Thoughts on my taste?

I've only recently been exploring Prog rock...it had been my impression that what I considered to be The Dead Zone in music - from about a year or so before The Beatles broke up to the rise of groups like ABBA - coincided with the Prog moment in music. So, basically 'forced' myself to check out prog acts. Generally found it easy listening without having true classics as such...King Crimson's "The court of the Crimson King" title track being an exception.

Anyway I've been compiling a list of the prog albums that I've heard and rating them. Curious as to what you make of my tastes, if you identify yourself as a 'real' Prog fan. Here's my list:

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/dfle3/progressive_art_experimental_rock_albums_rated___

I did have that the impression that many of my selections might not be considered 'real' prog albums...but browsing a thread here I see that I may not be so 'out there' as I thought I was being...what, with the Black Sabbath albums...and you guys are counting Metallica too? I was just thinking of having "...and justice for all" in my list, but you guys seem to go further.

Anyway, appreciate any thoughts you have on my list...hopefully the link works!

Seems like a bit of inverted snobbery at work here; so not very hopeful about what I will find on your list; but will check it out and report back.

Well, I'll admit to having mainstream tastes...I've gone out of my way to explore certain genres and acts that were out of my comfort zone...be it Black Sabbath, or Cream or early punk etc.

I do plan on checking out more prog...give Yes and ELP a burl.

However, in my defence, I did see many acts or albums which I included in my list appear in another thread here, concerning the most highly regarded prog albums based on how people voted for them or something..

Have found some gems in my explorations even for albums that I don't rate highly. E.g. for punk, if I hadn't of taken a punt, I wouldn't have discovered Stiff Little Fingers great debut album. And even though I'm not a big fan of thrash metal, I think Metallica has some absolute classics like "Fade to black" or "Welcome home".

That's basically my issue re prog music...it doesn't really get FM play here in Australia and I think that's because the music isn't really memorable or catchy. Having said that, I think songs like "The court of the Crimson King" deserves to be a classic rock staple, and I'm very partial to Floyd songs like "Remember a day" and "Flaming".

I've given many 'real' prog albums on my list a good score, but I'm not sure that most of them have truly memorable or 'killer' songs...to my tastes at least. That's the reason I find that period in music in a Dead Zone.

I'm finding it impossible to understand why anyone would think 1969 to 1976 is "The Dead Zone" of music  

dfle3 wrote: In that other thread I mention here, here are some of the albums in my list which makes this forum's list:   http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=46093

That is people's favorite albums overall, not favorite prog albums. Also, only a relatively small number of currently activemembers participated in that because it was 3 years ago and a tremendous hassle. Look at the PA top 100 and top from each genre for a more representative list, although that still varies considerably from many members. 

dfle3 wrote: Henry, can you give a link to the list you mention? I'm assuming that there are a lot of such lists on this site...I'll check it out some time when I have time. Thanks.

It's right on the front page... No Red Hot Chili Peppers here. ;-)

One other thing...I've heard "Kind of blue" but never really thought of it as 'progressive'...so I'd have a question mark on that album on this forum's list too.

Is this forum part of a publication or something? How big/mainstream is it? Just curious.

 

dfle3 wrote: One other thing...I've heard "Kind of blue" but never really thought of it as 'progressive'...so I'd have a question mark on that album on this forum's list too.

Miles Davis is included for his fusion work, but PA's policy has always been to includes entire discographies. Per album genre tagging would be a herculean endeavor at this point, and individual album tags that would exclude them from the top lists would be the only solution. So we're stuck with this situation because Kind of Blue is a good album so people will rate it highly, even though it is not rock. This also happens on a smaller scale with some of the subgenres.

Is this forum part of a publication or something? How big/mainstream is it? Just curious.

Well we're the top hit for Progressive Rock on Google after Wikipedia. I'm not sure how much the rest of the internet cares about us, most music forums are dire and I avoid them.

What's your top 10 prog albums? For the albums in my list which you think are legitimate, do you think I got the order mostly right or mostly wrong?

I hate music, you don't want to hear my opinion. 

dfle3 wrote: Hmm...noticed Thick As A Brick is #1...not a fan of that song on their compilation, and the album is just basically one long song, yeah? Sort of sounds like a joke on Tull's behalf...like you'd have to be thick as a brick to buy it?

Edited by Henry Plainview - April 10 2011 at 02:42

re comments like:

"I'm finding it impossible to understand why anyone would think 1969 to 1976 is "The Dead Zone" of music"

and

Just the fact that there's so few memorable songs...like I said I LOVE "The court of the Crimson King" (song), but there's really not a whole stack of songs I feel that strongly in 'real' prog music...a band like Pink Floyd are way more mainstream than King Crimson and I would LOVE to hear songs like "Flaming" and "Remember a day" on the radio.

That you don't suggests that the music is not mainstream nor killer/memorable.

A lot of the 'real' prog albums I've heard are nice enough...easy listening to my way of thinking, but they don't really contain songs that you feel mainstream FM stations SHOULD be playing.

I LOVE Zappa's "Help, I'm a rock" but I get why it doesn't get played on mainstream FM radio.

I'm sure that there are heaps of fans of death metal who think that certain bands or songs are absolute greats, but most people would not sure that view...so, for the guys who think that what I term the Dead Zone of music is wrong, are there songs that you REALLY believe SHOULD be played from them because they just deserve to be heard?

And if you think that "Thick as a brick" deserves to be heard on the radio, then I think we are coming from completely different positions...it might be appropriate on a station devoted to prog rock, but the kind of songs I love are the kind of songs that I think SHOULD be played on mainstream FM stations...personally, I can't understand how "The court of the Crimson King" is NOT played there...I feel robbed...can't really say I feel that way for most prog music...is pleasantly easy listening, but nothing more.

 

dfle3 wrote: I'm sure that there are heaps of fans of death metal who think that certain bands or songs are absolute greats, but most people would not sure that view...so, for the guys who think that what I term the Dead Zone of music is wrong, are there songs that you REALLY believe SHOULD be played from them because they just deserve to be heard?

The years from 1969 to 1976 have some of the highest concentrations of critically acclaimed and popular rock music of all time, it's impossible to believe you are being sincere when you say things like this.

Nobody cares about the radio. 

Edited by Henry Plainview - April 10 2011 at 03:20