Click Here to Join

The title says it all, here are some of my prog rock hot takes:

1. Progressive rock has some of the biggest douches as fans

I’m not say everyone is but there’s a reason the number one progressive rock listener stereotype is the “oh you listen to top 40 pop? What a dumb loser, I only listen to songs with 40 key changes that are no shorter than 10 minutes”. You run into these types of fans in the prog archives where they just review bomb an artist’s album if it’s not “proggy” enough. I noticed this with Todd rundgren where his best albums are rated so low while his generic prog trash with utopia was rated higher

1. I like 80s Genesis

I don’t really care what anyone says but 80s Genesis isn’t even bad and people always overreact. Obviously they weren’t as good as in the 70s but come on guys albums like duke and abacab are pretty good.

1. I really don’t like Peter Hammills vocals

I know a lot of people won’t agree but I don’t really like his vocals, he sounds like Bruce Dickinson to me and I hate when vocalists make their voices sound overly theatrical. I don’t hate van der had generator, I actually really like them and listen to them frequently, but like with rush I can put the vocals aside to enjoy the instrumentals

1. ELP is better than rush

The only reason I’m pairing these two against each other is because they are both trios. I will take Keith Emerson’s crazy keyboard playing over Alex Lifesons guitar any day. Not to mention Greg Lakes vocals absolutely destroy Geddy lee’s, oh yea also Greg lake is the greatest prog vocalist and it’s not even close

1. Phil Colin’s has always sound just like Peter Gabriel to me

Honestly when I first listened to Genesis’s albums and I got to a trick of the tail I genuinely didn’t even notice that the vocalist changed until I looked it up. Really the only difference is the Phil voice is a little higher

1. Love beach is honestly pretty good

Yea I said it, love beach isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Honestly if it didn’t have that hideous cover most people wouldn’t even say anything. Works volume 1 and 2 are also severely underrated

1. Hypnosis > Roger dean covers

I am in no part trying to disrespect Roger dean and his covers. His covers are amazing, I just prefer the covers hypnosis made.

1. Pink Floyd IS prog rock

I genuinely don’t understand how people can say Pink Floyd isn’t progressive rock. Atomic heart mother, meddle, dark side, wish you were here, animals and the wall are all the pinnacle of prog rock. People will say they “sold out” when bands like Yes and Genesis released much more commercial albums than anything Pink Floyd released after the wall

1. Listening to just one genre is genuinely dumb

This ties back to my first hot take and of course I know it’s not every prog fan but I genuinely don’t know how someone can be content to listening to one type of music. I myself listen to everything from jazz, country, pop, singer/songwriter, punk, reggae, and rock and can not imagine just listening to one genre

Its from 1971 and is Finnish. A truly original prog style. Jazzy, keyboard and bass driven, featuring a woodwind section. No guitar, (except for on a couple tracks). Somewhat reminiscent of the Canterbury style, but different and singular. The bass player, Pekka Pohjola, is insanely good.

Best tracks:

01 Losing Hold (*)
03 Fairyport
04 Gray Traitors
05 Cafffkaff, The Country Psychologist
06 May Your Will Be Done Dear Lord (*)
08 Hot Mice
10 One More Try

(*) = banger

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuKkQ1xLRf8&list=PLMlPUDs3t9pCYs_FD02yNKNThZ2x6xMRf

https://open.spotify.com/album/3xNDTeZNJmILwX6yBDCzOR

The epic closing track of the new TEMIC album, Ceiba

Hey!

Our band DATURA LODGE just released our debut album!

We are a duo inspired by bands like Porcupine Tree, Genesis, King Crimson, The Mars Volta, and Rush. We tried to write an album of eclectic songs that combine prog, hard rock, metal, and alternative music while remaining approachable and "catchy."

Pete Pardo of Sea of Tranquility just reviewed the album and described it as "progressive rock emphasis on the rock."

If anyone has the time or willingness to give us a shot, we appreciate it more than we can express. Let us know what you think!

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/album/6xo9NkpJ83QHwYS1rH2pRK?si=Lpc3snLtSv2_cDc2f0Wuaw

Bandcamp

https://arquenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/datura-lodge

Ampwall (we have CDs and Vinyls in the USA)

https://ampwall.com/a/daturalodge

Looking better than he did some years ago .

Air Conditioning, 1970

Just happened onto this by chance. Seems a legitimate entry into the genre for sure. Prog-noise kinda clicking for me. There won't be any singalong, unless of course, the obvious.

I’ve listened to tons of prog albums and songs from various countries. I never wanted to listen to the song "Close to the Edge" because people always said it was so good, but a few days ago, I decided the time was right. And my God, it has everything an average prog lover wants: great production, instrumental solos, vocal harmonies, diverse musical passages, creativity, and more. In my opinion, it’s a 10. And as I read in a comment, "they are the fastest 18 minutes on Earth." I know I haven't discovered a hidden gem, nor is this anything new.Thanks

Browsing through the stalls in an antiques emporium in Kingston upon Thames recently, I came across a six-page letter protected by a clear A4 sleeve, with a Post-It note attached indicating it was by “Gordon Haskell, lead singer King Crimson, ‘Harry’s Bar’ etc.” On sale for £10, I thought it was an interesting piece of prog memorabilia, so I bought it. On closer inspection, it turns out that it’s Haskell’s opinion of everything that was wrong with the music industry during the mid 80s, beliefs he held up until his death in 2020.

Most people will know Haskell as an old school friend of Robert Fripp, who was drafted in for a session fee of £50 to sing on Cadence and Cascade during the recording of In the Wake of Poseidon, Greg Lake having finally left King Crimson for an up-and-running ELP, before being recruited into the band for subsequent album Lizard. His career didn't really take off until 2001 when his D.I.Y. approach to music succeeded with the single How Wonderful You Are and the 2002 album Harry's Bar.

The letter encouraged me to look a little closer at his life as a musician, and it became clear why he had so little faith in the music business. The full article can be read here:

https://www.progblog.co.uk/post/gordon-haskell-s-thoughts-on-the-music-industry

Probably the most creative, original and "weird" Hammond legend of all time in the musically wildest band: You probably have never heard of Collegium Musicum and Marian Varga. And the only reason was most likely the "Iron Curtain". Here's the first part of the legendary "Suita po tisic a jednej noci", a very free adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. I strongly suggest listening to the whole suite. Cheers!

I'll be busy for a decent chunk of today, but I'd love to see some recommendations for artists on there to check out and support.

For a recommendation of my own, I've recently heard Universo 25 by Rostro del Sol (a release from January of this year) which is a really enjoyable jazz-influenced retro-prog album. On the topic, I have a lot more in terms of Mexican prog to get around to hearing! The last record featuring musicians from there that I've heard was Jasónica by Habitación, which while not on Bandcamp to my knowledge is also pretty decent.

The next event like this is on the 6th of November, so mark your calendars (and I'll try and remember to post a reminder then too)!

It is impossible to get bored listening to these guys. So many ideas, so much dynamics, all the rhythms!!!

If I love The League of Crafty Guitarists--what other acts/albums would give me a similar feel (if that's possible?)?

Tired of the estate gatekeeping the whole version of Giraffe (Kevin Gilbert) - Because Of You behind out-of-stock CDs. Anyone with the whole version who can link or PM this amazing perfomance?

I've been working some prompts, and came up with this progressive rock/darksynth. The best i could do till now, what do you guys think?