Mountains Come Out of the Sky
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Books and Miscellaneous Reviews
Forum Description: Reviews of prog books, memorabilia, etc.
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=75065
Printed Date: April 29 2024 at 04:59
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Topic: Mountains Come Out of the Sky
Posted By: akajazzman
Subject: Mountains Come Out of the Sky
Date Posted: January 15 2011 at 15:10
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So I’ve read a lot of Prog books, but was thrilled to see a new one just published, titled “Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The History of Prog Rock” by Will Romano. The way its organized is largely into full chapters for important bands. I was thrilled to see just how close to the mark Romano usually nails it. Of course he starts off with the Big Six:
1. Pink Floyd 2. King Crimson 3. ELP 4. Yes 5. Genesis 6. Jethro Tull In that order. He does a pretty good job covering this well worn territory with a fresh voice and perspective that doesn’t sound like you’ve read this stuff all before. Then onto: 7. Colosseum and Greenslade 8. Canterbury Scene: Does a real nice job here focusing on Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, and then some of the others like Hatfield/North and Kahn 9. Camel: This was a real nice surprise to see one of my favorite progsters get a whole chapter 10. Gentle Giant 11. Prog Folk: focusing on Strawbs and then several others 12. Progressivo Italinao: Of course they call out my favorite PFM as the kings, but possibly try to cover too many bands in this chapter. PFM, Le Orme, and Banco del Mutuo are really the big three. 13. German Prog: they cover several bands here, and sell Can and the whole scene a little short 14. Kansas/Styx 15. Mike Oldfield 16. Rush 17. U.K. Thrilled to see a whole chapter on this great band with only two albums 18. The Return of King Crimson: The only golden oldie they thought worthy of giving a whole “later day” chapter to. Nice. 19. Throwing it All Away: Genesis, Yes and ELP. This chapter is largely about “what went wrong?” Then it shifts into later day bands, which is fun, because so many of these books act like Prog ended in 1977. 20. Marillion 21. Dream Theater 22. Progressivity Continues Into the 21st Century, where he covers Spock’s Beard, P-Tree, Flower Kings, Mars Volta, IQ, Riverside, Sigur Rose, IQ, Coheed and Cambria Not bad final chapters, but clearly his focus is on more early Prog, because a band like Mars Volta deserve a chapter on their own. Same with P-Tree. Also, there’s so much current stuff that he doesn’t even mention. Of course what I like about the book, is, he doesn’t try to do a complete overview of Prog, but focus on the big guns, and I suppose it’s a little bit harder to say who the big guns are now (hindsight is 20/20 afterall). Anyway, a fun new book for Prog lovers.
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Replies:
Posted By: TheOppenheimer
Date Posted: January 15 2011 at 15:48
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Is it me, or these book tend to forget about all the prog bands that are not neo-prog or dream theater? what about post-rock and metal? what about all the black doom ugly prog bands? and mainly, what about not known bands? Anyway, i've read a few chapters, and i really like the focus the writer gives, and how he goes into deep detail. nice post ------------- //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// A veces es cuestión de esperar, y tomarte en silencio. |
Posted By: akajazzman
Date Posted: January 15 2011 at 17:53
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Exactly. In fact the book just wetted my appetite for a book of post 70s Prog. This same writer's approach would work very well. Instead of jamming the last 30 years into a few paragraphs at the end (which beats most other Prog books) on newer music, I think the time has come to start a book on the "new" stuff.
You know, a paragraph that sort of covers the Big Six and the other greats and says "look if you're reading this book, you already know most of this golden era stuff, or "read my first book! " And then go on and start with:
- "what the hell happend? What happend to Genesis? Yes's ups and downs. The downfall (but commercial barnstorm) of Pink Floyd. etc.
- Marillion and the other great neo-Progsters.
- a chapter on those that kept the faith, but in an updated way, like Peter Gabriel, Be Bop Delux, King Crimson, Eno, Roger Waters, Robert Wyatt, etc.
- Prog-metal: Dream Theater and Queensryche
- Back to their roots: Bands that found their way back (or wouldn't die) like Camel, PFM, Yes, Tull, Hawkwind, SBB,
- the beginnings of a resurg with stuff like Anglagard, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard
- and then Porcupine Tree! :-)
- and then several chapters on the new "silver age" of Prog with everything from Mars Volta, Tool, C&C, Anathema, Riverside, Decemberists, and so many many more.
