When I got the new LTE3 album the first song I played was Rhapsody In Blue, as I wanted to hear what/how the arranged the pc and I was very pleased with what they did. It may be my favorite song that LTE has recorded.

Enjoy.....

I like how he suggested that "2112" should be made into a stage show, in how it was composed by Rush.

Nice! Thanks for sharing

PresDoug, that's the guy. I was just trying to remember who the Triumvirat guy was. I don't think he's been around for a while.

Great clip and these videos are always fun!

Watched yesterday, by coincidence

Jamel aka Jamal had a great reaction to CTTE, I posted that one already http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=125735&KW=close+to+the+edge&PID=5873896#5873896" rel="nofollow - here .

Very nice indeed ... and I wish that more "progressive music" was studied and looked at a bit more in this way, so that one would know the difference between "music" and a "song" ....

Very nice indeed 

Doug is doing a great job of explaining all these songs and their grand scale and what the artists are doing that maybe some of us may take for granted because we may not fully understand it.

Nice again ... DT is a strange band ...  folks got attached to the early version and they did not get/understand that stuff that came later ... and in many ways, and this shows it, MUSICALLY, it is way better constructed and defined ... and unlike many bands, they used actual instruments instead of sound bites (vst's), and in some ways, that kind of shows a level of musicianship that is not always associated with a rock band at all.

Their live album with an orchestra is also one that is very strong ... even if it is not an album that most fans like, but one can quickly see the musical ability of the members and what they are attempting to do ... 

It's a great band, really ... even if sometimes it seems "stuck" on a sound type (guitar thrashing -- NOW) where as in those days it was more about the composition than it was about anything else, although I think that keeping it together and making it a "symphonic" work, was quite intentional and a comment about the "songs" and "hits" that too many fans wanted!

Very nice stuff ... and the album is very good!

I have always been a fan of Octavarium.

Hi,

As much as I like the band and have seen them twice, I really think that they need to spread out the musical abilities a bit better, and help show the compositional side of the band ... I think that the bass is under-utilized, and the keyboards are almost 2nd to anything, and the guitar is too much out front, specially when it does need to be. That, btw, could be a mix issue ... but seeing them thrash it out in concert kinda takes away the great stuff they had done before ... at least that is how I see it!

DT records are not known for being good/great sounding records. The mix is usually subpar to bad, the records/CDs are brickwalled and that is a main reason why the bass is buried in the mix. They use mixing engineers who are not well known for quality work, as it shows.

But what's really important, is on the production front you have Jimmy T who did the recent live album doing all the sound tech/recording, and it's getting mixed by the guy who did JPs solo album: Andy Sneap. This guy is the real deal, great track record, so i'm hoping we get one of their best sounding records from the band in years. The previous guy from the last 3 albums, "Richard Chycki" has proven to be pretty incompetent, especially on Self Titled and Astonishing. I though the most recent was better, but the vocals on DOT were very reverb drowned. The vinyl/blu-ray master of that album is actually different and it sounds a lot better, much more clarity.

We will see....the earlier records like BC&SL and Octavarium were done at Sterling Sound and are much better, since that mastering lab is the real deal, for real! Octavarium was mastered by George Marino, a legend (RIP). I just don't get how/why Petrucci would allow the last couple records to go out sounding like they do, they must not have an ear for high end sound........probably all iPhone and ear buds.

His breakdown of these progressive rock classics/masterpieces is really enjoyable and educational.

Enjoy......

No, he is listening thru a laptop on Bose headphones via a low fi YouTube stream.....I really enjoy and appreciate his deep knowledge of music and composition, I am learning so much what to listen for. I spun Suppers Ready last night and listened for what he does and I picked up the bass notes/pattern he mentioned, could have been taurus pedals.

I found interesting that he mentioned what I thought was an organ he said was a piano with no sustain to the keys........I still think its an organ.

One of the instrumental sections that confused Doug was Hackett playing his Les Paul through a volume pedal, Doug couldn't figure out what the sound was.

Yea, I think that is why he said he needs to listen to it many more times.......I think he misses a lot due to talking over the music. 

