When were you infected by Prog?

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Can you point to a "defining moment" of your life when you got "infected" by the Progressive Rock virus?  

If so, tell us all about it!  Where were you at the time?  How young or old were you?  Was it a concert you attended?  A song you heard on the radio?  A record you purchased?  A record owned by a sibling or a parent that you discovered?  A website you discovered on the internet?  

On the other hand, perhaps you simply cannot remember a time when you weren't a Progger?  Perhaps as a baby, you cried in 7/8 time!  Stand up tall and proud if you were BORN TO PROG!  

...I apologize in advance for leaving out those of you that don't believe that Progressive Rock exists.  

As for me, I can remember asking my mom to buy me 45 RPM records from the age of 4 and playing them over and over until I drove her crazy enough to buy me some *new* ones!  

But it was not until I was 8 years of age, when I spent my weekly "allowance" money to pick up an *album*  by a very popular band.  As was my *tradition*, I wore the grooves off that record.  This one was different, however.  It contained a whimsical tune about a Meter Maid, a sad tale about a misunderstood child leaving home, a carnivalesque tune about a man named Mr. Kite and much much more!  The record "turned me on" with its intense, soaring *orchestration* on one song as well as its unusual middle eastern instrumentation on another.  It was a "concept album" of sorts.  The band was performing as an imaginary band with a pretend singer named Billy Shears.  The concept was loose, but it was stated at the beginning and then was reprised at the end.  The whole package captivated me.  I must have listened to it hundreds upon hundreds of times.  

I am speaking - of course - of the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".  

I had never heard the word "prog" - yet I believe that was the moment when the seeds of the prog "idea" were planted in my head.  The concept that popular music could be *ART*.  From that day onward, I would not believe in 2 separate worlds of music - classical and popular.  I believed that popular music could say something in such a way as to inspire and endure.

So I personally blame my Prog Rock infection on the Beatles!  

What about you?

Edited by progpositivity - April 14 2010 at 17:29

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progpositivity Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: December 15 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 262	Topic: When were you infected by Prog? Posted: April 14 2010 at 17:24
	Can you point to a "defining moment" of your life when you got "infected" by the Progressive Rock virus? If so, tell us all about it! Where were you at the time? How young or old were you? Was it a concert you attended? A song you heard on the radio? A record you purchased? A record owned by a sibling or a parent that you discovered? A website you discovered on the internet? On the other hand, perhaps you simply cannot remember a time when you weren't a Progger? Perhaps as a baby, you cried in 7/8 time! Stand up tall and proud if you were BORN TO PROG! ...I apologize in advance for leaving out those of you that don't believe that Progressive Rock exists. As for me, I can remember asking my mom to buy me 45 RPM records from the age of 4 and playing them over and over until I drove her crazy enough to buy me some new ones! But it was not until I was 8 years of age, when I spent my weekly "allowance" money to pick up an album by a very popular band. As was my tradition, I wore the grooves off that record. This one was different, however. It contained a whimsical tune about a Meter Maid, a sad tale about a misunderstood child leaving home, a carnivalesque tune about a man named Mr. Kite and much much more! The record "turned me on" with its intense, soaring orchestration on one song as well as its unusual middle eastern instrumentation on another. It was a "concept album" of sorts. The band was performing as an imaginary band with a pretend singer named Billy Shears. The concept was loose, but it was stated at the beginning and then was reprised at the end. The whole package captivated me. I must have listened to it hundreds upon hundreds of times. I am speaking - of course - of the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". I had never heard the word "prog" - yet I believe that was the moment when the seeds of the prog "idea" were planted in my head. The concept that popular music could be ART. From that day onward, I would not believe in 2 separate worlds of music - classical and popular. I believed that popular music could say something in such a way as to inspire and endure. So I personally blame my Prog Rock infection on the Beatles! What about you? Edited by progpositivity - April 14 2010 at 17:29
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Xanatos Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Banned Joined: February 01 2010 Location: Latin America Status: Offline Points: 305	Posted: April 14 2010 at 17:34
	First :D

The Wrinkler Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: December 03 2009 Status: Offline Points: 638	Posted: April 14 2010 at 17:48
	Not too long ago actually, I was 19 when I got the virus. It started with Pink Floyd. At the time I was into 90's alternative, Grunge, and classic rock. Then one day I got bored of the music I was listening too, and I decided I was going to check out Pink Floyd. I still remember, but could never get that same feeling again, listening to Dark Side of the Moon. It was so different, I was blown away, but I still didn't "get it." After a couple more listens I was hooked, I became a Floyd fan. That was the first kind of "prog" I heard, but didn't know it was considered prog at the time. It was not until Sept. 09 that I met this Prog DJ at Fry's electronics, at the Pink Floyd section. We were talking about Pink Floyd, and he asked if I liked Prog rock. I didn't know what he was talking about, but he was walking around looking for classic bands. Being Fry's electronics, they didn't have a lot of selections, but there were YES CD's, and he handed me Fragile. He then told me that the bands I NEEDED to listen to after this GENESIS, KING CRIMSON, and EMERSON, LAKE, AND PALMER! I liked Fragile a lot, but what really got me hooked was Genesis, and the album, Selling England By The Pound, which still remains my favorite band and album. I visited this site to expand my horizons, and now I feel like I can't go back to listening to any other genre, cause nothing else feels as "epic" or "spacey." Greatest thing to happen to me this week was FINALLY appreciating VdGG. I didn't quite get Pawn Heart's epic, Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, but when it bit me, I was hooked. Moving on to H to HE now, and find the album hard to get into, but fun when I'm in the right mood for it.

