[Deep Funk]

I find them very fascinating on the same level as King Crimson. I only have their first album but I am still curious for their interesting mixture of styles and instrumentation. I might track down the box set.

 

[logwed]

Have you ever tried any Van der Graaf Generator? They're definitely not for everybody, but I definitely recommend that you check out VDGG's Pawn Hearts and Godbluff.

 

[Deep Funk]

Yep, very intense music and I should try some albums from their early period. "Godbluff" was my introduction to their music...

 

[logwed]

Quote:

Yep, very intense music and I should try some albums from their early period. "Godbluff" was my introduction to their music...

Do you have Pawn Hearts? Also, H to He Who am the Only One rocks, as well as The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other.

 

[Deep Funk]

I will check out their discography, thanks for the suggestions...
 
Update: Metal Church's début album "Metal Church" sounds more to my liking than I expected. I had this album stacked up somewhere for listening. Eighties Metal...

 

[Proglover]

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"Red" was my second album, very memorable first listen. "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" is also very interesting. 

 


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Ironically, without King Crimson, there very likely wouldn't BE "Progressive Rock" as we know it today.  I of course absolutely adore KC, but there is no doubt that "Court", and all of their very early records do sound a little dated, as much as I still love them.  But "Red" does not sound dated in the least to me.
 
Proglover, you should also try "Discipline" - the first of their 80's lineup records.  It's phenomenal, and sounds more like modern prog (and again in many ways was part of forming modern prog).

I has been some days, but I need to come back to this.
 
Couple of days ago, I started listening to 'Discipline' and I have to say nothing less but WOW! Especially the first (and 2nd,3rd,4rd and 5th very soon after that) time I heard 'Elephant talk', it was freaking mindblowing, can't put it any other way. The way he uses his voice, the beats under it that keeps on going, the way the lyrics develope, absoluty fantastic. Through the years with discovering (for me) new prog. you have some of these moments, that you're totally into a song or record. A good example from that is when I really started getting to know 'Metropolis pt1', '2112', or 'The Light'. Not to compare the KC song with those epic songs, but it was a magic moment.
 
I've been listening a lot to Discipline and Court since, appreciating Court more also.
I've been noticing more and more the great drum playing in the songs (f.e. Frame to Frame and Indiscipline), the octobans the drummer already used in '81. There were many (prog) drummers who followed, later then '81....
 
As I don't believe in getting into all records by a band the same time, I've not been listening to Red yet, but the time will come for that, as well as Larks, no doubt anymore on that.
 
Thanks guys for the recommendations and also to grokit to remind me I had to explore this band.
I knew about them offcourse, but I just can't believe I've been listening to prog. for over 15 years now, know all my classics, but this band slipped through. I guess you're never to old to learn...
 
ps. Skylab, go listening to Spock's Beard! I've really shared some of my best concert moments with them in my youth. Neal and the guys going crazy on a stage with not more then 150-300 people as a crowd, all of them completely going nuts on the music (at least, in the way prog-heads do that) 

 

[Skylab]

I think one could easily argue that Bill Bruford is the best Prog drummer of all time.

I have three Spock's Beard records that just arrived. I will listen to them over the weekend I hope.

 

[Proglover]

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I think one could easily argue that Bill Bruford is the best Prog drummer of all time.

I have three Spock's Beard records that just arrived. I will listen to them over the weekend I hope.

That's a big statement, I'm a prog. drummer myself, I know and love a lot of them. Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard) is one of my favorites, another one is Neil Peart (Rush), then you have Mike Portnoy offcourse, and since he does Porcupine Tree, Gavin Harrison who has done 'progressive' drumming within the progressive genre.
 
I think Neil Peart is one of the best drummers of all time, regardless of which type of music, but there are so many. For what I've heard the KC guy, Bill Bruford, is great, but as great as Peart, I'd doubt it.
 
Things are subjective as hell offcourse.

 

[Skylab]

Neil Peart is undoubtedly phenomenal, and I think one could argue that he is the best drummer ever. But I think you can argue the same for Bruford.

But indeed, super highly subjective!

 

[logwed]

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I think one could easily argue that Bill Bruford is the best Prog drummer of all time.

I have three Spock's Beard records that just arrived. I will listen to them over the weekend I hope.

I just got into Spock's Beard too! So far I really dig the instrumentals, but the vocals are a bit off for me.
 
I'm totally with you on the subject of Bill Bruford, he drives any band he's playing in with incredible subtlety and creativity. Peart might beat him in technical prowess (a close call), but Bruford's style just takes the cake for me.

 

[Proglover]

logwed, are you listening to Spock's Beard with Neal Morse vocals or Nick D'Virgilio? Big difference.

 

[Skylab]

I spent the last several hours listening to "Beware of Darkness" and "The Kindness of Strangers". Both albums were quite good, overall. I have to agree that Morse's vocals are not my favorite thing about Spock's Beard. They are not bad, but they are not great, either. Musically, however, I like them a lot. With the mellotron and some of the way they play organ, there are certainly ways in which SB sounds more like classic prog than many of the other modern prog bands I have heard. And there being really no elements of metal in their music also differentiates them some. I have yet to be really captured wholly by any of their songs, though, but sometimes that doesn't happen with one listen. So I will give these more time in the coming weeks.

I'm now going to play "Snow".

 

[Proglover]

I wish they recorded and mixed 'Beware' better. Songs like The Doorway and Waste Away are so great, but they suffer from very mediocre sound quality on record. For me, Neal's one of my very favorite singers, there's something about his voice I love very deeply.

 

[Skylab]

Yeah, vocalists are funny that way. I know some people who don't like Porcupine Tree because of Steven Wilson's voice, and I absolutely love his voice. It's highly personal.

 

[logwed]

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logwed, are you listening to Spock's Beard with Neal Morse vocals or Nick D'Virgilio? Big difference.

I've listened to X, V, The Light, Snow, and The Kindness of Strangers. 
 
I believe that X is D'Virgilio and the others are all Morse? I really don't like either vocalist, though. Morse seems like he has a bit more variation, and the albums with him are certainly more inspired musically than X, but I just don't like the really 'forward' vocal style of either of them.
 
Skylab, I would agree, they definitely sound more classic than say, the Flower Kings. There were moments where I could easily have been listening to Camel, Genesis, or King Crimson. The keyboards are definitely the main attraction, I feel. Guitar and bass have moments but seem to be playing second fiddle most of the time.
 
Since the albums are longer and I've been a bit distracted whilst listening (damn you, my nearby computer and Minecraft!), it's kinda tough for me to really judge because I don't think that I know the albums well enough. Also, I'm not so good with CD-length albums, it's really tough for me to focus with the music sprawling over 70 minutes with any band.
 
What has really stood out to me, though, is that in each album there has been a really strong musical theme that keeps getting expressed and changed around. I really like it, it really helps tie the album together for me!