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smallmouth
Oct 1, 2009

rikshot posted:

Finally a prog thread!

2. Chroma Key



More electronic and ambient and less rock. Still progressive as gently caress. Really mellow melodies. Interesting rythmics and themes. I wouldnt recommend jumping straight into this stuff at first as it is kinda crazy. Still very good music.

This is just awesome. Thanks for the recommendation.

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n_w_f
Mar 31, 2010

Rollersnake posted:

If you like Udu Wudu, you should check out Attahk,
Merci, their last studio album before they disbanded in the '80s, is full-blown disco at points, but it's really fun and catchy, and there are some beautiful pieces that rank among their best material, like The Night We Died.

Heard and own Attahk and have become a big fan of the album, which is apparently a conceptual work. I like that the second and sixth songs share the same piano chord progressions, little continuous choices like that one are always great to hear. I will definitely check out the other album you mentioned. It can't be any more of a departure than later day Can and the way you describe it sounds interesting enough.

Mottull
May 12, 2009
Been listening to an awful lot of Phideaux at the moment myself and had the Doomsday Afternoon album on repeat for the past couple of days.
It's the second part of a trilogy of albums dealing with authoritarian and ecological
crisis and I really cant recommend them enough, go listen !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWg15DUG0m4

Rollersnake
May 9, 2005

Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.
Unlockable Ben

The Great Aspie posted:

I started listening to Magma with Kobaia. The 70s fusion feel made it easier for me to acclimate to the Zeuhl that would be in later albums.

That's how it was for me too, except with 1001 Degrees Centigrade. It's funny that that's the album that hooked me, as I now consider it among their weakest. Not that it's bad or anything—IMO, Magma have never released a bad or even mediocre album, and I can't honestly say that about any other artist I'm familiar with who has been as prolific.

Even Merci I really respect. Particularly in how it's described in the liner notes as "six songs about death" and it's just so goddamn happy! It's a complex and engaging album even despite its failures and being the closest they ever came to a mainstream sound.

Myron Baloney
Mar 19, 2002

Emitting dimensions are swallowing you

TheForgotton posted:

I think a good place to start would be early Genesis like Trespass, Nursery Cryme, or Foxtrot. This stuff is light-years away from the poppy Genesis of the 80's. Trespass is more pastoral but full of intertwining 12-sting guitarwork. Foxtrot is a Mellotron-lover's wet dream and contains Supper's Ready, which is one of the must-hear side-long compositions that helped define the genre. If you can snag the remasters that come with DVDs, the surround mixes are excellent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtHClRu1DrE for Supper's Ready recorded live that blows the album away. If you're interested in Gabriel-era Genesis it's well worth the trouble to hunt down all the old footage.

Rama Lama Magnus
Oct 31, 2004

Vegetable King
I think Magma is even better today than they were in the 70's. Not to say they were bad in the 70's, they must have been one of the strangest, scariest and innovative bands on the planet.
But unlike other 70's reunion acts they don't sound polished, well produced and ultimately boring and outdated, because with their naked, jazz approach to music they emanate trust in that the instruments themselves and and their talents alone are able to carry the compositions without some kind of extra added studio production values.

K.A. (2004) and Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré (2009) are their best efforts yet in addition to the four volume DVD's Epok I-IV, eight hours without a single boring moment.

40ozOE
Aug 26, 2004

Bedridden I know more than you.

rikshot posted:

2. Chroma Key



More electronic and ambient and less rock. Still progressive as gently caress. Really mellow melodies. Interesting rythmics and themes. I wouldnt recommend jumping straight into this stuff at first as it is kinda crazy. Still very good music.

I thought Dream Theater's sound/direction really changed after Images & Words and Awake, and after discovering Chroma Key, I realized the part of Dream Theater I enjoyed most - apparently - was Kevin Moore. It seemed like after he left, the soul of DT went with him.

"Subway" from You Go Now and "Colorblind" in particular from Dead Air For Radios are brilliant songs.

If "Space-Dye Vest" is your favorite Dream Theater song, Chroma Key is for you.

