5 Symphonic Bands
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=104767
Printed Date: August 09 2025 at 16:04
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Topic: 5 Symphonic Bands
Posted By: justin4950834-2
Subject: 5 Symphonic Bands
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 13:11
| Camel |
Replies:
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 13:16
| Camel |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 13:24
|
Proud to log in the first vote for Focus. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 13:27
| Triumvirat |
Posted By: sublime220
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 13:43
|
Camel ------------- There is no dark side in the moon, really... Matter of fact, it's all dark... |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 13:48
| I'd normally vote Camel, but I'm in a Renaissance Renaissance at the moment, and just saw them live with a great setlist. so Renaissance it is |
Posted By: TeleStrat
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 13:55
| Camel (Greenslade, Focus) |
Posted By: GKR
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 14:48
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FOcus! ------------- - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. |
Posted By: zwordser
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 15:09
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Camel and Rennaissnace about equal for me, but as "Symphonic" band, Renaissance gets the vote. ------------- Z |
Posted By: Mellotron Storm
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 17:17
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CAMEL, but i'd also vote GREENSLADE over the other three. ------------- "The wind is slowly tearing her apart" "Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 17:32
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No vote since I like Camel and Renaissance equally . ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: November 09 2015 at 18:13
| Focus---I've enjoyed them more than the others--- |
Posted By: The-time-is-now
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 00:28
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Renaissance. -------------  One of my best achievements in life was to find this picture :D |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 01:40
| Voted Camel. |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 02:47
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Camel > Triumvirat > Focus ------------- 
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Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 03:47
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Focus: They made three albums in a row that genuinely resonate with me. Camel: I don't really listen to Camel anymore...maybe except for the debut. Renaissance: No thank you. Triumvirat: I like em whenever I spin em...but it has been a while. Greenslade: erm....yeah....I love Dave's organ playing on Colosseum's Valentyne Suite! Focus all the way! ------------- “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: Hercules
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 04:58
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Camel. The band I listen to far more than any other because, in my opinion, their discography is unmatched by any other band in any genre of music. The only band that comes close is Celt rockers Runrig. Renaissance are brilliant until c1979 in both incarnations, and also the mk1 reincarnation as Illusion is also very nice. Focus made some absolutely brilliant music and were often highly amusing, but most albums had the odd less good track and they lost their way after The Hamburger Concerto. Greenslade's instrumental stuff is magical at time (Catalan off Time and Tide is astonishingly good) but I have never liked Dave Lawson's vocals. However, that dislike is not enough to stop me listening to them completely, as it is for VDGG. Triumvirat are good, but not as compelling as the rest. ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: Mormegil
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 06:54
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Camel, with Renaissance a very close second. ------------- Welcome to the middle of the film. |
Posted By: Skalla-Grim
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 07:19
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I can't really make up my mind between Camel and Renaissance. While Camel's Mirage is in my opinion, better than any Renaissance album, Renaissance has more good albums altogether. |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 08:47
I'm also a fan of Greenslade , though only the first two are solid,,,,,sad to say the second two are hit or miss. A band who needed more support and perhaps some inspiration. But I can listen to Bedside over and over on rainy days .....  ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Mellotron Storm wrote:Posted By: digdug
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 09:31
|
Focus just beats out Triumvirat followed by Camel for me ------------- Prog On! |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 11:28
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Any other band than Camel. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 11:29
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In this group? Camel! ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: b_olariu
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 11:32
| I like all 5, but I love Greenslade - my vote |
Posted By: Progosopher
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 11:51
|
Normally, I would vote for either Camel or Renaissance, but I am currently listening to Best of Focus: Hocus Pocus and am totally digging it, so why not? You got to live in the moment sometimes. The only one here I don't get much into is Greenslade. ------------- The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty" |
Posted By: addictedtoprog
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 12:19
| Focus |
Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 15:58
I heartily agree. I'm sure that's what you really meant.
------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: MusicFreak
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 16:15
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Polls are always good for synthetic replies: Triumvirat, Renaissance and something of Focus are the only music I care for here, the rest is a mere waste of listening time.
