I sent out an email reply to William Wright with recommendations
for other progressive bands and I realized that other people might be
interested in those bands too. For those of you who aren't interested,
I apologize -- you might as well skip to the next message now. For
those who are interested and have questions or comments about other
progressive bands, just send me some email.
Steve Chew
schew@tis.com
------------------------------------------------------
William,
Glad to hear that you'll soon have lots of money to spend on prog
CDs! :-) There is *tons* of great progressive music out there, much of
which is not available in most record stores. I'll give you a list of
some of my favorite progressive bands and include some reviews that I've
sent other people (so I don't have to type up all new reviews). Your taste
seems pretty varied with some more mellow music as well as metal so I'll
give you a wide variety of recommendations. Just so you know, I like most
every album that you listed below, though I'm not that big of a fan of
Savatage or Fates Warning (and I'm not familiar with Yanni).
First I'll answer the questions that I can below:
>
>> ** Dream Theater * Saigon Kick * Led Zeppelin * Metallica * Deep Purple **
>> ** MAGELLAN * SHADOW GALLERY * DAN REED NETWORK * AC DC * FATES WARNING **
>> ** Queensryche * Galactic Cowboys * Rush * Psychotic Waltz * Rainbow **
>
>hey guys... uhm I just want to ask a few questions. I saw on that survey
>someone poste that one of the up and coming bands is called Saigon Kick.
>He has it listed as one of his fav bands. Are they progressive or what?
>Also, is Psychotic Waltz progressive?
>
From what I know of Saigon Kick, they are a fairly straight forward
metal band. They may have progressive albums though, I'm not sure. I'm not
very fond of what I've heard by them, but that's just me.
Psychotic Waltz is also a fairly straight forward metal band, but
they definitely have some prog leanings that make their music pretty
interesting. I'm not sure how highly I'd recommend them though. Try to
take a listen to them before buying.
>
>anyway, I have:
>all 4 DT cds (tie between IAW and Awake)
>QR's O:M, Empire, and PL ( like O:M the best)
>Rush's 2112, Exit Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure, Presto, and Roll the
>Bones (I like ESL the best... but its a compliation CD.)
>Savatages Handfull of Rain (I like every song except the cobras one)
>Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian and Inside Out. (Both great albums)
>Evening of Yes Music (great 2 cd set, I generally like the 2nd CD more...
>I would like to get some more of these guys CDs, but they've gone through
>so many member changes, etc. I can't keep up with it all. A bio on this
>group would help a lot I think.)
>Satrianni's Time Machine (I like the live CD more, but again a
>compliation CD)
>Yanni's Live at the Marcropolis (good cd)
>and both Enigma cds (ok group, don't listen to them much, but still ok)
>Then I have a lot of classical music cds which I listen to some (when I'm
>in the mood.)
>
You seem to have a pretty wide variety of stuff. Which songs of the
"Evening of Yes Music" did you like best? If it was "Close to the Edge",
"Heart of the Sunrise" and "Roundabout" (three of my favorite Yes songs),
then you'll certainly like their older material (before 1979). If it was
the other songs, then you may like the album "Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman
and Howe" (which contains some of those songs). If you like their older
material then I'd recommend trying one of the following albums:
Yes -- Classic Yes -- A collection (I know you didn't want these) which gives
an *excellent* overview of their older material.
Yes -- Close to the Edge -- Probably my favorite Yes album. It is very
consistent and strong. Great stuff.
Yes -- Fragile -- This one is also an excellent album, but perhaps a little
less consistent than Close to the Edge.
Yes -- The Yes Album -- This was their 2nd (or maybe 3rd) album and isn't
quite as mature as the above two, but it is still
great. This one has quite a few tracks that aren't
on "Evening of Yes Music", I think.
You might also like "90125" which is from Yes' newer era. I
enjoy it a lot, but some Yes fans don't like their newer sound as much. It
is a little bit more 'pop' sounding, but it has stood up to many, many
listenings for me. If you want a more biographical description, just send
me email.
>I've seen sooo many albums that I want to buy (like every Rush album) and
>other like some ELP albums or King Crimson. I don't really know much
>about these bands and would like some input on which albums to buy. I
>WOULDN'T like to buy a compliation CD of KC or ELP or Dreggs (or any other
>prog.band out there) if possible. Also if the group is an import tell me so
>I'll know where to look (not at Best Buy. :))
>
Yeah, there is an amazing amount of great music out there. I'll
give you a quick list of bands and what albums I'd recommend of theirs.
Just remember that while these bands are good, they will not suddenly
replace your favorite bands. Just because I rave about a band doesn't
mean that you'll like them better than Dream Theater (or whoever). I
remember when I first tried many of these bands I was a bit disappointed
that they didn't all blow me away. I was expecting too much. After
listening to them more though, they grew on me and many are among my
favorite bands now. Hopefully, you'll find some that you love too. :)
BTW, some of the bands I list below will have to be mail-ordered and
I'll give you a couple places to do that from at the bottom of the list.