Really, its time for "that" book.
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Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: January 15 2011 at 20:56
I bought this book last month with some of my Christmas money 
I love all the pictures, and there are some interesting bits of trivia and insight from the many prog musicians and other industry people Romano interviewed over the years it took him to put the book together. Like the bit about Dave Cousins having to record 'Ghosts' lying on his back in the studio due to treatment for a suspected brain tumor - I didn't know that until I read it in the book. Or the source of Fish's nickname - hadn't known that before either. And I love that there is a chapter dedicated to Prog Folk and one to U.S. prog although neither is very comprehensive, and there is virtually no mention of any second- or third-tier prog bands (which are so well-represented here on the Archives).
But like others have said there are some serious gaps. The U.S. chapter includes only Kansas and Styx (arguably Styx are not even a 'real' prog band). The Kansas section doesn't even get into details about Proto-Kaw or some of the first Kansas band's early prog work that was released a few years ago as ' http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5526" rel="nofollow - Early Recordings from Kansas 1971-1973 ', which is an unforgivable oversight since Kansas' true legacy as a U.S. prog band can't truly be appreciated without understanding those early days. And there's pretty much nothing about South American, Nordic or former Soviet bloc prog. Bands like Plastic People of the Universe, Los Jaivas, Los Blops, Os Mutantes all deserved at least a mention.
Overall I'm pretty happy having bought it, but I thought about sending Mr. Romano a letter suggessting he should have subtitled the book 'An Illustrated History of Prog Rock' instead of 'The Illustrated History of Prog Rock'. And also to suggest that he join our site and spend some time expanding the scope of his progressive knowledge.
 ------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: Anthony H.
Date Posted: January 15 2011 at 23:59
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This sounds very interesting! I'll have to check it out. Could anybody post an Amazon link?
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Posted By: akajazzman
Date Posted: January 16 2011 at 00:02
Yeah, I used Christmas money too. I'd be surprised if Romano wasn't already a member of PA but with some weird name or something. Maybe not. I've talked to a couple authors before who "are too busy" to join the obvious site that they really should be on. Or they think they're too important. But someone like Romano would benefit from all the information on PA and help him with that second book!
Back to his book. Not only did I like the pictures but I also liked the texture of the cover pages. I know that sounds stupid, but it seemed to fit a Prog book!
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ClemofNazareth wrote:Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: January 16 2011 at 00:52
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If I'm not mistaken, I saw this on Borders when I went to San Francisco. It seemed cool with the pictures and all, but since it centered on the most popular stuff that has been discussed in PA billion of times, I didn't think it was worth it. Of course, I may have missed some stuff, but that was my initial thought.
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Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: January 16 2011 at 07:10
I got my copy at Barnes & Noble, but here you go: http://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Come-Out-Sky-Illustrated/dp/0879309911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295183344&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow - http://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Come-Out-Sky-Illustrated/dp/0879309911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295183344&sr=8-1 .
------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 16 2011 at 09:06
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And why do the mountains come out of the sky and just stand there?
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: January 20 2011 at 15:10
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Apparently there is no coverage of Van der Graaf Generator, which is pretty amazing when you consider how respected they are (Uncut magazine, one of the British glossys that you can buy everywhere in the States even, called them the 'coolest, strangest band in prog'). You can tell the author is American as no British author would leave VdGG out. ------------- jc |
Posted By: JeanFrame
Date Posted: February 02 2011 at 09:52
Agreed. And only the briefest mention of Clouds/1-2-3, despite a section on the history of prog? OK, Clouds was never truly Prog, more Proto-prog, but this after all is the band that had as much to do wth the emergence of The Nice, Yes et al as anyone. This, VDGG and other glaring omissions raise huge question marks about the right of the author to claim his authority over real prog territory. More like Mountains are under the sea. |
Posted By: WMR
Date Posted: February 03 2011 at 14:01
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Hello, Prog Archives. How are you? I wanted to chime in on the interesting thread that’s evolved based on my book, Mountains Come out of the Sky. Allow me to say that I really enjoyed putting the book together and I’m pleased to see a discussion of it. I'm proud of the work and hope some of your are enjoying the book. Just to let you know, the idea of Mountains was to present a history of the “genre” through bios of (most of) the main bands that have had an impact on the mainstream psyche. As one poster pointed out, I'm American. I have a certain perspective re: this. I’ve been writing about prog rock for virtually 20 years and, specifically for this book, I spoke with 300 people; 200 people of that group show up in print, raising the flag in one form or another for their respective bands and musical contributions.
