The Prog Rock Album Club
 

Never one to shy from robbing someone's idea, I'd like to suggest we go for an Album Club idea, but restricted to prog albums. You all know how it works: we vote for the album we want to be discussed, then everyone listens to it and after a while (week, two?) gives their considered opinion on it. We discuss until we get bored and someone wants tea, and then move on to another album.

Anyone interested?

I remember this thread from before, didn't participate in the previous one for some reason but should be a good thread.

74 views, 1 reply. I guess we know where THIS idea is going... pity, could have been fun, but you can't have a club with just two people.

Fixed that for you, I'm in.

Cool. Four people, that's better. We can form a band. Oh wait, I can't play my instrument. We can form a band. :D

tore used to run one, though not in a similar format to the existing clubs

i never participated, cos his albums were pretty obscure

i only got that Comus

anyway, i'm in

Time permitting, I will participate.

Cool. The club is growing. :)

In order to facilitate everyone, I'm happy to take suggestions on how this should be run. I've never done anything like this before (online or in real-life), other than when I had a radio show and participated in an "album of your choice" thing one of the other DJs was running, so I'm open to anything. Whatever suits people.

Oh, and obscure albums? We'll likely vote as to what album is picked, so if people are worried one is too obscure it won't get voted for, or enough votes to be picked. I think it's fair to say that any band that can't be found either on Wiki or ProgArchives could be considered too obscure to qualify.

Any ideas, suggestions, just shout!

why don't you do it like Album Club?

put up a theme poll - neo-prog, 1971, Canterbury, prog-metal, etc

then when a theme is chosen, we PM you albums

then a poll for which album

then we discuss the chosen album

Meh, I'm not a great fan of genres and sub-genres. I know for instance Marillion are referred to as neo-prog and sometimes Mostly Autumn as Canterbury scene, but to me it's all prog, and I wouldn't know how to subdivide it.

But themes? Yeah, maybe. How about, let's see... mythology and legends? Too broad? Whatchaz think?

Oh, you mean every prog album that's ever been released? Yeah, that's a bit too broad.

Right. How about prog albums with long keyboard solos ... oh wait.
Okay then, prog albums with pretentious lyri.... hmmm.
Prog concept albummmmsssss I give up. Someone help me out here...

How about Krautrock? German prog!

Or... we could just nominate albums without going through the laborious process of picking categories...

The easiest and most straight-forward method that I use in metal wars, is for each member (or in this case club member) to pick a topic and then pick the album or albums. In this case what you could do is have just one person (by lucky dip) choose the topic and then have the others voting for the album choice, it just cuts out one voting segment and gets us quicker to the action.

I´m in, sounds cool

OK guys, it's a new week, so before this dies a slow and painful death, let's have some nominations. **** categories, let's just get some albums in the mix, huh?

I'll throw in Gazpacho's new one, "March of ghosts", which I haven't yet listened to, but I enjoyed "Missa Atropos" so much I'm sure I'll like this...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...osts_cover.jpg

Anyone needs the album just pm blah blah... :)

i'll pitch in and vote this one:-

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

heavier than its predecessor, not as technical, doesn't have a stupid "narration" running throughout, more cohesive and coherent story

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GShToxoechs/0.jpg

One of my favorite prog albums from outside the core-classic prog bands.

I feel like annoying people and I know everybody on here just loves Dream Theater and so they should because this is a classic album and far better than that Queensryche nonsense.;)

http://cdn.tradebit.org/usr/mp3-albu...4/35882473.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/im...nG7FbevqDBC3Qu

I'll toss up Vehicle by miRthkon. It's one of my favourite albums of the 2000's and I love it even more with each listen.

Okay, so we finally have a few albums. Guess we vote now? Is it fair that you can vote for your own rec, or how does the voting work then? If everyone votes for their own, then we'll have 1 vote for each album, which won't help at all.

D'oh! My brain hurts! :confused:

I'd say that to keep from killing the thread in a tie, we should prohibit people voting for their own albums.

Sounds like a plan. Okay then, I'll give Dream Theater a vote, since I'm trying to do a Spock's Beard on them... :)

I'll vote for Massacre, because I'm quite a fan of RIO bands.

So to keep track of this, it's:
Massacre - 1
Dream Theater - 1
miRthkon - 0
Queensryche - 0
Gazpach - 0
Klaatu - 0

Klaatu

Massacre - 1
Dream Theater - 1
miRthkon - 0
Queensryche - 0
Gazpach - 0
Klaatu - 1

Massacre - 1
Dream Theater - 1
miRthkon - 1
Queensryche - 0
Gazpach - 0
Klaatu - 1

now this is getting weird

if everybody only votes for one particular album, it'd still be a tie

we need more members

I think Dark side of the moon is the best prog rock album by Pink Floyd

I'd love to join but I fear I'm at a loss as to what Prog is. I guess Klaatu and Dream Theater qualify as what I think of as Prog, but Massacre? Queensryche? I love Massacre but I have always thought of them as a free improvise jazz band - Are they Prog because Fred Frith is the guitarist? Is RIO a form of Prog? I thought it was a city in South America.

I'm new and I'm sure new guys are a pain in the ass because they never know what's going on, but if there is a definition of Prog that you guys go by, I'd be curious to hear it. I am here to expand my musical horizons, after all.

I've been listening to Crimson's 'Wake of Poseidon' lately and it's a terrific album, but I keep wondering if they call it Prog just because they don't know what the hell else to call it.

If you're at a loss, try these three albums probably three of the most representative of the genre, a great place to start:D BTW a lot of what's called prog today is dubious to say the least and open to debate.
Yes-Close to the Edge
King Crimson-In the Court of the Crimson King
Genesis-Foxtrot

obvious choices are obvious

seriously, though, I'd go for "Selling England by the Pound" by Genesis

"Foxtrot" just meanders

I used to think Selling England by the Pound was the better album, I now Prefer Foxtrot just that bit more.

i dunno, "Watcher of the Skies" and "Supper's Ready" is a lot of mindless noodling

at least "England" only has "The Cinema Show"

I'm intimate with all of those albums and they all fit my idea of what Prog is, which is why some of the selections on your first list threw me. I just never thought of Queensryche as Prog. Still, I am open to new ideas. I really like Prog music and would like to be exposed to some of the stuff outside the usual Crimson-Yes-Genesis-etc. stuff that I've been listening to for the last 40 years. Maybe I should just shut up and let you guys do your thing. ^_^

Ah come on Howard! "Supper's ready" is far from "mindless noodling!" It's one of the best-constructed epic songs of the 70s, with key changes, time signature changes, location changes, and it tells a story all the way through (if a very weird one): progressive rock at its finest.

"Watcher of the skies" is great too, and don't forget "Can-Utility and the Coastliners"!

Two links that may help:
http://www.musicbanter.com/prog-psyc...tion-prog.html

and

http://www.musicbanter.com/prog-psyc...on-thread.html

about "Supper" it's a bit uneven and they explored the whole concept better on "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" over a course of 2 albums, "Supper" sounds to me like a less developed version of that

my problem with "Watcher" - too much Mellofuckingtron or is that "Banksynths"? (i still have problems telling one from the other)

Wow a wealth of information - thank you. I had no idea so much of the music I listen to was considered Prog in one way or another. Who does think up all these classifications? Is there an academy in France? :laughing:

That 'Advanced Listener' list looks tasty. Thanks again...