Getting deeper into prog recommendations
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=103408
Printed Date: April 28 2024 at 18:03
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Getting deeper into prog recommendations
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Subject: Getting deeper into prog recommendations
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 11:44
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Hello, first post. Great site here, it was mentioned as the equivalent to metal-archives.com and so far I'm loving the info and reviews here. Well I'm starting to dig deeper into progressive rock and music and would appreciate some recommendations. I'm a metal head and classic rock lover, along with a fan of some jazz (mostly swinging big band) and classical. I love Rush as they are a mainstay on local rock radio, 70's era mostly but I'm really starting to enjoy the 80's synth period and the 00's. Grace Under Pressure is getting a lot of play from me lately. Got a bunch of their albums and filling in the gaps as time goes by. Pink Floyd is another favorite, one of my all time favorite bands. Just got a couple King Crimson albums. Red and Crimson King. Red I'm working on, but Court of the Crimson King is blowing me away. Been listening to Foxtrot from Genesis on Amazon Prime and just ordered the 1994 edition of Selling England by the Pound as I read the newest remasters are far too loud, like most remasters unfortunately. The prog era Genesis is such a different beast than the pop Genesis I'm most familiar with. So far so good. Fan of Opeth, really digging Pale Communion as well as their earlier death metal stuff. Tool is a favorite of mine as well. Need to go deeper into Yes as well, heard their hits many times but they go so much deeper I'm told. Same with Jethro Tull. What I'm looking for is prog music, that is more progressive songs structures and ideas instead of just 10 minute songs that are just hyper technical. When I listen to Dream Theater I keep feeling that I should just listen to Rush since they actually rock. Now I love great musicianship but now I'm looking for something a bit more Crimson King than just technical rock, but not so far out that it goes over my head. Baby steps and all that. |
Replies:
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 12:10
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this will probably be right up your alley |
Posted By: Windhawk
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 13:06
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Here's a few things that might be of interest. ------------- Websites I work with: http://www.progressor.net http://www.houseofprog.com My profile on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/haukevind/ |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 13:26
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There are so many classic prog rock albums to recommend and they are all listed on this site on the best of page....but I became a fan of IQ about 2 years ago and I recommend Dark Matter and or Frequency. Great song structures with great playing and melody. Also their new one called Road of Bones. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 14:24
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Yeah the best of lists are great here, pointing me in many great directions. |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 14:29
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I'll check all those out when I get home and have sound. |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 14:36
Hi Aaron - welcome to the site Yeah be sure to report back on what you think of the music. That way we can better narrow it down to the really saucy stuff. A bit of Caravan perhaps? ------------- “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.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: GKR
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 14:41
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Caravan, yaay! If you like Rush, try some Jethro Tull, at least Minstrel in the Gallery, I always made that conection, dont know why. If the Classic Rock suites you better, go to the classic Aqualung. An perhaps also a bit of this: ------------- - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 14:54
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With Jethro Tull I've heard the song Aqualung and a couple others on KSHE95, the local rock station which is very heavy on classic rock, but not much else. I Never really put them in the prog category myself, which means I probably haven't heard much from them. |
Posted By: GKR
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 15:04
Yeah, Jethro Tull is a shape shifter. There's no other way round than listen'em!  ------------- - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 15:06
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Well Jethro Tull basically started out as a heavy blues rock band with the odd folky ingredient. Aqualung departed a bit from that but not by much. If you want the 'proggier' bits from em you may want to start out with either Thick as a Brick or A Passion Play My fave by far is A Passion Play. ------------- “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.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: terramystic
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 17:22
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Maybe: Pain of Salvation Anathema IQ Shadow Gallery Angra (first 3 albums) |
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 19:14
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Gazpacho's Tick Tock And Big Big Train in general. ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: Intruder