Some will disagree with the choices that were made (some very tough choices were made FOR me), of course, but I think in large part I’ve succeeded in celebrating the genre. I know what this music has meant to me over the years and, all things considered, I’m happy with the end result.
Just to give one example of the types of dilemmas I was dealing with throughout the process: by a PA poster’s own admission, Clouds/1-2-3 isn’t really categorized as prog, but PROTO-prog. The definition of “real” prog (whatever this means) seems to change depending on the person who’s speaking/posting. So, it was a lot to think about, logically account for, and contend with during the three years I was putting together this bios-heavy book that, I knew, would contain a limited amount of pages. Having said this, I was more than happy to include a gracious Billy of Clouds in the book. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed corresponding with him. As is true for most books, a good deal of info was cut from Mountains, including a chapter on VDGG, among other elements. As I’ve said in interviews, it’s a near miracle that a major music publisher even decided to back and then publish a book on prog rock. So, I’m grateful for the opportunity to do what I do. Given all the challenges, I loved putting it together. Again, I wanted the book to be a celebration. I’m hoping some of you view it in a similar light. Thanks for giving me a voice on this board and to all the supportive words here. Be well, PA. Will Romano Author Mountains Come out of the Sky Big Boss Man Incurable Blues |
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: February 03 2011 at 20:42
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Will, Glad you found your way here. And thanks again for your book - despite the critique I love the book and have learned quite a bit from it. I've lately even been rediscovering Barclay James Harvest thanks to your book And I have to say that if your goal was to give some broader exposure to progressive rock (and it sounds from your post like you did) then I think the fact I saw several copies of this on the shelf at Barnes & Noble when I bought mine is a positive sign. And that was at our little Barnes & Noble in god-foresaken South Dakota! I can imagine you got some even better coverage in big markets. I recently pitched an idea to the ProgArchives owner M@x to add a Prog Books section much like we do for albums. I think it would be great to get more exposure for some of the great books about progressive music and artists. Too many of them are under-promoted and practically unknown, even to us proglydites. Anyway - welcome to the Archives! ------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: WMR
Date Posted: February 03 2011 at 22:26
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"Clem",
thanks for taking the time to read my book. It means a lot to me, and your feedback is invaluable. Your welcoming tone and note just underscores everything I've ever known about the prog world: it's inclusive.
And thanks for passing on the story about your home state. I'm glad to hear it. I'm pretty much out in the sticks and I found the book in the stores here as well. (Good to know the publisher is on the case...)
A lot of really good band bios and books on prog rock have been written over the last fifteen years or so. So, I think you've got a great idea about a separate section on PA. (I would say that, though, wouldn't I?) Go gently ... Ha!
Cheers!
Speak soon.
W
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Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: February 04 2011 at 09:32
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Will,
Given my avatar you will no doubt detect a bias on my part regarding your book! But congrats are certainly in order that you pushed it through, especially with the way publishers sometimes react to specialty topics... and while MacFarland probably would have went for it, you hopefully got a better deal! Anyway, as the author of the VdGG book, grant me my rant (not to be taken personally by you, just a get-it-off-the-chest rant!)
I think my disappointment stems from the fact that "classic" prog is a mostly British phenomenon (even taking into account the scenes in Italy, France, etc...). And I do believe that a British author never would have left VdGG out of an encyclopedia of prog. It would be like leaving Otis Rush out of a blues encyclopedia. (VdGG, while only charting with The Least in England, certainly had a large following in their home country and even appeared on the cover of Melody Maker as 'Britain's Most Fashionable Band' in '71... strange times indeed! And they were certainly very popular in Italy, France, Beligum, and other European countries [and French Canada]). As you know, they were part of that wonderful scene in the late 60's/early 70's when prog (or whatever it was called then) came into being and flourished. They nudged shoulders with Yes at the Marquee and elsewhere (Chris Squire told me he remembered meeting them back then and thought they were great), Fripp was on their albums, and Genesis was their sister act (Peter Gabriel said years later that Hammill was one guy he'd like to base his own career around).
