Squonk
I have been zooting around this forum since September last year, and there has been little mention of the Prog Rock of the 60's & 70's besides Pink Floyd who I would rather relunctantly add to this Genre (But where else would you slot them! ?)
Yes has been mentioned, Trevor Rabin has been mentioned, but not Steve Howe who IMO was quite an inspirational guitarist who embraced many different styles of guitar (Listen to his Solo Albums).
Genesis - the brilliant genius of Peter Gabriel, who were undone by the more commercially correct Phil Collins after PG left in 1975. They had a brilliant guitarist Steve Hackett who produced some brilliant solo albums and is still going strong. Ironically one of the best Genesis albums is "The Trick of the Tail" which is the first post Gabriel album and it has a brilliant song on about a little creature called "Squonk"
Rush - brilliant 3 piece, Geddy Lee is a monster bass player. Alex Lifeson - IMO a good guitarist. Neil Peart one of the best rock drummers.
Focus - Jan Akkerman IMO a brilliant guitarist.
King Crimson - Robert Fripp and in later years Adrian Belew
Jethro Tull - Martin Barre , a good guitarist.
There were plenty more bands and guitarists, I have just pointed out the more popular ones.
dee
You might want to check out Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever from Coheed And Cambria as well.
JK
Trevor Rabin has been mentioned, but not Steve Howe who IMO was quite an inspirational guitarist who embraced many different styles of guitar (Listen to his Solo Albums).
As proud as we should all be with Rabin, i am a bigger fan of Howe and definitely prefer Yes with Howe. His playing is exceptional. So many years later and still so good!
AlanRatcliffe
Pink Floyd fall under Art Rock, with Bowie and Velvet Underground, etc. Sometimes called psychedelic rock or Acid rock too.
The prog I listen to and love:
King Crimson - they hate the prog label, but they are one of the few that are still true to the form and pushing the envelope. Discipline for their '80s stuff and Thrak for their '90s.
Love Greg Howe - he's a shredder with real prog compositional chops. His album Introspection is one of my all-time favourite instrumental records.
Dixie Dregs! Steve Morse at his best! 'Nuff said...
Pavlov's Dog were great, but unfortunately Surkamp's vocals can only be endured for a short while. That continual vibrato... sounds like he's driving a tractor across a ploughed field with lead weights tied to his scrotum.
Far from the most technical of the bunch, Strawbs are still somehow a prog band to my mind.
Porcupine Tree are a good modern Prog Rock band. Elements of all the bands you mentioned, with a bit of an overall heavier feel. Darkwing is a classic album AFAIC.
The Mars Volta - another good new(ish) band.
Mr Bungle could easily be called prog and are very... ummm... interesting.
Gong - one of the most unusual and a very unlikely prog guitarist in Steve Hillage. Later versions of the band became more fusion-based, but the original was odd psychedelic jazz/blues/rock.
Couple of others I don't listen to (much), but are worth mentioning:
Some members will probably shout for Dream Theater, but I find them a bit too much like the excessive bands that killed prog in it's prime. They've had a few moments though (I enjoyed Images and Words the first few times I listened to it)...
Not guitar oriented, but you have to include ELP under prog. Emerson is a guitarist at heart .? Although, they were one of the ones that killed the first wave of prog through the process of excess prevalent in the genre that I like to call "disappearing up there own arses". ?
Asia were good, but a bit too mainstream. They did, of course spawn the stellar Guthrie Govan
Kansas had potential, but had too much of a commercial West Coast rock sound for me. Other commercial prog bands were the likes of ELO and Styx.
Van Der Graaf Generator, Camel, Marillion all deserve a mention, as does Soft Machine (that Allan Holdsworth bloke again).
Bob-Dubery
Well what's "prog rock"? Songs longer than 5 minutes? Emphasis on instrumental improvisation? None of these genres stand up to much examination - though music stores and record companies like them.
I love Gilmour's playing. But essentially he is a blues player and a simplistic but, I think, valid way of looking at Pink Floyd is a blues-based band with lots of sound effects (after all they named themselves after two veteran blues men -Pink Anderson & Floyd Council).
