Looks like there has not been a STEADY progressive rock thread here since 2006.
If you refrain from trolling me, I'm up for posting mini (one or two sentence) "reviews" of lps likely some of you are not aware of.
You're welcome to add your own reviews, with one stipulation: I realize this is an audio forum ,so please refrain from the obvious which has been done to death (like Genesis,Yes,Focus...)
And I don't want to hear no bloody
Porcupine Tree , Mars Volta,Dream Theater ,Tool, or bleeding Steven Wilson.
The title track starts off with a shitload of spacey whoosh,etc sound effects (but recorded poorly cos no panning as in the origional krautrock days with the artificial head). The rumbling riff from the first track off Floyd's "Meddle" lp is taken down pretty-well note-for-note. The last minute of the track reminds of Bauhaus "Bela Lugosi's Dead"!
The lyrics are cosmic - vast spaces, the sun...
Vocals elsewhere seem to be coming from something like More Soundtrack also its clear they were influenced by side 3 & 4 of "Ummagumma".
I have an lp 'Mike & Sally Oldfield
Pekka Pohjola' no title. With Pierre Moerlen on percussion. Sally only la la la's on two songs. Will have to find those fusion solo records mentioned,, because I wasn't very blown away by anything on this album, composition, nor playing. Meh, just okay.
Argentinian 70s rock is unique to the rest of SA. Its as if Argentina were some
traumontane Shangri-La cut off from other influences.
The reason for their unique sound is obvious - the small
market. The fact that so many of these bands were inter-related or spin offs
(Almendra-Pescado Rabioso -Color Humano -Aquellare -Invisible). They all shared
similar traits. This sort of inbreeding can be seen as a bad thing, but
in this case this proved to be homogeneity of the enriching kind.
So then what makes the sound unique to Sammmmmy?
Okay, discounting a few bands like Crucis,Mia,Espiritu and Bubu, the Ital-prog
feel of ,say Brazilian prog is notably less.
Discounting the heavy exceptions like Diaz or Reloj, the defining sound is this
wondrous, soft, relaxed style of prog -or more correctly, psych.
This resides mainly in the vocals - this old hippie "laid-back
groove". The vocals are SO sincere. None of that Joplinesque ridiculous
melodramatic -prancing. Sammmmy usually prefers less vocals. Not so in the case of Argentina. The vocals here
are a pure joy. Lots of this is down to one man -Luis Spinetta. Even in the
late 70s early 80s fusion period,the vocals retain this soothing calm.(The
Spinetta Jade lps I have all come out of Brazil. Whats the story there? Did
Luis then form with Brazilian musicians?) Sammmmy's easy favorite of all South American tracks is Almendra's "Color
Humano" .(Not to be confused with the band of same name). This track
perfectly illustrates this "spaced-out in the SA. sun' laziness of vocal
style, coupled to ,at first ,that wonderful slow, dulcet electric guitar tone (reminding
of Clapton's guitar tone on some of Disraeli Gears). Then you get the
incredible wah-wah psych-out. And, of course, return back to calm. One of the
best tracks ever recorded, ANYWHERE .
Can Future Days. It’s a trip to Germany but not on a plane. Spirit Adventures of Captain Kopter. "Nice" rock Trio Da Da Da. Pulsing repetitiveness but you won't turn it off after you are bobbing your head and upper torso
Perigeo - wotever - is not a good example of Italian fusion. Sure, its the best-known Ital fusion band - with many a lp released - but they are lame, American-sounding, slick fusion. Think shitty Weather Report. Or Casiopea/Spyro Gyra mould .
I have only one Perigeo lp in my collectro.( I think "Genealogia")
From Canada, Sammmmy has ELECTRONIC ORCHESTRA ’80 and MYHAEL DANNA "ELEMENTS" . These are very rare lps put out on an Oakville,Ontario label (Frederic ...). The Co. was more known for putting out music scores.
"Elements" is rather important since Danna ( now living in, I believe, California) has become likely the premier Canadian soundtrack composer (big bucks man). He started off doing pretty well all the Atom Agoyian films. An early US film which he scored was that Amish thing with Harrison Ford where the music is very sparse, open-country; new-agish.
"Elements" however is different . It’s his first lp -an instrumental keysprog.
Electronic Orchestra has him conducting and one of the synth players was my friend Roger Humphreys ,who put out the Beyond the Gates of Slumber cd in the late 90s which sounds of Renbourn/Pentangle.
In ,as early as ’79 Roger and his group Vertigo were covering "Supper’s Ready". I have a great tape of Vertigo doing their own compositions - VERY "Trespass"-period Genesis.
Electronic Orchestra is nothing to write home about -just very classical-sounding synth renditions of classical music biggies.
the other rare one is the CLEMENTS AND DANNA lp, which I do not have and , last I heard, neither does Clements.
Funny how fate casts the dice: one guy lost to obscurity , the other becomes famous.