It's well known that when prog was vilified by the mainstream press (and, so the legend goes, punks), VdGG and Crimson were the two bands that it was "okay" to like. Because Johnny Rotten, Mark E Smith, Jello Biafra, The Germs, etc, loved VdGG, it was okay to like them whereas it wasn't 'cool' to like Yes, ELP, etc. Not my personal opinion, but pretty much the way it played out for a long time.
Since VdGG's reformation in '05, they've gotten astonishing press from several mainstream British rock mags (and newspapers ranging from the London Times, which called them Britain's Velvet Underground in that they didn't sell millions of records, but had an astonishing influence on a wide array of musicians, to The Independent). Mojo has ran several positive pieces on VdGG, Uncut ran a nice long article calling VdGG "the coolest, strangest band in prog," Guitar & Bass (which is the British equivalent of America's Guitar Player, which also ran a lengthy Hammill/VdGG article recently) did a nice article, and The Wire (which would probably never do an article on ELP or Gentle Giant) did a huge piece on PH/VdGG recently. Even Rolling Stone in the U.S. gave Present a good review. There are several others but you get the drift.
NPR broadcasted a segment of All Things Considered recently dedicated to Hammill/VdGG where it was stated that VdGG was the one prog band that 'got it right.' I don't agree with that, but...
People influenced by the band (and I've interviewed several of these people and have uncovered more to interview for the second VdGG book) include best-selling authors (Ian Rankin, Michel Faber), record producers (Hugh Padgham, Tchad Blake, George Martin [who told me he loved VdGG's version of Theme One], Jack Endino [Nirvana, Soundgarden, etc]), movie directors (Jonathan Demme, Anthony Minghella, Vincent Gallo), and tons of musicians: John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Graham Coxon (Blur), Don Bolles (The Germs), Johnny Rotten, Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Julian Cope, Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Marc Almond (Soft Cell), Colin Newman (Wire), Gary Lucas (Beefheart's Magic Band), Chris Carter (Throbbing Gristle), Ivan Krall (Patti Smith Group), Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers), Guy Severs (Univers Zero), Geddy Lee (Rush), Thighpaulsandra (Spiritualized), Stephen Morris (New Order, Joy Division), and These New Puritans. There are tons more
Many of these are artists who claim to not like prog, but like VdGG (which I think is good for prog overall; Gary Lucas told me that Pawn Hearts gave credibility to the words 'progressive rock').
I flew to Europe several times since '05 to see and hang out with the band. It's astonishing how different it is there from here. The band was playing 1,500 - 3,000 seat arenas and doing well in them (again, it's not the new Dallas stadium but it's respectable enough). And even on their one and only U.S. tour two years ago, they played several shows in front of 400 people or so (and thousands in Canada).
So, end of rant! I know your book was done with love and care (and it's an editor who will screw up the titles beneath album covers, which is terminally frustrating, but the book looks great and is certainly well-written; yes, I have seen a copy!), but I thought there were other things that could have been edited out rather than a chapter on one of the most respected (although not 'successful') and highly influential groups of the prog field. Again, a blues encyclopedia sans Otis Rush.
(sorry about all of this, but you probably knew that in an 'encyclopedia' of anything, the [fill in the blank] that gets left out is going to have its defenders charge to right the perceived wrong!) By the way, is there any chance of your VdGG chapter even seeing the light of day? I'm looking for quotes from 'real' authors go include in the next book (which will take up from '05 to the present, and also covering stuff from the 70's era that we missed the first time around). You also mentioned that you've written about prog for 20 years. Can I see some of the VdGG pieces/references (assuming you've covered them)?
------------- jc |
Posted By: WMR
Date Posted: February 04 2011 at 11:34
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Hello, Jim, right?
Thanks for referring to me as a “real” author. I appreciate it. (It’s my wife who’s usually saddled with the thankless job of having to convince me …) I want to let you know that I got your points. I agree with them. VDGG is influential. No doubt. And I can tell you've done your homework. You've got the stuff "down" as they say. (Cheers, Jim.)
Allow me to say that when the band regrouped in the 1970s, I believe, they did their best material. I really love the jazz influence (and a lot of other things) heard, particularly, on Still Life. They sound so connected to one another, as if they were operating of one brain. (That's meant to be a complement re: musical cohesiveness, not a dig ...)