The Great Aspie
Jan 13, 2006

The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be utterly submerged
Chroma Key is poo poo. OSI sucks. gently caress Kevin Moore forever for leaving Dream Theater and everything they created post-Awake.

knifehitz
Apr 22, 2005

ys rly
Dream Theater... what a perfect example of what I hate about prog. For every good song on an album there has to be another loving lame rear end ballad-y poo poo song. On Images and Words I think 3 of the songs out of 8 I actually liked. Same thing on Awake. I never bothered after that. I don't get when fans call these albums PERFECT! The songs that Moore wrote, even if they were mellow, weren't L-A-M-E like the others.

Rush, one of my favorite bands of all time, same problem. Not on all their albums, but quite a few. You gotta skip 2 tracks for every cool one.

On the prog-metal end of the spectrum I've been listening to Fates Warning lately. Awaken the Guardian is awesome. I have mixed opinions on their later material, but the stuff with John Arch is awesome, especially considering when it was made. You can definately tell what the guys in Dream Theater and Queensryche were listening to.

Also, Voivod are unbelievable space-prog-metal. Their album Nothingface should be required listening and I really love Angel Rat and The Outer Limits.

knifehitz fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Apr 30, 2010

Fungah
Jul 2, 2003
Fungah! Foiled again!
There are people who don't like Metropolis Pt. 2?

Rollersnake
May 9, 2005

Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.
Unlockable Ben
I prefer Dream Theater when they're leaning toward the metal side of prog-metal—Dream Theater are almost always at least kinda cheesy, and I have a higher tolerance for cheese in metal than I do in other contexts. I think I play Train of Thought more than any of their other albums, and the Twelve-Step Suite is my favorite thing they've ever done. When do we get a live album with that performed in its entirety?

Also, as they're all virtuosos, Dream Theater are a really great covers band, though they kind of try too hard to be faithful to the originals. Still, I sometimes I think I enjoy their Number of the Beast more than the original.

I haven't really enjoyed Kevin Moore's work with Dream Theater, or either of the Chroma Key albums I've heard, but I absolutely love the first OSI album. Figure that out.

YAMAGATAAA!!!
Oct 27, 2007

YAMAGATAAA!!!

knifehitz posted:

On the prog-metal end of the spectrum I've been listening to Fates Warning lately. Awaken the Guardian is awesome. I have mixed opinions on their later material, but the stuff with John Arch is awesome, especially considering when it was made. You can definately tell what the guys in Dream Theater and Queensryche were listening to.
I'm a bit more partial to The Spectre Within, but John Arch is incredible. I heard his solo work with Mike Portnoy and Jim Matheos was really good, but I never got around to listening to it.

As far as prog-metal, I don't think I saw anyone mention Watchtower. Originally I brushed them off as overly-wanky poo poo, but they are fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6shKzd6u-0

The Great Aspie
Jan 13, 2006

The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be utterly submerged

Fungah posted:

There are people who don't like Metropolis Pt. 2?

It was nice to hear extended versions of the phrases from Pt. 1. The lyrics were like a lot of Yes' lyrics - constructed to fit a musical idea rather than tell any particular story. All that changed with Part 2. Naming Metropolis "Pt. 1" was originally a brilliant Mike Portnoy troll, but fans wanted to hear a part 2.

johnny sack
Jan 30, 2004

One day, this team will play to their expectations...

Just not this year..

Stutes posted:

Echoing the recommendations for Fragile as a good introduction to Yes, but with one caveat: skip the second track, Cans and Brahms. I had a copy of Fragile for years, but never listened past Roundabout because the next song sucked so hard.

Has anybody mentioned Supertramp yet? I'm sure somebody will make fun of me for it, but Breakfast in America is a superb album from start to finish.

I had grown up hearing a few Supertramp songs on classic rock stations now and again. However, I recently started a Yes-based Last.fm station, and quite a bit of Supertramp comes on. I have probably listened to the entirety of Breakfast in America and Crime of the Century. I love them both, but I don't know much of their stuff beyond those 2 albums.


Callick posted:

I'm not entirely sure that Led Zeppelin would necessarily be considered prog rock (it kind of transcends rock genres) but I just wanted to express to anyone the awesome experience I had.

I'm 23, big music lover, and have always appreciated vinyls, but have only used the family turntable very occasionally. I recently was given a decent stereo with turntable and decided to start collecting vinyls. Tonight, I found a copy of Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin and plugged my turntable into my sound card and got a line-in plugin for Winamp. I then plugged in my friend's super badass audio technica's that I'm currently taking care of and cranked that bitch up. Adjusted the Winamp EQ and bam...


