and The Nice should be up there too. basically, Moodys + The Nice + Soft Machine = 99% of what came after
― scott seward, Thursday, 30 July 2009 02:12 (fourteen years ago) link
and gentle giant. jeez. and there should be a poll covering dave q threads pondering prog epistemology. for instanceSuper Furry Animals vs. Gentle Giant
― kamerad, Thursday, 30 July 2009 05:52 (fourteen years ago) link
I downloaded Still Life. I like it but I don't think it contains anything as revelatory as "Plague of Lighthouse-Keepers". Which VdGG records emphasize the avant-garde side of the band?
Which brings me to the Hammill solo albums, which you really shouldn't overlook if you have any interest in VdGG. The early to mid 70s solo albums were recorded with the other VdGG members as musicians, and for all practical purposes are no different from VdGG albums. The key solo albums from this period are Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night, The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage, and In Camera. If you like the avant-garde side of VdGG, you can't really go wrong with any of these. I would put In Camera as being the most experimental (check out 'Gog' and 'Magog' in particular), but Silent Corner just edges it in terms of rounded songwriting. The following year, of course, Hammill struck out in a completely new direction with Nadir's Big Chance, but that's another story...
― anagram, Thursday, 30 July 2009 07:57 (fourteen years ago) link
Many people will tell you Godbluff is the one. I've heard it a few times and while Scorched Earth is an amazing track, the other 3 haven't really clicked with me yet. Arrow for instance has all the overwrought emotional drama of Still Life without the poise, the majestic control-and-release.
louis shut up. Arrow is awesome. as is the whole album. Dont trust someone who says Hood is black metal!
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 30 July 2009 09:40 (fourteen years ago) link
Still Life Schmill Life
― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan noo an' aw (Tom D.), Thursday, 30 July 2009 09:53 (fourteen years ago) link
What did you vote for,tom?
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 30 July 2009 10:10 (fourteen years ago) link
Didn't vote
― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan noo an' aw (Tom D.), Thursday, 30 July 2009 10:11 (fourteen years ago) link
my fave "prog" album by opeth is still damnation. i've tried to get geir to listen to it more than once over the years, but i don't know if he has. it is NOT a metal album. there is NO metal on it. (i know that scares him)
I've listened some to Opeth, and they're OK as long as the singer isn't growling. But I miss the synths and the mellotrons that belong in prog, and I find that they end up sounding like a bad copy of Porcupine Tree.
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 30 July 2009 13:57 (fourteen years ago) link
it's mostly just conventional 80s metal songs stitched together by a loose "narrative" and a lot of heavy political jive talk....just doesn't really feel prog to me even though queensryche always got billed as prog metal, they don't do any exploratory type instrumental sections, no real feel of any kind of questing type soloing thing (or conversely any real mind garden type psych sonic landscapes either)...i dunno...listen to it and tell me if you think different but to me being a really pretentious metal concept album does not prog make
Agree regarding Queensryche, and also more recent Rush. But prog metal does exist in the case of Dream Theater, who are basically a 70s influenced symphonic rock band, only with large portions of metal added. Probably the hardest rocking band that I really like.
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 30 July 2009 13:59 (fourteen years ago) link
there are synths and mellotrons on damnation, geir! just listen to those two youtube clips i posted and i swear i'll leave you alone. no growling either! be not afraid!
― scott seward, Thursday, 30 July 2009 14:05 (fourteen years ago) link
You know what? I just listened to Pawn Hearts. And yeah, of course it deserved to win. Absolutely astonishing music.
― One idiot even called me "redcoat" because I'm (country matters), Thursday, 30 July 2009 14:07 (fourteen years ago) link
Well, the one that won the original poll was the one that deserved to win, and at least "Selling England" did get quite some votes here too, which was nice to see. BEST ALBUM EVER !!!!
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 30 July 2009 14:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Hey - I DO really dig SEBTP! Firth Of Forth, TBOEF and The Cinema Show especially. Dudes knew a tune, and a narrative.
― One idiot even called me "redcoat" because I'm (country matters), Thursday, 30 July 2009 14:46 (fourteen years ago) link
The songs posted above surely sound nice enough. Still not their typical style though.
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 30 July 2009 16:12 (fourteen years ago) link
i like still life and godbluff more than pawn hearts
― akm, Thursday, 30 July 2009 16:18 (fourteen years ago) link
and nadir and black box and over more than pawn hearts most days too
― akm, Thursday, 30 July 2009 16:19 (fourteen years ago) link
Favourite Van Der Graaf Generator Album?
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 30 July 2009 16:28 (fourteen years ago) link
I'll check out some of those other VdGG/Hamill albums. My 1st exposure to them was Nadir's Big Chance, actually, which really put me off them until I heard Pawn Hearts. (This was maybe 10 years ago! I feel old!)
