Help me for I have discovered Prog

prowla

Ah well, if classical with a drummer counts, then a bit of 1812...



And of course, 633 Squadron!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpnZuhsWLFQ

prowla

And this is probably the most pompous performance ever (even Rick isn't quite sure about it)!





But I think it is an astonishingly beautiful piece of music and I get goosebumps listening to it.

TheBigDipper

Blueingreen said:

Depends how you define "prog".  I'm not much of a fan of core prog, with some exceptions.  I like a lot of King Crimson stuff.  I also went through a phase of listening to Steven Wilson a year or two ago but that enthusiasm seems to have passed.

OTOH I like Kate Bush and David Sylvian, and I think you could make a case for those as prog.  The virtuoso instrumental elements are largely missing of course, but song structures, melodies, sonic palette, instrumentation and production values seem to me to come from prog. 

I love those two myself. It's all music. If you like it, great. If you don't, so what? One of the biggest internet rabbit holes I know is the discussion about why "prog" is a superior genre (or pretentious twaddle, dep. on your view). A failure to be able to define what is or is not "prog" is a constant feature of the narrative. 

I love lots of prog music, but I don't think it says anything about the worth of the music and certainly nothing about the people who enjoy it.  And, these days, "prog" is a static form and certainly not "progressive" - which is another rabbit hole! 

Col_Decker

mike_l said:

Col_Decker said:

Cheers guys. BTW this all started when our band leader came to us all excited saying we'd asked by a venue if we could support some chap called Martin Barre and his band at a gig. Who's he I asked ....

Anyway we couldn't do the gig as they only wanted a 3 piece outfit. Bugger.

Your band could, and probably should leave their bassist at home.......

Oi cheeky bitch, I'm the guitarer now not the basser.

and

Oi cheeky bitch.

fandango

Prog ... now there's something we dont get too much of on Fretboard.

Who knew there's a dedicated Prog magazine?

May i suggest a band called Stray.

boogieman

fandango said:

Prog ... now there's something we dont get too much of on Fretboard.

Who knew there's a dedicated Prog magazine?

May i suggest a band called Stray.

Now I would never have associated Stray with prog at all. I'd consider them just a straight ahead classic rock band. Shows how people have very different interpretations of what prog is. 

Most of what I'd consider the best prog bands have already been mentioned. I always preferred the less pompous end of prog, less ELP and Dream Theater, more King Crimson, Magma, Can and early Genesis. 

Has anyone mentioned Hawkwind yet? They get labelled as Space Rock but they definitely have prog leanings. (Ah, Stacia, sigh. I'm pretty sure she moulded my taste for large chested women. Once seen, never forgotten.)

dogload

Definitely the aforementioned 'Pawn Hearts' by Van Der Graaf. Absolutely brilliant.


I would suggest also Caravan's 'In The Land OF Grey And Pink'

I never ever used to associate Hawkwind with prog until I saw that programme on the telly a few years back. However if it's Mellotrons and Hammonds you want, check out 'Hall Of The Mountain Grill' and Warrior On the Edge Of Time' albums.
And of course there was Gong - check out 'You' in particular. 

For more recent stuff I'd suggest listening to Stereolab and Broadcast, who embraced elements of prog and Kosmische into a poppier setting. And don't forget Public Service Broadcasting.

The three Kosmischer Laufer albums also do a neat 'update' on Kraftwerk and Neu! -style Kosmischemusik Yes, there was loads of German bands doing stuff - Amon Duul II Can and Neu! for example

Blueingreen

TheBigDipper said:

Blueingreen said:

Depends how you define "prog".  I'm not much of a fan of core prog, with some exceptions.  I like a lot of King Crimson stuff.  I also went through a phase of listening to Steven Wilson a year or two ago but that enthusiasm seems to have passed.

OTOH I like Kate Bush and David Sylvian, and I think you could make a case for those as prog.  The virtuoso instrumental elements are largely missing of course, but song structures, melodies, sonic palette, instrumentation and production values seem to me to come from prog. 

I love those two myself. It's all music. If you like it, great. If you don't, so what? One of the biggest internet rabbit holes I know is the discussion about why "prog" is a superior genre (or pretentious twaddle, dep. on your view). A failure to be able to define what is or is not "prog" is a constant feature of the narrative. 

I love lots of prog music, but I don't think it says anything about the worth of the music and certainly nothing about the people who enjoy it.  And, these days, "prog" is a static form and certainly not "progressive" - which is another rabbit hole! 

Agreed, the label shouldn't matter.  A good example for me is jazz.  I like Wynton Marsalis's argument that the defining characteristic of jazz ought to be swung rhythm.  Not because it's authoritative or "right" but because it gives a neater demarcation line and fits the case better than any alternative I've seen suggested. 

But it would mean post "In a Silent Way" Miles Davis isn't jazz, while Frank Sinatra's "Nice'n'Easy" is, and that's a problem for some people.  The difficulty is that jazz is being seen not as a descriptive label but rather as a blessing to be conferred on the worthy, and the sort of people who don't like swung pop but do like modal electronic freakouts with funk rhythms want the cachet to go to their baby rather than to the music their granny likes. 

Personally I love both Bitches Brew and Nice'n'Easy about equally depending on mood, irrespective of whether either or both qualify as 'jazz'.  But it's always going to be a tug of war as long as people think the label 'jazz' confers value as well as information.

