prog album compilation: how to even this list out?

{{Originally posted by Meddler

Prog Rock:
Close To the Edge
Selling England By The Pound
Wish You Were Here <---- best out of these 3}}

[ (Ghandi 2) I agree, but I think DSOTM is better for a new person. I think I would have gotten bored during SOYCD if I hadn't listened to DSOTM first, although I don't really know. The same applies for SEBTP I guess.

Basically, no matter what you do, buy Dark Side of the Moon :D]

I can see what you mean about SEBTP, but I liked it on first listen quite a bit and loved it on second. Even though it was my very first Genesis album. Just bought it today.

lastdodobird welcome to prog.
... is good to see how the people try to get into the prog because it´s a unique genre.


Well... The firsts questions that come to mind are:
Do you listen Metal?
Do you like rock?
what kind of bands/artists do you listen?   (Rap - Emo - Electronic - Hip Hop - Pop - etc etc etc)

I think those questions are important because they give us some ideas of the SOUND you like listen to.
My recommendations are about metal because you already saw many others about rock.


Andromeda: Extension of the Wish
Circus Maximus: The 1st Chapter
Threshold: Critical Mass
Vanishing Point: Embrace the Silence
Dream Theater: Scenes From A Memory
Abydos: Abydos
Pain of Salvation: Remedy Lane


Maybe those bands have better albums that I did not mention (PoS: BE...), It was because you said you are  INTRODUCING into prog.




The last thing...
Prog fans, when somebody ask you for recommendation and this persons is not a Prog fan, please, never NEVER! recommend the things that you are current listening, you should better recommend the things that introduced you in.

Math:   First you learn 1 + 1 = 2,
           and never ((234556421)^3/(((-123435 * 34876))^234768)-4 - ((3354)*(3478))/2)^433/34
          

Needs to be a nice mix- like this:

Thanks for the added recommendations. I'll be sure to listen to all of them after some time.

I don't think you guys should worry about me looking for the more accessible prog rock albums though since I am a fan of post-rock after all... and all experimentalism breaks loose in that genre as well (Ghost Rider, yeah you should get aquainted with the genre )

I'm already seeing patterns as to what are the most recommended albums, and I'll be starting to look for them soon.

Hmmm, difficult...

I see you like Jazz... jazz can also be quite diverse of course.

Some recommendations:

Jazz rock/fusion

Nucleus - We'll Talk About It Later (a solid 5 star album, pretty much instrumental, apart from the final track.  A great introduction to the world of jazz rock fusion.  May also be worth seeking out their debut: Elastic Rock.  You can get both album in one I believe.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame (quite a bit different to Nucleus, but very much worth the effort of listening to them)

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (I've yet to hear this, but this is a great place to start.  The previous album is also a good place to start.  Bitches Brew was one of the main albums to really get other bands interested in the jazz rock/fusion genre)

Jazz (Canterbury scene)

Caravan - In The Land of Grey and Pink (not their best album in my opinion, but the best place to start for a beginner.  Great Hammond organ, great bass and singing and the lyrics are amusing at times)

Hatfield and the North - The Rotter's Club (a bit more unusual than Caravan, but has the same bass player/vocalist as Caravan.  They have more of a fusion tinge, but they're still Canterbury sounding.)

Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (maybe a difficult album to get into, but once it clicks, you absolutely fall in love with it.  Quirky, original, thought provoking at times.)

Soft Machine - The Soft Machine (aka Volume One) (Yet another seminal album to listen to, maybe the best place to start with the genre.  Again, very quirky lyrics of the English variety, great drumming by Robert Wyatt, plus some juicy organ at times)

Progressive rock/symphonic/art rock

This is not quite so easy for me, as I do not own any Yes or Genesis, but I do own some Van der Graaf Generator (VdGG) and love this band to almost fanboy proportions.  But, I do not recommend them at first, I recommend you seek out Genesis, Yes and maybe some Gentle Giant.  VdGG will just be too hard on your ears I feel.  Having said that, I started off on VdGG!

King Crimson - Difficult to decide on them... they are one of the most diverse bands around.  If you like metal, try Discipline or Thrak.  If you like Jazz, try Lizard.  If you prefer symphonic, harder rocking stuff, try In The Court of the Crimson King.  If you like more avant-garde, noodly, experimental, try either Larks Tongues In Aspic, Red or Starless and Bible Black.

