Were the Moody Blues ever a true prog band?
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=91795
Printed Date: December 02 2024 at 13:07
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Topic: Were the Moody Blues ever a true prog band?
Posted By: Prog_Traveller
Subject: Were the Moody Blues ever a true prog band?
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:10
| I voted "only in the early days before KC." I should have put an option for proto prog. Oh well. What I said there is pretty much the same thing and what I meant. |
Replies:
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:12
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Proto-Prog imo. So art-rock. ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: Sumdeus
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:14
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I don't see how they are not a prog band. Days Of Future Passed seems to be obviously very progressive. ------------- http://sumdeus.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - Sumdeus - surreal space/psych/prog journeys |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:18
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A fake prog band
------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:24
| How can they be a fake prog band, if they released their "fake" prog album(s) before prog even existed. You can't fake something that doesn't exist yet. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:26
| By the way, I do believe this genre we love so much would have done better being called "art rock" instead of "prog rock", or progressive, or whatever. |
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:27
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I like progressive more. ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: Sumdeus
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:29
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I just don't see how anyone could listen to Days Of Future Passed, finish it, and walk away thinking "nah, not progressive." ------------- http://sumdeus.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - Sumdeus - surreal space/psych/prog journeys |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:30
| I think early stuff was progressive enough compared to some stuff on this site. They were easy to listen to and popular but so is Supertramp. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:44
| I must get Days of future past soon. |
Posted By: Wanorak
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:49
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Yes, for the first few albums they were. ------------- A GREAT YEAR FOR PROG!!! |
Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:53
| I do believe they were, obviously not all tracks for instance like in nights in white satin it's not it's a rock ballad, but many others where i.e. Tuesday Afternoon, You and Me, Lengend of Mind (reminds me so much of The Beatles) and especially Melancholy Man just because they were easy listening doesn't mean they were not prog :) |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:54
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DOFP yes. The rest...traces of progressive smatterings throughout.
But yes....I will say yes due to DOFP that they were at one time a prog band. ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:55
I also have no idea what the difference is between art rock and "true" progressive rock. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Dellinger wrote:Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:55
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Absolutely. ------------- |
Posted By: Ambient Hurricanes
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 20:59
I don't think so. "Art rock" is obviously a very vague and malleable term (it's been used to mean all sorts of things) but it's helpful in my mind to distinguish between "art rock," which attempts to move beyond the entertainment-focused aspect of rock and incorporate more sophisticated qualities, and "prog rock," which often does the same thing but specifically focuses on the fusing of different genres (especially the fusion of rock genres with non-rock musical forms) and musical complexity. ------------- I love dogs, I've always loved dogs |
Posted By: Sumdeus
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 21:03
I would argue that Nights In White Satin is more progressive than the average rock ballad, it has much more sophisticated instrumentation and quite a bit more drawn out themes which makes me see it as rather progressive ------------- http://sumdeus.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - Sumdeus - surreal space/psych/prog journeys |
Posted By: geneyesontle
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 21:09
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Yes. That's a great stupid question. This is just a joke. ------------- Poseidon wants to Acquire the Taste of the Fragile Lamb - Derek Adrian Gabriel Anderson, singer of the band Geneyesontle |
Posted By: Ambient Hurricanes
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 21:18
It goes on forever too, that has to count for something. ------------- I love dogs, I've always loved dogs |
Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 21:18
[QUOTbalE=Sumdeus]
I would argue that Nights In White Satin is more progressive than the average rock ballad, it has much more sophisticated instrumentation and quite a bit more drawn out themes which makes me see it as rather progressive [/QUOTE] Hello Sumdeus, you psychedelic fab teddy bear  I am not an expert on prog, however I don't think Nights in White Satin is prog, might be a better composed ballad compared to others but I am not convinced it's prog because it's boring to me really doesn't keep me interested at all nor builds up  Anyway a massive hug to you
 |
Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 21:27
However many might not agree, but I too think is prog and fabulous really 
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Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 21:53
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^ If Mike Oldfield isn't prog, nothing is. ------------- |
Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 21:57
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Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: January 29 2013 at 22:56
