Two bands I have a hard time liking.

I love Gentle giant, and I like VDGG.

Hercules wrote: I know EXACTLY how you feel. For all the 70s and 80s, I hated GG. I just could not understand what they were trying to do. Then someone made me listen properly to Free Hand, and suddenly, I understood. I don't like everything they have done, but some of it (Knots, Proclamation, Free Hand amongst many others) is amongst the best prog ever and I listen to them a lot. VDGG I just cannot cope with at all. They have a fine keyboards player, but Peter Hamill's voice drives me away immediately and their compositions just don't appeal. And I feel exactly the same about King Crimson. They may be extremely talented musicians, but I cannot stand most of their music and I find Fripp's guitar style to be cold, unemotional and about as pleasant as finger nails scraping down a blackboard.

twosteves wrote: AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: twosteves wrote: well one band I really dislike and find pretentious  and the other one has a great rhythm section and can really groove---in a quirky way. I can't really see anyone calling VDGG pretentious(except for maybe their lyrics)so I'm going to guess that GG is who you are referring to and that you voted for VDGG(the quirky one).  wrong---I have tried many times to get into VDGG---but between the singer it sounds like a spoof of what prog from the 70's should sound like---I like a natural voice not a melodramatic put on one---not that it doesnt have some good moments....but GG has a legendary groove with a great bass player (underrated) and some beautiful vocals from both singers. Voted GG...although not a fan of some of their albums.

I'll take Gentle Giant....especially the first 2 albums ,but all have something to offer.

dr wu23 wrote: VDGG....some very interesting music and concepts to be sure...if only they could find a  decent singer.

gr8dane wrote: Probably done before.But not sure. But two bands that to me are rather ,ehh ,...I do not really appreciate ,but find somewhat similar.quirky. Though I love Quiet Zone Pleasure Dome. But that's about it.Van is my choice.

Gentle Giant takes it for me. Where VDGG just brush the edge of displeasure to my ears in certain passages, GG never come close. And while not everything GG plays may be my cup of tea, the overall effect always fascinates me and often gets stuck in my head the rest of the day.

Strange - these 2 bands are definitely challenging. But persistence and an open mind wins.
During my early days of Prog (mid-late 80’s) I was seeking the most demanding, ‘out there’ kinds of music. I did bite off more than I could chew when it came to Hammill / VDGG, then later, the Giant.
They eventually sucked me in to their world, and the rest is history.
I think that Death Metal bands were the hardest for me to grasp. Again, phenomenal stuff there.

Two of my absolute favourite bands, and I love them both.

They both created some highly intelligent, highly creative, very original music, that has depths and layers that allow you to explore their music time and time again and make wonderful new discoveries time after time.

A tough call, but I've gone with Gentle Giant.

GG had, IMO, a run of 6 five star albums (ATT, TF, Octopus, IAGH, TPATG, and Freehand), whilst I would give five star ratings to 3 VdGG albums (Pawn Hearts, Godbluff, and Still Life)

So, on that basis GG gets my vote, but these are two completely awesome bands.

Personally I fail to understand how anyone who claims to have an ear for progressive rock music can fail to appreciate the sheer brilliance of these artists.