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The Bunk
Sep 15, 2007

Oh, I just don't know
where to begin.
Fun Shoe
I'm just getting into prog, so this thread is a great resource (just ordered "Crimson King" and "Octopus", both of which I have heard but don't own). My wife is a big Yes fan so she got me into them, but at the moment I'm liking Genesis a lot. I bought the first box set (which includes everything with Peter Gabriel) and I'd consider all of that pretty essential. I'm also a big fan of Peter Gabriel's first solo albums as well, though he may not really be considered prog by that point.

After I delve into King Crimson and Gentle Giant I'll be ready for some of the lesser known recommendations in this thread.

The Bunk fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Mar 31, 2010

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X-Ray Pecs
May 11, 2008

New York
Ice Cream
TV
Travel
~Good Times~

Narwhale posted:

I'm just getting into prog, so this thread is a great resource (just ordered "Crimson King" and "Octopus", both of which I have heard but don't own). My wife is a big Yes fan so she got me into them, but at the moment I'm liking Genesis a lot. I bought the first box set (which includes everything with Peter Gabriel) and I'd consider all of that pretty essential. I'm also a big fan of Peter Gabriel's first solo albums as well, though he may not really be considered prog by that point.

After I delve into King Crimson and Gentle Giant I'll be ready for some of the lesser known recommendations in this thread.

You should probably listen to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. They, along with King Crimson, Genesis, and Yes, are considered the canonical prog rock bands. I don't know a whole lot about them, so others can help you find out what to listen to.

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
With ELP I recommend starting with either their debut or Brain Salad Surgery, as IMO those are the only two that are good almost all the way through. They were a very inconsistent band even in their prime, and embody the cheesy excesses people associate with prog more than any of the other bands in the "big five."

X-Ray Pecs
May 11, 2008

New York
Ice Cream
TV
Travel
~Good Times~

Rollersnake posted:

With ELP I recommend starting with either their debut or Brain Salad Surgery, as IMO those are the only two that are good almost all the way through. They were a very inconsistent band even in their prime, and embody the cheesy excesses people associate with prog more than any of the other bands in the "big five."

Who are the "big five"? I thought the "big four" of prog were Genesis, Yes, ELP, and King Crimson.

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 thought it was five, and the fifth was Jethro Tull. I don't think I've heard any consensus on this one way or the other, and it's kind of a silly label anyway.

Anyway, here's some more recommendations:

Can - Radio Waves (1997)

A really excellent compilation of rarities that's focused on the lineups with Damo Suzuki and Malcolm Mooney. Most importantly, it features the full version of Up the Bakerloo, a sprawling piece that's on par with the best stuff from Tago Mago. I also love Turtles Have Short Legs, a song that's even goofier and catchier than Vitamin C, and there's a great performance of Little Star of Bethlehem where Mooney gets some impressive lyrical flow going and ends up sounding hilariously close to modern hip hop. In Germany in 1968.

Adrian Belew - Side Four (2007)

There's a rumor going around that the collaboration between Robert Fripp, Mel Collins, and Jakko Jaksyk, along with Tony Levin and Gavin Harrison, is going to turn into the new King Crimson lineup. While I have no idea if this is true or not, I'm kind of half-hoping it is—the last few King Crimson albums have not been among my favorites, and while there are a lot of old King Crimson fans who insist that Crim would be better off without Adrian Belew, I'm inclined to believe it's Adrian who'll be better off without King Crimson. His recent work with the Adrian Belew Power Trio has been amazingly good, and they're one of the best live bands I've had the pleasure of seeing. The real highlights of this album aren't the King Crimson tracks, or even his old solo stuff, but his new material—which is I think the best thing you can say about musician who's done so much. Writing on the Wall wows me with its sheer energy, and Beat Box Guitar features an amazingly display of technique from drummer Eric Slick.