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I am wondering how anyone could argue against the Moody's progressiveness? DoFP is both conceptual and symphonic with repeating themes echoed between the orchestra and the band for the lenght of the album - a thing virtually unheard of in 1960s rock. And then there is the song cycle "Are You Sitting Comfortably"/"The Dream"/"Have You Heard" (Pt 1)/"The Voyage"/Have You Heard" (Pt 2) from Threshold of a Dream. Mike Pinder's mellotron composition is fantastic, and there is nothing better from that era mellotron-wise this side of In the Court of the Crimson King. Or "House of Four Doors"/"Legend of a Mind"/"House of Four Doors (Pt2) from In Search of the Lost Chord. Why is this even a question? ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: ProgMetaller2112
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 00:22
"Anyone who thinks Nogbad_ The_ Bad knows Prog get out of the room"-ProgMetaller2112 ------------- “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four "Ignorance and Prejudice and Fear walk Hand in Hand"- Neil Peart |
Posted By: Prog_Traveller
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 00:37
| The early progressive bands and the genre itself became true prog with the arrival of ITCOTCK. THerefore I voted for "yes but only in the early days before KC." After that KC changed the game as to what was considered real prog. |
Posted By: Prog_Traveller
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 00:39
I love cute blonde girls who like prog who live in far away countries I'll probably never visit.
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Posted By: ProgMetaller2112
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 00:40
Are you talking about Sonia ------------- “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four "Ignorance and Prejudice and Fear walk Hand in Hand"- Neil Peart |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 02:00
Timothy Leary's dead - "no no no no, he's outside, looking in".......... PROG 
Once upon a time, In your wildest dreams........NOT PROG 
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Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 02:49
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If you were alive and listening to music in the late 60s (and I was) you would know that the Moodies were one of the bands that defined the genre.
So - yes, uneqivocally. ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 02:56
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Proto-prog at least. Days of Future Passed and In Search of the Lost Chord were imho progressive enough to justify their inclusion in PA. ------------- 
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Posted By: Prog Sothoth
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 07:28
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Yes.
Definitely concerning their late 60s releases. Even their early 70s stuff had prog elements intact ("One More Time To Live" for sure, "Isn't Life Strange" to some extent)
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Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 07:33
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There is a distinction between "prog" the style and "progressive" the adjective. That said, I've been a lifelong Moody Blues fan (literally; I was listening to them daily at age 4) and I see their first four (not counting the Denny Laine period, natch) albums as crucial building blocks for what would become "prog" the style (exemplified by Crimson's first album). However, I do believe that all of their "big seven" albums are progressive (the adjective). Subtle difference, but one I've come to accept here.
------------- My other avatar is a Porsche It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 07:34
You guys can't keep trying to re-write history just because it doesn't fit with your modern interpretations of what is and what isn't Prog Rock. You can't make stuff up either. What happened, happened; what was, was. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 07:43
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Oh they can't possibly be prog if they don't have metal in the music. I think you can pretty much predict where people will come down on this based on how much they like metal... ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 08:12
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Not really. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: digdug
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 08:30
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Yes, I say, Yes ------------- Prog On! |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 08:35
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^Now that is a Prog band. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Prog Sothoth
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 08:39
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Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 08:45
 Good one.------------- My other avatar is a Porsche It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran |
Posted By: digdug
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 09:22
You always were a Moody dude Snow Dog Yes, the Moody blues are Prog, I say yes and so are yes
 ------------- Prog On! |
Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 09:54
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I don't see how anyone could consider their first seven (Hayward) albums anything but prog. Even Octave and Long Distance Voyager still had some remnants of prog, although after that, the prog aspects were pretty much gone from their music. But their first seven albums are classic prog. ------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 10:20
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Maybe it's because as big a band as Moodies were--non of their albums show up in top 100---guess the group is not too popular on this site (but then again neither does legendary prog album Tales from Topographic Oceans)
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Posted By: Jonathan
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 10:33
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In my opinion they were one of the First Prog Rock Bands ever. If they aren't Prog then nothing is. |
Posted By: Prog_Traveller
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 13:11
Maybe. |
Posted By: Prog_Traveller
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 13:16
| I now have it opened for multiple votes but please don't vote more than twice. |
Posted By: Earthmover
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 13:26
What's the point of the poll allowing multiple votes?
