Progressive rock / metal

Stream was absolutely incredible. Pleistocene was the highlight of the show. What a fucking incredible song.

Loïc Rossetti is a force of nature.
 
Yes, I have no heard anything of their music but I have in my mp3 library one album called 'Islands' that they released the last year. I hope to check it out soon. I think the guitarist is a member of many supergroups and he release a lot of solo albums too.
 
The album I’ve spent the most time with is Paradox Hotel. I still need to go through their whole discography but I like what I’ve heard from just about anything.
 
First heard of this album in G-MAC, tried listening to it once but got distracted; remembered it yesterday and heard it like 5 times today. These 2 songs are amazing, especially the epic af endings:


 

New Meshuggah. The groove is not unlike Senjutsu (the song), if you figure it out, even similar tempo... brvtal african 6/8 waltz, . Jens is whispering as well now (if it‘s him), which is welcome. My fav part is the more angular accented kick-riff with the toms from the beginning, hoped it would repeat at the end, but the actual ending with the bass in focus is great.
 
So, we've had this exchange in the Now Playing thread, with @The_7th_one (thank you for the conversation!)

JudasMyGuide said:
I'd go further - I'm not really a fan of Rush anymore, on the contrary, actually, and yet this is one of the songs I still really love (along with about half of Farewell to Kings, Working Man, Freewill, Limelight and BU2B )

NP:

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The_7th_one said:
My favorite Marillion album with Fish. I fell in love with it at first moment I heard Hotel Hobbies. Damn it's so good. Bass and Drums are so tight and that guitar sound, so many details in this album. I love it.
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JudasMyGuide said:
I like it a lot, but to be honest (I know, I know, controversial contrarian ahead), my relationship towards it is a bit more reserved than for other Fish-first afficionados. While not full-blown, I can't help but feel there are already seeds of the "primarily atmospheric", kinda melodyless mush they would fully embrace in the hogarth era. Not really, like I said, I like the album a lot, love it even, but it makes me think that the evolution and change in sound was more natural and slow than it is often being said.
I personally prefer Misplaced and Script and ... in a way maybe even Fugazi for "popping out" more for me, having more of an edge. Especially in the beginning of the album it's very noticeable to me.

That said, I'm trying to get into Marillion more lately, especialy the h-era which I know only so, and it's not really successful. With the exception of Marbles and Afraid of Sunlight (partially), it's just... nothing sticks in my head. I could swear I have heard Brave, like, a million times over and up until Hard as Love (that is, for the first half fucking hour or so), nothing sticks in my head, except for that one haunting riff in Runaway. Absolutely nothing to hold onto. It's kinda frustrating. A rather nice background music, but... man, I would need some key as to how to approach it. I'd really want to, in fact, it's just...
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The_7th_one said:
I love both worlds. You'll enjoy the Hogarth era. I love every f***ing album. Seasons End is awesome with The Space, Hooks in You, Berlin…. Holidays in Eden is the most commercial/ pop album but with great songs. Brave return to progressive and dark atmosphere because the concept and the story. I'd recommend trespass the Hard as Love barrier because the interesting comes after it. Hollow Man, Alone again in the Lap of Luxury, Brave and the Great Escape. (F***ing great songs)
Afraid of Sunlight is another masterpiece, The second part of the album is the best imho. Afraid of Sunrise, Out of this World, Afraid of Sunlight, Beyond You, King…wow! You must to hear them. This Strange Engine is another great album with Estonia, This Strange Engine, 80 Days, Man of Thousand Faces, One fine day…. Radiation and Anoraknophobia are the most alternative albums. Marbles is another Double Album Masterpiece full with a bunch of great great songs…. and I could write more…It's really worth it to dig in their music.
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and I wanted to ask the rest of you, also, beyond the scope of the Now Playing thread.

I know that Marillion in their h-era are very beloved, the internet seems to try to convince me that many people actually prefer h-. In some ways I actually see it even now (not the preference over Fish, more of the general quality as such) - their sound is really nice and often well-produced, they have a lot of moody atmospherics (there was a time I actually listened to Eno, I can appreciate the sound of a single note) and when they show their radio-friendly side, they can be ridiculously catchy (I was listening to Brave about three days ago and I still get Lap of Luxury stuck in my head), but most of the time I still feel that I have real trouble getting into the neo-prog mood, the neo-prog appreciation.

I had (and have) similar problems with Steven Wilson (and Porcupine Tree) - apart from his "Britpop" era (Lightbulb Sun is absolutely amazing), it's heavy, it's soft, it has a great sound, but the sound feels often really empty to me. I don't find many melodies, many things to possess, mentally, it's all just slipping through my fingers. A lot of post-rockish atmosphere, but not enough meat. At least I don't hear it. Yes, Misplaced Childhood took about two listens for me to be able to hum and thoroughly enjoy most of it, no such luck after Mr. Derek Dick left.

I remember this reaction to even some other neo-prog bands, I'm not sure now whether it was Big Big Train or Pineapple Thief (which one is the more post-rockish?) and - to be perfectly honest - even Ayreon and Riverside tend to annoy me thus, maybe more often than not.

Is it me? Is it a flaw with being hot-blooded and wanting everything over-the-top? I'd say that probably not, because I love Opeth's Damnation and I loved a lot of the Pink Floyd stuff, which - although possessing some edge, mainly because of Waters - was often rather soft and atmospheric, but with a pronounced memorable content. In fact, I am quite used to classical music, which can be very subtle as well. Heck, I actually love Cranberries and a lot of other "wimpy" stuff. I can remember how several Enya albums go, in fact (I just don't usually admit such things).

So I'd say I'm missing something here. Any tips on how to proceed? There's a lot of widely respected stuff that I'd really like to love.

@Mosh @Detective Beauregard any tips on how to retrain my ears? How to get in the mood?

(especially since Mosh really likes Wilson, your insights might be helpful. Even in appreciating him)
 
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Well it depends on what you mean by neo prog because I feel the same as you for the most part. I think Porcupine Tree's sweet spot is from around Lightbulb Sun to Fear of a Blank Planet, and then there's a small handful of Wilson solo projects that I enjoy.

As far as Marillion go, it's hard to beat the Fish era but they've certainly done a lot to validate everything they've done since. At this point, they've been with Hogarth so long that ignoring the post-Fish output would be akin to ignoring what Maiden did after Di'Anno (if you're really into that kind of prog rock).

But yea, overall I wouldn't say I'm that interested in neo prog. I find a lot of it to be pretty generic sounding and relying so heavily on cliches that it seems a bit anathema to what progressive rock is supposed to be. In general I'm not a huge fan of those types of "revival" genres. Might as well listen to the original, from my perspective. There are a couple groups I enjoy though. Spock's Beard gets lumped into the neo prog category frequently although I would argue that they blended their influences in a way that made their music sound more fresh. I also like The Flower Kings sometimes, I just think the melody writing is stronger in that band than a lot of other peers. Pineapple Thief, Riverside, and Big Big Train do nothing for me.

Edit: I wouldn't categorize Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree as neo prog btw. They're much more forward thinking and innovative. They should be categorized more with prog metal groups like Opeth that are doing something different.
 
I have the same problem as you. I don't know what neoprog means to be honest but if this category contains bands like Wilson, Porcupine Tree, Big Big train Pineapple Thief, Transatlantic or even Anathema, I've got it. I try them many times and I have to say that I can't find any emotion or interesting things in bands like these, all these bands are dull and lame to me, They're lack of that spark. However I find Riverside a very interesting band you can enjoy or Magenta. Arena band have amazing albums. The last one is phenomenal. I guess it's about tastes.
 
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