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Progressive rock

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@BadSalad, thanks for the recommendations! I understand your feelings about Anette, but I really love Imaginaerum. It, IMO, is one of their best albums yet.
 
Saw Steven Wilson in Chicago last night and it kicked major ass. All of the Raven songs sound amazing live. Songs like Luminol are really meant for it. Guthrie played some sick solos, as expected. Beggs was really getting into it, too. I had a spot right in front of him, and he was hilarious sometimes how much he was getting into it. Marco was amazing as usually, as were the others. Steven was really talkative and energetic. They played a really interesting version of Insurgentes that was rather different from the album version. Also, Radioactive Toy live was pretty amazing. They did play a more spacey version of it, like I had hoped. I really hope they record this tour somewhere.

Also, all of the band except Steven was out and about talking with people and signing things after the concert. I got Marco to sign his Symbolic Fox CD. He seemed pretty happy to be signing something that wasn't SW related.
 
Sniper McBlaze said:
What band would you say is most comparable with Pink Floyd? I like it when it's mellow and nice to do drugs to.
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Just had to come in and reply despite the fact you might never see this post. Porcupine Tree's album, Voyage 34. The band's singer and founder once was offered a 60's LSD propaganda album, both pro and against, and he took samples from people that participated in the album, including LSD users, doctors, and even a guy that was recorded having a bad trip on LSD and put some of their sentences on the album. He then added progressive rock, ambient music and more and made a one hour album with 4 songs, which all flow into each other. Having not listened to it while high, I can guarantee you I've gotten to the end of it and felt like I was tripping afterwards, it's just so brilliant. I can't imagine if I were to listen to it while high.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa5RPDxMiP0&feature=youtube_gdata_player Full album. I suggest that you guys should give at least part 1 and 2 a listen, incredible solos in there. So, the first 30 minutes at least.


I've seen many links to YouTube wihth songs throughout the thread, if there's a problem with linking this one let me know here or via PM...
 
Servbot24 said:
People in this thread like Dream Theater? Like... in an ironic way or something?

I'm not trying to be snooty or anything, it's just ...Dream Theater? Really?

Do they have any video game music covers? I bet they could do a cool cover of a MegaMan song or something.
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Is this post supposed to be intentionally lol worthy???
 
Mango Positive said:
I'm curious what ProgGAF thinks of Umphrey's McGee. They're one of the most talented bands I've ever seen live. Here's a pro-shot recording from their sold out 4 night New Years run at the Tabernacle in Atlanta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kecGFTdQekU#!

Also, thanks for alerting me that there's a new Riverside album. It's pretty damned good.
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I think I got into Umphrey's McGee thanks to this thread like 3-4 years ago after Mantis came out. I dig them.


EDIT: Looked through the thread. It was you that mentioned them, found the post that inspired me to check 'em out: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=15328550&postcount=188
 
I went mostly jazz in the 90's, so this thread has caught me up to speed on some of the newer stuff and made me dust off some old vinyl. It's been too long since I've listened to that great old Yes and Genesis.

Love Porcupine Tree, Hawkwind, and RPWL. Many thanks for those recommendations.

I do think there needs to be more distinction from the metal stuff. You can call it prog metal or whatever, but that's not prog rock to me. Totally different genre IMO and definitely not my cup of tea.
 
Red Sparrowes and The American Dollar are my current favorites. Too many just come off as Explosions in the Sky knock-offs.

I'm always open to good suggestions.

Maybe people mislabel or confuse post-rock with prog rock. Prog rock seems to be limited to 60's and 70's art rock where post-rock is instrumental riffs.
 
Unicorn said:
Red Sparrowes and The American Dollar are my current favorites. Too many just come off as Explosions in the Sky knock-offs.

I'm always open to good suggestions.

Maybe people mislabel or confuse post-rock with prog rock. Prog rock seems to be limited to 60's and 70's art rock where post-rock is instrumental riffs.
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I was about to say those bands are post-rock, but then you edited.

Prog rock isn't limited to 60s and 70s art rock, really. It's a pretty expansive genre, in a way. The 60 and 70s art rock stuff is kind of a foundation for a specific section of it, though, but people label a wide variety of stuff as prog rock.

In a way I think Post Rock is pretty related to Prog, in that it's progressing the rock genre forward. Buildups and longer songs are used in both genres.