I've got some interesting Mychael Danna: The Legend Of Deirdre (1996), composed by Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna,. A Celtic Tale is a magnificently orchestrated Celtic fantasy soundtrack inspired by the beautiful and tragic medieval Irish legend of Deirdre brings together the best elements of Celtic folk, classical, ambient and film music. Cinematic in scale, mythic in dimension, romantic in concept - A Celtic Tale sets a bold new standard for the popular Celtic genre. TableJockey - the 180 Gram re-issue, cut from the original Analog master tape CTTE is spectacular, pricey at $32, but I'm getting my $$$ worth with renewed enthusiam to spin it.
"the 180 Gram re-issue, cut from the original Analog master tape CTTE is spectacular, pricey at $32, but I'm getting my $$$ worth with renewed enthusiam to spin it."
richmon- in any form, CTTE is spectacular.
Being a "stamper" snob, I find like most reissues CTTE is just okay, compared to a rare find cheapie in the the bins.
CTTE by default is plagued by the master, according to articles and my 72 year old record shop guru.
Irrelevant to just hearing a nice clean copy OR CD/file. Just as long as it's LOUD.
666 by Aphrodite´s Child. An experimental prog psych etchin fusion epic. Having heard this unbelievable work it´s no wonder why Jon Anderson praised this masterpiece whereas many prog musicians and fans, like one beeing my ELP buddy, just ignored the talent and even hated the band only because of Demis Roussos´ voice that actually is unique with the high vibrato, and is one of the most beautiful male voices in rock´s history. His work is sublime, not to mention Irene Papas´ vocal acrobatics on "Infinity", she´s just another misunderstood unsung hero of the prog era, not even being considered a prog singer/artist in the first place. After departure of Rick Wakeman, Anderson did ask Vangelis to join his band but, well unfortunately or luckily depending on one´s opinion Vangelis refused. A word of Yes, praised by many as the best prog band, well to me not greatest not even close but their work is quite versatile, from the late 1960´s period to the end of the Wakeman era. Luckily Yes had already made their ultimate work, The Oceans. As for Yes repertoire I prefer the early work Banks/Kaye era for their more psychedelic style/sound with Hammond organ and Bank´s guitar work, musically it´s more interesting and lively and at places as versatile as the Wakeman era symphonic prog, IMO. And Wakeman made triumphant return in late 1970´s culminating in another masterpiece, Tormato in the middle of the dull new wave, the band still experimenting with new sounds and still with great attitude and approach to rock´n´roll and prog rock when major prog acts maybe excepting King Crimson descended into lame pop music. And it was the last great prog and rock album from the incredibly versatile 1970´s, the most ignored and therefore unknown and again sadly hated, at least. And luckily both Area and Banco did their (minor) masterpieces in the last years of the 1970s, but the Italian scene is a completely different story to be told...
Valentyne Suite by COLOSSEUM, 1969. COLOSSEUM was the first to combine blues and jazz into classical themes in such convincing way and the title track is a prog epic, even without words as they are not needed at all, it´s that good. COLOSSEUM LIVE from 1971 is heavy music, and one of the very best live albums from glory days of classic rock. Dave Clempson and Dave Greenslade shine driven by Jon Hiseman´s powerful drumming, man that´s heavy stuff. I saw them in Keitele Jazz August 2011, they were old but played like there is no tomorrow. Absolutely fantastic performance in a small venue in the middle of nowhere. Thanks info for that Finnish POHJANTÄHTI, how on earth have I missed that ?? Kalevala: People No Names, 1972 is worth to mention here too.
"People No Names" is the highly-touted lp of the Kalevala trilogy, but for Sammmmmy the ignored second lp beats it. "Abraham's Blue Refrain" is a great lp. On reading the lp title, I suppose people think that the band were turning in a blues direction and are turned off. Wrong. this is the band turning more HEAVY.
...... Strange how many serious progheads deride YES "Tormato". Okay - sure Wakiepoo's Casio-sound keys can be irritating and the production is bad on this release, but then again you have COMPOSITION like "On The silent Wings of Freedom". .................
Irene Pappas and Vangelis have the errie "Odes" lp which is an interesting listen.
Well I would agree that only the first two albums are truly in the prog vein. subsequent albums are not bad but not even close to the first two. Dont know any other prog band at the time who foregoed a guitarist period. Although I am sure there were some.
Proto prog is where the Hammond organ comes to full bloom and has its day. Guitar is relegated to the backdoor, or not existant at all. Bands on labels like Neon were guitar-less or guitar-muted.
I just got a (duplicate) of Swegas "Child of Light". First track is a cover of Rare Bird, "Beautiful Scarlet"! (A cover of a band from the same immediate time period...and not that well-known either. Which means someone in the band had great admiration for Rare Bird.)
Of course after Graham Field and Ashton left Rare Bird, the sound changed dramatically and was guitar-prominent. More rock than prog. Still, like Sammmmmy said above, the title track from "Epic Forest" is real good. Maybe reminds of....errr.....Nektar???
I have a Polish Muza press (with complete different cover art)of the second Rare Bird. Well, mostly . This is the tracklist: sympathy down on the floor nature fruits as your mind flies by what you want to know bird on a wing hammerhead times
Not prog rock but many recordings done by jazz organist Jimmy Smith also from back in the olden days deliver superbly recorded electric organ front and center (or actually usually more to the left or right).
