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Acceptable face of prog
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Popel Vooje
5373 posts

Edited Oct 26, 2007, 14:47
Re: Acceptable face of prog
Jan 20, 2004, 20:48
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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