Neo prog - then and now
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Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=130427
Printed Date: November 21 2024 at 15:10
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Neo prog - then and now
Posted By: suitkees
Subject: Neo prog - then and now
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 11:16
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This thread is inspired by https://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=125596&PID=6061871#6061871" rel="nofollow - this post by our esteemed Dr Wu and a couple of recent threads and posts. Neo prog seems alive and kicking, but not that much talked about. My personal affinities are much with those original neo prog bands: Marillion, Twelfth Night, Pallas, IQ... It is the period (my adolescence) when I started to consciously listen to music and develop my preferences. I must admit that I'm very much a neo prog fan of the 80s and cannot find that much originality in the more recent outings that are listed in the https://www.progarchives.com/top-prog-albums.asp?ssubgenres=18&salbumtypes=1&syears=&scountries=&sminratings=1&smaxratings=0&sminavgratings=0&smaxresults=250&x=56&y=6#list" rel="nofollow - PA's top 250 of Neo prog bands , including the more recent outings of the bands I mentioned... Nevertheless, there is some awesome music overall to explore in this category, so let's share! ------------- The razamataz is a pain in the bum |
Replies:
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 11:25
I can't remember the first Neo Prog album I ever listened to in full as it's too long ago now. Well, about three years ago anyway. I do remember the first Neo Prog CD I ever bought though, as that was only last year, and it's #26 on PA's Top 250 Neo Prog Albums list.   1984: Marillion - Fugazi - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEZ0oFXT8RUfpgr-I-2vYIXg" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEZ0oFXT8RUfpgr-I-2vYIXg |
Posted By: suitkees
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 11:47
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^ My first neo prog album was undoubtedly Marillion's Script For a Jester's Tear (the second or third vinyl I bought, starting my collection), probably in 1984. Discovered Fugazi after that and was even more conquered. Heard Pendragon on the radio, but it is mostly thanks to the Dutch Sym Info magazine (and the local library!) that I got acquainted with bands like Pallas, Twelfth Night, IQ... ------------- The razamataz is a pain in the bum |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 11:54
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early neo-prog 1982 |
Posted By: suitkees
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 12:08
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^ Thanks! Wonderful tracks indeed. I only discovered them one or two years after their release, but they were part of my early neo prog explorations. Soon after Script... I bought the 12" with Three Boats... and especially Grendel ! Regarding IQ, it was The Wake that was my entry point; got Tales From the Lush Attic soon afterwards... ------------- The razamataz is a pain in the bum |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 12:17
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I have a feeling IQ's Tales from the Lush Attic may have been the first Neo Prog album I ever listened to in full, seeing as IQ were the first Neo Prog band featured on my Prog Britannia blog around three years ago. 1983: Tales from the Lush Attic - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_TaS3ukydpLIV22ZKmLpN4YTA2a2R8ny" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_TaS3ukydpLIV22ZKmLpN4YTA2a2R8ny |
Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 12:39
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My first neo-prog band was definitely Marillion - Script For A Jester’s Tear followed closely by Pendragon, Twelfth Night, IQ & Pallas and there’s some of the more newer neo-progressive bands. ------------- Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music Is Live Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Keep Calm And Listen To The Music… < |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: January 29 2023 at 15:00
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Based on the Neo Prog page here Marillion would be the band I heard first in that style...the first 2 lps. After that I discovered IQ, Magenta, Pendragon, Arena, Pallas, etc......IQ is my favorite by far these days . The last 4 by them are my favorite neo prog lps.........others are Magenta -7, Arena-Peppers Ghost, Pendragon-Masquerade Overture, ...etc. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 02:02
| Would have first heard Marillion - Grendel back in the day. IQ came later. I was never remotely interested in any of the other bands until the 90's and 00's. Arena have punched a sizeable hole in the genre and I recently discovered Collage. Pendragons Love over Fear is a mostly overlooked gem. Starfish and The Moon was one of the songs that got me through lock down so I have particular affection for that album. |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 05:46
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Methinks that since the 80s the atmospheric backgrounds to NeoProg musics have become more lush. It must be in the underlying/domineering use of some effect like reverb or sustain. (My brother was the engineering master of our recordings so I am not as fluent in the lingua sonique.) ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: PhideauxFan
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 05:50
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When I read Enfer-Magazine (France) (hard-rock/heavy-metal), I saw for the first time the terms; "rock néo-progressif". So I bought the cassette Fugazi by Marillion, but I didn't like it and gave it (with The Wall) to a friend. I think that I have about 50 CDs of neo-progressive rock from the 80's to nowadays. For me the best periods of this genre are the 80's and the 90's. And if you want great "new" neo-progressive rock, listen to DeeExpus - The King Of Number 33 (UK).
