Prog Rock for Life

damonjewel

Johnny Storm wrote: »

I really like Tull and I'm still waiting for them to become fashionable again.
The folk stuff became increasingly what they were about but IMHO a large part of their appeal was Ian Andersons voice. His voice is just very listenable. He could sing any old ****e (and often did) and make it sound profound and evocative. In terms of the musical qualities of his voice I'd put him up there with Peter Gabriel and ahem .... Cat Stevens

Ian anderson is one fantastic performer and his musicianship and as you put it the appeal of his voice do make Tull very listenable however I don't think the material stacks up, There best 3 albums in my opinion are 'aqualung', 'thick as a brick' and the absolutely essential 'Benefit', I wouldn't really be bothered with anything else

damonjewel

Karl Hungus wrote: »

I didn't suggest that prog in general has folk leanings, but rather I'm asking specifical what people think of those prog bands that do have folk influences.

Fair enough, I think in all the different parts of Prog there are good and bad. I certainly think that Folk sounding bands seem to have more than their fair share of excellent bands.

Karl Hungus

damonjewel wrote: »

Fair enough, I think in all the different parts of Prog there are good and bad. I certainly think that Folk sounding bands seem to have more than their fair share of excellent bands.

Aye, there's plenty of great Prog out there. I love it, but feel that at times I've barely scratched the surface.

Interestingly though, I was over on the Indie/Alternative board, and I was making mention of David Sylvian. He's done some fantastic stuff with Robert Fripp, and he was even approached to be the vocalist for King Crimson at one stage. Anyway, they made some exceptional music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgFrI81fMdY

mike65

damonjewel wrote: »

Ian anderson is one fantastic performer and his musicianship and as you put it the appeal of his voice do make Tull very listenable however I don't think the material stacks up, There best 3 albums in my opinion are 'aqualung', 'thick as a brick' and the absolutely essential 'Benefit', I wouldn't really be bothered with anything else

FAIL! You didn't even mention mention Stand up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo_aqcub9j4

Mike.

damonjewel

Well Stand up is good as is This was, but is it Prog? Its bluesy its folky & its hippy, proto-prog perhaps but anything post aqualung is not for me! Also did Tony Iommi play on this album? I know he was with them pre-sabbath but not sure he recorded with them. he plays with them in the Rolling stones rock and roll circus gig

Heres the clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIyvb2gtOSA

mike65

You better have another listen for tracks like A New Day Yesterday and For a Thousand Mothers which rocks out the album in fine style.

As for Iommi he was never commited to tape with Tull except as part of that Stones gig when Mick Abrahams left he filled in for that engagement. Just as well he never joined cos Martin Barre might have ended up in Sabbath and a whole different sound would have resulted!

Mike.

damonjewel

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Aye, there's plenty of great Prog out there. I love it, but feel that at times I've barely scratched the surface

I've been listening years and I can easily say the same!

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Interestingly though, I was over on the Indie/Alternative board, and I was making mention of David Sylvian. He's done some fantastic stuff with Robert Fripp, and he was even approached to be the vocalist for King Crimson at one stage. Anyway, they made some exceptional music

Ah King Crimson one of the best, and Fripp is a genius. The funny thing with David Sylvian is that he is very arthouse and would have had a lot in common with some of the more avant garde prog bands of the seventies. Also some of the 80's bands (including new romantics) had some wonderful musicians, musically its not to my taste but you have to admire some of the workmanship of these guys, and its interesting how some have forged alliances with old Proggies e.g. Trevor Horn and Yes, Sylvian and Fripp, Peter Gabriel and his many alliances, Im sure there are way more if I gave it some thought

damonjewel

mike65 wrote: »

You better have another listen for tracks like A New Day Yesterday and For a Thousand Mothers which rocks out the album in fine style..

Will give it a spin when I get home and get back to you. Years since I heard it

mike65 wrote: »

As for Iommi he was never commited to tape with Tull except as part of that Stones gig when Mick Abrahams left he filled in for that engagement. Just as well he never joined cos Martin Barre might have ended up in Sabbath and a whole different sound would have resulted!

