Looking for new music.

I guess you might just as well go with the big names and check them out, in case you haven't done so yet. And check out the top 100 list. I would think you should check out King Crimson (the debut is excellent, Lizard has Anderson as guest on one track, Larks Toungues in Aspic has some disonant structure that might appeal to you if you liked such things on Relayer, and Red is also a fan favourite from the band... also, some of the live albums from the Wetton era are great too), ELP (though they may be a bit patchy... at least for my taste, but they usually have some really good things on every album at least until Brain Salad Surgery... however, a warning, Emerson is mostly flashy and seldom subtle), Van Der Graaf Generator (many people have trouble getting into Hamill's vocals, but I just find them wonderful), and from Italian bands, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso is wonderful (Francesco Di Giancommo is among my very favourite singers, along with Jon Anderson), and you may just as well try Metamorphosis' "Inferno" (also wonerful singer), and Il Balleto di Bronzo's "YS" (the singer may appeal to you in a Rush-like way). Oh yeah, and I'm not sure if your descriptions of what you liked would sugest you would like Genesis and Jethro Tull, but since they are among the bigest names around, you should check them out too.

With VDGG expect the unexpected. Hamill is a monster. And even though they hardly ever use a guitar, they can be heavy indeed (not in a metal way, though), thanks to Hamills excentrics with vocals and to David Jackson's great sax. Actually, I was worried about what I might get with them, because usually I'm not a fan of sax, specially schizophrenic sax, but the way this guy handles his instrument is really brilliant. Still, it took me a bit to fully apreciate them... at first listens I thought I might finally have gone too far on my search for prog bands.

Thanks for the responses guys! I've given Crimson's Red a listen and it's very up my alley, I'll be spinning this for a bit. I've also been trying to delve into some Gentle Giant - the dissonance and quirky compositions speak to me, but the sometimes mideaval/madrigal compositions lose me, it just feels kinda cheese to me, but i expect that ill grow to overlook that. 

Not sure if they would appeal, but I'd recommend Fates Warning's Perfect Symmetry, Parallels, and Inside Out and Tiles' Presents of Mind.  Rush's producer Terry Brown produced these albums (not sure if he did all 3 Fates Warning albums, but I know that he was their producer during this time frame). 


Edited by rushfan4 - July 20 2015 at 12:16

Alrighty, so I've listened to VDGG's Godbluff and the '72 live version of Lighthouse Keepers. Very weird stuff right here, even for prog standards (at least ime). Godbluff got a little wall-of-noise-y on me in parts where everyone would just unleash all hell on their instruments. I really like their energy though, especially on that live video. I think this is something that I could come around on. Hammill's vocals are definitely polarizing, not something I'm immediately sold on. Gonna give their 2nd and 3rd albums a go now, they seem to be their "classic peak"? At least that's what Wikipedia said, lol. 

There are tons of Rush and Yes habitués out there, shouldn't be hard.   But frankly one of the reasons we love them is they were one-of-a-kinds, and the sound-alikes usually pale.   For instance I would not recommend Tiles (a Rush emulator) because they don't bring much new to the table.   Nor would I ever suggest King Crimson or VDGG to you.   Wrong, wrong, wrong.  Maybe someday, but not now.

Take a listen to Zombi, a heavy prog/electronic two-piece doing great things -
http://www.progarchives.com/mp3.asp?id=1647






Edited by Atavachron - July 21 2015 at 01:48

Yes qualitiies:
Glass Hammer - If
Wobbler
Starcastle (if you don't mind total Yes imitation)

Like Rush:
Pavlov's Dog (the singer sounds like early Geddy Lee)

What I like about RUSH is that their music was heavy but at the same time full of hope and positive energy. Only few prog metal bands give me that feel: Angra (when Matos was in the band) and Shadow Gallery.

If you're digging SGM: look into Unexpect  http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2638

The book of knots

OK, if you haven't gotten into it yet, check out from VDGG the songs Darkness and Mar-Erg too, as well as the studio version of Lighthouse Keepers. Now, it might interest you to know that some of those cacophony segments they did they achieved by overdubbing their instruments countless times, so that makes it more chaotic than they could actually achieve playing them live (you'll get a few moments of that with Man-Erg and Lighthouse Keepers).