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Topic: US prog appreciation by non-US people Posted: March 25 2013 at 17:51
Prog started out being a UK and European thing. Mostly.
I know we have Miles Davis & Frank Zappa listed on PA, but to what extent were they considered as being progressive artistes at the time? In the 70s was Kansas and the rest, but I bet I'm not the only UK prog fan who has never listened to Kansas.
So I had an idea, let's have an appreciation-of-US-prog thread, for non-US people like me. Then we can show each other amazing things that we might otherwise never bother to listen to.
For me, Todd Rundgren's "Utopia" album is one of the greatest albums of the 70s, but I haven't heard his other albums. Yet.
Joined: September 03 2005
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 00:46
Oooooh yes - Cathedral. A great combination of Yes, Crimso, Gentle Giant, and a large part of what inspired the Scandinavian Prog revival. There weren't as many U.S. prog bands, but the quality was high.
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 02:45
These days I place 'Spock's Beard' amongst my most coveted Prog-rock bands.
Todd Rundgren (& Utopia) have some wonderful albums out there too - I actually listened to my records of 'Todd' (1974) and
'A Wizard, A True Star' (1973) just recently, after not having spun them for quite a while - very precious albums they are. And Utopia's 'Ra' is just a plain classic.
U.S. Prog is as good as any (and I New York - I wanna live in Montauk.......near the light-house, and listen to Spock's Beard all day...........)
Joined: November 29 2006
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 03:20
For some reason I always had a soft spot for american prog. I'll avoid the big names like: Hendrix, The Doors, Echolin etc. So my absolute favorites are:
Dreadnaught The Muffins Cathedral 5uu's Ram Crack The Sky Ambrosia St. Elmo's Fire Arabesque Hands The Facedancers Forever Einstein The Flock It's A Beautiful Day Kopecky Maelstrom French TV Primus Mirthrandir Ohmphrey Polyphony Oysterhead Thinking Plague Tiles Umphrey's Mcgee Resistor
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 08:33
Hi,
I've always been a believer that the inclusion of the American artists, would help solidify and make the definitions for the progressive studies, a lot stronger, and more valuable, which would help put the scene on the map.
I'm convinced that as long as the English continue their ethnocentric ways and books continue to ignore the rest of the world including America, that "progressive" is not going to go anywhere ... and will probably die off sooner or later, because we're not capable of accepting that others were also doing the same thing.
You can see the beginning of the Krautrock special by the BBC, to realize that the only people that refuse to acknowledge the world wide consciousness is the rock press ... that does not believe in anything else, except the groups they like!
Sorry ... for progressive to be more important, valuable and stake its name, it will have to become inclusive and not exclusive of all the other scenes, so that the whole thing will make way better sense in the minds of folks ... as to what the whole thing was about.
This was not an accidental ... idea ... by a group or two ... about a trivial bit in music! It was a very deep, and meaningful attempt to show that we were not stupid, unintelligent, and that we had something to offer society ... and to affect a change from a manipulated society that was blasted and exterminated by World Wars!
Edited by moshkito - March 26 2013 at 08:38
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 09:31
moshkito wrote:
Hi,
I've always been a believer that the inclusion of the American artists, would help solidify and make the definitions for the progressive studies, a lot stronger, and more valuable, which would help put the scene on the map.
I'm convinced that as long as the English continue their ethnocentric ways and books continue to ignore the rest of the world including America, that "progressive" is not going to go anywhere ... and will probably die off sooner or later, because we're not capable of accepting that others were also doing the same thing.
You can see the beginning of the Krautrock special by the BBC, to realize that the only people that refuse to acknowledge the world wide consciousness is the rock press ... that does not believe in anything else, except the groups they like!
Sorry ... for progressive to be more important, valuable and stake its name, it will have to become inclusive and not exclusive of all the other scenes, so that the whole thing will make way better sense in the minds of folks ... as to what the whole thing was about.
This was not an accidental ... idea ... by a group or two ... about a trivial bit in music! It was a very deep, and meaningful attempt to show that we were not stupid, unintelligent, and that we had something to offer society ... and to affect a change from a manipulated society that was blasted and exterminated by World Wars!
