SLEEPER

Andrew Carter

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PROG REVIEWER

Member since: 10/9/2005 • Forum posts: 16401 • Last visit: 5/23/2021 3:25:01 AM EST
Location: Entropia

Progressive Biography

I'm Andrew Carter and was born on October 2nd 1985 and I can proudly say that music has become my greatest passion, Progressive Music in particular. I got into music relatively late in life, before I was 16 music was something that me and my friends had on in the background whilst we played on the PlayStation, unfortunately that was usually R&B, Rap and Dance music, styles that at the time I was beginning to form a dislike to, they just didn't do anything for me and seemed to all sound the same. Then I saw the videos to the Red Hot Chili Peppers songs By The Way and Can't Stop on MTV and finally I had found some popular music that got too me. I snapped up the By The Way album and I have been a fan of the Chili's ever since. Following this I went down the rout of the Indie rock that was around at the time (about 2002), of the bands I discovered then, Muse and the Chili's are the only ones that still hold any interest for me.

My discovery of Prog Rock, though, came through my dad. Before I was born he was a handy amateur Jazz musician on the alto and tenor saxophone but had a fondness for the original Prog Rock groups of the '70's, with Pink Floyd being his favourite. I bought him the Echoes 2 disc compilation album and my dad played it to me. I was hooked from the start but it took most of the year before I got anymore (this being January). I got The Wall for a birthday present and this was followed by the Genesis album Foxtrot at Christmas (Gabriel era Genesis being another favourite of my dads, and now mine). I must admit this album took me longer to get into, being so different from The Floyd and far less immediate, but is now one of my all-time favs.

At about the same time I had just started at the local 6th Form college and one of my new friends turned out to be a prog fan as well. My friend lent me copies of the Dream Theater albums Images & Words and Metropolis Part II: Scenes From A Memory and the Symphony X albums The Divine Wings Of Tragedy and V: The New Mythology Suite. On hindsight I guess my love for the concept album was a no-brainer when three of my first six prog albums are conceptual. Sadly I was only able to discover a few new bands in the following years due to a lack of knowledge on prog and a lack of money. Bands I discovered in this time are Marillion, Queensryche, The Mars Volta, Yes, Rush, Peter Gabriel, Spock's Beard, Vanden Plas and Transatlantic.

When I started university I discovered this website and my collection of CD's skyrocketed from a meagre 30+ to 150+ in just a year and a half, not that I'm complaining, though my bank account might be. During this time I also seriously took up the bass and own a Brice HBX-406 six string, though I'm no master of the instrument, yet.

During the years since then I've dropped out of Uni and gone back to college to study a BTEC in Music Technology, I amy not be a great musician but I intend to be very good on the other side of the mixing desk, and learning how to set up a live performance could prove very useful. A part time job has also provided the capitol to expand my knowledge of prog far beyond the bounderies of what I previously knew. I can now say that the more experimental bands tend to gather my attention better than the more traditional varieties of prog, but I'll never turn my back on a group than can do their chosen style well.

Recently I've been added to PA's Prog Metal Team. I'm looking forward to be able to offer something back to this site that has given me such an excellent venue to indulge in my musical passion.

Reviews distribution by sub-genre

	Sub-genre	Nb of reviews	Avg rating
1	Progressive Metal	44	3.57
2	Experimental/Post Metal	18	3.83
3	Neo-Prog	15	3.93
4	Symphonic Prog	12	4.08
5	Tech/Extreme Prog Metal	10	3.30
6	Heavy Prog	8	3.25
7	Eclectic Prog	4	3.25
8	RIO/Avant-Prog	4	4.50
9	Prog Related	2	3.00
10	Crossover Prog	1	3.00