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List of best eclectic prog songs (with vocals) |
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ClosetothSupperBrick 
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 Topic: List of best eclectic prog songs (with vocals)Posted: January 03 2019 at 20:23 |
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Hey everyone, haven't been on here in a while, but feel an urge to get into some new (to me) music.
Looking for suggestions as per the title: this is my current prog "craving". Eclectic can be (relatively) boring, but can also be exceptional with the right blend of vocals and instrumentation, which imo helps you stay focused and not drift off when the band starts "noodling".  What are your favorite 5-10 songs that meet these requirements? Are there good ones not from the giants: KC, VDGG, GG? (P.S: I like 70s stuff, as you can tell by my username, but this isn't limited to that) |
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Mascodagama
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Posted: January 04 2019 at 03:34 |
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Here's one to get you started:
Josef Skrzek had one of the most beautiful male voices in rock, along with Francesco Giacomo, in my view. |
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Soldato of the Pan Head Mafia. We'll make you an offer you can't listen to.
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someone_else
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Posted: January 04 2019 at 05:32 |
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Five oldies I can immediately think of:
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Tapfret
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Posted: January 04 2019 at 06:09 |
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Island - Pictures
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Mascodagama
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Posted: January 04 2019 at 06:32 |
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^ GAA-STRIC JUUICES!!
Great record. |
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Soldato of the Pan Head Mafia. We'll make you an offer you can't listen to.
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Tapfret
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Posted: January 04 2019 at 07:08 |
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Every song on that album is a good example. Particularly when taking the instrumental lineup into account.
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Progulous
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Posted: January 04 2019 at 15:52 |
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King Crimson - I Talk To The Wind and Easy Money
Gentle Giant - Advent of Panurge, Nothing At All VdGG - Man-Erg These ones probably go without saying, though.
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Lewian
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Posted: January 04 2019 at 17:01 |
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This is somewhat strange because I'd understand the definition of Eclectic as taking and mixing various influences, but normally bands would be called Eclectic because of the variety of their songs; single songs can have more than one influence but are hardly "eclectic" on their own, and consequently some of the best songs of the bands classified Eclectic are not eclectic at all (e.g., I Talk To The Wind to take one already listed example - great song of an eclectic band but how is it eclectic as a song?). Anyway, looking for which bands are actually in the "Eclectic" category, Manfred Mann's Earthband's Watch has great vocals, one good song after another, and some good instrumental parts thrown in, too - you probably know "Davy's On The Road Again", but "Martha's Madman", "Circles", "Drowning on Dry Land/Fish Soup" etc. all are worthwhile. (I like Nightingales and Bombers and Solar Fire at least as much, but they're somewhat weaker in the vocals department.) Keyboard hero William D. Drake is there, well you may think he's not the best singer but he knows how to use his voice and has wonderful melodies; the best is probably "Me Fish Bring" from "The Rising of the Lights" (he has some good vocal help there), also check out the phantastic Revere Reach album, e.g., Lifeblood, bah, overall his work is so good and... eclectic... that it is almost impossible to pick a few best songs. Another hero who isn't exactly a singer, Steve Hackett, does what may be the definition of Eclectic, so much variety on many of his albums. Maybe the best in eclecticism (and probably not super well known) is "To Watch the Storms" although also here eclecticism comes from listening to the whole album. There are some good vocal parts, too, maybe Serpentine Song is the best in that direction but then this isn't exactly an eclectic song, rather a bit like like I Talk to the Wind. A very enjoyable early example is the "Mercator Projected"-album by East of Eden. Once more it's hard to pick a song, Isadora, Waterways and Bathers are all mysterious and beautiful.
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Logan
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Posted: January 05 2019 at 08:17 |
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While mostly instrumental, Bubu's "El Viaje de Anabelas" immediately springs to my mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5pmx5tZ-80
I can think of lots of Eclectic ones that I like with some vocals (sometimes more choral), but the vocals operate more as another instrument such as in Jean-Claude Vannier's "Les gardes volent au secours du roi" off "L'enfant assassin des mouches": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwDAw5pMWvE Gnidorolog has been mentioned, though I'd like to mention the album In Spite of Harry's Toenail. Ill mention "Long Live Man Dead": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7c00SXMNaQ And for fans of Gentle Giant, Et Cetera. Here's "Newton avait raison": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OacGpLEvSFI (it is rather noodly and may cause one to drift off). From the biggies in Eclectic Prog: Van der Graaf Generator's "Darkness" and Gentle Giant's "Pantagruel's Nativity" spring to mind, and King Crimson's "In the Wake of Poseidon". Edited by Logan - January 05 2019 at 08:21 |
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jamesbaldwin
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Posted: January 05 2019 at 16:26 |
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Family: Spanish Tide,from Fearless, 1971.
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Amos Goldberg (professor of Genocide Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem): Yes, it's genocide. It's so difficult and painful to admit it, but we can no longer avoid this conclusion.
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jamesbaldwin
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Posted: January 05 2019 at 16:27 |
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Then Beatles: Happiness is a Warm Gun (1968, White Album)
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Amos Goldberg (professor of Genocide Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem): Yes, it's genocide. It's so difficult and painful to admit it, but we can no longer avoid this conclusion.
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Mornar Popaj
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Posted: January 05 2019 at 16:56 |
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Hobo - Prijatelju
Edited by Mornar Popaj - January 29 2019 at 10:10 |
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ClosetothSupperBrick
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Posted: January 06 2019 at 00:39 |
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Thanks for the responses everyone. I really like this genre of music, and these will help me become more accustomed to the more instrumental songs, perhaps.
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I prophesy disaster
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Posted: January 10 2019 at 12:16 |
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The whole of "The Death Defying Unicorn" (Motorpsycho)
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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.
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Plizzard
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Posted: January 29 2019 at 11:30 |
You can add to that most Motorpsycho albums, but in particular I'll list (in date order): Demon Box Timothy's Monster Angels and Daemons at Play Trust Us Phanerothyme Heavy Metal Fruit Behind the Sun The Tower Each of these albums includes an eclectic selection and combination of material. And the whole Motorpsycho back catalogue is an ecelctic array of "rock" music: psychedelic, progressive, stoner, grunge, indie, post-punk, heavy, hard, jazz, and more - sometimes all in the same album, sometimes combined in the same song.
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