Philip Glass - Songs from Liquid Days (1986)

I have no qualms about stretching the definition of "progressive rock" to include this album. It's a gorgeous blend of minimalist classical music and pop songwriting with contributions from many other artists of interest, including Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson, and David Byrne. This should appeal to many fans of classically-influenced rock music, and is one of the freshest-sounding albums I've heard from the mid-'80s.

Rollersnake fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Apr 1, 2010

Not An Irish Monk
May 1, 2009

Stutes posted:

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.

Breakfast In America is a great album, but that's more pop rock than progressive I think. For the best of Supertramp at their progressive side, go with Crime of the Century. Not only the best thing they ever made but also one of the best albums of the 70's in my opinion. It's a concept album divided into two short stories pretty much. Has a Pink Floyd feel to it except a little more sleek and accessible.

Catgirl Al Capone
Dec 15, 2007

I've been really into Beardfish lately.

Från En Plats Du Ej Kan Se (2003)



Their first album. I don't really like it myself.

The Sane Day (2006)



This is where Beardfish starts finding its sound. It's a 2 disc concept album, and it ain't half bad.

Sleeping in Traffic: Part One (2007)



The first part of a duology, this part deals with the day half of a person's life. It's a bit lighter in tone than the album that would follow. My personal favorite tracks are Afternoon Conversation and Roulette.

Sleeping in Traffic: Part Two (2008)



The latter half, this one is about night, and is considerably darker in tone than part one. In my opinion, this is the better half. Stand-out tracks are South of the Border and the 35-minute title track, Sleeping in Traffic.

Destined Solitaire (2009)



A lot more random and experimental than their other albums. Overall I don't enjoy it as much as SiT:P2 but the track Until You Comply (incl. Entropy) is one of my favorites.

Running With Spoons
Oct 26, 2005
Only the spoon knows what is stirring in the pot
I love the Canterbury Scene.

“The real essence of 'Canterbury Sound' is the tension between complicated harmonies, extended improvisations, and the sincere desire to write catchy pop songs.”
“In the very best Canterbury music...the musically silly and the musically serious are juxtaposed in an amusing and endearing way.”


The easiest band to get into would be Caravan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW_KztxNuJM

Most of the songs you'll find on youtube are their catchiest and most pop songs, so that might turn off some of the people in this thread, but everyone should really check out, at the very least, In The Land of the Grey and Pink


I also really like Soft Machine.
The band gets really fusion-y after a few albums.
Some might not like Robert Wyatt's vocal style, but I really enjoy it and his idiosyncratic lyrics.
Here's Moon in June from the Third album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=638kOxpFl5Q

Pickled Foetus
Jan 20, 2009
Here are some slightly more obscure prog albums, that nevertheless should be in every prog lover's record collection.

Uriah Heep - Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble (1970). Here is the first track, Gypsy Queen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t28kudqwENs Just listen to those Hammond organs going nuts. drat.

Family - Music In A Doll's House (1968). This is technically proto-prog, appearing one year before King Crimson's first album. It's quite bluesy in parts, but I'd listen to it over Crimson any day of the week. And the Beatles were reportedly fans. The song 'Winter' is one of my favourite pieces of music, and far too short at 2 and a half minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoaA7l0ClEU

Hawkwind - In Search of Space (1971). These guys were the ultimate druggy band. They took loads of acid and played songs about space. And they had a 6 foot chick called Stacia who used to dance nude. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3W7ch0oLeA

Hawkwind - Quark, Strangeness and Charm (1977). Forget Syd Barrett. Robert Calvert was the real crazy diamond. Syd had problems, sure, but he didn't collect guns and grenades and believe he was a terrorist. I think this was Calvert's second album with Hawkwind, and definitely the best. His lyrics are great. Check out 'Spirit of the Age' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSR5TnNGKmo and 'Hassan I Sahba' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTdB68gn1w4 Funny how relevant the latter song is today, with what's going on in the Middle East.