Wow. Converted me entirely. I think I'm now on the path to becoming a true audiophile. That was EPIC. Vinyl owns, and so do Winamp equalizers. :D

I agree that Zeppelin transcended numerous genres, most commonly blues and rock and roll. But Houses of the Holy, I don't know that I'd class it in with other progressive rock music, but I wouldn't fault you for doing so. It's a wonderful album regardless of how it's classified.



I haven't seen any of you mention The Moody Blues yet. I mean, if there were 'fathers' of progressive rock, they'd easily be in the discussion, no?

Their first 6 albums are all 100% excellent from the first track to the last track. As a child, the only Moody Blues songs I knew were Nights in White Satin and I'm Just a Singer (in a rock and roll band). I was a little embarrassed as a teenager to enjoy Nights in White Satin, but when I found :420: and became college-aged, I quickly realized that The Moody Blues were truly innovating.

Days of Future Passed and A Question of Balance are easily in my top 10 albums of all time.



Also is Pink Floyd simply too big to mention in this thread? They were obviously a progressive rock band as much as anything else. Has Pink Floyd been discussed too much already?


I am really glad this thread started. I have recently expanded my Yes discography to include everything that I don't classify as poppy-poo poo.

Catgirl Al Capone
Dec 15, 2007

Mottull posted:

Been listening to an awful lot of Phideaux at the moment myself and had the Doomsday Afternoon album on repeat for the past couple of days.
It's the second part of a trilogy of albums dealing with authoritarian and ecological
crisis and I really cant recommend them enough, go listen !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWg15DUG0m4

I love Phideaux. If you liked Doomsday Afternoon, Number Seven isn't a part of the trilogy but is very similar stylistically.

Rabid Koala
Aug 18, 2003


rikshot posted:

O.S.I (Office Of Strategic Influence)



Weird at first, then interesting and finally extremely good music. Really hard to describe what this stuff is like, you have to figure it out yourself. Some metal influences, with alot of ambience in the background and a sprinkling of electronic instruments on top.

O.S.I. is my current favorite band. The music is incredibly difficult to pin down. the self-titled is easily the most rock-influenced of their three releases, but it ventures a lot into ambient/glitch electronic territory. Steven Wilson guests on "ShutDOWN," which is one of my favorite O.S.I. tracks.

Free features more prominent electronics, and I'm shocked Mike Portnoy even agreed to record drums for it - there are more loops than organic drums. However, I think Free is superior to their debut because it develops a unique sound for the band and pulls them away from the progressive/pop/rock sound of the debut. Moore's lyrics, as always, are the highlight. He writes introspective, emotional lyrics that work well with the music. His monotone singing actually complements the music. Think Radiohead's Kid A with guitars and vocalist with a huskier voice.

Blood is interesting in that it seems like a step backward at first. "The Escape Artist" is the band's heaviest song to date. Luckily, Moore pulls things back a bit on "Terminal," which is reminiscent of "When You're Ready" from their self-titled release. Blood is bogged down by weak lyrics at times, such as in "Be the Hero," with its "be the hero from coast to coast" chorus. The collaboration with Opeth's Michael Akerfeldt is excellent, though.

Really, if you want to get a sense for what O.S.I. is about, check out Free, and listen to it with headphones.

Rabid Koala fucked around with this message at 05:10 on May 14, 2010

Gimmedaroot
Aug 10, 2006

America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama
Also glad I found this thread.

For someone wanting to know what to buy after "In The Court of the Crimson King", buy "In the Wake of Poseidon". Instead of the rehash that some say it is, I see it as part 2. Court is about war, Wake is about peace. Some even prefer it to Court, but I say they both go together nicely, and is the last thing Greg Lake sings on. There will be a new reissue this fall with a 5.1 mix.

My biggest problem with prog rock is the new stuff. I just can't get into bands like Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, etc. I just agree with Bill Bruford: the pioneers come along and invent the stuff by not really having any boundaries. Then when the genre is named, you have all these boundaries and everything just sounds like an overproduced rehash of whats come before that is not as interesting. Radiohead and The Flaming Lips I would give a pass to because they have other influences (if you are to call them prog). And most modern prog metal and symphonic stuff just sounds silly, not to mention the "Legend of the Seeker" outfits they tend to wear on stage. If you don't know what I mean, pick up a copy of Classic Rock magazine's Prog issues. Its really ridiculous.

