right, that's the kind of stuff i used to write.  lots of composed stuff, but also specific jammy parts.  it got a bit ridiculous.  we also loved segueing from one song to another and then back.  one time, early on, we were in a battle of the bands and we switched off sets.  we ended our first set in the middle of a jam.  after the next band played, we picked up the jam where we left off...so that other band's set was IN our song!

i'm with you, i never really understood the divide between jam and prog.  phish, for example, is totally a prog band, especially the earlier fugues etc.  i loved them and the dead several years before i got into prog.  just seems like a logical progression 

i really think that anyone who is into a certain rock genre is usually a total music fan and has gone through it all.  when i first got the bug, i wanted to hear everything...and i did.  it's just in the last few years i've kind of settled into my top favorites and not been too eclectic.  my top artists are TFK, Dead, Neil Young, Pat Metheny, Yes, Rush.  of course, i love blasting classic rock at any time.  love me some joe walsh, eagles, zeppelin, foghat...ya know!

In college I loved jam bands.  Grateful Dead and Phish were favorites.  The scene got pretty big in the early to mid 90s, especially in the midwest.  We had a local band called Ekoostik Hookah that got pretty big.  I played keys for a jam band around that time as well.  We actually had a little scene going in southern Ohio.  If we'd gotten our sh*t together, we would've had festivals etc.  

I still like Phish a bit, but don't listen to anything other than a few studio albums.  Lawnboy, Rift, Story of the Ghost and Billy Breathes are three of the best albums of all time.  Very proggy.  I saw them live over 50 times.  They kind of lost their way in the late 90s.  Haven't seen them since.  Glad they're back at it.

Love the Dead and love Jerry Garcia.  Seen them countless times as well.  They had some proggy stuff, especially Blues for Allah, as Infandous mentioned.  Their mid to late 70s stuff is incredible.

I'm not to into Umphrey's.  They sound like any other generic jamband that came out in the 90s.  I know they do some composed stuff as well as ambient beats and stuff.

Dennis's edit of Snow is superb.  All should listen now!

Love Bela Fleck.  Seen him several times live.  Very enjoyable and easy to listen to.  I was just thinking I need to catch up with them.  Thanks for the recommendation Darkshade.

Also, as far as fusion goes.  There was a time that was all I listened to.  Like Dennis, I preferred the composed stuff like Mahavishnu and RTF.  The jammy stuff was cool, but gets a bit boring.  Although, I love me some Weather Report.  Not to much into straight ahead jazz unless its guitar.  Love Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie, Terje Rypdal.  All proggy and listenable.  Terje Rypdal sounds like Roine at times.

Damn, now what should I listen to...prog, fusion, Dead...think I'll go with Bela Fleck

Intersting list -  Ive read quite a few obviously - I may pick from that list for my next few books....

I won't be buying the Intelligent design bollocks listed though......just one dick looking for a designer when there is clearly no such pattern nor infallible designer DOH!!!

Hmmm, sounds like the geezer who wrote that wasn't getting any and in his frustration he decries all those filthy women who actually like to sleep with men (but not him obviously), fancy that eh?

The whole bible is such a crock of sh*t (bronze age ignorance) - why anybody would still use it as a basis for their life frankly depresses me....Better to read "Origin of Species" and marvel at the simplicity and beauty of an idea that should really have been realised before the genius of Darwin, the fact that it wasn't is probably due to the lazyness of mind that reading holy books leads to...Religious belief is definately a mental illness......

Anyway what were the books that inspired "Be"?

that TA news is great!   TA-4 would be cool title.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Another great tune.

Herbie is one of my favs

Besides being a prog-head I'm also a jazz-head

 

 

Nah. I'm the same way with "H" era Marillion. I own about 5 of those LPs, and KNOW they are a good/great band, but it doesn't resonnate either. Every now & then I listen and enjoy but rarely do the tunes stick in my head.

 

However being new to TFK I have "LoLines" buzzing through my head, and last week it was "Minor Giant Steps"

 

 

A prog shrink.....hmmmmm....

Would it be Dr. Spock (Beard): "Now tell me about more your (atome heart) mother and your dreams (theater)"

they definitely aren't an immediate band, although, that chorus on stardust, the song, is quite memorable.  i liked the sound of the band, so i just focused on listening to them rather than judging them (not saying you are).  for me, the days of fist pumping, euphoric reactions to music are gone.  nothing really blows me away anymore and the classic stuff that did i've heard a billion times.  so, i just settle in with some TFK and listen for surprises and when a killer riff comes around, that's icing on the cake.

no, you're totally right.  the stuff on the radio today is not 'band' music...it's electronic hip hop.  i really don't hear any of the poppy prog stuff could be on the radio now or in the past.  the production is just so different...especially since the 70s.  

I hosestly can't recall a single melody or song on them. Maybe it's just me and something with TFK doesn't resonnate with me but I have been listening to prog snce 1969.

Maybe I need to see a prog shrink...?

 

 

For me, All Of The Above and We All Need Some Light are the best TA songs ever - the rest of SMPTe (especially the Procol Harum cover) doesn't do a lot for me. Bridge is a more even album but I don't think anything on it comes close to the 2 songs named above. As for The Whirlwind, I like it and I think it's the best complete album - though even as a Christian I think Dancing With Eternal Glory is a bit cheesy!!