"Why can't they play some Hawkwind, or Marillion?"
After queries from Vipros and k2k6, it occurred to me that b3ta is exactly the sort of place where prog rock lovers may congregate (no offence intended, I'm an anorak too!)

So here's a tentative step towards a thread: if you like prog, what sort do you like and why? Have you had any prog rock experiences you'd like to share? And if you can't stand this most intellectual and experimental genre of music (take that as you will), then please enlighten me too...

Play nice, kittehs!
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:06, 39 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Am I allowed to talk about Rush here?
Some purists would frown strongly at me.
( Cawl, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:12, Reply)

My Uncle
is Rush's UK promoter.

I don't think he's doing a very good job.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:14, Reply)

Talk away!
Songs of 20+ minutes, fantasy lyrics about amazing lands and ancient myths, lots of different instruments and time sigs...I'd say Rush count.

Anyone who says otherwise, I have one word: Xanadu.
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:16, Reply)

Does
Jethro Tull count as prog rock?
(Halfy By light alone, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:22, Reply)

Woo!
I just looked on my iPod, and I only have two Rush tracks.

*listens to Spirit Of Radio*

*grins*
( Cawl, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:31, Reply)

I think...
..Jethro Tull might be prog, although I'm not too familiar with them (except that Christmassy Yule Solstice-y one).

@ Kaol: 2 Rush tracks?! I couldn't live with 2 Rush albums!

Anyone going to the Marillion weekend in Holland next march? I got my ticket last week :D
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:33, Reply)

Neo Prog
Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Steve Hogarth era Marillion FTW!
( djtrialprice, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:43, Reply)

More neo-prog
Classic Rock Society stuff - Jump, Karnataka, Jadis, Spock's Beard, Panic Room, Magenta, Frost, IQ, It Bites, Arena...

...mostly unheard of but mostly fabulous.

Is fabulous too gay a word to use to describe prog?
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:47, Reply)

Ahhh. Prog rock.
I happen to really love it, myself. King Crimson was fucking brilliant. Yes had their moments as well. But I'd say that the grandfathers of prog were my fave, Pink Floyd.

I would definitely include Jethro Tull in there as well. Peter Gabriel, before he started taking himself far too seriously, was quite excellent. And let us not forget the queen of crimped hair and odd vocals, Kate Bush.

Sadly, about the closest we have to the like today is the Mars Volta...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:49, Reply)

I like the Mars Volta.
I'm pretty sure that you can count 'Tool' as prog, eh?
( Devil_In_Tights the *real* DiT!, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:52, Reply)

porcupine tree are outstanding
as are Rush, and obviously Yes

I'd count Tool as progressive metal probably, along with Dream Theater. both incredible bands.

@TRL, King Crimson are excellent. I absolutely love In the court of the Crimson King

Edit: @Holloway_girl: any word can be used to describe prog. it crosses all boundaries and transcends all things
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 12:55, Reply)

Between The Buried & Me
Their latest album, Colours, is 8 tracks linked into each other for one hour long piece of music. Definitely progressive metal.
( Boss Keloid Got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:01, Reply)

Ooh, one I haven't heard of before! :)
@ Vipros: I like the deification of the genre. In fact, maybe I'll start the Church of Prog. In Aylesbury Market Square, naturlich.
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:04, Reply)

Oh, nothing wrong with the Mars Volta.
I like them quite a bit, actually, despite the fact that Cedric sounds entirely too much like Ann Wilson of Heart fame. But they're one of the few bands that I've encountered recently that I would consider even close to prog.

Although now that you lot have listed a few, I'll go out hunting at the CD store...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:04, Reply)

@ TRL
I hope you have a copy of "Selling England By The Pound" somewhere...vinyl is accepted, nay, encouraged. Apparently it won "Best Prog Album Ever" last year...not that anyone asked me.
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:06, Reply)

that's what's so good about prog
anything goes. typically you'll have your 4 or 5 piece rock band setup (like mine) and on top of that you can add anything you want.

thus encompassing all forms of music, united through wailing guitar solos.

my band isn't particularly interested in the prog direction, we're more about blues-funk-rock, but our drummer and I are going to produce some stuff of our own.

we're thinking of calling ourselves The Red Squirrel / Grey Squirrel Scenario.

just the right amount of pretentiousness
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:06, Reply)

@ Vipros
Here's another suggestion for a name: The Priapus Experience.

If you Google Priapus, be forewarned that it's not exactly work-safe for images.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:09, Reply)

Squirrels
Ooh, I like...although for some strange reason it reminds me of "The Alans Parsons Project".
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:10, Reply)

@ TRL
Is that the same as priaprism? We had a case through Claims Direct where the unfortunate claimant had an adverse reaction to Viagra, and suffered from priaprism for a week before seeking medical help...*snigger* I mean, poor guy...
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:11, Reply)

@Loon
I like it. fortunately (he says) I'm at home with a nasty ear infection, so NSFW images are not a problem.

we may have to stick with the squirrel one though, because we came up with it while high. a pre-requisite for choosing a band name
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:11, Reply)

Since you asked...
Priapus was a Greek deity of fertility. From Wikipedia:

In Greek mythology, Priapus (Ancient Greek: Πρίαπος) was a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. His Roman equivalent was Mutinus Mutunus. He was best noted for his huge, permanently erect penis, which gave rise to the medical term priapism.

