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Unsung Forum » Acceptable face of prog |
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Fitter Stoke 2612 posts |
Jan 20, 2004, 12:01
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Check out the Canterbury "Cup Of Tea" Scene (as Julian so sardonically describes it) for prog pleasures aplenty, in particular Caravan, early Soft Machine (avoid the later jazz stuff), Matching Mole, Egg, National Health, Gilgamesh, Gong, Richard Sinclair, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, early Kevin Ayers, and - especially - Hatfield and the North. Start off with Caravan's 'Land Of Grey And Pink', 'Soft Machine Volume One & Two', the Hatfields' 'Rotters Club' and Ayers 'Joy Of A Toy'. If they don't do it for you, the scene's not for you. Otherwise dive into the diverse world of Peter Hammill and Van der Graaf Generator with aplomb. And give Procol Harum a listen - there's so much more to them than 'Whiter Shade Of Pale'. Also check out Man, a great unsung prog combo: the Welsh answer to The Grateful Dead. 'Maximum Darkness' is a good place to start. Have fun! D
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Stevo 6664 posts |
Edited Jul 27, 2006, 19:22
Jan 20, 2004, 20:29
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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. > I got that best of the Manticore live bootlegs 2cd and the first cd is actually pretty enjoyable. Its got a better version of Tarkus on to my ears anyway. Wasn't very impressed by Tarkus when I grabbed it from FOPP Xmas before last. Stevo Np Flashing Echo Joe White Ganja
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Popel Vooje 5373 posts |
Edited Oct 26, 2007, 14:47
Jan 20, 2004, 20:48
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I'll second that. Although I'm not a huge prog fan myself, Man are one of the few groups commonly bracketed under that genre that I can enjoy. This is possibly because the prog-rock that I do like tends to be the stuff with obvious roots in psychedelia, and Man's muse included a healthy dose of Quicksilver/Grateful Dead/Airplane influence. Personally, I'd recommend "Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day" or "Rhinos Winos & Lunatics" as the best places to start myself, but that's by the by. Also, check out the Groundhogs, if you haven't already. They only just fit into the prog genre, but their best albums, particularly "Who Will Save The World - The Mighty Groundhogs" and "Hogwash" have an expansiveness that distinguishes them from other blues-based groups of their era. I'd also second Fitter's recomendations of VDGG and Hamill, and add that Phil Manzanera's pre-Roxy Music group Quiet Sun's "Mainstream" album (confusingly, actually recorded in 1974, after QS officially split up, and featuring a pre-This Heat Charles Hayward) is worth a listen too. Finally, if you fancy some prog-punk fusion, check out Here And Now's "Give And Take" album, from 1978. Recorded by Planet Gong minus Daevid Allen, its blend of early anarcho-punk and spacerock tickled my fancy even though I've never been much of a Gong fan (save for "Camembert Electrique"). Can't comment on what the other Here & Now albums are like, though, as it's the only one I've heard. And, if you can handle unrestrained quirkiness, there's always the Cardiacs... And early solo Kevin Ayers is a worthwhile listen too, particularly his first 3 albums, all inflected with a healthy dose of Syd Barrett/Noel Coward-influenced music hall whimsicality.
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copefan 214 posts |
Jan 21, 2004, 10:00
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is there one?
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Metalpub 130 posts |
Jan 21, 2004, 13:15
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I like the Lamb, it being one of the records of my youth. I even replaced my scratchy LP with the remastered CD version a couple of years ago, much to the astonishment of my aquaintances. Funny how people really hate this record, probably without ever hearing it. I was once having a chat to a couple of the staff in the Covent Garden Rough Trade, discussing the merits of various 70s British rock bands. I mentioned my liking for early Genesis, and they looked at me as if I'd admited a prediliction for perverted sex.
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Kozmik_Ken 829 posts |
Jan 21, 2004, 13:51
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Camel had their moments on earlier albums... Camel, Mirage, Moon Madness and Rain Dances. There was the Snow Goose too, but I never owned that one so can't comment. Some early Genesis can be OK too (Genesis, Nursery Crime, Foxtrot and Selling England By the Pound era)... but good moments can be out numbered by much of the fey twaddle they produced too. Peter Gabriel definitely bolstered them and much of the solo stuff on his first four solo albums is well worth a check... dunno' if you'd call it prog tho'. Surprisingly... some Group X stuff featuring Phil Collins isn't bad in a Jazz Rock kind of way (and believe me... I wouldn't call anything that included Phil Collins 'not bad' if I could help it). Jethro Tull's first couple of albums 'This Was' and 'Stand Up' are great... 'Benefit' , 'Thick as a Brick' and 'Aqualung' are OK too... but then the folky influence took too strong a hold and they became patchy (in my humble opinion!). Hawkwind's 'Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music' album could be classed as prog rock I guess... not as spacey as their previous albums with a bit of a jazzy influence in places. A lot of Hawkwind fans don't like it... but I think it's good... especially 'The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon'... very different from their usual stuff. Steppenwolf and Reefer Madness are great.
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stray 2057 posts |
Jan 21, 2004, 14:52
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ermmm.. Those Jethro Tull albums 'Stand up' & 'Benefit' are actually pretty straight blues albums, how on earth can u think of em as prog ??. The only things they did I would consider Prog are prolly the two concept albums 'Passion Play' & 'Thick as a Brick'. And as for manifesting a folk influence, well thats only two albums worth of material as well 'Songs from the wood' & 'Heavy horses'. Btw : I think Tull r complete shite except for 'Stand up' & 'Benefit' and well.. I suppose you've got to give a sorta thumbs up at the B side of the 'Minstrel in the gallery' album, I just know way, way, way too much about them. Have u heard them recently ? FFS, they've turned into Dire Straits.
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stray 2057 posts |
Jan 21, 2004, 14:56
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The 'Living in the past' album, I suppose you could call that Prog, but to my ears its just a reasonably good psych album containing the fine highlight 'dharma for one'.
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Kozmik_Ken 829 posts |
Jan 21, 2004, 15:18
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>'Stand up' & 'Benefit' are actually pretty straight blues albums. Wouldn't say they were straight blues albums. Very blues influenced yeah, but I'd say they had a bit of a proggy feel about them in places... Yeah, Thick as a Brick is probably the most proggy of them. Not holding them up as typical prog rock albums, just worth listening to. Agreed.... the live version of Dharma for One on Living in the Past is great. >And as for manifesting a folk influence, well thats only two albums worth of material as >well 'Songs from the wood' & 'Heavy horses' Well, I'd say there's a bit more of an influence than that... Aqualung has some pretty folky moments, as does Minstrel in the Gallery amongst others. They tried to go a bit New Wave in the late 70's/early 80's on 'A' which was just awful. >Have u heard them recently ? FFS, they've turned into Dire Straits. Nope... I've not heard anything they've done since about 1988. I'm not a huge Jethro Tull fan myself... just like their first few albums.
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stray 2057 posts |
Jan 21, 2004, 15:26
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Lucky you for avoiding the recent output, to be well advised. Ian Anderson even sounds like Mark Knopfler. But yrah, yr right, You can point at a folky track pretty much on all their albums after 'horses' and before 'A'. As I recall 'A' was supposed to be Ian Andersons first solo album (hence its name), but seeing as he couldn't find any other musicians who would work with him apart from the band he was forced to call it a Tull album. Then he came out with a shitty solo album much later 'walk into light' or summing. Anyhow, must stop talking about Tull, am coming out in a rash. ;)
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