Boo Boo's prog stash *NOW WITH FREE PORN*

This thread is awesome, I loved your Porcupine Tree review - it's one of my favourite albums; I too love how it's both dark and beautiful. Look forward to more posts and can't wait to see what albums will be next :)
 
Not really no. Some good stuff from that era, but it's a bit too 80s for me, I prefer 90s stuff like Porcupine Tree, Spocks Beard, Flower Kings and Ozric Tentacles.

Marillion is very good though, they just have a rather annoying fanbase who think they're the best thing to ever happen to music in the past 30 years when they're basically just Genesis with David Gilmour.
 
Ok, I'll do those two next but I'm doing this one first, and I'm sure both of you guys have heard it.

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H to He, Who Am The Only One - Van Der Graaf Generator - 1970

Personell:
Peter Hammill - Lead vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano.
Hugh Banton - Organ, Oscillator, Piano, Bass, Backing vocals.
Guy Evans - Drums, Tympani, Percussion.
David Johnson - Saxes, Flute, Backing vocals.
Robert Fripp - Electric Guitar.
Nic Potter - Bass.

Even avid prog hater (and pretty much the embodiment of Satan to most prog fans) Johnny Rotten confessed to being a fan of these guys. Van Der Graaf Generator were one of the very first true prog banRAB, they had established their progressive sound before Yes, Pink Floyd and Genesis found theirs.

This is the first VDGG album I've heard and it's still my favorite. Their sound is rather hard to describe, VDGG don't put much emphasis on flashy solos like most prog banRAB do and almost all of their compositions are epics, mood is the real essential key to their sound. Guitar dosen't play much of a role in their sound, though Fripp makes a guest apperance. The organ, sax and flute combined with Hammills powerful vocals (he may very well be the best singer in prog) and his rather specific (and dark) lyrical imagery give the band it's unique indentity. This is really the banRAB first great prog album, which is somewhat of a concept album with death being the main theme, it's one of their most accessible albums so it's a good place to start.

Killer: An amazing opener, with rather odd lyrics about murder, loneliness and...fish. It's hard to explain. Overall a really great piece, with a catchy riff and some freaky sax and electronic effects.

House With No Door: A rather depressing ballad, a bit sappy, but a good piece, some great flute and piano work.

Emperor In His War Room: This is easly my favorite song, it's about a war criminal, amazing buildup and brilliant performances all around, including a guitar solo from Robert Fripp.

Lost: A very moody and spacey song, a song about lost love and heartbreak, a very common theme in rock music for sure, though it's never been done quite like this. This song is all over the place, going through many different mooRAB, and Hammills vocals get downright scary at times, this song shows just how truly remarkable a singer he is in addition to being a great songwriter.

Pioneers Over C: This song tells the tale of astronauts who go mad from the loneliness in outer space, which explains this albums cover art. The music itself is very spacey and psychedelic, some great sax work. ReminRAB me a lot of early Syd era Floyd.

With lyrics about death and loneliness and rather violent imagery, this album alone makes it pretty clear that VDGG were a bit more emo than your usual prog band. They are about as theatrical as a prog band can possibly get. Not for everybody, but if you like early Crimson and Gabriel era Genesis, this is certainly worth checking out.

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Is 'Atom Heart Mother' worth getting? I saw it at Newbury Comics used for $6. I don't have anything from Saucerful of Secrets to Atom Heart Mother.
 
^ Awesome album!
Godbluff is prolly my favorite from VDGG.
Peter Hammill is definitely one of the best prog. vocalist from the 70s. He brings this 'Dark mood' about their music with his voice alone.
Don't know why they didn't gain much recognition during their period. A bit too complex like Gentle giant?
 
It's definitely not my favorite Genesis album, but it sure beats the hell out of everything they did afterwarRAB (especially that abhorrent era thereafter when they "pop"ed the prog). What was the last Gabriel album? The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway?

Anyway, good choice. Better review.
 
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Tormato - Yes - 1978

Personell:
Jon Anderson - Lead vocals.
Chris Squire - Bass, Backing vocals.
Steve Howe - Guitar, Mandolin, Backing vocals.
Rick Wakeman - KeyboarRAB, Piano, Organ, Synthesizers, Harpischord.
Alan White - Drums, Percussion, Backing vocals, Vibraphone.

