How did you get into prog?

At the time I got into it (early 70s) it wasn't really called underground, that moniker went more to acts like UFO and trip-ridden bummed-out bands, that mostly didn't turn out to have much of a future (Pink Floyd is another exception, for instance).

Edited by npjnpj - September 30 2008 at 04:14

Well, my dad is a huge Procol Harum fan. However, I didn't really actively start investigating prog until I read this comic book about rock history, for some reason I was the most fascinated by the stuff on hard rock and "art rock". The first prog acts I got into were Pink Floyd (of course) and Jethro Tull, can't remember exactly why it was them but could be because my father (again! ) is really proud that he saw Jethro Tull live before they were famous. King Crimson I also bought an album by (The ConstruKction of Light) but it took a long, long time for them to really "click" with me.

progvortex wrote: How did you find out about and get into this semi-underground, underrated genre of music that we call progressive?   I got into prog pretty recently. I started listening to Pink Floyd: first DSOTM, then Wall, Meddle, Animals etc. eventually got into Dream Theater and Jordan Rudess (w/Terry Bozzio on drums) which naturally led to Frank Zappa and then ELP, Yes, VDGG, Camel, Procol Harum, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Alan Parsons.

Having a bit of thread Déjà vu here.  So rather than repeat myself, what I find really interesting is what I like to call the prog web.  So many artists will lead you to other artists.  So many have worked together at one point or another.  You have opened yourself up a can of worms, but they're really really good worms.

I was born at about the same time prog started. When I was a little kid I was fascinated by the strange sounds (and the sweet smoke) that came out of the room of my oldest brother all the time (he is 10 years older than I am), and I often went in and listened in fascination, while sitting there by candle light, with incense sticks burning and my brother using his bong from time to time. I was utterly mesmerized by it. My brother listened to a lot of Kraut and psychedelic stuff, and some of it sounded so weird. It especially impressed me since my parents never listened to any music at all.

my mother got me  into prog [she loves genesis.yes, pink floyd ,queen ,camel,elp,and rush ].

thanks mom i love you

I didn't get into it, it got into me - almost 40 years ago. Yes, Genesis and King Crimson sparked it for me.

like Friede I grew up with it, but in my case it was the parents listening to it, not the brother (I am the oldest kid). they were only 18 when I was born and hippies and listened to all kinds of strange music, as long as you could trip to it

I was searching for bands like Metallica, but found actually none but prog. My high school music teacher played some parts of Yes - Heart of the Sunrise and Jethro Tull - With You there To Help me. I thought that they had some very nice things, but they weren't maybe heavy enough (and they were ridiculous). Right after that I went to library for JT's and Yes' box sets. I also searched the library archive "progressiivinen rock" and "heavy metal", so there was Dream Theater's Scenes From A Memory. With that album there was also the same thing - it's partially heavy but there's so pussy things. But I liked all of those, or some songs, immediately (that's the case nowadays, too.. I almost every time like songs immediately if I like those), so I started to search systematically for example from here to catch all the gems.

Sharing a house in the early - mid 70's with people who liked prog - though we didn't call it prog then. I was introduced to bands such as Yes, PF, ELP etc. I heard Tangerine Dream on the John Peel radio show and was hooked. Later on in the 70's I was into electronic prog with mellotrons. Didn't do much in the way of exploration in the 80's and 90's - moved jobs/married/kids/mortgages etc. Discovered PA mid 00's - several hundred albums later .

It all started a little more than two years ago when someone randomly uploaded "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" to me. Not only was I scared because it was a song from the early 70's (considering that at the time my library only went back to '87) but then I thought "Uh oh... Genesis, aren't they that Phil Collins band?" and held off listening for a while. After reading a bio about Genesis and learning that,at the time of that particular song, Phil Collins was primarily the drummer, I felt a little daring and listened to it. I was floored! I couldn't believe that music like that existed in the 70's! I then "acquired" the Nursery Cryme album and was even more blown away! I then went to AllMusic to investigate this progressive rock thing...

After having next to no success getting into prog from AllMusic, I then found this site and that's when it clicked. I rediscovered King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, and Rush and found exciting new stuff in The Beatles, Van der Graaf Generator, and Gentle Giant. I then went on a frenzy getting all kinds of prog albums.

Now, I have a new love in indie and have less than half of the prog I once did (although still much love for most of the 70's dinosaurs). It's more of a novelty now, I guess.


Edited by Avantgardehead - October 14 2008 at 13:37