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I love the guy but I kinda hope Belew isn't involved this go-round.
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Sep 24, 2013 19:17
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Answers Me posted:While we're talking recommendations similar to In the Court... – I'm not really a fan of prog but I love the drum sound on Crimson's first album. What can I listen to that has a similar sound, production-wise (and stylistically I guess)? I think Gentle Giant may be up your alley?
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Sep 27, 2013 16:04
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If you're looking for crazy gonzo-jazz, maybe Magma? BTW I will say that Wyatt's Rock Bottom is really a great pick. It's kind of like a Trout Mask Replica sort of thing - opinions on it are incredibly polarizing, and the album itself seems to overshadow an awesome discography that not enough really pay attention to. Love it or hate it I think most of y'all should hear it at least once!
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Sep 30, 2013 16:08
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They were good! But you'd never know it from their "official" live album Earthbound, which (as Fripp will tell you) is seriously one of the worst live albums ever made. By the way, the Steve Wilson remix of Lizard is amazing. Maybe the biggest improvement I've ever heard in a remaster. Totally transforms the thing, giving it this big, mystical, freaky sound. I can see why Fripp doesn't like it, but man, there's so little music anywhere like this.
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Oct 2, 2013 19:21
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teen bear posted:I've tried Magma a few times in the past but never really got into it like I do with Area. Which album of theirs do you think is most like what I'm after? I'm guessing you've heard M.D.K. but I always thought the best intro to their sound was Wurdah Itah, or perhaps Hhai/Live.
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Oct 28, 2013 21:01
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The fact that very few prog bands actually have women in them is likely a big part of the problem. Outside of Renaissance I have real trouble naming any prog band with a woman in it. Hopefully it's slowly turning.
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Dec 5, 2013 18:26
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I thought the Great Deciever was an excellent box set that was just too heavy on the repetition for me. I don't know what to make out of this!
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Dec 19, 2013 18:06
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Anyone else a fan of Glass Hammer? Can't get enough of 'em right now.
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Feb 24, 2014 21:22
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I quite enjoyed listening to Tales after I started to forget its critical reputation
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Mar 10, 2014 16:36
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Those albums have a big more in common with Huey Lewis & the News I think 
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Mar 12, 2014 20:56
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Henchman of Santa posted:Are there any great American prog rock bands? It just dawned on me that I can't think of any. The genre's heyday was almost entirely British. Canada has Rush. Germany and Italy have some stuff. We have progressive metal down pretty well, but besides like, Tool (who aren't really the same style), are there any notable bands to come out of the States? Just curious. Echolyn and Glass Hammer are two of my faves, from Pennsylvania and Tennessee respectively. Echolyn in particular stand up to any of the classic prog acts (in my opinion), just awesome ensemble playing and great songwriting all around. GH are a little goofier, dudes with a huge Yes/ELP hard-on that eventually willed themselves into becoming as great as their idols. The current singer of Yes (Jon Davison) comes from the Hammer.
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Mar 31, 2014 19:04
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I really wish Moraz would've been able to stick around. Relayer is IMO as good as any Yes album and I think he really breathes some fresh air into it. He definitely had the talent. Check out the Refugee album, which was basically The Nice with Moraz instead of Emerson - he fills that role quite well which is no small statement.
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Apr 3, 2014 14:23
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For sure, but as a whole Relayer strikes me as the album where Howe finally went nuts, in a good way. The last track is quite tame but nearly everything else is downright crazy in a way you wouldn't associate with Yes.
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Apr 3, 2014 16:34
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I'd love to hear some boots of the ABWH period. The album itself sounds way too light to my ears. Like as lightweight as Tormato was, ABWH seems even lighter, 4-part suites or no. On the other hand I really do enjoy Big Generator quite a bit, more than 90125 at least; it's big blocky AOR pop but it's a million times better than the junk that Asia were pumping out.
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Apr 10, 2014 21:08
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I mean he's still doing new albums on a yearly basis. I just wonder where he finds the time.