Mike.

Totally agree here, imagine what could have happened?

Karl Hungus

damonjewel wrote: »

Ah King Crimson one of the best, and Fripp is a genius. The funny thing with David Sylvian is that he is very arthouse and would have had a lot in common with some of the more avant garde prog bands of the seventies. Also some of the 80's bands (including new romantics) had some wonderful musicians, musically its not to my taste but you have to admire some of the workmanship of these guys, and its interesting how some have forged alliances with old Proggies e.g. Trevor Horn and Yes, Sylvian and Fripp, Peter Gabriel and his many alliances, Im sure there are way more if I gave it some thought

Yeah, Sylvian's got a fairly big prog leaning, looking up on wikipedia he's even done some stuff one of the guys from Can, and the keyboardist from Porcupine Tree, although I've never heard any of that.

I probably wouldn't be as familiar with other 80's artists who've collaborated with prog musos, so you'll have to fill me in on that one... If it's half as good as Sylvian/Fripp, it'll be worth checking out.

damonjewel

Karl Hungus wrote: »

I probably wouldn't be as familiar with other 80's artists who've collaborated with prog musos, so you'll have to fill me in on that one... If it's half as good as Sylvian/Fripp, it'll be worth checking out.

Now there's a challenge, must give that a thought but would be difficult to top. Some more 80s and prog alliances come to mind, not to my taste but there's Eno and U2, and a bit more tenuosly The power station Robert Palmer with half of duran duran and Tony Thompson from chic.

My point here is that when you look at the hairstyles and fashions of the 80's bands, it is easy to overlook that some of these guys could really play and probably if they were a decade younger they'd be probably in a prog band

Karl Hungus

damonjewel wrote: »

My point here is that when you look at the hairstyles and fashions of the 80's bands, it is easy to overlook that some of these guys could really play and probably if they were a decade younger they'd be probably in a prog band

I wouldn't disagree with you at all man.

You could even say the reverse of that though, consider Phil Collins a prog musician turned typical 80's pop fare. I've got a soft spot for Phil though.

damonjewel

Well there are a lot of guys as well as Phil Collins who had credible 70's prog credentials that went seriously commercial by crossing over to Pop, such as Peter Gabriel (So) Bryan Ferry (Boys and Girls), Godley and Creme, Yes (90125). There's probably hundreds of more examples.

Arucard

i've been listening to 3s The End is Begun all week - easily my favourite album at the moment. alas its all i have *right now*. ****ing great album

MoominPapa

Getting back to the 70s heres a semi forgotten gem Nektar
Journey to the centre of the eye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmva-dBiiRU

I have their 3rd album Remember the Future, haven't listened to it in ages and dont remember it being as dark as this

On a different tack any fans of Kansas out there?
I don't know much of their stuff but fear we may be entering the afore mentioned Barcley James Harvest territory :eek: (Poor mans moody blues indeed)
Wayward Son is class though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB17uWuBrL0

PattheMetaller

Anyone know where stocks a wide range of Prog CD's in Ireland? Apart from Dream Theater, Opeth, King Crimson, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard etc in HMV I've had to use www.progrock.co.uk to complete my Flower Kings collection and get stuff by acts such as Tiles. I'm interested in Seiges Even, Kaipa, Beardfish etc

Ruaidhri

Hey,

I honestly urge you to check out Gordian Knot if you like prog -- seriously amazing band. You're best bet is Emergent (hint: First time all former members of Cynic perform together since they disbanded in 1994).

Here's the official youtube vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLbAs7boRHc

galwayrush

Opus Tide, new band from London, worth checking out, Album called Open the Gates. Amazing Drummer.:cool:
http://www.myspace.com/opustide

Arucard

Ruaidhri wrote: »

Hey,

I honestly urge you to check out Gordian Knot if you like prog -- seriously amazing band. You're best bet is Emergent (hint: First time all former members of Cynic perform together since they disbanded in 1994).

honestly, i think the self titled is a FAR better album. its ****ing stunningly good.

damonjewel

Some nice clips there. Had to laugh at Kansas, I actually find the American prog scene very odd, as you have the radio friendly Kansas, Styx, Journey etc whilst you have the other end of the out there Zappa and Captain Beefheart. One American band I found Viola Crayola are really good they had one album breathing of statues, well worth checking out if you come across it.

