First Prog Experience

Tull's Passion Play tour in '73 although I didn't know it at the time that it was a prog piece.

Supertramp and after DT

AerosolKid74 wrote: When did prog first draw you in? I remember sitting in school when I was about 10 by myself with a crappy mp3 player i got off ebay that could only fit about 10 minutes of music on it and I just listened to Roundabout by Yes over and over again and that was a truely magical time, I unfortunately didn't really discover Yes for another 3 years

I first got into prog in the LP/cassette age, you have no idea how peculiar your anecdote is to those of us who are older than dirt.
Now you kids get the hell off my lawn!!!


Edited by Slartibartfast - September 26 2010 at 09:00

progvortex wrote: AerosolKid74 wrote: When did prog first draw you in? I remember sitting in school when I was about 10 by myself with a crappy mp3 player i got off ebay that could only fit about 10 minutes of music on it and I just listened to Roundabout by Yes over and over again and that was a truely magical time, I unfortunately didn't really discover Yes for another 3 years Our first encounters are hauntingly similar. I first heard prog on an MP3 player at school and the song was Roundabout.

It's amazing the age range on this site.

A lot of us old farts can remember a time when an MP3 player was but just a fantasy of a sci fi writer. We started off on vinyl.

This, BTW, is not meant to be deprecating - I never cease to wonder and applaud the fact that there is a new generation of prog fans who will carry the torch for many years to come

Like several of you fine folks, I started listening to prog a long time before I really understood what progressive rock was.  Up until I was about 14, I listened to nothing but Celtic music (I was big into the Lifescapes compilations, if that means anything to anybody).  My parents don't listen to music of any kind, so my growing passion existed in a weird vacuum.  I didn't really have any friends that were big into music either, so I just endlessly played my albums of soft, ambient bagpipe drones without really thinking about it too much.

When I turned 14, I made friends with a guy at my new school who listened exclusively to Queen.  He got me into them in a big, big way, and for the next year or so I listened exclusively to Freddie and Co.  The passion lasted for years, and Queen remain one of my absolute favorite bands...I remember when, during my freshman year in high school, we were partnered up with several classmates and given a faux newspaper assignment.  We had to research and write the articles, and distribute the results to the rest of the class.  My partners were two girls who were into Hanson every bit as much as I was in to Queen; the resulting paper was filled with combating Queen/Hanson articles.  Personally, I think my story about finding Freddie Mercury alive and well and brainwashed, living in a Chicago suburb, took the blue ribbon in geekitude.

From Queen I branched out into Def Leppard and Styx, both of which remain guilty pleasures for me.  I still had never heard the term 'progressive rock.'  Then, when I was 17ish, I went to see Kansas in concert at a local venue.  I'd never heard a single Kansas tune (outside of the obvious hits), but the show blew my mind.  This was right after the release of Always Never the Same; the band were backed by a full orchestra, and Steve Walsh was everywhere on the stage, throwing water bottles into the crowd and singing his fool heart out.  I was amazed: I bought a copy of ANtS at the booth, and waited for over an hour until the band deigned to sign it for me.  Sadly I didn't get to meet them, but a roadie took my booklet back to them and came back with every band member's signature (even the apparently elusive Robbie Steinhardt).  I remember the roadie told me how unusual it was that kids my age would take interest in an 'old' rock band.

I bought the whole Kansas discography.  It had come to a point where I was spending every cent I could scrounge on music.  My next big discovery was Jethro Tull, which (again) I was introduced to in concert.  My uncle had been trying to get me into them for a while (though I think he was a little ill-advised in giving me A Passion Play as an introduction).  I saw them on the supporting tour for J-Tull.com, and knew I'd discovered another true love.  About this same time I started exploring Pink Floyd.  When I was growing up my older brother had played The Division Bell and DSoTM obsessively, so these albums were already firmly grounded in my subconscious.  I'd soon bought their entire discography, becoming especially enamored of Animals and WYWH.  But I still didn't identify as a prog fan.

So I staggered on, absorbing progressive rock acts without comprehending that I was showing exclusive preference to a specific genre.  I found Uriah Heep, The Doors, Asia, Rush, The Beatles, ELP, The Mars Volta, Black Sabbath, Coheed & Cambria, Starcastle, Rainbow, The Decemberists, Morgan, Jimi Hendrix, Royal Hunt, Ice Age, and Lake of Tears. I thought of them as good, solid, quality music that made me feel transcendently happy.  I knew the term progressive rock, but really didn't personally identify as a proghead. Then, stumbling around ye olde internets, I discovered Progarchives.

The first band I explored due to this site was Birth Control.  I quickly expanded my sphere of music, listening to any prog I could get my grubby hands on.  It was akin to drinking your fill after wandering in the desert with limited rations: suddenly I was able to quench my thirst for amazing music without ever worrying about exhausting an artist or an album.  Today I have over 30 days of music on my machine, the vast majority of it progressive rock.  And my quest for music continues on a daily basis.  I chronicle my latest finds on my podcast, along with revisiting some of the passions of my youth.  Prog has made me my life far more livable, and the endless thrill of discovering new music is a sensation I doubt I could live without.




Edited by Lozlan - September 24 2010 at 13:40

AerosolKid74 wrote: When did prog first draw you in? I remember sitting in school when I was about 10 by myself with a crappy mp3 player i got off ebay that could only fit about 10 minutes of music on it and I just listened to Roundabout by Yes over and over again and that was a truely magical time, I unfortunately didn't really discover Yes for another 3 years

Haha, EXACTLY the same for me. A friend recommended Roundabout, and as soon as the band kicked in I was blown away. Gradually moved onto the rest of Yes' material and from there onto prog as a whole. Amazing stuff, but Roundabout will always hold a special place in my heart.

I grew up listening to rock, thanks to my older siblings influence. Black Sabbath, Rush, Led Zeppelin etc. I can still remember waiting for my older brothers to leave for school, then sneaking into their room to play their records. I was so young I hadn't learned to read yet so I would use the pictures on the album covers to discern what was what. 2112 and Led Zeppelin 1 come to mind. By 14 I had headphones practically glued to my head listening to rock radio. For some reason the Moog solo in Lucky Man seemed to mesmerise me. Shortly there after I picked up ELPs first album and had my mind completely blown away. The rest is history.

KingCrimson250 wrote: When I was younger, I guess around 12 years old, I found a copy of Turn It On Again lying around (a Genesis greatest hits CD). I thought it was pretty enjoyable. Anyway, a while after I was at the CD store and I saw Selling England By The Pound on sale for a very low price. I recognized it from the hits compilation, which contained I Know What I Like, and picked it up. I was instantly hooked. This was an entirely new kind of music that I'd never heard before and I was completely blown away by it. Never really went back to that hits CD.

Now that's a goodie, buying SEBTP because you liked Turn It On Again, hahaha   It must have been quite a shock!

SebK wrote: I was taking electric guitar lessons in Iran, and my teacher (Reza Yazdani) taught me a few songs by Pink Floyd and Camel. I fell in love (with the music)

Hi. I am very happy to meet another Iranian (?) Prog fan in PA  .  I know "Reaza Yazdany" but I never like his music. Maybe he play another style but I listen to music that he released.  Khodahafez.