And finally my favourite, and the one you're least likely to have heard. Some of you may know of Split Enz as a New Wave band from New Zealand who achieved some brief fame in the early 1980s. But when they started in the 1970s they were a full-blown prog band (before founding member Phil Judd was replaced by Neil Finn), heavily influenced by the likes of Jethro Tull, Yes, Family, Zeppelin and Roxy Music. Their 1975 album 'Mental Notes' is the greatest prog album ever made, period, and I urge every prog lover to hunt down a copy. Don't believe me? Here:

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CWQ6EDZGYc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmGxjnml4yQ

If you don't like it then you are a homo.

Just make sure you get the original 1975 version, and not the 1976 re-recording which was also called 'Mental Notes' in the Northern Hemisphere (who didn't get the 1975 one). The second album is great too, but it's more at the Roxy Music end of the prog spectrum (it was produced by Phil Manzanera) than the first, which was very King Crimson/Genesis/Yes etc.

TheForgotton
Jun 10, 2001

I'm making a career of evil.

HereticSenility posted:

I've been really into Beardfish lately.
Other than their messed up Christmas song, I've only heard their Sleeping In Traffic albums. The atmosphere of part one blew me away but I found most of the stuff on part two to be too jokey and it didn't stick with me. Most of the title track is amazing except for the Beegees parody and stuff with the singing pirates. I will say that The Hunter is a great track.

KHAAAN
Apr 12, 2010

X-Ray Pecs posted:

Someone already recommended it, but Red is certainly a good choice for next. It's a bit heavier, but it's still good. Discipline is also highly recommended. It's probably my favorite King Crimson album. It's less jazzy than In The Court, but it's still King Crimson, and it's still good.

I'm going to second the Discipline recommendation. One of the interesting things about being a King Crimson fan are all the lineups to keep track of The band was something of a revolving door for great musicians with Robert Fripp (sperglord supreme) being the only constant member.

Discipline was a very different lineup compared to Red, but both are amazing, and you're going to want both anyways.

The Bunk
Sep 15, 2007

Oh, I just don't know
where to begin.
Fun Shoe

Pickled Foetus posted:

And finally my favourite, and the one you're least likely to have heard. Some of you may know of Split Enz as a New Wave band from New Zealand who achieved some brief fame in the early 1980s. But when they started in the 1970s they were a full-blown prog band (before founding member Phil Judd was replaced by Neil Finn), heavily influenced by the likes of Jethro Tull, Yes, Family, Zeppelin and Roxy Music. Their 1975 album 'Mental Notes' is the greatest prog album ever made, period, and I urge every prog lover to hunt down a copy. Don't believe me? Here:

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CWQ6EDZGYc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmGxjnml4yQ

If you don't like it then you are a homo.

Just make sure you get the original 1975 version, and not the 1976 re-recording which was also called 'Mental Notes' in the Northern Hemisphere (who didn't get the 1975 one). The second album is great too, but it's more at the Roxy Music end of the prog spectrum (it was produced by Phil Manzanera) than the first, which was very King Crimson/Genesis/Yes etc.

Yeah, I've got Mental Notes and Second Thoughts (plus Beginning of the Enz) and I like them a lot. It's not in the prog realm, but I also really love the Split Enz offshoot Swingers and their album Counting the Beat. It's more of a power pop/new wave type album. I wish I could find "All Over Town" online, but it's the greatest Cheap Trick song that isn't by Cheap Trick.

knifehitz
Apr 22, 2005

ys rly

Rollersnake posted:

Larks' Tongues in Aspic, definitely. Dark, subtle, beautifully textured album, my favorite by Crimson, and very different from either of the albums you've heard so far.

Seconding this, Larks is my favorite album of theirs. If you like Discipline you should definatly give Thrak a try. That was the album that got me into Crimson, it's very accessable to the non-prog listener and still has plenty of "WTF / OMG" moments for the more trained ear. There was also a double live album B'Boom that came out shortly after that I really like. It has a good mix of songs from the Red, Discipline, and Thrak eras.

