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pekadan · Post by **pekadan** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:13 pm

I thought the progressive rock genre was dead. That old seniors like myself that can't help but to like that kind of pretentious music were doomed to listen over and over to our old scratchy Yes records. Then someone shouted in my ear "we" should try Kino, Porcupine Tree and RPWL. This is not medicine but prog rock bands. (I'd never heard of any of them but Porcupine Tree is obviously pretty famous). They've all released new albums this year. Well I've listened and...

Kino (Picture) and Porcupine Tree (Deadwing) - Wow!

I can strongly recommend them to any interested fan of the genre! RPWL (World Through My Eyes), ok, but no personal favourite really. Except for the one song, Roses, which is just lovely!

Just wanted to share and hear if anyone has any comments or other interesting suggestions...

Should rest now.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:16 pm

I'm going to see Porcupine Tree on the 7th next week. I'm 21

Res assured, Prog is not dead!!

I actually wanna form a band taking influence from prog-rock, not gonna say I want it to be prog rock, coz isn't the idea of progressive the antithesis of fitting yourself neatly into a genre?

Either way, yeah, love it.

beltrom · Post by **beltrom** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:30 pm

It seems to me Progressive rock is stronger now than it ever was since the 70's, and yes, I was around at that time. Several of the groups going today are excellent: Arena, Pallas, Flower Kings, Spocks Beard, Transatlantic and so on. I like Kino, even if I like the band members original groups even more I think. They're a bit on the light side, but some of the songs on Picture are great.
Porcupine Tree I found a little bit harder to get into, but well worth the effort.

pekadan · Post by **pekadan** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:31 pm

Andrew Vernon wrote:I'm going to see Porcupine Tree on the 7th next week. I'm 21

Res assured, Prog is not dead!!

I actually wanna form a band taking influence from prog-rock, not gonna say I want it to be prog rock, coz isn't the idea of progressive the antithesis of fitting yourself neatly into a genre?

Either way, yeah, love it.

Cool! Hey now I feel a lot younger all of a sudden!

Oh I thought progressive just meant the songs should start quiet and simple and end loud and bombastic!

Anyway, damn I envy you! I wish I was 21 and had those tickets!

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:39 pm

pekadan · Post by **pekadan** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:39 pm

Arena, Pallas, Flower Kings, Spocks Beard, Transatlantic...

Whoa, I feel ashamed now to have even called myself a fan of the genre. I've never heard of these bands before either! Why did not Amazon list these under "people who bought Kino also bought..."?

Anyway, I've got some serious listening to do now, that's for sure. Great!!!

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:43 pm

www.progarchives.com

Come checkout the forums there, pretty decent. Ever heard of King Crimson? Sure you have

How about Caravan? Brilliant english band I discovered through the site.

pekadan · Post by **pekadan** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:48 pm

BTW betrom, I do agree Kino is a bit too "light". The song Letting Go (#2) especially. But still that one has become one of my absolute favourites!

pekadan · Post by **pekadan** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:51 pm

Andrew Vernon wrote:www.progarchives.com

Come checkout the forums there, pretty decent. Ever heard of King Crimson? Sure you have How about Caravan? Brilliant english band I discovered through the site.

I sure will! Great, thanks for the tip man! King Crimson, heh, yeah I'm old remember...

Caravan, though, never heard of. Cool! Another one on my "have to check out" list.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 6:26 pm

please visit the auditorium http://audioshots.com/auditorium/index.php

at the bottom is the artists page, including mine "Generation Rock". I'm hoping to remind the world the some of us kept rockin and rollin through the years (I'm 46 a btw)...I'm still trying to get ball rolling...

pekadan · Post by **pekadan** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 6:35 pm

Cool Hink, I'll be sure to check it out!

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:08 pm

I used to be big into Dream Theater and anything to do with Petrucci or any side projects. But my interest dwindled after the last 2 albums. Sure they were very fast and technical, but a lot of the songs lacked character and werent too memorable, and most of them had the same feel and were quite homogenous with one another.

Then I discovered Porcupine Tree and the work of Steven Wilson (porcupine's singer/main guitar/producer/songwriter). He has worked with countless people in the prog scene. Opeth, OSI, Robert Fripp, Mike Portnoy just to name a few. The Blackfield sideproject album with Aviv Geffen was recorded with guitars all direct using POD, V-Amp, Guitar Rig.
Check out the OSI (Office of Strategic Influence) album with Mike Portnoy on drums, and an allstar lineup. If you like the spacey electronic/ambient mixed in with heavy guitars with great production similiar to p-tree, check out this album. Steve appears on one of the tracks on the 2nd cd of the album.

