The Prog & Fusion Album Club

Guybrush · 12-20-2010, 02:20 AM

Next week's poll is over and done with and Return to Forever's Romantic Warrior is this week's homework album!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior (1976)

This is a fusion album and arguably the most popular in the Return to Forever discography, the band led by keyboardist Chick Corea who previously played with Miles Davis. The line-up here is incredible, Chick Corea on keyboards, Al Di Meola on guitar, Stanley Clarke on bass and Lenny White on drums. Unlike a lot of the improv-flavoured fusion out there, this album is incredibly composed with complex arrangements played with amazing skill. The production is also damn near-perfect!

Supposedly, after recording it, they figured this was as good as they could get and so this was the last RTF album with that line-up, similar to why Bill Bruford left Yes after Close to the Edge.

I obviously know this one, but I'd like to get to know it even better. You should as well!

So, check out this masterpiece

Discussion thread for Ambrosia is up!

http://www.musicbanter.com/prog-psyc...ia-1975-a.html

Guybrush · 12-23-2010, 08:43 AM

This year's last homework poll is up

Vote for your favourite!

http://www.musicbanter.com/prog-psyc...lbum-poll.html

Guybrush · 12-27-2010, 04:18 AM

The poll is closed and this week's Homework album is Gong's Gazeuse!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

Gong - Gazeuse! (1976)

The core of Gong is, roughly speaking, a Canterbury band that plays psychedelic rock/prog about some guy's search for eastern type enlightment and which also include space travelling tea pots, clever metaphors for taking drugs and a certain kind of english humour .. or something along those lines. However, some side projects have budded off Gong that may not be described by those same things. Some time in the 70s, guitarist Daevid Allen said a wall of force prevented him to go on stage and left the band. Other core members left as well and the drummer Pierre Moerlen gained control of the band. What he did was turn Gong into a jazz fusion band and the debut of this line-up is Gazeuse!, also known as Expresso in America.

Although that might not sound like the best premise for a new album, the result is actually pretty sweet. Besides Moerlen, the album includes famous Canterbury guitarist Allan Holdsworth and early Magma bassist Francis Moze, among others. Something interesting about the album is the amount of percussion instruments dominating the sound, like vibraphone, marimba and glockenspiel. Together, they make for a very melodic album with a distinct sound not quite like anything else I've heard.

After a while, this line-up budded off the Gong band under the name "Pierre Moerlen's Gong", becoming an independent band project alongside the old Gong as Daevid Allen and his cronies were re-united. Thus this album could be regarded as Pierre Moerlen's Gong's debut rather than a Gong album. But anyways, those who are interested in fusion or have heard some of Gong's earlier material, but not this, should definetly check it out. Recommended!

I've made a thread for last week's homework album :

http://www.musicbanter.com/jazz-blue...or-1975-a.html

Guybrush · 12-31-2010, 12:41 AM

New homework poll is up! Vote for your favourite

http://www.musicbanter.com/prog-psyc...ek-2011-a.html

Guybrush · 01-03-2011, 03:25 AM

The pollage is over. This week's album is :

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Soft Machine - Fourth (1971)

One of the original Canterbury bands and quite influential in the realm of jazz music in general, the Softs were a prodigious outfit that changed members quite often throughout the 70's, but were most well known in the earliest part of the decade for the talents of bassist Hugh Hopper, organist Mike Ratledge and drummer Robert Wyatt (who occasionally sang, but not often). Fourth was the last of the Softs' albums where this lineup was still intact, as well as being the final album featuring Wyatt. Not going to mince words, but there's a hell of a lot to like here, and it's as great a place as any to start for those who A. Don't know much about these guys or B. If you have even the most rudimentary interest in top class proggy jazz. Recommended!

edit :

Discussion thread for Gong's Gazeuse! is up!

http://www.musicbanter.com/jazz-blue...se-1976-a.html

Guybrush · 01-03-2011, 04:44 AM

I would like to suggest an album for next week.

Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North (1974)

Hatfield and the North's debut is, for me, the quintessential Canterbury album. It has Richard Sinclair singing on it (as Anteater has called him, the "voice of Canterbury") and a guest appearance by Robert Wyatt, whimsical song themes, avant-gardeness with a jazzy flavour sometimes coupled with a Caravanish pop sensibility and a very .. Canterbury-ish sound.

For me, at first it came across as a bit of a chaotic album. They have a lot of strange ideas pulling the songs in different directions. Still, the album is very comfortable on the ears. As the album becomes just a little more familiar and some order is structured from the initial chaos, it becomes a magnificent record, a true Canterbury classic.