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Apr 17, 2014 16:16
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How bout The Tangent? I have their debut and like it fine...is it worth continuing? funny story: I bought that album b/c I'd heard the name a bunch and really wanted to hear something without Roine Stolt on it...I thought they were American!
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Apr 21, 2014 14:13
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Yeah as many others are I'm very undecided on the whole Swedish prog scene - the playing seems to be excellent and the songs are often well thought out, but there's 0 fire whatsoever and I'm kinda sick of Roine Stolt's voice cropping up on everything. I like the two Flower Kings albums I have fine but rarely seem to want to actually listen to them!
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Apr 21, 2014 16:43
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Misogynist posted:I can't find a nicer way to put this, but are you deliberately avoiding Sweden's eclectic prog scene to focus on Kaipa derivatives? Anekdoten, Änglagård, Gösta Berlings Saga, and Morte Macabre all have way more "fire" than most of the world's prog bands. I wasn't aware that they were all Swedish! Anglagard is definitely on my "to listen" list as I've seen them talked up so much. I know of Anekdoten and they are definitely good but perhaps not so much up my alley. Don't know about the other two. I love that prog seems to be alive and well over there though.
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Apr 21, 2014 17:06
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Maybe this has always been true to some extent but KC after Discipline have been way better live than in the studio (in my opinion). The Absent Lovers double-disc set (covering all the 80's stuff and a couple of throwbacks) is incredible - maybe my favorite live Crimson release. The one BigFactory mentioned is really good as well. As far as the studio albums go I think both THRAK and Power to Believe have great moments but I wouldn't recommend the others. Three of a Perfect Pair's first side is good!
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Apr 24, 2014 19:03
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alnilam posted:^^^^ this reminds me, here's a fun topic I was thinking of: I would definitely put early Glass Hammer in this category (later Glass Hammer is also awesome, but it's much more well made)
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May 20, 2014 15:06
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feraltennisprodigy posted:If I'm looking for something that's kinda similar to the early Genesis albums (Foxtrot, Trespass and Nursery Cryme) are there any obvious bands I should check out? Marillion is the most obvious but I would forego them for now and check out IQ - get the new remaster of Tales From the Lush Attic, which is very much in the vein of the older, more high-octane Genesis. I've heard their later albums are better but I don't have any of them yet.
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Jun 30, 2014 19:43
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No discussion on the new Yes album? 
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Jul 8, 2014 13:23
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I agree with most of this, though I dig "The Game" fine as well. To be honest I do like the songs themselves and I think that the songwriting is above average for post-90125 Yes, but the songs are just SO SLOW, hearing Squire's bass just slowly rattle in the background is rather sad. Also I think it's kind of lovely of the band to recruit a new singer and then saddle him with writing most of the material. He does well (his work in Glass Hammer shows he's plenty capable) but still...
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Jul 24, 2014 15:25
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Is it just me or does it seem like the 73-74 had like infinity dates on it?
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Sep 5, 2014 19:13
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Anyone ever listen to any of Dan Britton's projects like Deluge Grander or Birds and Buildings? I just picked up August in the Urals and it's seriously a gem, 70 minutes of epic Zeuhl-ish prog with hardly a dull moment. Sadly the prog circle is so tightly knit nowadays that you have to discover a dude like this by chance, but IMO this has got to be one of the best prog albums of the last 10 years, and listening to his other stuff on YouTube it seems like most of his work is just as good.
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Oct 15, 2014 15:55
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A human heart posted:Incidentally, since 90s prog was the beginning of this discussion, both Koenjihyakkei and Ruins put out most of their stuff in the 90s. Yeah 90's prog is generally not good - the whole Tatsuya Yoshida sphere of everything is great but I hesitate to even put that into any genre. I do agree that Echolyn are great, those 90's discs are awesome and if anything their post-reformation material is even more awesome. Cowboy Poems Free is a great example of a disc that manages to be unique, exciting, and progressive while still sounding modern, while Mei is something that (IMO) stands up against any of the uberepics of the golden era like "Close to the Edge" or "Supper's Ready". That said I think plenty of recent prog bands are plenty good. There's Glass Hammer who I love, actually formed in '93 (I think) but they didn't really get good until the turn of the millenium. The Tangent is awesome, kinda like a much less boring Flower Kings (who ain't bad if that's your scene). Druckfarben, Deluge Grander, and Birds and Buildings (the last two done by the same guy) all have done real excellent material, the sort of thing that benefits greatly from hindsight with respect to what works and what doesn't. As much great prog music was made from (say) 1969 to 1975 I would argue there's a similar thing going on over the last 15 years or so.
