Prog Fans In Our 50’s

I'm 53.

I got into prog around age 14, thanks to The Wall and I think that was the year Marillion released Script, a school friend introduced me to Rush, and I first took notice of Genesis. My love of and interest in prog started to overtake my love of metal from then on.

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: Jaketejas wrote: Soundgarden’s “Badmotorfinger” was an exciting album at that time. I always wondered if it might have influenced Rush’s Counterparts album a little bit. I haven't heard that one yet(the sg not the rush which I know well). I always wondered if U2's zooropa influenced Radiohead.

I think you’ve come up with a topic for a new thread!   Non-Prog music that influenced Prog.   I hope you enjoy that SG album. The first three songs are really nice, and there are other grungy gems on there as well. Kim Thayil is not a speedy guitar player, but his use of bends, complex riffage, and slow drones is very interesting to my ears and almost organic. I can actually picture this garden of sound in my head when I listen to some of the songs on this particular album. It was before they adopted a more commercial sound that didn’t appeal to me as much.

octopus-4 wrote: I'm 59. Too borderline for this question

Same here, also 51 turning 52 in a few days.

52

Took me a long time to truly “find” prog. Or, to realise I had found it….

Early 80s I was into, well early 80s stuff: New Romantic and synth. Then discovered rock through ZZTop, Deep Purple, Maiden, ACDC etc, then got hugely into Bryan Adams😎

Can’t remember when I first heard The Wall, but this became hugely influential. Also War Of The Worlds, which my aunt and uncle played to me back when it came out, and it’s been a constant companion ever since.

Through the later 80s I dabbled with some prog (ABWH, Menel-era IQ, some Floyd) but was mostly getting into metal, some thrash, and the whole “funk-metal” scene - King’s X, Dan Reed Network, Faith No More, etc. First Marillion album was Seasons End when it came out.

I still wasn’t embracing prog though.

Uni - I got into grunge and even dabbled in Brit pop and shoe gazing (almost unavoidable in the early 90s!)

Picked up Subterranea by IQ in 1997 but it took me a long time to appreciate it😑🙄

And I was loving Dream Theater’s first two albums😎

The album that truly set me off though was The Platinum Collection by Genesis. I had Invisible Touch back in 86 but nothing else. But now my ears were hearing something new - yep, early 70s Genesis!!!😂

So I’ve filled in a lot since, but I’m not someone who just likes one era.   Or one style. Discovering The Human Equation by Ayreon blew my mind and opened up so many new avenues: to Nightwish, to Devin Townsend, etc etc…….


Favourite band - IQ - they are superb!!😎

Edited by essexboyinwales - December 10 2022 at 10:33

I am 63 and too old for this question. 

It was King Crimson's 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' and ELP's first album which got me into prog. 

I'm 57. I grew up listening to the Prog classics at home, played by my older brothers and cousins (I'm the youngest by quite some difference). All the classic Prog albums, and also Classic Rock like The Beatles, Stones, Bowie, Zepp, Deep Purple, The Who, Lou Reed, early Queen and so on.

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Octopus II wrote: It was King Crimson's 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' and ELP's first album which got me into prog.  My gentle introduction to prog in the early 1970's came with the music of Barclay James Harvest, Camel, Mike Oldfield and Renaissance. I didn't "discover" ELP and King Crimson until around forty years later when I first entered ProgArchives hallowed halls back in 2011.

The Moody Blues have released some tremendous albums.