 Biggles wrote:
Gentle Giant - "In a Glass House" |
One of their best. I don’t know what your reaction would be if
you’re a newcomer to GG, but I find it to be one of their best, if most
difficult, albums. Totally uncompromising, which is probably why
American record companies totally chickened out on releasing it.
(though they somehow convinced Capitol to release The Power And The
Glory, which is very nearly as “difficult”).
| ELP - "Pictures at an Exhibition" |
Should be low priority. Should be retitled Most Of The
Pictures At An Exhibition Except The Really Hard-To-Play Ones
Fleshed Out With Questionable Original Material And A Cheesy
Tchaikowsky Take-Off. Ugh! Their penchant for tacky “rocked-up”
classics was always the tendency I liked least about ELP, and that’s
pretty much all you get here. “The Great Gate of Kiev” should
not have lyrics, I truly believe that. Don’t say I didn’t warn
you!
| Hatfield & the North - "Hatfield & the North," "The Rotters Club" |
Both quite excellent. I prefer the first, as it’s more quirky and
eclectic. The second tends toward jazzy slickness at times, but offers
enough of the manic energy of the first to be very, very much worth it.
| Wishbone Ash - "Argus" |
Mainstream 70’s guitar rock with some slight proggy moves. Hasn’t really aged well.
| Renaissance - "Scheherazade" |
I’m not as familiar with this as I am other Renaissance albums of
the period, but it seems to be a safe purchase. I am curious about that
30-minute suite (one of the only tracks from this I haven’t heard).
| Rush - "A Farewell to Kings," "Hemispheres" |
I think this is the strongest period of the band, and that both of these are excellent albums.
| McDonald & Giles - "McDonald & Giles" |
Neat album, rather like the softer, less Frippian moments of the
first KC album. If you like what McDonald brought to the table, you
should enjoy this a lot. Not to be of the highest priority of what you
listed, but worth having.
| UK - "UK" |
One of the few “supergroups” that lives up to the hype. Dazzling
musicianship and memorable tunes. Eddie Jobson just got a Yamaha CS-80
polyphonic synthesizer, and uses it all over the damn place. This can
be unsettling for one weaned on Hammonds and Mellotrons, but he uses it
beautifully and tastefully. He wrote the book on polyphonic synth
playing in prog with this album, too bad so few followed his musical
advice.
| Soft Machine - "Third" |
A touchstone album in jazz-rock. Some of this is quite avant-garde
and a lot of people have difficulty with it, but I think it’s quite
musically outstanding. The ensemble riffing on “Facelift” is just such
a sublimely Canterbury moment, and I really dig the Terry Riley-esque
tape-loop stuff on “Out-Bloody-Rageous” too. “Moon In June” was Wyatt’s
last big compositional contribution to the band, and thus is quite
important. The transition of that tune from airy sing-song to
out-and-out avant darkness is dazzling!
| Gong - "Angel's Egg" |
All of the trilogy albums are worth your while, with each one being
better than the last (the largely instrumental You probably
being their apex as a band). This one’s quite excellent, too. Get it!
| VDGG - "Pawn Hearts" |
Their high point as a band, and one of the high points of British prog. Again, get it!
| Area - "Arbeit Macht Frei" |
I don’t like this as much as Caution, Radiation Area or
Crac!, but IMO all of Area’s first four studio albums are worth
getting. I’d put this one on a par with Maledetti, which is no
slouch itself.
| Anglagard - "Hybris" |
A touchstone album of 90’s prog. Everything changed after this, for
better or worse. At least it gave prog the kick in the pants that it so
desperately needed, and yanked it out of the doldrums of new-agey
digital keys and thudding electronic drums. It gave proggers something
to aspire to. And it’s aged remarkably well. Definitely recommended.
| Jethro Tull - "Catfish Rising" |
Mid-80’s Tull is always a dicey proposition. Investigate with caution.
| Steve Hillage - "Fish Rising" |
His best solo album by a country mile! I even like this better than some of the Gong trilogy stuff!
| Henry Cow - "Leg End" |
If you’re just starting with them, this is definitely the place to
begin. Of course, all HC stuff is “difficult”, though this is early
enough that you can still clearly hear the Canterbury (largely Soft
Machine circa Third) influences quite clearly.
| Robert Wyatt - "Rock Bottom" |
Haunting and beautiful album with a great flow. If you’re expecting
intricate fusion workouts with power drumming like in Soft Machine or
Matching Mole you’ll be disappointed, but this album is a classic in a
different sort of way. Highly recommended!
| Mahavishnu Orchestra - "Apocalypse" |
Disappointing. I admit the idea of MO-plus-orchestra enticed me too,
but so much of this seems sapped of the energy that made MO such an
attractive prospect in the first place. Seems to have lots of filler,
too. Still, “Vision Is A Naked Sword” is fantastic, sort of
MO-meets-Stravinsky, and “Hymn To Him”, while a bit drawn out and
protracted, has some truly inspiring moments to it.
Overall, though, I think that Visions of the Emerald Beyond
is better from this period, though neither can hold a candle to any of
the quintet albums.
| PFM - "Storia di un Minuto" |
A touchstone album of Italian prog. If you don’t have it already, get it now! The next two should be close behind.
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My wish list... priorities?
Topic Options
. Of the bands I've listed up there, I've also got "Octopus" by Gentle Giant, "The Inner Mounting Flame" and "Birds of Fire" by Mahavishnu Orchestra, "Godbluff" and "Still Life" by VDGG, "2112" and "Moving Pictures" by Rush (burnt), and "ELP," "Tarkus," "Brain Salad Surgery," and "Trilogy" by ELP, so no need to recommend any of those.