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
My opinion of THRAK goes back and forth. There are times when tracks like People and Walking on Air seem really lightweight and cheesy, THRAK seems too aimless in its chaos, and VROOOM/VROOOM VROOOM seem like pale rehashes of Red with clumsy overlong codas, but sometimes I just love it all.

One of my favorite parts of THRAK has always been "Inner Garden." It's just a tiny transitional song in two parts, but it's strong enough to have been a considerably longer piece, almost frustratingly so. Belew does the same thing with "What Do You Know" on his album Op Zop Too Wah.

...and speaking of Op Zop Too Wah, it's something that every fan of Belew-era Crimson needs to hear. The opening track, Of Bow and Drum, is, like, the greatest thing Adrian Belew has ever written.

Edit: Oh, nice, there's a professionally-shot video of him performing it with the Power Trio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDq83DkOGmE

And the disgustingly good Beat Box Guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50PCYCuhCw8&feature=related
Haha, these weren't up when I posted about the Power Trio before.

Rollersnake fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Apr 20, 2010

TheForgotton
Jun 10, 2001

I'm making a career of evil.
I think Dinosaur is my favorite track from Thrak. I made the mistake getting THRaKaTTaK as my second King Crimson album, not realizing it was a bunch of improv jamming with way too many weird musicians. Here's an example of what what would sound like.

I'm stoked to be seeing Porcupine Tree tonight. Has anyone caught this tour? I have a feeling they'll probably be playing most if not all of the The Incident but I'm hoping for some stuff from Lightbulb Sun and Stupid Dream will be represented as well.

DaWolfey
Oct 25, 2003

College Slice

TheForgotton posted:

I made the mistake getting THRaKaTTaK as my second King Crimson album, not realizing it was a bunch of improv

I did exactly the same thing and I hated it (The first album was Crimson King, naturally) It killed my interested in them for years but later on, after my musical tastes had expanded (after listening to a lot of Merzbow and other noise) when I came back to it, I found it far more palletable.

I have been own my own prog discovery journey for the last 6 months or so mostly through my GBS-FM show where i've been playing what i've found, and I have found a few absolute gems.

The Enid An amazing symphonic prog band, it's as close to classical music with synths, guitars and drums as you are going to get. I started with the live album Live in Hammersmith 1983 which I found to be exquisite. The Song of Fand is magical.

Magma These guys have created a really specific sound. It's like someone trying to franticly describe to you a nightmare about the end of the world through the medium of music and screaming (think Diamanda Galas but less prominent). Which is actually what it is in a way because (from Wikipedia) "Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him." made a new language to describe just that. The album I have heard is Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

Parsifal
Jan 1, 2009

wel accually u forgot Dolan
There is a small sub-genre of prog known as Zeuhl that is usually associated with Magma-influenced bands in France, Belgium, and Japan. Definitely some of my favorite prog. Especially highly recommended are Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, and Koenji Hyakkei. Mostly instrumental "chamber rock" that is worth exploring if you are interested in musical that is more timbrally diverse than standard guitar-dominated rock music.

I think the best description I've seen of Magma is "Klingon Opera". Also, here's a video where someone tries to put English lyrics to Magma. Definitely one of the most bizarre things I've seen on youtube.

My Neighbors Suffer Whee Whee Whee Whee Whee

speiseh
Dec 26, 2005

Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are
Norwegian psych/rock/stoner/prog/jazz band Motorpsycho has released a new album, Heavy Metal Fruit, which features one of their best tracks ever, 21 minute four part prog suite Gullible's Travails. Give it a listen. It is one groovy, epic beast of a song.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0l3j0uYobkQNlz90fk6KMR

WAY TO GO WAMPA!!
Oct 27, 2007

:slick: :slick: :slick: :slick:
I've really been digging Area's Crac! album lately, but I haven't been able to get into their other stuff.

