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prog bands ranking

Started by Dirty Boy, July 27, 2016, 03:34:55 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Hemulen

Quote from: Artie Fufkin on August 02, 2016, 03:23:17 PM
No I haven't. But I will do! Ta for the heads up.

You're welcome. Sorry for spamming this thread btw. A prog thread on a slow day at work is just too great a temptation for me.

Shit Good Nose

I'd take On Horseback over the Piltdown Man section from Tubular Bells (and TB 2) any day of the week.

mobias

Quote from: Artie Fufkin on August 02, 2016, 03:07:52 PM
Oldfield's 'Ommadawn' is probably about my all time fave album. Consistently in my top 5.
Does that count as prog ?

Yup its probably my favourite album of all time as well. Its also Danny Baker's and Matt Berry's too apparently so we're in good company. 

Tubular Bells is usually somewhere in most prog top 50 lists I've seen over the years in the music press even though from a purely musical point of view its thought that Ommadawn and Incantations are superior albums, as is Oldfield's later multi-intrumental album Amarok. I suppose Incantations is getting more into the Phillip Glass area of avant-garde classical music. Depends on how wide you wish to cast the prog net I suppose.

But yeah I ways find it a bit odd that Ommadawn is always sidelined in favour of Tubular Bells when when being considered on pure musical merit over fame or prestige. 


NoSleep

Quote from: Hemulen on August 02, 2016, 02:51:31 PM
South America had some amazing prog bands as well, like Terreno Baldio (who will definitely appeal to Gentle Giant fans), and Bubu (shades of King Crimson, Zappa, etc.).

Best of all, Brazil has Hermeto Pascoal, ostensibly a jazz artist but actually quite hard to categorise (shades of Zappa/Henry Cow on this one):

Festa Dos Deuses

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: Hemulen on August 02, 2016, 02:51:31 PM
Everyone bangs on about bloody Krautrock[nb]Don't get me wrong, I love me some Krautrock.[/nb], but where's the love for the Italian prog scene? PFM, Banco Del Muturo Soccorso, Museo Rosenbach, Il Baletto di Bronzo, Maxophone, Osanna and, one of my all-time favourite one-album wonders, Murple.

Yep - the Italians have long been prog's biggest fans, and they had a bit of a British invasion of their own in the veary early 70s when most of our not-quite-yet-superleague bands like Genesis and Yes were easily filling 10000 seat enormo theatres over there, and then coming back to play pubs and universities in the UK.

Most of Italian prog arguably belongs in this here thread than a lot of other stuff suggested, at least from a mainstream purist point of view.

Artie Fufkin

Quote from: mobias on August 02, 2016, 03:29:14 PM
Yup its probably my favourite album of all time as well. Its also Danny Baker's and Matt Berry's too apparently so we're in good company.   

I absolutely ADORE this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdx-EanE6Hk

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Hemulen on August 02, 2016, 03:18:27 PM
Definitely. It's my favourite Oldfield album too. I take it you also try to pretend that "On Horseback" doesn't exist though?

And yes, Magma are the tits. Have you checked out any of the other "Zeuhl" bands they've inspired? i.e. Eskaton, Dun, Weidorje, Archaia, Eider Stellaire, Koenjihyakkei...

I love On Horseback.

I've heard Weidorje and Eskaton, but not really that much into the wider Zeuhl bands. Have a few compilations.

There is a South American band called Ladies W.C.  (Venezuela I think), that comes highly recommended


BlodwynPig

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on August 02, 2016, 03:36:53 PM
Yep - the Italians have long been prog's biggest fans, and they had a bit of a British invasion of their own in the veary early 70s when most of our not-quite-yet-superleague bands like Genesis and Yes were easily filling 10000 seat enormo theatres over there, and then coming back to play pubs and universities in the UK.

Most of Italian prog arguably belongs in this here thread than a lot of other stuff suggested, at least from a mainstream purist point of view.

How about Balkan and Greek prog. Some of the best stuff coming out of that part of the world in the late 70s.

mobias

Quote from: Artie Fufkin on August 02, 2016, 03:42:41 PM
I absolutely ADORE this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdx-EanE6Hk

Yeah me too. Kill the Wolf is a fantastic album. Talented bloke Matt Berry.

