the strawbs-just a collection of antiques and curios....a classic......various barclay james harvest stuff |
Acoustic Strawbs. I'm going to see them Saturday night in Atlanta. There is a DVD of the Toronto show and a CD as well. You might also want to check out Gordon Giltrap. Good stuff. |
Buckethead has some great acoustic/progressive
stuff. Try "Electric Tears" or Population
Overdrive". Do a search at Amazon & read some
reviews. It's instrumental. |
Return to Forever had a few acoustic cuts. No Mystery had a few and the earlier ones were mostly acoustic, although Chick would break out the distorted Rhodes on them too.
Most of the acoustic "prog" that I know of is more jazz than rock though.
Early Zawinul was acoustic, but not terribly fusiony at that point yet.
You could try the Hancock/Corea dueling piano recordings "An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chic Corea"
How about some Freddie Hubbard - "Red Clay"
Enjoy,
Bob |
From what I have read and heard, there is very little acoustic stuff. Lots of it is more jazz than anything else. I have not heard the Strawbs, but I will give it a check. I would love something by King Crimson, Dream Theater, maybe acoustic Pink Floyd/Roger Waters, etc. I wonder why this hasn't been tapped. |
Tough genre. Reaching back, I recall Gryphon "Midnight Mushrumps" as acoustic/progressive in a medieval sort of way. The music was good, but it was sometimes hard to get past the lyrics. One of the virtues of prog rock is often their nonsensical lyrics, which tend not to become dated quite as quickly. Another suggestion is Anthony Phillips 'The Geese and the Ghost". A nice, acoustic/prog album (some vocals, not much). |
The very first Genesis album, "From Genesis to Revelations".
Also from the same band, another nod to Anthony Phillips including "Sides","Wise after the Event" and,of course,"The Geese and the Ghost".
You might like Steve Hackett's solo stuff, such as "Bay of Kings" or Mike Oldfield's "Incantations". Oldfield's sister, Sally, made some beautiful records also.
Granted, there are electric devices and treatments used occasionally (these pioneers could'nt help themselves), but for the most part, this is a softer side of "Progressive" Rock. |
I'm not sure what "Progressive" Rock is so this may not help...(Alice In Chains) had a very well recorded "Unplugged" cd you could try.
Dave |
Might not be considered progressive--but a dynamite acoustic rock (live) album is Reckoning (by the Grateful Dead).
Most people hear it and have no idea who it is (but most people don't know anything about the Dead, so it's probably not surprising). |
Give any album by the Belgian ''Univers Zero'' a try....hear the song Jack the Ripper on a cold winter night and I'm sure you'll shit your pants |
Foxtrot, I can't seem to find your suggestion. |
Acoustic Strawbs "Baroque and Roll" is fantastic. Several bands have good "mostly" acoustic songs mixed oin on their albums - including Porcupine Tree, Rennaisance, Illusion, and Mostly Autumn. Anthony Philips stuff is good. While they're not exactly Prog, The Pentangle is all acoustic and I think they appeal to Prog fans. I don't know of any acoustic King Crimson, but if that's what you're looking for try California Guitar Trio - "CG3+2". It has some KC, Yes and similar original material. And if you're looking for Dream Theater - try "An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess" - it's live, all instrumental, and "somewhat acoustic". |
Univers Zero is so #$$%%@***!!! damn great that even if it did cause the occasional escape of a load i'd still have keep their discs and listen to em'. Alot of acoustic proggy stuff can make you gag and trip over gnomes whilst going for thee cueing arm or remote, (sorry Enid and Flairk fans). Still, there are some highly narcotic (mostly) acoustic prog discs that aren't packed w/bits of green marshmellow clovers:
Uwe Kropinski-Berlin Concert
Richard Johnson/Jud Martindale- Creatures of Habit
Cul de Sac- ECIM
Gary Lucas- Skeleton at the Feast
The Long Hello- 1st two discs (Van der Graaf guys)
Uzva-Tammikuinen Tammela
Ragnarok- 1st 3 discs (all are GREAT!!!)
Radio Chongching/st
Jonas Hellborg- Octave of the Holy Innocents (some of Buckethead's best stuff)
Cheval de Frise- 1st 2 discs
Alamaailman Vasarat-Vasaraasia |
Disc two of McGill Manring Stevens "Controlled By Radar" is completely acoustic. It features extraordinary production as well.
Ken Golden |
Hmmmm, that is a dang good disc...hats off to the executive producer. The 1st Volapuk is another one that deserves mention. |
I don't know if this qualifies but one of the best unplugged albums is the Alice in Chains unplugged. Is this pogressive enough, or am I getting old. |
Matchstikman, I hope this helps and please do yourself a favor and give this band a listen !!!
http://www.univers-zero.com/
http://cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/univers.html
in the latter you can preview some songs.
Good Luck |
Oops, here's the other link:
http://cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/univers.html |
I recently picked up a copy of Hero & Heroine by the Strawbs. It isn't acoustic, but the reviews on Amazon had it picked as their best effort. I also picked up Heresy by Univers Zero. I had to order it off Amazon because I couldn't find it locally.
The Univers Zero stuff is really strange. I have listened to it twice, but I am compelled to hear it again. Very interesting.
On the other side, I have also listened to the Strawbs twice; however, I am not moved by them as much.
The Rock In Opposition, RIO, are very intriguing. I need to hear some more. |
Matchstikman,
Good to know you are getting Heresy, great album, please give us your thoughts after hearing it in your home. I suggest you hear it at night time with dim lights or no lights at all.
If you're into RIO listen to The Residents....it may drive you nuts though. |
forgot to mention Magma, great stuff, a variation from RIO called Zheul (sp?). |
I found this website. Lots of good prog info.
http://www.progarchives.com/ |
Matchstikman, The earlier Strawbs albums i.e. GRAVE NEW WORLD, BURSTING AT THE SEAMS, HERO AND HEROINE, and GHOSTS are dominated by a lot of electric guitar and keyboard work. I happen to love HERO AND HEROINE. Give it a few more listens. Try 2 of their later albums, NOMADNESS and DEADLINES for a more acoustic style. Have fun. |
I bought Into the Witchwood a little while back and it is great. It also has Rick Wakeman on keyboards. You may like Barouqe and Roll also which is mostly acoustic I believe. |
I listened to Heresy twice last night. It is a very exhausting piece of music, to say the least. There is one aspect of the music that I do not like, the vocals. They tend to lean towards the death metal style which I find to be very unmusical. I remember several years ago listening to a death metal/progressive/symphonic band called Therion. I really enjoyed the music, but the vocals got so much in the way for me that I finally couldn't take them any longer. |
Mike Keneally - "Wooden Smoke" |
Matchstikman - from your comments I can't tell if Strawbs is your cup of tea, but if they do interest you and you're seriously looking for acoustic - check out Baroque & Roll. It was released last year, is totally acoustic, and has songs from many of the albums above (Hero, Nomadness, Ghosts, etc). For what it's worth . . . I have Hero, Nomadness, Ghosts, Witchwood, Baroque, and a best of 2 disc set. My favorites are Ghosts and Baroque. Hero places a distant 2nd behind those 2.
On to other stuff - fantastic call above by Duanegoosen on Jonas Hellborg "Octave of the Holy Innocents". It also includes Michael Shrieve - and I find most anything he appears on is great. I picked that one up last week and it's been in the rotation since. |