Atavachron Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65244	Posted: April 14 2010 at 18:33
	my first exposure was seeing that sci--fi cover of Tarkus when I was about 9 in my buddy's Dad's LP collection and being immediately drawn to it. Didn't understand the music but loved the imagery. Then a couple years later I saw Hemispheres at a record store and bought it. Again I was primarily drawn by the images and fantasy atmosphere, but this time I actually liked the music (though I still didn't quite understand it). But I kept playing it and by the time I'd reached high school, that mini poster of Lee,Lifeson&Peart sure came in handy. From there I began to appreciate Yes, Mahavishnu, and by the time KC's Discipline came out, I'd become a practicing young musician and could hear the genius. However it wasn't till adulthood that I began to favor Prog over what just a few years earlier had seemed like the far superior Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. Finally by the mid-90s, much older Prog had begun being re-released, and it became a great time to revitalize my interest in artists as U.K., Greenslade, Gryphon, Univers Zero and others.

Finnforest Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16913	Posted: April 14 2010 at 19:14
	I would have to say it was my big brother. When I was about 8 or so, I remember being on vacation and him playing me "Several species of small furry animals gathered together....." and stuff from Magical Mystery Tour. That was first contact. First real experience was simply falling for "Roundabout" on the radio and finally buying "Fragile."

ProgressiveAttic Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 05 2008 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 1243	Posted: April 14 2010 at 19:35
	I was practically born listening to prog! my father is a prog fan and he used to play his prog albums to me when I was little (being ELP my favorite! )... but I never payed much attention to music until when I was 13 and took The Dark Side of the Moon from my father's collection and was so impressed that I listened to it twice and went to grab some more albums, in this exact order: In The Court of the Crimson King (which I listened to 4 times in a row), ELP's Trilogy (another one I listened 3 times) and Yes' Relayer (which I listened 5 times). And I that month I listened to my father's collection in its entirety about 4 times!
	Michael's Sonic Kaleidoscope Mondays 5:00pm EST(re-runs Thursdays 3:00pm) @ Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio(http://www.deliciousagony.com)

himtroy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: January 20 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1601	Posted: April 14 2010 at 20:06
	Well, in middle school I got really into blues music and older rock. Then I got really into psychedelic rock, so the possible progression to prog rock was pretty easy. So in ninth grade I'm at a friends house, and I'd just finished partaking in something we need not discuss. I go into his basement and his brother puts on Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's self titled album. I remember The Barbarian absolutely destroying me at first, then being amazed when they brought it down and Keith Emerson destroyed the piano. Everything about the album amazed me and gave me a completely different outlook on music. So today I still do listen to ELP, but really not that often. But that is the moment prog clicked for me.

RoyFairbank Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: January 07 2008 Location: Somewhere Status: Offline Points: 1072	Posted: April 14 2010 at 21:26
	I was... it was after 1999, when I was 11, quite a bit before 2002, when I was 13/14, I'm guessing 2000 or at the latest early 2001, 12. My dad liked classic rock. He had "Learning to Fly" on his computer one day. I went to the echoes website (this was before it came out I'm 95% sure, so probably 2000). I started buying all their discs. When I got Napster in 2002 or 2003 I fanned out quickly to Genesis and Alan Parsons Project, a little to Yes, who I didn't like as much. And so on and so forth. Edited by RoyFairbank - April 14 2010 at 21:28

thellama73 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 29 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 8368	Posted: April 14 2010 at 21:41
	I was in college, about 2003 or 2004. I was talking about music with my band's bass player and he brought up King Crimson. I had never heard of them, but was intrigued and picked up a copy of ITCOTCK. I can't describe how amazed I was when I put it on and got my first exposure to 21st Century Schizoid Man. Hooked ever since. Before that I listened mainly to experimental/industrial bands, Meat Loaf, Queen and Blue Oyster Cult. So the seeds were always there.


arcane-beautiful Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: November 04 2009 Location: Newry Status: Offline Points: 310	Posted: April 15 2010 at 03:28
	When I was 12, a friend of mine had told me about Dream Theater. Knowing I was a massive Iron Maiden fan, he told me they were a wee bit similar. He showed me Under A Glass Moon and I was intrigued. A few weeks later, I had told my brother and he bought Train Of Thought. I have never looked back since.