A couple reviews point out that this is the band's most accessible album, so what are some other bands that are similar to the Crac! album? I really like the melodies with funk and jazz bits breaking in and I love the singer going nuts all over the place.

for reference (also a reccomendation :buddy:):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPaIKW18BiA

Also, Gentle Giant is pretty sick. Thanks for the recc, thread :hf:

teen bear
Feb 19, 2006

Witchfinder General posted:

I've really been digging Area's Crac! album lately, but I haven't been able to get into their other stuff.

A couple reviews point out that this is the band's most accessible album, so what are some other bands that are similar to the Crac! album? I really like the melodies with funk and jazz bits breaking in and I love the singer going nuts all over the place.

Crac! is my favourite album by them but they do have a lot of good material.

Try Arbeit Macht Frei next. It's got a lot more of what you're looking for from them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56bvk3o7t_E

1978 Gli Dei Se Ne Vanno, Gli Arrabbiati Restano! is right up there as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEIEf9YbWjo

For some reason most people I know started off with Caution Radiation Area which is good but not really as interesting as the others.

The first half of Maledetti is also pretty good, but I could never get into the rest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2RvkrZuE9I

I'm not sure if I've heard their other two albums without Demetrio because his voice is about half the reason I kept coming back to Area, but I should probably track those down and have a listen.

WAY TO GO WAMPA!!
Oct 27, 2007

:slick: :slick: :slick: :slick:

teen bear posted:

Crac! is my favourite album by them but they do have a lot of good material.

Try Arbeit Macht Frei next. It's got a lot more of what you're looking for from them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56bvk3o7t_E

1978 Gli Dei Se Ne Vanno, Gli Arrabbiati Restano! is right up there as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEIEf9YbWjo

For some reason most people I know started off with Caution Radiation Area which is good but not really as interesting as the others.

The first half of Maledetti is also pretty good, but I could never get into the rest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2RvkrZuE9I

I'm not sure if I've heard their other two albums without Demetrio because his voice is about half the reason I kept coming back to Area, but I should probably track those down and have a listen.
Awesome, those first two are nice.

I love when Demetrio does speaking/whispering parts. They're just so cool and work so well :allears:

And yeah, I've got Maledetti, but I only like one or two tracks on there. I'll probably give it another go at some point, though.

teen bear
Feb 19, 2006

Witchfinder General posted:

Awesome, those first two are nice.

I love when Demetrio does speaking/whispering parts. They're just so cool and work so well :allears:

And yeah, I've got Maledetti, but I only like one or two tracks on there. I'll probably give it another go at some point, though.

He's something else. After hearing Area I went on a bit of an Italian prog binge but haven't been able to find anything like them.

What albums got you into Gentle Giant? A friend of mine keeps telling me to listen to them but I wasn't really impressed after hearing In a Glass House.

Tripplejol
Jan 1, 2006

The Power and The Ballin'

teen bear posted:

He's something else. After hearing Area I went on a bit of an Italian prog binge but haven't been able to find anything like them.

What albums got you into Gentle Giant? A friend of mine keeps telling me to listen to them but I wasn't really impressed after hearing In a Glass House.

It depends what tickles your pickle prog-wise, their sound went through a lot of changes in the 10 or so years they were around. Having said that Free Hand is the album I'd recommend, it's what got me into GG.

Tripplejol fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Apr 27, 2010

WAY TO GO WAMPA!!
Oct 27, 2007

:slick: :slick: :slick: :slick:

Tripplejol posted:

It depends what tickles your pickle prog-wise, their sound went through a lot of changes in the 10 or so years they were around. Having said that Free Hand is the album I'd recommend, it's what got me into GG.
Yeah, that's what I started out with. A bunch of songs remind me of Yes on Fragile.