Sorry mate, I don't buy it. If it were not for the English rock press and the English record labels of the 1970s people now sitting in their Californian living rooms wouldn't be singing the praises of Krautrock and RPI in the 21st Century. Krautrock wasn't popular in its home country in the 1970s, it was only when the British press started to take notice of the progressive music coming out of Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands that those bands started to get any recognition anywhere. You may have been hearing about this stuff from a small hippy FM radio station and buying the discs by mail-order from importers, but we in the UK were reading about it in the national music press, hearing it on the BBC and buying it over the counter from our small provincial record stores..., and that's how it crossed the Atlantic, not direct from Germany to the West Coast, but via Britain. Why do you think the BBC would produce a programme on Krautrock if it wasn't relevant in the UK in the 1970s? Think about it.
As for American Music - the UK was full of it, most of make-up of the album charts in the 70s was American music, The Old Grey Whistle Test was wall-to-wall American Music, practically UK every rock fan knew who Steve Walsh was, we all knew who Todd Rundgren was. Progressive Kansas wasn't popular for two reasons - by 1976 we were moving on from Prog Rock and secondly, we'd heard them and didn't like it much.
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 09:46
Thanks to a variety of things, including of course the internet, we are now even more "the Global Village", so that a person's "back door" can be pretty wide now, culturally and artistically. This sure helped the dissemination of music, including US prog outside of the USA. My favorite US prog is the Starcastle debut album, with the early Sea Level records(s/t and Cats On The Coast are Prog-related) a runner up.
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:23
Kotro wrote:
Happy the Man.
Crafty Hands is a great album.
For me, Zappa wears the US prog crown. I also like Spocks Beard, Tool, TMV (in small doses) Some Dream Theater, and Moth Vellum (sad to hear they split. Their debut was very good)
There's a new psych act called Lumerians that I'm really into at the moment. Kinda like a Krautrock take on the Westcoast styled psychedelia from the late sixties. There's a feel there you just don't get that often any more.
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
My collection does include every studio, live and compilation album Savatage, TSO and Jon Oliva's Pain released. Every Tori Amos album (except the official bootlegs, I only have one of those), all Tool, TMV, The Dear Hunter, Coheed and Cambria, NIN studio albums and a lot of Sparks albums.
I also have all the Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Between The Burried And Me, maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot, Tim Buckley, Diamanda Galas, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Kevin Gilbert, Lana Lane, Phideaux, Talking Heads, Pax Cecelia, The Residents, Planet X, Symphony X, Spock's Beard, Saviour Machine, Derek Sherinian, Synergy, John Petrucci, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Time and Tide, Ohm, Umphrey's McGee, Ohmphrey, Steve Vai and Bardo Pond albums that I'll ever need.
...and the first eleven Dream Theatre studio albums (and Live Scenes)... and Operation Mindcrime I & II.
umm... that's it.
I've got Ooops! Wrong Planet, but that's not Prog and I've a Steely Dan single somewhere that I'd rather not talk about.
My collection does include every studio, live and compilation album Savatage, TSO and Jon Oliva's Pain released. Every Tori Amos album (except the official bootlegs, I only have one of those), all Tool, TMV, The Dear Hunter, Coheed and Cambria, NIN studio albums and a lot of Sparks albums.
I also have all the Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Between The Burried And Me, maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot, Tim Buckley, Diamanda Galas, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Kevin Gilbert, Lana Lane, Phideaux, Talking Heads, Pax Cecelia, The Residents, Planet X, Symphony X, Spock's Beard, Saviour Machine, Derek Sherinian, Synergy, John Petrucci, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Time and Tide, Ohm, Umphrey's McGee, Ohmphrey, Steve Vai and Bardo Pond albums that I'll ever need.
...and the first eleven Dream Theatre studio albums (and Live Scenes)... and Operation Mindcrime I & II.
umm... that's it.
I've got Ooops! Wrong Planet, but that's not Prog and I've a Steely Dan single somewhere that I'd rather not talk about.
You've got a Bardo Pond album Dean? Wouldn't have guessed that..... How do you find it(and what is it btw)?
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
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