Also, back when he released his solo album on Fripp's label (around 1999), John Paul Jones said it was fine to call Zeppelin prog.

Anyone listen to any Rock In Opposition like Henry Cow and Art Bears?

Dishwasher
Dec 5, 2006

I got fit in 2024
A prog thread? I thought I was the only one who realized this board was missing one!

This is pretty much my favorite genre of music. If you guys really want to delve deep into the genre head to Progarchives.com. Its basically a massive archive of every single prog album ever made with reviews as well as mp3s to listen to and sample. Its become one of the main sources for new music.

Gimmedaroot posted:



My biggest problem with prog rock is the new stuff. I just can't get into bands like Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, etc. I just agree with Bill Bruford: the pioneers come along and invent the stuff by not really having any boundaries. Then when the genre is named, you have all these boundaries and everything just sounds like an overproduced rehash of whats come before that is not as interesting. Radiohead and The Flaming Lips I would give a pass to because they have other influences (if you are to call them prog). And most modern prog metal and symphonic stuff just sounds silly, not to mention the "Legend of the Seeker" outfits they tend to wear on stage. If you don't know what I mean, pick up a copy of Classic Rock magazine's Prog issues. Its really ridiculous.


Overproduction and ridiculousness is what makes prog so great. That just means they're trying harder to make awesome music. And if anything, modern prog is cool because its taking the older influences and adding modern touches to them. Its not the 1970s anymore and I can't listen to old school Genesis and Yes all the time. And a prog thread without mention of Transatlantic? For shame guys.

johnny sack
Jan 30, 2004

One day, this team will play to their expectations...

Just not this year..

Dishwasher posted:

Overproduction and ridiculousness is what makes prog so great. That just means they're trying harder to make awesome music. And if anything, modern prog is cool because its taking the older influences and adding modern touches to them. Its not the 1970s anymore and I can't listen to old school Genesis and Yes all the time. And a prog thread without mention of Transatlantic? For shame guys.

I hate to harp on you too hard, but seriously read the thread. Transatlantic has been mentioned on every page before this one (ie both of the other 2 pages). For shame, dishwasher.

I have only heard a few of their songs as they come up on last.fm. I really like what I've heard so far.

Also I'll be checking out progarchives.com.

Full Circle
Feb 20, 2008

For more modern prog with a classic sound definitely check out the latest album by Karmakanic. The other albums are pretty lousy in my opinion but I love Boss in the Factory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDpgsk_3-c&fmt=18

Iucounu
May 12, 2007


Have any of you guys checked out the King Crimson albums remastered by Steven Wilson? being a big PT fan I'm very interested in these.

Gimmedaroot
Aug 10, 2006

America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
-Barack Obama

Dishwasher posted:

A prog thread? I thought I was the only one who realized this board was missing one!

This is pretty much my favorite genre of music. If you guys really want to delve deep into the genre head to Progarchives.com. Its basically a massive archive of every single prog album ever made with reviews as well as mp3s to listen to and sample. Its become one of the main sources for new music.


Overproduction and ridiculousness is what makes prog so great. That just means they're trying harder to make awesome music. And if anything, modern prog is cool because its taking the older influences and adding modern touches to them. Its not the 1970s anymore and I can't listen to old school Genesis and Yes all the time. And a prog thread without mention of Transatlantic? For shame guys.

I don't listen to Genesis and Yes all the time. When I listen to newer bands, I don't listen to those modern prog bands that I listed before. However, you totally missed what I am talking about.

As for the King Crimson remasters, I have the 3 that are out now, and they sound fantastic. Steve Wilson did an excellent job, and the surround sound is mind blowing. Get them, and get a player that plays DVD-As.
Its not the pomposity, its the sterility of the recordings of modern prog bands that I hate. Its like everyone nowadays tends to have that cold crunchy Momentary Lapse of Reason/Division Bell/Talk/Union production. Its a very clinical production and playing style that sounds like Berklee College of Music students trying to play on crappy equipment. I like mellotrons, not those awful samplers. If you listen to Rick Wakeman play Close to the Edge on Moogs in the 70s, and say, they synths he used on Keys to the Ascension, you will understand what I am talking about. All of the neo prog bands sound like this but without really pushing anything forward.

