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Evolver

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Topic: Simple prog?
Posted: August 04 2010 at 07:59

Genesis

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tamijo

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Posted: August 04 2010 at 07:51

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

pied piper View Drop Down

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Posted: August 04 2010 at 03:34

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" (?).

Follix

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Posted: July 31 2010 at 02:04

The Moody Blues (Maybe not 100% prog but anyway)

Jörgemeister View Drop Down

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Posted: July 30 2010 at 21:07

Marillion
Pink Floyd
Spock's Beard
everything with Steven Wilson in it
all the "neo prog" genre ( pendragon, asia, arena ...)

and many more....

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rogerthat

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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.

rogerthat

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Posted: July 30 2010 at 12:10

Captain Clutch wrote:

Maybe DP can only hear the top melody, or something

Even if that were the case, songs like Knots, On Reflection or Experience still have rather complicated melodies to be called simple. Confused

The Hemulen View Drop Down

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Posted: July 30 2010 at 02:55

UndercoverBoy wrote:

CinemaZebra wrote:

Snow Dog wrote:

Can

Koenjihyakkei

Aphex Twin

Merzbow

stonebeard View Drop Down

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Posted: July 30 2010 at 00:31

lazland wrote:

I don't understand the references to Marillion, who I think are incredibly complex in their music, certainly in the Hogarth era.

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"?

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cstack3

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Posted: July 30 2010 at 00:21

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!

Henry Plainview View Drop Down

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Posted: July 29 2010 at 23:40

Captain Clutch wrote:

Maybe DP can only hear the top melody, or something

YOU ARE BRAIN DAMAGED! OR HEARING DAMAGED!

rogerthat wrote:

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.

I tend to agree, but you probably don't want to have that argument here. ;-)

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Triceratopsoil View Drop Down

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Posted: July 29 2010 at 23:19

Maybe DP can only hear the top melody, or something

Henry Plainview View Drop Down

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Posted: July 29 2010 at 23:17

Originally posted by DisgruntledPorcupine

DisgruntledPorcupine wrote:

What? I always found Gentle Giant to be a really simple band.

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.

rogerthat wrote:

I tend to agree, but you probably don't want to have that argument here. ;-)

Edited by Henry Plainview - July 29 2010 at 23:18

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VanVanVan

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Posted: July 29 2010 at 22:39

DisgruntledPorcupine wrote:

What? I always found Gentle Giant to be a really simple band.

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.

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rogerthat

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Posted: July 29 2010 at 22:24

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.

Gentle Giant, by and large, is compositionally very involved. Wink

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.