That said, I have a few prog-head friends that refuse to see the good in post rock. They say nothing happens and the songs all sound the same because of it.

I'd personally like to see more post/prog rock crossover stuff. I'm sure it can be done. Oceansize sort of hit on that.
 
Parch said:
I went mostly jazz in the 90's, so this thread has caught me up to speed on some of the newer stuff and made me dust off some old vinyl. It's been too long since I've listened to that great old Yes and Genesis.

Love Porcupine Tree, Hawkwind, and RPWL. Many thanks for those recommendations.

I do think there needs to be more distinction from the metal stuff. You can call it prog metal or whatever, but that's not prog rock to me. Totally different genre IMO and definitely not my cup of tea.
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Check out Anglagard, you can't get better retroprog than this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6rcRv5R8UA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgV605i4BBI

Surprise of the week (at least for me): I had no idea there was a UK reunion with Eddie Jobson and John Wetton (plus Marco Minneman on drums). They sound absolutely great here:
UK - Live in Tokyo: One More Red Nightmare / The Only Thing She Needs
 
I've been listening for most of the evening to tracks from the live DVD "UK - Live in Tokyo" that were posted on Youtube. I've always loved the two studio albums by UK. Seeing Wetton and Jobson doing those classic tracks justice more than 30 years later is wonderful. I'm particularly impressed by Eddie Jobson who is a master on both violin, piano, organ and synths. The man is a genius and it's a fucking shame he only recorded just a few albums in his lifetime.

UK - Carrying No Cross

UK - In The Dead of Night" (full suite)
 
RDreamer said:
Saw Steven Wilson in Chicago last night and it kicked major ass. All of the Raven songs sound amazing live. Songs like Luminol are really meant for it. Guthrie played some sick solos, as expected. Beggs was really getting into it, too. I had a spot right in front of him, and he was hilarious sometimes how much he was getting into it. Marco was amazing as usually, as were the others. Steven was really talkative and energetic. They played a really interesting version of Insurgentes that was rather different from the album version. Also, Radioactive Toy live was pretty amazing. They did play a more spacey version of it, like I had hoped. I really hope they record this tour somewhere.

Also, all of the band except Steven was out and about talking with people and signing things after the concert. I got Marco to sign his Symbolic Fox CD. He seemed pretty happy to be signing something that wasn't SW related.
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I saw Steven live two days ago. Damn good show. I was surprised by the sound quality, the end of The Watchmaker was pretty fucking brutal without being really heavy (and I like some really heavy bands!), it sounded amazing.

Also, that Radioactive Toy encore was arguably the greatest version of the song I've heard. I think it makes sense SW considers the first 3 PT albums to be solo records, considering they were done mostly by him, so... I dunno, maybe we'll listen someday to a re-recorded version of Linton Samuel Dawson
lolz!
 
Altazor said:
I saw Steven live two days ago. Damn good show. I was surprised by the sound quality, the end of The Watchmaker was pretty fucking brutal without being really heavy (and I like some really heavy bands!), it sounded amazing.

Also, that Radioactive Toy encore was arguably the greatest version of the song I've heard. I think it makes sense SW considers the first 3 PT albums to be solo records, considering they were done mostly by him, so... I dunno, maybe we'll listen someday to a re-recorded version of Linton Samuel Dawson
lolz!
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I'd really really love to see a "modern" take on some of those old PT songs. I think it'd be freaking great, mostly because they're still solid songs with a few nitpicks, and I know for sure he'd probably take out some of those specific nitpicks.

Really, I'd just love to see a more modern SW tackle the sort of psychedelic side he used to have once again. I feel like the combination of his new knowledge and that old style would really do something unique.

That's why I was hoping for something else when he said they'd be pulling out an old PT song for the tour. Radioactive toy was amazing and all, but something else would have been more interesting.
 
RDreamer said:
I'd really really love to see a "modern" take on some of those old PT songs. I think it'd be freaking great, mostly because they're still solid songs with a few nitpicks, and I know for sure he'd probably take out some of those specific nitpicks.

Really, I'd just love to see a more modern SW tackle the sort of psychedelic side he used to have once again. I feel like the combination of his new knowledge and that old style would really do something unique.

That's why I was hoping for something else when he said they'd be pulling out an old PT song for the tour. Radioactive toy was amazing and all, but something else would have been more interesting.
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I agree.

