Progressive Music

[Nod]

Does anyone here like Progressive music?

I like progressive trance, but im a bit skeptical as to whether progressive house is any good. Sometimes I think its ok, other times I just think its crappy.

[Slothy]

I like progressive trance, but im a bit skeptical as to whether progressive house is any good.

When I saw Progressive, I was immediately thinking prog rock like Rush, Tool, etc. But things like progressive trance have me thinking we're not on the same page here.

[Nod]

Um, Im guessing that progressive trance/house is in the same vein as progressive rock.

Im just wondering about peoples thoughts on the whole 'progressive' thing. I confess, I have not heard any progressive rock, but in reference to dance music:

'Normal' trance consists of 16 bar phrases, normally building to a breakdown, after which the main theme kicks back in. The music kinda peaks and troughs.
'Progressive' Trance doesnt have these peaks and troughs, it remains fairly constant, with instruments being added in here and there; a good example is Sasha's 'Xpander'. I guess the build ups are longer, and less instant than those delivered in 'normal' trance/

I think thats explained it ok......but back to the point, what do people think of progressive music in general?

[Rye]

Isn't Coheed and Cambria considered progressive rock? They're awesome.

[Slothy]

Not really into dance music myself. Some of it I find interesting as a drummer since there can be some pretty cool beats.

As far as explaining progressive rock since you haven't heard it: people's definitions vary. Some see it as rock music with some pretty technical and complex musicianship. So bands like Rush, Dream Theater, Tool, and others often fit that bill. That's probably the most common view of progressive rock. Some people (myself included) tend to extend the definition to pretty much anything that's boundry pushing. Basically, bands that make me say, "I've never heard anything like this before" would fall under progressive as well in my opinion.

With that out of the way, I love progressive rock. I think it's partly due to being a musician. The things I can't play, or can't play easily, and which I've never heard before interest me more than the things that are second nature.

[Captain Maxx Power]

It starts nowhere, it goes nowhere, and it ends nowhere. It's the musical equivalent of midgies.

[Optium]

If there's one genre that I will admit to being a fan of it's progressive rock.

And jazz.

Anyway, Yes and Procol Harum are two of my alltime favorite bands. A
while ago I had no idea what progressive rock was. I'd heard the name but
never really figured out what it included. Then I kept finding that my
favorite songs on each album I'd listen to by any artist were almost always
the longest ones. I love long, intricate and complex songs that tell some
type of story (whether through lyrics or simply the music itself). Then I
realized that this is sort of the basis of progressive rock.

.opt

[crono_logical]

I like the progressive music you get in video games :p

[Brian The Pink Shark]

i like wishbone ash, their about the only proggresive band i like, ive seen them once nad im gonna see them again next week, they rock :choc:

[Pure Strife]

Isn't Coheed and Cambria considered progressive rock? They're awesome.

There are whole message boards devoted to discussing that.

I like a bit of Dream Theater, that's about it.

[Venom]

does W.A.S.P. count as progressive music?

[Crushed Hope]

^ No.

I am a huge fan of Progressive bands, mainly Tiamat, Green Carnation, Pain of Salvation, Spock's Beard, The Flower kings, and Nightingale.

The music they put out is so much more meaningful, sound wise than most genres.

[eestlinc]

progressive trance doesn't sound anything like prog rock to me. I think you are all talking about something completely different.

[Moose Knight]

I like Tangerine Dream although they're not rock. Rush is prety awesome as well. I also like progressive metal like Cynic, Watchtower, Fates Warning, Coroner, DT, Psychotic Waltz...tons of stuff.


I am a huge fan of Progressive bands, mainly Tiamat, Green Carnation, Pain of Salvation, Spock's Beard, The Flower kings, and Nightingale.

The music they put out is so much more meaningful, sound wise than most genres.

Ahh, Tiamat. Wildhoney/Gaia is absolutely killer. And I've always wanted to get into Green Carnation/In the Woods... .

[Yamaneko]

I don't think I could write a post long enough to describe how much I love some of the music within this genre and sub-genre. I pretty much enjoy the period between In the Court of the Crimson King (1969 -- although there are clear forerunners, like Zappa, Procol Harum; I've heard people argue that Miles Davis was prog) and The Wall (1979). The 80's prog scene doesn't really do it for me. I actually enjoy the pop music from the 80's (stuff like Peter Gabriel) than the Neo Progressive as it's called.

[Optium]

Miles transcends genre.

.opt

[Yamaneko]

Yeah, that's what I would argue.

[-N-]

Who makes up the genre names these days and where does s/he live?

