favorite neo prog band

Par Lindh Project, Magenta, Spocks Beard or Echolyn are Neo Prog?

At least not in my book.

1. Par Lindh: Symphonic/Gothic Prog'
2. Magenta: Symphonic
3. Echolyn:Fusion/Folk/Classical Prog
4. Spocks Beard: A style of their own

Please, not every band formed after the 70's is part of the Neo Prog' movement.

My vote goes for Pendragon.

Iván

A good selection there!

My vote to Arena, their three most recent albums, "The Visitor", "Immortal?" and "Contagion" are masterpieces of modern prog.

The Original Neo Prog Band..Marillion...everything else is a pale imitation

It's like do you like butter or margerine?...it has to be Marillion

Gdub-111 wrote:

The Original Neo Prog Band..Marillion...

Well, to be honest according to most people the first Neo Prog band was the 4 men Genesis Lineup and the first Neo Prog' album is A Trick of the Tail.

But it's true, the most representative Neo band is Marillion.

Iván

Since Deus ex Machina is not included (indeed, I see few non-english-speaking bands, such as Anglagard and most Italian neo-prog), I'm with Gdub on this one: Marillion both historically and otherwise.

Ivan: I disagree with your assessment.  It would seem petulant to claim that the loss of Pater Gabriel somehow changed Genesis from "prog" to "neo-prog."  Are you claiming that Gabriel was solely responsible for their being "prog?"  That is a pretty bizarre interpretation.

Genesis remained "prog" despite the loss of Gabriel, and TOTT and W&W (especially) remain classifiable as "prog" albums, not "neo-prog" albums.

You'd have to do some fancy footwork to convince me otherwise.

Peace.

maani wrote: Genesis remained "prog" despite the loss of Gabriel, and TOTT and W&W (especially) remain classifiable as "prog" albums, not "neo-prog" albums. You'd have to do some fancy footwork to convince me otherwise. Peace.

I(van) can't dance!

HI, THIS IS CÉSAR INCA.

I've votef for IQ, who managed to keep a loyal neo prog foundation and at the same time create and mature their own prog voice, which 20 years later must be considered as classic prog (which started off as neo), period.

I agree with Ivan on that Spock's Beard, Echolyn, Par Linhd Project are not neo, and Echolyn are not neo either: they stand somewhere in the frontier between the freshness of Marillion-influenced neo and DT-based metal prog, with some touches of 90s Rush and classic Saga.

But I think that Magenta are really neo, and I don't intend to dismiss them by saying this (why should I? - their material is well inspired and their performances are tight). Magenta's soft tinged approach to the vintage symphonic sound makes them neo - in comparison, Echolyn and Spock's Beard keep such an amount os strength and punch in their prog sound that they stand well beyond the "basic rules" of neo. Magenta sounds to me quite close to some notable Polsih bands such as Collage and Quidam, which I label as neo prog (great neo prog, indeed). My definition of neo prog doesn't equal derivativeness - if I did, I would be force to label bands such as Anekdoten, Anglagard, Stereokimono and Kenso as neo, which they obviously aren't. Neo is a label that refers to bands that make a specially refined and "soft" refurbishment of the most melodic side of classic symphonic prog. Echolyn pays particular attention to Gentle Giant-ish dissonances and jazz/funk/fusion stuff, so they don't fit the neo definition. SB's penchant for elements of art rock and Deep Purple into their own prog stuff also keeps them away from that label. But Iluvatar and Collage... they fit, and they make (or made) damn good music.

Regards.