[BillC]

I tend to break down Prog into the same three "eras" that Doc Sarvis described. I guess I'm more of a King Crimson fan because I think they have some excellent work in all three time periods. For early prog, "Court of the Crimson King" is a must have. I also like "Epitaph" which is live recordings from that time period. I'll agree that the 80's era King Crimson is also my favorite and "Discipline" is a great place to start. The current version of King Crimson is putting out some great music as well. There you can start with "Thrak".

Some other early recomendations:

Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention: So many albums it's impossible to pick one.

Captain Beefheart: "Trout Mask Replica"

Zappa/Beefheart: "Bongo Fury"

 

[kwitel]

anyone round here listen to Isis?
tremendous music...cannot stand the dude growling the lyrics in the background. Id almost rather if it was all instrumental.
Is this what Opeth sounds like?

 

[asmox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel anyone round here listen to Isis? tremendous music...cannot stand the dude growling the lyrics in the background. Id almost rather if it was all instrumental. Is this what Opeth sounds like?

There may be some areas of similarity to Opeth in later-period Isis, but I wouldn't say that it's what Opeth sounds like. If any band out there sounds like Isis, it's Neurosis.. they're like musical brothers.

Glad to hear you're enjoying Isis, though.. and why haven't you gotten any Opeth yet?

 

[kwitel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmox Glad to hear you're enjoying Isis, though.. and why haven't you gotten any Opeth yet?

please be gentle with me Master...I am just a lowly student

honestly, cuz Ive heard the singer does alot of growling and yelling-which I hate. As I said, I cant stand the guy from Isis but I absolutely love the music-kinda sux.
If youre a singer and would like to yell or growl occasionally (ala Jonathan Davis, Chino Marino, Anselmo, etc.) fine, no problem. But, if youre going to growl the WHOLE WAY through, I tend to find it unlistenable.
Sad to say im having a hard time with Chaosphere as well.

BTW, I got Crimsons' "Discipline"...wow.
Now this is music...what a great feeling to get into a band that has a crapload of material-and to look forward to getting into it all. First thing I noticed were the similarities to Pink Floyd-especially the riff in "Matte Kudasai".
What the heck are these guys talking about...lol.
Buddhist related?

 

[fante7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel please be gentle with me Master...I am just a lowly student honestly, cuz Ive heard the singer does alot of growling and yelling-which I hate. As I said, I cant stand the guy from Isis but I absolutely love the music-kinda sux. If youre a singer and would like to yell or growl occasionally (ala Jonathan Davis, Chino Marino, Anselmo, etc.) fine, no problem. But, if youre going to growl the WHOLE WAY through, I tend to find it unlistenable. Sad to say im having a hard time with Chaosphere as well. BTW, I got Crimsons' "Discipline"...wow. Now this is music...what a great feeling to get into a band that has a crapload of material-and to look forward to getting into it all. First thing I noticed were the similarities to Pink Floyd-especially the riff in "Matte Kudasai". What the heck are these guys talking about...lol. Buddhist related?

Cool, Discipline is a great album. The singer in Opeth definitely DOES NOT growl all of the time. It is mostly done for contrast and emphasis. He has an excellent clean singing voice as well, and some songs use exclusively clean vocals.

 

[Skipinder]

Classic Prog
Rush
King Crimson
Rainbow
Spock's Beard

Modern PR
Melvins <-- Just heard them last weekend, they're so awesome
Ayreon
King's X
Queenscryche

Modern PM
Dream THeater
Liquid Tension Experiment
Rage
Cynic
Opeth
Planet X
Meshuggah
Buckethead

There's tons more but that basically what I'm into atm

 

[kwitel]

Okay people, great lists-thanx for the recommendations...
In the mail for me right now:
Opeth-Blackwater Park
Rush-Hemispheres(I hope this one is more proggy and synth than 2112)
Frantic Bleep
Pink Floyd-Obscured by Clouds (have never heard it)

Already purchased (recently) and loving:

TMV-De-Loused and Frances (brilliant-Frances really growing on me...)
Porcupine Tree-In Absentia (oh my Lord!)
Rush-2112 (was expecting somthing more psychadelic)
King Crimson-Discipline (phenomenal music-is there a bonus track on this album?)

As far as KC goes...I love this guys voice, I want more singing! and longer tracks; more prog. Where to go next?

 

[Akathriel]

Isis is actually post rock. I enjoy it quite a bit. Opeth is progressive death metal. I would say Opeth falls somewhere between Floyd and Slayer (well slayer is trash but its the best reference point i can think of) with exceptional instrumentations, and especially vocals. If you want a good introduction I would start with Ghost Reveries or Still Life (these are the most accessible) or perhaps BlackWater Park (generally considered to be their masterpiece)

Btw, Anyone list to Tiamat? I picked up their wildhoney album and it is fantastic on par with BWP imo. I hear theyve put out crap eversince then though...

and pick up KC "Red" it blows discipline out of the water; of course they are pretty much different bands excluding Fripp.

Edit: Yeah I love the Melvins. They've had some off years (o maybe about 10?) but the Trilogy is awesome and Melvins+Lustmord=a force to be reckoned with.

