When were you infected by Prog?

When I was 12, 90125 was the album amongst my nerdy friends.  I don't think any of us had any inkling of who these guys were, but we loved it.  Flash forward a few years when I went into a record store to buy a copy of Pink Floyd's Meddle (I loved the Floyd but still had no idea about prog, ELP was the band I associated prog with).  The guy behind the counter put on a disc he thought I'd like as well.  It was Fragile, and I finally made the connection.  From then on, I've loved the prog, not always to exclusion like these days, but it was the beginning of my journey.

I think I started listening to Genesis when I was 9 or 10. and then Yes by the time I was 11. I think that can pin it for me.

(This is actually my first comment ever on this site, hopefully it is okay to respond in an existing thread like this rather than starting a "hi I'm new!" topic in the introductions forum. But I digress).

Anyway, I was born in 1978. Like many (if not most) humans I recall noticing and liking certain bits of music starting at a very young age. My dad was into a lot of bands that I only now realize would be considered prog (Jethro Tull, Yes, etc.) so possibly that made an impression even before I was capable of forming conscious memories, but who knows.

It took me a while to get into any rock music at all of my own accord; if you'd asked me when I was twelve what my favorite song was, I'd likely have reported it was a tie between Bach's "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" and John Williams' "Star Wars" orchestral theme music. Essentially I've been shamelessly nerdy practically since birth, and always had a hard time relating to the kinds of music my peers in the 80s and 90s were listening to growing up. I mean I liked a few random things I saw on MTV back as early as kindergarten but mostly my personal choices in musical entertainment up until I was in junior high mainly consisted of bizarre British "children's songs", classical pieces, and movie themes/show tunes.

Then, when I was in 7th grade, my music teacher for some reason decided to play Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" to the class. And I was utterly astounded that such a piece of music even existed. Thus started my quest for "more like this, pls". I ended up acquiring casette copies (some directly recorded from LPs belonging to family friends, etc.) of several other Queen albums and really got into them -- at least when it came to the earlier material. While I understand that some bands like to experiment with different sounds and themes over time, I still can't really get into most of Queen's 80s/90s material. What really drew me in was the stuff with the supremely layered multi-track guitar and vocal recordings on albums like "A Night at the Opera". That and "Queen II" remain my favorite albums of theirs.

By high school I'd become deeply infatuated with Pink Floyd...the very first CD I ever bought with my own money was "The Wall". Listened to that one a lot, along with my dad's "Dark Side of the Moon", and then discovered "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and was amazed all over again.

Of course eventually I got curious about other artists, and it has only been over the past year that I've realized the common thread in the music I like most: that is, it tends to be either prog or share characteristics with prog (in terms of scope, subject matter, etc.).

As in, give me 20-minute shamelessly bombastic epics that quote Tolkien or expound on existential questions ANY day over the stuff that I guess is supposed to be more "relatable". Not that I disdain punky or bluesier material (I really like a lot of Zeppelin, when I am in the right mood for it), there's just something about the complexity and multilayeredness and esoteric themery found in prog that does something awesome to my brain that nothing else has so far proven capable of doing.

Oh and as for what I am listening to these days (in addition to the "old stuff" which never gets old)? My boyfriend introduced me to Queensryche a few years back (via Operation: Mindcrime), who I quickly came to appreciate considerably. More recently, I've been playing everything I've been able to get my hands on by Phideaux (from whom I am especially fond of "Doomsday Afternoon" and "Number Seven"). Also am in the process of exploring some things by Muse and Dream Theater. Oh yes and Porcupine Tree (so far I really like "In Absentia"; "The Incident" is okay as well but I like IA better). And also some artists that aren't exactly prog rock but which share certain characteristics, e.g. Joanna Newsom (the Ys album mostly...very very epic if nothing else!) and Rasputina (again, not exactly prog rock, but what's not to like about a cello-heavy ensemble singing about volcanically-induced climate change and fictional steampunk alt-history stories involving Pitcairn Island?).

So yeah. I guess the short version of that is "It's all Queen's fault". But glad to be here at any rate and I look forward to learning about new exciting musical adventures to pursue and enjoy!

think it was genesis i was 12 or 13 i think and mostly interested in more heavy metal- hard rock stuff until i dig out this genesis album from my brother's collection the album was "the way we were : longs" and the old medley thing was just blew me away i wasn't even know then that peter gabriel had played in the genesis and that he was just some solid pop singer and genesis was a pretentious 80's (very synth-ish) pop band but after that record i really started to resarch about genesis read lots of biographys and that kind of stuff and become a solid fan of this band after that it was just like a roller coaster ride!!

when i was old enough to listen to my father's albums. (floyd, tull, zepp, and a lot of less know bands which i didnt really cared about by then)

Listened to my mom's vinyl collection in 6th grade. Had Animals, Some Doors albums, and early Beach Boys albums as well. Other albems werent so great

I honestly don't remember. The term "prog" or "progressive" hadn't even become a part of my vocabulary at the time I discovered bands like Love, The Moody Blues (old), Genesis......I just liked the music. This was back around '92-'94.

Yay, first post :)

Xanatos wrote: First :D

Hmmm...I'd have to say it was within the space of a year in high school, between 76-77.  I saw concerts with Genesis (Trick of the Tail), Floyd (In the Flesh-Animals), Yes (Going for the One), and Tull (Songs From the Wood). It was a prog overdose. Well, it was an overdose of one thing or another, in any case.