"Stumbled" onto some really nice Prog!

I have no idea how a search term I entered returned some works by Twelfth Night, but I'm glad it did!  Now I'm trying to find more from them (I just picked up Collectors Item which is a compilation).  Another 80's "Neo-Prog" band apparently, however I had never heard of them nor do I recall them being mentioned here (and I have ALL the bands mentioned here tucked away in a file for me to check out as I can! ).
 
So, without further a-doo (or doo doo), here's a few tracks by them:  Take A Look, The Collector and Sequences
 
Enjoy!

Very Marillion-esque.

Gryphon?  Great.  Another one to add to the list...  In researching Twelfth Night, they were commonly mentioned along with Marillion, Pendragon, IQ, Pallas and Australis.  And I only knew about one of those before (Marillion).

This is kind of a fun journey!
 

Nice find, Craig. Great hi-hats in "Take a Look".

Every time I click a YouTube link I end up frittering away an hour or so chasing links. Check out these YouTube compilations of "top N prog rock albums". It was fun going through the lists and noting which ones I don't have. And a few I'd never head of!

Top 15 Prog Albums: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZT_A_UqUI0&feature=related


Top 12 of 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oqw7exBxIU&feature=related
(I found it encouraging that there were any qualifying recent albums at all, but it appears prog rock is still alive and well, even if the line between prog rock and metal is a little blurry - I guess one has synthesizers and drum solos, the other doesn't)

Top 10 prog rock bands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzZFja32aFU&feature=related
(Surprising how many lists include Mike Oldfield, who's great but I never considered "prog")

Top 30 best prog songs (partial): 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNcZP5SLoIg&feature=related

Top 50 prog songs: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8uPprR2Msk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaEfL3KrCFQ&feature=relmfu


BTW, can anybody explain the term "progressive house"? What, exactly, makes it "progressive"?

Another great Prog band from the 70's rarely heard of here in the states was Maxophone. I think they were an Italian classical based with french horns to boot. Right up there with PFM. I remember Gryphon records " Reds queen to gryphons 3 was one of my favorites. www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1x58IH5DQ8

Boy have I been having fun lately finding all these new, wonderful bands to listen to!  The best thing about discovering bands that have been around for a while is that there's MORE out there.  When you run into a hot, new band they usually only have one album out so you have to wait to get another fix, but not with these prog bands I'm just now encountering! 

All I can say is...

craigb


Gryphon?  Great.  Another one to add to the list...  In researching Twelfth Night, they were commonly mentioned along with Marillion, Pendragon, IQ, Pallas and Sentient Genus.  And I only knew about one of those before (Marillion).

This is kind of a fun journey!
 

Pallas were another Scottish band who made one superb album back in the 80's called "The Sentinel"


It told the story of the Rise & Fall of Atlantis and back in the day (pre-cd), you could only get the full story from the original LP, a B side of the single "Arrive Alive" and a 12", East West


when it was all ported over to CD, the engineering team made an absolute hash of the original drum sound so that every track was treated to an awful slapback echo which, for me, destroyed the vibe of the entire album.


I was luck to see them live twice, thy went through a couple of personnel changes and never, in my opinion, re-created the magic of their earlier efforts.

Here is a bunch of interrelated artists making Prog today, they are worth checking out: Karnataka, The Reasoning, Panic Room, Mostly Autumn, Heather Findley.

The best thing about discovering bands that have been around for a while is that there's MORE out there.

For an impoverished soul such as myself, the best thing is you can buy the CDs second-hand for cheap. 

Most of the time, anyway. Some of the more obscure albums were never put onto CD, or are only available as an expensive import. 

And don't forget the one-hit-wonders (e.g. Focus, Golden Earring, Kansas, Argent, Uriah Heep) that everyone's heard of but whose most interesting material never saw the Top 40.

Although maybe not "prog", I have to also plug one of the best concept albums of the 1970's (I consider it in the same league with Dark Side of the Moon): "Hope" by Klaatu.

Scoot


Ozric Tentacles were an awesome prog rock band, of which Eat Static came out of. The mastery these guys had of analogue synths I've never heard anyone match

I love ozric but they sound a lot like Steve hillage era gong on instruMentals

bitflipperBTW, can anybody explain the term "progressive house"? What, exactly, makes it "progressive"?

 
This is a rather hassle-some thing that I have had a serious issue with at the Progressive Archives board ... to the point where I am no longer interested in discussing music with little boys that do not think that music exists in other parts of the world, and that most musicians are too stupid to write anything except what they are told can be done, or "must" be done, to make this "romantic", "baroque", bs, or "progressive"
 
There is a good side to it ... it helps identify a style ... but a "style" is not a "process" ... thus, musicologists do not like to use "styles" as a definition.
 
