Hello all,
My name is Kent and I am in my late 50's. Growing up in Utah most of the stuff I listened to was the typical top 40 billboard stuff on the radio. At some point, I discovered an AOR radio station and was introduced to David Bowie, Pink Floyd and others. From that point on I was always looking for music that was out of the mainstream for my area.
Although all these are not progressive, some of the bands that had the most influence on me are as follows (in no particular order):
The Beatles
The Guess Who (until Domenic Troiano joined)
Steppenwolf
ELP (Until Love Beach)
Yes, although I never bought any albums
Alice Cooper (I loved the theatrics)
KISS (Same reason as Alice Cooper, but I stopped listening to them after Love Gun)
Tangerine Dream
In the late 70's and through the 80's I became obsessed with Todd Rundgren / Utopia and bought his/their complete catalog up through Arena. I also became a big fan of Rush during this time but lost interest after Hold Your Fire.
The 90's through the present, I've really spent most of my listening time listing to my current collection of music.
A few months ago I found the magazine "Prog" at a bookstore and it rekindled my interest in this type of music.
I bought Dream Theater's The Astonishing, but I can't seem to enjoy it. I've also been listening to a lot of Rick Wakeman lately and have found I really like his music.
One thing I have learned while lurking here is how much I don't know about prog music. I was amazed at all the different sub-genres!
I'm hoping to learn from all the members here and discover some new music!
Sorry for the ramble.
Kent