Hemulen

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on August 02, 2016, 03:29:06 PM
I'd take On Horseback over the Piltdown Man section from Tubular Bells (and TB 2) any day of the week.

Yeah... not quite sure what he had in mind there. "On Horseback" is harmless enough in isolation - not really my bag, but nothing to get worked up over. My beef with it lies purely with the fact that it's tacked into the end of 35 minutes of instrumental perfection. It just feels so anticlimactic. Not that Ommadawn necessarily needs to end with a bang (after all, "Gates of Delirium" wouldn't feel right without "Soon" at the end) but it's just jarringly twee after all that magnificence.

Artie Fufkin

Quote from: mobias on August 02, 2016, 03:47:12 PM
Yeah me too. Kill the Wolf is a fantastic album. Talented bloke Matt Berry.
Agreed

Hemulen

Quote from: BlodwynPig on August 02, 2016, 03:46:24 PM
How about Balkan and Greek prog. Some of the best stuff coming out of that part of the world in the late 70s.

That's a bit of a blind spot for me. Do you have any specific bands/albums in mind?

Artie Fufkin

How about another top 5 album of mine - Richard & Linda Thompson's 'I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight'.
This album is beautiful, yet makes me want to stick my head in a gas oven.

mobias

Quote from: Hemulen on August 02, 2016, 03:50:08 PM
Yeah... not quite sure what he had in mind there. "On Horseback" is harmless enough in isolation - not really my bag, but nothing to get worked up over. My beef with it lies purely with the fact that it's tacked into the end of 35 minutes of instrumental perfection. It just feels so anticlimactic. Not that Ommadawn necessarily needs to end with a bang (after all, "Gates of Delirium" wouldn't feel right without "Soon" at the end) but it's just jarringly twee after all that magnificence.

It was meant as a bit of a light reprieve from what is quite a dark album. You could argue, and people have, that its yet another example of Oldfield's naivety getting the better of him but part of the joy of Ommadawn is its nativity I think.

Hemulen

Quote from: mobias on August 02, 2016, 03:57:20 PM
It was meant as a bit of a light reprieve from what is quite a dark album. You could argue, and people have, that its yet another example of Oldfield's naivety getting the better of him but part of the joy of Ommadawn is its nativity I think.

That's valid. I'd always assumed (evidently incorrectly) that it rubbed most other people up the wrong way as well, but I'm happy to be in the minority if that is indeed the case. I certainly don't begrudge anyone who enjoys it!

NoSleep

How about some Japanese bands?

Happy Family are fucking nuts! Hi-speed complex time signatures delivered on full blast. Whilst youtubing for an example track I stumbled upon the wonderful news that they are back together again and have a whole new album I haven't heard yet!
Here's the reformed band having a blast on an old favourite from their 1995 debut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHtn0V2o0N8

Machine & The Synergetic Nuts manage to mix early-70's Soft Machine influences (distorted keys + sax) with a bunch of other stuff that reminds me of the jazzy feel of early house music but rocking hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJYM2bs4D_Q

Ruins (Tatsuya Yoshida on drums, voice plus a bass player, there's been several, also doubling on vocals) are a kind of two man Magma. Here's their "Progressive Rock Medley" with about three dozen prog classics featured (including, very early on, a snatch from the Happy Family track featured above amongst some more familiar tunes for you).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZzYiVgwN4

Tatsuya is also doing solo "Ruins Alone" gigs with prerecorded accompaniment to his voice and drums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp5XqUxxe94

...also a guitar/bass/drums trio (named Korekyojinn)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH0rc01shhs

And his "full" band Kōenji Hyakkei (again, a bit Magma-esque):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98xULn2ZD3w



Artie Fufkin

And just to complete my 'possible top 5 albums of all time' :

Nursery Cryme - Genesis
Discipline - King Crimson
The Wall - Pink Floyd

This will obviously change each time I'm asked (apart from Ommadawn)

Artie Fufkin

Damn! I meant Zappa's 'One Size Fits All' !!

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Hemulen on August 02, 2016, 03:52:35 PM
That's a bit of a blind spot for me. Do you have any specific bands/albums in mind?

