Divisive Prog Albums

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Got to imagine Thrak got a bit of a reaction too.

Lewian wrote: Can the divisive albums be roughly split into two classes? (1) (Like Dream Theaters more controversial albums:) Albums of which a group of people thinks that they are not risk-taking enough, boring, or selling out by trying to please a bigger crowd, and (2) (Like Trout Mask Replica:) Albums that are hard to access and alienate many while enthusing some?

while most people have not heard it, not even heard of it, "Fairy Tales" by Mother Gong is pretty divisive. some (like me) find it to be an absolutely brilliant 5-star album, some hate how Gilli Smyth tells her fairy tales (though they may even like the music)

Jared wrote: BaldJean wrote: while most people have not heard it, not even heard of it, "Fairy Tales" by Mother Gong is pretty divisive. some (like me) find it to be an absolutely brilliant 5-star album, some hate how Gilli Smyth tells her fairy tales (though they may even like the music) although 60% of the 51 reviews on PA are for 3 or 4 stars, with only 6% giving it 1 star, suggesting it's not actually that divisive?

BaldJean wrote: this album is the favorite album of Friede and me, for personal reasons. our kids Alice and Dorothy absolutely loved it when they were kids and listened to it again and again and again

Frets N Worries wrote: Speaking of King Crimson, 'The Power to Believe' I was in a King Crimson mood, so I put this one on since I've really only listened to once, and I was surprised at how much I liked it now. People on PA think it's good, not RYM people. I think it's a solid end to one of the best studio careers, and quite a good album.

Which of course, begs the question, would it be good?

Islands by King Crimson takes a beating from a good percentage of Prog fans.. 😃 I love that album to death, but it would be completely ignorant and illogical to not understand or accept that a lot of Prog fans disliked it. I love the album, but it's so ridiculously obvious as to why a lot of people don't.

It's a very personal album to me and I would never have expectations for another person liking it.

In the 70s...I recorded it direct from LP on to a blank Maxell cassette tape. I took a battery operated boom box and set it up on the beach ..just before sundown with only a few people on the beach relaxing.

I would listen to Islands in front of the ocean. The music on Islands seemed to reveal itself more in those surroundings. Of course I was high smoking a joint..however listening to the album while NOT under the influence would be just as good.

The album seemed to create the vibe of life at sea . The peacefulness and beauty of it enchantment lured me in beginning with the mysterious
FORMENTARA LADY to THE SAILOR'S TALE which created fear of the ocean's life-force.

Although I experienced trauma when I was dragged across the ocean floor during a severe storm and surfaced making it to land and my friend slid across ice on the deck of a fishing boat and plunged to his death in freezing waters ...here I was smoking weed on the beach and listening to Islands.


The album intrigued me no doubt...but in a case where a person didn't have these scary experiences at sea..Islands still proves to be affective without that trauma and has a dreamy or ethereal vibe somehow and by physically visiting the beach to hear it is telling. Of course I totally understand why a lot of people find it boring

Edited by Jacob Schoolcraft - May 11 2023 at 11:10

Manuel wrote: I would say A Passion Play. Controversial, different than anything Tull had done before, The critics did not treated it well, but the fans took it to Number one in the charts.

Edited by edefakiel - May 16 2023 at 12:09

Edited by Frets N Worries - May 22 2023 at 05:11