I did want to clarify a couple of things, too: While it’s frustrating that VDGG don’t have their own chapter as the book stands, I did, indeed, reference and make mention of the band and Hammill throughout the book, including providing an original quote from Hugh about the Italian scene (and why he thinks/thought VDGG was supported by Italian fans). VDGG even figures prominently in the discog at the end. These bright spots might satisfy only the casual VDGG fan, but I felt compelled to say that the band was afforded, at least, some ink in this book. They were not totally ripped out of Mountains. Any suggestions to the contrary are inaccurate. (Ha!)
Secondly, and maybe this is splitting hairs, but I wouldn’t categorize Mountains as an encyclopedia. That certainly wasnn't its original intent. As much as I respect Otis (West Side guitar playing style and all) and realize that his contribution to electric Chicago Blues is immense, the error of omission would have been far greater had Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and even one of Chicago Blues’ acoustic forefathers, Charlie Patton, also been left out. As far as the VDGG chapter seeing the light of day, who knows? I suspect that I might have another crack at this book, but I’ll have to wait and see … You have more confidence than I do that I could have found another willing partner to print a book on prog rock … Ha! VDGG pieces: I’ve written on VDGG here and there but I’ve done (well, what I consider) a good piece on Guy upcoming in Modern Drummer. I’ll alert you when it gets printed. Thanks for the kind words, Jim. It's good to hear from you. Good luck with all things VDGG.
Stay in touch.
W |
Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: February 04 2011 at 11:44
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Will,
You are correct to point out that it's not an encyclopedia and doesn't claim to be. I "misremembered" that! It's an "illustrated history" and there is not as much of an all-encompassing claim with that term.
I would definitely love to know when the Guy piece comes out in Modern Drummer (did you talk to him directly? He's a very cool dude). That would certainly help to redress the balance.
This isn't the place, but I've got great stories about playing with Otis Rush and Buddy Guy (I'm in a Chicago blues band and Buddy was on our third album... errr, CD). We went on tour with Buddy all over the midwest right after he hit it big with the Silvertone release. Also have performed with Junior Wells, Bo Diddley (several times), Chuck Berry (in front of 15,000 in Long Beach... that was an interesting gig), Lonnie Brooks, and tons of others (and have opened for B.B. King a few times, Koko Taylor, etc etc). That's why I wrote a book on VdGG (...sorry, just had to throw a curve ball in there) ------------- jc |
Posted By: resurrection
Date Posted: February 06 2011 at 02:15
| WMR: The book sounds good. And do you mean you have contact with Billy Ritchie? From what I know, he is not keen on music contacts. Would be interesting to hear his views. Will definitely check out the book. |
Posted By: JeanFrame
Date Posted: February 10 2011 at 06:22
A writer who comes out from behind the dusty bookshelves to face the wrath as well as the praise? I'm impressed. If you keep this up maybe those Mountains will rise out of the sea after all. But it will take another book to do it. I like this one (your appearance has prompted me to read it again) but it's like the first of a series. And please put Clouds and VDGG in next time. |
Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: February 10 2011 at 09:41
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Yes, props to Will for facing the criticism as well as the praise. Speaking of VdGG, in the new issue of Word Magazine (no 97 March 2011) there is a 'prog vs. punk' debate featuring Jello Biafra and Peter Hammill. Should be interesting... Hammill is considered a cornerstone of 'classic'-era prog, but he and VdGG definitely had elements in their music that punks picked up on. And Jello Biafra is a punk legend, but is a fan of Magma and Van der Graaf. In the U.S. the cool British rock mags (which are miles ahead of the U.S. mags) get here about a month later. Have any of you British folk on the forum seen this issue yet? ------------- jc |
Posted By: giselle
Date Posted: March 19 2011 at 04:23
| Enjoyed the book but it seemed very selective in its choices, going for the common denominator. Many important groups not even mentioned. The so-called history leading up to prog fell very short too, but a good book nevertheless. Needs a sequel? |
Posted By: JeanFrame
Date Posted: May 20 2011 at 08:28
 yes please
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Posted By: Strider
Date Posted: June 25 2011 at 17:25
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Got to say i really enjoyed the book (despite the missing chapter on VDGG!). But one thing has been puzzling me - who are the band in the picture at the start of the prog folk chapter? It doesn't seem to be any of the bands featured in that chapter and it's been baffling me (and my friends) for a long time now. |
Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: June 29 2011 at 16:33
Will Romano, the author of Mountains..., has an article published on VdGG's Guy Evans in Modern Drummer. Never thought I'd see GE getting (some much deserved) coverage in an American music tech magazine (and a well known one at that). Kudos to Will for getting Guy some exposure. It definitely goes a long way toward forgiving the omission of a VdGG chapter in his book (an omission that wasn't his fault anyway, as he had written a chapter that was edited out by the powers-that-be). Way to go Will!
