Most Technically Brilliant Prog Band

lucas wrote: Stormcrow wrote:   Nice smiley, where did you find it

Click on 'more' under the smileys.

elfangio wrote: I don't consider Rush's music to be technically challenging, but many DT songs are really hard to play...(Metropolis Pt. 1, Lie, Under a Glass Moon, The Glass Prison, Stream of Consciousness, Beyond This Life, The Dance of Eternity, .......not mentionning their work in LTE).

Amen

Glass-Prison wrote: I'm surprised that Gentle Giant didn't get more votes

They got my vote now!!  Difficult to compare these bands!! Without GG I would have voted DT. Never seen a more technically band live...

Like Corbet and Glass-Prison, I find it extremely hard to believe that Rush and Dream Theater are considered more "technically brilliant" than either Gentle Giant or Mahavishnu Orchestra.

From a strictly technical proficiency perspective - speaking as a musician who has studied theory, composition, piano, drums, and voice for over 30 years - the individual members of MHO are so far beyond anyone else on the list that it's almost silly to be discussing this.  Neal Peart more technically proficient than Billy Cobham or Narada Michael Walden?  Please.  Peart's great for what he does.  But he doesn't hold a candle to Cobham or Walden from a strictly technical perspective.  Nor, as good as they may be, do the other members of Rush measure up to their counterparts in MHO.  (I'm not even going to bother with comparisons to the members of DT: there are none.)

Second in my book would have to be Gentle Giant.  Not only were they beyond technically brilliant on the "standard" instruments they played (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard), but each of them was equally proficient on instruments as varied as violin, cello, vibraphone and glockenspiel.  Yes, Peart is probably a better drummer than Weathers.  But can he also play vibraphone equally well?  As for the other members of Rush (and all of DT), none of themn comes close to the members of GG.

Third in my book might be the missing ELP.  Certainly there has never been a pianist/keyboardist as technically proficient as Emerson (even Wakeman, who I love equally, is not quite as good).  And although there are better bassists and guitarists than Greg Lake, are there many who can play both equally well?  As for Palmer, he's at least equally as good as Peart (in perhaps a slightly different way).  Again, comparisons with members of DT are silly.

Technical proficiency on an instrument is, despite discussion on various threads to the contrary, a largely "measurable" quantity: i.e., unlike personal "taste," it is not subjective (or, at least, not entirely so).

That's my two cents...

Peace.

I, and I'm sure there are others among us, who felt this thread was rather pointless, so it became a great joke. That's why I started the "Best Rush Poll." There are musicians, like those in MHO and GG, who transcend their instruments, playing something truly unique rather than copying the masters. This thread was entertaining, not a serious look at "Technical Brilliance."

 I thought it was a set up for Dream Theater to win, actually. Doh  !!! 

lucas wrote: KISS prog ?

Be glad  the poll compiler is too young to remember Rare Earth, Grand Railroad Funk and Haphash and the Coat of Many Colours...................................

It depends on how you understand this term:

If you believe a technicall musician is the one that plays his instrument with better skills well there is Rick Wakeman.

If you understand technicall as complex, you have to go with King Crimson or Henty Cow, which to be honest I can't understand in 100%.

Both concepts are right, specially when talking about music or any art where absolutes don't exist, but my concept of technically brilliant is different:

I believe a band is technically brilliant when each member does his/her job avoiding personal ambitions, when (for example) the guitar player and keyboardist (both very talented) blend the sound of their instruments to a point where you don't know certainly which is which, only to create the perfect atmosphere.

A band where the bassist is not noticed but is always precise and accurate plus a fantastic drummer doesn't worry for impressive combinations and the vocalist...well he's the frontman and has to make the show, but carefully designs complex lyrics that not only fit in the music but tell an interesting story, and also knows his limitations so he uses a semi yodelling to cover his weakness with the high notes.

So my vote goes for Gabriel's Genesis.

Iván

cant believe that Rush is for dome so technically brilliant...now, you do have Greedy Lee, excellent!! and Neil Peart?? that guy is not human! but Alex Lifeson isnt that much big of a deal...Dream Theater however is technically flawless!

still my vote goes for the Crimson Kings!!!

why Kiss is on the list they are no progressive and no technical at all

i voted for Rush, three virtuosos. do i need to say more?