Nice breakdown of this excellent song. For me he hits the nail on the head with the tone of this song and subject matter. Again Doug's expertise with composition is a great learning tool for me.

Enjoy! 

I don't very often name a song a favorite, but "Starless" is my favorite KC song and KC is my favorite band, so read into that whatever you may 

Ha!!! That might be too much for him, or if anything too much for his audience. I suspect he would dissect the music and enjoy the chaotic mess it might be but I suspect the audience will not find it too entertaining. 

And now his Royal Heiness Fripp/DGM has blocked the video, which to me is stoooopid. These reactions should enhance and educate the casual listener to what great music is, bands from the early 70s should be happy someone is actually paying attention to what they did 50 yrs ago.

Sad to see RF remove the video. Sadder still that he disapproves of folks talking about his/KC's music theory within a class. There is a lot to share that folks can learn, but maybe he has a reason for it ... well, he has not closed down Rachel Flowers versions of his group's stuff ... so there might be something within it that Doug said that wasn't right or cool ... is my guess. Classical folks have a tendency at times to be a bit stuffy, and Doug has been reasonably clean most of the time, but appreciative of the greater/better efforts all around (Echoes ... ) ... and I don't think that KC is his kind of band, based on the material he has done ... 

I would like to see him do more King Crimson, provided that Mr. RF allows it ... KC is very classical in its "approach" to music, making sure it is just right and such, whereas a lot of other rock bands ... have too many moments "all over the place" (as Daily Doug says), and I don't think that KC is about ... all over the place. Going back to their first album, the music was superbly defined and played and to this day, that clarity has stood up beautifully ... probably one of the few bands where the original STILL sounds magnificent.

I like him, he's good ... but he has not taken on some tougher things ... for example ... if he tried to do the title cut from the album YETI (AD2) and then even Soap Shop Rock, I really think that it will throw him off since the inspiration is likely to be found very different than any rock roots. Likewise, things like Tangerine Dream, let's say Stratosfear ... would be something that removes a lot of rock conventions (all over the stuff he does and then some ... too much for my taste!) ... and provides something else, probably closer to classical music than the (way too) metronomic rock music! For that matter, you think he can do one of the long cuts by The Doors? ... hmmmm 

Enjoy 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FMjCN6jEyY&t=662s" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FMjCN6jEyY&t=662s

I like that he is using sheet music as it allows him to "see" what is going on with notes, chords and time much better than having to try and guess and listen for it.

TBH...I don't understand why people care about these 'reaction videos' and list of best albums ranked by various online strangers. Who cares?

I have watched a few where people talk about 'obscure prog and psych albums', etc ...since I  might not be aware of those.

I'm waiting for his reactions to - Henry Cow, Thinking Plague, Univers Zero, Captain Beefheart, black midi, Art Zoyd,  ni, Yugen, and similar bands. Anyone else with me?

When it comes to obscure prog and psych albums, you're the "Daily Doug" I look to for suggestions. 

I know what you mean, but here, he is more knowledgeable than many due to his educational background, so it's interesting to see his insight and hear his discussion of the structure, etc.  Of course, what really matters is whether or not you find a piece of music or song appealing to your taste, but I still enjoy hearing other's opinions on music.

Most fans of music simply like the music because of a particular beat, rhythm or the lyrics or the song lasts 25 minutes. Its more rare that a fan of music likes the song because of how it was constructed and the influence of that construction and appreciating how it was written. As well for us progressive rock music fans, understanding what all the fuss is about, like odd times and chord structures. Having someone like the Daily Doug explain all of it is very cool.

But yea, at the end of the day you have to like the song.  

Hi,

I don't know about "have to like the song" thing ... you don't go around saying that about Stravinsky and Beethoven, or Mozart and Bach ... both of whom pretty much composed a lot of "songs", and we can't name a single one of them!

For me, in the end, it has nothing to do with "song". It has to do with the beauty of the composition to keep you alive and how the music was used to create that feeling, and to me, that is about the artist, and not the fan, who has no say (and often) the ability to even realize how valuable and important the ability of an artist to wake you up from your slumber is. We ALWAYS forget that.

