Stevo
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Edited Jul 27, 2006, 20:06
Acceptable face of prog
Jan 19, 2004, 18:24
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I'm just wondering what prog there is out there that isn't marred with the fact of being Yes or Genesis.
I'm sure there must be some interesting, seriously inventive music that fits in the genre. It can't all have been desperately pretentious, stodgy naffness can it. Especially if PFM could be as good as they were and Caravan and King Crimson were pretty tasty.
As were Matching Mole.
Short of reading back through every review and everybody's soundtracks of our lives, is there much that people would reccommend?
I could do with filling in a few gaps methinks
Stevo
Np Larry Young Lawrence of Newark Saudia
Thought I'd repost this, which was originally posted at the start of 2004 to see if there were any more bands being reccommended
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morfe
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Re: Acceptable face of prog
Jan 19, 2004, 18:31
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Comus 'First Utterance' (not the other LP which stinks)
National Health (if you like fusion)
Algarnas Tradgard
Erna Schmidt
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morfe
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I posted the above because I like them a lot, not because they are deemed 'acceptable'.
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Lugia
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Re: Acceptable face of prog
Jan 19, 2004, 18:50
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Hm...Genesis thru "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is fairly acceptable, I think. It was after Gabriel's departure and their turn to the 'dark side' of AOR pop that their name became a four-letter word, IMHO.
Van de Graaf Generator has to go in here, especially for "H to He..."
Gong, natch. The PHP Trilogy still stands as a prog masterpiece against the bore-nality of the better-known stuff.
Soft Machine, if only on the strength of "3" alone.
An early interstice between psychedelia and prog that's interesting is Egg, with the other Dave Stewart.
And of course, Hatfield and the North and the aforementioned National Health.
Most of the lesser-known Italian scene turned out stuff that's worth listening to. I also seem to remember a band that was possibly a French/Italian hybrid called Le Orme that could whip out some very complex, dense stuff.
Too bad you can't quite say the same about the Germans. The only quasi-acceptable stuff out of there that comes immediately to mind is Novalis, and even they have some super-embarrasing moments.
And one thing that deserves revisiting is Focus. Their "Moving Waves" album, despite the presence of the pop single "Hocus Pocus", contains a real side-long gem in "Eruption". True, they could turn out some junk...but when they were on, they were quite on, indeed.
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morfe
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Focus
Jan 19, 2004, 18:56
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Focus III has one of the most enduring prog grooves I ever heard. Can't remember the title of the track but it was THEe groove within a groove!
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morfe
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Focus III
Jan 19, 2004, 18:58
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Anonymous II!
In reply to:
Focus (morfe) |
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Dog 3000
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Re: Acceptable face of prog
Jan 19, 2004, 22:25
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I don't much like "prog" at all, so since I am less "accepting" maybe these prog things I do like could be considered "acceptable"!
ELP - many of their records are not too good, but I do enjoy the first one & "Trilogy" -- the first side of Tarkus (the side-long title track) is also good in an over-the-top way.
Van der Graaf Generator - like ur-prog, the way it should be. Makes groups like ELP sound silly by comparison. "H to He" & "Pawn Hearts" are where to start. The latter post-1975 albums strike me as more like "art rock" than prog rock if that distinction makes sense.
Pink Floyd - very acceptable mainstream dino-rock with lots of "prog" tendencies at least up til 1977 or so.
Caravan -- does they count as prog? I spose. Very melodic with a hippy-jam vibe sometimes. Nice whimsical toonage.
Genesis -- can't stand any of it!! Gabriel was a good singer, but the rest of them were always so wuss.
Yes -- mildly like about half their stuff up to "Fragile", very overrated imho!
Hawkwind -- the early stuff I wouldn't consider "prog" as it's too loud and too sloppy. Probably better that way.
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Dog 3000
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The first two Soft Machine albums are classic.
Frank Zappa / Mothers of Invention, who I think were the secret original influence on a lot of the genre (complex arrangements, long songs, jazz modalities, weird noises, etc.)
Some of the more progg FZ albums to check out:
Uncle Meat
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Hot Rats
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Ahead of Their Time (live CD from 1968)
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Bess Keloid
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Re: Acceptable face of prog
Jan 19, 2004, 22:45
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Off the top of me nut:
Henry Cow, 'Unrest'
Gentle Giant, 'Acquiring The Taste' & 'Octopus'
Magma, 'Köhntarkosz'
Il Balletto Di Bronzo, 'Ys'
Area, 'Caution Radiation Area' & 'Crac!'
Oh, & anyone else see that BBC Four doc just now? I thought it was a bit of a wasted opportunity, even with Paul Stump as pundit. No real challenge to the music press party line. Even managed to make Can seem like an ineffectual band.
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morfe
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Comus
Jan 19, 2004, 23:54
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I don't know why I said they were prog. I think I mean to say "witchetty pan-tonal twig-scratch pagan folk music"
Which is a good thing if you lke being scared out of your skull late at night.
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