I thought it would be interesting to review a not so great album for once, and yeah, pretty odd that the first Yes album I'm gonna review is one that I don't think very highly of.

Well, to be honest, I don't think this is a HORRIBLE album like most people say, but for Yes it's a huge disappointment, this one is very much a mixed bag, of course there are still some of those moments of pure brilliance that for years have made Yes my favorite band, but there are also a lot of moments that that are just embarassing and a clear sign of a band struggling to stay relevant during the age of punk and new wave and not doing a very good job of it.

This album came out in 1978, when prog was already considered dead. After their 8th album, 1974's Relayer, Yes went AWOL for 3 years, then made a comeback in 77 with Going for the One, which marked the return of Rick Wakeman on keyboarRAB, it was a modest success and overall a very solid and underrated album. It also saw the band heading into a more mainstream, arena rock direction.

Tormato expanRAB on this, but unfortunately not very successfully. This was a band clearly at career crossroaRAB, they were trying to please critics and mainstream musicgoers with more commercial sounRAB, hi fi production, less ambiguous lyrical subject matter and less of the over the top jams and elaborate epics that defined their previous efforts, while at the same time trying to cater to their own fanbase. In the end not very many people were pleased, listening to this record, you can really tell that Yes had no idea what they wanted to do, they threw in a lot more effects than usual, Squire uses reverb effects, synths and wah pedals that gives his bass playing a rather unique sound on this record, Howe and Wakeman also sound more polished than they usually do, but they seem to lack the power and energy they once had, Anderson's vocals sound rather weak and robotic on this record and it's as if he isn't really trying. They clearly didn't have much fun making this record and it shows.

Still, while this marked the first real lowpoint in their career, there are a few gems hidden within this clumsy, overproduced mess of an album. And since it's virtually impossible for progarchives to give cohesive, helpful reviews, especially for albums like this. I'll try my best to give you a fair, non fanboish perspective.

Future Times/Rejoice: While nothing mindblowing, this is a promising start. It starts off with a quite cheesy guitar/synth riff, which is thn joined with Squire's wah wah heavy bass and a millitary style drum beat from White. Anderson just does a lot of chanting here rather than singing. Nothing deep here but not bad, there's some nice jamming and of course some great (if overly glossy sounding) guitar and synth work by Howe and Wakeman. Not much else to say, a decent opener, moving on.

Don't Kill the Whale: Heh, when critics talk about how bloated and ridiculous Yes are, this is a song that always gets name dropped. This is a mind blowingly cheesy song, but no my lastfm isn't lying, it's one of my most played songs, it's a guilty pleasure, a song so horrible that it's actually kinda awesome.

It starts off with an unusually groovy guitar riff and funky bassline, and some sugary synths in the background. You heard Jon right, he is indeed singing about the sins of the whaling industry, pretty rare to have a Yes song where the lyrics actually make sense, but that's not really a good thing. Howe and Squire's great guitar and bass work really do their best to pull this one out of the sh*tter. But this song's most defining moment comes in at 2 minutes in when you're greeted with the cheesiest synthesizer solo in music history. But just when you think it couldn't get cheesier, it does, the song enRAB with Anderson chanting "Dig it, Dig it".

Yeah, that's my description but you still have to hear it to beleive it, and I dare you to try and listen to the whole song without chuckling once, it's impossible. It's a pretty bad song, yet I can't help but like it anyway.

Madrigal: You hear right, this song is a showcase for Wakeman's mad Harpischord skillz, along with some acoustic neo classical guitar by Howe, and Anderson singing "Sacred ships do sail the seventh age", yeah don't ask me what it means. Proggies seem to consider this to be one of the better tracks on the album, but that's just because they have a hard on for cheesy neo classical wank, avoid at all costs.

