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rogerthat View Drop Down
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Points: 9869 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 11:15
Originally posted by thehallway thehallway wrote:

The common thing here is drums.
 
That's because a band is only as good as its drummer (whoever said that?)
 


On a somewhat related note, I would say the dynamism of the drummer is a good pointer to the overall dynamism of the band.  Genesis, JT, ELP, KC (esp Wetton era) - all dynamic bands with dynamic drummers.  A wooden drummer sort of rubs off the wrong way on the band and pulls them down. Judas Priest wrote some very good, even great songs in the 80s but were saddled with the awful Dave Holland.
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Points: 15745 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 12:40

Ah, good thread! My weak spots are easily:

- geniune Hammond Organ
- if it has some funky/jazzy instrumental section (eg: the groove section on Atom Heart Mother is tremendous!)
- a jazzy played instrument in a non-jazz context (eg: Waterloo Lily by Caravan, the keyboards are so jazzy!)
 
I can't think of anything else, but I'm sure there's plenty coming from me hehe.


Edited by The Quiet One - January 20 2011 at 12:41
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Points: 223 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 12:45
1. Melody - If I'm humming along, or get a smirk on my face, I'll always give it multiple listens.
2. Rhythm - I hate to use the term beat for some type of percussion pattern or drum track, but that's what I find myself paying attention to. 
3. Vocals - If the singer is even slightly abrasive to my earholes...it'll take some convincing to give it a chance.
4. Production - Not as common a factor for most of you. I love analogue/vintage/warm sounding records (hence the reason I got into pre-1980s music in the first place). So it's really hard for me to get into flat, over-produced, compressed sounding records. 
5. Character - I don't mind sloppy technique or other downfalls, if it's raw talent. I like some original character to any instrument.


Edited by CloseToTheMoon - January 20 2011 at 12:47
It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen.
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Points: 22989 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 12:48
My interests lie now in contemporary progressive music that applies the progressive principles as we know them on sounds that emerged after the classic prog era - and this is not a restrictive view, as three decades of innovation have passed since the demise of classic prog. 
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Points: 5210 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 12:48
Good guitar, harmony vocals, complexity, and drums that are part of the music rather than glorified metronomes.
 
You do those things well and you could probably be singing the phone book over three chords and I'd still dig it.
You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all.
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Points: 374 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 12:57
First of all, when the bass and drums stand out. I love it when I can hear the bass doing little fills! 

Also, to the contrary of a lot of the posters, I really don't care too much about what the lyrics mean (except some cases when they are important) but I do like it when the sound nice. Like, for example, on Spock's Beard's "The Light" (the song). 

"I am senor Valasco
I drink my milk with tabasco
Got no place to stand
Got no home, no land, but I
Don't ever want to die
Don't place no one before I
I am the mask and the chamber
I know of love not of danger
Got no place to go
Ain't nothin' better than be here
Don't ever want to die
Don't place no one before I"
My Last FM Profile
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The Quiet One View Drop Down
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Points: 15745 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 13:47

^yes! The sound of Neal's voice on that part is excellent! Thumbs Up
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Points: 218 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 14:02
Seeing that Neal Morse was involved in making the album.

Concept Albums.

Complex vocal harmonies: both like the vocal arrangements of Moon Safari and the vocal counterpoint style of a band like Gentle Giant.

Long instrumental passages where the band shows off their skill and diversity (multiple styles/genres, different time signitures, unique instruments, etc.).

Anything that has a great groove to it and is somewhat jazzy and/or funky.
Please check out my Progressive Music Blog: The Leviathan.
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Points: 18993 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 14:24
Originally posted by friso friso wrote:

...
- jazzy drums (almost always works for me)
- bravery (doing the unexpected, daring performance)
- psychedelic moods/crazyness (exploiting artistic freedom)
...
What about you?
 
Surprised!
 
Totally surprised!
 
Shocked!
 
Amazed!
 
Blown Away!
 
... there are no words for it.
 
It has nothing to do with the instruments themselves, although, of course, they help, but the totality is BIGGER than any single instrument, is the most important thing for me in any music.
 
One of the reasons why a lot of "prog" is not that big a thing for me, is that the "totality" is not there, and there are simply ideas that we're supposed to believe in, and that's the same thing as me tellin you what is good ... you gonna tell me to screw off! And I fancy that a band trying to convince me that this is about that or the lyrics are about this, or that the music means this ... is the first turn off that I have all around.
 
The next turn off for me is ANY band that calls itself "progressive" or says that they are a "prog" band ... surest sign that I will not bother at all!
 
The best bands that you remember and call progressive in history of the medium never had a name for their music and they didn't need one! And it was because of it that they did what they did! ... think about it!
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Points: 21795 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 14:36
Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

Originally posted by friso friso wrote:

...
- jazzy drums (almost always works for me)
- bravery (doing the unexpected, daring performance)
- psychedelic moods/crazyness (exploiting artistic freedom)
...
What about you?
 