RIO/Avant Prog

I would say avoid this genre for now... but if you want to dip your feet and legs and hips into the water, then the following may help:

Taal - Skymind (mad french people, but very very good)

Alamaailman Vasarat - Either of their two albums (this will probably hurt your ears!  But once they click, they click.  They're from Finland and have two 'cellists, a drummer and a pump organist.  A completely instrumental band, they can almost sound full on electric, producing some awe-inspiting metal!)

Gong - The Flying Teapot trilogy of albums (I've only heard the one album and again, it's difficult on the ears, so approach with caution.  Check out the Canterbury bands first, as Gong have a close association with the Canterbury genre).

Mr. Bungle - A side project of Mike Patton's (Faith No More and Fantomas).  I've yet to hear them, but I know they are a great band.  Check out Disco Volante as a starting point.

I'm not sure what else to advise to you.  For now, avoid Zeuhl!  Kraut Rock may interest you as well, check out bands like Can, Faust!, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze...

I forgot prog metal!

Opeth - Ghost Reveries (warning: contains death metal growls - my personal favourite metal band and I dislike death metal!  If you don't appreciate death metal, then try they're non-death metal album Damnation)

Pain of Salvation - I only have their debut, but they have one of the best vocalists in the genre (Daniel Gildenlow).  Others are more qualified than I am to talk about them.

Tool - Contain a bit of everything.  If you decide you like King Crimson, then you may like some Tool also.  If you like space rock, then they also have some elements of that genre too.  They're probably the biggest band (fan wise) in the archives at the present time and I am sure you're aware of them already.

I also forgot the space rock/psychedelic genre.

Pink Floyd - The best place to start in this genre.  I don't have any of their albums, but I am quite familiar with their output.

Porcupine Tree - They are a little more diverse, bordering on rock and metal at times.  I recommend Signify, In Absentia and Deadwing.  Their live album Coma Divine Live is also a great place to start.

Hidria Spacefolk - A Finnish band, completely instrumental, but if you like them from the off, you'll love them, they suck you in.

Ozric Tentacles - I've yet to hear them, but they're one of the mainstays of the genre and have released a lot of albums.  Definitely worth seeking out.

You already know about post-rock it seems, so I do not really need to delve into that.

Last of all.

Good luck and welcome!


Edited by Geck0 - May 13 2006 at 04:04

Ghandi 2 wrote: <> Meddler wrote: Van Der Graaf - Pawn Hearts Oh my. Hammil's voice plus VdDG's unique nature (they do not employ a guitarist: they have a saxophone player, a drummer, and 2 keyboardists) may be too much for you. Or maybe not.

and don't forget no bass player either


Edited by BaldJean - May 13 2006 at 04:06

Hey guys, I went on around the different discussions I've been following as well as all your suggestions on this thread, plus the top prog albums lists and I took a shot at a decent album lineup to introduce myself to this genre.

Things I want to take into consideration regarding the album list:
*** I didn't want to saturate the compilation with albums only from one specific time period, although if you guy would see, there are quite a lot of albums from the 70s, only a few from the 80s and 90s, and it picks up a bit around 2000. But I'm thinking that's maybe acceptable since in my understanding, a lot of the great prog rock albums were released in the 70s right?
*** I also didn't want to focus on a certain sub-genre. Although I didn't want the compilation to be too varied either.

Here's the list:
(1969) king crimson - in the court of the crimson king
(1971) jethro tull - aqualung
(1971) van der graaf generator - pawn hearts
(1972) yes - close to the edge
(1973) genesis - selling england by the pound
(1973) gentle giant - in a glass house
(1975) camel - the snow goose
(1975) pink floyd - wish you were here
(1981) rush - moving pictures
(1992) anglagard - hybris
(1999) dream theater - metropolis part 2 scenes from a memory
(2001) pain of salvation - the perfect element i
(2004) ayreon - the human equation
(2005) riverside - second life syndrome

What do you guys think? Good intro to prog rock or it could use a lot more tweaking?

Taking these things into consideration, maybe you guys could suggest which albums I could take out of this list and what I could include for it to be as even as possible - both with regards to the time period, and to the sub-genres involved.

Thanks a lot!