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Posted By: bobthenob
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 13:44
| "True progressive" really? How pompouse and full of hot air can one get? If they bore you, so be it. Over 1/2 the bands on this site do that for me. If you enjoy it, and it moves you, and you say to yourself that it meets the crieria of "True Progressive", then, 'nuff said. As someone else said....I didn't know there was a test or something....."do you have a Prog License?" |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 16:05
These two, in spades. Incredible that it should even be open to question. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 16:24
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Were the Moody Blues ever a true prog band? Not really. King Crimson's innovation was distinguishing prog from psychedelic/pop roots, while 'Days of Future Passed' was generally a psychedelic album, but with complex symphonic arrangements (and their following albums were even closer to psychedelic pop). Thus The Moody Blues' early stuff falls straightly into proto-prog category.
------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 16:31
Sorry, you are utterly wrong. The Moodies were considered to be an archetypal prog rock band, simple as. They considered themselves to be very much so, and I fail to see the Crimson point really. Why do people insist on these categorisations which fly in the face of musical history? ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 17:11
That was the dumbest request inthe history of this forum.  ------------- What? |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 17:17
Well, there are many ways to percept and interpret music. I believe that The Moody Blues were too psychedelic-influenced for being archetypical prog (whilst Crimson's influence was taken also from jazz, folk and modern classical music, and that fusion of everything with everything became a kind of attribute for almost all 70's prog bands). Though it's just my own opinion, I would always like to hear a different pointof view. ------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: geneyesontle
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 17:29
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Prog_Traveler, you put the option that you can vote many times in this poll, now this poll is a mess. Now that's a great STUPID poll. ------------- Poseidon wants to Acquire the Taste of the Fragile Lamb - Derek Adrian Gabriel Anderson, singer of the band Geneyesontle |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 17:32
It only takes one idiot.  ------------- What? |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 17:39
So now I can vote for yes and no at the same time? Or ever worse, I can vote 50 times for the one I think is the correct answer, and then someone that doesn't agree with me can vote 200 times for the other, and so on. Indeed, multiple votes is never a good idea, and as soon as I know a poll has that option available, I stop checking the results because I won't trust them. By the way, I'm not voting anything on this poll because I don't know the band well enough to give my opinion on how proggy they are. |
Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 18:09
Jeez dude, what happened to ya? ------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385 |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 18:15
 ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Progosopher
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 18:32
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Without question, yes. The fourth option makes what I consider a false assertion, that King Crimson is the beginning of Prog. ItCotCK was certainly a milestone, but it existed, and continues to exist within a continuum of releases. KC moved beyond what the Moodies had done earlier, but then the Moodies themselves moved beyond what they did earlier. That is a characteristic of progression. DoFP did things no one had done before, as did In Search of the Lost Chord. Even if they became a mostly pop band later on, they were still a true prog band at one time, so the answer again has to be "yes." ------------- The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty" |
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 18:34
| Don't make polls multiple-vote, it accomplishes even less than the poll section usually does |
Posted By: jude111
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 21:09
| They were prog before there was prog......... maybe?........ |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 22:36
I concur with my Welsh friend!
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Posted By: Prog_Traveller
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 22:36
| Multiple votes so you can vote for art rock or only in early days. There's times when it might apply just don't contradict yourself. :) |
Posted By: Prog_Traveller
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 22:39
| Ok, I just changed it back. Multiple votes probably wasn't a good idea after all. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 23:01
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Concerning the album 'On The Threshold Of A Dream' - one should only listen to the last section - the suite of 'The Dream/Have You Heard/The Voyage/Have You Heard II' - if anyone does NOT believe that it is Progressive composition, please leave the room. Bob Fripp may have been in awe of the Moodies when he envisioned Crimso........."I'm going to purchase a Mellotron and show them what it's all abowt" My absolute fave Moodies album, 'To Our Children's Children's Children' is a beautifully crafted Prog album start to finish. It was never about how many notes they could play per bar, it was the placement of fewer notes within a bar that created undisputable magic. Very creative and cutting edge for the time.
