ARCER

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PROG REVIEWER

Member since: 9/1/2004 • Forum posts: 1239 • Last visit: 7/24/2010 8:54:22 AM EST
Location: United Kingdom

Progressive Biography

Like a lot of people I encountered prog through an older sibling and his friends. Initially that meant hearing Kansas' Leftoverture about four years after its release. To me at the time, just getting into the Beatles, Zeppelin, AC/DC etc etc it just seemed like more rock music but as I heard more and more rock music, that kind of symphonic, totally melodramatic, completely overblown music was the stuff that appealed to me most. Next on the discovery chart was Rush, via Spirit of Radio as a single and then a toss-up between Genesis' Duke and Permanent Waves saw the coin fall for the latter and I've been a Rush fanatic ever since.

Thereafter, it was a steady diet of Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis et al as well as myriad other kinds of music from punk, to jazz, funk to classical, new wave to post rock and everything in between. I've even been know to dig a little Emmylou and Johnny Cash now and then.

But despite tumbling through new wave, goth etc etc phases of my late teens, early 20s, it has been prog that has kept me musically inspired since that first audition of Carry on Wayward Son all those years ago.

For the old stuff, I'll take classic Rush from 74-84, Genesis from Trespass right up to parts of the Genesis album of the mid 80s (I'm an oddity in that regard I think), Yes from their debut until Drama, Kansas from Kansas to Audio Visions and Floys from Meddle to Final Cut. I've also harboured a long love of Supertramp since hearing The Logical Song about a week after starting secondary school - it seems apposite and I became hooked on them. Chuck in some Tull and sundry other little bits and pieces and that was my steady prog diet until I discovered the Archive sometime last year.

Since then I've discovered tons of new and genuinely exciting bands such as the wonderful PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Porcupine Tree, Proto-Kaw, Quella Vecchia Locanda and The Flower Kings, who I'm becoming obsessed with.

There's a lot more out there to be explored, so let's see what's out there...