Maybe some of you will appreciate this, this Grobschnitt from Germany, not considered Krautrock by many as it seems to be more in line with British prog (Camel, ELP, Genesis etc). This is their masterpiece Solar Music, takes a few mins to get going but you have to love the bassists sleaves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P4ndS-6Lmk

damonjewel

Actually here is a stream of viola crayola to listen to, enjoy

http://www.imeem.com/people/iWsurYO/music/-y_wcvsm/the_viola_crayola_mr_leroy_pepe_is_lost/

damonjewel

PattheMetaller wrote: »

Anyone know where stocks a wide range of Prog CD's in Ireland? Apart from Dream Theater, Opeth, King Crimson, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard etc in HMV I've had to use www.progrock.co.uk to complete my Flower Kings collection and get stuff by acts such as Tiles. I'm interested in Seiges Even, Kaipa, Beardfish etc

Tower records off Grafton street use to have a half decent supply, but really mail order or ebay is the way to go. Ultima Thule records in Leicester is where I go, it specialises in Krautrock Prog but would have plenty of other stuff there too. Alan there is very knowledgeable and helpful.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ultimathule/

PattheMetaller

Thanks Damonjewel,

HMV on Grafton St weren't bad either got some Vanden Plas stuff there.

eljono

Slightly off topic, but after reading this thread and seeing other ones where Porcupine Tree were mentioned, I bought their album Fear of a Blank Planet last week. Absolutely love it and listening to it a lot. Just wondering if anyone could tell me if their earlier stuff is as heavy or not. I really like the sound from this album and would love to hear more within a similar vein.
Oh ya, cheers lads for recommending them!

nyarlothothep

In Absentia is as heavy and regarded as Wilsons best album apparently. His earlier stuff isn't as heavy, (well I only have up the downstair, there are plenty of more albums besides), but I would describe it as classic rock/pink floyd-esque with some rave influences.

Karl Hungus

In Absentia is certainly a terrific album.

rednik

Nobody has mentioned Asia who having got back together over the last couple of years released a new album Phoenix a couple of months ago. Aftermore than 25yrs since the first album came out I bought the album and was pleasantly sursprised at how good it was. Don't think it will sell like the debut album but it is a lot better than some of the new releases.

If you think of the history behind the band. John Wetton previously with King Crimson,Wishbone Ash. Steve Howe of Yes fame. Carl Palmer of ELP and Geoff Downes of the Buggles. I have tickets to see them in London next year,I wanted to see them in the states in 82 but just missed out.

dubharlinn

I love prog rock and metal.
Specially Porcupine Tree, Andromeda, Camel, Ayreon, Ambeon,...

but I want to show you a classic german group which I think you have not mencionated.
They are Eloy. Melodic, good guitars, piano, and voice... :rolleyes:
I think they are not very known. At least In Spain...:mad:
A few good songs

Eloy - point of no return

Eloy - poseidon's creation part1

damonjewel

Eloy are highly regarded by Prog fans, not that highly rated by Krautrock fans but still a great way to get introduced to the wonderful world of 70's German Prog and Krautrock

From a spanish point of view have you heard Triana, Andalucian Prog no less!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx3HCAWoAso

dubharlinn

Wow! did you hear about Triana?! They were fantastic
That song, El lago, is one of the best spanish songs in history! Another good Triana's song is "Abre la puerta niña"
Here it's a cover very well done by Medina Azahara, another "andaluz" group , but less progressive and more heavy and modern lol. Medina Azahara's singer is similar to Triana.

Congratulations! you like good groups

damonjewel

I came across them through this link for Spanish Prog

http://www.dlsi.ua.es/~inesta/Prog/index.html

also you might like this Crack in the cosmic egg, a brilliant online reference book for German Prog

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ultimathule/krautrockers.html

Nice clip!

Cheers

Damo