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Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: January 30 2023 at 16:29
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80’s Neo is on another level. Sorry. You can’t f**k with it. It is the best era. ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 12:15
One of my favourite Neo Prog bands of the moment: La Tulipe Noire from Greece - not Holland. 1996: La Tulipe Noire - In the Gates of Dream - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZAMNro9Qk" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZAMNro9Qk  2000: La Tulipe Noire - Shattered Image - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nFOlu71m7YKXDFZyFI0Uri91w0-v5vU4c" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nFOlu71m7YKXDFZyFI0Uri91w0-v5vU4c 2002: La Tulipe Noire - Faded Leaves - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kSKOijzoMlL2BAXbbz8i3f2XPpvLJ41NQ" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kSKOijzoMlL2BAXbbz8i3f2XPpvLJ41NQ 2006: La Tulipe Noire - Nostimon Hemar - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l9Uj_KGzyN3g6UCUQRcF0z-fV8jx3iroc" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l9Uj_KGzyN3g6UCUQRcF0z-fV8jx3iroc 2013: La Tulipe Noire - Matricide - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mCsoHBkTc0UHg6mPQ7msBCfwK8GHhcMXw" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mCsoHBkTc0UHg6mPQ7msBCfwK8GHhcMXw |
Posted By: Prog-jester
Date Posted: January 31 2023 at 14:24
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I bought Marillion's Script 2CD remaster on August 1st, 2003. I lived in a small provincial Ukrainian town and I was 16. Literally not a single person could understand my obsession with this music, not even my dad, a huge Beatles/Urian Heep/Deep Purple fan, who taught me to play guitar (he was in pop/rock bands in Soviet times). By 2003 I'd already written like coupla hundred songs (again, for nobody, just for myself), but only after hearing Script I decided I wanna be in music for real. It wasn't easy but now my main band has https://open.spotify.com/artist/23lyMLxYNPS15hpVvFNptR" rel="nofollow - 167k monthly listeners on Spotify and one of my side-projects is literally http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=8997" rel="nofollow - an early Marillion clone , hehe: Another favourite of mine genre-wise is Clive Nolan's Shadowland - Ring Of Roses is a masterpiece and MUST get a vinyl release! |
Posted By: progaardvark
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 04:12
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Like others, my first neo prog album was Marillion's debut album which I only discovered in the mid-1990s. At the time I didn't even know there was such a thing as neo prog and just assumed it was a continuation of a style perfected by Genesis and Yes (I didn't know about Camel at the time). The internet as we know it today was in its infancy, but I probably discovered "neo prog" as a term to describe this on the old Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock (GEPR) website. Marillion obviously led me to Arena, IQ, and Pendragon, and then to more obscure bands like Abraxas, Galleon, Flamborough Head, Tale Cue, Afterglow, Osiris, Cyan, Atria, Now, Egdon Heath, Cliffhanger, and East. I don't think I cared much for the "hardening" of the neo prog sound in the early 2000s where some bands tried to fuse it with pseudo-prog-metal riffs. A few seemed to pull that off rather well, but for many of them, the change was a bit too much for me. Not that I have any issues with bands evolving beyond their neo prog foundations. Marillion is a great example of a band that has become more eclectic over time, and as such, has been a joy to listen to their evolution over five decades. ------------- ---------- i'm shopping for a new oil-cured sinus bag that's a happy bag of lettuce this car smells like cartilage nothing beats a good video about fractions |
Posted By: Prog-jester
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 09:02
There were also bands that I discovered and didn't quite enjoyed - Cyan, Casino, Galahad, Cliffhanger, Violet Disctrict, Gazpacho (Night is great tho), Sylvan, RPWL, Galadriel, Theatre/Moongarden, Satellite, La Tulipe Noire (Shattered Image is great tho), Jadis, Millenium, Ageness, The Vow, Harnakis, Arrakeen, Deyss, Metaphor - but hey, to each his own I guess |
progaardvark wrote:Posted By: Jared
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 09:10
Do yourself a favour and give the re-recording/ re-write of their debut, 'For King & Country' a listen when you have time... it's rather a treat!
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Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 12:07
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Nice stories, Gents I have to say I owe a ton to PA for its dense data base, which rabbit holed the sh*t out of me. For all that I discovered IQ and Arena while Fish Era Marillion are the bands that really agree with me the most. Anyhow. This site has been amazing and with people like yourselves on here, have been a great help. ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: Prog-jester
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 12:38
thanks, will do in spring! For some reason neo-prog works best for me in March/April or September/October
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Posted By: mellotronwave
Date Posted: February 01 2023 at 12:54
| Marillion Script back then |
Posted By: Magog2112
Date Posted: July 25 2023 at 00:21
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My dad introduced me to Misplaced Childhood by Marillion, which was the first thing I had ever heard that is neo-prog. I loved it from the first listen and to this day, it is one of my favorite albums of all time. Since then, I have discovered many other incredible bands. Some notable ones are Pendragon and Galahad. Neo-prog is one of the more maligned sub-genres of prog and I never fully understood why. It captures the accessible, theatrical side of prog which I loved most. Prog doesn't have to contain virtuosic musicianship; it can be somewhat simple while still being boundary-pushing. |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: July 25 2023 at 06:51
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Neo Prog is the romantic schmaltz of Prog World. It's definitely a love-hate relationship. We love the full, lush sound textures and catchy melodies but we malign the artists for being imitators or for being unoriginal. Too bad. There's a lot of great music there. My beef has always been with the "cheap" sounds of the 1980s and 1990s computer keyboards. Thankfully, those sounds have been eradicated or replaced with less-cheesy, more authentic strings, horn, winds, and piano-sounding samples and waveforms--which, in my opinion, gives 21st Century artists an advantage over those making music in the 1980s and 90s. Thus, most of my most highly acclaimed Neo Prog albums were ones that were released in the 21st Century. ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: July 25 2023 at 12:41
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I declare IQ. as my favorite Neo-Prog band of all time. ARENA is a close 2nd, but IQ. I feel just have a bit more depth. 🙂 ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: July 25 2023 at 14:32
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I remember listening to Script for a Jester's Tear when it was released and we all friends saying it was a Genesis clone, but we liked it anyway. Then we bought the maxisingles with Grendel and so on, and Fugazi when it came out. We really liked all of it. Then they came to Barcelona in the Fugazi tour and it was a great show, with a very small but passionate audience. Then came IQ, Pallas, Twelfth Night, Pendragon, Arena, Shadowland, Quidam, Flamborough Head, Landmark, Jadis, Now (the Dutch), Quasar with Tracy Hitchings... It was good music for a time when the big ones had broken up or were going Pop, and Prog Metal was still to come. And it was the time of starting a CD collection next to my vinyls! There was a local record shop very close to my house whose owner also like Prog a lot, and he published a fanzine with all the new albums he found and imported to Spain from France, the Netherlands, UK... I bought a lot of my Neo collection there. It was probably my main source of Prog during the 80s decade (during which I also got into New Age and more Jazz Rock / Fusion). I still like new Neo such as Frost*, the latest IQ, Arena and Pendragon albums are great, The Tangent, Barock Project... but probably the present-time IQ are my favourite, they are releasing great albums and I saw them in concert 1,5 years ago and they put out an amazing performance.
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Posted By: progbethyname
Date Posted: July 26 2023 at 16:49
I love your story. Thank you. You have terrific insight into the genre. I’m also in the same IQ. camp as you. They are my favorite as well. I will keep buying every from them. ------------- Gimmie my headphones now!!! 🎧🤣 |
Posted By: O666
Date Posted: July 27 2023 at 06:56
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My first meet was Fugazi and then Script.... . As a Prog Rock fan that started 40 years ago , I have a same story like others.... Now IMO "Comedy of Errors" is a great Neo Prog band that released their debut album after 2010
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 27 2023 at 07:28
agreed, I would even go farther and say that the point of neo prog is not to be original and experimental but instead concentrate on interesting lyrics, precise playing and a strong atmosphere. These are the bullet points for the genre imo. Not everyone has to like the same thing and that's fine but I'm all for choice over everything else. |
Posted By: Prog-jester
Date Posted: July 27 2023 at 08:04
you gonna love Shadowland then: Such an underrated project |
Posted By: ProgEnStock
Date Posted: July 27 2023 at 14:41
| As the vintage keyboard are trendy today (since 10 years since the Moog re-open) we could expect that the vintage prog, that the neo-prog try to replace with digital sound in the 90s, is more trendy than Neo-Prog that I don't really know. But I'm still have curiosity for them and I like IQ. I think neo-prog of the 80s and 90s have better keyboard sounds than fusion of the 90s 80s. A good example is the cheap preset of quebec's fusion band Uzeb. |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: July 27 2023 at 20:42
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Notes Reviews also noticed the tendency for Neo Prog bands to use those "cheap" rompler sounds. ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: koboh
Date Posted: July 18 2024 at 13:04
If Marillion is your thing then you might enjoy Candacraig. They are a relatively new band that has taken 25 years to finally realease their original neo prog music inspired by Marillion. http://candacraig.net" rel="nofollow - https://candacraig.net
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Posted By: Baldwin
Date Posted: July 22 2024 at 00:46
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