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Joined: December 04 2011
Location: Madison WI
Status: Offline
Points: 213
Posted: June 04 2013 at 19:43
If my prog collection WAS too big, it would be entirely the fault of this web site. In fact, what is the purpose of this site if not to celebrate the vastness of it all and to thereby mock each of us for our utter failure to have collected all available material? Until I develop the eternal immortality I seek, this site allows me opportunities to spend at least a wee bit of time considering artists and releases I'll never actually have time to explore properly.
Joined: January 24 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8628
Posted: June 04 2013 at 19:53
progbethyname wrote:
presdoug wrote:
I have most of what i want already, and have become very picky and selective about what i will actually purchase in the future. And i find i spend more time on listening to my favorites (for instance, Triumvirat, Passport, Historical Bruckner) with some things unfortunately getting ignored. I guess now when i think of adding something new to my collection, i have to have a really strong reason to want it to go thru with it. Being super picky can have advantages, i guess. I pretty well have just the right amount of selection, so i don't need much more. Not many more will get through my picky, new additions process.
I agree on a ton of what you said here. I think being 'picky' represents a person who knows and understands their 'sound' very well and that is a huge advantage. You most likely don't make the mistake of buying something you completely don't like; thus, wasting your money. We all gravitate towards a certain sound we really enjoy that gives us goosebump city and some of us have a core of bands that we gravitate towards as well. All in all, I'm like you where I am picky and I have high standards as a listener because ultimately I know what I like and it sounds to me you do as well.
Now sometimes we take a 'risk' here and there by buying something from a band that we don't know much about, but I gotta tell ya 9/10 I end up liking it cause I at least know what kind of sound that band produces or if it's similar to some of my all time favs. This is very interesting and I'd have to say overall that my prog collection is well oiled and organized machine cause everything gets a spin now and then, but my cd stack is massive. It takes time to go through it all, but I get around to everything cause i average at least 4 albums a day. :)
Thanks, it has taken me decades of collecting and listening to come to know what i like as i do now; every minute spent has been worth it, man!
Joined: December 10 2011
Status: Offline
Points: 1301
Posted: June 04 2013 at 21:59
progbethyname wrote:
presdoug wrote:
I have most of what i want already, and have become very picky and selective about what i will actually purchase in the future. And i find i spend more time on listening to my favorites (for instance, Triumvirat, Passport, Historical Bruckner) with some things unfortunately getting ignored. I guess now when i think of adding something new to my collection, i have to have a really strong reason to want it to go thru with it. Being super picky can have advantages, i guess. I pretty well have just the right amount of selection, so i don't need much more. Not many more will get through my picky, new additions process.
I agree on a ton of what you said here. I think being 'picky' represents a person who knows and understands their 'sound' very well and that is a huge advantage. You most likely don't make the mistake of buying something you completely don't like; thus, wasting your money. We all gravitate towards a certain sound we really enjoy that gives us goosebump city and some of us have a core of bands that we gravitate towards as well. All in all, I'm like you where I am picky and I have high standards as a listener because ultimately I know what I like and it sounds to me you do as well.
Now sometimes we take a 'risk' here and there by buying something from a band that we don't know much about, but I gotta tell ya 9/10 I end up liking it cause I at least know what kind of sound that band produces or if it's similar to some of my all time favs. This is very interesting and I'd have to say overall that my prog collection is well oiled and organized machine cause everything gets a spin now and then, but my cd stack is massive. It takes time to go through it all, but I get around to everything cause i average at least 4 albums a day. :)
Great points. I like your system. My problem is the bands I think I should like. Like I said above, all of the bands related to Flower Kings and Yes, really aren't essential, but I still feel the need to buy them. Like right this minute, I'm thinking about trying once again to get into the recent Kaipa album. But I hate the singer! WTF? I'm crazy
That being said, I do have a sound I love, but goose bump city seems to be evading me lately.