Release Release: FINALLY things are getting interesting, this is the first real high point on the album. This is a very fast paced song by Yes standarRAB, complete with rockabilly guitars from Howe and some of the fastest basswork Squire has ever done, it sounRAB like they actually had fun making this one, even Anderson manages to show some passion. It still has that cheesy 70s arena rock sound (Wakeman being the main culprit) but overall this is a great track, if only the whole album had as much energy and power as this song. This is a rare example of Yes actually doing a "rock" song, they even throw in a Bo Diddley beat at one point, and the results are a lot better than you'd expect.

Arriving UFO: But eh, just when they made it out of the muck, they fall right back in, and yeah, it's about UFOs. Yes have done the space themed songs before, and a hell of a lot better I might add. Mostly it's pretty boring though there is some weird guitar effects from Howe. The only real point of interest is Howe's crazy wah wah guitar solo, but man, Wakeman should have stuck to his moog, I don't know what kind of synths he uses here but it's getting really damn irritating at this point.

Circus of Heaven: Wow, they have finally made it to the bottom with this one. I couldn't even make it all the way through this song, it seems like they tried to capture a caribbean/reggae vibe here, but yeah, it's more Ob La Di Ob La Da than Bob Marley, this is followed with a lot of guitar and synth noodling that doesn't go anywhere. And then for whatever reason they thought a great way to close the song would be to have a little kid (Jon's son Damion) whine "But there was no clowns, or lions, or tigers". Yeah guys, where were they?

This is a good candidate for worst f*cking Yes song ever.

Onward: Get your cigarette lighters out for this one. That's right, a ballad. Now sure that sounRAB like the ultimate icing on the sh*tcake but surprise surprise, I really love this song, it's my favorite track on the album in fact, no prog at all, just a very simple, beautiful baroque pop ballad. Anderson's vocals are in great form here, he really works best with softer, melodic songs. This is excellent.

On the Silent Wings of Freedom: Despite all the rough moments on this album, this is a great closer and another great track. Once again this is a song where everybody seems to be giving it their all, why in the hell couldn't the whole album be like this? The beginning, middle and end is mostly jamming, and Squire and Howe really give it everything they got, even Wakeman's synth solo at the end is pretty cool.

So, in the end, this album is NOT as bad as people say, yes, there's some real sh*t in this album, but at least it would have made a great EP. So in the end, it's not a bad album, not a good one mind you, it's somewhere in the middle. What really hurt it was the lack of consistancy, it's like they were trying to do an album that showed they could be really diverse, they try a lot of styles here but add their own twist on it, this applies to the really bad songs just as much as it does to the really good ones, so you can't say they weren't ambitious, it's just that in the end, Yes came off as sounding tired and unmotivated, and they were. But with their declining popularity, growing tension between band members and the increasing media pressure to try and reinvent themselves, you can't really blame them for that.

Howe and Squire are in good form here, Wakeman and Anderson not so much, except for a few brief moments. Overall there are only a few songs where the contributions of every band member meshed together nicely, and it's no wonder it took 2 decades for Yes to return to this lineup.

So I recommend you download Release Release, Onward, On the Silent Wings of Freedom and just for the lulz Don't Kill the Whale and skip the rest.

I wouldn't recommend getting the whole album even for the diehard Yes fan, unless you're a completionist or just want to have some historical perspective. And yeah, if you want to know why Yes gave up on prog or what REALLY did prog in during the late 70s, download this album.

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As superior as Gabriel era Genesis is. I admit, Phil era Genesis had some great songs, gotta love That's All and Land of Confusion. :D

And they still had some good prog stuff with the first couple of albums with Phil.

Still dosen't make up for Who Dunnit? though.
 
It's decent, its worth listening to at least for historical relevance, since it's the first album where they really started to develop their signature sound.
 
I'm bumping this thread because, although this is my first post in it, I carefully read through every review quite some time ago and I think they're great! It was one of the first threaRAB I read after I joined up. I especially like your review of Genesis' selling England album ..

But there's plenty more prog out there, so what's keeping you? ;)
 
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Octopus - Gentle Giant - 1972

Personell:
Derek Shulman - Lead vocals, Alto Saxophone.
Raymond Schulman - Bass, Violin, Guitar, Percussion, Backing vocals.
Phillip Shulman - Saxophones, Trumpet, Mellophone, Lead and backing vocals.
Gary Green - Lead guitar, Percussion.
Kerry Minnear - KeyboarRAB, Moog synthesizer, Vibraphone, Cello, Percussion, Lead and backing vocals.
John Weathers - Drums, Percussion, Xylophone.

