Prog Recommendations/Featured albums - what do i look for now?

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what do i look for now?

Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10262
Printed Date: March 04 2025 at 14:46
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: what do i look for now?

Posted By: cluckie
Subject: what do i look for now?
Date Posted: August 17 2005 at 23:23

as a young guy who likes prog rock where my mates are into hip hop or regular rock i find it very diffucult to discover the classics. this is my first computer and i am happy to have found PROG ARCHIVES but any info or opinions on great albums would be great.

i'll let you know what i have descovered already, of course my love started with PINK FLOYD and i have exhausted any new material there but they set the standard for great bands like KING CRIMSON (early), YES, EMMERSON LAKE AND PALMER, JETHRO TULL and MIKE OLDFIELD. now there are alot of albums among those guys which is great and that gives a good indication of the style im into, so who do you suggest from there?

and why cant i find GORDON GILTRAP in the PROG ROCK search engine? this guy i have heard only 2 songs, CASCADE and HEARTSONG, which has intrigued me greatly but i cant find him anywhere and the guy is class.

Replies:

Posted By: Zac M
Date Posted: August 17 2005 at 23:25

I started with Pink Floyd, too. Maybe try some Italian symphonic prog??????

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"Art is not imitation, nor is it something manufactured according to the wishes of instinct or good taste. It is a process of expression."

-Merleau-Ponty

Posted By: Progbear
Date Posted: August 17 2005 at 23:27

RE: Gordon Giltrap. Most of his stuff has been reissued by Voiceprint. Best bets: Fear Of The Dark, Visionary and Perilous Journey. I have the latter and can vouch for it, very good neo-classical type prog, orchestrated and fronted by acoustic guitar. If you’re into bands like Renaissance or the Enid, you’ll like this a lot.

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[IMG] http://www.denness.net/rpi/u/Progbear/fs/8/w/500/cp/2/s/5/si g.png">

Posted By: Zac M
Date Posted: August 17 2005 at 23:32

You might wanna try Gentle Giant (Freehand or In a Glass House have just been remastered and great places to start) or Focus (Moving Waves). They are pretty interesting group. Also, if you are really adventurous you might wanna try some Caravan, Soft Machine, or Gong. There are free mp3s to download on the site, so you can see if you like someone before you spend money on a cd/lp

.

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"Art is not imitation, nor is it something manufactured according to the wishes of instinct or good taste. It is a process of expression."

-Merleau-Ponty

Posted By: fezman
Date Posted: August 17 2005 at 23:38

Hi cluckie, Nice to see another Aussie in the archives!! Some of the bands that I have come across (that I like) since discovering the archives would be Gentle Giant, Camel and Caravan just to name a few. Allof them have their moments (easy and not so easy) for the first time listener but if you stick with them you are bound to have a win. There are so many more so if you want more leads send me a PM. Cheers

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Can't think of anything cool at the moment ...

Posted By: cluckie
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 02:08

this is good guys thanks for the pointers, in regards to caravan i bought a burned cd in viet nam but was a bit dissapointed with it. it was just a little too soft to catch my attention. it could have been an album that generally isnt a popular one but i cant remember the name.

computer is really slow at the moment for downloads but suggested albums to steer clear of is as good as albums to head for. thanks

Posted By: Bilek
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 05:42

Apart from the names already suggested (I consider all great):

Amon Düül II (other Amon Düüls I don't know!)
Aphrodite's Child (666 album only! the rest maybe later)
Vangelis (make sure you read some reviews before! heaven and hell is a good place to start)
Can (very difficukt to get used to. try compilations at first)
Eloy (german space band, similar to PF sometimes, much better IMHO!!)
Focus (already mentioned, but I want to recommend once more! great mixture of ELP, Yes, and Jethro Tull's styles!!!)
You know Genesis, don't you!!! it's a surprise no one's mentioned yet!!! but make sure to keep it restricted to '69-'77, maybe to the extent of '80!
Grobschnitt (perfect Krautrock band with symphonic and space influences!)
Guru Guru (another krautrock band with an eclectic style)
Jon Lord (though not in the archives, you should know about this great man of music! his solo works are far from Deep Purple. Try Sarabande and Gemini Suite)
Kansas (US's successful representative)
Moody Blues (among the progenitors of prog, along with PRocol Harum, Nice and Arthur Brown)
The Nice (Emerson's ex band. check it out!)
Peter Gabriel (Genesis ex-frontman, you should know...)
Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf frontman)
Procol Harum
Renaissance
Rick Wakeman (you should have known this since you know Yes...)
Tangerine Dream (try Cyclone, Force Majeure and Stratosfear first, since these are the records closest to Symphonic and conventional space prog)
Traffic
Van der Graaf Generator

note that all my suggestions are limited to '70's... and some of these suggestions might be pretty hard to get used to, but indispensible once you "acquire the taste"... especially Tangerine Dream, Krautrock bands and Van der Graaf Generator.

