Back in the early 80's when I was at college we used to go and see tons of prog rock bands - Marillion, Twelfth Night, Pallas, IQ etc.
I still like to listen to that stuff from time to time. Anybody else like it ? Some of the musicianship is amazing, with some incredible guitar solos.

I like some stuff, Rush as I said in the other thread. For me its a great genre of music if you can sit and listen to how well put together the music is. Its not like a bands like Obituary when you can turn it on and have instant "Woooah this is awesome" but you can spend ages listening to how intricate it can get.

Some prog is too long for me though, I am a fan of shortish song length so all the 40 day songs are a bit too much for me sometimes.

Any recommendations? Its a genre I would like to hear more of.

I find with prog, that a song will have a good intro, then it'll get ruined by a really shit riff / cheesy keyboard part or something. I can't think of many consistent prog songs. There's some awesome prog hardcore bands or even prog metal bands, but I'm not a fan of plain prog.

Camel.

I'll chuck some stuff on a CD and include it with the Rush stuff.

Atom wrote:Any recommendations? Its a genre I would like to hear more of.

Cheers man, much appreciated!

Prog is the best thing in the world for me. The best thing in the world for me used to be Iron Maiden, but I've got a little bit bored of them recently, as much as I hate to say it! By my life has been taken over by many bands of the prog rock variety. Atom, here's some recommendations for you.

If you want a bit of prog metal (not gay prog wankery like Dream Theater - sorry to any fans on here!):
- Tool - 10,000 Days/Lateralus/Aenima (Undertow and Opiate are also great but not as proggy and therefore not as great as the others. 10,000 Days and Lateralus are my favourite albums in the whole world ever)
- Opeth - Ghost Reveries (my personal favourite, their latest one), Damnation (amazing acoustic delights), Blackwater Park, Still Life, Deliverance
- Mars Volta - De-loused in the Crematorium (I suppose you could call them metal, they're amazing though, this is the only album I own and it's mind-blowing indeed)

I don't know much other prog-metal, but for amazing prog rock, look to the following bands:
- King Crimson (In The Court of the Crimson King, their 1st album, is a seminal classic indeed, as is the album 'Red', and most of their other albums are all amazing. They are my favourite prog rock band I think)
- Jethro Tull (Folky prog wonders, very joyful and great indeed, Thick As A Brick is one of the best albums ever made basically, and Aqualung is another classic indeed. Went a bit shit in the 80s, but generally are great indeed)
- Comus (They released two albums, apparently the second one is shit, but the first one 'First Utterance', released in 1971, is unbelievable Indian-style madness that you may hate at first but soon realise it's unbelievable. Well done to Jamie for that find!)
- Porcupine Tree (I bought my first album of theirs, Deadwing, today and mentioned it in another thread, it's not particularly proggy all the way through but there's enough in there to satisfy my face, and it's amazing)
- Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band (I haven't quite got into them yet, I have two of their albums, Safe As Milk, which is nice, and Trout Mask Replica, which is utter madness. Some of my friends really love the Beefheart, so I'm trying to get into it at the moment)
- Genesis (I find them a bit light for my tastes, but they have some great albums including Selling England By The Pound and Nursery Cryme among other lovelies)

Of course there's also the mighty Pink Floyd, who also have some of the best albums in the world, including Wish You Were Here, The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, The Final Cut, Meddle... and many more.

I'm sure Jamie has loads more to recommend and also Stu if he feels like it. Come on boys!

oh dear, well this could turn into a long ramble. i appologise in advance!


recently i have been on a MASSIVE prog trip. my day is basically split quite evenly into thrash during the sunny times and then prog after dusk (occasionally interspersed with some black metal). there is just sooo much to take in and i really can't ever get enough of it. started out with bands like King Crimson, pink floyd and Jethrol Tull (still 3 of my favourites) and i went on from there to discover as many of the underground and less known stuff. for me its the early 70's that was a prime time for Prog. there is loads of great new stuff around (Godspeed You Black Emporer, Fovea Hex, Tool, Porcupine tree, The Mars Volta, Opeth etc), but what i consider as being the real prog is all firmly rooted around 1970. at the moment i really love the Canterbury scene and the weirder side of prog folk / psych folk.

as far as canterbury scene is concerned the top bands for me are Caravan, Hatfield and the North, Egg and Khan. i would like to hear some more Robert Wyatt as i have it on very good faith that he is amazing! what i love about the canterbury scene style is that its all so very "british". i also get annoyed by this and equaly find it hilarious at the same time (i mean, caravan have got a song about a girl who makes tea!). There is a lot of technical skill and soo much self indulgence, songs often being on the 20 min side of things, but its really great and flows and ebbs and rocks and goes mad and weird. wonderful!