Joined: December 10 2011
Status: Offline
Points: 1301
Posted: June 04 2013 at 22:00
Floyd Steely wrote:
If my prog collection WAS too big, it would be entirely the fault of this web site. In fact, what is the purpose of this site if not to celebrate the vastness of it all and to thereby mock each of us for our utter failure to have collected all available material? Until I develop the eternal immortality I seek, this site allows me opportunities to spend at least a wee bit of time considering artists and releases I'll never actually have time to explore properly.
Tell me about it! There are so many rabbit holes on this site. One weekend I went down the Canterbury hole and didn't come out till monday morning. So much stuff to check out!
Joined: August 20 2012
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 361
Posted: June 04 2013 at 23:20
In response to the original question, "no". It's not too big. I thought it was about a year or two ago, but then I started finding new, obscure bands. In my opinion, much of the real "progression" is happening with these bands, and less so in the more established bands (for obvious reasons). So, now I can't help myself. I started using Spotify for some things because, let's face it, Prog is expensive, especially if you live in the U.S. It might cost me $30 to get single album that I'm not even sure I like. However, after I like an album, I have less problem with that. I loved Riversea's debut album last year, and had to have a physical copy. It cost me almost $30, but it was worth it.
Edited by Second Life Syndrome - June 05 2013 at 22:31
Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 17546
Posted: June 05 2013 at 08:25
zumacraig wrote:
Great points. I like your system. My problem is the bands I think I should like. Like I said above, all of the bands related to Flower Kings and Yes, really aren't essential, but I still feel the need to buy them. Like right this minute, I'm thinking about trying once again to get into the recent Kaipa album. But I hate the singer! WTF? I'm crazy
...
This is not good. In general, you should consider the voice just another instrument ... and if you don't like that instrument, that music is not for you ... that simple!
Progressive, was not JUST about lyrics, or the singer, or the rock'n'roll kind of thing! It was about the total experience.
Now, it could be said that 40 years later, too much of it has become so formula based, as to lower the standard, but in many cases, like Dream Theater, the voice is not exactly an instrument, and this forces the lyrics to have to be more meaningful and important, and they are not ... and it falls flat! And here come the hate mail on LaBrie or anyone else.
In the early days, Joe Cocker also got trashed senseless, as did Rod Stewart and others, who eventually broke the ground and showed folks ... there was more to the voice, than just a song ... and there was ... but we're STILL not able to get past that ... the experimentation and learning about the arts, has become meaningless ... and then we say ... hate that voice ... and now you know ... it's not about the "art" of it all anymore ... it's a rock song! AND you have your favorites! AND your favorites, do not allow a voice you don't like!
That is not a very "progressive" look at music, and the art at all, btw! You might consider expanding your outlook of music from "favorites" and "likes and don't likes", to a better spread of definitions that are more about the art, than they are about your likes. My example is: ... Gentle Giant ... it's not one of my "styles" or preference, but I do admit that the musicianship ... is 2nd to none! They are truly magnificent, but it's not about the likes and don't likes! You got to learn to see things like that ... it's not your favorite voice ... but it is a part of that unity ... let it go!
Edited by moshkito - June 05 2013 at 08:36
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com
Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 17546
Posted: June 05 2013 at 08:43
zumacraig wrote:
...
Tell me about it! There are so many rabbit holes on this site. One weekend I went down the Canterbury hole and didn't come out till monday morning. So much stuff to check out!
To do it right, you would need to take some literature with you ... so if a few writers didn't accompany you, the whole thing seems to be wishy washy and crazy and stoned silly, and just a bunch of ABC's in the middle of the music ... notice the intellectual reference to Soft Machine and Robert Wyatt, not to mention "Tonite We All Love in London", but hopefully that is not an overload to you ... but in so many ways, it colors the whole thing so much better, and you see a bunch of "lives at work" ... and the appreciation for the work is much stronger and makes more sense!
A really good recipe for an evening of Canterbury, has to have some Burroughs, Ginsberg, Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt ... film makers ... actresses ... rich bums walking around ... a nobody with a white wall with a dot in the middle ... and things that get your attention ... a band playing some jazz and getting offended that no one is listening, and they break into an ABC that gets everyone clapping and singing with them ... and of course, you gotta have Prince John and Prince Mick walk around to help make it better and more important! AND both in FURS!