I just got into Porcupine Tree last year and have seen them twice so far when they have come around to the US. I have the 5.1 DTS surround versions of In Absentia and Deadwing, which are just mindblowing. Deadwing is growing on me still, but In Absentia, Lightbulb Sun, Stupid Dream and Up the Downstair are favorites. Deadwing and In Absentia are a lot heavier, as Steve has been working with people in the death metal scene such as Mikael Akerfeldt(sp?) from Opeth. Though no one can touch or replace Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree come pretty close in filling that void where Pink Floyd might be today.

I have also taken a liking to bands like Anathema, Amorphis, Opeth, and Katatonia. These bands used to be very doom/death metal sounding but theyre newer stuff is really dark doomy prog rock sounding stuff. Opeth is primarily death metal vocals most of the time but thier Damnation album is all clean vocals/guitar with an acoustic sound, which Steve W also helped produce.

Opeth has some phenomenal musicianship and production work. When the singer (Mikael) isn't doing growly screamy vocals, he has a great voice, and I don't see why he doesn't use it more often. And his guitar riffs/leads/melodies and compositions, wow is all i can say. If you can get over the death metal vocals most of the time(if it isn't your thing), then check out thier latest album Ghost Reveries, which is another SW assisted production. I think this album can describe what being progressive is, going from ballistic metal to soft enchanting classical barouque/chamber music in a subtle transistional split second, but covering a lot of genres in between.

In the states, prog rock is really underground music, except for the likes of Rush and Yes sometimes heard on the radio. Some people wouldn't know to describe that as being progressive(progrock, not house).

Another all time favorite band is Umphrey's McGee. Um what you say? They are from the states and considered by most to be a hippy jamband (Phish, Gratefuld Dead etc.) because they are lumped into that scene and follow the rest of those bands and festivals. But they're making thier way to Amsterdam again for a mini festival in march. It depends who hears them, but without prior knowledge most people would call them a prog metal/rock band, and even were picked up by a few European prog labels the first time they were there. They have 2 studio albums out, but the real deal is thier live show. I would call it live improvisational progrock. Download/listen/stream any of about 620 shows listed here at the Live Music Archive ( http://www.archive.org/audio/etreelisti ... 7s%20McGee )especially the soundboard SBD sources. These guys absolutely shred. I have seen them over 10 times, and will anytime theyre somewhat near the Detroit,Michigan area.

Am I rambling? hmm, I guess so. But I hope this offers some informative inspiring insight for people that aren't in the know, as this is how I discover bands/music of this nature. enjoy.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:18 pm

Gotta say, I'm really not too impressed with Dream Theater. The vocalists voice, omg, it sucks!

Just opinion of course.

As Hink may know, I'm a complete Toolophile. Anything Tool gets me going. It's really strange, because I'm finding it quite hard to learn music by The Doors, but I found it piss easy to learn The Patient, The Grudge, and parts of No Quarter by Tool, I probably listen to them TOO much.

papatomany · Post by **papatomany** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:30 pm

Pekadan --
Go to Ghostland and you'll find the genre very much alive.

I think Spock's Beard (prior to Neal Morse leaving) and Neal Morse (after leaving Spock's Beard -- see his CDs One and ?) are really in the spirit of the old prog bands. Throwbacks you might say.

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:31 pm

Andrew Vernon wrote:Gotta say, I'm really not too impressed with Dream Theater. The vocalists voice, omg, it sucks! Just opinion of course.

As Hink may know, I'm a complete Toolophile. Anything Tool gets me going. It's really strange, because I'm finding it quite hard to learn music by The Doors, but I found it piss easy to learn The Patient, The Grudge, and parts of No Quarter by Tool, I probably listen to them TOO much.

I agree. Some prog rock singing is too whiney and operatic for my tastes, but i guess that's what defines the current prog sound.
I also listen to Tool, and am a fan of their Salival live album, Lateralus album and A Perfect Circle's 2nd album. One of those bands that I've been meaning to see live, if the Salival album does them any justice.

New progressive rock!