It was nice to see him saying things like Tony was classically trained and such, but his comments about how some notes were used in the ECHOES piece were much more important ... there was a strong section that he was impressed as to how it was setup and used, which would have been something that Rick Wright would have done, and he was not exactly "classically" trained to my ear.

IF, we are going to make room for "progressive music" in the history of music, we have to stop thinking of them as "songs", and instead starting to appreciate the composition and the dedication to its performance, which is what the Doug is doing that we think is just an exercise in meaningless note choices by all the performers, and this is not true, and he is showing us why, and how it attracts out ears!

It's pure, real, and incredible music, and a "song" is not the issue. The composition is. You can start by listing songs that were played and done during the Renaissance. Hint, many English folk bands have done many of them, but no one knows them or remembers them, and that is the end of "song" in the history of music.

Please start appreciating the MUSIC ... not just a song.

Copy that!

 .........Miami Sound Machine was awesome!

Hi,

That is the main difference between a musician and a fan. Unless you are wanting to do the Red Lion circuit, why would you want to repeat something that has already been done?

The "difference" is what made "progressive music" and its history and it is just strange that we don't see that!

Hi,

Nice and very enjoyable.

For me, this is excellent, and what "progressive" is all about ... not just a song. It is a grand composition by the folks of our generation, and we can only hope that these things can be remembered.

The impressive thing, and I think this is not the first time that DT has been with an orchestra, if there is any doubt about these folks and their abilities, I would like to state that "music" is not for you!

It is really nice to actually see someone like the Daily Doug do justice to a lot of music that so many fans think it's not as good as something they like, because these things are not a single melody that grabs your attention ... this is of a much different and in many ways grand'er aspect within music, than we can imagine, and it is something that most new bands/folks these days, merely try to create in their DAW's and it does not have the creative explosion that a well put together and designed piece can affect your attention.

Sort of like the Pavarotti of our generation ... maybe a little loud, but in the end, it is still a grand piece of music!

  Unfortunately, it's water off a duck's back as far as mosh is concerned.

I enjoy Rick Beato's videos also very much. His recent breakdown of Comfortably Numb is excellent!

I don't think so, if it's new then no......

Hi,

To me, I don't think that doing "Comfortably Numb" or visiting Jon Anderson is that valuable. I met Jon a long time ago and we had a nice yapp about a lot of music, and he keeps his feelings guarded and quiet about a lot of things because of the fans. His talk with Rick is not that important, and just talks about this and that which does not discuss the music itself and kinda makes it seem like that it was just some invisible magic between the players and I don't think that is the case. There is a lot of "composed" moments in YES in the early days (specially the earlier song days and even up to CTTE) and it was obvious a setup for some of the epic moments. No issue there, because some things were really nice and good. But there was nothing about the notes or music that told us anything. It was a "star" saying not a whole lot about the music and his words. Conversely that talk with CS about the strings and his bass, tells a lot more that both Rick and Doug do not touch and understand about how a musician feels about what he is doing and how to use something he discovers, as CS did so often and played it!

There are a lot of folks within the progressive ear that we ignore completely. No one here can even get through the stuff that Richard Pinhas specified to EUROCK (when it was a monthly), and then the whole thing was published in the massive book later for us to read. That is really tough stuff and tickles philosophy and many other topics that seemingly explain what he does with the music, which you and I will never be able to understand or make sense of. You will never see a Rick Beato and his middle of the road star approach touch an important "creator" of music, or even try the folks that put together BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, or the brothers that put together ANGE, and how they saw their music and ANGE even goes back (AND SHOWS IT) their respects to history and their approach as a sort of Bertold Brecht of the rock music world ... but that is way too intelligent for those two folks to get into and try to make sense of, because a lot of their music is NOT just a song about this or that!

I would like to see more, and specially Doug do a few of the European things ... for example, maybe he needs to try and check out Peter Michael Hamel's history and the groups he was a part of ... and you will find a SCHOLAR and PROFESSOR with degrees that was not a beginner musician and did not know what he was playing ... he did a lot more than we can even consider! And his book (From Music to the Self) is a huge put down to popular music and its lack of creativity and design! Try that on for size! PA folks would get so upset as to ban him and his groups from the lists and site!