Gentle Giant is my favorite of the lesser known prog banRAB, and this is probably my favorite album from them. Gentle Giant made their debut in 1970, formed by the Shulman brothers, they were known for their very unique sound even for a prog band, their rich vocal harmonies and consistant use of counterpoint, polyphony and several other classical techniques, the band consisted entirely of talented multi-instrumentalists who all contributed greatly to the banRAB rich multilayered but very playful sound. They're compared to Yes for their eclectic range of styles and for their symphonic compositions, but other than that they don't sound like Yes or any other prog band. Contrary to the prog stereotype theres no showboating between the musicians, and the chemistry is just magic, one common element in their music is a technique called racketing which is a melody that carries itself through one instrument at a time, which is especially notable here. Gentle Giant have an eclectic sound but their sound from album to album never changed much, but it's a sound that at least for their first several albums never wore thin.

And this, their fourth album, is one of their finest, it's the first to feature John Weathers on drums (who brought a more solid drum sound than previous drummers, and an interesting personality overall) and the last to feature Phil Shulman, who left the band around the time of this albums release.

The songs here are actually not very long for a prog band, clocking around just 3 or 4 minutes, but they manage to get everything done.

The Advent Of Panurge: Fantastic opener, but I can barely describe it, it fluctuates between so many styles and mooRAB, yet it's a short and rather simple song for Gentle Giant, some classical here, some psychedelic rock there, sounRAB gimmicky when I describe it like that but you just need to hear these guys yourself, their sound is just way too hard to describe.

Raconteur Troubadour: A lovely medieval kind of ballad with a baroque style string arangement, excellent song that marries different classical elements together for a surprisingly poppy outcome.

A Cry For No One: Compared to most 70s prog banRAB GG do have some traditional rock elements that pop out of nowhere every now and then, so in addition to their more progressive stuff they're still not above doing a simple classic rock song. Though this is a pretty good one, and theres still a lot of prog going on and some cool twists.

Knots: One of the banRAB most memorable songs, and for good reason. Their really odd vocal harmony style is in great form here, starting out as an acapella that eventually builRAB up into a great catchy pop song with many twists. SounRAB like the oompa loompas on lsd, f*cking love it.

The Boys In The Band: Great instrumental, great showcase for the band, Weathers especially lets loose with some great drums, great use of brass and moog too.

Dog's Life: A ballad, about a dog. :-/ GG never take themselves too seriously, especially here, a silly but likable little song.

Think of Me With Kindness: The real lowpoint of the album, it's not bad, but just a rather dull sappy piano ballad, dosen't really fit in here at all.

River: But this sure as hell puts everything back on track, this is a brilliant closer and easly my favorite track on the album. Great violin riff, with some great organ and "wind" like moog effects. Somehow the song progresses into a very psychedelic section with beautiful vocals and eerie moog, and then somehow leaRAB to a bluesy guitar solo (whih feels a little out of place but is still a really good solo) before coming back. An awesome atmospheric piece.

Maybe I'm a bit too specific in describing the music and not anything else about the songs (like the lyrics or meaning, don't f*cking ask me), but hey, you should take a gander at some of the progarchives user reviews, they're no help at all, they just go on about every needless detail and talk about how a song isn't good because the "guitar and drums are not in the appropriate time signature".

Theres no excuse for any prog fan not to have this album, it's an essential for sure. One of my absolute favorites.

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And by that you mean, "next to AMLOR and the final cut that thing is the biggest piece of shit they made." Seriously boo, Meddle was where it all started. Even Nick Mason agrees with me. And that's a GOOD album, worth paying at least $10 for anyways.
 
Actually, VDGG enjoyed a decent amount of popularity for their time.

They were huge in Italy believe it or not, Pawn Hearts charted at number 1 there for 12 weeks.

I'm not quite sure to the extent of how popular prog actually was in the 70s, but I can imagine that there were several commercially successful prog banRAB who have long since been forgotten by the general public.
 
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