PA's Battle to Stardom A5: Can v. Dream Theater

Haha, now this is one I've really been looking forward to. The results here could easily go any which way and I'll love to see how they turn out. The masters of Krautrock or the masters of prog metal, both controversial... which will be crowned and continue?

I hope this one gets quite a bit of responses!

Please: If you are not familiar with one or both of the band's material, I urge that you use the links provided and at least listen to the samples on their respective pages.

Can's PA page: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=667
Dream Theater's PA page: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=378

As always, discussions are encouraged.


Recap:
Round 1
A1:  Mahavishnu Orchestra v. Marillion      (24-28)
A2:  Gong v. Area    (18-19)
A3:  Emerson, Lake and Palmer v. The Flower Kings      (22-14)
A4:  The Residents v. Tangerine Dream    (12-15)

A1: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51423&PN=2
A2: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51492&PN=1
A3: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51567&PN=1
A4: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51630&PN=1

febus wrote: Not one minute of hesitation, Alex   You know , i am 51 (don't tell anybody else) so you can guess who i vote for.   Even if i don't consider CAN as the Krautrock masters (would be Amon Duul 2 for me)...still will win easily over anything noisy to my poor ears.   DT? i guess it is a young man pleasure, you have to grow up with that to appreciate.too ''boom boom''  for me, but i can understand why some people like them   I saw CAN in concert in 1977 ( i think was the BABALUMA tour..1977???).....was an experience and a half!   I like CAN , but not LOVE their music.....Enjoy ''Soundtracks''  some''Tago Mago''....i said some   ''Future Days'' and ''Babaluma''.   I do own (yes, yes) 1 or 2 DT, but the only track i can listen to (and enjoy) is the last one from AWAKEN , an athmospheric piece from K. Moore...very good indeed.   Good job one more time, Alex

Well, Amon Duul II would definitely be tied with Can for being the "masters"... and of course it's subjective, but I mainly meant the most representative "master" of their respective sub-genre... Amon Duul II is great and they're second, but I think when most people think of Krautrock they'll be more inclined to think of Can first. I don't know, haha, they can both be masters; I was just thinking both bands are like the "big" bands of their sub-genres.

Oh, and just maybe ADII will make an appearance later on.

And thanks. I really hope people enjoy these polls, and they get better and better with more responses/discussion/votes, so I heavily welcome your continued participation in these tournaments.


Edited by MovingPictures07 - September 11 2008 at 11:10

Dream Theater.  Not a big krautrock fan in general, have Tago Mago and wasn't really impressed, although it deserves some more listens.  Even were I to compile more Can albums I don't think I'd like them as much as DT (I'm sure I'll get flayed by some for this opinion).

NaturalScience wrote: Dream Theater.  Not a big krautrock fan in general, have Tago Mago and wasn't really impressed, although it deserves some more listens.  Even were I to compile more Can albums I don't think I'd like them as much as DT (I'm sure I'll get flayed by some for this opinion).

Try Future Days

Can well over DT

NaturalScience wrote: listen wrote: NaturalScience wrote: Dream Theater.  Not a big krautrock fan in general, have Tago Mago and wasn't really impressed, although it deserves some more listens.  Even were I to compile more Can albums I don't think I'd like them as much as DT (I'm sure I'll get flayed by some for this opinion). Try Future Days I might....then again I might not.

I've never gotten into Dream Theater, but I'm open to giving them another try. I have Scenes from a memory and think its okay... Any recommendations?

Being that my first Prog experience (before I knew what prog was) was Dream Theater's Awake - which is an album that I still love to pieces today - I've had a lot more experience with DT. I love most of their albums and even though they take A LOT of flak from this website I still think they're one of the leading PM acts right now. Systematic Chaos was great despite what some people say about it.

The only Can album I have is Future Days, and I like that one a lot as well. However, I think that even if I had every Can album I'd still have to vote for DT.

listen wrote: NaturalScience wrote: listen wrote: NaturalScience wrote: Dream Theater.  Not a big krautrock fan in general, have Tago Mago and wasn't really impressed, although it deserves some more listens.  Even were I to compile more Can albums I don't think I'd like them as much as DT (I'm sure I'll get flayed by some for this opinion). Try Future Days I might....then again I might not.  I've never gotten into Dream Theater, but I'm open to giving them another try. I have Scenes from a memory and think its okay... Any recommendations?

Images and Words.

Logan wrote: I suspect that you need to explore more Krautrock.

You might be right, but let me give you a list of what I've heard so far:

Amon Duul II:  Phallus Dei, Yeti, Wolf City
AR & Machines: Echo
Can:  Tago Mago
Faust:  So Far, Faust
Neu!:  Neu! '75
Guru Guru:  I forget the name of the album, it has Dagobert Duck on it.

And there's been not one among these that I've been really impressed with*.  Surely this is a fair enough representation and sufficient data for the Krautrock scene that I can make my determination, no?

edit:  actually I think I like the Guru Guru album the best, I probably will get more from that group.

* IMO, obviously


Edited by NaturalScience - September 11 2008 at 13:24

Logan wrote: I still haven't explored Kraut that greatly.... Didn't have the same impact on me on the whole as other categories music.  it's not up there for me on the whole with say Zeuhl/ RIO/ Canterbury, though people who love those categories commonly love Krautrock).

Same here, really - I don't hate the albums I listed, but they don't have near the same impact on me as Magma, National Health, Henry Cow, etc.