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Mar 16, 2015 15:30
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Yeah, me neither - I found them dry and unmemorable, even though their musicianship is really great for a group of early 20-somethings. Why they got the tag of God's gift to throwback prog is beyond me. People go nuts about them!
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Mar 17, 2015 13:46
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Earwicker posted:Wobbler does the same exact thing, at least on their first album which is the only one I've listened to. I like Andy Tillison's definition of prog rock - it just means that the music literally progresses from one section to the next, instead of any weird notions of "pushing music forward" or whatever. Most early prog is really 'regressive' in nature, trying to cop from classical music and all, isn't it?
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Mar 19, 2015 04:34
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Early Moodies/Nice stuff was an attempt to blend the 'sophistication' of classical music with rock n' roll, and yeah I agree that it became much more than that, but really by your definition 'modern' prog can't really sound anything like what it did in the 70's - 'modern' prog then would be stuff like Radiohead, Tortoise, Underworld, Max Tundra, etc. etc. I agree that the play-like-it's-'72-crew often feels a bit awkward for that reason, my first impression of Wobbler was "this guys are great but I think I'll just go listen to Tarkus for the 50th time". I still dig Glass Hammer though, if only because they try to play up the most ridiculous or over-the-top traits of Yes/ELP and often put their own spin on things (dunno how I feel about the Jon soundalike even if he's the best singer they've had).
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Mar 19, 2015 13:49
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Earwicker posted:I would certainly say Underworld, Tortoise, and Max Tundra have been more musically progressive than much of what is considered actual genre "prog" these days. I'm talking more about the idea of assimilating modern influences into existing structures and trying to pull threads from all over the place. I agree that RH aren't really innovators but they do have the ability to 'think beyond' what you expect from a prog group. Maybe Porcupine Tree would be a better example. Or Bjork maybe. And so on. The reason why I bought up Tillison's definition is because A) nobody can agree what "progressive rock" really means so who cares, and B) I think it's odd that music that sounds just like Yes shouldn't be considered "prog" for whatever reason.
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Mar 19, 2015 21:30
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Earwicker posted:It's prog rock, but it's not progressive rock I'll take it !
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Mar 20, 2015 13:26
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If you're into the whole Yes/ELP style of explosions and bombast and really fast keyboard playing I think Glass Hammer may be right up yr alley
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Mar 30, 2015 14:09
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hah! indeed - what a hidden gem that turned out to be
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Jul 6, 2015 14:24
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Some good modern prog recs: Echolyn - mei (2002) Glass Hammer - The Inconsolable Secret (2005) Birds and Buildings - s/t (2008) Koenjihyakkei - Nivraym (2001) I'd say these are as good as any of the classics listed above. Echolyn in particular are really really great, can't wait to hear this new album they've got.
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Aug 5, 2015 13:24
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Optimum Gulps posted:All great recommendations, and honestly *every* Echolyn album is great. The new one is fantastic! Heard it in full about a week and a half ago on my dad's big-rear end audiophile stereo system with a tube preamp, and drat. The production on the drums in particular is stunning. I remember hearing the first Echolyn album and thinking, "if this is their worst album, then this might be one of the greatest bands ever"...honestly I still feel that way. Have not heard the BBT discs yet - I have heard The Difference Machine and thought it was kind of dull, but based on the song you posted it seems like they finally learned to rock out a little bit. One band I've been into a lot is The Tangent - though The Music That Died Alone is their most famous, the other albums sounded better to my ears. Andy Tillison once said something to the effect of "I think there are more prog rock bands now than there are prog rock listeners" - he's got a point, there are a ton of bands out there right now, you just have to find them!