|
Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 16:27
Nice way of altering Baldfried's comment! Oh, and complete and utter effing nonsense!  Three other superb symphonic groups each with plenty of amazing albums in their collection....and one (Greenslade) with some cool moments here and there, and one or two decent albums. My vote would probably go to Renaissance here, as they have the most consistent run of very strong albums - seven studio and one live. The poorest stuff off `Azure D'Or' is still far superior to garbage like `Neon Magic' and `Remote Romance' from Camel's `I Can See Your House...' (mind you, those first five Camel albums are pretty much unbeatable). |
Posted By: Evolutionary Sleeper
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 16:58
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Camel has always been my favorite of the "classic" prog bands. Easy vote. ------------- 
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Posted By: Junges
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 17:37
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Camel ------------- 
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Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 18:15
Please don't remind me of those abominations. Or The Single Factor. ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: November 10 2015 at 18:20
I've actually found `The Single Factor' has kind of improved over the years, have you not? I know you're a massive Camel obsessive, so I wondered if you especially might have been a bit more forgiving of it! Tracks like `Sasquatch', `Selva' are rather decent to my ears! Make no mistake, it's still far and away their weakest album, but I don't find it completely without merit!  Actually, I'll be honest, I have NEVER heard `Dust and Dreams'. It's the only Camel album in all my years of collecting, of attending record fairs, etc, that I have simply never come across on either LP or CD, never even heard it at all. I really should just get it from an online vendor and have it shipped over. |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 13:30
This ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 13:37
|
The single factor is poor and I think that also Pressure Point (the live) is quite bad. Anyway Every band had poor outputs in the 80s. Magma have Merci, Renaissance have Camera Camera, ELP have Love Beach...but Camel resurrected quickly with Stationary Traveller that even if dated in terms of sound, is a great album. The others took more and some didn't resurrect at all. ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: Wanorak
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 14:18
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Camel, just over Renaissance. ------------- A GREAT YEAR FOR PROG!!! |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 15:45
I actually love Pressure Points. For years it was the only way to hear the title cut the way it was meant to be heard. It also covers a lot of career highpoints, with great versions of "Wait", "Sasquatch", "Rhayader", etc, not to mention "West Berlin" and "Fingertips". Stationary Traveller is an awesome album with not a bum note
|
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 15:53
amen sister.. nice to see you back around here. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 15:54
What I don't like on Pressure point is first of all the fretless bass solo on the title track. It was probably, as you say, how it was originally intended but to me it sounds "forced". Fretless bass was fashionable in the 80s. I don't like the vocals on fingertips. The studio version is really better. Of course the excerpt from Snow Goose is great, also because is the last appearance of Peter Bardens with Camel, but it doesn't add anything to the studio version or even to A Live Record. I should have written in my review years ago, that this is absolutely not the right album to approach Camel for the first time. Even if it contains some of their highpoints, imagine the impression that it could give to somebody who has never listened to Camel before. The best track on it is for me "Drafted" with Latimer playing the part reserved to Mel Collins' sax on the studio version on his guitar. ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 15:56
|
^^ Nice to see you too Never heard Greenslade so no vote. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 16:02
 dealing with a bunch of things at work. I think the only peace i'll ever find will be in the grave. Greenslade is somewhat akin toCamel.. solid 3rd division prog just with more imagination and a helluva lot more talent Not anything I'd rush out to get.. but a good one to fill out a good solid prog collection.Renaissance here... by several hundred light years man. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: November 11 2015 at 16:19
Good luck with that then Probably not  I guess I'll have to give them a listen eventually. It would be my first choice but I really enjoyed Triumvirat yesterday, so I'm confused  |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: April 21 2018 at 01:57
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Camel all the way. ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: Squonk19
Date Posted: April 21 2018 at 02:30
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Camel, with Renaissance a clear second ------------- “Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea.” |
Posted By: Mortte
Date Posted: April 21 2018 at 03:52
| Renaissance. |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: April 21 2018 at 10:31
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I love all these bands, but I'm going to throw T'rat a bone because Spartacus and Old Loves Die Hard are spectacular. ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: Mascodagama
Date Posted: April 21 2018 at 10:56
|
Focus has three albums that I dig. Of the rest, the only thing I ever spin is Camel's Gods of Light, which I still find quite enjoyable - you hear a harder-rocking and spacier side to them on that one, and it has very little of their weakest elements (the embarrassingly pedestrian vocals and cringe-worthy lyrics). ------------- Soldato of the Pan Head Mafia. We'll make you an offer you can't listen to. http://bandcamp.com/jpillbox" rel="nofollow - Bandcamp Profile |
Posted By: noni
Date Posted: April 21 2018 at 11:14
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1. Camel 2. Renaissance 3. Greenslade 4. Triumvirat Don't own any Focus albums
|
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: April 23 2018 at 14:21
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Camel ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: April 23 2018 at 14:28
| I like all of these but Triumvirat is my choice. |
Posted By: Argo2112
Date Posted: April 23 2018 at 14:49
| Renaissance, then Camel |
Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 00:53
|
For the love og god I still can't understand the different subgenres, but I love Camel and Focus and Renaissance. And I think the other two bands have a totally different approach.
In fact I think only Camel and Focus are alike (and Jane, Pink Floyd, Caravan, Kraan, but apparently they all are different subgenres aswell). Anyway I voted for Camel, because of the wonderful flute-work. I always thought it to a pity there wasn't more piano in the music of Camel. La Princesse Perdue is so beautiful. |
Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 02:26
Ha, I was about to say `Hey, wait a minute, I'm sure I sent you that spare copy I had of a Greenslade CD about a year ago!', and then I saw that your post was from 2015!
|
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 04:10
| ^ I only heard it a couple of times since and I'm pretty sure they're not as good as the other four. Since Camel is ahead I'll give my vote to Renaissance. |
Posted By: Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 04:23
Well it could have be as simple as `I haven't listened to it yet'!  I'm forever coming across albums years later that I've either never listened to, or forgotten I even owned!
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 05:17
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.......effing craptcha...... Righty oh. Fourth time lucky..... I spend most time spinning Camel and Renaissance, with Greenslade close. Tough to pick, maybe Camel. |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 08:41
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^ I feel very similar to Tom here.....I listen to Camel and Renaissance the most but I do play the other bands also.......especially Greenslade: an often overlooked quirky keyboard based group. I like their sense of playfulness especially Dave Lawson. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |