The Best Keyboard solo?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Music Lounge
Forum Description: General progressive music discussions
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132465
Printed Date: February 17 2025 at 05:40
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: The Best Keyboard solo?
Posted By: GUD77
Subject: The Best Keyboard solo?
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 14:38
|
Hi, as someone new im sure this has been discussed many many times before but id just like to jump in with a convo for fun. What is the best prog related keyboard solo out there? Ive been listening to prog for about 7-8 years give or take and the best of the best out there imo is anything Keith Emerson ever made. Wheter its in The Nice or ELP stuff like Karn evil 9, Trilogy, Pictures at an exhibiton but probably most impressive Tarkus. Of course there are many other amazing keyboard players in all the main tip of the iceberg prog artist like Rick Wakeman, Tony Banks, Jon Lord and Pete Bardens, one of the sinclairs (i always mix up if its David or Richard lol). But what are some deeper cuts? I really enjoy Alan Park in Beggars Opera tho i'm sure many people have heard Raymond Road especially the 9 minute Beatclub version is just fantastic! and it has some of the best soloing ever
|
Replies:
Posted By: essexboyinwales
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 15:01
|
Tony Banks on Cinema Show Martin Orford on Sleepless Incidental Mark Kelly on This Strange Engine are some of mine😊 ------------- Heaven is waiting but waiting is Hell |
Posted By: Magog2112
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 15:11
|
Clive Nolan on "Riding the Tide" by Arena. The whole song is overtly inspired by "The Cinema Show," but nevertheless contains a wonderful keyboard solo.
|
Posted By: Criswell
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 15:33
| Jurgen Fritz's "Panic on 5th Avenue" off of Triumvirat's Old Loves Die Hard has been a favorite of mine for 4+ decades... |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 15:34
|
Edgar Winter - Frankenstein You can also check out this thread... http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=124280" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=124280
------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 15:45
| Anything Lyle Mays, Chick Corea, or Dave Stewart. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 16:34
Good choice! Mr. Fritz's playing on "A Day In A Life" from Triumvirat's Old Loves Die Hard album, and the "Mister Ten Percent" suite from Illusions On A Double Dimple are simply jaw dropping in their intensity, depth, instrumental prowess, and emotion. Unparalleled.
|
Criswell wrote:Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 16:59
|
1) Jerry Corbetta - Green Eyed Lady (Sugarloaf) 2) Rod Argent - Hold Your Head Up (Argent) 3) Adam Holzman - Regret #9 (Steven Wilson) To name a few outside the usual suspects. |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 17:17
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 17:55
|
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 19:31
|
I was always partial to this one. Although the whole song is a keyboard solo. ------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: cemego
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 21:44
|
UK-Nevermore. Eddie Jobson and Alan Holdsworth trading solos on the end. ------------- listen to streaming stuff! no commercials! http://wmom.servemp3.com:8000/listen.pls |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 24 2024 at 22:28
|
Dave Greenfield on Nice N Sleazy (Stranglers) Ton Scherpenzeel on Royal Bed Bouncer (Kayak) Whoever plays on Sleeping Satellite by Tasmin Archer (there were 2 keyboard players on the album) Brian Auger on This Wheels On Fire Vince Crane on Fire (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown) Jon Lord on Burn Keith Emerson on America (The Nice) Rod Argent on Hold Your Head Up was nominated by Rick Wakeman as the best ever (not arguing with that!) Rick Wakeman on Siberian Khatru (often overlooked but he plays a mean Harpsichord solo just when it's needed, could only be prog!) Eddie Jobson on Carrying No Cross (that's probably my favourite Hammond solo of all time) |
Posted By: essexboyinwales
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 04:20
Good call on Tasmin Archer - love that album! Another for me is Jordan Rudess on Octavarium….and of course Kevin Moore on Metropolis Pt 1: The Miracle and The Sleeper😎 ------------- Heaven is waiting but waiting is Hell |
Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 05:47
| Jon Lord was also a great master of the keyboards. Lazy, Burn, and many other songs feature his amazing ability to create and play first class solos. |
Posted By: I prophesy disaster
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 06:46
Yes, and I thought this was one of those threads. In the thread I'm thinking of, I said that the best keyboard solo ever was:
------------- No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man. |
Posted By: wiz_d_kidd
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 07:01
Thanks for that! I had only ever heard the "short" version which I purchased on 45rpm and heard a gazillion times on AM radio back in the day. ------------- “I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for those who like country music, denigrate means to ‘put down.'” – Bob Newhart |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 08:04
| love all of Tony Banks think Cinema Show is perfection -so well thought out goes thru many moods - very advanced for a 23 year old. |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 09:24
Jon's solo album Before I Forget is a must. ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: MortSahlFan
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 09:35
|
Supertramp - School The Doors - Riders On The Storm ------------- https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition https://www.scribd.com/document/382737647/MortSahlFan-Song-List |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 10:22
|
3:15 mark ------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: GUD77
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 11:11
|
These are all very banger solos. Jon Lord definitely deserves a mention when it comes to greatest keyboard players having some amazing solos. I always thought it was a bit of a shame how he never really used synths all that much atleast with his time in Deep Purple. I was surprised to see a lot more modern examples along with the classics. I figured there would be more emphasis on the keyboard wizards of the 70s but i'm quite surprised by the songs ive heard on here.
|
Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 12:55
I agree, and his work with the Symphonic orchestra was outstanding. Certainly the Lord of the keyboard.
|
Posted By: RockHound
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 13:33
|
So many to choose from, and my choices probably vary on a weekly basis. Right now, the opening piano solo in Firth of Fifth stands out to me as one of the greats. Tarkus is way up there, especially for colorful use of advanced time signature. Six Wives is to me the greatest keyboard album ever done. There are too many Chick Corea pieces to choose from, but My Spanish Heart is my favorite album from him. Thomas Bodin turns in a stunning performance on Pinup Guru, and the way he uses the synth to ape Miles Davis in The Devil's Dance School on Unfold the Future is stunning. One of my friends listened to it and said, "if you can do that, you know you're a hot sh*t keyboard player." |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 14:38
|
Always enjoyed this keyboard solo on fire. |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 14:58
|
Here's another one that's one long keyboard solo... ------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 15:11
|
Begins at 7:20... |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 17:03
 ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: Boojieboy
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 17:31
|
I won't narrow it down to a specific solo, but would pick Tony Banks as the musician for my favorite solo. Kudos also to Kerry Minnear. That crazy piano solo in Interview - for example - overlaying organ stuff etc.
|
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: January 25 2024 at 18:14
|
Not sure about the absolute best, but this is my long-time favorite! ------------- I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!! |
Posted By: wiz_d_kidd
Date Posted: January 26 2024 at 07:23
|
Hiromi... https://youtu.be/PHi4tFz-F0g?list=PLCh4AqzJdtILP2dxe7gzR63V9eaUslCLb" rel="nofollow - https://youtu.be/PHi4tFz-F0g?list=PLCh4AqzJdtILP2dxe7gzR63V9eaUslCLb ------------- “I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for those who like country music, denigrate means to ‘put down.'” – Bob Newhart |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: January 26 2024 at 08:40
| ^Nice. Hiromi plays with so much passion. It's a blast to watch. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: January 27 2024 at 04:14
|
Hi I get the fascination with "solo" stuff, but for me ... it's the whole thing, not the solo that matters. I still can not think of a "solo" that is not a part of the whole thing! Maybe some Miles, but even then, that would be us not accepting the "new music" that was coming around, and something that we might consider as a "solo" being more important than everything else ... I still have a childish obsession with the idea of "solo" ... it's like we have to have a hero ... in the middle of everything else! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Floydoid
Date Posted: January 27 2024 at 09:57
|
I'm tempted to suggest Rick Wright on 'The Great Gig in the Sky' - which is basically one long keyboard solo with a bit of vocal improvisation thrown in for good measure. ------------- Is it any wonder that the monkey's confused? |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: January 29 2024 at 19:56
|
I think Chris Pope's work over the final three minutes of UNAKA PRONG's "Irma" is about THE most PERFECT keyboard solo I've ever heard. ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: Hugh Manatee
Date Posted: January 29 2024 at 20:12
|
So many that my mind boggles. Starting with Keith Emerson I think of "Trilogy", "Take a Pebble", Knife Edge, Aquatarkus (live from "Welcome back my Friends..). ------------- I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of uncertain seas |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 29 2024 at 20:23
| ^ yep Trilogy and Aquatarkus (live ) feature great synth solos by Emerson. Take A Pebble doesn't really count in my book as it's a piano composition that Lake used for his song (I wouldn't call it a solo). It was the first thing they did before even Palmer was involved. Knife Edge as a studio track never impressed me but the early live versions (such as from Lyceum 1970) are great. Essentially it was a proto-prog track and a strong reference point to Emerson's previous band The Nice with Hammond squarely at the front and the 60's style psyche based lyrics. btw Barbarian has a wonderful piano part in the middle which is worth mentioning |