Your Prog Rock Hot Takes

Yes only made 3 amazing records (TYA, Fragile & CTTE), although the others have their moments.

Cristi wrote: GodzillaStan wrote: Yes only made 3 amazing records (TYA, Fragile & CTTE), although the others have their moments.  Prog doesn't need to have complex time signatures, or virtuosic members. Genesis was still making great progressive music well into the late 80's. Derek Sherinian was just as good as Kevin Moore and Jordan Rudess. The only good part of Tubular Bells is the beginning. Return to Forever > Mahavishnu Orchestra   The only truly amazing ELP record is the first one. Fragile is overrated, the long songs are great indeed, the short ones make the albums feel disjointed (for me obviously) "Prog doesn't need to have complex time signatures, or virtuosic members." - maybe not, but skilled musicians surely make the music more entertaining (most of the time).  Yes, Derek Sherinian is great. Kevin Moore is my favorite DT keyboardist though.  "Return to Forever > Mahavishnu Orchestra" - not a hot take IMO, I agree.  "The only truly amazing ELP record is the first one." - some people will totally agree with this.

I never found that much of a problem with the short tracks on Fragile... really, the only one I think could be better is Cans for Brahms, which I have read Wakeman actually intended to use what became Catherine of Aragon instead... it even features the whole Yes in 6 Wives... and that single change would have helped the album so much. We Have Heaven doesn't bother me at all, and it actually segues nicely into South Side of the Sky, so it doesn't really hurt the continuity of the album. Five Percent is so short that if you get distracted you won't even notice that it passed. The Fish segues so nicely from Long Distance Runaround, that I don't feel that song is complete without the other. And Mood for a Day is actually a beautiful piece of music.

^That's amazing! Glad to see Abbey Road and Quadrophenia getting so well loved

Dellinger wrote:   I never found that much of a problem with the short tracks on Fragile... really, the only one I think could be better is Cans for Brahms, which I have read Wakeman actually intended to use what became Catherine of Aragon instead... it even features the whole Yes in 6 Wives... and that single change would have helped the album so much. We Have Heaven doesn't bother me at all, and it actually segues nicely into South Side of the Sky, so it doesn't really hurt the continuity of the album. Five Percent is so short that if you get distracted you won't even notice that it passed. The Fish segues so nicely from Long Distance Runaround, that I don't feel that song is complete without the other. And Mood for a Day is actually a beautiful piece of music.

Dellinger wrote:   I never found that much of a problem with the short tracks on Fragile... really, the only one I think could be better is Cans for Brahms, which I have read Wakeman actually intended to use what became Catherine of Aragon instead... it even features the whole Yes in 6 Wives... and that single change would have helped the album so much. We Have Heaven doesn't bother me at all, and it actually segues nicely into South Side of the Sky, so it doesn't really hurt the continuity of the album. Five Percent is so short that if you get distracted you won't even notice that it passed. The Fish segues so nicely from Long Distance Runaround, that I don't feel that song is complete without the other. And Mood for a Day is actually a beautiful piece of music.

GodzillaStan wrote: Derek Sherinian was just as good as Kevin Moore and Jordan Rudess. Return to Forever > Mahavishnu Orchestra

Not really hot takes. Derek burned it up on "A Change of Seasons." His keyboard solo is one of the best found on any DT album.

I love both RTF & MO, but I own more albums by Weather Report than either.

GodzillaStan wrote: The only truly amazing ELP record is the first one.

Not so much a hot take, just a wrong take.

Cristi wrote: verslibre wrote: Not really hot takes. Derek burned it up on "A Change of Seasons." His keyboard solo is one of the best found on any DT album.  A Change of Seasons was written with Kevin Moore, they played the song live during the Images & Words tour, so Kevin deserves the praise here. Derek was great on Falling Into Infinity, that I agree.

Derek didn't compose the solo he plays on the EP?

^Thanks, Cristi. That's very different (and shorter) than what Derek played. Jordan's solo on Scenes from New York is the longest (and most tempo-varied) of the three. All are great. I do think I like Derek's best, as it achieves the perfect balance of shred and chromatic coloration.

Hot take: The remixed L'Heptade XL by Harmonium sounds worse than the original mix IMO. They should've done just remasters without tinkering with the mixes. The XL version suffers from very odd unfitting EQ decisions, overuse of reverb and compression, and annoyingly obvious digital reverbs that don't go well with that organic 70's Harmonium sound. :( For example the final upfront brass riff on Le Premier Ciel (XL version) lacks that crispy power the original had. It's overmixed and drowned in unnecessary reverb.

Peter Banks was a better guitar player than Steve Howe.