What's your favourite old prog rock

Ferryman · July 08, 2009, 07:15:56 AM

Quote from: andrewh on July 08, 2009, 07:07:22 AMCan i fire the first one back!!! Muse, in my opinion, are the best British band around at the minute and have in Matt Bellamy THE most talented guitarist/pianist/singer/songwriter that we have produced for many a year.

Seeing them live is a great experience, and were they truly excel.

Just my opinion, thats all!!

Agree that they are indeed a great band, but Matt Bellamy is a bit weird. Not sure he's fully connected with reality. Doesn't stop them producing great music though, and they were born to play in the stadium. Their Wembley gig was one of the best I have ever seen at all levels - music, spectacle and entertainment.

Cheers,

Nigel

Tangled Wires · July 08, 2009, 07:18:49 AM

Whilst I do not deny that Jonny Greenwood is a very talented and revered guitarist, Bellamy for me, has the total package and is the genius and driving force behind Muse.

Don't think that I can agree with you Tim that he is smug, as never appears to come across that way in interviews, although is very self assured and confident on stage (probably cos he knows he is so good!!)

Having listened to your songs for a time now Tim, I am very jealous of how good you are...an understated genius also!!!

Tangled Wires · July 08, 2009, 07:21:36 AM

Quote from: Ferryman on July 08, 2009, 07:15:56 AM
Quote from: andrewh on July 08, 2009, 07:07:22 AMCan i fire the first one back!!! Muse, in my opinion, are the best British band around at the minute and have in Matt Bellamy THE most talented guitarist/pianist/singer/songwriter that we have produced for many a year.

Seeing them live is a great experience, and were they truly excel.

Just my opinion, thats all!!

Agree that they are indeed a great band, but Matt Bellamy is a bit weird. Not sure he's fully connected with reality. Doesn't stop them producing great music though, and they were born to play in the stadium. Their Wembley gig was one of the best I have ever seen at all levels - music, spectacle and entertainment.

Cheers,

Nigel

Agree with you Nigel, that Mr Bellamy is a little strange, but I always say that a lot of geniuses are!! The Wembley gig still gets played on my DVD regularly, a truly amazing gig and spectacle

Bluesberry · July 08, 2009, 08:11:23 AM

I have to admit, I have never heard of Muse before, hey I am a 44 year old Canadian (thats my excuse), but I just checked them out. That singer/guitarist guy (you say his name is Matt Bellamy) is brilliant. I was looking at video from Wembley Stadium. He is a bonafide guitar god from the days of old, sheesh, I haven't been excited by a young guitar player like this for a while. Very good. Hey may be out-there, but his playing and singing is out-of-site from my limited perspective. I mean who the hell plays guitar like this anymore?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0sbN1e0zr8

Ted · July 08, 2009, 09:47:47 AM

Look closely and you'll see he has a Kaossilator built into his guitar -- although I didn't see him use it in the video.

Click here to see how some of us here love Kaossilators.

Bosko Schwartz · July 08, 2009, 10:13:07 AM

There's already been enough back-and-forth about Radiohead and Muse, but back to the original discussion, to sum things up: neither of them are "prog" in the classic sense (Nigel's definition), but both are very "progressive" in the literal sense of the word (ORH's definition). So both Nigel and Mike are right and wrong. How do you like THEM apples?

My opinion is similar to Greeny's (big surprise, huh?) in that I love Radiohead and feel Muse is trying too hard to be the next Radiohead ... or perhaps a better version of them. HOWEVER, before you Muse freaks go apeshit on me, let me clarify that I have only heard one album of theirs, sent to me by a musician friend who WORSHIPS Muse, and this was my impression based on one full listen to one album. I have been known to change my mind, and things do sometimes grow on me, but at my age, I only have so much time to spare, so I gave up Muse based on that one listen. Maybe one day I'll try them again.

Nah, probably not.

It also doesn't help when someone builds up a band to be godlike, because your expectations are then just too high -- and that's what my friend did. But again, my Musical Gods are The Beatles, so to me, anything described as "godlike" or "genius," musically, makes me automatically compare it to The Beatles, no matter how different the music may be. And it is then virtually guaranteed to pale in comparison. If he had just said, "Hey, check out Muse; they're pretty good," I may have liked them a lot better.

Nah, probably not.

Bosko Schwartz · July 08, 2009, 10:23:42 AM

Speaking of Radiohead-like bands that are really good, everyone should check out Midlake when they get a chance. Their first album, Bamnan and Silvercork, is almost Radiohead-ripoff-material -- but in a much more mellow sense than Muse -- and I still like it. The main comparison I think is just that the singer tends to sound quite like Thom Yorke at times. But on their second album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, they really formed their own sound came into their own.

http://midlake.net/blog/

http://www.myspace.com/midlake

My favorite song is probably "Young Bride."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtpSidPN3jQ

Bluesberry · July 08, 2009, 10:36:40 AM

Boscko, great band, that reminds me of "The Decemberists" for some reason, Portland Oregon band that just may be Prog. I feel they are Prog, maybe folk-prog in the Jethro Tull sense. The song that you posted is really good. The Decemberists, Prog or not?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp_MVc3abXU

QuoteThe band's fifth album, The Hazards of Love, represents the most glorious kind of messing around. It's the most ambitious and most accomplished project to date from the Portland-based quintet of Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query, and John Moen—a full-length song cycle rooted in ancient language and imagery, yet entirely modern and accessible. The follow-up to the group's 2006 breakthrough, The Crane Wife (which NPR listeners voted their favorite album of the year), The Hazards of Love solidifies the Decemberists' standing as one of the most innovative and important creative forces in music today.

http://www.decemberists.com/about.aspx

64Guitars · July 08, 2009, 12:40:20 PM

I don't think anyone's mentioned Strawbs yet. "Hero & Heroine" is a classic prog rock album and one of my favourites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuuCHawtzZc