Re: Classic Prog...

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Date: Fri Jun 25 1999 - 14:32:28 EDT

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    >
    >Some good recommendations in your list, Steve. Interesting to see,
    >though some albums seem to be everyone's darling, it still seems to
    >be a matter of taste.
    >
            Yeah, I always find it fascinating when another prog fan and
    I agree on 10 albums but then disagree on 5 others. What is the common
    thread that's on the 10 we like but missing from the 5 we don't? :)

    >So I'm really surprised that no one mentionend King Crimson's Larks'
    >Tongues In Aspik yet. It's the first album with the core lineup
    >Fripp/Wetton/Bruford. Very weird stuff, like most Crim albums, but
    >the two title tracks (pt. 1 and 2) are among the most aggressive and
    >heavy prog songs of all time. But the most surprising thing is, that
    >they still sound fresh. They could put them on a 90s Crimson album
    >and you wouldn't notice.
    >
            It's amazing how fresh sounding some of the older Crimson can
    be. Robert Fripp was pretty far ahead of his time.
            I've never been a huge fan of Crimson really. It's just not
    melodic enough for me most of the time, I think. There are exceptions
    (such as Starless) but I think that's a big reason I don't enjoy their
    albums more. I thought that Discipline and Thrak might be a bit
    easier for DT fans to get into at first listen.

    >Don't forget Nursery Crime by Genesis, it doesn't stand out like
    >Selling England but is still one of their best albums.
    >
            Yes, that's another good early Genesis album. I think it's
    a bit rough in places, but certainly worth getting if you like the
    others.

    >Rush is a very special case. I never understood why everybody seems
    >to love Moving Pictures. I'm trying to get into it for years, and
    >well, it's ok, has some great stuff on it, but it never became a
    >personal favorite. What about A Farewell To Kings? C'mon, Xanadu and
    >Cygnus X-1 alone should be enough reason to put it on a best-of list!
    >
            I should have included A Farewell to Kings -- I knew I was
    going to leave something off! ;-) I really do love "Moving Pictures"
    (which I guess is a good example of what I was saying above). The
    first three songs are great fun to sing and air-drum to and the last
    three show their prog tendencies but are possibly more accessible than
    some of their earlier albums.

    >And am I still the only Gentle Giant fan on this list? Get Free Hand,
    >The Power And The Glory, and Octopus *now*!
    >
            I've never been able to get into Gentle Giant. Their music is
    just a bit too quirky and I don't really like their vocals. If someone
    out there is looking for some complex music though, they should pick
    up some Gentle Giant! I was almost going to include them in my first
    list (along with Kansas and a couple others), but they didn't seem to
    have the broad influence the other bands did.

                                    Steve



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