 ------------- jc |
Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: August 15 2011 at 03:40
| I was disappointed the book didn't have VDGG in any depth; also nothing of 1-2-3/Clouds and their crucial role. Was that edited out too? |
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: August 15 2011 at 05:23
That's the Strawbs, from 'Hero and Heroine" timeframe (1974). I believe that's one of a series of promo photos taken by Vin Costello for that album. From left to right: Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, John Hawken, Rod Coombes and Dave Cousins ------------- "Peace is the only battle worth waging." Albert Camus |
Posted By: JeanFrame
Date Posted: September 03 2011 at 11:57
| Thanks for that interesting post. I liked the book, but found it limited and generally pandering to mainstream regurgitation rather than delving into anything meaningful about the roots and causes. I don't know the author's age, but his writing suggests he was too young to be around at the time, and that makes it hard for him to grasp. |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: October 20 2011 at 06:21
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I agree, some good ideas here and a VDGG chapter would have been great.
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Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: October 20 2011 at 06:22
Hi Will I just wanted to say that I very much enjoyed your book. I found it to be one of the most informative books on the subject and very well illustrated. The only thing that puzzled me was the double entry of King Crimson when other bands could have taken their place. Perhaps Hawkwind could have had their own chapter or Magma as they are hugely influential. In any case I am reading through the book and it is certainly keeping me informed and entertained. Cheers from Australia! -------------
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Posted By: nosajnosaj
Date Posted: November 01 2011 at 01:40
| Yeah it is one of the most awaited one and the content is well appreciable infact exceptional as quoted to me by one of my friend. |
Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: November 03 2011 at 18:44
| Enjoyed it in a general sense, but disappointed that it merely regurgitated old (and wrong!) history. Very selective and pandering to mainstream. |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: November 14 2011 at 04:11
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The other thing about the book is the albums listed, which of course is nothing new to the prog freaks like us, but to a newcomer this would be an invaluable resource. The info is all well informed, I saw no mistakes, at least none that were glaring, and the choice of pictures is excellent. However, how about the misprint for some albums. The albums are listed incorrectly in one section. It was quite funny in a sense cos the titles seemed to fit the covers although they were erroneously listed. Great book anyway and I am very pleased that I could order this, my only prog publication purchased this year, besides all those mags. -------------
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Posted By: resurrection
Date Posted: November 21 2011 at 09:32
| A visually-nice book. And informative re the current situation. Shocking omission though of the importance of 1-2-3 (Clouds), par for the course in most pre-prog books, but given info available, not really excusable in the world of today. |
Posted By: milica2
Date Posted: December 01 2011 at 08:57
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I've been reading a great book "Year passes, a day never" by Zarko Lausevic. http://www.yu4you.com/Godina-prodje-dan-nikada-Zarko-Lausevic,knjiga,17636,en It is almost published..a true story.
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Posted By: zumacraig
Date Posted: January 07 2012 at 15:10
| Just got this. There is a major unforgivable error. The album pics fot PT are pictures of floyde albums! |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: January 07 2012 at 15:24
I know! Sack the proofreader!  That was bad but a reprint will be in the pipeliine surely in order to include VDGG and a more informative RPI and RIO or Zeuhl section.-------------
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Posted By: zumacraig
Date Posted: January 08 2012 at 16:41
cool. good to know. still, a great book.
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Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: January 09 2012 at 00:21
I love the book! I LOVE that its at least out there and someone cared enough to do it. I look at the newsstand and its dripping with Hendrix, Zeppelin, Kiss, and alt metal books - boring. Rarely do you see any Prog books here I am reading this great book 
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Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: January 26 2012 at 11:14
| There should a book on 1-2-3 on its own. Then people might begin to understand. |
Posted By: Pekka
Date Posted: January 26 2012 at 13:54
Is this true or do you just hope so? ------------- http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=42652" rel="nofollow - It's on PA! 
