14 Prog albums worth losing your "indie cred" over

[-Jar-]

I thought some of you proggers might find this amusing..

http://www.splendidezine.com/departments/tdlt/tdlt122903.html

[Troy]

Reads like it was put together by a 20 year old dilletante.

But it's something.

[DariusNYC]

As long as we're looking at prog lists put together by indie-folks, here's a recent one from Spin Magazine: http://www.spin.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=235&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[-Jar-]

As long as we're looking at prog lists put together by indie-folks, here's a recent one from Spin Magazine: http://www.spin.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=235&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

FWIW, I think the SPIN list is better.. I've always prefered EGE BAMYASI to TAGO MAGO.. plus it has RED on there.. :D

-jar

[BarryL]

I thought some of you proggers might find this amusing..

http://www.splendidezine.com/departments/tdlt/tdlt122903.html

Interesting that someone thought to include that Tony Banks album. I agree that its' a great album, and it's nice to see it included because it will surely help others to discover it, but it probably shouldn't be on the list. Another great album, which isn't yet available on CD, from an ex-Genesis man is Wise After The Event by Anthony Phillips. This is also a very pastoral and understated prog album, the likes of which nobody other than Andy Latimer of Camel appears to be making today. Guitar-shredding prog is the prog of the day.

[Troy]

Yeah Barry, sticking the Banks and Hackett discs on there just shows a lack of vision and adventurousness. 14 albums and 5 of them are Genesis related? 4 are King Crimson related? Preogressive rock is just too varied to limit yourself to the big 5 bands so much.

[BarryL]

Yeah Barry, sticking the Banks and Hackett discs on there just shows a lack of vision and adventurousness. 14 albums and 5 of them are Genesis related? 4 are King Crimson related? Preogressive rock is just too varied to limit yourself to the big 5 bands so much.


What, no Lamb Lies Down On Broadway?

I'm sure this guy has never heard of any of the stuff we're listening to and have been sharing for the past five or six years. I'm sure the Zappa, Can, Gunn and Banks CDs were thrown in to show how sophisticated this dude was, because his friends have probably never heard these albums or know of their existence. And why 14? That's a weird number to pick. Why not round up to 15. I guess he couldn't think of any other worthwhile prog albums released in the past 30 years. At least this guy could have added Wish You Were Here or Moving Waves by Focus to cap it at 15.

[ForeverAutumn]

Hey Proggers, just curious...what would your list be? No need to list as many as 15 but what would you list as your choice of top prog albums? What would your recommendations be to these indie hipsters who wanted to expand their horizons into prog?

[DarrenH]

Hey Proggers, just curious...what would your list be? No need to list as many as 15 but what would you list as your choice of top prog albums? What would your recommendations be to these indie hipsters who wanted to expand their horizons into prog?

Strawbs - Ghosts
Strawbs - Hero and Heroine
Uriah Heep - Salisbury
Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself
Camel - Mirage
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
PFM - Storia Di Un Minuto
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - S/T
King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King
King Crimson - Thrak
King Crimson - Discipline
Miles Davis - B!tches Brew. Absolutely. You could also include Tribute To Jack Johnson. Both are most excellent.
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia or Stupid Dream
Arena - Contagion
Genesis - Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
ELP - Tarkus
Eloy - Inside
Triumvirat - Spartacus
Spock's Beard - V
Yes - Relayer

Darren

[Troy]

Hey Proggers, just curious...what would your list be? No need to list as many as 15 but what would you list as your choice of top prog albums? What would your recommendations be to these indie hipsters who wanted to expand their horizons into prog?

I'm gonna keep it to one album per artist. Many of these bands have other albums that would suit a list like this, but there you go. Hard to stop at 15 . . .

Yes- Close to the Edge
ELP- Egg Salad Surgery
Pink Floyd- DSOTM
Genesis- Foxtrot
King Crimson- The Power to Believe
Camel- Mirage
Ambrosia- Ambrosia
Happy the Man- S/T
Marillion-Misplaced Childhood
Porcupine Tree- The Sky Moves Sideways
UK- UK
Spocks Beard- Kindness of Strangers
IQ- 7th House
Zappa- Sheik Yerbouti
Jethro Tull- Thick as a Brick

[Dave_G]

Prog is my favorite style of music and I like almost all prog bands except Spocks Beard, they annoy me.

I really like IQ a lot and Galahad and Tull and of course the biggies like Genesis and Yes, but I am ready to find more new prog.

Dave

[jack70]

I saw the Spin list in the magazine a while back (I renewed the rag 3 years ago for dirt.... (3-years at $11.95)... but no more.)

