Is Prog Rock ALWAYS Wrong..?

CHRISNOIR
CHRISNOIR Posts: 1,400
edited November 2008 in The bottom bracket
It’s always been the mantra of my youth (and beyond) that Prog Rock was inherently evil and anyone who listens to it must be either a beardy CAMRA type, a posho or Jeremy Clarkson.

Now, I love a bit of Ramones, MC5 and Velvet Underground as much as the next man but recently I must confess to feeling a bit Prog Curious. I’m not a total newbie here - my first gig at age 12 was Rush (it’s a miracle I persevered with music to be honest…). Are those Gabriel-era Genesis re-issues worth buying? Should I say ‘No’ To ‘Yes’? Or should I just put ‘White Light / White Heat On’ and dismiss these feelings as just a phase?

Yours Sincerely.
Confused

Comments

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,702
    Friends don't let friends do prog rock. Just say no.
  • Ieuanllan
    Ieuanllan Posts: 152
    CHRISNOIR wrote:
    It’s always been the mantra of my youth (and beyond) that Prog Rock was inherently evil and anyone who listens to it must be either a beardy CAMRA type, a posho or Jeremy Clarkson.

    Now, I love a bit of Ramones, MC5 and Velvet Underground as much as the next man but recently I must confess to feeling a bit Prog Curious. I’m not a total newbie here - my first gig at age 12 was Rush (it’s a miracle I persevered with music to be honest…). Are those Gabriel-era Genesis re-issues worth buying? Should I say ‘No’ To ‘Yes’? Or should I just put ‘White Light / White Heat On’ and dismiss these feelings as just a phase?

    Yours Sincerely.
    Confused

    YES.
    Not really - I say F*ck it and listen to what you want.
  • ogre
    ogre Posts: 50
    Listen to the Cardiacs and then you'll change your mind
    Dry and warm days - FCN - 2

    Dark wet cold - FCN - 7
  • RhysD
    RhysD Posts: 105
    well i'm a fully paid up MC5/Stooges/VU/Ramones etc nut, but I always have time for "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". Try it. You might like it.
  • Gavin Gilbert
    Gavin Gilbert Posts: 4,019
    I don't care if it's Soft Machine or Radiohead, if a rock musician trys to prove they own more than 1 braincell the results are always awful.

    Rock, by definiton, is dumb music for dumb people.
  • fast as fupp
    fast as fupp Posts: 2,277
    a little genesnores is ok but resist the abominations of the likes of 'yes'

    i listened to some of topographic oceans the other week after not playing it for 20+ years- it hurt my ears and i was embarrassed that i once liked that shite :(
    'dont forget lads, one evertonian is worth twenty kopites'
  • Billios
    Billios Posts: 96
    Stay away from Yes, i once bought Relayer on a "ill give it a go" day.....worst album ive ever listened to...not so much as one catchy tune just minutes and minutes of guffy widdle and crap keyboards. Now White light/White head.....awesome album. Prog-ish stuff that I do like though are bands like Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky...etc.etc.....at least their music has some dynamic to it. Stay away from Yes.
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    Not so much Prog-Rock but how about "Fusion"?

    Bruford - Master Strokes

    One of the greatest albums produced in this "genre"....... - if you've never heard it before, it'll probably blow you away. 4 chaps below in the main:

    Bill Bruford - Brilliant
    Alan Holdsworth - "Genius"
    Jeff Berlin - "Genius"
    Dave Stewart - accomplished

    Contains tracks such as:

    Beelzebub
    Hells Bells
    Five G
    One of a Kind Part 1
    One of a Kind Part 2
    If you can't stand the heat.......

    Creative Jazz-Rock fusion at it's best...........
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    No, go for it, I say. And make it really hip to listen to. Tell your friends. Get it revived. make it really really popular again. :D 8)

    Then I can sell all my ELP, Yes, Genesis, Rick Wakeman albums for almost as much as I have had to spend on alcohol over the years desperately trying to forget what a geeky prat I was for listening to it all in the first place! :evil:

    Damn you sir, I thought the therapy had worked!!!! :twisted: :twisted: :oops: :oops:

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • mmitchell88
    mmitchell88 Posts: 340
    You don't have to live in the past...so look for...Amplifier. Go to iTunes, find the first album, download The Consultancy and Panzer, and enjoy....

    British, by the way - don't have to rely on the Canadian trio to play unusual time signatures!
    Making a cup of coffee is like making love to a beautiful woman. It's got to be hot. You've got to take your time. You've got to stir... gently and firmly. You've got to grind your beans until they squeak.
    And then you put in the milk.
  • vermooten
    vermooten Posts: 2,697
    if you're going to go prog you might as well dive in headfirst. It's all good, even at the level of The Enid, Gryphon and Camel.

    Especially Camel.

    Trance gives me what I always wanted from prog, dammit I had to wait 25 years but fck me it was worth it.
    You just have to ride like you never have to breathe again.

    Manchester Wheelers
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    Gavin Gilbert wrote:
    I don't care if it's Soft Machine or Radiohead, if a rock musician trys to prove they own more than 1 braincell the results are always awful.

    Rock, by definiton, is dumb music for dumb people.

    Not true! Check out John Cale, stuff like Dying on a Vine, Close Watch. Pure genius.

    Also Julian Cope did a lot worth listening to.
  • wiffachip
    wiffachip Posts: 861
    there's a sky channel that has Yes on all the time and I can't stop watching it because they are just so bad, that singer's voice gets on me wick, wakemans clothes and hair that baldy get on guitar loves hiself and the songs are dire. i can tolerate most music, but not these

    did like punishment of luxury though - are they prog rock ?
  • mercsport
    mercsport Posts: 664
    Outside of my abiding passion for blues - in all its forms - and despite a penchant for Beefheart ; early Soft Machine ; Syd's Pink Floyd ; Arthur Brown and the like , I once had the distinction of having my collar firmly gripped by heavies and ejected from Manchester's Free Trade Hall for my constant heckling " Ge'rroff ! " - or words to that effect - when I first ( and last ) went to see Yes .
    S 'trewth ! To this day I wonder how on earth they ever made it . Rock ? No way . :shock:
    "Lick My Decals Off, Baby"
  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 4,021
    Yes, always.

    Now go and listen to The Stooges and cleanse yourself.
    "A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"

    PTP Runner Up 2015
  • Coyote
    Coyote Posts: 212
    You could follow the advice from the majority of opinions given here and you would never know, would you?

    So why not open yer lugs and your brain for yourself and give it a go, you've got nothing to loose.

    If you like it then you have just opened up a whole new world of music for yourself, if you don't, then no harm done.
  • Cunobelin
    Cunobelin Posts: 11,792
    Prog Rock - Tick
    Beer - Tick
    CTC Member - Tick
    Beard - Tick
    Recumbents - Tick
    SPD Sandals - Tick


    I think I am qualified to say that Prog Rock is simply one of the finest expressions of music ever!

    Or on a more serious note....

    If you like it - listen to it, if you don't like it then ignore it. Music is a wide church and allows you to worship at as many (or as few) altars as you wish. Enjoy that ability and expand your mind!
    <b><i>He that buys land buys many stones.
    He that buys flesh buys many bones.
    He that buys eggs buys many shells,
    But he that buys good beer buys nothing else.</b></i>
    (Unattributed Trad.)
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    It's not wrong. Just don't expect to be down with the homies...

    *brap* etc. 8)
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.

Categories