Prog "Masterpieces" that you couldn't get into - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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Barbu

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 12:49

Can't think of any, really.

HosiannaMantra View Drop Down

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 12:46

micky wrote:

^ pfff... they stole that intro from PFM's Appena un Po' .. and trust me man... they owned it. No one does melody like Italians... no one does bad food and great beer like the English LOL

I listened to both songs million times, and I missed the link. OK, both start with Mellotron, but different melody. However, Genesis must've had PFM in mind while doing "Selling England by the Pound".

On topic:

Prog (& related) classics that never really clicked with me:

Rush - Somewhat OK band but not really my stuff.

Queen - The same.

Van der Graaf Generator - Their "unexpectingness" became very expecting and sound-alike after 3 albums, but that didn't stop them from 10+ minutes of noodling and trying to keep up with Peter Hammill's increasingly dramatic interpretations of increasingly hermetic texts. Some gems aside, I'd always choose SBB over VdGG if I'm in a mood for sinister eclectic prog.

David Bowie - OK, he had a couple of good albums that I suspect are more of Brian Eno's ("Heroes"), Robert Fripp's ("Scary Monsters"), and Donny McCaslin's ("Blackstar") brainchildren than Bowie's. Otherwise, he quite sucked at performing art rock and I don't think he really knew what to do with influences from Neu!, King Crimson, Pink Floyd etc. most of the time. Generally, his Rn'B albums work much better to me.

Alan Parsons Project & ELO - Never felt an urge to listen to them closely.

...and there are some more recent prog classics like Radiohead, Muse, The Mars Volta that simply don't work for me.

Edited by HosiannaMantra - November 24 2016 at 12:56

CPicard

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 12:38

- Most of Genesis' stuff.
- Every Yes release.
- King Crimson and everything Fripp-related.
- Soft Machine and the whole Canterbury School.
- RIO, zeuhl, kraut-rock, avant-garde and all this socialist crap.
- ELP, overestimated virtuosos whose only interesting repertoire was their cover of classical music, butchered by drums and electronic keyboards.
- Rush, a band that I just don't understand.
- Prog-metal, a hideous thing in itself.

octopus-4

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 12:37

I've never liked Genesis

Curiosity killed a cat, Schroedinger only half.
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Passka

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 12:29

-almost whole Yes discography, especially Fragile (I like them but not so much)

-Rush almost whole 'A farewell to kings' and few songs on 'Hemispheres'

-whole 'Aqualung' album (liked it very much in the beggining but later just couldn't give a damn about it)

-Karn Evil 9 from ELP and few others

-Gong 'You' never sounded good to me as 'Angels Egg' (doesn't mean I don't like it at all)

Edited by Passka - November 24 2016 at 12:32

AlanB

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 11:09

I never "got" King Crimson or Genesis, and although I like a fair bit of Yes' material I don't understand the hype over Relayer.

Also I never appreciated Animals, but I do like The Wall and I love Dark Side and WYWH.

micky

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 10:36

I suppose I could say the same myself... half the top 100 I probably consider half as good as the better Willie Nelson album. There is a lot of great prog out there.... but it isn't necessarily from the bandwagon flavor of the genre English favorites...

again.. I'd put my holy Italian 3 against ANY English album in that top 100... they were simply better albums (or as good when you get to the very top of the 100)... but as I noted earlier... exposure and sentimentaily and Anglocentricity.. are powerful factors in determining what people know and like.

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zravkapt

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 10:19

I don't give a sh*t about half the albums in the PA Top 100; most of my fave prog albums aren't even in it.

Magma America Great Make Again

micky

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 10:03

fredyair wrote:

I find Wind and Wuthering to be a remarkable album, go figure...

I wouldn't go that far.. but outside of Selling England by the Pound (flawed as it is) that is the prog Genesis album I enjoy the most. It might lack the high points... Cinema Show and Dancing with the Moonlite Knight.. it doesn't have the low points... 15 odd minutes of pure 1 star sh*t that Selling England has...

then again. that is my point about Genesis.. they were simply too inconsistent .. never had a perfect 5 star album that most all.. hell.. ALL the other similarly regarded (big 6) groups did have. They get into that Mt. Olympus discussion more for importance and influence on limp dicked Neo prog...than their actual output IMO.