On one hand it's not that bad a list, considering that most of their readers are younger & have little clue of much before the early 90's. If a few adventurous readers pick up Foxtrot or something and get interested... well... that's not a bad thing IMO. How many even slightly prog articles do you see today in pop mags?

My main complaint about many such articles (on older things) are that the writers tend to have little appreciation for chronological judgments. Nevermind their overall knowledge of prog is (most likely) pretty narrow. At least the Spin list was a little more far-ranging. But I WILL credit them for trying... how many top-100 & top-10 fave lists and such do you see where prog ever gets a single artist mentioned? It generally gets totally ignored, despite a solid audience and musical tradition. So at least they're trying to expand their readers tastes... I'll give em that.

I'm not going make a list myself. Half of my choices wouldn't mean much to anyone.(too eclectic) I've done it before... to resounding silence... LOL.

I will quibble with a few things though.

First is this:
Indie rock's roots are inextricably connected to the punk rock "revolution" of the 1970s. Back then, punk was viewed as antithetical to progressive rock; commercially, punk was touted as having "killed" prog.

Brilliant eh? I think today's "Indie" rock probably has less links to Punk (whether it be the orig '66 ver, or '77 echo ver), than to any number of styles. It probably borrowed more from classic 60's rock than anything. Todays music is as diverse and eclectic as anything since the 60's.... it's the commercial audience that's more segregated.

As for "what killed prog"... I think prog killed itself... or rather just exhausted itself. It came back in a few different styles in the 90's, but the classic early 70's era was pretty well cooked before Johnny Rotten hit the scene. (this from someone who probably has more prog albums from that era than anyone here, so my criticism is personal.).



FWIW, I think the SPIN list is better.. I've always preferred EGE BAMYASI to TAGO MAGO....

As much as I liked Monster Movie & Tago Mago, I also thought Ege Bamyasi was as "special" an album as DSOTM was... understand that I heard Ege Bamyasi a full year BEFORE DSOTM was released. It was pretty unique, even though I'd been listening to all sorts of weird Euro stuff by then. I take some satisfaction that it's not been lost to history like so many other great undiscovered albums have. It's generally tough for younger punks to get a proper chronological handle on the past, although there are others that share his view... they also tend to like the punk/beat stuff from those older Can albums more than the true prog stuff in their later ones. I also doubt they've heard too many of the dozens of Can-related off-shoot bands & solo works, many of which are not on CD.


"Money" is NOT the Zappa album I'd pick as "prog"... jeeze. Freak Out, L. Gravy, U Meat, even HRats(more a jazz/fusion LP) all have more "progressive" elements in them, at least in influencing other future band's music. I'm not saying "Money" doesn't... just that Zappa did it all (experimentation and new concepts) earlier. He did even more later. Personally I think Zappa is too big to be pigeon-holed into any genre, certainly not "prog". I can hear him laughing at that now. Not that he wasn't as influential as anyone, but it was beyond simple "prog" IMO.

Fragile is the most over-rated Yes album IMO. Take anything else. Too little of real substance, but it sounds "nice" so I'm not surprised it's so popular. I'm not saying it's bad... just weak compared to others.

Darren
Personally I consider Miles more in the Jazz camp, or Fusion... not prog. Influential... yeah, but there are dozens of similar jazz influences/works that would really skew such a list.

Uriah Heep I consider more in the classic R&R stream, w/a metal tint... again not really "prog". But there are lots of other "hard rock" bands that are much more "prog" in their development that I'd put ahead of UH.

Tarkus is my choice for ELP because it was so cutting edge at the time... influenced hundreds of Italian bands for starters.

But I think ELP's first and King Crimson's first are still prog classics. They were quite unlike anything else at the time, and are worthy of such a list for any young punks wanting to get a proper education to the genre, even if they are old in the tooth.

The Lamb Lies Down... is indeed their best, but not a good intro for newbies... too long and involved. Foxtrot's probably OK. But remember Genesis was still not well received until after they slimed into a pop band. Just like contemporaries Nick Drake and Big Star, they were more admired after they'd broken up than in their heyday.

[DarrenH]

Darren
Personally I consider Miles more in the Jazz camp, or Fusion... not prog. Influential... yeah, but there are dozens of similar jazz influences/works that would really skew such a list.

Uriah Heep I consider more in the classic R&R stream, w/a metal tint... again not really "prog". But there are lots of other "hard rock" bands that are much more "prog" in their development that I'd put ahead of UH.

Tarkus is my choice for ELP because it was so cutting edge at the time... influenced hundreds of Italian bands for starters.