If those bands were trying harder, like you said, they would be doing something different and actually pushing further...not doing the same thing on newer and worse sounding equipment.

Rama Lama Magnus
Oct 31, 2004

Vegetable King

Gimmedaroot posted:

My biggest problem with prog rock is the new stuff. I just can't get into bands like Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, etc. I just agree with Bill Bruford: the pioneers come along and invent the stuff by not really having any boundaries. Then when the genre is named, you have all these boundaries and everything just sounds like an overproduced rehash of whats come before that is not as interesting. Radiohead and The Flaming Lips I would give a pass to because they have other influences (if you are to call them prog). And most modern prog metal and symphonic stuff just sounds silly, not to mention the "Legend of the Seeker" outfits they tend to wear on stage. If you don't know what I mean, pick up a copy of Classic Rock magazine's Prog issues. Its really ridiculous.

Anyone listen to any Rock In Opposition like Henry Cow and Art Bears?

When the band's in the 60's and 70's "invented" prog they did so influenced by classical, jazz, folk, pop and other genres, mixing that with new technology like effect boxes, synthesizers, multi track etc. and did some really wonderful (and sometimes awful) stuff.
But the (neo) prog from the 80's are influenced by prog. You see the difference?

I really like RIO, but the trouble is that often it is referred to as a genre and not a movement and new bands sounding dissonant and "weird" is compared to Henry Cow and put into the RIO-box, forgetting about other bands that were part of that movement; Samla Mammas Manna, Stormy Six, Universe Zero, Art Zoyd, Etron Fou, Aksak Maboul, all sounding very different from each other. Although that lumping in to categories may very well be contributed to the incompetence of the reviewer.
There's nothing wrong with being influenced by Henry Cow or Pink Floyd but I don't see the point in trying to mimic the music of your heroes. A mix between Henry Cow and Pink Floyd on the other hand could be interesting.

And that is the point I'm trying to make. Most metal bands today sounds boring because the people making the songs only listen to metal, thereby producing a rehash of what they know. If you on the other hand were to throw in a bit of Henry Cow, Strawinski, Miles Davis and Dead Kennedys into their musical vocabulary you could get something interesting.

Rollersnake
May 9, 2005

Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.
Unlockable Ben
It's this issue that makes progressive rock difficult to talk about. I use the term "progressive rock" to refer to rock music that is or was ambitious, innovative, and forward thinking and "prog" to refer to the bands who make music in the vein of what was originally called "progressive rock." So to me "progressive rock" is exactly what that phrase literally means, and "prog" is more of a genre label.

I don't even know why I'm talking about this. It's irritating to talk about, and read about. But the confusion permeates the progressive rock community, and the NEARfest lineups seem to embody it. You have genuinely innovative bands like Magma performing at the same festival as neo-prog bands like Magenta—because both are considered progressive rock, and yet have nothing in common with each other besides that label.

There are entire online communities dedicated to progressive rock who haven't come to any consensus, and I doubt we're going to make any progress in this line of discussion in this thread. I'm perfectly okay with continuing to discuss Yes and King Crimson alongside Magma and Univers Zero, and Dream Theater and Spock's Beard. There's a lot of overlap in interests, and I feel really trite saying this, but music doesn't necessarily have to be innovative in order to be good or interesting. (I personally have more respect for the innovators, but quite often enjoy complex, well-composed, totally formulaic prog rock.)

The Great Aspie
Jan 13, 2006

The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be utterly submerged
Arjen Anthony Lucassen - I've only listened to his Ayreon prog rock-opera stuff like Into the Electric Castle and The Human Equation. It is really good stuff, with a cast of prog metal allstars making contributions to the albums. The trouble I had with the Ayreon project is that the guest talent gets in the way of listening to Lucassen himself, so I never got a good feel for him as a performer. It is completely different from listening to, for example, Frank Zappa, where you could instantly recognize where Frank contributed.

Is Ayreon his best work, or does his new Guilt Machine project's limited lineup make Arjen's performance more recognizable?

TheForgotton
Jun 10, 2001

I'm making a career of evil.
Here's that interview I did with Trey Gunn last week. He's a very down to earth guy. The only part that was kind of weird is when I asked him about King Crimson, not realizing that he wasn't in the band anymore. Oops.


