Some prog lists.

Can would be on my list too, right at the top. But it would be a Krautrock list, not a prog list.

Oh and Graham, congrats - I never thought I'd see Univers Zero on the Naim forum these days :-)

quote:

and let's not forget Faust and Can

or the aforementioned Amon Duul and Grobschnitt as well as Wallenstein, Anyone's Daughter, Guru Guru and, of course, the wonderful Floh De Cologne,

Do Atlantis, the Scorpions, Bap, Karat or City count as prog-kraut-rock or is that stretching it (as Alan Bown once said).

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Shaw:
Oh and Graham, congrats - I never thought I'd see Univers Zero on the Naim forum these days :-)

Where does one start - Heresie?

Well, I'm always skeptical of genres and labels, and in my book early Can and Faust could be described as progressive and rock ;-)

Reaching into the far corners of rock music was a 70's and 80's passion of mine, with some dire consequences (anyone remember the 'French Genesis', Ange?). Of all those bands I listed, I only frequently return to early Soft Machine, Can and Faust, although the first Etron Fou LP has some mighty fine playing on it (yes, it translates as 'mad shit').

I think 'Heresie' has just been reissued, and is as dark and progressive and Bartok influeneced as Univers Zero can be, although their first eponymous album is the one I have a soft spot for (also known as 1313, after the original Atem catalogue number). Needless to say I'm glad I've kept all this stuff on vinyl, as some of it is fetching silly money these days (probably more than my pension schemes).

Other important teen influences were Hatfield and the North, Egg, National Health, Bruford and Gong (especially mid 70's with Steve Hillage, Pierre Moerlin and Didier Malherb. Gong in this period were excellent live - and IMO their albums never did their live sound and playing full justice).

Oh, and do Pere Ubu count? Their early stuff is stunning. I'm thinking Data Panic and The Modern Dance. Some argue they were the first punk band, but that is another story, another thread.......

I've got a few Ange albums. Not bad, but not top rank.

The whole prog definition thing is a bit bogus, in that it's a retrospective label (as many are these days - bands like Incredible String Band are now part of the psych-folk genre but we never thought of them in those terms back then).

All we asked was that bands "progressed" from one album to the next and applied to anyone, but over the years that's sort of morphed into being defined as "longer and more widdly", and ultimately into a four letter word you'd never say in front of your parents judging by the reaction in some quarters if you admit to liking Yes or Gentle Giant or ELP.

As such, you're all right in that pretty much anything can be defined as prog - see my earlier comment anbout Porg Archives, a wonderful resource that is well on its way to claiming all music as being related to prog in some way or other (they're recently added Terry Riley - look out for Philip Glass any week now!).

But labels are sort of convenient when trying to explain sounds via the medium of pixels shaped into letters, so my own personal prog definition excludes krautrock and psych.

However, it's fairly random. I class Amon Duul 2 as krautrock, but Eloy* as prog and from Carnival In Babylon onwards there really isn't that much difference between the two.

* And for the casual reader who hasn't dropped off to sleep during this post, can I recommend you try something by Eloy? Planets or Oceans perhaps (thought most of the middle and later ones are pretty splendid.

Thanks to Graham, Gary and Rotf for the Soft Machine recommendations. I have discovered that a lot of its material has been uploaded to YouTube from the albums, so it's possible to listen to some of the material before parting with the hard earned readies.

Note to self: investigate YouTube before purchase of new unknown material!

Regards, CB

This is becoming a very good useful thread. As I want to uncover some new prog this year, there is a lot to try here. Currently listening to Eloy and liking it a lot - all on spotify. Will order some CD's.

I am absolutely bursting (in a "I'm the only person I know who likes them and they're absolutely wonderful" way) to convert the world to La Maschera Di Cera, a current Italian Prog band in the spirit of the early 70s Italian Prog. It's sung in Italian. Dramatically.

All their albums are triff, but Il Grande Labirinto is fantastic from start to finish. Most of the tracks are really long but this short one on Prog Archives is representative of their melodic strength, and all you have to do is imagine the long instrumental bits...

Their new one Petali di Fuoco is almost as good.

Here's a typical track (though it's not the best one)



Another video I can't embed:

Fino All' Aurora

And this one - starts off ballady but stick with it - there's some tremendous soloing towards the end.



They are the brain-child of Fabio Zuffanti of Finisterre and Hostsonaten fame so if you like this lot you'll probably like Finisterre and you might like to give the more pastoral Hostsonaten a listen too (the latter's more recent albums are all instrumental if the language is an issue).

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Shaw:

All their albums are triff, but Il Grande Labirinto is fantastic from start to finish. Most of the tracks are really long but this short one on Prog Archives is representative of their melodic strength, and all you have to do is imagine the long instrumental bits...

The album is on spotify as well - will play it next when I have finished Eloy Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes - which is just excellent so far.

Quite a few of the bands mentioned so far can (surprisingly?) be found on Spotify.

A couple of recommended Youtube clips: King Crimson performing Larks Tongues with a formidable Jamie Muir on percussion from the early 70's, and there used to be a nice clip of Soft Machine recording some of Four in the studio with Roy Babbington guesting on acoustic bass (apologies - haven't checked recently to see if it's still there).

There is also a fantastic clip of an extended early Weather Report with Alan Skidmore and John Surman on saxes. I love the way Wayne Shorter just grins when Skidders takes his multiphonically induced free jazz solo. But now we really are moving away from the OP.......

Glad the Softs recommendations were of use Clive. Have fun, whatever.

quote:

Originally posted by seagull:

quote:

Originally posted by JamieL_v2:

I have thought long and hard about this and have come up with a prog list that is short.

A list of my favourite tracks from Yes 'Close to the Edge'.
1. Close to the Edge , 2. And You, And I, 3. Siberian Khatru

I'll trump your "Close to the Edge" with

1 Lemmings (including Cog)
2 Man-Erg
3 A Plague of Lighthouse-Keepers

or

Thick As A Brick (Part I)
Thick As A Brick (Part II)

Which, had CD technology been around at the time would have been simply "Thick As A Brick"

I trump with Transtlantic; The Whirlwind. All 79m 52s of it.....

So. Today I drive with my mini cooper to Platten Pedro. The best adress for second hand vinyl in Berlin.


Eloy | Ocean
Caravan | In the Land of grey and pink
Gentle Giant | Playing the fool
Renaissance | Carnegie Hall
Kraan | Live
Camel | Mirage

Oh man I could have bought still many more...

If anyone has a particular leaning towards the later Soft Machines, then they should definitely try the German band Passport. The best of (Passport Control) is a great place to start and they're all very well recorded too.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
I'd recommend Out-Bloody Rageous.

...which ironically derived its themes from the 'minimalism' of Terry Riley!

You mentioned Mick Softley earlier - there's a blast from the past, or the folk clubs of the early 70s....