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 20:26
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Obvious choices: The Yes Album and Physical Graffiti! After all, Yes + Zep = Rush. ------------- I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there..... |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 21:03
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You're on the right track, AM, great choices so far. I'm thinking Tull should be a nice seam for you to mine; anything from Aqualung on through Stormwatch should keep you toasty for many days. Good hunting. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 22:35
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I guess you'll have to get more Crimson albums... however, a warning, don't expect to get another "Court of the Crimson King", for that was the only such album they made... well, almost, the second one was almost a copy in structure and feel of the first album, but for me they mostly failed and didn't achieve the same highs (the title track is wonderful, though), after that they did it all different and didn't repeat themselves. I guess your next picks would have to be "Lark's Tongues in Aspic" and some live album from the Wetton era (I like best "Collectible King Crimson Vol 1, or else "The Great Deceiver"). From Genesis you already got/ordered my favourites, but I guess you should get "Nursery Crime" as well in order to get the trio... and The Lamb too, in order to get all from this line-up, though for me this one lost some of the magic from the previous albums. Indeed you need to get into Yes. Go with Fragile and Close to the Edge, my very favourite ones and the ones with the most remarkable line-up. Then you should get the next 3 albums (and perhaps The Yes album too), or Yessongs (or else, the new progeny, which I haven't got, but it's suposed to have better sound quality... I guess the highlight version should be enough). About Jethro Tull, besides the two albums that were recommended to you already (Thick as a Brick and Passion Play... of which the second one I don't yet know and thus cannot recomend), you might as well get the Live, Bursting Out album (most of the times I like Jethro Tull live much better, actually). You haven't mentioned ELP, so perhaps you need to get into them too. As well as Van Der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant, Camel, and Renaissance. And don't forget some Rock Progressivo Italiano too (Banco del Muttuo Socorsso are my favourites, plus the album "YS" from Il Balleto di Bronzo, "Inferno" from Metamorphosi, and "Zarathustra" from Museo Rosenbach, oh yes, and "Felona e Sorona" from Le Orme. And since you like metal, I have been digging some Devin Townsend lately, he's got some wonderful music; I really loved Terria. |
Posted By: justin4950834-2
Date Posted: July 25 2015 at 01:22
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You'll probably like these guys |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 27 2015 at 20:22
That Tull sounds pretty good. Not so sure about that Gentle Giant. |
GKR wrote:Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 27 2015 at 20:28
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That Ayreon track is pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation, I think I'll check out some of their stuff. |
Posted By: GKR
Date Posted: July 27 2015 at 20:48
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Glad you like Minstrel in the Gallery, its a personnal favourite of mine. Gentle Giant is more difficult to adquire the taste. Go to the last track of that album, its more concise. ------------- - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. |
Posted By: schizoidman
Date Posted: July 27 2015 at 23:09
Greetings. Regarding your classical area of music....for the last few years I have found a lot of musical enjoyment with Chamber Prog/RIO/Avant-Prog/Jazz-Rock Fusion genres. Here's a few of my favorites: also, here's a few harder rocking fav's: ------------- Making the useless useful 24/7. |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 28 2015 at 14:01
I've listened to Brain Salad Surgery on Amazon and just realized that for all these years I never knew Karma Evil 9 was ELP, or the name of the song. Heard that a million times on local radio. I'll be grabbing the album, need to see if the current copies are crappy remasters or what though. Genesis Foxtrot will be on order soon, as well as Closer to the Edge by Yes. Red and Crimson King are very different albums, while I like the debut more now I'm digging both. Amazon music has some good prog on the prime streaming. Decent selection of Genesis, Yes, Rush, ELP, Ayreon, and other prog related bands bands. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: July 28 2015 at 21:47
| From ELP, check out Tarkus too. As for your not liking Gentle Giant, perhaps you could check out their first two albums. The first album I got from them, because of it's great reviews, and so that I could have an overview of their career, was the live "Playing the Fool"... and I almost gave up there, because I really didn't like it at all, except for a song from the first album. Somehow I decided to give them another chance, and got their first 4 albums (the ones before Phil left), and specially the first two were really wonderful, much warmer than the stuff I didn't like from the first album I got... and the other two were OK, but already started to have some of the sound I didn't like. |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 29 2015 at 10:59
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I'll give GG another shot, can't write off a band based on a few minutes of youtube. :) |
Posted By: terramystic
Date Posted: July 29 2015 at 15:07