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Aug 6, 2015 14:48
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I think all their discs up to 90125 are pretty good. GFTO and Drama are nearly as good as the classics, Tormato a good bit less so but it does have a lot of entertaining moments. Even Big Generator is decent, in a "what if The Police stayed together?" kinda way, some songs I really like but by then they were really far away from the Yes sound. ABWH is kinda bad; it's a powerhouse group on paper (with Tony Levin taking the Squire role) but in practice all you hear is digital Wakeman and lots and lots of Jon. Union I have only made it through twice, it had a pretty okay single ("Lift Me Up") but otherwise is really terrible. The stories surrounding that album are hilarious - you've got 9 talented and creative musicians there but from the sounds of it the songs were mostly the producer fleshing out some of Howe's demo material. Nobody wanted to do the album and it shows. Talk is decent - it's YesWest again, but not quite like the other two. Slower, more intricate, sometimes real good, and it does contain the first Yes epic since "Awaken". Then the band plowed into full-on nostalgia mode with Keys to Ascension; the classic Yes lineup reunited! The live part is useless and the studio parts are underwhelming, but it's as close to classic Yes as they've been in a long time. I thought "That, That Is" was pretty good on the first volume, the second has (almost) a full albums worth of new material, including "Mind Drive" which some people seem to like. Open Your Eyes aka the Sherwood album was next and it's a bit unfairly maligned - again this isn't REALLY a Yes album, but rather a standalone project from Squire and Sherwood that morphed into Yes (as it always does!) Decent pop tunes I guess, but it's worse than Talk, so make of it what you will. Then you have The Ladder, with another new keyboard player - this one I actually sorta like, there are some fairly modern sounds on here (which Yes purists seemed to really hate), plus the title track is, no poo poo, the best tune they've done in the classic Yes style since freakin' Drama, and it's not even close. Magnification - the one with orchestra - is next, and it's kinda neat, another candidate for the "best since 90125" label, and not tedious like you'd expect from a 30+ year old prog dinosaur, but I can't think of any tunes in particular I like. Then they took a long break, still playing a bunch of live shows, one of which I caught in like '05, and they were really good! Jon was actually talking about doing another Tales-style album which was cool, even if it was probably going to suck. But you know what happened next; Fly From Here, released long after everyone assumed Yes were going to exist as a "touring-only" unit, is fairly unnecessary, but it does live up to its "Drama 2" title at least - a little worse of course, but if you like Drama you'll do fine with this. Last year we got Heaven & Earth, the first with nuJon, who probably sounds quite a bit better than oldJon at this point, but the album itself will put you to sleep - dumb pop songs at unbearably slow tempos, as though the whole band was on Xanax. Don't blame it on Davison, who proved himself a good songwriter in Glass Hammer, and contributes maybe the best tune ("Light of the Ages"). And that's it! Or maybe not!
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Aug 26, 2015 20:02
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The Ladies of the Road set has a snippet of "In the Court" played as blues - quite interesting. May have been done as a joke though 
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Sep 2, 2015 15:34
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oneforthevine posted:Echolyn's window album is one of the best prog albums ever released, as far as I'm concerned. If you haven't heard it, you need to get yourself a copy - it's worth the price of admission for "Speaking in Lampblack" alone. I think I was like 3 or 4 listens into the window album before I came to that same conclusion - I can seriously listen to "Locust to Bethlehem" on repeat for like an hour.
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Apr 18, 2016 22:42
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Seventh Arrow posted:I've been listening to Glass Hammer's latest album, "Chronometree." In the past, they've taken flak for being pretty ardent Yes clones. I'm happy to say that isn't the case here. you mean Breaking of the World? Chronometree is 16 years old - that's the one where they're ELP clones! (to be fair...Glass Hammer pretty much rule. I listened to an audio rip of one of their DVDs the other day and they really do bring it)
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Apr 25, 2016 13:58
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Vulture Culture posted:Is this a Wheel of Time reference, or did they just like the phrase? I think they've stated it was a reference...like most things GH
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Apr 25, 2016 21:41
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