Progressive Rock / Art Rock - Autism, now in music form!

[universe 25]

Been getting really into the Japanese Prog band Koenji Hyakkei as of late. Now realizing that I wrote off the whole Zeuhl subgenre, since I tried getting into Magma years ago and it just never clicked. I really wanted to like them because the concept of otherworldly alien music sung in a fictional language is very appealing to me, but I was somewhat dissapointed to find that a lot of it just sounds like jazz-funk. Koenji on the other hand is completely fucking unhinged, I've never heard anything else like it.

 

[McMitch]

“Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry; music without the idea is simply music…” -Edgar Allen Poe, as recounted on Tales of Mystery and Imagination by The Alan Parsons Project.

 

[sodomy lifestyle]

I like Rick Wakeman's King Arthur album.
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YouTube Link

I know I'm mentioning the obvious, but I'm a sucker for an orchestra recording.

“Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry; music without the idea is simply music…” -Edgar Allen Poe, as recounted on Tales of Mystery and Imagination by The Alan Parsons Project.

Was that quote on the accursed remaster? It's one of the worst albums I've made the mistake of buying, as I wasn't aware that the MFSL re-release was based on the original recording:

This version is perfect, I don't know what the hell Parsons was smoking when he made the remaster.

 

[McMitch]

Was that quote on the accursed remaster? It's one of the worst albums I've made the mistake of buying, as I wasn't aware that the MFSL re-release was based on the original recording:

I couldn’t tell you. Ever version of Fall if the House of Usher I have had the line.

 

[Braless & Slightly Slack]

I'm just itching so badly for another album with vocals like First Utterance, or albums with weird vocals in general. There's this contrast between Bobbie Watson's angelic voice which is the "rock" that keeps the album listenable and Roger Wootton's wild grunts and strange decisions like beating his chest while singing "Comus heart begins to beat". I've never seen shit like that before, and I need more of it so bad. I'm also intrigued by the yodeling on Focus' Hocus, John Wetton's... scatting? On Easy Money (I say scatting because it kinda sounds like an upright bass) and the shit Adrian Belew would do while performing Three of a Perfect pair live

 

[McMitch]

I'm also intrigued by the yodeling on Focus' Hocus

Yodeling is used throughout Focus’ discography. If you want a real good collection of vocal techniques, listen to Hamburger Concerto (the song).

If you want interesting use of harsh falsetto, the album The Day the Earth Caught Fire by City Boy is rife with it. Now, City Boy in and of themselves aren’t a progressive rock band, but, like Styx with Paradise Theater or The Beach Boys with Pet Sounds, it being a concept album (the concept being 80’s-style cynicism of the Cold War before and better than any actual 80’s media) dips it into be a progressive rock album.

 

[Rocinante]

Immaculate genre. I’ve had this on repeat for the past few days

 

[Jimmy Hopkins]

Immaculate genre. I’ve had this on repeat for the past few days

That is really cool, surprised I've never heard it before.

Been on a Genesis kick lately and Apocalypse in 9/8 from Suppers Ready has always been one of my favorites to (attempt) to play on keyboard. Tony's solo really kicks ass but if you wanna see Phil Collins at his best this is the shit to see right here.

 

[Braless & Slightly Slack]

Immaculate genre. I’ve had this on repeat for the past few days

Hell yeah!!! Have you listened to Bajo Del Sol by Earthworks?

The keys are a bit loud in that recording but it also has a very interesting clap section which I like! There's also this longer, better performance in Uruguay which contains Bajo Del Sol that I linked ITT beforehand.

There's also Joe Frazier by Bruford, I love that Jeff Berlin bass line so much, I mean I really I just like this lineup in general! Allan can really make his guitar sing and cry at the same time and I love it! Bill also did this random project with Pete Lockett that I like a lot

There's also B.L.U.E (Bruford Levin Upper Extremities) and I was very averse to it at first but on a second listen it's actually really good! I have yet to find a Bruford project that's just awful.

 

[Jimmy Hopkins]

The keys are a bit loud in that recording

My friend thats how all good prog is.

Edit: Complex Transaction is fuckin cool

 

[universe 25]

albums with weird vocals in general

If you want weird vocals check out the Italian prog band Area, the singer Demetrio Stratos incorporated lots of techniques like yodeling and throat-singing into their music. From wikipedia:

"Stratos studied ethnomusicology, vocal extensions, Asian music chant, compared musicology, the problem of ethnic vocality, psychoanalysis, the relationship between spoken language and the psyche, the limits of the spoken language. He was able to reach 7,000 Hz, and to perform diplophony, triplophony, and also quadrophony. Daniel Charles has described him as the person who decimated monody by the demultiplication of the acoustic spectrum. His vocal abilities were explored and documented."