Rick is for the "star" in things, and I'm not sure he is more than just a fan of the music. Doug is more well rounded, although I think he is too careful, but the day that he tackles something like 200 Motels ... I will think that he has something to say about music .. until then, it's just the hits! Ohhh btw, use the concert version of 200 Motels done at UCLA by an orchestra and choir ... try to see if you can sniff that! 

I doubt that he can, or the whole thing is just so far out as to be impossible to discuss!

we saw the video yesterday. he was absolutely fascinated

 

Awesome!! I've been very much hoping that he would do that. I'm going to listen to it now.

 

 

 

I'm glad he enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

Hi,

I had been hoping that he would do a few things more challenging than stuff that is more often than not rock music oriented and less musically inclined, as this piece is and was.

Not to say that there is anything wrong in rock music, though, since it is very obvious that it has expanded the palate of all music in just a few short years, instead of the hundreds in music history! But for Doug, listening to Peter Hammill I'm not sure he realizes how different and interpretive (an actor! where do they go after the show?) his work is ... it is all about the lyrics and where they take you ... or Peter ... and this is vastly different than music that supposedly tells you that this is about this or that ... in this case, his lyrics direct the music DIRECTLY, and that is something that not many bands do or can do. You can probably count someone like Mick or DB as folks to whom the lyric content DROVE THE MUSIC, although both of those still had the riffs and the rock music generic touches to make it ear candy!

And this different "style" is something that causes a lot of folks to not like PH or VdGG because there are so many jumps and differences that have to do with the story within the lyrics, and nothing else, and how can these moments be interpreted in their instruments, instead of a steady beat and a bland passage, supposedly telling you that it is about this and that via some singing or lyrics. Vast difference in how something is designed and put together.

I think DD will have issues with some of the bigger and better pieces in the true "progressive" side of things that is totally about expression, and not about the "song" ... since at times, the lyrics seem strange and not to the point, which I don't find weird at all ... sort of like listening to Bernina, or Godbluff or Still Life ... they just flow on their own.

Interesting that he said he didn't hear a guitar ... and he should have mentioned that again, and discussed it, because rock music "dictates" that a guitar is mandatory, and for PROGRESSIVE music, there is NO SUCH THING AS A SPECIFIC INSTRUMENT NEEDED FOR THIS OR THAT (or for that f-----g solo!) ... and this is where the instruments of this and that make this kind of material not seem right ... every listener that we meet is expecting bass, drums, guitar, keyboards and singer ... and that tells you that the definition is NOT ABOUT THE MUSIC at all, but about a conventional/commercial ideal to get you to buy it!

When/if one can get past PH/VdGG, you will, then, start finding real music in many places, and let me tell you that all of them are not commercial and neither are they conventional! I am not sure that the Daily Doug has gotten his ears around that yet!

Yea saw this one last night......He's awesome! But expected when you have such a deep understanding of music composition, creation and lyrical themes, holding a doctorate in music helps too!! 

I suspected he would enjoy the composition and especially the lyrics and theme, not sure he will listen to this type of pc for the simple enjoyment of music. I envision Doug using something like this as a teaching pc with students, but not much more since it is really not accessible music. It's the only VdGG album I own on vinyl, one I enjoy very much.

He missed mentioning that RFripp was guest guitarist on this album, I don't think he was reading from the album liner notes.

SteveG wrote: Do any of these experts ever find fault with the music that they are reacting to? I mean even the 2 ghetto rappers on YouTube are ecstatic to listen to "My Best Friend's Girl" by the Cars!

That happens often enough. Just watch Justjp's reaction to "The Last Seven Minutes" by Magma (he even categorized it as "jazz-rock)" or "Assault and Battery/The Golden Void" by Hawkwind. Here the links:

"The last Seven Minutes":

"Assault and Battery/The Golden Void":

Wow dude, white people can't say that and I think your white Steve  I can barely get away with it having poo-poo brown colored skin.