Since I'm not really sure what bands you're familiar with, I'll
include some bands you may know (like Genesis and Tull) since if you haven't
tried them then you should (IMHO). :-) Here's the bands that I'd recommend
(in no particular order) and what albums of each one I'd recommend starting
with:
Magellan -- "Impending Ascension":
Magellan is one of my favorite bands. They make me think that this
is what Dream Theater would sound like if DT was dominated by keyboards
instead of guitar. Their music is full of complex rhythms and
great dynamcs. Even though they tend to have less guitar than DT,
they still rock pretty hard with cool interplay between all the
instruments. All of the people I know who like DT (admittedly, not
that many) also like Magellan. Don't expect Magellan to be a Dream
Theater clone though! They have a *very* different sound -- it's
mainly the complex rhythms and dynamics that attracts the DT fans I
think. Highly recommended. Their album is hard to find right now,
but it is to be released in the United States in December so then it
should be easy to find.
Marillion Brave
Marillion Misplaced Childhood
Marillion Script for a Jester's Tear
Marillion Clutching at Straws
Marillion are the best of the neo-prog bands, in my opinion. They
are talented musicians who know how to create good music. Their music
is not very heavy (typical of neo-prog), but sort of like Pink Floyd or
early Genesis, they can build some powerful music from slower, more melodic
pieces. "Misplaced Childhood" is a album-length story and is probably my
favorite Marillion album. I might recommend either "Script..." or "Clutching
at Straws" for a good place to start with Marillion though, since those
albums are more song oriented. "Brave" is their newest album and is also
an album-length story -- another excellent album. "Brave" has the new
singer who I don't like quite as well though -- he's not as aggressive and
has a higher pitched voice. Highly recommended, and Marillion are a great
place to start if you want to try out the neo-prog. You should be able to
find the Marillion albums in any decent record store, including Best Buy.
BTW, neo-prog is a term that describes bands (mainly from the 1980's
and 1990's) who were influenced by bands from the 1970's like Yes, Genesis,
and ELP. Their music tends to be somewhat more 'pop' oriented (but certainly
not enough to get radio play! ;-) and usually has a less complex structure.
They also are usually not that 'heavy' sounding. Bands like Dream Theater
are progressive-metal, *not* neo-prog.
Shadow Gallery Shadow Gallery CD 1992
Shadow Gallery is on the border of being a prog-metal band. On the
first few listens I liked them quite a bit, but I've grown a bit tired of
them -- they can be cheesy at times. They are sort of in between Magellan
and Dream Theater as far as how heavy they are. They aren't as good as either
of those bands though. I might recommend trying them since they are fairly
heavy with some good musical passages and a decent singer. You'll probably
have to mail order this.
King Crimson Discipline
King Crimson Red
I'm not a huge fan of King Crimson actually, but they are a great
band who has always been loyal to their own views of how music should be
made. On first listen, they have a fairly strange, experimental style with
lots of dynamics and time changes. I like "Discipline" best of their albums
that I've heard. It has the best use of dynamics and cool interplay between
intstruments, I think. Many people also recommend "Red" or "Discipline" as
their most accessible albums. Some of their other albums are *very*
experimental (IMHO) so you may want to try the above two first. You should
be able to find King Crimson in any decent record store. Our Best Buy has
most of their albums.
ELP Brain Salad Surgery
Emerson Lake and Palmer are a great band, but a little inconsistent,
I think. They are strongly keyboard dominant with many classical influences
in their music (they 'cover' some classical pieces even). "Brain Salad
Surgery" is one of their strongest albums and is pretty consistent througout.
That's probably one of the best albums to start with.
Anekdoten Vemod CD 1993
Given the bands you listed Anekdoten may be one of the best bands
to try first. They have a driving sound that has a somewhat metal
feel to it, but with lots of complex rhythms and great dynamics. They tend
to build up a wonderful atmosphere on their album -- it has a rather dark,
ominous feel to most of it. Highly recommended. You'll probably have to
mail-order this one.
Anglagard Hybris CD 1993
Anglagard's style reminds me a little of King Crimson, a little
strange and experimental. The music is wonderful! It's not really in the
metal vein though it has lots of guitar, but it is full of dynamic changes,
complex rhythms and shifting time signatures. The drummer is fantastic --
he is constantly doing something different, seldom repeating anything. I love
listening to this at high volumes. :-) The vocals are a bit tough to get
used to since they are in Swedish and are kind of mellow compared to the
music. Overall, I'd highly recommend trying this, even with the vocals
and 'strange' sound. You'll probably have to mail-order this one.
Nuova Era -- Io E Il Tempo
This is an Italian band with Italian lyrics, but I really love this
album. The first (18 minute) song has the keyboards and guitar constantly
'dueling' each other and jamming. Great stuff. I actually like the vocals
quite a bit too -- they are strange to hear in Italian, but their voices
are great and they create excellent harmonies. Highly recommended and an
excellent way to see if you will like other Italian bands with Italian
vocals (there are a lot of good ones). You'll have to get this through
mail-order.
Il Balletto di Bronzo -- Ys
One of my favorite albums. These guys have some wonderful (Italian)
vocals with lots of harmony overtop of constantly moving keyboard and guitar.