I still think Close to the Edge deserves to win any prog poll but I would.
Opeth guy reminds me of Greg Lake on "In My Time of Need."
― Sundar, Thursday, 30 July 2009 16:34 (fourteen years ago) link
I like Selling England by the Pound but I don't see why it would be the best Genesis album. There's no one track that's as great as "Supper's Ready" and as an album, it's not as consistent as either The Lamb or Nursery Cryme. I usually skip from "Firth On Fifth" to "The Cinema Show". "Dancing With the Moonlight Knight" is great though.
― Sundar, Thursday, 30 July 2009 16:39 (fourteen years ago) link
its not the best genesis.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 30 July 2009 16:42 (fourteen years ago) link
It is the typical fan favourite (even though the same people have "Supper's Ready" as the fave track), while non fans tend to go for "The Lamb" or "Nursery Cryme". I guess it's just the most typical Genesis album stylistically.
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:22 (fourteen years ago) link
nice top picks :)
Van Der Graaf Generator: Pawn Hearts 19King Crimson: Red 14Yes: Close To The Edge 12Hawkwind: Space Ritual 12King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King 10Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom 10
― tulsa anti-juggalo league (M@tt He1ges0n), Thursday, 30 July 2009 21:25 (fourteen years ago) link
It is the typical fan favourite
― anagram, Thursday, 30 July 2009 22:06 (fourteen years ago) link
Not really, ask most long-term Genesis fans which one they like best and it'll be Trick of the Tail or Wind and Wuthering.
Only those who like 80s Genesis. Hardcore Genesis fans prefer Peter Gabriel.
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 30 July 2009 22:45 (fourteen years ago) link
(And not one negative word about those two albums - they are great, but the Peter ones are mostly even better)
― anagram, Thursday, 30 July 2009 22:56 (fourteen years ago) link
Trick Of The Tail is by far my fave Genesis album. I love that album to death. and i have no time at all for 80's genesis. well, i don't hate 80's genesis, i like some of abacab and duke a lot, but i don't listen to it.
― scott seward, Friday, 31 July 2009 02:03 (fourteen years ago) link
and wind & wuthering is probably my 2nd favorite! hmm, maybe i'm a peter gabriel hater after all.
― scott seward, Friday, 31 July 2009 02:04 (fourteen years ago) link
also: Trespass has to be one of my LEAST favorite prog albums. by any band. ugh.
― scott seward, Friday, 31 July 2009 02:08 (fourteen years ago) link
If I was ever going to get drunk with power and abuse mod privileges, I would probably delete all of your posts where you made claims about anyone's likes and dislikes other than your own. It would probably take a month.
― Beanbag the Gardener (WmC), Friday, 31 July 2009 02:12 (fourteen years ago) link
You know, Yes "Relayer" sounding better and better as years go by. I'm surprised there's no dedicated thread...
― dlp9001, Saturday, 4 August 2012 00:48 (eleven years ago) link
I read this whole thread after searching for Gnidrolog. The most bizarre assertion herein is that Eloy is better than anybody, I've heard three of their records and they're laughable.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 12 April 2021 16:05 (three years ago) link
Have you heard the concept album where some stoner travels back to the Middle Ages in a time machine and teaches a princess how to smoke weed?
― it's popol vu all over again (Matt #2), Monday, 12 April 2021 16:19 (three years ago) link
I skipped that one, I'm sure THAT's going to be the album to convince me they're awesome, ha ha.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 12 April 2021 16:22 (three years ago) link
Pawn Hearts getting 10x the votes as Dark Side of the Moon warms my heart on this cold spring day
― frogbs, Monday, 12 April 2021 16:25 (three years ago) link
I wonder if we reran this exact pill whether ILM would get it so gloriously correct a second time
― imago, Monday, 12 April 2021 16:29 (three years ago) link
Don't understand who would pick Moonmadness as the best of this batch. The Snow Goose is quite nice but the albums where they write lyrics and sing them are not.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 12 April 2021 16:42 (three years ago) link
Will Romano's book Mountains Come Out of the Sky lists Moonmadness as the 5th best/most important prog album, but I thought his love of Camel was a personal peculiarity, not a trend.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 12 April 2021 17:14 (three years ago) link
Camel a big favourite for White Van Man Prog along with Yes and ELP. Must be the stoner feel to it.
― it's popol vu all over again (Matt #2), Monday, 12 April 2021 17:54 (three years ago) link
They're apparently a big influence on neo-prog bands, maybe it's the straightforwardness that they find easier to emulate than the more arcane or complex stuff.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 12 April 2021 17:57 (three years ago) link
Bingo
― it's popol vu all over again (Matt #2), Monday, 12 April 2021 18:13 (three years ago) link