Many famous Jazz musicians in general from that era were very progressive musically.
Rare Bird fanatic here, I enjoy the guitar oriented stuff too, Steve Gould criminally underappreciated vocalist, right up there with Greg Lake, John Wetton etc. He did an album with Dave Greenslade 'Cactus Choir' and for some unknown reason changed his vocal style, it mostly sux.
Also have Graham Fields solo album 'Fields' with Andy McCullogh on drums, it's pretty good but doesn't reach the heights of the Bird.
Methinks keyboardist Dave Kaffenetti from Rare Bird was the drummer in Spinal Tap, piece of trivia.
My prog interest in brewed by Rush and Marillion so I'm not as prog steeped as many others who have posted, but what bothers me most about this thread is how the OP feels compelled to judge anyone's contribution, as if he's the prog wizard to whom people are making offerings.
Not to mention something like this: "Don't call anyone "dude". Its disrespectful and low talk." Dude is as common in the current vernacular as any other slang term; and as Audiogon forum is a casual language vehicle, there's nothing wrong with it. Get over your sensibilities, dude.
@richmon and @mapman were right - there are other forums for this depth of prog, especially if you're having a spitting context about who's more prog.
Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I just picked up a CD copy of
Sindelfigen, Odgipig. The seller probably marveled that anyone would actually buy it!
Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I just picked up a CD copy of
Sindelfigen, Odgipig. The seller probably marveled that anyone would actually buy it!
Congrats!
Never mind selling , I am not even sure how you pronounce it! Lol
Ha, yeah haven't figured it out myself. I listened to it on utube and was quite impressed. I'm a Genesis fan and it had a definite Genesis influence in my mind.
Gotta get a copy of "Mainhorse" because of Moraz. His talent has always been underestimated and misunderstood and often mixed too low, especially with major English acts like Yes where he was the most innovative musician at the period. Luckily he didn´t waste more time with them. As for Genesis fame, the best ever concert for me personally, as I never saw the band live back in the day, was GENESIS LIVE REVISITED Spring 2014 in a small venue in Helsinki. Maestro Hackett with his stunning band played 3 hours, all the essential stuff from "Fountain" to "Los Endos" brilliantly true to the original sound and style of early days, there was absolutely no compromises to any modern approach whatsoever. And the audience truly LISTENED to the music, no annoying drunken heads seriously telling you hey listen to this and that, no girfriends to please, no wives, no dricks, all those are well ... And we found ourselves shouting for "The Knife" ! They also played "The Musical Box" : ) Just that music played brilliantly, and Nad Sylvan singing and and his performance and that attitude to this very difficult and demanding material after Gabriel was the real treat, he really was/is the best substitute to Gabriel and his voice/style fitted the original sound better than I could imagine. Well, some people have the talent, but it was all just unbelieveable and I know it will remain the best I ever experienced and other acts to possibly follow that performance will be anti-climax.
Some other Moraz that connects with me is 'The story of I',, 'Out in the Sun' and Refugee S/T (with Davidson and Lee from the Nice)...Mainhorse maybe my favorite of that sampling.
Steve Hackett's recent tours are such a treat, had tickets this past febuary for Genesis Revisited and Spectral Mornings played in it's whole but alas the show didn't go on due to virus stuff . Was the 2014 show half Genesis and half his solo stuff with Roine Stolt (from Flower Kings) on bass and rhythm guitar? Roine's presence brought the musicianship in those shows up a notch- I've seen Steve 10-15 times and Genesis back in the day with Gabriel. One of the geezer perks-, got to see alot of great bands. The Genesis tribute bands like The Watch (from Italy) and The Musical Box (from Canada) are fun if they come your way.
I saw Steve Hackett live about 2 years back in a small theater. Crowd was just as you describe as was the band’s performance. First half was a sampling of some of his better and awesome solo material, second half was Genesis stuff including "Inside and Out" from teh little known "Spot the Pigeon" Genesis EP. Really good stuff! Big Hackett fan here.
Also saw "The Musical Box" Genesis tribute band several years back do the "Foxtrot" album start to finish with meticulous detail to reproduce the original shows from back then including Peter Gabriel’s outfits and antics. Highly recommended!
While on teh topic of Genesis check this out: https://youtu.be/A_l1M_cpqKY . Don’t think I had ever seen this tidbit from 1972 before. So much talent on that stage including at least 4 maybe 5 members with very long and successful solo careers which is practically unheard of save perhaps for The Beatles.
1) Phil Collins 2) Peter Gabriel 3) Mike Rutherford (Mike and the Mechanics) 4) Steve Hackett 5) Tony Banks
Relayer is probably my favorite Yes album (gotta crank that one up to fully appreciate) and of course Patrick Moraz had a productive but also still relatively short run with the Moody Blues. HE is on my list of solo artists to dive deeper into. Wonder what they have for him on Spotify?
Wishbone Ash: Argus I just got a Japanese copy that’s on that SHM disc and it’s MQA ! Amazing Album and amazing sound. Jethro Tull, Steve Wilson Remixes at 24/192
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