 

[Calandrino]

I'm just itching so badly for another album with vocals like First Utterance, or albums with weird vocals in general. There's this contrast between Bobbie Watson's angelic voice which is the "rock" that keeps the album listenable and Roger Wootton's wild grunts and strange decisions like beating his chest while singing "Comus heart begins to beat". I've never seen shit like that before, and I need more of it so bad. I'm also intrigued by the yodeling on Focus' Hocus, John Wetton's... scatting? On Easy Money (I say scatting because it kinda sounds like an upright bass) and the shit Adrian Belew would do while performing Three of a Perfect pair live

Are you familiar with Devil Doll

 

[Braless & Slightly Slack]

I don't know what is rotten in my heart but there's a part of me that says if Yes was started in current year, Chris Squire would've probably trooned out. He gives me the vibe of that freakishly tall, dysfunctional autist that every troon is cursed with for some reason.

What other proggers have you had this thought about?

 

[Jimmy Hopkins]

Peter Gabriel has entered the chat

I highly doubt he would ever troon out especially considering how masculine he became after the 80s. I have seen many o' libshit fantasizing about him being a tranny though. I know he isn't involved with prog rock but Kurt Cobain has gotten the same treatment from leftys.

 

[Rocinante]

Got gifted a copy of Relayer and reminded me to respond here.
Some of the best Genesis members work alongside Spectral Mornings and Brand X.

There's also Joe Frazier by Bruford, I love that Jeff Berlin bass line so much, I mean I really I just like this lineup in general! Allan can really make his guitar sing and cry at the same time and I love it! Bill also did this random project with Pete Lockett that I like a lot

This is the bassline I think of when I hear Jeff Berlin. Love the way his bass playing punches throught the mix. Kind of like Jeff Beck - Head for Backstage Pass. I’ll check out the other Bruford music you share since it’s new to me.

Also wanted to mention Egg - Enneagram. Reading threads like this reminds me of the music I was obsessed with a few years back. Some of that Canterbury madness, similar Henry Cow, in that the song is always shifting gears with unpredictability. One of my favorite examples of the Canterbury scene.

 

[Gregis]

Peter Gabriel has entered the chat
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I highly doubt he would ever troon out especially considering how masculine he became after the 80s. I have seen many o' libshit fantasizing about him being a tranny though. I know he isn't involved with prog rock but Kurt Cobain has gotten the same treatment from leftys.

There's this really heartbreaking quote I heard maybe on some documentary from his wife in that era where she says something like "He has so much energy and passion on stage and I wish I got to experience that from him personally."

 

[Braless & Slightly Slack]

There's this really heartbreaking quote I heard maybe on some documentary from his wife in that era where she says something like "He has so much energy and passion on stage and I wish I got to experience that from him personally."

I guess my take on this is that if he went through the same post-divorce depression these days there's a sea of free internet porn for him to cope with and gain a porn addiction. If he put together his porn induced AGP and his love for dress up he would've probably trooned out and then detransitioned hard.

 

[asr]

Question for the Prog rock enjoyers, can you give me what you think are the staples/genre defining albums? I wanna get into prog and see if it's my jam.

 

[McMitch]

Question for the Prog rock enjoyers, can you give me what you think are the staples/genre defining albums? I wanna get into prog and see if it's my jam.

Starting from Dark Side of the Moon -> Wish You Were Here -> Animals, all by Pink Floyd, should ease you in. From there, if you want heavier and more technical move to Rush (Moving Pictures was their commercial hit but this is Prog so it’d be better to go to the Closer to the Heart/Hemispheres duology), if you want weirder more Jazz influence listen to Yes (Fragile is the perfect starting point). Those three groups really are where a lot of people start.

Other good staples to start:
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado
The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky
Kansas - Leftoverture (though I’m more partial to Song for America myself)
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Self-titled
King Crimson - Court of the Crimson King
Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards
Focus - Moving Waves
Dream Theater - Images and Words

A couple good things to remember are: a lot of this music was made at a time where you sat down and could reasonably be expected to listen to an entire album, start-to-finish in order, in one go, even non-concept albums. This also means, especially for some of the more experimental groups, that a bunch of their best albums are acquired tastes that need a few listens to really latch on to what they were going for.

 

[Calandrino]

at a time where you sat down and could reasonably be expected to listen to an entire album, start-to-finish in order, in one go, even non-concept albums

It's never been easier to do this than it is right now. But I know most people don't.