Rethinking Prog Rock

I admit it, I used to be a huge prog head.  PFM.  Eloy.  Caravan.  Camel.  Gong.  Yes.  Amon Duul II.  Countless others.  

Then something happened.  I am going to blame it on a combo of (1) wretched excess as demonstrated in ELP's later albums (2) Foreigner and Journey (3) Steve Hackett leaving Genesis and Genesis becoming a disco band and (4) the arrival of break dancing.  Wait (4) Punk/New Wave... 80s music.

While I never left my beloved planet Gong (the pot head pixies know me by name there), i pretty much shut down all Prog other than the silly stuff like Hawkwind (which is really more space rock than prog). Oh and I never left KC (and I am not talking about the Sunshine Band).  

I bought an iPad recently.  I have repurchased virtually every YES LP on iToons.  I find myself going back and listening to Close to the Edge more than when I first bought the LP.  And of course classic songs like Yours is No Disgrace, I've Seen All Good People, Starship Troopers...

Dang that was good music.  Dang you Journey.  

If you were a Prog Fan, did you stay one?  Did you leave?  Did you come back?  What made you come back or stay away.  

Also
Dang you Grace Slick for We Built This City.  Dang You to Heck.  

I don't think I ever really left. I like variety in music--that's what drew me to prog in the first place. Rather than leaving prog I just added new music to my "play list". Blues, jazz and yes--even new wave.

So you've abandoned prog AND you bought an iPad? Geesh, another one goes over to the dark side.

I still enjoy Yes, Gentle Giant, early Genesis and Tull. I was heavy into that genre back in the 70s. But I like so many kinds of music now. My radio is currently tuned to the Country station which is where the real players seem to be nowadays.

Fell in love with Prog when I heard Genesis' Trick of the Tail on a Really Good Stereo in a smoke filled dorm room back in the late 70's.  (Taurus Bass Pedals!  Mellotron!)  Liked it even more when I heard their earlier stuff.  Thought Phil Collins should be brought up on charges for what he did to the band after that.  Especially after hearing his amazing drumming on Brand X's Morrocan Roll.  He should have gone solo with the blue eyed soul / pop 40 stuff.  Followed the revived King Crimson.  For the truly adventurous Captain Beefheart is always a trip and a half.
 
Journey and Foreigner?  Prog?  Ahem.
 
These days Prog seems to mean speed metal prog thrash.  Mastodon has done some borderline Prog that is very impressive.  Check out their song Quintessence on the album Crack the Skye.  Bran Dailor, their drummer, is one of the best I've ever heard.  If they could ditch the cookie monster vocals they'd have me as an unreserved fan.  I've tried Spock's Beard, Dream Theater (slow down Please!) and others.  But they  seem to want all of their music to be a 160bpm assault.  (Maybe it's the 500-wpc amp that drives my listening room speakers that makes it seem that way.....)
 
I still love the mathematical fist in a victorian glove approach to Prog.  Any suggestions on bands to try are welcome.  

Zen
Journey and foreigner were not prog. They just turned me away from so much of what lead to them and towards television talking heads buzzcocks...to me they represented a fresh turn from how album oriented rock evolved. I even turned against steely Dan. 

And Phil Collins should be imprisoned for what he did to genesis. 

Space - How could you turn against Steely Dan ?  If there was ever a band to hold their own fort -  I think it was them.

Rbh


Space - How could you turn against Steely Dan ?  If there was ever a band to hold their own fort -  I think it was them.

I love steely. My issue became one with all popular music. New wave was no longer fun once it became popular.  I think I sought different for the purpose of being different. I do have a decent residents collection. Ditto on modern surf. Like man or astro man. 

spacey - try and track down a mag called Classic Rock Presents Prog - your cuppa cha. there's lots of new prog going on- of course for me i prefer the prog metal side of stuff, but i can get along with prog rock too! just in the UK alone we have Magenta, Haken, the Reasoning, Touchstone, Frost*, It Bites, IQ, Solstice, Arena,Pallas,Pendragon...you will definitely like all these except maybe Haken.I also recommend you check out Transatlantic, Big Fish,Pineapple Thief,Porcupine Tree, Syzygsy, and The Flower Kings...but there are many many cool bands out there!

Glass Hammer might be worth a listen. Ironically, they're from Nashville. A tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VImvESVP8IQ Their web page: http://www.glasshammer.com/ I like the Marillon track.

Sheesh - Now I'm going to be busy for days listening to all of the prog I have laying around!

news flash:

STEELY DAN IS AN RnB Outfit.



You desperate *prog* fans don't get to steal him.


;-)

trimph1


mmmm...Hawkwind, Gong, Magma, Anekdoten, Yes, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator, Triumverat, Genesis, Ozric Tentacles, Porcupine Tree, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Ramses, Le Orme....sheeesh, I give up...

Over 3,000 albums here...and I ain't hunting them out'n this collection.... 

I am with you. I have much of that list but a bunch of odd ones like eloy Pfm Amon duul ii  nektar...as well



Oh and if you read my earlier posts I never put steely in the prog category. I said msm soured me on everything including sd. But I'm back and don knows it

King Crimson - for a good time go to Youtube, search "red" and see how many guys show you "how to play Red"

Zenwit


Richard Thompson +1
Television +1
Buzzcocks +1  (and still going loud and strong in 2011!)
Ozric Tentacles (thought I was the only person that had heard of them....) +1
Gong +1
Gentle Giant +1

King Crimson - for a good time go to Youtube, search "red" and see how many guys show you "how to play Red"

I saw King Crimson during their Discipline tour in 1981(?) at Cullen Auditorium at University of Houston.  My college room mate and I drove in to see the show.  Amazing.  Imagine our confusion when we realized our minds were blown but we still had all of our drugs.

Saw kc in maybe 95 when they had a six piece with Bruford and levin in the lineup. Larks tongues in aspic ii. Was best I ever heard. Belew was perfect front man. Never saw anyone have that much fun playing. 

Just to add to the general melange...Happy Family, Acid Mothers Temple, Devin Townsend, Faust, Guru Guru, Neu, Richard Pinhas, Heldon, Popul Vuh....