Progressive rock appreciation and discussion thread

[Factualist]

Didn't see one. I like all sorts of music but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for prog, krautrock, and art rock, since it was what I listened to when I first started getting really into music.

It all comes down to one single song, that inspired such an intense love of music.



This is unfortunately the only version on YouTube, because Robert Fripp is a fan of copyright strikes. I listened to this song over and over again for hours. I couldn't believe my ears. I had never heard anything like it, I had no idea music could sound like this. It absolutely blew my mind and still does. Then I discovered 21st Century Schizoid Man on the same album and the rest is history.



Shortly afterwards I discovered one of my favorite bands of all time, Van der Graaf Generator. A criminally underrated band with a unique sound. They were actually the first act ever to be signed to Charisma Records. Peter Hammill is a classically trained opera singer, combined with David Jackson on saxaphone (who often played two at the same time), organist Hugh Banton, and drummer Guy Evans, they have such a crazy energy and sound.







There are far too many great bands to mention in one post, so I'm opening it up to a discussion. I know and love pretty much all of the most popular ones and a lot of the obscurer ones too. Here are a couple old favorites that come to mind.

- YouTube

Bekijk je favoriete video's, luister naar de muziek die je leuk vindt, upload originele content en deel alles met vrienden, familie en anderen op YouTube.

www.youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xlhGlaAH4Q (around the 1:50 mark it really picks up)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StcMnwyhpdQ

 

[PMS]

Hello!

I've been a prog rock fan all my life. My first serious band, "The Spotbang Quartet", played psychedelic/progressive rock and blues.

I'm still working with making melodious, instrumental rock music. Often in odd rhythm meters, with a strong melody line and rock band instrumentation.

On the heavier side, on of my all time favourite albums is "Emperor- Prometheus, The Disipline of Fire and Demise". It's maybe more metal than rock, but definetly progressive-


Cheers,
-Erl

 

[PMS]

Listen this this bassline.! Phil Collins on drums. :D

 

[Factualist]

Both great songs!

Progressive metal is something I've yet to really dive into. Currently I think my favorite song that kind of borders on prog metal is probably this cover of In Held Twas In I by Transatlantic. Only thing I dislike about it is that they inexplicably cut out one of the movements. But it's cool to hear the song played with such energy and a modern sound.



Brand X on the other hand I had actually heard of. They're quite good, and they have a sound a lot like some bands from the Canterbury scene, one of my favorite sub-genres.

That song reminded me of this one, which I hadn't heard for a while and could've completely forgotten about.

 

[Shady's Fox]

 

[Efoj]

Progressive Rock (a curious definition for a music genre if there ever was one, but I'll skip that), that's one of the many fruits of the rich, lush psychedelic scene from the second half of the 1960's, when rock music still wasn't divided in different shelves and all could unite in festivals such as Woodstock and Isle of Wight.

With uncountable precedents that could be called prog rock - Frank Zappa's Freak Out, the Beatles's Sgt. Pepper, the Moody Blues's Days of future Passed, all Hendrix etc - it seems to my ears that King Crimson's debut album is the first true example. An album that made a strong impression in Hendrix, Yes, Genesis and many others.

One of my favourite scenes is the one from Canterbury, often with an absurdist sense of humor that's lacking in other bands. Soft Machine is a perfect example of the psychedelic -> progressive change. Their first years offered some of the best psychedelic rock with great lyrics and ideas by Daevid Allen and Kevin Ayers and organ solos and rhythms you won't find anywhere else by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper.

Later, Daevid would form Gong with a constellation of talented musicians (Steve Hillage, Didier Malherbe...), Kevin would become a dylanesque songwriter, the others would make some amazing instrumental music.

And there's the drugs, of course, as you might expect from a branch of the psychedelic scene. As Daevid Allen (1938-2015) would answer in an interview from 2012:

Keep listening and keep taking hallucinogens!