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Topic ClosedThe Greatest Prog Lyricist
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sydbarrett2010 View Drop Down
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Points: 595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 09 2010 at 04:42
roger waters
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nahnite View Drop Down
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Points: 159 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 05 2010 at 15:49
Topping my list would be Peart.
 
But there's also:
2/Jon Anderson
3/Ian Anderson
4/Peter Gabriel
5/Peter Sinfield
6/Mikael Akerfeldt
AND
7/James LaBrie (if he wrote more, I might like DT more.)
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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Points: 17847 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2010 at 09:53
Originally posted by DT-PT DT-PT wrote:

Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

The Greatest Prog Lyricist.....hmmmm
 
Who cares!!!!
 
Ok I'll play...
Neil Peart, James LaBrie, Steven Wilson, Mike Portnoy, Ian Anderson, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Benny Hill, Richard Pryor, Elvis Presley......and GOD.

JLB really isn't a big songwriter in DT.
 
Go to page one...Jake Kobrin is who I was playing along with. He mentioned LaBrie.......albeit maybe his name does not get "printed" on their albums as writer..but I guarantee you he has much input on lyrics. Portnoy's ego gets in the way and his name appears on everything.
IMHO
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Points: 20251 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2010 at 03:42
Originally posted by Rocktopus Rocktopus wrote:


I don't know how great any of the french, italian, german etc... lyrics out there are, so only english suggestions:


 
Good point Christer
 
We've only talked so far about English-written lyrics.
 
I won't speak about German texts, because iften the written lyrics are absent and I don't have sufficient knowledge of the language to judge
 
For the French texts (excluding the Kbaian dialectWink), I really liked Ripaille's sole album.... but the greatest lyricist are Jacques Brel, Claude Nougaro and Georges Brassens (Jean Ferrat is also good), but I wouldn't qualify their works a proggy. For prog  and rock groups, I must say that only Noir Desir's Bertrand Cantat's  are quite above the pack
 
For Italian texts, I get a good idea (via my Frech) of the lyrics when they are available (plus Andrea"s reviews are very helpful in that regard) and I'd say Banco and Jumbo's lyrics are above the rest.
 
Bizarrely enough, despitea good written knowledge  of Spanish, I haven't ^paid much attention to Spanish texts since the rock group of Heroes Del Silencio. I'll have to investigate why I haven't.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
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Points: 393 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 11 2010 at 02:53

Roger Waters
Peter Sinfield
Peter Hamill
Peter Gabriel
Jon Anderson
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enigma View Drop Down
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Points: 154 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2010 at 18:36
Roger W
Peter H
Fish

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Points: 7826 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2010 at 18:14
Daniel Gildenlöw - I don't agree with many of his political standpoints, but his stories and psychological conceptual albums are fantastic!

Fish - His stuff with Marillion has some of the finest lyrics I've ever heard. Pure genius!

Peter Gabriel - Supper's Ready, Get 'Em Out By Friday, Cinema Show, The Musical Box, Watcher of the Skies, and countless others are simply lyrical masterpieces.

Neal Morse - Call them cheesy and whatever else you may want, but I love his narrative approach to lyrics. I don't consider myself to be a Christian anymore, but his lyrics are very personal and I can always relate to, and appreciate, his Christian-oriented approach.

Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
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Points: 4395 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2010 at 17:49
Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

The Greatest Prog Lyricist.....hmmmm
 
Who cares!!!!
 
Ok I'll play...
Neil Peart, James LaBrie, Steven Wilson, Mike Portnoy, Ian Anderson, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Benny Hill, Richard Pryor, Elvis Presley......and GOD.

JLB really isn't a big songwriter in DT.
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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Points: 17847 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2010 at 17:32
The Greatest Prog Lyricist.....hmmmm
 
Who cares!!!!
 
Ok I'll play...
Neil Peart, James LaBrie, Steven Wilson, Mike Portnoy, Ian Anderson, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Benny Hill, Richard Pryor, Elvis Presley......and GOD.
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Kashmir75 View Drop Down
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Points: 1029 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2010 at 17:14
Originally posted by Rocktopus Rocktopus wrote:

^Steven Wilson is possibly the worst lyricist of our time.




AngryAngryAngry
Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while...
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Rocktopus View Drop Down
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Points: 4202 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2010 at 17:10
^Steven Wilson is possibly the worst lyricist of our time.

I don't know how great any of the french, italian, german etc... lyrics out there are, so only english suggestions:

Greatest for me, or the ones I enjoy the most are: The Residents, Robert Wyatt, Peter Hammill (but he's really not that strong all the time), Ian Anderson, Chris Cutler and I have a soft spot for High Tide's lyrics.

Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

 
Probably the best lyricist out there is Roy Harper. There is no second when it comes to the amount of poetryhe has written and sung about/with.


Roy Harper is a true poet. McGoohan's Blues No one in rock can match that. No one!

Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen might not be on par with Dylan, but they still interest me more. 




Edited by Rocktopus - June 10 2010 at 17:30
Over land and under ashes
In the sunlight, see - it flashes
Find a fly and eat his eye
But don't believe in me
Don't believe in me
Don't believe in me
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Points: 5 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 10 2010 at 16:03
Maynard James Keenan, Steven Wilson.. and I am a big fan of Mikael Akerfeldts lyrics. why hasn't he been mentioned?
happy holidays
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TheGrandWazoo123 View Drop Down
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Points: 77 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 09 2010 at 15:30
Damo Suzuki does have his moments, but I can't really consider someone who improvises a lot of his material better than an introspective philosopher like, oh, say, Peter Hammill.

As commonplace as it sounds, I really do think that Gabriel and Hammill are probably the best lyricists, partially because they can incorporate their lyrics into their music really well. Can't say the same for Fish, unfortunately.

Oh, and Eno. He doesn't get enough recognition for writing lyrics. He doesn't do it a lot, but when he does, they are buh-rilliant. 
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Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2010 at 20:10
neil peart
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Points: 252 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2010 at 12:49
Ian Anderson. His lyrics remind me Albert Camus. Tongue
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Mr. Maestro View Drop Down
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Points: 918 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2010 at 12:30
I actually discovered VdGG after reading such positive remarks about Peter Hammil's lyrics on this very thread.  I went and listened to "Man-Erg" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers."  Now he's one of my favorites, too!
"I am the one who crossed through space...or stayed where I was...or didn't exist in the first place...."
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Points: 5 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2010 at 06:05
I would personally choose Ian Anderson, Pete Sinfield, Peter Hammill and Roger Waters.

Though honorable mentions should go for Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Christian Vander.
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Points: 1 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2010 at 03:33
Kerry Livgren

Cool
Blue Man Lou
http://www.myspace.com/dreamersedge
http://dreamersedge.arjis-connect.com
http://www.myspace.com/lousblues
http://www.myspace.com/goodtroublers
http://www.playlist.com/bluelou
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uduwudu View Drop Down
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Points: 2601 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 08 2010 at 03:16
Neil Peart - he plays awesome drums and writes great lyrics and we don't have to listen to him sing. An intelligent drummer! He gets the credit, Geddy takes the blame. Wink Corky Laing will hold him (NP) up as the example that proves the rule (about growing up or being a drummer.)

Neil Peart's backing band is quite good too...
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Terry View Drop Down
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Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 07 2010 at 21:46
Definitely NOT Jon Anderson but would certainly agree with Ian Anderson and Neil Peart (sometimes)
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