Statues of Priapus were often hung with signs bearing epigrams, collected in Priapeia (treated below), which threatened sexual assault towards transgressors of the boundaries that he protected:

Percidere, puer, moneo; futuere, puella;
barbatum furem tertia poena manet.

Femina si furtum faciet mihi virve puerve,
haec cunnum, caput hic praebeat, ille nates.

Per medios ibit pueros mediasque puellas
mentula, barbatis non nisi summa petet.

I warn you, boy, you will be sodomised; girl, you will be fucked; a third penalty awaits the bearded thief.

If a woman steals from me, or a man, or a boy, let the first give me her cunt, the second his head, the third his buttocks.

My instrument of forceful lust will go through the middle of boys and the middle of girls, but with bearded men it will aim only for the top.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:15, Reply)

*tumbleweed*
Why hasn't some prog band put that to music yet? I'll suggest it at the Magenta gig on Sunday...
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:29, Reply)

Oh, and some of you may need one of these...

( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:30, Reply)

Nobody's yet mentioned
the kings of excess in the prog rock field:

Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Hugely long tracks of self indulgent wibbling. I love it!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 13:33, Reply)

Atom Heart Mother FTW!
I have a couple of bootleg versions of that which put the studio version to shame. John Peel broadcast one of them, but the copy I have is missing parts.

I don't suppose that anyone happens to know where one can get the Peel recordings?....
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 14:39, Reply)

FUCK THE CAT!
I can't access it from work- it's blocked- but I found this: www.bigomagazine.com/archive/ARrarities/ARpfbbc.html

Will someone please verify for me that these links are still live? If so, I'm going to go home tonight and download the fuck out of them!
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 15:01, Reply)

@TRL
Is this what you're looking for?

In case you can't access it, it's a page linking to MP3 downloads of a 1970 Peel session with Pink Floyd.

Edit - your above link goes to a dead end when clicking on the MP3s. But my one above works OK.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 15:08, Reply)

YAY!
I had a recording of this on vinyl- in fact, still have it- but the album got gouged when a girlfriend dropped a coffee mug on it. I've been looking for it ever since! It was part of the soundtrack of my teenage years, so it has huge sentimental connection for me...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 15:15, Reply)

And it's good too
I'm listening to it at the moment!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 15:18, Reply)

AAAAARRRRGGHHH!
They have anything with .mp3 after it blocked here! BASTARDS! I wanna listen to it NOW!
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 15:28, Reply)

Don't worry TRL
If all us b3tans download everything on their site now the server *might* still be up when you get home.

Maybe.
( djtrialprice, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 15:56, Reply)

Well, I absolutely adore Jethro Tull.
They're prog rock, aren't they?

Absolutely adore them. The sad thing is, I haven't really bothered finding out more about prog rock, so if anyone can recommend some decent bands/albums, that would be super-lovely!
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 16:04, Reply)

@Empress
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd: Classic prog and very accessible album.

Brave - Marillion: A bit more modernish and breathtaking.
( djtrialprice, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 16:21, Reply)

^
cheers lovely!
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 16:26, Reply)

If you're going for Marillion
I'd go for their early stuff - Script for a Jester's Tear is the most 'prog'-y one, IMO. Brave is good, but my favourite of all is Clutching at Straws.

ELP, King Crimson, Floyd - take your pick.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 16:28, Reply)

@dj, k2k6
Brave is the best album ever made, bar none. Although it takes a few listens to get into.

Clutching At Straws is definitely the best Fish album, in my opinion.

My advice: get into Marillion!!!
(Holloway_Girl To err is to be human, to be a fool is to believe, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 16:54, Reply)

And just to throw a spanner
I absolutely love Script For A Jester's Tear, it's lovely and has much progness.

But other than that all the Fish albums bore me rigid. They just don't compare to the brilliance of the later stuff a la Afraid of Sunlight, Anoraknophobia, Marbles.

It seems the concensus at least is that Brave is safely in the most excellent album category.
( djtrialprice, Wed 23 Jul 2008, 17:07, Reply)

THAT'S THE VERSION!
I'm still downloading AHM Suite, but the ones that I've already gotten are definitely the album I have that was destroyed. In a few minutes I'll know if it's the full version of AHM Suite. Stand by...

EDIT: YES! It's the full version I've been looking for all these years! WOO!

*goes out dancing nekkid in the thunderstorm in celebration*

*buys K2k6 a bunch of scotch*
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 23 Jul 2008, 23:33, Reply)

Marillion, The Mars Volta, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd...
YES! YES! YES! All excellent. Marillions finest hour was their live 'La Gazza Ladra' for my 2 cents. I saw TMV twice this year in Paris and Manchester. Stunning three hours of pure beautiful musical virtuosity and excess. Porcupine Tree are solid but not as arsekicking as some of the others above.

Opeth, Tool, both excellent metal. Dream Theater is far too twee for my liking. Saw Tool live once - bit ordinary - definitely a studio band. Will be seeing Opeth for the first time in November but their live album is excellent.

Pink Floyd are the single greatest band in history. FUCK The Beatles.

Honorable mention to Rush, Yes. ELP is boring self-indulgent twaddle.

If ya like it noodly though, try Krautrock. Can, Faust, Popol Vuh to name but a few.
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Thu 24 Jul 2008, 12:14, Reply)