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Listen to Turkish psych/prog; you won't regret:
Baris Manco,Erkin Koray,Cem Karaca,Mogollar,3 Hürel,Selda,Edip Akbayram,Fikret Kizilok,Ersen (and Dadaslar) (but stick with the '70's, and 'early 80's!)

Posted By: barbs
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 06:48

Gidday Cluckie,

Others have given some good suggestions for classic stuff. If you are looking for some later stuff and haven't been recommended Porcupine Tree as yet, I highly recommend them.
They are a personal fav band. Latest album is Deadwing, before that, In Absentia and others include Lightbulb Sun, Stupid Dream, Signify, Recordings etc -

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Eternity

Posted By: Eetu Pellonpaa
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 06:49

Good selection from Bilek!

If you like mellotron, try 90's swedish prog! ANEKDOTEN, LANDBERK, MORTE MACABRE, PAATOS and ÄNGLAGORD.

If you like psychedelia (few first albums by PINK FLOYD), try THE SPACIOUS MIND and some albums by HAWKWIND, "Space Ritual" for instance. But do listen them before buying!

Posted By: cluckie
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 07:12

i never realised there was such choice untill i stumbled across this web site. glad to find more 70s prog as so far i have liked this era and the later releases from the likes of king crimson and mike oldfield have been somewhat a dissapointment, though i will defo look into barbs suggestions and some swedish prog

Posted By: M. B. Zapelini
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 07:19

I'd like to recommend you:

Jane (their first 3 albums)

Gentle Giant (everything up to "Live - Playing the Fool")

Caravan (everything up to "Caravan & The New Symphonia")

The Nice (all albums, if you like ELP)

Beggar's Opera (2nd. and 3rd. albums)

Eloy ("Eloy Live" is simply amazing)

Camel ("A Live Record" is also amazing)

Procol Harum ("Shine on Brightly", "Home" and "Grand Hotel")

The Moody Blues (any of the "Magnificent Seven" albums, which starts with "Days of Future Passed" and ends with "Seventh Sojourn")

And if you want to try some dark, complex and magnificent music, Van Der Graaf Generator's "Fantastic Four" albums: "The Least we Can Do Is Wave To Each Other", "H to He Who Am the Only One", "Pawn Hearts" and "Godbluff"

Posted By: proger
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 07:30

ohh i am looking for a : VDGG orr peter hammill stuff
Return to Forever
soft muchine
ange
utopia
and more and more

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...live for tomorrow...

Posted By: spong751
Date Posted: August 18 2005 at 12:10

Note to clukie you might wanna listen to different genres and see what your most intersted in, but i would say pick up some gentle giant.

Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: August 19 2005 at 16:45

cluckie wrote:

I already suggested to add him in the archives but there wasn't any follow-up to my request...

BTW 'Peacock party' is one of the greatest instrumental album I ever heard, I like it better than Camel's 'Snowgoose'. It features the great Ian Mosley (Marillion) on drums.

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"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)

Posted By: italprogfan
Date Posted: August 20 2005 at 20:16

Since you seem to like keyboard based stuff, you may want to also try Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - s/t, Darwin!, Io Sono Nato Libero, or if you like a strong classical touch, ...di Terra.

Posted By: M. B. Zapelini
Date Posted: August 20 2005 at 21:17

Hello, Cluckie! As I already told you, a few weeks ago I did a thread called "A Young Person's Guide to Prog Rock". The following list was compiled from the lists that our mates at ProgArchives sent (NOTE: some progheads recommended bands, but no particular albums from these bands, so I took it off). Hope this list helps you!

BAND	ALBUM	RECOMMENDATIONS
AL DI MEOLA	Elegant Gypsy	1
ALAN PARSONS	Best of Vol. 1	1
ALAN PARSONS	I Robot	1
ANEDOKTEN	From Whitn	1
ANEDOKTEN	Gravity	1
ÄNGLAGARD	Hybris	2
ARENA	Immortal	1
ASIA	Asia	1
AYREON	Into the Electric Castle	1
BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCORSO	Darwin	1
CAMEL	Mirage	4
CARAVAN	In the Land of Grey and Pink	5
CHRIS SQUIRE	Fish Out of Water	1
DREAM THEATER	Metropolis Part 2	2
DREAM THEATER	Images and Words	1
ELO	Burning Bright	1
ELP	Trilogy	5
ELP	Brain Salad Surgery	4
ELP	Tarkus	3
ELP	Emerson lLake and Palmer	2
FOCUS	Moving Waves	1
FRANK ZAPPA	Freak Out	1
FRANK ZAPPA	Hot Rats	2
FRANK ZAPPA	Apostrophe	1
GENESIS	Selling England by the Pound	10
GENESIS	The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway	2
GENESIS	Foxtrot	2
GENESIS	Nursery Cryme	2
GENTLE GIANT	Playing the Fool	1
JETHRO TULL	Thick as a Brick	5
JETHRO TULL	Aqualung	4
JETHRO TULL	Songs from the Wood	1
JETHRO TULL	Stand Up	1
JETHRO TULL	Heavy Horses	1
KING CRIMSON	In the Court of the Crimson King	8
KING CRIMSON	Thrak	1
KING CRIMSON	Starless and Bible Back	2
KING CRIMSON	Lark's Tongues in Aspic	2
KING CRIMSON	The Power to Believe	1
KING CRIMSON	Red	5
KING CRIMSON	In the Wake of Poseidon	1
MARILLION	Misplaced Childhood	3
MARILLION	Script for a Jester's Tear	2
MARS VOLTA	De-Loused in the Comatorium	1
MIKE OLDFIELD	Tubular Bells	1
MOODY BLUES	Days of Future Passed	1
MOODY BLUES	In Search of the Lost Chord	1
MR. BUNGLE	Mr. Bungle	1
NEKTAR	Remember the Future	1
NEKTAR	A Tab in the Ocean	1
OPETH	Ghost Reveries	1
ORBITAL	Pig Farm on the Moon	1
OZRIC TENTACLES	Jurassic Shift	1
PETER GABRIEL	III	1
PFM	Per Un Amico	2
PINK FLOYD	Dark Side of the Moon	8
PINK FLOYD	Atom heart Mother	1
PINK FLOYD	Wish You Were Here	6
PINK FLOYD	The Wall	2
PINK FLOYD	Animals	1
PINK FLOYD	Meddle	1
PORCUPINE TREE	In Absentia	2
PORCUPINE TREE	The Sky Moves Sideways	1
PSYCHOTIC WALTZ	Into the Everflow	1
QUEEN	II	1
QUEENSRYCHE	Operation Mindcrime	1
RADIOHEAD	Kid A	1
RENAISSANCE	Ashes are Burning	1
RENAISSANCE	Turn of the Cards	1
RENAISSANCE	A Song for All Seasons	1
RICK WAKEMAN	Journey to the Centre of the Earth	1
RUSH	A Farewell to Kings	2
RUSH	Moving Pictures	4
RUSH	Hemispheres	1
RUSH	2112	1
SUPERSISTER	Present from Nancy	1
SUPERTRAMP	Breakfast in America	2
SUPERTRAMP	Crime of the Century	1
TAAL	Skymind	1
VDGG	H to He Who Am the Only One	1
VDGG	Godbluff	1
YES	Fragile	7
YES	Close to the Edge	6
YES	The Yes Album	4
YES	Relayer	1
YES	Classic Yes	1
YES	Tales from Topographic Oceans	1

Posted By: Bilek
Date Posted: August 21 2005 at 07:26

^^ the list is expanding! why not recommend all progarchives data base?

just joking!

Is Al di Meloa "Elegant Gypsy" album prog, btw?

"Hot Rats" is great, indeed! I hadn' recommended Zappa in the first place, 'casue I didn't know that! now I am a fan! (didn' like the rest of his albums that much, though!)
One last Jazz Fusion recommendation: any Mahavishnu Orchestra album from 1971 to 1975... (I don't like Inner Worlds that much)

Last, but not the least : I prefer Godspeed You! Black Emperor to all more recent bands... They have a fresh '70's Tangerine Dream sound, with no synthesiser at all! Great experimental band!