Same with Barre. The Blues is at the heart of his playing.
I have nothing against either man, indeed I wish I could play half as well, and I particularly admire Gilmour's playing, but I don't see what's so "progressive" about what they do.
To me "prog rock" was mostly about pomposity and flash, lots of effects and lots of synthesizers. Being able to boast of "classical training" helped as well.
I don't think I'd put Tull in the "prog rock" category or even my own category. Indeed they are quite hard to categorise. First album was bluesy, second was sort of folk-rock... they have tried a lot of things over the years and I'm not sure that even at the hight of their "concept album" phase - "Thick As A Brick" and "Passion Play" - they ever took themselves that seriously.
Genesis, early on, were very interesting - the way that they seemed to be looking to submerge all the instruments into the greater fabric of the song.
Bob-Dubery
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Pavlov's Dog were great, but unfortunately Surkamp's vocals can only be endured for a short while. That continual vibrato... sounds like he's driving a tractor across a ploughed field with lead weights tied to his scrotum.
ROFL!
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Asia were good, but a bit too mainstream. They did, of course spawn the stellar Guthrie Govan
Asia were boring boring boring. Proof that good instrumentalists do not always add up to good music. I couldn't see anything interesting or thought provoking in anything they did. Boring vocals. Boring production. Worse than boring lyrics. etc etc etc... Even Steve Howe sounded boring and unadventurous.
It's bands like Asia that get "prog rock" a bad name.
Squonk
Good points Bob and Alan ?
The focus I wanted to put was more on the Guitarists and not the genre, a kind of unsung-hero-that-deserves-a-mention kind of a thing.
Steve Howe
Martin Barre
Jan Akkerman
Alex Lifeson
Steve Morse
Robert Fripp
Adrian Belew
Steve Rothery (Marillion)
Maybe we should open up another thread on Prog Rock where we can discuss ELP, Gong, Camel, Van der Graaf Generator etc.
Bob-Dubery
Barre has produced a couple of solo albums that allow him to explore areas that don't really apply to his main job. I've heard one of them, and the playing is really very good.
AlanRatcliffe
I got that, but the two are kind of inseparable for me - the guitarists and the music. Out of context, many of the players in the really good Prog bands would be unremarkable (Barre, Hillage). Alll good, but nothing magical - it's the context that elevates many of them (or brings them down as in the case of Steve Howe Or Govan in Asia or Steve Morse in Kansas). In most cases, it's the whole band and the composition/arrangement as a whole.
Banditman
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
I got that, but the two are kind of inseparable for me - the guitarists and the music. Out of context, many of the players in the really good Prog bands would be unremarkable (Barre, Hillage). Alll good, but nothing magical - it's the context that elevates many of them (or brings them down as in the case of Steve Howe Or Govan in Asia or Steve Morse in Kansas). In most cases, it's the whole band and the composition/arrangement as a whole.
Very true. Porcupine Tree are a good example (and a very good listen as well if you haven't tried them yet). I remember an interview with Steven Wilson where he gave the reporter a bit of a jump (I think) by stating that he wasn't really fussed about guitars. He plays a PRS because that's what works for the sound and him, not for the logo on the headstock. As a solo guitarist he's no great shakes compared to some. As a group member, that's something different.
aubs1
Would Mark Farner qualify.........? ?
Bob-Dubery
aubs1 wrote:
Would Mark Farner qualify.........? ?
Personally I don't often contemplate "progressive" and "Grand Funk Railroad" at the same time.
There must have been something to them though, otherwise why would Zappa have involved himself with them?
Willem186
Although not 70's or 80's and almost off topic, I would give Opeth a mention...
arjunmenon
I'd mention the following as well (some aren't in the 70's category):
Steve Hackett
Steve Rothery
Michael Romeo
John Petrucci
Daryl Streumer
Frans-B--Cocq
Willem186 wrote:
Although not 70's or 80's and almost off topic, I would give Opeth a mention...
Indeed! Peter Lindgren was great, but Fredrik Åkesson is even better IMO. Plus good ol' Mike isn't that bad himself, either. And if bassists count, Mendez is just my favorite among them.