X-Ray Pecs
May 11, 2008

New York
Ice Cream
TV
Travel
~Good Times~
The idea of listening to Magma has interested me, but I don't know where to start. Anyone have any suggestions?

Parsifal
Jan 1, 2009

wel accually u forgot Dolan

X-Ray Pecs posted:

The idea of listening to Magma has interested me, but I don't know where to start. Anyone have any suggestions?

The album mentioned earlier in this thread, Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh, is probably their most well-known album, and is certainly my favorite of the few Magma CDs I have. You can buy the album here, Wayside Music which is an awesome place to find obscure, unclassifiable music such as other avant-prog bands.

Sprint
Feb 4, 2006
^^^^ Just want to say thank you for this site! Am finding fantastic deals on albums I've been having trouble getting. Are they usually reliable/good quality?

Vannaroth
Aug 5, 2005
I'll see you on the darkside of the moon
Magma is one of the few (only?) prog bands that if anything has gotten better with age. Be sure to check out their latest two albums as well.

Speaking of Zeuhl, I highly recommend Dun's one and only album Eros. It's exceptionally rare but it's considered something of a holy grail of Zeuhl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj2lXOAC_aA

Parsifal
Jan 1, 2009

wel accually u forgot Dolan

Sprint posted:

^^^^ Just want to say thank you for this site! Am finding fantastic deals on albums I've been having trouble getting. Are they usually reliable/good quality?

I've never had any problems, except maybe cracked CD cases from shipping. If you buy the $4 discount Cuneiform CDs they will probably have a hole drilled through the CD case, but who cares at that price.

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

Sprint posted:

^^^^ Just want to say thank you for this site! Am finding fantastic deals on albums I've been having trouble getting. Are they usually reliable/good quality?

I've been ordering from Wayside for years, and I've never had any problems. Awesome store.

As for getting into Magma, maybe it's just me, but I started with MDK and it didn't really grab me. I'm still not much of a fan of MDK the album as it lacks that ending section they added later (Mekanik Zain?)—the live version on Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie is absolutely fantastic, though. IMO, the best introductory Magma albums are Live/Hhai and Emehntehtt-Re. Maybe Kohntarkosz too.

Echoing Free Hand as the best introduction to Gentle Giant—On Reflection might be the best thing they ever did, and there's not a weak track on the album. I'd also highly recommend Interview to those more into the avant garde side of prog, as it's one of their most experimental, and certainly their angriest and most dissonant.

Another great starting point is Out of the Woods (rereleased with some additional content as Totally Out of the Woods), a compilation of their BBC sessions. A good deal of their best material is represented, and the performances are stunning. Plus you get City Hermit, a great early track that isn't on any other album.

Rollersnake fucked around with this message at 05:25 on Apr 28, 2010

TheChaosPath
Jul 22, 2005

Wayside Music will be the death of me

pissdude
Jul 15, 2003

(and can't post for 6 years!)

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

TheForgotton
Jun 10, 2001

I'm making a career of evil.
I might be able to get an interview with Trey Gunn! The new album is really out-there touch guitar stuff. It flows well which is surprising when you find out that that the drums came first.

quote:

Modulator is Trey Gunn with uber-drummer Marco Minnemann; but with a gigantic twist. This entire recording was composed and produced over the top of a 51 minute, live drum solo by Marco.

For this project, alternatively known as "Normalizer Two", Marco has enlisted several different musicians to create a full cd, each, from the same drum solo. No editing of the drum performance was done. All the music had to fit with what Marco played and, ideally, make it seems like only this drum performance could go with this music.

The Great Aspie
Jan 13, 2006

The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be utterly submerged
I got around to listening to Transatlantic's The Whirlwind.

It is refreshing to hear new music that sounds like prog.mp3 should, and I enjoyed this one almost as much as Bridge Across Forever or SMPTe. I realized that this is the first stuff I've heard from Neal Morse since Snow, because I assumed he left Spock's Beard to record piano songs about jesus. Are any of his solo records anything like Transatlantic or the old Spock's Beard?

