Best ballad of all time - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Foxprog wrote:

Excellent!

For me VDGG is the "essential" prog band along with Genesis, King Crimson, Yes and Pink Floyd. It might take a few listens before fully understanding it. But once you do, you will be eternally grateful.

I have most of the early albums by Genesis, Yes & Pink Floyd, but I only like the first album by King Crimson.

Foxprog wrote:

Excellent!

For me VDGG is the "essential" prog band.

dr wu23 wrote:

*long sigh of despair*

Foxprog wrote:

Which albums have to listened from KC?

King Crimson's second album "In the Wake of Poseidon wasn't bad, but I just couldn't get into their third album Lizard at all. That album put me right off King Crimson altogether. I've heard snippets of Larks' Tongues in Aspic and Starless and Bible Black but they were far too experimental for my tastes.

Goodye Yellow Brick Road and Your Song by Elton John are favourite of mine so is original harphishcord version of Skylyne Pdgeon from Empty Sky (1969)

My favorite is "The Deadly Dream Of Freedom" by Triumvirat.

Foxprog wrote:

You should check out "Red" at least once, it's quite remarkable and less experimental than "Lark's". You might not like Providence but the others might click :)

Also "The least we can do..." and "H to he..." are less experimental than "Pawn Hearts", so you should start with those two (if you are interested in VDGG) Smile

I listened to Van Der Graaf Generator's "Pawn Hearts" album for the first time last night, but it was a little too experimental for my tastes, and it even sounded discordant in some places. I may listen to the album again though just to see if it grows on me, and it's sparked my interest enough to want to listen to the two more approachable albums that preceded "Pawn Hearts".

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

I listened to Van Der Graaf Generator's "Pawn Hearts" album for the first time last night, but it was a little too experimental for my tastes, and it even sounded discordant in some places. I may listen to the album again though just to see if it grows on me, and it's sparked my interest enough to want to listen to the two more approachable albums that preceded "Pawn Hearts".

It is a commonly acknowledged aspect of Van der Graaf Generator music that it can be difficult to get into. Even the PA biography of Van der Graaf Generator says:

For lot of us their music has proven to be very hard to get into, but it is even harder to live without it once you've acquired a taste for the band. The way the band combines the very personal with the abstract sound of progression creates a fascination that lives on and the way Peter HAMMILL puts his soul in the music seems to be untouchable for other musicians.

Yes, I found a number of their albums took several listens before I could appreciate the beauty contained within the music. However, I did fall in love with "Pawn Hearts" the first time I heard it.

No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man.

Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Foxprog wrote:

You should check out "Red" at least once, it's quite remarkable and less experimental than "Lark's". You might not like Providence but the others might click :)

Also "The least we can do..." and "H to he..." are less experimental than "Pawn Hearts", so you should start with those two (if you are interested in VDGG) Smile

I listened to Van Der Graaf Generator's "Pawn Hearts" album for the first time last night, but it was a little too experimental for my tastes, and it even sounded discordant in some places. I may listen to the album again though just to see if it grows on me, and it's sparked my interest enough to want to listen to the two more approachable albums that preceded "Pawn Hearts".

Ahh! You took the hardest one first but glad you did :) Give it a few more spins and it might grow on you. Next one "Red"...

Thanks! I wasn't 100% sure which version was original. I agree that the Fraternity's version is a bit clumsy Smile

.

I have a feeling that this song has something like that I knew this motif earlier from some prehistoric times, before memory appeared.