The Great Aspie posted:

Is Ayreon his best work, or does his new Guilt Machine project's limited lineup make Arjen's performance more recognizable?
On This Perfect Day is a great album, though a bit more low-key and ambient than most of his Ayreon and Star One work. Arjen sings a little but most of the vocals are from a guy named Jasper Steverlinck. Lori from Stream of Passion has some really nice solos on this one as well. The lyrics are very far removed from the sort of stuff he did with the sci-fantasy concept albums. I don't think the album blew me away at first listen exactly, but it is definitely a grower.

FrankenVader
Sep 12, 2004
Polymer Records

Witchfinder General posted:

As far as prog-metal, I don't think I saw anyone mention Watchtower. Originally I brushed them off as overly-wanky poo poo, but they are fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6shKzd6u-0

I used to see Watchtower live in Texas back in the 80's. Ron Jarzombek was an amazing player....but I could never get over their lack of melody in the vocal lines. It was all to angular and "screamy".
I like my prog metal with a bit of melody like Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery or Ayreon. Melody and harmony is god.

Speaking of which, how many consider Queen to be prog? If you don't know side "Black" from Queen 2, let me introduce you:

March of the Black Queen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckRX0k9owAY

Ogre Battle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-SMOsXCc0c

That was some amazing poo poo for 1974

Dishwasher
Dec 5, 2006

I got fit in 2024

Gimmedaroot posted:

If those bands were trying harder, like you said, they would be doing something different and actually pushing further...not doing the same thing on newer and worse sounding equipment.

Yeah, I did miss what you were saying. I definitely agree. There's too much emphasis on musical wankery and proving some virtuosity (like Dream Theater's well played but sometimes soulless brand of prog metal and the people they've influenced). Where has the actual progress gone in the alleged progressive genre?

The Great Aspie
Jan 13, 2006

The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be utterly submerged

Dishwasher posted:

Where has the actual progress gone in the alleged progressive genre?

There is plenty of music being made today that is pushing the boundaries,; it is just not being labeled "progressive."

Rick Wakeman said "Prog is about knowing the rules and then breaking them" and for some reason that all stopped in the mid 70s with progressive rock. I think we all know that Genesis, Yes, and other prog bands became regressive rock with their late-1970's-80's pop sound.

Bill Bruford left Yes at the right time, because all of the musical innovation in the early-mid 70's progressive rock scene went directly to jazz fusion. Fusion ran its course shortly after, and regressed into smooth jazz.

Neo-Prog bands, like Marillion and IQ, seemed to be more like an attempt at genre revival than anything literally progressive. So characterizing them as "progressive rock" is somewhat of a misnomer. Maybe the so-called New Prog movement will produce another group like Muse that lives up to the namesake.

Iucounu
May 12, 2007


12 year old girl drumming to "Red":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liWGp37npZU

Catgirl Al Capone
Dec 15, 2007

Just got started on Coheed and Cambria, it's pretty good stuff. The older albums are more emo/punk influenced; The Second Stage Turbine Blade, for example, isn't the most "progressive" but it's catchy as gently caress. I still have Time Consumer playing in my head as of writing this.

Apparently the music is based on a series of comics (or is it vice versa?) which is pretty neat I guess, don't think I've seen that sort of thing before.

Fungah
Jul 2, 2003
Fungah! Foiled again!
So I just got back from TransAtlantic in London. It was pretty much the best gig ever. They played The Whirlwind, All of the Above, We all need some Light, Duel with the Devil, Bridge Across Forever and Stranger in your Soul. A cozy 3.5 hour set.

It was easily the best performance I've ever seen Morse or Portnoy give (seen Morse twice solo and Portnoy four times before this with DT and SB and Neal). Neal was hitting the high notes all night, Mike was just masses and masses of fun on stage. Daniel Gildenlowe was rocking out the whole time. I'm glad he got some time at centre stage.

I can't wait for the DVD release.

Madama Butterfly
Apr 6, 2005

All who dare to cross her course are swallowed by her fearsome force!

starless posted:

Have any of you guys checked out the King Crimson albums remastered by Steven Wilson? being a big PT fan I'm very interested in these.