They are not fans of DT, I think they reacted to only Metropolis Part 1 and Pull Me Under or may have been As I Am, which I think they liked better due to the metalness of it.

Also I don't think either of them are actual rappers...don't have to be from the ghetto to rap either.

Better than any page on the fab four....... And the Daily Doug is really more on musical theory rather than simply a reaction.

That's what I really like about his channel. I mentioned earlier, it actually made me think again about reading music as he was doing a reaction of Tarkus while following along with a piano transcription, he did same with Firth Of Fifth. It sparked something in my brain to go back to elementary school when I played clarinet in orchestra for 3 years, trying to read music again......Will I go further to try and teach myself more, maybe...

But I was starting to relate to a lot of stuff he was saying and again brought back some memories of music teachers I had in school.........I think it's cool if you can follow along and semi-read music.

You are spot on as what he is doing is giving me some different perspective on what to hear for especially in the lower registers that is the meat and bones of music. And I like that he is really into lyrics and themes, for the most part he will get the jist of a pc and understand what the artist was trying to convey and then he will relate that to the music and those moments that exude emotion. The ending of Firth Of Fifth where he describes the piano ending as being the 'river of constant change' as Tony Banks plays alternating keys....

Ahhh.....If you only knew the LA area where I grew up in .......

Very well said.   I was in youth orchestra (trumpet), but I'm very rusty, luckily my trumpet isn't (it's brass).  I still play the piano and guitar a bit and remember how to read music, but I've had complaints about being a collab who can't easily tell the difference between lydian mode and ionian mode,  , nor am I good with time signatures beyond 3/4 and 4/4.  He really does me want to study and get more into music.   Just play more and compose more (I loved to compose music before, but I lacked the skill and worth ethic to play it well or transcribe it well -- I'm pretty good at humming).

 I really don't care for reaction videos generally, I do like some other topes of analyses videos (mostly in film, where I have more of a much stronger background in theory) but this is coming from someone who knows and understands music much better than I ever will.  I love that perspective he gives from someone who really knows about music and isn't just saying how it makes him feel, and he demonstrates an interest in the material.  Even if its known to me, I feel rather intrigued with him (how interested he actually is, I don't know). Whether it's his cup-of-tea doesn't really matter that much.  I would like to be able to be more objective with music, and describe it better with others too (even if I only talk about music with people at this forum).  He gives really good insights into music/ composition that could really help to bring one a much deeper appreciation.  

I can understand a lot of reaction videos  being thought of as idiotic, but Doug's, well he's so far above me that I'd be very happy to be anywhere near approaching his level of idiocy.  That said, I knew a word he didn't in that Plague video, paraffin as I recall, but we all have our strengths.  And it's not important to a music understanding.  And when it comes to lyrical themes, I might well have a different interpretation than Doug, and since he isn't as familiar with such music as I am, I probably would have some insights that he hasn't considered.

I so wish he would join this forum, but it's not something we would expect.  Even just in  the more general ways to appreciate, discuss and think about music without leaning on much music theory or specifics, I think a lot of us could learn from him.

By the way, I never wanted to be part of a rock band, but there's part of me that always wanted to be a film and television soundtrack composer.  And my wife was trying to convince me to make reaction videos some time ago.  A Logan reacts to PA posts and posters would be fun.

On an earlier note made by Fried, I'd happily describe "The Last Seven Minutes" by Magma as jazzy funk-rock, but I am no music expert.

Would be a a solid addition if he would join and comment, for sure. I too find his giddy interest in music infectious, especially the progressive rock pcs he has reacted to.

The main take away from all these reactions is that the musicianship in the progressive rock genre is of a high/masterful level that I think both Doug and Rick Beato would attest to and the bulk of that being music that was created 40-50yrs ago.....the age when bands were really bands and recorded as a group.

The Log Reacts to PA.........

Oh, when it happens, it's probably worse than when they are gushing silly.

Here's a rather weird reaction to Ocean Gypsy.  Albeit you have to blame whoever made that youtuber listen to the Bottomline performance of that song as you couldn't find a more soporific version of it.