XTC - The Dukes of Stratosphear
The 13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere (a stretch....but, hey!)
Best progressive rock album side
My intent is to seek albums which I may not own from the recommendations of you all. I ranked best sides of progressive rock albums on vinyl that I own and came up with the following list. I don't want it to undermine anything else that an artist has created. I love it all but as far as start to finish on one side this is what I came up with.
#1: Supper's Ready
#2: Terrapin Station
#3: Atom Heart Mother
#4 The Court of the King Crimson
#5 Echoes
Of course there are many more. Some may not be complete sides like Atom Heart Mother but the intent of the artisan was to make it a complete side. I had a very hard time deciding between #1 and #2. Both are very worthy in my mind.
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So, I am going to be 'that guy', and bring up the "what is prog" discussion. For me, prog, is not a style of music (it's barely a genre), in the same way country, blues, punk, etc are. Prog has more to do with the structure of the music, than any sort of surface veneer and style the music may have. One could play just a few example songs of the above genres (country, punk, blues), and get a pretty good idea about how the majority of the rest of the genre sounds. Sure, there are differences between interpretations, but at their core, they have their attributes that define them. Blues for example, has to be in minor pentatonic scales, or it is no longer blues. But what could someone nail down about how prog sounds, by playing something from: Yes, Gentle Giant, National Health, Magma, Univers Zero, Can, Area, Pain of Salvation, Anglagard, Samla Mammas Manna, Bruford, Gong, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Henry Cow, etc? These bands, literally sound almost nothing like each other. The thing that defines all the above bands as prog, for me, are all or most of the following attributes, in no particular order: a very high level of musicianship, complexity (chord progressions, time signatures, arrangements, syncopation, etc), deep and broad levels of emotional content, (sometimes) long format pieces, nonstandard song format, avoidance of verse>chorus>bridge song format, avoidance of catchy hooks, influences from disparate types of music (classical, jazz, folk, Eastern), sometimes use of dissonance. There is no specific sound a band has to have to be prog, but there are certain other attributes (those above), a band has to have to be prog. For example, the modern technical-metal bands, Cynic, Tesseract, The Contortionist, sound almost nothing like prog bands from the 70's, but they are certainly prog. Ridiculously high level of musicianship, very complex, very emotional, nonstandard song formats, jazz-fusion influences, are all there.
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Wow, this thread turned out way better than I expected it to. Some great recommendations to search for. I much more enjoy searching in record stores than ordering on line. Many mentioned, I already have. I think of those listed that I don't have, I am going to start looking for Renaissance, Porcupine Tree, The Pineapple Thief, Godley & Creme, and the Marilyn Manson suggestions. They might be obtainable locally. Thanks again for the great posts. |
Please do yourself a favor, and DON’T ignore the Italian bands! Some of the best prog ever, came from (and still does) Italy. PFM - Storia di un Minuto, Per un Amico, and L’isola di niente are as good musically as any of the better known Brits. Same with, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - S/T, Darwin!, Io Sono Nato Libero Plenty of others are right up there, too. Il Balletto di Bronzo - YS / This is considered an acquired taste, due to being a bit dark and intense, but it is also brilliant. With a keyboardist as good as any of the Brits. Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra Arti e Mestieri - Tilt / This is an incredible album, that kind of straddles the line between beautiful prog and fusion. Le Orme - Uomo do Pezza, and Felona e Sorona As much as I like Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief, for my tastes, they are a bit ’watered down’, maybe a bit too close to the mainstream for my tastes. I like Steve Wilson’s first 3 albums (Grace for Drowning, The Raven That Refused to Sing, Hand Cannot Erase) better then any Porcupine Tree albums. For modern bands, check out: Riverside (Poland) All Traps on Earth (Sweden) Only 1 album, but it’s pretty amazing. Echolyn (USA) I like their earlier stuff (Suffocating the Bloom, As The World) than their later stuff. Great complex vocal harmonies, quite complex, world class musicianship. After Crying (Hungary) Kind of chamber-prog sort of stuff, with amazing melodies and musicianship. Anglagard (Sweden) Uncompromising, full on prog, with some Genesis, Gentle Giant and King Crimson influence. Quite complex, lots of dynamic contrasts, lots of changes. Despite the 70’s influences, they make it sound fresh. This is the band most often credited with beginning the 2nd golden age of prog, beginning in the early 90's. Anekdoten (Sweden) Began life in the 90’s a King Crimson cover band, so their first 2 releases are in that vein. But then they went in their own direction. Went a bit in ambient-prog direction for a while, but their latest from 2015, Until All Ghosts are Gone, is more intense. Deus ex Machina (Italy) One of the best Italian bands from the more recent era. Ridiculous musicianship. The lead vocalist has a 5 octave range, and great intonation, but can be a bit of an acquired taste. They also can lean a bit toward the avant-garde side every once in a while, so, YMMV. But they are not trying to pander to the mainstream side of prog. Just pure, no holds bared, prog. Have you ever checked out the site: Gnosis2000 Great site for searching out great prog by year. |
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