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Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 23:09
The use of Mellotron by Bob Fripp is light years ahead of anything the Moodies every did.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: January 30 2013 at 23:18
........
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Posted By: Metalmarsh89
Date Posted: January 31 2013 at 01:24
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Soooo, 59 yes's, and 55 no's. The yes's have chimed in with there reasoning, but the no's are nowhere to be found. Does this mean that everyone who voted no just doesn't know who the Moody Blues are? |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 31 2013 at 01:29
Before then the actual number of "no" votes was very few. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 31 2013 at 03:56
I question it. never heard of them being considerd Prog until I came here. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Metalmarsh89
Date Posted: January 31 2013 at 13:45
Are multiple votes always allowed on this site, or just a poll-to-poll basis? I don't have the ability to vote yet, and I really don't know. |
Posted By: digdug
Date Posted: January 31 2013 at 13:51
When you set up a poll you have the option to make it multiple vote or not I think we have just proven that 'not' is the better choice :) ------------- Prog On! |
Posted By: Metalmarsh89
Date Posted: January 31 2013 at 20:20
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I'll give that one 50 yes votes
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 08:05
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Not related to the poll, just a cool video posted on Hippie Peace Freaks - ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Ronnie Pilgrim
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 10:14
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Due to their very limited (almost absent) fusing of jazz into their compositions, I voted no. However, I think their first seven albums are worth owning.
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 10:54
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The requirement for "jazz" in prog is vastly overstated, there is sod all jazz in most Prog - probably about as much as there is C&W in Grunge. ------------- What? |
Posted By: jude111
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 12:30
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Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 13:06
This. But in any case, I don't find Days of Future Passed prog at all. |
Posted By: Sumdeus
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 14:20
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....could you possibly elaborate on specifically how you think it isn't prog at all? I'm just curious to know the thought process that leads you to that conclusion ------------- http://sumdeus.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - Sumdeus - surreal space/psych/prog journeys |
Posted By: DisgruntledPorcupine
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 14:29
| Well perhaps I exaggerated a little. It's not that it's not prog whatsoever, I just don't really feel any prog when I listen to it. It does have a few elements, but it kinda feels more like psychedelia with string sections than prog. |
Posted By: invisible-man
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 14:32
| This is a tough question. Depends on how you define "prog" . The Moody Blues are not prog like ELP, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Yes, etc. But all these bands derive their inspiration from European influences; as opposed to blues based people like the Stones, or Led Zepplin. The Moody Blues are prog like the Beatles. The Beatles aren't generally considered a prog band although arguably (at one point) they had elements in some of their stuff (Tomorrow Never Knows, Day in the Life, I am the Walrus) The Moody Blues are/were a bunch of songwriters who, at one time, released some of the most beautiful, creative music around (On the Threshold of a Dream, ...Children's, Children, Seventh Sojourn, etc) |
Posted By: Ronnie Pilgrim
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 15:17
I had no idea my statements are so vast. Thank you.
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Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 15:24
I completely disagree with this, to me prog has a great jazz element, the rhythm and the bass mostly play a big part in Prog. The timing must be spot on or the odd key notes become messy
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Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 15:27
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Dean is right. Some prog has a jazz element, most does not. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 15:32
Lazland
in a way yes but mostly not if you pay attention, Jazz and prog what both have in common most than most genres is the bass the dum dum dim dim dum only in prog or jazz the bass stands out and is most important really  |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 15:57
I will go to bed tonight singing "dum dum dim dim dum". Beats thinking about the Wales game today, I suppose Sorry, though, Sonia, I disagree. Bass guitar has stood out in all rock genres to a degree since rock and roll in the 1950's. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: Kati
Date Posted: February 02 2013 at 16:01
hahahaha!!! Lazland lolol dum dim dum dum, however again bass has always been important in any genre except plain accoustic spanish guitar but in prog and jazz they are at the forefront, different bass instruments but both certainly bass
hug huge one to you |