Electrophonic Tonic

For me, it starts and ends with King Crimson. I do enjoy other proggers, such as Yes, Genesis and especially early Van Der Graaf Generator; but King Crimson takes the cake.

The word I most often hear as a negative association with prog from it's detractors is that it sounds like musical masturbation. Something I think King Crimson does INCREDIBLY well is that you often do not hear the spotlighted solos that go on for 5,6,7 minutes. Think of any ELP album and especially live performances, specifically Keith Emerson. He's incredibly talented, and I love that video of him stabbing his Hammond organ with knives, but it feels so unnecessary. It stops being ELP and starts becoming a recital with each guy taking turns showing their skill, aka whipping out their schlongs and a tape measure. That isn't a bad thing, but it gets old quickly.

On the other hand, Robert Fripp is a guitar genius... but can you name a great guitar solo he had with King Crimson? The closest I can come with is the 11 minutes of insane work on 'Fracture'. But the fact that Bill Bruford and John Wetton are playing very well and add to Fripp, rather than get out of his way, is why I like King Crimson. The whole band being at their proggiest all at the same time, rather than one member at a time.

lucifer_sam

The easiest way to describe this would be to say KC resembled a better expression of "more than the sum of its parts."

Most prog bands fail because they depend on the unity of different egos and the music instead itself sounds like each virtuoso wants to accentuate his own independence and individuality. I don't know what it was about the musicians in King Crimson, but they all bought into Fripp's direction and the resulting productions benefit enormously from that kindred spirit.

Most of the prog I like is far from the Canterbury scene that progressive fanboys seem to wet themselves over. I don't find that stuff even remotely interesting.

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Salami

To be perfectly frank I loathe Pink Floyd. That's irrelevant though. What matters is that they are a "serious" kind of band, and if you want that to mean "boring", I'll agree with you! I just think that if you want some fun and prog at the same time, Rush are your best bet.

Unknown Soldier

To be honest I see Rush just as serious as Pink Floyd and both took their art very seriously.

Salami

And Geddy Lee is a better vocalist

Unknown Soldier

I like Geddy Lee a lot as a vocalist, but like Jon Anderson he`s an acquired taste.

Salami

Maybe...
I loved him first time I heard him, though.

Guybrush

Yet another thread on this subject?

Perhaps this deserves a merge with the old thread.

I'm usually not one for favourites. I don't like ranking bands I like in mental lists. Different bands have different appeals and then it's like comparing apples and beef jerky. Sometimes you want a juicy apple, sometimes you want beef jerky.

Overall, the prog band I've appreciated the most is Pink Floyd, but it's not the one I listen to the most. Although I don't listen to it much these days, I feel Yes may have put out the overall most enjoyable/beautiful prog album with Close to the Edge. As a Canterbury fan, Hatfield and the North is the most charming prog band, I find. National Health is the most compositionally satisfying to me at the moment and probably my current favourite. Their brilliant debut is surpassed by their even greater second album, Of Queues And Cures from 1978. That album, while generally greatly appreciated by those who know it, is still sadly unknown to most prog-lovers!

People who like prog and have Spotify should check it out

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Salami

That's a great analogy! I love it!

Although for some reason I thought you loved Gentle Giant too.

Guybrush

Did I ever write that I don't think they're great? Gentle Giant is close to the top as one of my most played bands ever and they're definetly one of my favourite prog bands.

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