Prog Europa: Top 10 European Prog Bands

Hi,

Not really personal because there are a lot of modern things I am listening to ... but my only concern was the amount of work done, since one album or two is not enough of a "story" of what the band is about.

Yes, there is a problem here ... we can applaud Mozart and Beethoven and whatever because their history is incredible in terms of amount of work, but a band that had one album is never going to get the track record (yet!) that will allow them to stand up, even if they deserve it ... 

I wish there was a way to vote "equally" so that these things would not be SLANTED like the top bs list that we have with one band having 6 albums in there ... and other bands deserving that have none! That is something that does not say ANYTHING WHATSOEVER about any music ... all it says is that the popular vote is en force and it shows that many folks have heard those 6 or 7 albums but they will never bother to give a complete listen to that one album that is not on the list ... and that's the part that hurts ... just like actors in theater and film, there are about 80% of all folks in acting out of work ... and their chances? Minimal! And the same for a lot of newer things.

nick_h_nz wrote: ... I do find it very hard, though, at times to compare/rank between new bands and old - the same way I often find it hard to compare/rank between bands from different genres. ... But, as I say, this is obviously a personal thing, because plenty of people seem to be managing to do so. ...

I have "no country". Born in one that I really have no connection to, went to another that was not that great except for its music, and then came to America. I'm probably as American as anyone else. My choices don't have anything to do with country, I don't think, although some will say that I obviously like the German contingent, but with all due respect, they even had schools of music TEACHING what I call "nothing in music" to get people to go away from the "westernized concepts in music" (as CAN stated in their website) ... so that they would have found/created something new. The other countries did not EXACTLY do that ... France and Italy electrified what they had, with (maybe!!!) folks like PFM, Banco and Le Orme taking a more classical way of looking at music than just a rock song, and in France, they continued their cabaret style of material with expressionism at the very front ... and it was very theatrical and fun, and seeing Ange pay tribute to one of their heroes in the first album, was also important and very neat ... but they knew they were going to be about their "lyric theater" ... not a song per se.

This is what is hard to compare ... some were not about the "song" like things are today, when the majority of folks are voting because of the songs they like, and too many of the newer bands, it has become about one or two songs, not the whole amount of music ... Dream Theater is a very good example ... and it's like ... you're kidding me ... the rest is crap? No it's not ... it's very well defined musically, even though the metal style has a tendency to hide everything. Other bands fit into the same mold.

I would have liked to put together a book on the German scene, but I think a lot of folks will not help me with it ... because I would be looking for painters, writers, musicians and other folks ... and thus the words of EF in that one krautrock special will get completely wasted ... because we not only do not listen to things anymore (just our favorites!) and we do not read anymore ... just the Cliff Notes variety in Wiki ... if that! I built the ideas I have from many films, many books, many plays, many writers and many film makers ... many of which were right next to the musicians ... and this type of "collusion" is what centers my tastes ... the arts coming together and they are meaningful for that time and place ... whereas, for example, ANGE is not as meaningful to the time and place they were at, as most of the Germans were ... however, they could have been making a comment about the "harlequins" as the hippies on the street stoned immaculate and not bringing anything to the table ... a senseless expression!

None of the music, for me, is senseless, and it has a reason to be there ... and this is the reason why so many "songs" in the listings are not the measure of things, because otherwise things like Country Joe, Richie Havens, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many others ... would win those votes and tallies easily ... because many of the things after were very hollow by comparison.

All in all, "my generation" had a bunch of groups and artists that were valuable and important, and it was not about their "preferences" ... it was about what they did, and left behind ... an incredible history ... and this is what my opening comment is about ... I wish I had more from the newer bands, because I did not like to have to compare a new band to an old band. Why the fudge would I bother comparing Beethoven to Stravinsky ... ? What's the point?