But I think ELP's first and King Crimson's first are still prog classics. They were quite unlike anything else at the time, and are worthy of such a list for any young punks wanting to get a proper education to the genre, even if they are old in the tooth.

The Lamb Lies Down... is indeed their best, but not a good intro for newbies... too long and involved. Foxtrot's probably OK. But remember Genesis was still not well received until after they slimed into a pop band. Just like contemporaries Nick Drake and Big Star, they were more admired after they'd broken up than in their heyday.

Hello Jackson,

Yeah I know, Miles is jazz. But B!chtes Brew blew me away and is held in high regard within prog circles. Progressiveears.com to name one.
The Tribute To Jack Johnson is simply amazing also. Considered more of a rock album than jazz with John McLaughlin's superb playing although Miles never lets you forget who is in charge. I just recently purchased the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions. In a word, fantastic.

Granted, Uriah Heep in their later years was more of an AOR band but I do think Salisbury and Look At Yourself could be considered prog. After all, Deep Purple was considered prog during that time and UH was just as good. These two albums should be in anyones collection irregardless of genre.

I love Tarkus. My favorite ELP release.

Newbies should hear Lamb Lies Down. I think they would welcome that before Foxtrot. And you are right, Genesis was not a household name until 1981's Abacab or possibly 1980's Duke.

Btw, did you get my last private message from around three or four weeks ago? If not, I thank you for the last batch of comps. I really enjoyed them. I did have a question on one of them but I forget now. Oh well. Not important I guess.

Darren

[unleasHell]

Well I suppose I haven't posted this on the NEW Forum, my favorite 15 Prog albums (CD's) numbered only for a count, in no real order:

1. Eloy: Floating
Just before they "symphonic'd" out, they released this masterpiece, featuring one of the Best guitar solos of all time, in the song: "Madhouse".
2. Far East Family Band: Nipponjin
Billed as the Japanese "Pink Floyd", this remains more intersting than ANY Pink Floyd release. Beutiful lyrics, soaring guitars and synthesizer.
3. Camel: Mirage
Polished and Perfect, no more needs to be said, RIP Peter.
4. Can: Future Days
More polished and flows better than any other release (including Ege Bamyasi), RIP Michael.
5. Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come: Journey
Rarely does anyone acknowledge this killer Prog masterpiece.
6. Genesis: Foxtrot
Featuring the Greatest Prog song of All Time: "Supper's Ready".
7. IL Balletto Di Bronzo: YS
Hard Core Italian Prog at it's finest.Better hold on, this gets REAL intense.
8. Korai Orom: 1996
Still don't know what you are missing with from this (current) Hungarian Band?
9. Mythos: First (untitled)
Space Rock meets Kraut Rock meats early Pink Floyd/Jethro Tull, sheer genius is the result.
10. Solaris: Martian Chronciles
Surprise, another Hungarian masterpiece, awesome flute, awesome guitar.
11. Triumvirat: Illusions on a Double Dimple
This out-ELP's anything ELP ever did.
12. Simple Minds: Sons and Facination
What?, yep, that's right, Prog influenced early 80's alternative.
13. Yatha Sidhra: A Meditation Mass
Prog meets Psychedelic and the listener wins..... bigtime.
14. Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Sure, DSOTM is better, but it is also overplayed and WYWH still sounds fresh.
15. Gary Moore: Grinding Stone
Before becoming a boozer, oops a Blueser, Gary produced one of the rockingest best Prog albums ever!

[Demetrio]

Hey Proggers, just curious...what would your list be? No need to list as many as 15 but what would you list as your choice of top prog albums? What would your recommendations be to these indie hipsters who wanted to expand their horizons into prog?

For an INDIE hipster who wanted to get into PROG, my 15 choices would be these (in no particular order):

<b>- ISILDURS BANE - Mind Vol. 4
- PORCUPINE TREE - Stupid Dream</b> or <b>Signify</b>
<b>- ANATHEMA - A Fine Day to Exit
- AFTER CRYING - Show
- BELGRAD - Czas
- XENN - Offworld
- SVANN - Granica Czerni I Bieli
- LANDBERK - One Mann Tells Another
- OPETH - Damnation
- CAN - Saw Delight
- FRANCO BATTIATO - Fetus / Pollution
- KING CRIMSON - Thrak
- IQ - The Seventh House
- IZZ - I Move
- MARILLION - Misplaced Childhood</b>

As can be seen above, I would start with some more recent prog stuff, so that the new progger could go backwards in the prog universe as he started getting used to the new genre.

Demetrio.