Surprised!
 
Totally surprised!
 
Shocked!
 
Amazed!
 
Blown Away!
 
... there are no words for it.
 
It has nothing to do with the instruments themselves, although, of course, they help, but the totality is BIGGER than any single instrument, is the most important thing for me in any music.
 
One of the reasons why a lot of "prog" is not that big a thing for me, is that the "totality" is not there, and there are simply ideas that we're supposed to believe in, and that's the same thing as me tellin you what is good ... you gonna tell me to screw off! And I fancy that a band trying to convince me that this is about that or the lyrics are about this, or that the music means this ... is the first turn off that I have all around.
 
The next turn off for me is ANY band that calls itself "progressive" or says that they are a "prog" band ... surest sign that I will not bother at all!
 
The best bands that you remember and call progressive in history of the medium never had a name for their music and they didn't need one! And it was because of it that they did what they did! ... think about it!
 
Normally I can make no sense out of you're posts, Mosh, but you're totally right with this. Smile
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richardh View Drop Down
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Points: 30756 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 15:43
I love to hear a bit of raw aggression in prog as well as bravado. ''Going for it'' is the best description in a nutshell. Best recent example is Muse- 'Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist' which had me jumping round the room the minute I heard it. Another Muse track 'Take a Bow' made my head throb (in a good way) when I first heard it. Some bands just press my buttons.
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Points: 179 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2011 at 16:34
I love three kinds of progressive passages:
 
1.  Gradual build up of big orchestal chords: like in Wurm in Yes' "Starship Trooper" or in two discontinuous movements in "Awaken"; its like God descending to Earth
 
2.  Long melodic passages: like in Ravel's Bolero which also builds up in intensity as its melody is gradually repeated.  Steve Hackett's melodic guitar work in the center of Firth of Fifth and his Steppes contain long passages of beautiful notes that make me think of someone singing the greatest, most passionate sililoquy echoing through eternity
 
3.  Multi-layered, hard and somewhat funky rhythmic passages that evolve, repeat, change dramatically, repeat...the endless pounding rhythm of waves in the ocean; the fast and the slow merged like the complex flows of a mighty river;  Yes' "Does It Really Happen?" coda has this in it, so does the long journey-jam in Genesis' "Cinema Show", Yes' "Siberian Khatru"...
 
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Points: 15068 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 01:48
Any kind of art is a way to transmit/communicate sensations for which words are not enough. This includes poetry.
If there's a message that I can catch, consciously or not,  it works for me. That's why I can listen to very different artists without sticking on a genre only. 

I mean any kind of message: "Lime and limpid green, the second scene, the fight between the blue you once knew".

This doesn't mean anything, but the sound of the words on that music makes me crawl in the deep space, as well as Tangerine Dream's Zeit. 
I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution
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Points: 19643 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 02:51
- Layered acoustic guitar
- Screamed vocals (don't have to be genuinely harsh, just screamed)
- Subject matter concerning some form of melancholia
- Lyrical themes/subject matter which carry on through an artist's discography
- Recordings with a natural sound (especially live recordings)
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Points: 2506 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 03:27
Originally posted by Cactus Choir Cactus Choir wrote:

I agree about the jazzy drums - a good drummer can really boost a piece of music. Pierre van der Linden of Focus is one that comes to mind - the first five minutes of Anonymous II are really enjoyable for me mainly down to all the little fills he does and the way he drives the music along.I also like a bit of a 60s R&B feel to the music. A lot of my favourite artists - Keith Emerson, Steve Howe, Jon Lord, Ian Anderson - did the whole seven gigs a week, slogging up and down motorways and cranking out Got My Mojo Working before moving on to prog but the influence of that style remained in their music. A New Day Yesterday by Jethro Tull is a good example of this.The occasional Bach-style contrapuntal classical quote always goes down well too.


Went to see Focus yesterday, and indeed, Pierre was amazing!
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Points: 7 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 04:34
...

Edited by Butterfly Attack - January 21 2011 at 04:41
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Points: 7 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 04:38
A distinctive voice almost immediately does it for me, like Peter Gabriel or Jon Anderson, for example.
Negative example : A thin, ordinary voice, like the singer from Gentle Giant has, really turns me off...
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Points: 7 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 04:40
sorry for the double, there s some error showing when posting, so i thought, I had to retype...
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friso View Drop Down
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Points: 2506 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 04:55
Gentle Giant has a thicker voice then Genesis and Yes, but the vocals aren't recorded that loud.
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Points: 7 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 21 2011 at 05:02
well anyway, it s that special timbre that Gabriel's and Anderson's voices have, you would certainly recognize that anywhere and anytime, wouldn't you ?

i didn't want to step on your toes though if you're a diehard GG fan, mind you
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