Without some of that fun, an evening into Canterbury is empty! Very wishy-washy, strange, sometimes quirky, a bit drunk ... maybe even stoned ... but in the end, nothing to write home to ma about ... she would get mad at you anyway, for wasting your time!
Edited by moshkito - June 05 2013 at 08:44
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com
Joined: September 10 2005
Location: Sambation
Status: Offline
Points: 284
Posted: June 05 2013 at 08:51
King Manuel wrote:
I kind of feel I have enough music now in my collection. I have actually so much good stuff that I feel a bit sad that I dont have enough time to listen to many of the great albums regularly.
Yes, In a way I have the same problem. My collection is not very big, but I simply don't have enough time to listen and digest new music seriously, as I'd like to, and did, before. For now I have lot of albums which I bought during the last years, and havent yet get to listen to that stuff. So, like you I also decided to stop/limit hardly my new music purchases. I try to make it one album per year... but it's very difficult aim, and the temptations are high ...
Surprisingly I am almost not a 'one artist collector', and there are very few artists that I own a lot of albums by them. most of the time it's up to 2-3 album per band, maximum. So there is enoughe 'room' to discover new and good artists... having that said, I came to saturation, and it becomes difficult for me even try to discover new artists... listen to a lot of 'garbage' until you find a good one... etc...
Joined: August 22 2010
Location: Indiana
Status: Offline
Points: 20625
Posted: June 05 2013 at 08:52
moshkito wrote:
Without some of that fun, an evening into Canterbury is empty! Very wishy-washy, strange, sometimes quirky, a bit drunk ... maybe even stoned ... but in the end, nothing to write home to ma about ... she would get mad at you anyway, for wasting your time!
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin
Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 17546
Posted: June 05 2013 at 10:12
dr wu23 wrote:
moshkito wrote:
Without some of that fun, an evening into Canterbury is empty! Very wishy-washy, strange, sometimes quirky, a bit drunk ... maybe even stoned ... but in the end, nothing to write home to ma about ... she would get mad at you anyway, for wasting your time!
Oh, by the way ... I play tennis left handed, and I serve just like John did in the old days, and have 3 little trophies to show for it. The trophies are cheezy, but what the heck ... felt like they were bought at Safeway, but I guess the meaning is ... better!
Oh, and I was a serve and volley player, too! AND I still use colorful scarves around my head to hold the sweat and flying hair ... and my scarves are silk and better looking than Mc's bandanas!
Edited by moshkito - June 05 2013 at 10:14
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com
Joined: April 01 2009
Location: Atlanta
Status: Offline
Points: 26138
Posted: June 05 2013 at 10:31
moshkito wrote:
dr wu23 wrote:
moshkito wrote:
Without some of that fun, an evening into Canterbury is empty! Very wishy-washy, strange, sometimes quirky, a bit drunk ... maybe even stoned ... but in the end, nothing to write home to ma about ... she would get mad at you anyway, for wasting your time!
Oh, by the way ... I play tennis left handed, and I serve just like John did in the old days, and have 3 little trophies to show for it. The trophies are cheezy, but what the heck ... felt like they were bought at Safeway, but I guess the meaning is ... better!
Oh, and I was a serve and volley player, too! AND I still use colorful scarves around my head to hold the sweat and flying hair ... and my scarves are silk and better looking than Mc's bandanas!
Now I'm going to have an image of John McEnroe in my head whenever I read a post of yours. Great tennis player. I saw him play an "oldies" tournament a few weeks ago, he beat the stuffing out of Michael Chang. He's still got it.
My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.
Joined: June 30 2005
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 746
Posted: June 06 2013 at 06:42
Never too big.Never too much of a good thing.I will NEVER stop purchasing prog and related musics.I LOVE discovering new bands and old ones I've missed out.
