Prog rock: The antidote to three-chord tedium.

[maya]

i'm sorry to ruin your thread mation, but...:

 

[maya]

 

[Blagsta]

Godspeed You Black Emperor! - prog or not?

 

[nino_savatte]

King Crimson, Gong and little bit of Tull is about all I can stomach of Britprog, really.

 

[Reg in slippers]

 

[eddiecurry]

Magma: Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

Really interesting fact - this is Steve Davis (the snooker player)'s favourite album of all time.

 

[audiotech]

..King Crimson were the best

Listening to King Crimson last night at a mates just before we got down to a jam session. I must say very experimental and I was suprised to hear that some of the tracks sounded like Killling Joke.

 

[audiotech]

Yeah but Jon Anderson's lyrics don't make any sense.

So true and spawned the ultimate clown of prog rock - Rick Wakeman on ice.

 

[magneze]

Bored of three-chord tedium? Psytrance, that's where it's at.

 

[Macabre]

Bored of three-chord tedium? Psytrance, that's where it's at.

But you'd soon be bored to death of paint-by-numbers construction and songs that dont go anywhere.

 

[Sid's Snake]

But it is Tales from Topographic Oceans where Yes reached the pinacle of their acheivement.

I cannot believe I have just read that.

I'm going for a lie down.

 

[Sedgley Warrior]

Tull were fab, as were Wishbone Ash

But best were King Crimson - but better still was the King Crimson spawn of McDonald And Giles

People slag off prog cos it's fashionable (well at least it was fashionable and they still think it is) but it's not all Spinal Tap and people should re-evaluate the influence and musical skill, talent and experimentation of prog

Remember - Punk=Selfridges - which genre is the radical one now, huh?

Artists like Caribou (formerly known as Manitoba) sound very prog too

*prepares for the onslaught*

 

[Flashman]

I heard alot of Argus by Wishbone Ash when I were a lad, me mum loved 'em, still got it on tape somewhere, some good songs on it IIRC and in my guitar-playing formative years I had a few of the songs pat ain't played it for years, will dig it out.

 

[Groucho]

I cannot believe I have just read that.

I'm going for a lie down.

Quite right. You need to evaluate TFTO from a relaxed trance-like position. And so, record on, now close eyes and concentrate...

 

[Sedgley Warrior]

I heard alot of Argus by Wishbone Ash when I were a lad, me mum loved 'em, still got it on tape somewhere, some good songs on it IIRC and in my guitar-playing formative years I had a few of the songs pat ain't played it for years, will dig it out.

My brother owned the record when I was a kid and the cover, with the soldier standing on the wall looking out at a sky with a flying saucer in the distance, really captured my imagination - for a cheesy image it's well done and the music is genius

 

[Flashman]

Absolutely. I was a romantic then and I've not changed.

 

[nino_savatte]

So true and spawned the ultimate clown of prog rock - Rick Wakeman on ice.

LOL!!!! Now there's a man who takes himself too seriously!

 

[Sid's Snake]

Quite right. You need to evaluate TFTO from a relaxed trance-like position. And so, record on, now close eyes and concentrate...

I actually saw them 'perform' the fucker for the first time at the Rainbow Finsbury Pk in '74.

It was hooooorrribllle

But I loved it!

( I was 14 )

 

[Wolfie]

Tull were fab, as were Wishbone Ash

But best were King Crimson - but better still was the King Crimson spawn of McDonald And Giles

.....

I love the McDonald nad Giles album - I bought it when it came out and I still have that copy to this day

 

[Dubversion]

People slag off prog cos it's fashionable (well at least it was fashionable and they still think it is) but it's not all Spinal Tap and people should re-evaluate the influence and musical skill, talent and experimentation of prog

bollocks. it's the laziest counter-argument on Urban - "you all think XXX because it's fashionable to do so" (see also: Beatles, etc).

I grew up with a big collection of Camel, Barclay James Harvest, Genesis and Yes albums, and i've seen those bands (or members thereof) live. I did my time. And i can say with my hand on my heart and no reference to a 'fashionable viewpoint' that with a few aforementioned exceptions- Soft Machine, King Crimson, VDGG etc - that it's awful awful bloated pompous shit.

but it's not all Spinal Tap and people should re-evaluate the influence and musical skill, talent and experimentation of prog

but that's the problem with prog, isn't it? the privileging of skill over inspiration, of chord sequences over feeling. There's nothing wrong with experimentation and pushing boundaries: the best example is Can, mostly 'academy' musicians with formal training who heard the Velvet Underground and decided to blend their formal experimentalism with real 'feel'. Yes forgot the feel and privileged the 7/8 time chord sequences. Joyless, dessicated, bloated filth.

Remember - Punk=Selfridges - which genre is the radical one now, huh?

you've created a false polarity there which doesn't wash. Just because punk has been appropriated (as most people realised from the start it always would be) doesn't mean either that it wasn't once radical, or that therefore prog is radical by comparison. A pisspoor strawman argument.

 

[Iam]

awful awful bloated pompous shit.

Joyless, dessicated, bloated filth.

 

[Sedgley Warrior]

bollocks. it's the laziest counter-argument on Urban - "you all think XXX because it's fashionable to do so" (see also: Beatles, etc).

I grew up with a big collection of Camel, Barclay James Harvest, Genesis and Yes albums, and i've seen those bands (or members thereof) live

whoa - steady on - I am generalising here about the majority verdict on prog and not the considered, intellectual philosophy of such esteemed debaters like yourself

That's the problem really isn't it? Apart from a few gems much of those bands catalogue is shit - I agree

but that's the problem with prog, isn't it? the privileging of skill over inspiration, of chord sequences over feeling. There's nothing wrong with experimentation and pushing boundaries: the best example is Can, mostly 'academy' musicians with formal training who heard the Velvet Underground and decided to blend their formal experimentalism with real 'feel'. Yes forgot the feel and privileged the 7/8 time chord sequences. Joyless, dessicated, bloated filth.

and you're over-generalising yourself here - I'd agree that the privileging of skill over inspiration etc is a problem with prog - but not the only problem and not one that renders the whole genre shit

you've created a false polarity there which doesn't wash. Just because punk has been appropriated (as most people realised from the start it always would be) doesn't mean either that it wasn't once radical, or that therefore prog is radical by comparison. A pisspoor strawman argument.

Absolutely - fair comment - wouldn't take my dig at punk too seriously really…

 

[Groucho]

I actually saw them 'perform' the fucker for the first time at the Rainbow Finsbury Pk in '74.

It was hooooorrribllle

But I loved it!

( I was 14 )

I bet it was hilarious. Well, in retrospect.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I still reckon The Flaming Lips are prog.

 

[Dubversion]

I still reckon The Flaming Lips are prog.

you're still a fool

although yes, they do love a bit on the quiet, i believe.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

you're still a fool

Concept albums? Check.
Odd time signatures? Check.
Costumes on stage? Check.
Shit? Check.

 

[Old Gergl]

King Crimson were the best

Correct

 

[nino_savatte]

I still reckon The Flaming Lips are prog.

<rubs chin> Really?