What i love about prog folk is the weirdness. bands like Jethro tull are amazing and have some great riffs but then can so easily go into really chilled and emotional folk interludes, but they aren't quite weird enough for me sometimes. the best folk prog band i have heard is Comus. their album First Utterance from 1971 is not only one of my most favourite albums of all time but is also one of the darkest and most haunting records you will ever hear, and i mean this in general terms. you could compare it to any record of any genre and it would make you shit your pants. but with this they also have some of the most beautiful and extrodinary songs you will ever wish to emerge yourself in. increadible and perfect in everyway i urge anybody remotely interested to get hold of Comus - Fisrt Utterance, you wont regret it! other folky or psycadelic prog bands to check out are The Rainbow band, Quintiessence and of course Jethro Tull (Aqualung and Thick as a Brick, are two of the best prog albums ever made!).

I really love atmospherics. anyband who can build an atmosphere always catpures my attention straight away. for this reason its the "Art Rock" genre of Prog that always seems to get me the most excited (...apart from comus!). this is bands such as King Crimson... and infact there is hardly any point mentioning anybody else! King Crimson for me define what prog rock is all about. their 1st album "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is undenibly the best prog album ever made, and arguably one of the first actual "prog" albums. they mix great infectious and off kilter riffs with the most heartfelt and emotional songwriting you will possibly ever hear. their music has so many layers and dimensions that you will discover something new everytime you listen to them. they have some of the most amazing and forward thinking songs that still sound so completely fresh today, and they also don't give a shit about what anybody wants to think about them. they do exactly as they feel and this generally means lots of acid and going mad, and its the best you could ever wish for. I recomend that if you don't own In The Court Of The Crimson King you go and buy it straight away. you've never heard anything like it, and if you have heard anything similar this is where they would have got the inspiration from. Some other bands of Art Rock weirdness (that you may find much harder to find) would be: Verto, Samurai, Deep Feeling and Fraction.

so i guess you want a Jamie's Prog top 10? ok well here it is, although i really can't say its in any real order, they are all just amazing! (i urge you to get hold of any of these albums, if you want to hear some 1st class prog rock)

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
Comus - First Utterance
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
King Crimson - Red
Yes - Close To The Edge
Jethro Tull - AquaLung
Verto - Krig/Volubilis
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Caravan - In The Land Of Grey and Pink
Samurai - Kappa

notable mentions go to:

Captin Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
Wishbone Ash - Argus and their 1st self titled album
and Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

(all these are not strictly prog, but are from the right era and are absolutely progged up!).

if you want more infomation check out : http://www.progarchives.com and if you want any hard to find prog albums e-mail or PM me as i may have them on MP3 and i will happily sort anybody out with joy!

Yes indeed, I couldn't be bothered to go into as much detail, but listen to everything Jamie says, especially about King Crimson! They are indeed the most wonderous creation on earth. And as you did it, here's my prog top 10 (including prog metal, I'll try to limit it to one per band, but that's impossible really):

Tool - 10,000 Days
Tool - Lateralus
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
King Crimson - Red
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
The Mars Volta - De-loused In The Comatorium
Fovea Hex - Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent (not really rock, but still prog!)
King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing

Yes i think that'll do for now. I still have loads of exploration to do with this genre, I haven't heard anywhere near enough!

Also check out Eloy - German band from the early 70's through to the early 90's. Great stuff.

Never really liked Prog although I had to play on a Prog demo last year. It was a nightmare!

Time signatures FTL.

Resilience Records wrote:Godspeed You Black Emporer

This band are wicked! That album with the black and white photo on it is rad. Although I always called them post rock, not prog...I dunno, sometimes these 2 genres get kind of confused.

By the way Jamie you should write a book on prog!

The Mars Volta - De-loused In The Crematorium

you mean De-loused in the Comatorium

Thrashface wrote:

Resilience Records wrote:Godspeed You Black Emporer

This band are wicked!

They are great, really good chill out stuff, Yanqui U.X.O. , F#A# infinity, and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven are the only 3 I've heard, awesome stuff though!!!! (although some tracks drag just a little too much..)

Don't forget the masters of Space Rock Hawkwind or if you like total spazz-out prog try Acid Mothers Temple, who are incredible!

Got Doremi... by the Wind. Very good but not overly proggy I thought... Haven't heard Acid Mothers Temple but was intrigued by a review. What would be the album recommendation?

There's some awesome prog hardcore bands or even prog metal bands, but I'm not a fan of plain prog.

What is a prog-hardcore band? Any examples- is this like Isis or have I got it wrong entirely?