 1968-1975 Box Set as well. You should also check out some of Steve Hackett's solo work and Gabriel's (obviously).

Camel: only heard a few LPs, but the best I've heard is "Rain Dances". People tend to like "Moonmadness" a lot as well. If you like instrumental prog, you can't go wrong with "The Snow Goose". EDIT: D'OH! You have those!

Yes: DUDE! If you read no other sentence in this thread, read this one: GET "GOING FOR THE ONE"!!!! It is NOWHERE NEAR the mediocrity of "Tormato" or "Drama". It is spectacular from beginning to end: the rockin opener with the slide guitar, the tearful epic "Turn of the Century", the bouncy "Parallels", the Hessian, beautiful "Wondrous Stories" and, in my opinion, THE GREATEST YES TRACK EVER -- "Awaken". Dude... just... DUDE! This song is worth the $14 alone! One of my top 3 Yes albums... you must hear it at least.


OTHER PROG BANDS FROM THE 70S YOU MAY LIKE:

Van Der Graaf Generator - excellent symphonic prog from the glory days. Very overlooked band. Sound very "modern" at times, in a good way.
Magma - zeuhl prog... wacky, technical, spacy, bizarre, brilliant. You have heard nothing like this!
Amon Duul II - not quite as wacky, but still different.
Can - the kings of krautrock!
Hawkwind - you've heard them... RIGHT?!?
Nektar - "heavier" prog from the 70s; not as technical as others, but still groundbreaking. Give "Journey to the Centre of the Eye" or "A Tab in the Ocean" a try.
Soft Machine - just buy their first 4!
Caravan - laid back, melodic jams... Canterbury prog. Most of their albums are brilliant, but especially "The Land of the Grey and Pink".
Renaissance - "folk" prog with female vocals. Beautiful.
Locanda Delle Fate, Metamorfosi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - Italian proggers that I need to hear more from!

Hope that helps a little! Remember that www.progarchives.com has samples from all of these bands.
 
I think "Drama" by Yes is a very underrated album... it's actually my favorite of theirs since I detest Jon Anderson... but there's some really heavy shit going on there.
 
jimbobhickville said:
Yes - got all of them up to Drama, except for Going For the One, which I might or might not get. Don't care much for their 80s or newer stuff. buy it. the last truly great Yes album. They did three out of the five songs from it when I saw them, including a godlike Awaken.
Rush - have all them up to Grace Under Pressure, excluding Signals, and then from Counterparts on get Power Windows and Presto, be careful with the other two in between.
King Crimson - have all the 60s/70s stuff and Thraak and The Power to Believe. Should I get Construktion of Light? The 80s stuff I heard I hated.
what Adrian said. Also give the Projekcts a try...
Genesis - Trespass through Trick of the Tail, don't want any more
Camel - Camel through Moonmadness, what later ones should I get?
The ones without the original lineup are all hit and miss...
Anglagard and Anekdoten - have 'em all
Gentle Giant - Octopus. Where to next? BWD mentioned Acquiring the Taste and Three Friends
Power and the Glory and In A Glass House are my personal favorites, though working back is also a good strategy. Refer back to PMF's summary.

From BWD's suggestions: VDGG - H to He, Pawn Hearts, Godbluff. Nektar - Tab In The Ocean, Remember The Future, Recycled. Caravan - Grey and Pink (only one I actually have, need to get Girls Who Grow Plump and Cunning Stunts). Can - Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi (just got into them, any others I need?)
I haven't cared for what I've heard of Porcupine Tree. Wait until Deadwing comes out...

Please make suggestions, thanks.
Click to expand...

fucking one charcter
 
Hawkwind
Anektdoten
Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane
Spock's Beard - Snow, V
Dredg - El Cielo
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer !!!!
Jethro Tull (pre-80's)


so much more but Im totally useless right now..
 
Id just like to add that ProgMetalFan has a "Bad Dudes" Avatar, which is the single best Nintendo game.evar. Ohh, and listen to Doomcifer, Hawkwind and Spock's Beard are most excellent.
 
I mean really... Is there a better space-rock album than this???


hawkwind_hall.JPG
 
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