Where have I been? I didn't realize that any of these were out yet...yay! :monocle:

Iucounu
May 12, 2007


Madama Butterfly posted:

Where have I been? I didn't realize that any of these were out yet...yay! :monocle:

So far In The Court of, Lizard, and Red have been released. Hopefully they intend to release the rest of their catalouge.

Black Griffon
Mar 12, 2005

Now, in the quantum moment before the closure, when all become one. One moment left. One point of space and time.

I know who you are. You are destiny.


Any Pain of Salvation fans around? A friend of mine introduced them to me with The Perfect Element, and I gotta say it's pretty much one of my favorite albums ever ("But if you take from those you fear everything they value, you have bred the perfect beast drained enough to kill you"). Scarsick was wonderful as well and BE is just cool. Entropia and Remedy Lane has some very good and some meh, and One Hour by the Concrete Lake is kind of dull.

So two days ago I sat down and listened to Road Salt One, and I'm pretty loving disappointed. The sound is boring, the songs are weird without being cool and there's no loving metal. Of all the album, the track that I've actually listened to several times is Sisters, and compared to the finale of The Perfect Element, it's not impressive.

Wikipedia has Road Salt Two marked as Progressive Metal (whilst One was Progressive Rock), hopefully that means they're doing a Foo Fighters - In Your Honor thing (disk one is calm, disc two is loud, or the other way around).

Maybe the album just needs to "catch" me, we'll see.

Math Rocker
Sep 21, 2003

by Ozma

Black Griffon posted:

pain of salvation...

Yeah I know, I like it, but I don't really like it as much at their other work. I really liked their take on progressive metal, they had a really unique sound in a genre dominated by cliches. Road Salt One is kind of unique too, but I don't find it to be as engaging as their prior albums (Scarsick, Be, and Perfect Element are my favorites).
I really don't like the lyrics on most of the songs, they're just boring, and Daniel keeps reusing the same tired metaphors (dirt, dust, scars, roads), the same ones he has used since even their first album, except that now the lyrics are less poetic or interesting. His singing, however, is some of his best. "Of Dust" and "Sisters" are absolutely beautiful.

ANIME AKBAR
Jan 25, 2007

afu~
Eh, Pain of Salvation has had another love/emotion album due for a while, though Road Salt still isn't as good as remedy lane. Some good melodies, but I'm just going to hold out for part 2 and hope it has some heavier stuff.

WaffleStomp
May 7, 2007
Have any of you heard of North Atlantic Oscillation? They're on the kscope label, home of Anathema, Pineapple Thief, and some of Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree's material. They have a somewhat unique sound that I can only describe as a shoegaze-sounding OSI. Their debut, Grappling Hooks, is a pretty solid release and I can imagine them getting better with the next release.

Here's their Myspace with track samples and such: http://www.myspace.com/naoband

kliksf
Jan 1, 2003
Guys I saw Kaki King last week and both when she played solo and with her band she had a very Fripp/Belew thing going on I was extremely impressed and highly recommend y'all check her out. I'd say she sounded like a mix of King Crimson, The Mermen and Tortoise with some flashes of Michael Hedges.

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Hellequin
Feb 26, 2008

You Scream! You open your TORN, ROTTED, DECOMPOSED MOUTH AND SCREAM!
As much as I like prog, I honestly think the best of the music to fall under the umbrella of "progressive" were the German bands of the time, the Krautrock. For me they got at the root of the idealism (bringing rock music onto a similar level of artistic development of say 20th century classical or period jazz) and cut out the fantastical lyrics bullshit and general pretentiousness of the British scene. Honestly beyond mid 70s King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator, the Canterbury scene, and the later RIO scene I find a lot of it embarrassing to listen to, I mean have you really listened to the lyrics of Yes?

Krautrock got it right though, and I think it's had a more lasting impact on the face of popular music during the past thirty years. As to where you start with it, there's a core of maybe six or seven essential tier one bands (albums to start with are in brackets), Amon Düül II (Yeti), Ash Ra Tempel (S/T), Can (Tago Mago), Faust (Faust So Far), Neu! (S/T), Kraftwerk (Radioactivity), Popol Vuh (Hosianna Mantra) and Tangerine Dream (Phaedra).

Hellequin fucked around with this message at 18:37 on May 30, 2010

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