Micshazam's weekly self torture thread
 

I was thinking that I'd like to challenge myself a bit, so I came up with this. Every week, I'll choose a genre and try to get into it. It can also be a specific artist I guess. I don't know what would work best. But I'll basically choose a genre/artist, then find some albums that the internet (or MB) says that one should listen to when getting into this genre/artist. Then I'll write step-by-step about my experiences, I guess? That could be more fun than the usual review format.

For this week (and the next, since this one is almost over), it's all about progressive rock. Right now I'm listening to yes, because they seem like the prog genre ambassadors, for better or worse.

Let me know if this is a stupid idea or I should do it a bit differently.

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THIS WEEK: Progressive rock.

Right now I'm listening to the Yes album Fragile. I consulted a couple prog websites and they both placed this album high.

https://imagescdn.juno.co.uk/full/CS609353-01A-BIG.jpg

I'm 5 tracks into so far and I'm not feeling much about it. Some nice musical ideas here and there and a singer that I think I'm going to get tired of after a while. The album seems fairly restrained as far as progressive rock goes, so I'm not grinding my teeth yet.

Yes might be the most successful of the prog bands (and yes, they're damn good-check out The Yes Album in particular), but King Crimson is probably the best of the prog bands. If you want something a little mellower, I guess you can go with Peter Gabriel era Genesis.

But Yes is a good place to start.

King Crimson albums aren't really up on Youtube and Spotify, so I couldn't start with them. I'll swing past some Genesis too.

Genesis is absolutely not the place to start for anyone who already doesn't like prog. Everything you hate about prog Genesis does twice.

That's actually what I kind of expected Yes to be. I'm not judging the genre on one band in any case. Any other bands I should make sure to listen to? They don't have to be big bands - just ones that unquestionably play music that is progressive rock to the core.

Rush 2112

The full album is in playlist form here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...mAAprHwcxAJl8T

Thanks. That makes it easier. I know in advance that Geddy Lee's chipmunk vocals annoy me, but I'll try to listen to it with a neutral mindset.

Think of him as just a falsetto style singer, since that's pretty much what he is.

I haven't heard a lot of their stuff, maybe one or two tracks, but maybe Gentle Giant could be one to check out. Also, I know Marillion had a pretty good fan base. One guy I knew was really obsessed with them. Hawkwind, if I remember, is pretty spaced out. You might be able to get into them (Have to listen to them again myself; I remember really liking them).