The Great Aspie fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Apr 29, 2010

n_w_f
Mar 31, 2010

X-Ray Pecs posted:

The idea of listening to Magma has interested me, but I don't know where to start. Anyone have any suggestions?



Of the albums I've heard, this one's the most accessible. Apart from the side long "De Futura", the other five explore vibrant and distinct musical themes that don't ever feel repetitive or meandering (The title track, for example, has an almost latin feel to it while retaining all the character of a typical Magma piece), a tendency that can sometimes bring down some of their other music for me. The bass tones on this album are unbelievable.

Fungah
Jul 2, 2003
Fungah! Foiled again!
Good call on the Prog thread op!

Neal's solo albums starting with Testimony get progressively more proggy. They are all concept albums (of sorts) but I feel that Testimony is the best of them (I may be biased because I saw Testimony on tour with the 9 piece band including MP on drums which was pretty much the best thing ever).

I'm so ridiculously psyched about seeing TransAtlantic live in London in May which will also be recorded for the live CD/DVD. I haven't fully gotten into Whirlwind yet as its quite hard to penetrate a 77 minute long song but reading reports about the US leg of the tour just mean that May 21st can't come soon enough. Testimony Live was about 3 hours long (with Stranger in Your Soul as an encore but the Whirlwind show is approaching 3.5 hours.

SBX should be coming out in the near future as well which should be good fun. I think that new SB has released some really good rock tunes (maybe not as proggy as the Neal stuff) and they still put on a killer show. SB + a surprise guest appearance by MP on drums playing The Light is just one of those special moments! I do think NDVs voice, whilst strong, works best when its used in harmony with Neal's though.

The Great Aspie
Jan 13, 2006

The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be utterly submerged
Goddammit now I have to check out Neal Morse's solo stuff. I think NVD isn't really singing in his natural voice, which is heard on Snow, but he's doing his best Neal Morse instead. It's the Gabriel/Collins analogy thing. NVD has at least 3 whole notes higher range than Neal, which is great for songs like "On a Perfect Day" which can not be sung by Neal.

After a 10 year wait, I had to miss Transatlantic's US tour again. 3.5 hour concert is more than enough, considering they could easily make a full concert out of "Duel with the Devil" and "My New World".

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

n_w_f posted:



Of the albums I've heard, this one's the most accessible. Apart from the side long "De Futura", the other five explore vibrant and distinct musical themes that don't ever feel repetitive or meandering (The title track, for example, has an almost latin feel to it while retaining all the character of a typical Magma piece), a tendency that can sometimes bring down some of their other music for me. The bass tones on this album are unbelievable.

If you like Udu Wudu, you should check out Attahk, which is another really diverse album, and is more in a funky, upbeat vein. If you really like that era of Magma (I do, but a lot of the zeuhl purists don't care for it), there are some great live albums you should check out—Concert Bobino (also available as a live DVD) and Retrospektiw III.

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. There's also the bizarre "Otis"—Christian Vander's tribute to Otis Redding, and the one Magma track just about everyone will hate unless they have a weird sense of humor. It's too sincere and the almost-orgasmic moans of "Ooootisss" crack me up too much for me to not love it.

The Great Aspie
Jan 13, 2006

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

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rikshot
Jan 8, 2006

Fungah posted:

I'm so ridiculously psyched about seeing TransAtlantic live in London in May which will also be recorded for the live CD/DVD. I haven't fully gotten into Whirlwind yet as its quite hard to penetrate a 77 minute long song but reading reports about the US leg of the tour just mean that May 21st can't come soon enough.

Aww yeah I'm going there too. Gonna be an awesome show! Whirlwind is a great album and its going to be a blast getting to hear it all live. The CD/DVD thing is good because that means they are going to give the show all that they have got.

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