Is Selling England really the greatest prog album? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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J-Man

Prog Reviewer

Joined: August 07 2008
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Posted: March 25 2009 at 10:48

Atkingani wrote:

Interesting that SEBTP contains BEST (P)...

What a coincidence...

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BaldJean

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 10:50

an album has to be known to be recognized. there are probably a lot of better albums, probably even a lot of that would be considered to be "better" by those who currently think SEBTP is the best, if only they knew of them. it is the same with books. do you have any idea how many masterpieces have been written that just never were discovered? a good example of an almost forgotten masterpiece is "Les Chants de Maldoror" by Lautréamont. if surrealist Philppe Soupault had not discovered it by chance in 1917 (in the mathematic section of a small Parisian bookshop, of all places!) and had passed it on to André Breton, who was as equally enthusiastic about the book as Soupault, we would have been bereft of what is now widely considered to be a masterpiece of French literature

Edited by BaldJean - March 25 2009 at 10:52

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stonebeard View Drop Down

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 10:50

There is no "best" prog album. Anyone who tries to say there is should try to get a job with a pretentious, head-up-ass magazine, like RollingStone or NME.

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J-Man

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:00

stonebeard wrote:

There is no "best" prog album. Anyone who tries to say there is should try to get a job with a pretentious, head-up-ass magazine, like RollingStone or NME.

Tell us what you really think LOL

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rogerthat

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:03

Ricochet wrote:

It's the "top rated prog albums" list, people. Top rated =/= best prog album ever.

That's all there's to it. Clap

SEBTP is up there because it has MANY five star ratings, so it's liked a lot by a lot of people. That said, it is my favourite prog rock album Wink

, eh, for somebody else, it would be some other album.

LinusW

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:04

Vompatti wrote:

I don't care much for it. Moonlit Knight and Firth of Fifth are awesome songs, but the rest of the album is pretty average. Foxtrot and Trespass, on the other hand, are pure brilliance from beginning to end.

AlexUC

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:11

Is just a popular liked album, doesn't mean it's the best. I think it's impossible to determinate such a really complex thing, but with this kind of rating algorithms you have to expect that most of the popular albums will be highly rated (if others loved it, maybe I will). It's just like water, everybody likes it but you would hardly say it's the best drink of the world...

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Zargus

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:14

We all know Close to the edge is the real best prog album of all time.

darkshade

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:34

the top 100 (top 10 to be exact) is like a prog rock starter kit

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darkshade

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:37

i just checked out the top 100 list, and Close to the Edge has the most ratings at 838 as of today. SEBTP and TAAB have 765 and 524 ratings, respectively. so CTTE is clearly the most POPULAR album on the site.

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BaldJean

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:39

darkshade wrote:

i just checked out the top 100 list, and Close to the Edge has the most ratings at 838 as of today. SEBTP and TAAB have 765 and 524 ratings, respectively. so CTTE is clearly the most POPULAR album on the site.

it is the most well-known. that does not automatically make it the most popular

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lazland

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:39

As ever, much of this sort of thread is down to personal opinion. I happily gave SEBTP five stars, but my personal favourite from this band is Nursery Cryme.

However, as a previous post said, if you get, as you do on this site, so many people rating it the highest prog LP of all time, that clearly makes it the fan's favourite. It doesn't, however, make it the BEST - that is, and always will be, a matter of personal taste.

I tend not to think of the best or favourite prog album of all time nowadays - I think of my favourite five as I think there is so little to choose between them. That, of course, does not detract from the fact that there are piles of other great works out there for us to enjoy.

For what it's worth, my top five are:

1. Marbles

2. Brave

3. Nursery Cryme

4. Going for the One

5. The Wall

The order changes a hell of a lot, dependant upon my mood. SEBTP is not there, but it is still a mighty piece of work and essential for any serious prog collection.

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Negoba

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:43

I've rated a lot of albums masterpieces here, but besides CTTE, I don't know of any that are better prog than SEbtP. After many many listens I appreciate Lamb as an artistic work that matches CTTE, but it's still so hard to bite off in its entirety. SEbtP grabs you from the first note and can continue to satisfy for decades.

So I'm curious what other people would even put in the league of the big 2 or 3.

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darkshade

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:55

BaldJean wrote:

it is the most well-known. that does not automatically make it the most popular

wouldnt that be the same anyway? popular doesnt always mean best or good either. there's a bucnh of 1 & 2 star ratings. besides, i think DSOTM is the most well known, in the strictest sense. though i know no one who calls that album (or PF in general) prog rock.

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Ricochet

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 11:56

Zargus wrote:

We all know Close to the edge is the real best prog album of all time.

We do?

I disagree. Heavily.

See? There goes the "all" part (one we shouldn't use for any kind of album). Tongue

Edited by Ricochet - March 25 2009 at 11:57

Sacred 22

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 12:06

From what I have heard and this is not to say that there is not some buried 'masterpiece' somewhere out there on someones hard drive, but the album 'Close to the Edge' is the best I have heard.

moshkito

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 12:16

HI,

So sad that we have to "rate" and "rank" something in order to like it ... so, the next thing you gonna tell me is that if I convince you that Genesis isn't prog that you will dump the album and think it's poop and merde!

Please ... drop it.

No one will think you are weird because you like this better than that ... but to say that this is prog and something is not as prog ... has got to be the most abused, useless information for anyone here, not to mention that I would consider it an insult ...

Take a hint from the musicians themselves ... they do not create music to be "prog" ... ever!

Kill the term plz ... and besides why bother using if it's never gonna be in the rock hall of sh*t (I'm embarassed to say the other 4 letter word!) anyway!

Edited by moshkito - March 25 2009 at 12:17

crimson87

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 12:36

Zargus wrote:

We all know

Brain Salad surgery

~~Close to the edge~~ is the real best prog album of all time.

Selling England by the Pound is an album that I have to be in the right mood in order to listen to it. Some of it's songs are a total yawn (

) to me. The production is impeccable , but it lacks the power Nursery Cryme for example has.

Alongside BSS , Close to the Edge is the most representative prog album because. Prog is about strong love hate reactions , either you love it to death or you can't stand it. Listen to the Hammond solo in the middle of CTTE or the outro of And you and I. That's so over the top , it represents prog extravaganza much better than SEBTP which can pass as a refined rock album.

Chris S

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 12:43

The ratings don't lie, SEBTP is flavour of the month. Mind you some Invisible Touch, Open Your Eyes or even Love Beach fans will disagree

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J-Man

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Posted: March 25 2009 at 13:02

Chris S wrote:

The ratings don't lie, SEBTP is flavour of the month. Mind you some Invisible Touch, Open Your Eyes or even Love Beach fans will disagree

There are Love Beach fans? Confused

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