The Whistler Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: August 30 2006 Location: LA, CA Status: Offline Points: 7113	Posted: April 15 2010 at 03:47
	Very easy. I was working on some math homework in 9th grade, never a consummate music fan I must admit, but I always had a classic rock station playing in the background (I liked The Stones). Suddenly, "Bungle in the Jungle" comes on the air. "What the hell," sez I, "a pop song with an orchestra, sound effects AND a flute? What's this then?" And then it was yesterday...what did I miss?
	"There seem to be quite a large percentage of young American boys out there tonight. A long way from home, eh? Well so are we... Gotta stick together." -I. Anderson

The Runaway Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: May 28 2009 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 3144	Posted: April 15 2010 at 07:53
	I went on my first CD purchasing with my dad. I got Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. Both were very, very good albums, but I have yet to have known what prog even meant! So, about a year later, I get Rock Band 2, and my mother says she wants to play Aqualung with me, but she doesn't remember the tune, so maybe I could hum it for her I said "sure", even though I didn't know the song, and managed to get myself out of the mess. I played the song a few times, and THEN I was hooked. I got into Rush through Rock Band too (sadly), but without the game, I would have never been your humble, Blowin' Free
	Trendsetter win! The search for nonexistent perfection.

otto pankrock Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 02 2009 Location: canada Status: Offline Points: 330	Posted: April 15 2010 at 09:14
	Several moments. The first time I heard 21st Century Schitzoid Man...1974 on 8-track. "What on earth is this?" I was fortunate enough to have friends that had older brothers. They used to give us all their scratched hand-me-down. Thick as a Brick and the opening of Sabbath's first were also defining moments.

AtomicCrimsonRush Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 02 2008 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 14258	Posted: April 15 2010 at 09:17
	I was into Pink Floyd as a kid and I adored Kraftwerk. I tried to get hold of everything they did. Beatles White Album and Sgt Peppers were inspirational. The Wall by PF was perhaps my first obssession - I still own the famous Lyrics fotonovel of the movie. Dark Side came later on vinyl and then many years later i got hold of a mag by Mojo on Prog - realising most of my music was prog i systematically got hold of all prog in the mag!


(De)progressive Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: March 24 2010 Location: Turkey Status: Offline Points: 495	Posted: April 15 2010 at 09:21
	I really can't remember put my father is an old prog listener so I got used to it by time since my childhood by listening Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, Rush, Deep Purple, Asia etc. in the house. And btw he also listens to Dream Theater, Opeth, Kamelot, Amorphis, Tiamat, Negura Bunget, Enslaved and Katatonia. What a father
	''Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment.'' (Friedrich Nietzsche)

AtomicCrimsonRush Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 02 2008 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 14258	Posted: April 15 2010 at 09:22
	Its all this magazines fault!!!!!!!!!!!!


steve2603 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: April 14 2010 Location: Scotland. Status: Offline Points: 502	Posted: April 15 2010 at 09:31
	I was intrigued about this Prog genre that I wasn't that familiar with so I asked someone to recommend me a Prog band and I was told to listen to KC's ITCOTCK so I did and was mesmerised by it.

scaife Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: December 09 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 62	Posted: April 15 2010 at 09:51
	The year was 1981. I was a rather impressionable 13 year old. Phil Collins was topping the charts with Face Value. I went to a local flea market to get a copy, but they were sold out. The guy behind the counter suggested a Genesis album, ...And Then There Were Three, which featured Phil. Not wanting to go home empty handed, I bought it. Listened to the first track, Down And Out, and was convinced that the record was skipping, so I brought it back to the market. The guy then explained to me the concept of 5/4 time (which Down And Out was). It was like a lightbulb went off in my head. I then proceeded to explore more music by Genesis and the rest is history. 2 years later, Owner Of A Lonely Heart came out and I remember loving the guitar solo, so I went out to buy 90125. I also found a copy of Classic Yes with the superb Roger Dean cover art (still my favourite of his to this day). When I put Heart Of The Sunrise on for the first time, I was totally blown away by what I heard. From then on, prog was my music of choice.

AtomicCrimsonRush Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 02 2008 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 14258	Posted: April 15 2010 at 10:29
	I grew into it over the years after liking bands I didnt even know were prog such as Pink Floyd and Kraftwerk. Its weird that the genre term was so secret back in the 70s when prog was king


someone_else Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: May 02 2008 Location: Going Bananas Status: Offline Points: 24293	Posted: April 15 2010 at 10:33
	I always liked prog even before I knew that it was prog. When I was 9 or 10 years old I started to like Ekseption, at 11 my favourite tune was a single edit of Supersister's A Girl Named You, but I really turned to prog at the age of 13 (in '72/'73) after hearing Atom Heart Mother and Close to the Edge.