The Big Three

Snow Dog wrote: The three major prog bands of the seventies were , IMO, Genesis, Yes and ELP. Now the point is that I like all three of these bands, no not just like, they were a major part of me. On this forum though, theres a lot of "Genesis were  great ELP were crap" etc. I was just wondering if any of you chaps liked these three equally (more or less)

 

ELP as easy as 123

Ben2112 wrote: I'm guessing the songs you've heard are probably the Lake ballads ("From The Beginning", "Lucky Man", "Still...You Turn Me On") since these are the ones that one hears on the radio most. Check out the 30-odd minute suite "Karn Evil 9" from Brain Salad Surgery or "Tarkus" from the album of the same name; certainly not "prog-lite".

Thanks, I'll look into them.

Thing is, ELP wrote some excellent stuff but also a hell of a lot of crap, i would replace them with King Crimson in the top 3 for the 70's

ELP were the first of the three in this thread that I actually took any notice of - I bought "Tarkus" the moment it was released. Yes was the next band to enter my subconsciousness not long after and "Fragile" was the first album of theirs I owned. Not until the late 70's did I begin to take notice of Genesis and I have favoured the post-Peter Gabriel version of the group as a whole since I first heard them. However, of late I am listening to earlier Genesis and beginning to appreciate them more than I ever did before.

• ELP
• Yes
• Genesis

In reality:

• King Crimson - (first prog group I really liked back in '69 - my top Prog group)
• Yes (Fragile blew me away when I first listened to it - still gives me the warm fuzzies!)
• Jethro Tull (my liking for this group has never wained over the years)

Next  ELP followed by Pink Floyd and then Genesis

All this could change - next week -

Trouserpress wrote: Surely King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull had JUST as much impact on the UK prog scene in the 70s as those three? Looks like you've got a pretty selective memory... Maybe you didn't personally like them, Snow, but the fact as that they're all prog bands and they were all HUGE!

I've addressed these issues in a previous post! Perhaps you read selective posts? I always thought Tull were a FolK Rock band at the time anyway.

I am stunned ....

It seems half the people here have never heard of PINK FLOYD

My list is:

1. PINK FLOYD
2. GENESIS
3.  ----

I do not know either ELP, YES or KING CRIMSON well enough to even try to compare them with PINK FLOYD or GENESIS. But I am certain, there was not yet a group born to rival with PINK FLOYD. And GENESIS is almost certainly an order of magnitude higher than either ELP, YES or KING CRIMSON.

Oh, no, Karnevil9, of course I heard some of YES, KING KRIMSON etc ... For example, I really really like "Red" and "In The Court of The Crimson King". The problem is that I heard all  GENESIS and all PINK FLOYD (and for many many times in the last ten years) and before I know YES, KING CRIMSON, or ELP at least half as well I cannot compare these with what has become perfection to me in the form of PINK FLOYD and GENESIS. Judging from my opinion right now, I'd say, YES, KING CRIMSON and ELP fall into another, light, weight category.

So, pecking order of the 70s:

Heavy weight: PINK FLOYD

Medium weight: GENESIS

Light weight:
   1. KING CRIMSON
   2. ELP
   3. YES
   4. CAMEL, RUSH etc


Edited by Arteum

Arguably the 3 mentioned bands were the most significant of prog acts, although commercially Pink Floyd were a long way ahead. Of the 3 my preference is

1 Yes

2 Genesis

3 ELP   This is quite a common selection as ELP albums on the whole although excellent had more mediocre moments than the other 2 bands. Heart of the Sunrise and Music Box Rank as 2 of THE greatest pieces of contemporary music. Another topic to be discussed no doubt?

Arteum wrote: Oh, no, Karnevil9, of course I heard some of YES, KING KRIMSON etc ... For example, I really really like "Red" and "In The Court of The Crimson King". The problem is that I heard all  GENESIS and all PINK FLOYD (and for many many times in the last ten years) and before I know YES, KING CRIMSON, or ELP at least half as well I cannot compare these with what has become perfection to me in the form of PINK FLOYD and GENESIS. Judging from my opinion right now, I'd say, YES, KING CRIMSON and ELP fall into another, light, weight category. So, pecking order of the 70s: Heavy weight: PINK FLOYD Medium weight: GENESIS Light weight:    1. KING CRIMSON    2. ELP    3. YES    4. CAMEL, RUSH etc

King Crimson... LIGHTWEIGHT?!?!

Arteum wrote: Trouserpress wrote: Arteum wrote: Oh, no, Karnevil9, of course I heard some of YES, KING KRIMSON etc ... For example, I really really like "Red" and "In The Court of The Crimson King". The problem is that I heard all  GENESIS and all PINK FLOYD (and for many many times in the last ten years) and before I know YES, KING CRIMSON, or ELP at least half as well I cannot compare these with what has become perfection to me in the form of PINK FLOYD and GENESIS. Judging from my opinion right now, I'd say, YES, KING CRIMSON and ELP fall into another, light, weight category. So, pecking order of the 70s: Heavy weight: PINK FLOYD Medium weight: GENESIS Light weight:    1. KING CRIMSON    2. ELP    3. YES    4. CAMEL, RUSH etc King Crimson... LIGHTWEIGHT?!?! What would you like me to do? To place KING CRIMSON in the same "weight" as GENESIS? And I gave KING CRIMSON the first place among lightweights anyway ...

Yes. That would be a start. Genesis have always struck me as being pretty "lightweight" as it happens. The Gabriel years were inoffensive but nothing that amazing, musically, and the less said about post-Gabriel Genesis the better.

King Crimson, however, are a constantly-evolving but always progressive band that has experimented with rock, jazz, metal, avant garde and much more besides and with surprisingly reliable results too! They are far more important, exciting, challenging, satisfying and dare I say it, progressive than Genesis ever were, and in the 70s they were considered to be giants of rock, (in the days when prog was just accepted as something that the best rock bands indulged in) and were in all probability a little bigger than Genesis as well. So yes, I would indeed like you to place King Crimson in the same "weight" as Genesis at the very least. No need for puzzled faces.