Mining for obscure prog rock...some surprising finds!
Posted by: Ron Toolsie on 27 November 2012
In the last month or so, I have diverted my musical attentions pretty much to the prog rock genre (and BTW the progarchives.com site is an invaluable resource). I have relatively little of this music in my collection, and then it tends to be the best known (King Crimson, Yes, Wishbone Ash, Rick Wakeman, Renaissance etc). So I decided to dig a little-well actually WAY deeper.
I am still a neophyte so I will not make too many comparisons, but rather share what I consider extremely good but obscure music. One thing I have found, is that it takes sheer *talent* to play prog rock, so it is very difficult to critique it in terms of technique....its main failings as far as I can tell are the vocals which occasionally tend to be oversung and bombastic.
Until I have listened a bit more to the 50 plus artists I have added to my collection I will for now just have to give a few very honorable mentions.
Yezda Urfa.... The best find so far. A band from Illinois (US) that have an uncanny resemblance to Yes in terms of composition, bass playing and very Andersonesque vocals. But I find them rather more melodic than any Yes I have in my collection, and the nonsensical song titles parody the over-serious attitude that many of their contemporaries were guilty of. Dare I say the playing is of an equal or higher virtuosity than that of Yes? There are only two albums...Boris from 1975 and Sacred Baboon from 1976.
The New Trolls- Italian prog rock at its best. The 'Ut' and 'Searching for a Land' albums seem particularly good, and both were released in 1972.
Days- a Danish band from 1972. Only one release as far as I can tell, which is self titled.
The Masters Apprentices- an Aussie band. I have so far only heard their albums Choice Cuts (1972) and a Toast to Panama Red (1972). Expertly crafted and played music. I do wish the albums were mastered better though.
Gryphon-Between 1973 and 1975 they released four albums that are very deeply rooted in olde Englishe Folke and are largely acoustic. Although any of these is excellent, the best is probably their third -Red Queen to Gryphon Three. If you love the folkie side of Mike Oldfield, then this one should impress, and in places sounds very similar to Ommadawn.
Iceberg- some Spanish prog rockers. The 1975 Tutankhamon has the fluid melodies of some of the best Camel.
Other artists I have recently cast an ear to, but have not listened enough to from a definitive opinion but are very promising....Khan, Gnidrolog (In Search of Harry's Toenail!?), Eden Rose, Anglagard, Jan Dukes de Gray, The Lens, Eloy, the Scottish band Hate with the Hate Kills album from 1970
And a passing mention to a much better known Prog Rock band-Gentle Giant. Two of their better albums (Octopus and Three Friends) were remastered last year and the sonic results are simply marvelous, as is the music. There is a life, clarity and presence that was entirely stripped from the previous releases.
Hi Ron,
I played the Panzerpappa CD for the first time last night and really liked it. This will be on heavy rotation here. Glad you liked it.
As you said you liked some Folk in your Prog I'm not sure if you saw my earlier link for Fauns who proclaim they make Folk-Prog from Berlin! 
I've had the CD for a few weeks now and think it's one of my top buy's of 2012.
Album Samples here - http://www.fauns.de/music.htm
Album Teaser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QovATrRfm9M
Fauns YT Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/faunsmusic?feature=watch
Prog Archives Review - http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=37500
"As with the debut, this sophomore recording has 3 ambitious pieces that simply startle and stun. Two explosive 10 minute epics "The Path" and "A Perfect Place" combine with the 20 minute finale, the luscious "Dawn". They alone define clearly the style and scope of this original band as described on their website: "The Fauns combine acoustic instruments with rock appeal, folkloristic influences with elements of progressive rock, melancholic moments with sound explosions. Flutes, viola and various acoustic guitars interact with keyboards and electric guitars; complex structures and odd time signatures are an integral part of the musical style."
ATB
Denis