And that reminds me that apparently SW said, years ago, that the next PT album would be completely different to the last couple of ones, that he was bored of "metal" and thought he'd do something more "spacey". I'm still waiting, but I'm not holding my breath, considering PT is pretty much in indefinite hiatus and he seems happy with his current solo band.

So I guess I'll wait and wait until the day PT releases a new album... and I don't think that'll happen anytime soon.
 
Altazor said:
I agree.

And that reminds me that apparently SW said, years ago, that the next PT album would be completely different to the last couple of ones, that he was bored of "metal" and thought he'd do something more "spacey". I'm still waiting, but I'm not holding my breath, considering PT is pretty much in indefinite hiatus and he seems happy with his current solo band.

So I guess I'll wait and wait until the day PT releases a new album... and I don't think that'll happen anytime soon.
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He actually also said it could/would be more song oriented, too.
 
Oh, another Amplifer release! missed it somehow. I really like this album;

S9hx7Xk.jpg
 
I saw Yes live last night for the first time. Chris Squire (my favorite bassist ever, along with John Entwistle), Steve Howe and Alan White are such an incredible formation. The singer was pretty good too, and Downes can play the keyboard well, though he's no Wakeman, that's for sure.

Hearing The Yes Album (to me the best prog rock album ever made) in its entirety was amazing. When the last notes of "Perpetual change" finished playing I was on the verge of tears. And then they came back for an encore, which consisted of "Roundabout".

It's a shame I was feeling very sleepy during Close to the Edge, as I wasn't able to fully appreciate it. They won me over with "Turn of the century", perfectly nailing the feeling of the studio version. "Wonderous stories" also sounded great. "Würm" was a bit different than the album version (I prefer that one), and the beginning of "Yours is no disgrace" strikes you like a hammer to the head. Such a powerful opening for their best album, and they played it flawlessly.

Fantastic concert. 2:45 hours of pure awesomeness.
 
I've been pretty obsessed with Leprous as of recently. Was listening to their new album, Coal, and then went back and discovered Bilateral, too. Really good stuff with a pretty crazy vocalist. It's definitely more in the vein of Prog Metal than Prog Rock, though.



Restless

The Valley
 
Scale the Summit premiered/debuted a new song today; http://americanaftermath.net/2013/06/03/the-oracles-prophecy-scale-the-summit-streaming-new-track/







RionaaM said:
I saw Yes live last night for the first time. Chris Squire (my favorite bassist ever, along with John Entwistle), Steve Howe and Alan White are such an incredible formation. The singer was pretty good too, and Downes can play the keyboard well, though he's no Wakeman, that's for sure.

Hearing The Yes Album (to me the best prog rock album ever made) in its entirety was amazing. When the last notes of "Perpetual change" finished playing I was on the verge of tears. And then they came back for an encore, which consisted of "Roundabout".

It's a shame I was feeling very sleepy during Close to the Edge, as I wasn't able to fully appreciate it. They won me over with "Turn of the century", perfectly nailing the feeling of the studio version. "Wonderous stories" also sounded great. "Würm" was a bit different than the album version (I prefer that one), and the beginning of "Yours is no disgrace" strikes you like a hammer to the head. Such a powerful opening for their best album, and they played it flawlessly.

Fantastic concert. 2:45 hours of pure awesomeness.
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Nice, glad you enjoyed yourself. I got to see them about 9 years ago (holy shit...) and they were fantastic.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/yes/2004/john-labatt-centre-london-on-canada-1bd3d548.html
 
Bad Salad said:
Back in the last year of middle school and through middle school and high school I was a die hard Nightwish fan. I was not pleased when Tarja left the band, and I never really liked Nightwish after the Tarja period.

I do love the instrumental parts of the new Nightwish, but I never liked Anette as a singer. Hopefully now though they will get a singer who can do vocals that can do Nightwish justice, and not something that every other symphonic band has.

Nighwish - Ghost Love Score, Live With Floor Jansen

In a way though, Symphonic Metal is a bit connected to Progressive, as well as Power Metal, cause they use more unconventional song structures than most other metal genres. Some Symohonic bands adapt more progressive patterns, like Serenity.

