The "Prog-" Thread

Lots of music around nowadays. Want to talk about it?
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Dylan
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The "Prog-" Thread

Post by Dylan »

I know the forum is fairly dead recently but I'm gonna make an attempt to conjure some discussion. I am reminded of a chat session a few of us were involved in 2 or 3 months ago regarding Progressive Rock bands; I hope this to be a continuation of that chat. A progression, if you will...

My all time favourite band, Rush. Arguably the most successful and influential prog band, rock and roll hall of fame inductees (finally). In my mind; their best and most cohesive long-form song.
Going into the past a little further, Yes was one of the many bands that inspired Rush, and still continue to inspire bands today. Plagued by line up changes over the years, Chris Squire being the only consistent member. He lays down a monster bass track for this monster hit from their biggest album, The Fragile.
Name a band other than Jethro Tull who had flute as a main instrument. And if you can, can you say that that band also produced a two part, full album song that was a musical adaptation of an "epic poem" written by a fiction 8 year old boy? Didn't think so.
Those are just a few of my favourites, but I've got a bunch more including Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, and the supergroup TransAtlantic. But I wanna hear other from YOU GUYS!
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Post by Gregorovich »

That's so weird, I was just about to post this exact same thread. I home we get a good discussion warmed up here. Let's see, my favourite prog artists...

Jethro Tull
Huge fan. TAAB 1 & 2 both amazing albums. Also massively enjoyed Aqualung and Songs From The Wood. Ian Anderson is a wonderful human being.

Dream Theater
Metropolis Pt. 2 can have my babies. Damn, that is one of the finest examples of musicianship I have ever seen. A shining example of what a rock opera should be (despite the slightly confusing and convoluted plot). Six Degrees is also great.

Steven Wilson
Goddammit, as soon as I heard The Raven That Refused To Sing it became one of my favourite albums. This guy is living proof that prog is still alive and well. Also, his remasters of classic prog albums are fantastic, the best out there.

ELP
Probably the most out-there I'm willing to go in terms of prog. Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery are great albums, but I don't see myself getting the others any time soon.

Rush
I really should love all of Rush's stuff, but I only seem to enjoy the suites 2112 and Hemispheres. What albums they are, though. What albums.

King Crimson
In The Court Of The Crimson King is a spectacular piece of work (aside from the 7 minutes of ambience on Moonshine). Nuff said.

Yes
Again, a little out-there, but Fragile is rooted enough in classic rock for me to really appreciate. I'm sure I'll enjoy more of their albums over time.

Aphrodite's Child
666 has some absolutely excellent sections, and some goddamn awful sections. This band had great potential, but it's a shame their magnum opus was weighed down with so much funny-voice-spoken-word and, get this, a five-minute orgasm track.

Despite all this, I still can't bring myself to enjoy Pink Floyd or Genesis. I'm also interested to here your thoughts on this one...

I've always considered The Who to have been a prog band (up until 1975). Pete Townshend made the first medley (the 'whopping' 9-minute A Quick One While He's Away, 1966), one of the first concept albums (The Who Sell Out, 1967), the first rock opera (Tommy, 1969), and one of the first uses of synthesisers (Who's Next, 1971). His writing contained a variety of elements typical of classical pieces, such as the beautifully intricate leitmotifs which echo throughout Quadrophenia. The abandoned Lifehouse project (1971), which involved programming people's vital statistics into various synthesisers to generate their own songs, was arguably one of the most 'progressive' undertakings rock has ever attempted. It's a shame it fell apart when nobody understood what Townshend was talking about, haha.
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Post by Dylan »

Gregorovich wrote:Dream Theater
Metropolis Pt. 2 can have my babies. Damn, that is one of the finest examples of musicianship I have ever seen. A shining example of what a rock opera should be (despite the slightly confusing and convoluted plot). Six Degrees is also great.

RE: Dream Theater
Hell yes. I became an instant fan of this band from the song "The Dance of Eternity" and the little section from 2:29 - 2:49 makes me smile like a moron every time I hear it. Also, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is an absolute masterpiece. How do you follow up Metropolis Pt2, but with this! Fantastic.


Spock's Beard is a band that I have casually heard of, just never listened to. Two weeks ago I was youtube stumbling and came across this masterpiece of a song.


Transatlantic is a Prog supergroup formed by Mike Portney of Dream Theater and Neal Morse of Spock's Beard among others. If you think 42 minuets is too long a song, then close this thread because I am about to show you SEVENTY-SEVEN MINUTES of Prog EPIC-NESS. It's technically one song, but also technically twelve tracks. I like it as one song.
Gregorovich wrote: Despite all this, I still can't bring myself to enjoy Pink Floyd or Genesis. I'm also interested to here your thoughts on this one...
I haven't really tried Genesis, but what I've heard I've liked. I like Pink Floyd's less-progressive songs like "Wish You Were Here", and "Comfortably Numb" as well as the 7/4 hit "Money". Classic songs.

Shine on You Crazy Diamond and Animals are decent albums and are usually overshadowed by The Wall and Dark Side of The Moon. But they're both great.
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Re: The "Prog-" Thread

Post by X^2 »

I'm not a huge prog-fan in general, but I do listen to it occasionally. From the more traditional prog-music (fusion and all that) I especially like Zappa, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis.
I also really like this proggy-rock-punk (whatever you wanna label it) stuff like Mars Volta, Propagandhi, Black Flag and Fugazi. (Also to my fellow finlanders, and why not everyone else as well, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umhspc8sP3Y)

Prog-metal like Dream Theather on the other hand gets little love from me.
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Post by Gregorovich »

Dylan wrote: Spock's Beard is a band that I have casually heard of, just never listened to. Two weeks ago I was youtube stumbling and came across this masterpiece of a song.

Transatlantic is a Prog supergroup formed by Mike Portney of Dream Theater and Neal Morse of Spock's Beard among others. If you think 42 minuets is too long a song, then close this thread because I am about to show you SEVENTY-SEVEN MINUTES of Prog EPIC-NESS. It's technically one song, but also technically twelve tracks. I like it as one song.
Fuck man, these are awesome. Can't believe I've never heard of either before. Needless to say my library shall growing tonight.
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Post by Gutter Dreams »

I'm not really a prog fan but a few of my friends are HUGE prog friends and some are even in a band.
Anyone here listen to Gojira? Ocean Planet is a pretty cool song.
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