The music is fantastic and is well supported by the vocals. If you like the
fast paced parts of ELP and Yes, you'll most likely enjoy this. Highly
recommended. This may be an even better place to start for Italian prog
rock (which I love). You'll have to get this through mail-order.
Genesis -- Selling England by the Pound
Old Genesis (before 1975) features Peter Gabriel on vocals and sounds
*nothing* like their newer material (like "Mama" or "Invisible Touch", etc).
In fact, old Genesis produced some of my favorite albums. No instrument is
particularly dominant. They had a talent for putting together great songs
which mixed the interplay of the instruments and vocals wonderfully. I'd
recommend starting with "Selling England by the Pound" since it is probably
the most consistent of their albums with Gabriel and it has many great
songs. Highly recommended. Genesis albums should be easy to find.
Jethro Tull -- Aqualung
Jethro Tull -- Thick as a Brick
Jethro Tull -- Minstrel in the Gallery
Often people seem to ignore Jethro Tull when talking about progressive
music and I've never understood why. They do tend to have some more 'standard'
rock songs (like "Aqualung"), but they go *far* beyond that (though I do love
"Aqualung"). "Thick as a Brick" is one of my all-time favorite albums. It
is a 'concept' album and has many layers that I'm still discovering to this
day. Wonderful! :-) "Aqualung" has a more standard song format and is also
a good place to start (it has a few of the songs that you've heard from Tull
on the radio). Ian Anderson, the singer and flute player, is among my very
favorite vocalists (and song writers). He has a deep throaty voice that he
uses in a way that does not get boring even after hundreds of listens. At
first, I thought his vocal style was a little strange, but it grew on me and
now I just love it. I'd highly recommend trying a Tull album, if you haven't
before, since their albums tend to be better as a whole than the singles
they play on the radio. Jethro Tull albums should be easy to find.
Kate Bush Hounds of Love
Kate Bush The Dreaming
Kate Bush has a beautiful voice that she is not afraid to use in
an aggressive manner. I really enjoy her singing and she creates good music
to compliment the vocals. Some really hate her singing style though, so
you may want to listen to an album first. "The Dreaming" and "Hounds of
Love" are probably the best places to start -- they're pretty consistently
strong. You can find her albums most anywhere.
Tori Amos Little Earthquakes.
Tori Amos Under the Pink
Another great female vocalist, Tori Amos is not all that progressive
as far as her music, but she has a beautiful voice and writes wonderful
songs. The vocals are a dominant force in her music, along with a piano,
giving the songs an almost acoustic feel to them. The songs are not very
hard rocking, but the emotion and power built up through her vocals more
then makes up for it, IMHO. Either album is a good place to start, though
I slightly prefer "Little Earthquakes" since it has a more personal and
acoustic feel.
Enchant -- Blueprint of the World
Enchant reminds me somewhat of Kings X, but without as many harmonies.
They mix their keyboard sounds with the guitar pretty well. They are a good
band, but not one of my favorites. Steve Rothery (from Marillion) produced
some of their songs.
------------------------------------------------
Well, there are many, many more progressive rock bands, but I think
that should give you a good idea of where to start. :-)
If you want, you can get the Gibralter Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock
which has reviews on almost all of the albums above. Those reviews are very
opinionated (like mine I guess :-), but they could give you another
perspective. The GEPR is available via ftp from ortega.cs.ucdavis.edu in
/pub/MSB/GEPR. Or you can go to the WWW page:
http://ortega.cs.ucdavis.edu/pub/MSB/WWW/Prog.html.
The GEPR lists many, many *obscure* bands too, so it's a good reference
for when you're ready to move on to even more prog rock. :-)
Here are a couple places that you can get the above albums from:
MAIL ORDER
Ranjit Padmanabhan -- ranjit@netcom.com
Ranjit sells progressive rock albums through the internet. Just
send him some email when you want to make an order. He carries most of the
above albums including the hard-to-find stuff. Get his list of albums via
ftp at: ftp.netcom.com in the /pub/ranjit directory (the file is called
'full-list'). He sometimes takes a few days to answer email (selling CDs
is not his full-time job), but he has always been very reliable for me.
Of Sound Mind -- owner: Chris Lamka -- (410) 529-7082
"Of Sound Mind" is a store in Baltimore, MD that specializes in
getting hard-to-find progressive rock. They also do mail-order so you can
just call to ask what they have in stock. They can get any of the above
albums that I said 'need to mail-order'. They are also very reliable.
Other places:
THE LASER'S EDGE
PO BOX 3128, Hoboken, NJ 07030
201-656-2112 (6PM to 10PM EST, No Later !!!)
SYN-PHONIC, P.O.Box 2034, La Habra CA 90631
Tel/Fax: (714) 894-9506
If you want further information about the above bands or other
bands, or if you're interested in setting up a tape trade (I have all of the
above albums and many more) just send me some email. Good luck exploring
the wonderful world of progressive rock and let me know what albums you
decide to try!
Steve Chew
schew@tis.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Apr 01 2004 - 17:54:39 EST