Top 5 bands

oddentity wrote: Bob Greece wrote: My favourites (as in my signature): 1 - Ozric Tentacles 2 - Hawkwind 3 - Jethro Tull 4 - Dream Theater 5 - Yes Hawkwind is another band I haven't been able to get into.    I tried to get into them after I fell in love with the Ozrics, but it just didn't work.   Their music seems very crude and monotonous to me - the simple bass lines, in particular, turn me off.     Is it the naked dancing chick ....?

Hi Oddentity,

I see that you chose an Ozric Tentacles track as your nickname. I wish I'd done that now. I could have called myself The Pongmaster or Pungent Efulgent (so many great names to choose from).... Anyway, for me Hawkwind is the closest thing I've found to Ozric Tentacles, particularly when they're not singing. I think it's after 1979 that Hawkwind sounds more like Ozric Tentacles. The early stuff with Bob Calvert is quite avant-garde and borders on punk sometimes... but that's another thread.

Oddentity:

Re: Hawkwind, you may want to try 'Levitation' (1980) or 'Warrior on the Edge of Time' (1976) The former is one of their most solid and musically consistent albums, and benefits from having Ginger Baker on drums, instead of Simon 'where's the beginning of the bar? - King.

'Warrior..' is more symphonic; lots of Mellotron, flute and fantasy imagery. Some of their music is very crude and un-remarkable. They were never the greatest musicans, but every now and then had some great ideas which they managed to pull off. Bob Greece is right in that some of their work after the Calvert era was more Ozric-esque.

Beatles

Stones (it's only Rock and Roll, but I like it...)

Deep Purple

Yes

King Crimson

oddentity wrote: Bob, Hi Oddentity, I see that you chose an Ozric Tentacles track as your nickname. I wish I'd done that now. I could have called myself The Pongmaster or Pungent Efulgent (so many great names to choose from).... Yeah, there's tonnes of great names there!    I like "oddentity" because it puns nicely with "identity", and also because it is a fantastic track from my favourite album of theirs (Curious Corn).      What's your favourite Ozric album? Anyway, for me Hawkwind is the closest thing I've found to Ozric Tentacles, particularly when they're not singing. I think it's after 1979 that Hawkwind sounds more like Ozric Tentacles. The early stuff with Bob Calvert is quite avant-garde and borders on punk sometimes... but that's another thread. Do you have any recommendations?

My favourite Ozrics albums are the live ones. Live Underslunky is great but I also love all the others: Live Ethereal Cereal, Pyramidion and The Pongmaster's Ball.

Of the studio albums, it's quite hard to pick one out. I think Waterfall Cities was their peak. The previous album Curious Corn is also very good.

Hawkwind recommendations. I think a good place to start are 2 recent live albums - Yule Ritual and Live at Canterbury. There are many Ozric-like moments on those albums. Of the studio albums, I like Chronicle of the Black Sword and Electric Teepee.

oddentity wrote: Pero, 1. Gentle giant 2. Mahavishnu orchestra 3. King Crimson 4. Focus 5. Gong Focus are a great band.   I've been really getting into them of late - in particular, Moving Waves and Hamburger Concerto.   They remind me of Gentle Giant in that they combine medieval melodies and atmospheres with raunchy blues-based rock - although, of course, they jam much more.

Focus III (orriginaly double LP-and now 1 CD) is fantastic.

Hamburger concerto and Moving waves are also wonderfull albums

oddentity wrote: Bob, My favourite Ozrics albums are the live ones. Live Underslunky is great but I also love all the others: Live Ethereal Cereal, Pyramidion and The Pongmaster's Ball. That's interesting.  I actually prefer their studio stuff because of the production values.    In my opinion, Ed Wynn is a real studio wizard. He is an absolute perfectionist in what he does.    The way he polishes the music until it shines so beautifully is amazing.     It turns the music into a form of aural jewelry.    I really think it is this aspect which transforms the Ozric's music from mere jamming music, albeit of a high standard, into a genuine work of art.     The only live stuff I really enjoy is the Pongmaster DVD.

Personally, I love live albums. Not just by Ozric Tentacles but by most bands. I know that there are not many people who like live albums so much as I do. Ozric Tentacles live albums in particular have a great energy to them. You're right about the high production standards of the studio albums though.

Pink Floyd

Genesis

Yes

King Crimson

Van Der Graaf Generator

(also, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and many many more)

For me are:

1.Queen

2.Camel

3.Pink Floyd

4.Rush

5.Gentle Giant

MikeEnRegalia wrote: oddentity wrote: Mike, in the service of art ... so you mean something like "Art Rock", which used to be an alias for Prog Rock?  The problem is that Art is not an essential part of "great" Rock music, so in effect in emphasizing the artistic value you reduce the scope to Prog Rock. Well, what constitutes art is largely subjective, isn't it.    I'm a nerdish individual who likes his music to be wild, ambitious, idealistic, cerebral, melodous, pure, etc, which means that I don't really connect to the blues side of rock with its strong sexual overtones.        By announcing my top five bands I'm revealing my own character to some degree. What are your top five rock bands, Mike?   I already know from you posts that you like Opeth and Gentle Giant, but would you include them in your top five?    Gentle Giant and Opeth would definitely not be in my list of top 5 ROCK bands: Led Zeppelin Van Halen Deep Purple Whitesnake Gary Moore

WHITESNAKE