 

[bwu]

My lists are in rough order, ignoring one-shot bands that released one album and disappeared (or have only released one album so far). I limited myself to ten each but cheated by lumping related bands (i.e. bands that share lots of members or bands that grew out of others) together. I skipped the prog-metal ones since I'm not huge fan (my metal tastes run towards the more extreme).

PLUG: there are reviews of most of these band's albums at my prog website Ground and Sky.

Classic prog
King Crimson
Magma
Henry Cow/Art Bears
Shub Niggurath
Univers Zero/Present
Yes
Los Jaivas
Samla Mammas Manna/Zamla Mammaz Manna/Von Zamla
Popol Vuh
Fläsket Brinner

Modern prog
5uu's/U Totem/Motor Totemist Guild
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
After Crying/Townscream
Alamaailman Vasarat/Höyry-kone
Thinking Plague
Änglagård
Guapo
NeBeLNeST
Uzva
Anekdoten

This list would probably change daily if I thought it through

 

[BillC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel King Crimson-Discipline (phenomenal music-is there a bonus track on this album?) As far as KC goes...I love this guys voice, I want more singing! and longer tracks; more prog. Where to go next?

Glad to hear you're finding music that you like. Adrian Belew is the vocalist for King Crimson from "Discipline" forward. If you like his voice you might want to check out his solo albums. He just released two new albums called "Side One" and "Side Two" with "Side Three" due soon. "Side One" includes guest appearances from Les Claypool (Primus) and Danny Carey (Tool).

The King Crimson albums "Discpline", "Beat" and "Three of a Perfect Pair" all feature the same line-up and a similar style. The 90's reformed King Crimson line-up also has Belew on vocals but with two new band members.

 

[bwu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel King Crimson-Discipline (phenomenal music-is there a bonus track on this album?) As far as KC goes...I love this guys voice, I want more singing! and longer tracks; more prog. Where to go next?

Yeah, if you like Belew and want "more prog" you should try the band's 90s and 00s output. They've released a dizzying array of albums, EPs, and live recordings, but the core albums are THRAK, The ConstruKction of Light, and The Power to Believe. However, for you I'd recommend one of the live albums, as they stretch out a bit more (maybe are a bit "proggier") and play some of the older stuff as well, like stuff from Discipline. VROOOM VROOOM is absolutely killer.

Oh, and there's Absent Lovers, a live album from the Discipline era that is one of the finest live albums that King Crimson has ever released (and that's saying a lot considering how many live albums they've done!).

 

[kwitel]

I am Definitely going to be picking up some more KC-thanx guys for the suggestions.
I am very surprised so few of you mentioned Porcupine Tree.
As unbelievable as "In Absentia" is-I know its not classic Prog (some elements). However, what about their earlier stuff??

 

[fante7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel Okay people, great lists-thanx for the recommendations... In the mail for me right now: Opeth-Blackwater Park Rush-Hemispheres(I hope this one is more proggy and synth than 2112) Frantic Bleep Pink Floyd-Obscured by Clouds (have never heard it) Already purchased (recently) and loving: TMV-De-Loused and Frances (brilliant-Frances really growing on me...) Porcupine Tree-In Absentia (oh my Lord!) Rush-2112 (was expecting somthing more psychadelic) King Crimson-Discipline (phenomenal music-is there a bonus track on this album?) As far as KC goes...I love this guys voice, I want more singing! and longer tracks; more prog. Where to go next?

Rush was never part of the psychedelic movement, you shouldn't expect that out of them. If you want more synths in Rush you should look at their 80s material, half of which is not bad, but it's much farther from prog.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akathriel Btw, Anyone list to Tiamat? I picked up their wildhoney album and it is fantastic on par with BWP imo. I hear theyve put out crap eversince then though...

I love Wildhoney (it's on my list), I think it's one of the most brilliant albums of the 90s. Their next album after that, A Deeper Kind of Slumber, is also pretty good but doesn't live up to the expectations set by Wildhoney. I have only heard one or two songs of their material after that and it didn't bode well.

 

[fante7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel I am Definitely going to be picking up some more KC-thanx guys for the suggestions. I am very surprised so few of you mentioned Porcupine Tree. As unbelievable as "In Absentia" is-I know its not classic Prog (some elements). However, what about their earlier stuff??

The earlier Porcupine Tree material had a less pop and more space-rock feel. The album The Sky Moves Sideways is good, although it borrows a little too much from Pink Floyd. If you want a good introduction to early Porcupine Tree, you could pick up their older live album Coma Divine. This album, and their more recent live album Warszawa, are both fantastic.

 

[kwitel]

Rush was never part of the psychedelic movement, you shouldn't expect that out of them. If you want more synths in Rush you should look at their 80s material, half of which is not bad, but it's much farther from prog.QUOTE]

Really?
I always thought thye were...
When you say the psychadelic movement, you are referring to a specific time period, right?
I would definitely classify alot of Rush has done to be both purely Prog and psychadelic...not reallyt sure what you are referring to here, time period or overall genre music they play in?