[DJZen]

Progressive trance is not a terrible thing in and of itself, but it did signal the great downfall of trance into the horrible mess of anthemic, mainstreamy stupidness. I'll take old school acid trance over progressive trance any day of the week. Progressive trance is the reason why trance has been made the laughing stock of the electronic music world. Well, that and Robert Miles. These two elements combined to form the most evil and insipid musical force in history: epic trance. What was once an odd, quirky, space agey, trippy, hypnotic and completely off-your-rocker crazy form of dance music became co-opted by Der Überkorporation, resulting in the complete gentrification and commercialization of it. Progressive trance wasn't that bad in and of itself, but it paved the way for DJ Sammy, which is simply unforgiveable. Progressive house is actually pretty good stuff, but the scene attached to it suffers from H.U.A. syndrome, and Sasha is an absolute twit, even if he IS responsible for Xpander, the one trance track that makes people who hate trance like trance.

For the record:

Progressive trance is the style of trance that introduced (and by "introduced" I mean "chiseled forever in stone so that none may dare derivate") the concept of breakdowns and buildups to trance. You know the score, breakdown for 16 bars, then buildup with a drum roll, then onto the meat n potatoes of the song. Examples would be Greece 2000 by Three Drives On A Vinyl or Gamemaster by Lost Tribe

Acid trance is a whole different animal entirely. It has no idea where it's going, and you won't either, but it goes there at warp speed. That and it doesn't have those silly pop jingles embedded into them. Examples would be Acperience by Hardfloor and Red Herring by Union Jack. Unfortunately the music died because pop culture couldn't identify with a scene that doesn't care about image or "hero" worship.

Is one better than the other? No, "better" is a personal call. However, the more underground forms of trance (acid, goa, tribal etc.) are a lot less irritating for someone who feels his or her scene has been sold down the river by MTV.

Ministry of Sound :shoot:

[eestlinc]

I've heard people argue that Miles Davis was prog.
To the extent that Miles Davis played prog music, he did it in the mid-to-late 70s on albums like Get Up With It and Live Evil, which are awesome, but that would put him closer to The Wall than to Zappa, chronologically.

[six underground]

i love club music....prog house tops the list...hrmm i wanna be a dj. :)

[ShaunOfShadou]

Dream Theater, Symphony X, Liquid Tension Experiment, Tool, Ayreon and Opeth are all great prog bands.

Those are the only prog groups I have thus far been accustomed to, but I'm sure my all-prog Winamp playlist will extend beyond the stars sooner or later. :D

[Optium]

Dream Theater, Symphony X, Liquid Tension Experiment, Tool, Ayreon and Opeth are all great prog bands.

Those are the only prog groups I have thus far been accustomed to, but I'm sure my all-prog Winamp playlist will extend beyond the stars sooner or later. :D
You need some older progressive rock bands. That's what you need.

Oh and Ozric Tentacles.

.opt

[ShaunOfShadou]

You need some older progressive rock bands. That's what you need.

Oh and Ozric Tentacles.

.opt
examples maybbb

[Yamaneko]

And Porcupine Tree and Änglagård. But I mostly agree that the golden age was in the 70's, particularly between '70-'75, with exception of Pink Floyd.

[Optium]

Alright, some examples.

Get these albums (*denotes the more important ones if there are a lot):

Fragile, and Close to the Edge by Yes
Greatest Hits*, A Salty Dog, Procol Harum, and Live with the Edmonton
Symphony Orchestra* by Procol Harum
A lot of stuff by Genesis, I don't know all their albums too well, maybe
Yam can fill you in on those guys.
In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson
Aqualung, and Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull
Tarkus*, Brain Salad Surgery, Pictures at an Exhibition, and Trilogy*
by Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Jurassic Shift, and Erpland by Ozric Tentacles (they have a ton of
albums and they're all good, if you can find some live stuff by them that's
also amazing [bt.etree.org for their shows], so I'd say get anything
you can by them, but start with those 2 albums probably)
Also, if you like Liquid Tension check out Gordian Knot.

Also note, the singer/guitarist/bassist from Emerson, Lake and Palmer
is the singer/guitarist from the original King Crimson (Greg Lake), and
the bassist from King Crimson after their first album was Tony Levin,
the bassist of Liquid Tension Experiment.

Those are some of the most popular classic prog bands, and for good
reason. Hope you can find that stuff easily and get into it. :)

.opt

[Yamaneko]

With Genesis start off with Nursery Cryme, as it's their first truely progressive album. Move onto Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound afterwards. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is their most dense album, so leave that till last. The two albums after Peter Gabriel left, A Trick of the Tail, and Wind and Wuthering are still very good album, but after Steve Hackett left don't even bother. By the time Duke was released it was Phil Collins' band and there was no turning back.

King Crimson-wise, start with In The Court Of The Crimson King. You might want to noodle around with their subsequent albums between In The Court and Larks' Tongue in Aspic, but after In The Court I'd suggest going straight to Larks' Tongue in Aspic. Note, though, Larks' Tongue in Aspic is a completely different sound than In The Court, a better sound I'd argue and a better representation of the band.

I'll add some other suggestions later.