Victorian Prog?

Puppet Show - The Tale of Woe

Struggling a bit with this as to me you've just described Van Der Graaf Generator. The only thing I can link to the idea of something 'Victorian' (other than work houses and better plumbing) were the series of murders in the East End of London by the so called 'Jack The Ripper' around the turn of the 20th century. That very dark hell is well encompassed by The Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers. Genesis were 'pussies' by comparison more embracing an English Music Hall tradition and at times drew humour from Monty Python. They were very awkward public school kids who were frightened of girls. Soundwise Trespass is more pastoral than really dark (excepting The Knife which drew inspiration from Keith Emerson's adaption of the Dave Brubeck track Blue Rondo A La Turk which was shortened to Rondo on the The Nice's debut album). Nursery Crime was not a well recorded or well produced album and neither was Foxtrot. They are slightly muddy and not as good as albums like Tarkus and Fragile that were coming out at the time (production wise). VDGG stripped down their sound and avoided synths so that the hellish themes that Hamill was so keen on could be fully realised (at least that is my take on it)

Faul_McCartney wrote: Next to Pink Floyd, Genesis is perhaps one of the most imitated prog bands. The thing is, none of these "sounds like Genesis" bands seem to imitate what it is that draws me to Genesis. I want to find more bands with that Victorian sound, a mix of hauntingly dark folk and heaviness. I'm looking for more "Nursery Cryme" than SEBTP, so synths should be kept at a minimum. To be clear, I like Marillion and IQ enough, but that is not what I'm looking for here!

Edited by omphaloskepsis - September 11 2024 at 04:23

K² - Book Of The Dead

Try Wobbler or Harmonium 

Edited by mellotronwave - September 17 2024 at 14:35

Faul_McCartney wrote: Next to Pink Floyd, Genesis is perhaps one of the most imitated prog bands. The thing is, none of these "sounds like Genesis" bands seem to imitate what it is that draws me to Genesis. I want to find more bands with that Victorian sound, a mix of hauntingly dark folk and heaviness. I'm looking for more "Nursery Cryme" than SEBTP, so synths should be kept at a minimum. To be clear, I like Marillion and IQ enough, but that is not what I'm looking for here!

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: Geese and the Ghost by Anthony Phillips

Nah. Rather than with the Victorian era, which requires the grand orchestration and showy pattern that could be associated with it, the music on "The Geese and the Ghost" album is quite mellow prog-rock featuring acoustic instrumentation that evokes a pastoral atmosphere reminiscent of the Elizabethan era (e.g., the album's central piece, "Henry: Portraits from Tudor Times").

Starshiper wrote: Of course, Rick Wakeman has nothing to do with Genesis, but his album(s) featuring the iconic Jules Verne theme screams with all its grandeur as Victorian prog and certainly deserves an honourable mention!