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nahnite 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 24 2008
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Points: 159
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 Topic: Am I missing something?
Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:28 |
I don't know if anything like this thread has already been posted, but I'm gonna throw it out there anyway.
I've listened to the first 4 ELP discs (and Love Beach), including their "masterpiece", Brain Salad Surgery, and, each time, I keep getting impatient, waiting for the musicians to do SOMETHING, rather than what it seems like they're doing (aimlessly naffing about in the studio).
The discs don't feel complete. There seems to be a lot missing, like melody, tension-release...oh, and let's not forget: REAL SONGS. These tunes seem to take a long time getting going, and then go precisely nowhere...s l o w l y. Crap...I'd rather listen to INVISIBLE TOUCH or FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION, and I can't stand either record.
So...am I overlooking something? Am I missing something that hundreds of other people have found? Enlighten me, please. I really want to like them, but I don't at this stage.
Please leave only positive feedback. Please don't use abusive language.
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Mr ProgFreak
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Joined: November 08 2008
Location: Sweden
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Points: 5195
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:34 |
Listen to any of the highly rated Dream Theater albums next. You now know what aimless noodling sounds like, and if you're anything like me you'll find that with Dream Theater you get the same technical level and at the same time some inspired songwriting. Having said that ... make it any album up to - and including - Train of Thought. 
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LiquidEternity
Prog Reviewer
Joined: December 07 2007
Location: United States
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Points: 900
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:35 |
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You're not missing anything. If you don't like ELP, it's okay. You can be a prog fan and dislike that band. In fact, it's almost mildly in vogue to do so these days.
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Mr ProgFreak
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 08 2008
Location: Sweden
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Points: 5195
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:38 |
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BTW: It's not like I hate them or anything ... but whenever I listen to them the music leaves me "unimpressed". Maybe I'm simply not getting it ...
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Negoba
Prog Reviewer
Joined: July 24 2008
Location: Big Muddy
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Points: 5208
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:40 |
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I don't know as much about ELP as other bands, but wasn't Emerson really the first person to make the Moog synth sounds part of common culture? I think at the time it was a pretty radical new sound and part of why the band was so popular. Unfortunately for them, the taste for specific timbres comes and goes, but good songwriting is what gives you staying power.
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You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all.
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Mr ProgFreak
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 08 2008
Location: Sweden
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:44 |
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^ the same can be said about prog in general. These musicians used the newest technology when it came to keyboards ... mellotron, synths etc.. In a way you could really say that a huge part of prog's innovation was that it had not only guitars, but also innovative (as in: not just organ or piano) keyboards.
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MovingPictures07
Prog Reviewer
Joined: January 09 2008
Location: Beasty Heart
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Points: 32181
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:55 |
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I absolutely love ELP, and I frankly don't know why they get the crap they do around this site sometimes.
I think it may just be a case of you not liking them, and as LiquidEternity said, that's completely fine. You're not going to like every single "prog" thing you hear.
I'd say give them a long break and then try it again; maybe you're concentrating on the wrong part of the music. Otherwise, it sounds like you just don't like ELP.
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam
Joined: April 29 2006
Location: Atlantais
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Points: 29630
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 12:58 |
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Yes you are, look over there in the corner...
Edited by Slartibartfast - June 15 2009 at 13:06
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Mr ProgFreak
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Joined: November 08 2008
Location: Sweden
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 13:00 |
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I'm really missing the songwriting component in their music ... but they share that problem with many other artists IMO, so it's not a fundamentally bad thing. Bands can make up for it with other things ... jams, improvisations, cool soundscapes, clever buildups etc. etc.. I tried BSS and Tarkus ... maybe I should try Pictures at an Exhibition, but I don't know. I'm just not getting it.
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LiquidEternity
Prog Reviewer
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 13:07 |
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If you want a final try, listen to the first three songs off Trilogy. Those are the only ELP tunes I ever seem to play anymore. Very well put together, intermingling a great melody, a well structured song, and some intense performances that don't just degenerate into noodling. But I really do know your pain. I tried really hard to enjoy them for a while, and they just never worked.
Though, I think, in my case, it's because they're not weird enough that I don't like them.
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rushfan4
Special Collaborator
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 13:09 |
 LiquidEternity wrote:
it's because they're not weird enough that I don't like them.
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I think that for many PAer's that statement hits the nail on the head.
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akamaisondufromage
Forum Senior Member
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Joined: May 16 2009
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 13:10 |
Don't worry about it. If it doesn't float your boat then jump ship. Just look at the thread on pop prog people can't get into and you will see your not alone.
They don't do much for me neither  |
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Help me I'm falling!
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam
Joined: April 29 2006
Location: Atlantais
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 13:14 |
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For me they were one of the bands that really turned me into a prog freak, but I can see how if you're just checking them out at this point in time how you could be less than impressed. You just have to transport yourself back in time to the '70's.
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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nahnite
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 24 2008
Status: Offline
Points: 159
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 13:31 |
Slartibartfast wrote:
For me they were one of the bands that really turned me into a prog freak, but I can see how if you're just checking them out at this point in time how you could be less than impressed. You just have to transport yourself back in time to the '70's. |
Crap...I transport myself back to the 70's each time I throw in a CD, but ELP STILL leaves me cold.
Glad to hear I'm not alone, though.
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crimson87
Prog Reviewer
Joined: January 03 2008
Location: Argentina
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 13:37 |
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I am kinda biased towards ELP , but keep on trying! You are missing some seminal prog rock!
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martinprog77
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 31 2005
Location: United States
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 14:22 |
maybe you just -not getting in it ... yet, or you probably never will . and thats ok . sometimes im wonder with gentle giant i just cant get into them,and i dont not why ,but bands strongly influenced by them [ like spocks beards and echolyn ] i really like them.
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Nothing can last
there are no second chances.
Never give a day away.
Always live for today.
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akamaisondufromage
Forum Senior Member
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Joined: May 16 2009
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 14:32 |
martinprog77 wrote:
maybe you just -not getting in it ... yet, or you probably never will . and thats ok . sometimes im wonder with gentle giant i just cant get into them,and i dont not why ,but bands strongly influenced by them [ like spocks beards and echolyn ] i really like them. |
You drunk?
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Help me I'm falling!
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
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Joined: December 30 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 14:38 |
akamaisondufromage wrote:
martinprog77 wrote:
maybe you just -not getting in it ... yet, or you probably never will . and thats ok . sometimes im wonder with gentle giant i just cant get into them,and i dont not why ,but bands strongly influenced by them [ like spocks beards and echolyn ] i really like them. |
You drunk? |
I understood what he said perfectly.
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A Person
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 10 2008
Location: __
Status: Offline
Points: 65760
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 14:45 |
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The first 20 minutes of Tarkus are all I really listen to of ELP. I'm just not really impressed by them.
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Negoba
Prog Reviewer
Joined: July 24 2008
Location: Big Muddy
Status: Offline
Points: 5208
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Posted: June 15 2009 at 14:50 |
martinprog77 wrote:
maybe you just -not getting in it ... yet, or you probably never will . and thats ok . sometimes im wonder with gentle giant i just cant get into them,and i dont not why ,but bands strongly influenced by them [ like spocks beards and echolyn ] i really like them. |
somebody's been getting in it.
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You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all.
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Am I missing something?