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I think the best place to start with GG is Free Hand or Octopus. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: July 29 2015 at 22:27
| I may agree with Octopus, though I still don't like it remotely as much as the two first albums. If I'd heard Free Hand first, I might not have been interested to try any further (as was almost the case with Playing the Fool). |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 30 2015 at 09:35
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So Selling England By the Pound showed up. In the past I would have never thought I would ever have bought a Genesis album, mostly based on the pop years impression. Got the 1994 edition since I heard the later ones were really mastered too loud. So far an interesting listen but only a couple songs in. Foxtrot was cool so hopefully this one is too. On a related note. What is Phil's best drumming performance, on a song, in the classic Genesis catalog? Any fast work with a lot of complexity? Something that a Neil Peart fan would go "that's pretty cool" too? I doubt they have a YYZ type tune in their catalog but just looking for something cool. I'm a big fan of prog rock and metal drumming. |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: July 30 2015 at 10:51
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Not an album song, but this drum duet with Chester Thompson from their Way We Walk tour is pretty cool. ------------- 
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Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: July 30 2015 at 15:31
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I went to drummerworld and looked at some of his clips playing jazz on youtube. The man can drum no doubt. That duet is pretty amazing. |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: July 30 2015 at 15:38
Check out his work on the first two Brand X albums  ------------- “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.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: justin4950834-2
Date Posted: July 30 2015 at 19:33
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The Battle Of Epping Forest from Selling England by the Pound is probably the best drumming Ive heard him do on a Genesis track. Very fiddly, crazy, jazzy stuff in 7/4, 11/4 and 6/8, all while keeping it very quiet to leave room for the other instruments. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: July 30 2015 at 22:25
| I always thought Collin's drumming was a bit restrained on Genesis... or at least mixed low. However, when I got my live albums box set, including the original live album from the 70's, with additional tracks, plus the Rainbow concert (which I don't know if it can be obtained outside the box-set), I really loved many songs better than the studio ones, and in great measure that's because of Collin's drumming, much stronger and crazier (plus Hackett is also sort of heavier). I particularly remember the live version of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", really epic... I think also "The Musical Box". |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: July 30 2015 at 22:27
| Oh, and you might find interesting the Seconds Out version of Cinema Show, which features Bruford on drums and has both him and Collins going together for the instrumental part (unfortunatley, Bruford is only feature in one or two songs on the album, the rest is with Chester Thompson). |
Posted By: Windhawk
Date Posted: July 31 2015 at 01:39
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As drumming was mentioned, here's some fun stuff by Polish veteran prog band SBB. ------------- Websites I work with: http://www.progressor.net http://www.houseofprog.com My profile on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/haukevind/ |
Posted By: Windhawk
Date Posted: July 31 2015 at 01:49
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...and while note related to prog in anyway whatsoever, here's a fun little standup routine about the good, old soundcheck I guess most people that have been to some live events should find fun to watch. ------------- Websites I work with: http://www.progressor.net http://www.houseofprog.com My profile on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/haukevind/ |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: August 05 2015 at 14:00
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Reporting in Listening to SEBTP and Foxtrot I have to say I think Foxtrot is a better album. Signing out... |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: August 08 2015 at 00:33
That is pretty nice!  |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: August 10 2015 at 10:00
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Well dug into the wallet at the record store and on Ebay this weekend. Genesis - Trick of the Tail LP (1976 ATCO release) Opeth - Heritage CD Yes - Closer to the Edge CD Yes - Fragile CD With CD's I always avoid remasters for the most part as they seem to just ruin the sound. |
Posted By: terramystic
Date Posted: August 11 2015 at 10:22
My Yes albums are Atlantic remasters. Am I missing a lot? I know there are also Rhino and Wilson remasters. |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: August 11 2015 at 19:06
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I couldn't tell you about those specific albums. The ones I got were not remasters as far as I could tell, if they were they didn't say it. I'm generalizing but especially with hard rock and metal albums remasters always seem to be about boosting the sound levels and ruining the dynamics of the records. |
Posted By: Ancient_Mariner
Date Posted: August 12 2015 at 13:52
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Heritage is a step down from Pale Communion. Probably should have been since it was out first. |