My favorite Dream Theater album is Images and Words, and my favourite song is without a doubt Another Day. For those of you who are interested in Dream Theater like bands (by that I mean slightly similar in style, but still original) I would recommend Bad Salad, Deeexpus, Disperse, Ice Age, Kingcrow (at least the latest album) and Mystery. It's possible that I missed some bands, but it's hard to keep track of all my favourite bands at all times. Which was why I made that list of mine.
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Wow the new singer is so much better than the previous one, the scream in the end... really nice and it added a lot more emotion to the song.

Nightwish previous singer was soo bad, I'm glad they got rid of her, I guess Tarja will never be topped but this is a replacement I guess most people will be ok with.
 
Just got back from Steve Hackett the other day. Great concert. I never though I would ever hear Supper's Ready live. He has 2 singers. One is from a Genesis cover band and does a great job and the other is a drummer/singer who does the Phil Collins stuff as well as sings "Blood on the Rooftops." The tour is supposed to be supporting the "Genesis Revisited 2" album which wasn't that great. Luckily, aside from a few woodwind flourishes (most of which work, some of which don't), the songs sound virtually identical to the traditional Genesis arrangements. Only clunker songs (not that they were performed bad, I just thought they were poor choices) were Chamber of 32 Doors and Dance on a Volcano.

Only odd thing is that for him being the star of the show, he is one of the least visually interesting frontmen for a band, so ended up watching either the singer, the drummer or sometimes the woodwind/flute 6th member of the band most of the time. The flute guy seemed to enjoy himself the most of any live performer I've ever seen.

I saw Yes a few months ago on their current tour and I never got why Awaken is considered a good song. It's the 2nd time I've heard it live with the current band and I just snooze through it each time.
 
Does my screen name give anything away?

Yeah, lately if it doesn't make me say "It's full of stars!", there's a good chance I'm bored with it.

Currently, The Mars Volta is pretty much at the top of the hill for me. Even as they've tried to be more "accessible", their tunes have enough layers to keep me interested for very long periods of time. They also have a way with building climaxes in their songs that just give me chills.
 
Great thread!

I was always into the more well-known prog-rock '70 bands, especially Yes (my favorite band of all-time)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMOden1Tbc0

but also Genesis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBcz3tBH74

and Jethro Tull

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh0woT7NkKI

King Crimson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KKdl8dJ_4E

Focus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUKXIyK9UZk


Then I 'discovered' fusion jazz with great, great acts like The Mahavishnu Orchestra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cFJvPuIHro

Return to Forever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqFN9o02NH4

Jean Luc Ponty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX-9_3q6Z_g


Then I went back to prog-rock and discoverd lesser known acts like Renaissance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B578LuXbPI

Motorpsycho (maybe not exactly prog-rock but nonetheless)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCOB1EC7PGk

and one of my best discoveries, the Italian prog-band l'Orme with their great album Felona e Sorona

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntnfku7KGnY


In short, there is some great music out there and I still enjoy making discoveries like this!

EDIT: a bit lolworthy but The Black Mages also feed my prog-rock need:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5st0b3ln5U
 
My favorite band, Sonata Arctica, which I listened to pretty much during most of my high school life and still listen today, went pretty much progressive with the years. I miss the first guitarist Jani Liimatainen though, he was a fucking beast. Henrik Klingenberg is my main keyboard inspiration, the dude is just so fucking talented.

Started like typical power metal and then took a way more progressive style after their Unia album. Still like them though, but I have some problems with Days of Grays, since I'm more old school SA, but it'll grow on me after listening to it a bunch of time I'm sure.

They really need to come back to Quebec soon, missed the last show and I've been to every single one of these since 2005, around 6 times. I fucking need it. They used to come at least once a year before. D:

That shit inspires me. I'm off to play some keyboard. :D
 
Any of you guys heard of Pineapple Thief? They're mentioned all over the reddit /r/progrockmusic subreddit so I decided to check them out - they're pretty good.
 
Entropia said:
Any of you guys heard of Pineapple Thief? They're mentioned all over the reddit /r/progrockmusic subreddit so I decided to check them out - they're pretty good.
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They're alright, though I think Soord's lyrical/vocal style is a bit repetitive at times. It kind of annoys me. All the Wars was pretty good, though. His best work, though, I think is his recent collaboration with Jonas Renkse, Wisdom of Crowds.
 
RDreamer said:
Yeah I don't think live albums are generally a good way of getting into KC, even though they are generally an insanely great live band.

