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Prog Rock: Where to Start?


y-o-y

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So, I want to delve into the world of progressive rock and need some recommedations for listening.

 

I am looking for 2 or 3 quintessential albums on which to get my feet wet. I have had exposure to the standard Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Genesis that gets played on classic rock radio, but I want to go a little deeper.

 

I know this is a broad topic, but where should I start?

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Tool-Aeinma


Yo.

 

Tool, as in the band Tool?

 

Wouldn't call that prog rock - but then I guess they do use odd time signatures.

 

Not enough soloing chops in that band and no keys = not prog.

 

Try: Gentle Giant, Spock's Beard, Dream Theatre (Early), Dixie Dregs, Kansas (deep cuts not the radio crap), Yes, Hemisphere's era Rush.

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...

Not enough soloing chops in that band and no keys = not prog.

...

 

Personally I don't disagree w/ you that Tool is not a prog band but I think your criteria for inclusion in the genre (though I'm sure there actually is plenty of coincidental evidence to support it) kinda humorous. :D (also I think maybe they have a LITTLE bit of keybs, like, on a handful of songs briefly or something, I dunno :o)

 

A big yes to Yes. I actually really like the one before Fragile, The Yes Album or whatever it's called. Kinda rootsier almost, but still really musically adventurous. Close to the Edge I really love alot too. :rawk:

 

I never really got too into anything else, maybe a little King Crimson. Zappa was always REALLY complex and exciting in his approach but I think he was coming from a bit of a different direction than some of these other guys.

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Wouldn't call that prog rock - but then I guess they do use odd time signatures.


Not enough soloing chops in that band and no keys = not prog.

 

 

13 minute songs, weird time, different band members playing in different times, heavy, soft, little bit of everything in the same song, not your usual song structure, etc. Sounds just like prog to me.

 

Yo.

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13 minute songs, weird time, different band members playing in different times, heavy, soft, little bit of everything in the same song, not your usual song structure, etc. Sounds just like prog to me.


Yo.

 

No solos = not prog. :lol:

 

If Adam Jones had 1/1000th of the talent of Steve Howe, I might be inclined to agree with calling Tool prog.

 

Sorry, but instrumentally the progressions are too "dumbed down" and not adventurous enough to warrant the prog tag IMO.

 

I mean c'mon - so much of that stuff is just sliding root-five power chords around the phrygian mode - he loves that minor 2nd.....

 

That dumbed down melodic approach doesn't hold a candle to the wonderful circle of fifths based flights of the true prog bands like Rush and even Kansas.

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13 minute songs, weird time, different band members playing in different times, heavy, soft, little bit of everything in the same song, not your usual song structure, etc. Sounds just like prog to me.


Yo.

 

 

There is definitely profound musical similarities there, but I don't think that's all we're talking about here. When we talk about 'progressive rock' it kind of refers to a specific movement at a certain time and to an extent in certain locations. Basically everything else that has been mentioned in this thread, ya know? Classic art/prog/faux-baroque bands had a similar ideological focus on their music.

 

Ok basically, here's the analogy that sprung to my mind: let's say you are like, totally influenced by Van Gogh, I mean, you are a painter. And he informs EVERY aspect of your work, everything. But you are not his contemporary, or antecedent, or even direct successor. What I'm trying to say is, to follow the analogy, that Tool are 'Impressionist-y', but not actual Impressionists.

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What I'm trying to say is, I guess, that Tool are 'Impressionist-y', but not actual Impressionists.

Yup - melodically they deviate heavily from the established prog mold.

 

Take a song like "Point of Know Return" by Kansas for example - a typical circle of fifths based prog-rock progression.

 

Now show me any Tool song that does anything but refer to some diatonic mode (usually with a flat 2nd in there. Hey Adam, that sound got old a few years back buddy) - that guy wouldn't know the circle of fifths if it hit him upside his head. :lol:

 

Don't get me wrong - Tool's a good band if a bit one-dimensional; but again they're melodically very much in the metal mold and rarely if ever indulge in the modulations that are characteristic of the classic prog music of the past.

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No solos = not prog.
:lol:

If Adam Jones had 1/1000th of the talent of Steve Howe, I might be inclined to agree with calling Tool prog.


Sorry, but instrumentally the progressions are too "dumbed down" and not adventurous enough to warrant the prog tag IMO.


I mean c'mon - so much of that stuff is just sliding root-five power chords around the phrygian mode - he loves that minor 2nd.....


That dumbed down melodic approach doesn't hold a candle to the wonderful circle of fifths based flights of the true prog bands like Rush and even Kansas.

 

Well, I mean, it's just different strokes. In some ways I'm kind of inclined to say that though Tool may be more harmonically or melodically simple than, say "Rush and even Kansas", but they are sometimes alot more rhythmically complex. And totally tight and locked in! They're very virtuositic rhythmically. Way more polymeter and a high degree of mixed meter and stuff, instead of just, I dunno, doing a section of the song in 7/4. Or even just like, a waltz! Yes loved that 3/4 stuff. And I love them for it!

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Saga.not sure the album name,but Tonight We're on the Loose was the"hit" from said album.

 

 

"World's Apart"

 

I also think that's an awesome album. Have it on vinyl.

 

Try: Focus - Hamburger Concerto

- Focus 3

 

Lots of flute, overdriven Hammond, jazzy-sloppy guitar from Jan Akkerman.

 

Damn...you gotta love the Dutch prog!

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First of all, TC, go to progarchives.com and poke around there, you'll find lots of different bands from around the world, many free songs, and descriptions of the different genres of prog.

 

Prog is 95% of what I listen to, both modern and classic. I like older stuff like KC, Gentle Giant, and Pink Floyd but I also love the new wave of modern prog that has been sweeping across Europe.

 

Progressive Rock is more of an idea or an art form. It has nothing to do with how long the songs are, whether or not keyboards are used, or fast 'chops'! Progressive Rock is an attempt by musicians to create an art that goes beyond the established pop music scene by using more structure, composition, dynamics, and different ideas. The Beatles (later on) and Captain Beefheart (along with Frank Zappa) are considered early innovators of Prog Rock even though they have short, poppy sounding songs.

 

Here are some of the bands I've recently discovered, that you guys should check out.

 

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Comus, First Utterance. The media pegged them as "acid folk" back in the 70s due to their crazed, bombastic, acoustic instrumentation along with often gruesome lyrical content.

 

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White Willow is a personal favorite of mine right now. This album is one of their more darker, melancholy releases. Female vox, plodding guitars, cello, mellotron, organ, slower tempo. ect..

 

 

AnekdotenATimeOfADay.jpg

 

Anekdoten: Probably one of the more well known bands in the Scandinavian prog scene.

 

pure%20reason%20revolution.jpg

Pure Reason Revolution. I just found this band a week ago due to an iTunes recommendation and they blew me away! THIS is the future of prog. If only their follow up release is as good as this album!

 

Bands like Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, and King Crimson are obvious recommendations and you should look into them immediately. The cool thing about Prog musicians is that they often times involved in many side projects and collaborations simply because of their love of music and indifference to how much money they make through album sales. Look how many side projects Steven Wilson, Petrucci, and Robert Fripp have put out and you can see what I'm talking about.

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Fragile - Yes


Thread Closed

 

*pries thread open...*

 

Red by King Crimson

 

Any early Genesis

 

Any pre-'Love Beach' ELP. Why the Bob Sagett they made that recording is beyond me...

 

Aqualung by Jethro Tull

 

*lets thread slam shut under the weight of its own pomposity...which is fitting for prog rock...*

 

:D

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