Bellycaster

Another one of my stock responses. Prog for the 80's. There's some awesome Guitar playing in this @Col_Decker ;



A bit long mind, but you'll have to get used to that with Prog

boogieman

Oooh, I forgot to say: The Enid.

prowla

Bellycaster said:

Another one of my stock responses. Prog for the 80's. There's some awesome Guitar playing in this @Col_Decker ;



A bit long mind, but you'll have to get used to that with Prog

More recently, Tall Ships is a good album.

thumpingrug

Marillion - Brave,  Marbles and FEAR

bingefeller

Lots of good suggestions already but some of mine that I don't see mentioned are:

King Crimson  - Live In Toronto, Thrak.
Frost* - Milliontown

fandango

boogieman said:

fandango said:

Prog ... now there's something we dont get too much of on Fretboard.

Who knew there's a dedicated Prog magazine?

May i suggest a band called Stray.

Now I would never have associated Stray with prog at all. I'd consider them just a straight ahead classic rock band. Shows how people have very different interpretations of what prog is. 

Most of what I'd consider the best prog bands have already been mentioned. I always preferred the less pompous end of prog, less ELP and Dream Theater, more King Crimson, Magma, Can and early Genesis. 

Has anyone mentioned Hawkwind yet? They get labelled as Space Rock but they definitely have prog leanings. (Ah, Stacia, sigh. I'm pretty sure she moulded my taste for large chested women. Once seen, never forgotten.)

Interesting, I'd never label Hawkwind as prog. Space Rock, yes, but not prog. That they went through phases depending upon whether the musicians got on with Dave Brock helps avoid some pigeonholing. In various ways and for various reasons they miss Lemmy, Nik Turner, Robert Calvert and Huw Lloyd Langton. But I am biased in far preferring their pre-1984 stuff, and moved on to other things before I got a chance to look into their post 1985 music.

Bellycaster

@prowla ;

Nice track. John Mitchell does a great job of filling Francis' shoes.

Bucket

Hardly an expert on the old stuff, everyone else seems to have that pretty well covered. For newer bands though:

Dream Theater - the early 90s albums are worth a listen. Very complex and intricate, from when they were all more-or-less at the top of their game, and it has their best songs.

Haken - more recent. Absolutely fantastic band from a musicianship perspective, and their output is extremely high quality. Their best album IMO is The Mountain. Lots of callbacks to 70s prog (I have been taught by their guitarist and songwriter, Charlie Griffiths, and I know he's a massive fan of all that stuff) but with a serious modern, technical edge as well.

It Bites - not overly familiar with the 80s Dunnery-era stuff, but The Tall Ships, their comeback album with John Mitchell on guitar and vocals, is fantastic from start to finish.

Frost* - also featuring John Mitchell. For my money this lot are the best modern prog rock band out there. Superb musicianship and eclectic influences, but most importantly great songwriting - their leader, keyboard player Jem Godfrey, is a great singer and a stunning instrumentalist, but was also a pop songwriter in a previous life and has penned numerous no.1 records. Their debut, Milliontown, and the most recent album, Falling Satellites, are the two to get. Both nigh-on flawless albums as far as I'm concerned.

Bucket

To back up my last post with some evidence, here are Frost*:



That song features what is possibly my favourite guitar solo ever recorded, at 2:50. John Mitchell is really something.

And here's something from the most recent album - this really displays their mix of influences.

boogieman

fandango said:

boogieman said:

fandango said:

Prog ... now there's something we dont get too much of on Fretboard.

Who knew there's a dedicated Prog magazine?

May i suggest a band called Stray.

Now I would never have associated Stray with prog at all. I'd consider them just a straight ahead classic rock band. Shows how people have very different interpretations of what prog is. 

Most of what I'd consider the best prog bands have already been mentioned. I always preferred the less pompous end of prog, less ELP and Dream Theater, more King Crimson, Magma, Can and early Genesis. 

Has anyone mentioned Hawkwind yet? They get labelled as Space Rock but they definitely have prog leanings. (Ah, Stacia, sigh. I'm pretty sure she moulded my taste for large chested women. Once seen, never forgotten.)

Interesting, I'd never label Hawkwind as prog. Space Rock, yes, but not prog. That they went through phases depending upon whether the musicians got on with Dave Brock helps avoid some pigeonholing. In various ways and for various reasons they miss Lemmy, Nik Turner, Robert Calvert and Huw Lloyd Langton. But I am biased in far preferring their pre-1984 stuff, and moved on to other things before I got a chance to look into their post 1985 music.

Just goes to show how there are umpteen different definitions of Prog then.  I'd consider Warrior on the Edge of Time to be slap bang in the prog genre, and that's from 1975. (I actually don't know much, if anything, of their stuff beyond the 70s anyway). Mellotron, synths, oscillators, flutes, hippy trippy wizardy lyrics? All present and correct. That's definitely prog to me 

Reverend

Gracious
Dark
Bodkin
Aphrodite's Child
Gravy Train
T2
Zior
Catapila
Comus

Philly_Q

prowla said:

Another rule I have is: anything with a Roger Dean cover.

Are/were Uriah Heep and Osibisa prog?