Progressive rock / metal

Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

Mega said:
Camel comes to mind, but I'm sure you already know them.

I only know The Snow Goose, for some reason I'm not crazy about it even though I think it's good. Any other albums you'd suggest by the same band?
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

portermoresby said:
I only know The Snow Goose, for some reason I'm not crazy about it even though I think it's good. Any other albums you'd suggest by the same band?

Get the debut and especially Mirage. "Lady Fantasy" from Mirage is Epic.

Instrumental: Dixie Dregs, Ars Nova, Liquid Tension Experiment, Platypus

Vocal: Ayreon, Dream Theater, ELP, Evergrey, Fates Warning, Flower Kings, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Karmakanic, King Crimson, Marillion, Nevermore, OSI, Pain Of Salvation, Pallas, Pendragon, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Queensryche, Redemption, Rush, Shadow Gallery, Spock's Beard, Symphony X, Transatlantic, Vanden Plas, Watchtower, Yes and 1974-76 Frank Zappa.
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

Second SMX's suggestion's regarding Camel.

SMX, most of the bands you wrote are prog metal, maybe they are irrelevant.

I can recommend Jethro Tull and VdGG.
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

Mega said:
SMX, most of the bands you wrote are prog metal, maybe they are irrelevant.

Alrighty then, here's a breakdown:

Instrumental prog rock: Dixie Dregs, Ars Nova, Platypus
Instrumental prog metal: Liquid Tension Experiment

Vocal prog rock: ELP, Flower Kings, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Karmakanic, King Crimson, Marillion, Pallas, Pendragon, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Rush, Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, Yes, Zappa

Vocal prog metal: Ayreon, Dream Theater, Evergrey, Fates Warning, Nevermore, OSI, Pain Of Salvation, Queensryche, Redemption, Shadow Gallery, Symphony X, Vanden Plas, Watchtower
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

Porcupine Tree!

I think SMX's list covers most of the important bands. Mega mentioned Van der Graaf Generator - they deserve consideration as an early pioneer, although I don't particularly care for them myself. And then you could go on listing various obscure outfits for hours; Focus, Curved Air, Nektar, Blackwater Park, Barclay James Harvest...
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

Thanks a lot everybody! SMX's list is just crazy. I know just a few of them, King Crimson, LTE, DT and Porcupine Tree... thanks a lot for all the other bands you all have mentioned. Prog metal fits too. I should've been a bit more specific.
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

My favorite prog:

Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971) - they were one of the leading bands of the "Canterbury Scene" in the 70's and played an easy, whimsical and melodic brand of progressive rock. Here's the title track from that album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrgaaIdc5Y4

Grayceon  - Grayceon (2007) - impressive mixture of progressive metal and classical elements due to the excellent use of the cello. the atmosphere that they create with their instrumentation is epic, intense and full of cinematic drama. Here's the opening track from that album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kulPqdBgrOs

maudlin of the Well - Part the Second (2009) - my favorite album last year! Not as experimental and "avant-garde" as motW's previous releases. It's a beautifully gentle album with a light atmosphere and elegant melodies. Here's the opening track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS_kE1QuNvk

Edge of Sanity - Crimson (1996) - now I don't know if you're into extreme metal, but this one is brilliant. It's a progressive death metal album... ... ...no, it's THE progressive death metal album. The single track it has is a sprawling 40-minute epic that is constantly switching between the melodic, dark, intense, serene and demented. For a metal release, I found it quite accessible and its use of acoustic instruments in parts is beautiful. Here's the first 9 minutes or so: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9i-jaMaEpo

Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001) - another progressive death metal masterpiece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWdCRYEZGE
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

There is a nice relative topic -->here, where SMX gives many more details for each group and considerably bigger list. A few others contribute as well.
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

______no5 said:
There is a nice relative topic -->here, where SMX gives many more details for each group and considerably bigger list. A few others contribute as well.

I opened that topic. I'd say, merge them (or lock this one) because everything discussed overthere is worth to get attention.
 
Re: Instrumental and sung prog rock bands

Yes I remember, it was one of 2009's finest moments. I think it came out, from the Eight Miles High discussion we had, in the Guitar Hero topic.
 
I'm trying to read as much follow ups as possible in this topic because it's all very interesting. It was a good idea to merge the two topics. I would like to name Angel' In Heavy Syrup. I don't know if you've ever heard of them. They are (or were, I can't remember) a band of four Japanese women who played a very psychedelic and folk-influenced brand of progressive rock. Vocals are/were in Japanese, but they have some instrumental numbers as well. I've got their third album (simply called III) and it's awesome.
 
The Gods of Prog, Part the Third: Neo-Prog

Neo-prog is a style that developed in England in the early 80s. It got that name because prog had gone way out of fashion in the punk era, so this was definitely a comeback. The early-80s works of these band owe a huge debt to Genesis, even being a Genesis soundalike at times.

Marillion
Got the worst of the "Genesis soundalike" reputation, because original singer Fish sounds more like Peter Gabriel than Peter Gabriel does. And the label was perhaps deserved on their first album (Script For A Jester's Tear, very good). But starting with Fugazi and reaching their peak on Misplaced Childhood, Fish-era Marillion proved they could hang with the big boys. Even if you don't like Genesis, check out Misplaced Childhood at a minimum.

The other major neo-prog bands had a funny history. After a couple Genesis-sounding albums in the early days, they all folded. But interest in their music surged in the early 90s and they all got back together - generally doing their best work in this century!

Pendragon
Kicked into gear in 1993 with The Window Of Life, and kept it up in 1996 with The Masquerade Overture. They have since gone towards prog metal; Pure from 2008 is an obscure prog metal classic.

Pallas and IQ
I only have one album from each of these: the live Moment To Moment from Pallas, and Subterranea from IQ. I'd highly recommend both, and I wish you good luck... the reason I have so little is that this stuff is hard to find for free. :innocent:


If I ever get to Part 4, it will be the early prog metal bands (before Dream Theater).
 
Oh, I name Mike Oldfield.
I still need to listen to his debut masterpiece "Tubular Bells", but I did listen to "Ommadawn" and it's absolutely amazing. It's also instrumental, other then some tribal chanting.
 
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