I have over 5000 CDs/Lps mostly prog and related,and still purchasing with the same enthousiastm as when I began decades ago.
My basement is entirely dedicate dto my collection,and I recently acquires new record shelves to accomodate my ever growing collection.These will be mounted in my living room,for lack of space in the basement.Discovering,purchasing and listening to prog is my fave hobby.
What's gonna come out of my mouth is gonna come out of my soul."Skip Prokop"
Joined: December 20 2005
Location: Madrid
Status: Offline
Points: 16
Posted: June 07 2013 at 07:16
I'm very impressed by the quantity of music some of you have, especially knowing that (this is my understanding) those collection are 100% Prog (or related, I guess).
I must say that from time to time, maybe a couple of time a year, I get all like : "what do you guys recommend / I need something new".
Usually, at those moment there is always one, sometimes 2 bands that "emerge" and I listen to them a LOT.
But then… even so I am lucky enough to be able to work with music on, pretty much all the time, I haven't got the physical time to have a 5000 cd's collection.
After reading a few posts at the beginning of this thread, I went to "inquiry" my iTunes.
First and foremost, my collection isn't 100% Prog, but has a strong emphasis on this genre (and most of its subgenre). that say, my collection spreads from Classical to Elecronics, passing by Fado or Flamenco, and I'm not ashamed to say that I have some hip-hop related material (Listen to Meshell Ndegeocello's "Peace beyond passion", you'll understand )
That said, the collection I have is of 380 artists for a total of 989 albums, all together (Not only prog.)
And honestly, I always come back to the same LPs, the play count doesn't lie
Can I have 5 times that collection and being able to listen to it all and enjoy it, and remembering it ?
I don't think so, and I don't think there is much people on this planet able to, really ..
And as I said above, I always come back to a very selective list of LPs, all genre shuffled, maybe 50, surely less.
That list does grows year after years, obviously, but not to extreme extent.
I'm 37, music is my passion, playing or listening to it. That's my main thing, my passion, my life for sure.
Do I have too much music, I think I do.
The need of discovering new stuff is very much alive, but the one or two LPs a year I discover and like doesn't justify my almost 1000 CDs collection.
I actually have stuff I have listened just once. I keep them, I don't even know why :o)
I am sure I can survive with 50 LPs plus that band a year for the following 50 or 60 years (hopefully I 'll get to 100 years old )
Joined: July 13 2005
Location: Essex, UK
Status: Offline
Points: 20030
Posted: June 07 2013 at 07:50
moshkito wrote:
dr wu23 wrote:
moshkito wrote:
Without some of that fun, an evening into Canterbury is empty! Very wishy-washy, strange, sometimes quirky, a bit drunk ... maybe even stoned ... but in the end, nothing to write home to ma about ... she would get mad at you anyway, for wasting your time!
Oh, by the way ... I play tennis left handed, and I serve just like John did in the old days, and have 3 little trophies to show for it. The trophies are cheezy, but what the heck ... felt like they were bought at Safeway, but I guess the meaning is ... better!
Oh, and I was a serve and volley player, too! AND I still use colorful scarves around my head to hold the sweat and flying hair ... and my scarves are silk and better looking than Mc's bandanas!
How the f did we get to discussing tennis?
Anyway, every time I buy a CD my kids tell me I have too many. My response is that's not possible.
Joined: February 13 2004
Status: Offline
Points: 6898
Posted: June 07 2013 at 09:01
I just moved across the country so I put it in storage at my sister's house. It doesn't mean as much to me as it did when I was in my teens and early twenties. If I want to listen to something It usually can be found on you tube. I'm even thinking of selling it if the price is right. I've got other things now that I'm 51 years old. But it's quite big and sometimes I don't even know what's in there because I bought so many albums back in the seventies & eighties. I would buy the same albums over again if they had a different cover or were from another country. I've got tons of oddities like a Hungarian Pink Floyd pressing of Meddle and a Canadian pressing of Skyrover by Omega with a different cover which I think is better than the Bellaphone and Pepita ones.
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