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fredyair

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:58

I find Wind and Wuthering to be a remarkable album, go figure...

Long live Progresive music!

micky

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:34

fredyair wrote:

I am a 70s prog fan, that's where and when all started for this music and for me too, yes I am old, but the music that never "clicked" for me is most of Genesis' work, don't know why or how, but I don't get it.

that is the point... there is nothing to get.. the love is just a product of revisionist fanboyism... boring.. boring boring.. at least until they found their true callings as a vehicle and backing band for Phil Collins LOL

that said... they did have the occasinal spark of prog brilliance.. but far too inconsitent to have anything they did ever be considered classic. Even their 'best' prog album was fatally flawed with a horrid More Fool Me and a compeltely flaccid 11 minute deathmarch... enough to knock a true 5 star classic down to a 4 star flawed masterpiece

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siLLy puPPy View Drop Down

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:31

Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot are two classics that no matter how hard i try i cannot understand why in the friggin world everyone is so gaga over them. Anything after the second Riverside album leaves me cold as well. Lucikily i can almost always get something out of an album even if it's not my personal favorite but there are those very few albums that not only do i not click with but they actually make me cringe!

micky

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:29

Zappy wrote:

I definitely share the missing enthusiasm for IQ's catalogue...and I've tried and tried to like it....

don't sugarcoat it... IQ sucks LOL

.. they don't belong in the conversation irregardless.. who really considers them or anything they did as 'classic'

The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip

fredyair

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:29

I am a 70s prog fan, that's where and when all started for this music and for me too, yes I am old, but the music that never "clicked" for me is most of Genesis' work, don't know why or how, but I don't get it.

Long live Progresive music!

Zappy

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:28

I definitely share the missing enthusiasm for IQ's catalogue...and I've tried and tried to like it....

micky

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:26

Originally posted by Upbeat Tango Monday

Upbeat Tango Monday wrote:

Most RIO/Avant Garde "masterpieces". Bands that can't play worth sh*t, but "hey! it's art"...

hey now.. that was MY line... Angry

back before Uncle Ian and Auntie Raff actually got me listening to it.

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Upbeat Tango Monday View Drop Down

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:24

Most RIO/Avant Garde "masterpieces". Bands that can't play worth sh*t, but "hey! it's art"...

Two random guys agreed to shake hands. Just Because. They felt like it, you know. It was an agreement of sorts...a random agreement.

micky

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:23

Hercules wrote:

British beer is astonishing, but don't diss the food. Real British food is delicious. Mind you, I'm really partial to our local American "Man v Food" diner (Huckleberry's York) as well.

yeah.... sterotypes aside... if the faire of the local British pubs (said to be very authetic in this area as obviously we have a large expat, diplomatic community here) is any guide .. it isn't half as bad as the jokes make it out to be. Thumbs Up

Surprisely... Raff really took to American cuisine... especially Southern. And though not the drinker I am.. she agrees wholeheartedly with me that we have gone from the armpit of the beer brewing universe to its shining light. The best beers in the world are now coming from this country... shocking for those who grew up chugging the Beast and Buttwiper and you felt halfway cultured ordering a Stella or a Guinness...

The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip

Hercules

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 09:06

British beer is astonishing, but don't diss the food. Real British food is delicious. Mind you, I'm really partial to our local American "Man v Food" diner (Huckleberry's York) as well.

Classics I never got on with: anything by KC or VDGG, The Wall, Sgt Pepper.

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micky

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Posted: November 24 2016 at 08:55

definitely a Plague of Lighthouse Keepers... many of you all are frickin nuts...

yes the first half of it .. said it once.. said it a hundred times.. the first half on it is one of the best.. most evocative pieces of prog I've ever heard.. but then there is the 2nd half where it does a 180 and becomes one of the most awful dogsh*t pieces of prog I've ever heard...

a prog classic? hah.. pfff....only in illustrating the dangers and extremes of prog rock.

When great.. it rules.. when it sucks.. oh god how it sucks...

Edited by micky - November 24 2016 at 08:56

The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip