Simple prog?
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Topic: Simple prog?
Posted By: Anthony H.
Subject: Simple prog?
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 13:09
| Many people associate prog with musical virtuosity. However, many bands who perform rather simple compositions still manage to be one hundred percent progressive. Porcupine Tree is one of the best examples of this. What other simple prog artists can you think of? |
Replies:
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 13:22
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Pink Floyd is an obviiuos answer.
Maybe VDGG too? Supertramp?
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: The Quiet One
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 13:27
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Supertramp. |
Posted By: mark4art
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 13:32
| Listened to them today, The Future Kings of England. |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 14:09
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Muse keep it short and sweet but still manage to make music with a strong progressive feel at times (but not all the time!)
Good examples of such tracks are Sunburn or Take A Bow.
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Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 14:28
| A lot of Neo: Jadis, Quidam, Iluvatar... even Marillion, Pendragon, IQ or Arena are technically less complex than many of the classics. |
Posted By: otto pankrock
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 14:47
| Hawkwind. |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 14:57
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Definitely Supertramp, one of my favourite bands. Latter Radiohead stripped down an awful amount of earlier virtuosity, with mixed results, in my opinion. I don't understand the references to Marillion, who I think are incredibly complex in their music, certainly in the Hogarth era. I would also add Rush to the list. Incredible musicians, all of them, but since Moving Pictures, I wouldn't describe their music as overtly complex. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 16:01
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VdGG is very complex and not simple at all. Hawkwind is quite simple
-------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 16:09
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Magma ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: topographicbroadways
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 16:52
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Camel i would say fit this, they are complicated at times but more often stick too melody more than complexity Iron Maiden i would say are simple yet progressive at times even though they are not a prog band per se early Caravan particularly If I Could Do It... is definitely a simple yet very progressive album -------------  
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Posted By: CinemaZebra
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 17:01
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Snow Dog wrote:Posted By: Anthony H.
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 17:05
 Yeah, VDGG definitely are not a simple band. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 17:53
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Can ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Pirx the Pilot
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 17:56
| Eloy |
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 19:31
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depends on what you meant by simple I'd say this  |
Posted By: CinemaZebra
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 19:33
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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 22:51
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I would not call Porcupine Tree 100% progressive... I think a lot of Krautrock is simple because of the mind-numbing repetition, but maybe I'm not looking at it the right way. I think a lot of modern symph is also relatively simple most of the time because of their deep love of AOR.
------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: Conor Fynes
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 23:20
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Drone Metal band Earth?
They're listeed on the site, and for good reason...
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Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 23:27
| Eno |
Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 23:45
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Gentle Giant!
They're so simple, yet so amazingly great. |
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 23:47
| I don't really think so. |
Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: July 28 2010 at 23:47
| Poppy but not simple. |
Posted By: himtroy
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 00:16
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Gentle Giant and VDGG are far from simple. ------------- Which of you to gain me, tell, will risk uncertain pains of hell? I will not forgive you if you will not take the chance. |
Posted By: ko
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 00:38
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Posted By: CinemaZebra
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 00:40
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Posted By: BlindGuard
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 12:08
| Alan Parsons Project is a great example even if they are not 100% prog. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 12:12
I was going to post the same ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: daslaf
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 14:42
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maybe Family.. but I have listened to just one record so I don't really know ------------- But now my branches suffer And my leaves don't bear the glow They did so long ago |
Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 22:03
What? I always found Gentle Giant to be a really simple band. 
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Posted By: UndercoverBoy
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 22:22
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Posted By: A Person
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 22:23
| How so? |
Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 22:24
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What is meant by simple here? If it's technicality, then a lot of classic prog is not so hard to play, certainly not in comparison to, say, technical metal. If it's compositional complexity, in terms of structures that go beyond pop verse/chorus and use devices like counterpoint, I don't think anything that's as simple in that sense as basic rock and roll can be called prog. It often is, however, because a lot of prog rock bands, then and now, made simple pop/rock songs which get called prog just because they are made by prog rock bands. As for Porcupine Tree, I am not familiar with much of their psychedelic phase, but I wouldn't call any of the albums from Lightbulb Sun to Incident prog. It may be 'progressive' in relation to the current mainstream trends, that is a different concept altogether. Gentle Giant, by and large, is compositionally very involved.
 Maybe you - Disgruntled Porcupine - are referring to that you did not find it hard to assimilate those songs. But there's no reason why something that's not compositionally basic should not be accessible, it probably indicates great compositional skill, if anything. Conversely, something may sound very out there and 'tough' simply because a lot of the transitions are tangential and/or reek of pastiche, it may not in totality be very involved. |
Posted By: VanVanVan
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 22:39
I have to disagree. Their songs are short, but there is a lot of contrapuntal stuff that makes it really dense and complex, at least to my ear. ------------- "The meaning of life is to give life meaning."-Arjen Lucassen |
Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 23:17
What? People are always talking about how complex they are, and while I find them too poppy (in the sense of song structure and repetition) and twee, they're not simple at all for a rock band.
I tend to agree, but you probably don't want to have that argument here. ;-) ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 23:19
| Maybe DP can only hear the top melody, or something |
Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: July 29 2010 at 23:40
YOU ARE BRAIN DAMAGED! OR HEARING DAMAGED!
I tend to agree, but you probably don't want to have that argument here. ;-) ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: July 30 2010 at 00:21
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If by "simple" you mean "minimalist composition," then there are many examples produced by various artists, either in their band format or as solo works. "I Advance Masked" was a marvelous little album by two old chums, RF and Andy Summers, who played all instruments & followed very basic rhythm patterns, producing some very pleasing music (IMHO). "Olias of Sunhillow" by Jon Anderson followed a very similar minimalist formula with pleasing results. As far as prog bands who adhere to minimalist composition, consider some of the more acoustic groups, many of which border on folk & country. I once heard some acoustic Welsh folk music that, for all the world, reminded me a great deal of Yes!
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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: July 30 2010 at 00:31
Uh, wut? The band has never been very complex. Maybe they play and odd time here or the, and have a simple polyrhythm every now and then, but really no. What tracks are you thinking are "incredibly complex"? ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: The Hemulen
Date Posted: July 30 2010 at 02:55
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: July 30 2010 at 12:10
Even if that were the case, songs like Knots, On Reflection or Experience still have rather complicated melodies to be called simple.
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: July 30 2010 at 12:12
| And agree with Stonebeard, though Marillion also used counterpoint, I think, in Fish era albums. But certainly not ultra complex. The one Hogarth era album I have heard, Brave, was much more watered down in terms of complexity. |
Posted By: Jörgemeister
Date Posted: July 30 2010 at 21:07
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Marillion Pink Floyd Spock's Beard everything with Steven Wilson in it all the "neo prog" genre ( pendragon, asia, arena ...) and many more.... ------------- |
Posted By: Follix
Date Posted: July 31 2010 at 02:04
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The Moody Blues (Maybe not 100% prog but anyway) |
Posted By: pied piper
Date Posted: August 04 2010 at 03:34
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Of course the early Caravan, Strawbs, but also Marillion (Fish era), some Camel and even Genesis stuff, to say nothing of Focus.
Sincerely, NOT Supertramp, I can't understand how they can be rated "progressive" (?).
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Posted By: tamijo
Date Posted: August 04 2010 at 07:51
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Eno - simple complicated music
Rush - complicated simple music
Not that simple a question  ------------- Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours |
Posted By: Evolver
Date Posted: August 04 2010 at 07:59
Genesis
 ------------- Trust me. I know what I'm doing. |