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Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: January 26 2012 at 18:21
i assume so as there were errors. But it could also include extra chapters. In any case it is still one of the better prog books covering a wide spectrum of the scene. Are there any others this comprehensive and lavishly illustrated? -------------
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Posted By: JeanFrame
Date Posted: February 01 2012 at 09:43
Probably it was; paying editors like to stick to the main main mainstream and dont let the fiction get in the way of the truth. |
Posted By: NickHall
Date Posted: March 06 2012 at 07:02
| 1-2-3 excised from the record yet again? |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: November 11 2012 at 06:56
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I just loaded quick look at this book if you like to seee more -------------
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Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: November 14 2012 at 10:44
| It's a nice book, well presented, well written. Unfortunately, it panders to the mainstream's idea of what constitutes prog and its history. |
Posted By: AtomicCrimsonRush
Date Posted: February 06 2013 at 16:07
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Something went wrong with my clip above I will try loading again -------------
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Posted By: MACB
Date Posted: March 19 2013 at 17:18
| Blimey, I got a copy today and was shocked when flicking through to page 230 to see a line up Pink Floyd albums instead of Porcupine Tree. I hope this is the only mistake. Otherwise looks like a good read. |
Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: March 21 2013 at 12:36
| Yes, it's quite good for general populist stuff about Prog. It misses out important bands like Vander Graf, and crucial influences like 1-2-3/Clouds, but it's all very well set out with great photos etc. |
Posted By: Stool Man
Date Posted: March 21 2013 at 12:43
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The author has already explained the absence of VDGG, and mentioned 1-2-3 Clouds:
------------- rotten hound of the burnie crew |
Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: March 21 2013 at 15:34
| I know, I did see that explanation previously, but an explanation doesn't make it a satisfactory situation. Then again, I've already praised the good things about the book. |
Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: March 21 2013 at 15:38
| ^ You are saying you can't put up with the author's intent for the book? |
Posted By: DiamondDog
Date Posted: March 21 2013 at 15:43
| According to the author himself, his intent was not fulfilled, due in part to forces beyond his control. I enjoyed the book, but that doesn't mean I can't criticise somewhat glaring omissions. No-one is perfect! |
Posted By: Stool Man
Date Posted: March 22 2013 at 07:20
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I'd like to see him publish the entire content of all those 300 interviews - that'd be a terrific book on its own ------------- rotten hound of the burnie crew |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: March 23 2013 at 14:02
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Hi, I'm probably going to get this eventually, but again ... the main issue with the discussion of this subject, is that, AGAIN, the emphasys is all on the English groups, and if you check out the lyrics, this was not an English-exclusive scene, and it was spread out all over the world, which is STILL not accepted, understood, or discussed in most of these "progressive" books, which makes the whole thing sound accidental, and something that all bands copied the London concepts ... and that is not true, never was, and never will be! But we can not get over the fact that the media was stronger in America and England that helped these things get so big, that everyone now considers them the god-given rightful heroes of some progressive ideals ... never mind the lyrics, because they are not progressive ... they are stupid, idiotic, and opinionated, but the music is progressive and the lyrics are not! Look ... how would you like to live in a different country and be totally ignored and you did just as good work as any of those bands in London? And some of those bands in London were over rated, loud, and had as much weight in their work as a pound of nothing! In fact, some of them being considered "progressive" is an insult to the term! ... but them ... definition is not important and skewed to the left or right! Please stop the ethnocentricity of this "progressive" music. We have lists here, that are around the world, like crazy, and London is not as big as the world! And the art world didn't die just because London was alive. So, for your predilection, Tokyo sucked, Paris sucked, Germany sucked, NY sucked, Buenos Aires sucked, Havana sucked, Rome sucked .... want me to go on? Those people never existed or played music? Are you insane? And above all, film and theater and literature was way more progressive in many other places, than London ... though London had the best theaters in the world and the loudest advertising on the arts! I suppose you could say that helped the music ... a whole lot ... but those folks discussing "progressive" were not intelligent enough to have seen, admired, appreciated, other facets of life and living and the arts, to have any idea ... what "progressive" even meant!
------------- 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 |