.. Sorry for suggesting yet another Canterbury album though. I'd like to see some more suggestions from the prog rock greats as well! Close to the Edge is the most successful discussion thread by far, so if you'd like to celebrate or get more into a classic, suggest away.

debaserr · 01-03-2011, 03:48 PM

we haven't tackled this yet have we?

from ABC&T Presents: Your Introduction to Prog

Quote:

Those who don't know prog probably knows Genesis as the rock band fronted by Phil Collins and they've certainly gained a bad rep over the years. However, there was a time when Genesis was one of the most exciting acts of the prog movement. Their songs rather than their skills as musicians took center stage and their musicality and songwriting skills coupled with then frontman Peter Gabriel's over the top on-stage theatrics earned them a following which has lasted and gained them fans to this day. Their efforts then now sit comfortably as some of the biggest influences on the genre. Their fifth album "Selling England by the Pound" is widely regarded as their top album and mixes progressive rock with pop accessibility for a powerful result. It is one of the most essential prog albums you can get your hands on.

Our Comments :
Anteater : I may not be English, but that doesn't change the fact that Selling England... is a majestic piece of work from start to finish.
Boo Boo : This is indeed their best work. The Cinema Show is their most beautiful song, the acoustic guitar harmonies alone could hook you, but the way they could pile on one goregeous melody after another is just astonishing.
Comus : Along with Foxtrot this is one of the best examples of what progressive rock is all about. Highly recommended.
toretorden : Not one of my highest ranking prog records, but damn fine album all the same. Peter Gabriel is a weirdo.

Guybrush · 01-04-2011, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric generic

we haven't tackled this yet have we?

No we haven't, so that one is definetly a valid suggestion

You should provide a little write-up for those who don't know it though! Alternatively, we could steal the one from the ABC&T prog introduction thread.

There's more fusion than prog in this thread so far I think and I hope it hasn't alienated those who's be mostly in it for the rockier stuff.

philster · 01-06-2011, 12:26 PM

Hei guys,

Thanks for all the great suggestions above. I, as a newbie to both prog and fusion, wonder about bands with female singers or musicians. Does anybody have a suggestion regarding that? Maybe it's also possible to compile polls with topics, e.g. collect four or five albums with female singers, or from a certain year, or from a certain band/musician, with/without vocalist....

Guybrush · 01-07-2011, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philster

Hei guys,

Thanks for all the great suggestions above. I, as a newbie to both prog and fusion, wonder about bands with female singers or musicians. Does anybody have a suggestion regarding that? Maybe it's also possible to compile polls with topics, e.g. collect four or five albums with female singers, or from a certain year, or from a certain band/musician, with/without vocalist....

Something which might appeal is Iranian band Sheshet. I posted a video of them yesterday in the Gazeuse! thread which is probably why they come to mind so quickly now, but their self-titled from 1977 is gorgeous. As so much prog, it was brought to my attention by Anteater and I figure it would be an interesting homework album for our club as well.

The video I posted yesterday was Fall Nights :

Gorgeous album! She doesn't sing on every track, though.

The idea to do specific themes might be interesting. So far, we've actually been quite Canterbury themed. I'd like to see what others think of things. Personally, I would like to get some more classics done as I'm hoping they might recruit some more people to our album club. I might also like to do a Caravan album as there's a brilliant discography thread being written by newcomer Dotoar these days

http://www.musicbanter.com/album-rev...-reviewed.html

12-23-2010, 08:43 AM	#92 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	This year's last homework poll is up Vote for your favourite! http://www.musicbanter.com/prog-psyc...lbum-poll.html __________________ Something Completely Different

12-31-2010, 12:41 AM	#94 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	New homework poll is up! Vote for your favourite http://www.musicbanter.com/prog-psyc...ek-2011-a.html __________________ Something Completely Different

01-03-2011, 04:44 AM	#96 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	I would like to suggest an album for next week. Hatfield and the North - Hatfield and the North (1974) Hatfield and the North's debut is, for me, the quintessential Canterbury album. It has Richard Sinclair singing on it (as Anteater has called him, the "voice of Canterbury") and a guest appearance by Robert Wyatt, whimsical song themes, avant-gardeness with a jazzy flavour sometimes coupled with a Caravanish pop sensibility and a very .. Canterbury-ish sound. For me, at first it came across as a bit of a chaotic album. They have a lot of strange ideas pulling the songs in different directions. Still, the album is very comfortable on the ears. As the album becomes just a little more familiar and some order is structured from the initial chaos, it becomes a magnificent record, a true Canterbury classic. .. Sorry for suggesting yet another Canterbury album though. I'd like to see some more suggestions from the prog rock greats as well! Close to the Edge is the most successful discussion thread by far, so if you'd like to celebrate or get more into a classic, suggest away. __________________ Something Completely Different

01-06-2011, 12:26 PM	#99 (permalink)
philster Groupie Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 6	Hei guys, Thanks for all the great suggestions above. I, as a newbie to both prog and fusion, wonder about bands with female singers or musicians. Does anybody have a suggestion regarding that? Maybe it's also possible to compile polls with topics, e.g. collect four or five albums with female singers, or from a certain year, or from a certain band/musician, with/without vocalist....