As I said, I recommend going through their real catalog chronologically, then when you really get a feel for their sound throughout the years, pop into some of the stellar live releases like TGD and Absent Lovers, and they'll have much more impact.



I'm seeing him tomorrow, and I'm excited as hell! The last SW concert was amazing. The PT concerts have all been amazing, too. I was actually at the filming of Arriving Somewhere and Octane Twisted.

I wish he was doing a signing or something, though. I want to get some more of my deluxe editions signed! Might bring Raven down with me just in case. (Already got the deluxes for The Incident and Grace for Drowning signed)




I don't get the LaBrie voice hate. He's not stellar or anything, but I can't imagine many different singers fitting with the music. It works well, and he's light years better than a lot of the DT-esque copy cat type bands that have popped up over the years.

My rankings would probably be similar:

1. Scenes from a Memory
2. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
3. Images and Words
4. A Dramatic Turn of Events
5. Train of Thought
6. Octavarium
7. Systematic Chaos
8. Falling Into Infinity
9. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
10. Awake
11. When Dream and Day Unite
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The James LaBrie hate is quite simple. Somewhere around 1997 or so, he stopped trying to sing. Listen to what he does on IW...or even Scenes from a Memory. He tries to do interesting things, to push himself.

Nowadays his singing is as boring as miming kidz bop. Really sad for someone who used to show great talent.

Also, I don't see much Pain of Salvation love. Sad times :/

And if people in here like neo-prog, check out IQ. They go way back. Great music, but they've been accused of borrowing heavily from early Genesis.
 
It's fairly old stuff now (not been updated since about 2011) sadly, but check weedstash.com for a list of progressive rock podcasts. Loads of good stuff on there to try out if your curious about it.

Cheers
 
Entropia said:
Nice, glad you enjoyed yourself. I got to see them about 9 years ago (holy shit...) and they were fantastic.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/yes/2004/john-labatt-centre-london-on-canada-1bd3d548.html
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Never saw this comments, sorry for not replying earlier. That's a fantastic setlist, sadly they didn't play "Owner of a lonely heart" when I saw them.

jambo said:
Did they play Awaken?
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Yes, it was incredible! They played the albums Close to the Edge, Going For the One and The Yes Albums entirely, in that order, and then finished with a great rendition of "Roundabout".

I'd love to see them again. Amazing concert.
 
RionaaM said:
I saw Yes live last night for the first time. Chris Squire (my favorite bassist ever, along with John Entwistle), Steve Howe and Alan White are such an incredible formation. The singer was pretty good too, and Downes can play the keyboard well, though he's no Wakeman, that's for sure.

Hearing The Yes Album (to me the best prog rock album ever made) in its entirety was amazing. When the last notes of "Perpetual change" finished playing I was on the verge of tears. And then they came back for an encore, which consisted of "Roundabout".

It's a shame I was feeling very sleepy during Close to the Edge, as I wasn't able to fully appreciate it. They won me over with "Turn of the century", perfectly nailing the feeling of the studio version. "Wonderous stories" also sounded great. "Würm" was a bit different than the album version (I prefer that one), and the beginning of "Yours is no disgrace" strikes you like a hammer to the head. Such a powerful opening for their best album, and they played it flawlessly.

Fantastic concert. 2:45 hours of pure awesomeness.
Click to expand...

Nice, I got tickets to the show on the 21st here in Atlanta. Can't wait!
 
Been listening to Hasse Froberg & Musical Companion lately - can't believe I'd missed these albums. I love The Flower Kings and these kick ass.
 
smerfy said:
Also, I don't see much Pain of Salvation love. Sad times :/
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I've been on a big PoS kick again lately. To me, almost all of their output is so stellar. It's nice going back to it after a break, because it's mindblowing again. Only one I could never get into is One Hour By the Concrete Lake. Despite having one of the coolest album names ever, it just does nothing for me.

smerfy said:
And if people in here like neo-prog, check out IQ. They go way back. Great music, but they've been accused of borrowing heavily from early Genesis.
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They sounded kind of generic in all the stuff I tried of theirs. Might go back at some point and try again, especially now that I like Genesis a bit more.
 
Progressive Rock to me means:
Yes - Roundabout
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Genesis - Fountain of Salmacis
And something else, but mainly a crapton of those five.
 
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