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thehallway View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2010 at 13:21
I grew up with Zeppelin and Floyd but had no knowledge of the word prog. The modern music that surrounded me never caught my attention so I indulged in these two bands alone until...
 
At 13, I stumble across a strange concert on a sky television channel somewhere in the very high hundreds (the kind of channels that play the same few programmes on a rota, with lots and lots of advertising). The band played music that intrigued me. From memory, it was accesible (in the sense that it was played with instruments I recognised and it wasn't avant-garde or anything), and yet something caught my interest just as I was about to change channel; the beat was wrong. Every fourth bar had a beat missing and it really confused me. I thought at first that the band were making a mistake, but then realised that they must have been doing it consciously because they stayed in time with each other. It was, as it now seems obvious, just an unconventional time signature, one of the trademarks of prog rock. So I sat through this song and made a note of each instance this strangely-timed section was reprised. By the end of the piece, something else was on my mind more than the rhythm- the song was around 10 minutes long. I was even more puzzled, and emerged from the living room 3 hours later having watched an entire show of similarly obscure and lengthy music.
 
Because of the nature of the TV channel, the same show was on again the following night, and I would watch it again and again for about a week. I began to recognise the proggier elements, and even enjoy them. Eventually I made the effort to do some research on the band's name; leading to many Youtube listenings (when songs were still allowed on Youtube) and wikipedia referencing. Christmas was nearing, so I asked for a few albums by this band that had tracks on them I recognised from the TV concert.
 
The band was Yes.
 
And so my first prog experience would have been the 15/8 time signature in the main theme of Siberian Khatru.
 
My life has never been the same since.
 
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 24 2010 at 06:14
Originally posted by SebK 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 musicStar
Hi. I am very happy to meet another Iranian (?) Prog fan in PA  Tongue.  I know "Reaza Yazdany" but I never like his music. Maybe he play another style but I listen to music that he released.  Khodahafez.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 24 2010 at 11:53

At my first year of high school, I discovered progressive music. There were these three potheads (who got fired from the school very soon after I met them) who were only listening to Pink Floyd. One day, one of these guys lent me a few albums (Animals, Close to the Edge and Thick As A Brick) and that's how my fascination began.

Les mains, les pieds balancés
Sur tant de mers, tant de planchers,
Un marin mort,
Il dormira

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 24 2010 at 21:27
well, you can maybe find my history a kind of odd but....

It started in a class of music when the teachers wanted us to play coldplay's viva la vida and showed the video for us.  Then some people were telling that the music was copied and put Satriani's If I could fly. I was fascinated of how he could make a song wihout lyrics sound so complete. After that, at home, I was searching the album on internet ( Is there love in space, wich sucks) when my mom noticed and gave me Malmsteen's Concerto Suite for Orchestra saying that if I would hear a guitarrist, that it needed to be more "progressive" (very disapointing to me not find malmsteen here, since he s completely prog. But im to lazy to make a request XD). I could never describe the feeling of hearing Icarus Dream Fanfare. After it, i decided i liked Prog Rock

Saying that for a friend, he recommended Focus. I thought a little strange the hocus pocus yodeling, but i still loved it ( I even went to a show of them in my brother's birthday XD).

And after Focus, i went "progressing" into other prog bands and eventually found prog archives...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 25 2010 at 03:33
I was born in Romania and was 13 back in '89 when communist regime fell. A listened to everything I could grab after '89. Few years later I discover bands like Roxette, Helloween, Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Led Zep, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Satriani etc. I wasn't aware about what progressive rock truly means until 2005/2006 when I discovered this site. From that moment on the journey started and will for sure continue for the years to come. I'm grateful to all the effort you guys are putting in this site by promoting bands/artists, writing reviews or posting in the forums.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 25 2010 at 17:47
Originally posted by KingCrimson250 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 LOL  It must have been quite a shock!
 
Great that you liked it, I'm afraid many of those who did the same threw SEBTP away thinking it was from another band with the same name!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 25 2010 at 20:38
My first prog experience...well, I, like many others here, heard the usual bands on classic rock radio. (Genesis, Rush, Tull, etc.) and I became a fan of Rush. I read an interview where Alex Lifeson mentioned Steve Hackett as one of his influences. Up till then, I had no idea who was in Genesis before they got to be a big band...so I looked Steve up online, and after listening to a few sound clips on Amazon, the next day I went out and bought Foxtrot. Big smile

I loved that, so looked around online for other bands like that, which led me to KC, Zappa, Camel, Marillion, etc.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2010 at 07:33
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.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 26 2010 at 15:36
i knew prog rock thanks to pink floyd, when i was already 7 or 8 years old.after that i hear a band called "rush" even before i knew that  they were RUSH.  i liked before a few listens because their link with the hard rock cause at that time i was obsessed about everything  of led zeppelin and deep purple, but i didnt understand all that "funny sounds" that rush made with their instrumental work.

after that i met the mars volta, dream theather, genesis, porcupine tree, etc.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 29 2010 at 10:51

Originally posted by AerosolKid74 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.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2010 at 08:17
My parents ahd a few Prog records in their collection These included Aqualung, Close to the Edge, various Moodies albums, and Dark side of the moon. Initially I resisted, but then it pulled me........the rest is history......LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2010 at 13:38
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
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2010 at 14:24
Originally posted by AerosolKid74 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.
Life is like a beanstalk... isn't it?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2010 at 14:33
Originally posted by progvortex progvortex wrote:

Originally posted by AerosolKid74 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 comeClap
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2010 at 03:52
Originally posted by lazland lazland wrote:

Originally posted by progvortex progvortex wrote:

Originally posted by AerosolKid74 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 comeClap


Nicely put! I agree totally!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2010 at 08:57
Originally posted by AerosolKid74 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. LOL
Now you kids get the hell off my lawn!!! Tongue


Edited by Slartibartfast - September 26 2010 at 09:00
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2010 at 09:16
I grew up in the 'Disco Era' (second half of the 1970's), when an older fellow in highschool (I guess he was 16, and I was 13, LOL!) introduced me to this band called 'Yes'. I was completely blown away!!! I had finally discovered "my" kind of music.
As it was in the days of vinyl, when you bought ONE album once in some three months time (didn't have that much cash to spend in those days, always had to beg my parents to allow me to buy something new...), I didn't get to hear all of the more obscure prog from those days, but in stead, completely lost myself in anything I could lay my hands on - Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Rush, but also bands like Styx, Kansas, and Foreigner and the like. I well remember enjoying one album for at least six months or so without trying out something else during that period - I absolutely cherished those albums.
Quite like how Steven Wilson always explains how 'different' the enjoyment of music used to be in those days - not surprisingly, we're of the same generation - nowadays, you easily stack up some 20 CDs a month, some of which never leave the cupboard anymore after having had its first spin. Yes, the times have changed...
 
Originally posted by lazland lazland wrote:

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 comeClap
 
Thumbs Up How well said, and isn't that indeed great? Clap

Jesus never managed to figure out the theremin either
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 27 2010 at 10:10
Supertramp and after DT
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 28 2010 at 13:32
I got into Pink Floyd as part of my classic rock initiation in high school (1999-2003) and am proud to say I heard Dark Side in its entirety on vinyl my first time.

But my first conscious Prog experiences were hearing Yes' Classic Yes on CD and a cassette from my dad with Trick of the Tail on side A and Wind and Wuthering on side B. Heart of the Sunrise and Dance on a Volcano changed my life for lack of a better phrase.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 30 2010 at 14:55
Tull's Passion Play tour in '73 although I didn't know it at the time that it was a prog piece.
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