All in all, most "progressive" sites, use the bizarre things like ... jagged guitar sounds and licks, odd time changes and references ... however ... when you listen to half the stuff that they consider progressive, the format is the same as a sonata format, or the easiest, and the one format that you are first taught in school ... because you do not need to know music a whole lot to understand it!
 
The other bad part, is that some of the progressive definitions are messed up ... like ... this band uses these sound effects and they are "metal-prog" like Dream Theater, let's say ... and that is bizarre ... if you unplug the band ... you got what? ... at least with DT, you have a piece of music, but most others, you don't!
 
All in all, what has become known as "progressive" was a part of the 60's and early 70's and it was a "reaction" to the media blowup with television, that woke up half the world to what the other half was doing. It's really hard for me to accept someone calling "ITCOTCK" a progressive album, but they do not know, or discuss the lyrics ... when one piece is about the loudness and the psychotic noise  ... like bombs going off by the IRA or in VietNam ... or Paris ... and you speaking to the wind, and it meaning nothing because you can not hear it, and neither can anyone else ... these ...a re still true today, and to me that is the totality of the "progessive" and its very definition.
 
I like it when they call ELP progressive, and then they can not discuss lyrics, and "The Endless Enigma" is another version of the original Greg Lake speaking the words that tomorrow he will be crying ... but this time he's pist and saying ... don't tell me lies ... mf'r ... and everyone thinks the music is progressive but the lyrics don't matter ... it's just another rock song.
 
Too much of music, is just a song ... the issue is, how strong are you to make it more than just a song ... it's an anthem ... for a period of time, and this is the reason why Jimi playing the anthem is the ultimate symbol for rock and roll, that brought "progressive" to the front, and killed on the same night ... it was played infront of garbage, and no one was paying attention ... and even today ... we treat music just like another song ... it doesn't mean anything to anyone ... it's all good clean fun and another beat-off in the bathroom!
 
Progressive ... deserves its claim, and it's time and place ... but it will not happen without the arts that also took it there, which the majority of progressive groups in the Internet are afraid to check out and discuss ... because that would rencer their definition stupid and totally off base, and off key!
 
It's hard to tell people that you can take one play in London (Peter Brook's Marat/Sade) and that you will find words from that play in at least 10 of the best known progressive bands out there ... during that time ... but it doesn't mean anything? ... I guess because musicians are silly, stupid and bizarre and do not enjoy movies, theater, literature and anything else?

Hi,

Here's my list ... no links ... I'm at work. I list these, because these folks defy description half the time, and you can not pigeonhole them in anything ... to me, that is "progressive" ... and some of the most exciting and expressive music ever done.

-- Amon Duul 2 - all the way to "Vive La Trance"

-- Can - all the way to "Landed". Specially dig the transitions in the long cut "Bel Air" and then the side 2 of "Soon Over Babbalooma" ... absolutely soft, astounding and so beautifully done.

-- Gentle Giant -- All the way to "Freehand". Not one of my favorite bands, but the musicianship here is insane ... and Gary Green has stated that nothing was composed and most of it, they just ... did!

-- Frank Zappa -- You know this one, but he is an acquired taste, but his musicianship is pretty much ... second to none.

-- Djam Karet -- when you compare this band to King Crimson's first 5 albums, DK is far better and more interesting and expressive. Maybe one day ... someone will sit through "Dark Clouds, No Rain" ... and realize that KC is just another rock band for radio!

-- Robert Fripp -- I do not consider, other than KC's 1st album, his band progressive, because they repeat themselves. But there are some nice things, and "Lark's Tongues in Aspic", "Red" and "Starless and Bible Black" are very nice and enjoyable, but they do not have the pizzaz that other folks have, and that Robert himself had with his experimentations, from Eno, to Cluster and to many others, that showed he was much more interesting ... than KC!

The others, are not considered "progressive" per se, but they broke more barriers and boundaries than we can give them credit for.

-- Incredible String Band - From the off kilter vocals to incredible vocal arrangements, no one can do this better than them. Sit down with "Earth Span" one of these days ... and admire, some incredible work and words.

-- Alan Stivell - Tough one since he blends everything, and the kitchen sink in his music and you don't know if this is new age, classical, traditional, or ... rock plinn! ... or jazz plinn!

-- Banco del Muttuo Soccorso - Less "familiar" in its style than most other bands, this one is more "eccentric" than PFM, and unusual in its compositional sense, but extremely well defined and the musicianship is outstanding. This is not "conventional" at all, even though it is very classically oriented in its approach, but strictly with rock instruments. Beautidully done, and the first album is a treat as is Darwin and "In a Last Supper".

i enjoyed Fish's '13th Star' solo album, James... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haKoEerFfwk is the title track

Happy the Man - The great( ken ) Scott produced their first 2 albums I think.