Well perhaps the three big hitters are from Yugoslavia (Serbia, Macedonia and I think Croatia, respectively):

Igra Staklenih Perli
Leb i sol
Drugi način

Then there is this from DAG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKUgtO0JPz0

Serge

Quote from: Hemulen on August 02, 2016, 03:21:45 PM
Bloody Cope. I read some snide off-hand dismissal of Henry Cow he'd tucked into a piece of his recently. That alone was enough to invalidate all of his opinions for me.

He does get several digs at them into 'Krautrocksampler', too. I don't agree with Copey on everything - he hates Bowie and post-'Autobahn' Kraftwerk, and has written about going off Scott Walker in the eighties, so that's my three favourite artists right there, but I've always liked his enthusiasm, and his writing does have the knack of making you want to check out whatever he's writing about as soon as possible. Even if, as with the 'Japrocksampler', a fair amount of it doesn't live up to his praise.

Quote from: mobias on August 02, 2016, 03:57:20 PMpart of the joy of Ommadawn is its nativity I think.

Steady on - I know Mike looks a bit like the Big J on the cover of 'Ommadawn', but still....

mobias

Quote from: Serge on August 02, 2016, 08:14:02 PM


Steady on - I know Mike looks a bit like the Big J on the cover of 'Ommadawn', but still....

Damn you autocorrect! I of course meant naivety.

greenman

Along similar lines to Oldfield would Penguin Café Orchestra count? Music from the Penguin Café at least I think sails pretty close. If so that would be pretty high up for me.

NoSleep

Isn't Penguin Cafe Orchestra more from the MOR wing of minimalism? Post-classical?

mobias

Quote from: greenman on August 02, 2016, 08:34:10 PM
Along similar lines to Oldfield would Penguin Café Orchestra count? Music from the Penguin Café at least I think sails pretty close. If so that would be pretty high up for me.

Yup I'm pretty certain I've seen Penguin Cafe Orchestra crop up in the those top 50 or 100 prog album lists from time to time. Again it depends on how wide you want to cast the net. I'd say they are. Its progressive music I think.

the science eel

Quote from: NoSleep on August 02, 2016, 09:12:51 PM
Isn't Penguin Cafe Orchestra more from the MOR wing of minimalism? Post-classical?

I don't know much by them, but Penguin Cafe Single is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR3WQ6GwQrM

mobias

Quote from: the science eel on August 02, 2016, 09:27:55 PM
I don't know much by them, but Penguin Cafe Single is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR3WQ6GwQrM

You should really check them out. Plenty more gems like that. White Mischief is my personal favourite. So oddly uplifting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB0O6_xPFS8

greenman

Quote from: NoSleep on August 02, 2016, 09:12:51 PM
Isn't Penguin Cafe Orchestra more from the MOR wing of minimalism? Post-classical?

I think Simon Jeffries did have some background in rock as well as classical prior(he did the strings to Sid's My Way afterwards as well) and again I would say the first album does seem rather similar to 70's Oldfield....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNWUVaBy5GU

By the time of the second album(which is I'd guess the sound most people know)the rock influence did definitely lessen, few if any electric instrumentation. That said I would have the best stuff from the second album as there greatest work...

Numbers 1-4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryDVJHXk6es

Steady State - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3rUKTdCSb8

greenman

To get egg on my beard and embrace prog prog what about the Enid? still rather silly in places but more heartfelt and less masturbatory...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdU5MQKDXsk

Artie Fufkin

Quote from: greenman on August 02, 2016, 08:34:10 PM
Along similar lines to Oldfield would Penguin Café Orchestra count? Music from the Penguin Café at least I think sails pretty close. If so that would be pretty high up for me.

Yes! What was the album that had the music from *that* advert on it ?? I use to have that on TAPE CASSETTE.

greenman

Quote from: Artie Fufkin on August 03, 2016, 08:33:53 AM
Yes! What was the album that had the music from *that* advert on it ?? I use to have that on TAPE CASSETTE.

Which one?

Telephone and Rubber Band(Penguin Cafe Orchestra - 1981) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWZ4pve5Mkc

Perpetuum Mobile(Signs of Life - 1987) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E3znZoFnN8