Viva Prog Rock

[7/4]

Shocking, but if Squire thinks it works, fine. Check out his comments about the material, it sounds like he's been waiting for this to happen for a while...it's almost like he all planned out.

[A Lark Ascending]

April 1st would seem to be a little late this year:

Squire, Chris - Chris Squire's Swiss Choir

Album of Baroque Christmas Carols, featuring Chris on vocals and bass and Steve Hackett on guitar and the English Baroque Choir

Release Date: 13 Oct 2008

1 Adam Lay Y'Bounden

2 I Saw Three Ships

3 O Come O Come Emmanuel

4 Silent Night

5 Ding Dong Merrily On High

6 Three Kings

7 Sans Day Carol

8 Personent Hodie

9 Sussex Carol

10 Gaudete

11 In The Bleak Midwinter

12 Past Three O'Clock

13 Run With The Fox

(Lime distributed by Pinnacle)

Edited September 21, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[Aggie87]

I never thought "Run with the Fox" was a Christmas song, unless they've completely changed the lyrics.

[7/4]

I never thought "Run with the Fox" was a Christmas song, unless they've completely changed the lyrics.

Run with the Fox

Now the season, Now the question

Time to breathe a moment's grace

For the Hunter and the Hunted

Taking time to break the pace

Are you hopeful? Are you haunted

By the ghost of Christmas Past?

Face the future undaunted

Step aside or take your chance

Run with the Fox

Into the wind

Unto the dawn of tomorrow

Run with the Fox

Into the wild

Into the wild in the fold

Beware of the rocks

And be prepared

Prepare for love comes and goes

Run with the Fox

Every year the revolution

One more lost before begun

While we fight our mass confusion

Thus we walk before we run

Run with the Fox

Into the wind

Onto the dawn of tomorrow

Run with the Fox

Into the wild

Into the wild in the cold

Beware of the rocks

And be prepared

Prepare, for love finally grows

Ahh... Ahh... Ahhh....

Let us live to tell a story

Here on Earth and out in Space

Foreward on the road to glory

History records the chase

Have yourselves that certain Christmas

Eat, be glad, and drink the wine

Leave your sadness by the river

Giving love and given time.

Ahh... Ahhh...

Across the ice of frozen lakes

Run with the Fox

Along the lanes a lover takes

Run with the Fox

Beneath a moon, a Christmas moon

Run with the Fox

And sing a tune, a dreamer's tune

Run with the Fox

Across the bridge of many ways

Run with the Fox

Onto the place where dreamers bathe

Run with the Fox

Beneath a moon, a Christmas moon

Run with the Fox

[Aggie87]

Ok, I stand corrected!

It's been a long time since I owned the Yes box that had that on it.

[Shawn]

Anybody here ever listen to Voivod? One of the few bands that took the King Crimson/early Pink Floyd thing and did some quite interesting things with it. Their first few albums weren't progressive, but all their middle period work is quite fascinating. Unfortunately their guitarist (who wrote most of their music) passed away in 2005 from colon cancer.

The progressive period:

Dimension Hatross (1988)

Nothingface - (1989)

Angel Rat - (1991)

The Outer Limits - (1993)

[7/4]

Can't believe I have never posted on this thread before, but there's always a first time!

I was a big prog rock fan between 1977-1984. Recently, I sold off or gave away all my LPs before I left the States in 1984, and have only now begun to buy back some of my favorite prog rock stuff on cd format. I'm still missing tons of the old stuff, but here are my current favorites. Some of the bands might not be considered prog, but they've got prog elements:

Camel

Rain Dance

(used to have Snow Goose in the old days but don't care as much for that one.)

I heard Camel again this week for the first time since the '70s:

Camel - Moon Madness

Camel - Snow Goose

Camel - Rain Dances

Camel - A Live Record

I had totally forgotten what these guys sound like and I really like what I heard.

[7/4]

Also refreshing to hear after all these years:

Gentle Giant - In a Glass House

Gentle Giant - the Power and the Glory

I'm 7/4 and I approve this message!

[7/4]

I always loved this artwork:

Camel - Moonmadness

Edited November 17, 2008 by 7/4

[DTMX]

Anybody here ever listen to Voivod?

Yeah, I'm listening to them at work right now. I really like the recordings Katorz, Voivod, Dimension Hatröss (with its cover of Hefti's Batman theme) and Nothingface (with the cover of Astronomy Domine).

Just can't imagine the band continuing without Piggy.

[7/4]

Nektar anybody?

I guess they were more psych than prog, but I remember them from the '70s.

[Aggie87]

Interesting - according to an interview with Chris Squire on his website, he wants to record a new Yes album next year, with the two replacement players who are currently touring with Squire, Howe, & White - Oliver Wakeman and Benoit David.

RS: Are there any plans to record a new album with this current line-up?

Chris: Yes. Absolutely. We’re looking at doing some new recording. And obviously we’ll be working with the guys on that. Although there are no definite plans or dates yet, because obviously we’re working on this tour. But, we’ll be introducing new ideas. I know Steve Howe has new ideas and I know I have, as I mentioned earlier, have written quite a lot of material when I was in London that I want to use for that purpose.

I wonder if this is the end of Anderson's tenure in Yes. Rick Wakeman's come and gone so much I don't think he'd be as difficult to replace, though reviews of the current tour make it sound as if Oliver W. isn't quite as impressive as some of the other Yes keyboard players in the past.

[Shawn]

Recent discovery, pretty cool stuff actually!

[7/4]

Interesting - according to an interview with Chris Squire on his website, he wants to record a new Yes album next year, with the two replacement players who are currently touring with Squire, Howe, & White - Oliver Wakeman and Benoit David.

RS: Are there any plans to record a new album with this current line-up?

Chris: Yes. Absolutely. We’re looking at doing some new recording. And obviously we’ll be working with the guys on that. Although there are no definite plans or dates yet, because obviously we’re working on this tour. But, we’ll be introducing new ideas. I know Steve Howe has new ideas and I know I have, as I mentioned earlier, have written quite a lot of material when I was in London that I want to use for that purpose.

I wonder if this is the end of Anderson's tenure in Yes. Rick Wakeman's come and gone so much I don't think he'd be as difficult to replace, though reviews of the current tour make it sound as if Oliver W. isn't quite as impressive as some of the other Yes keyboard players in the past.

That's some interesting news, I hope the new material is too. Maybe this will be a kick in the ass for the rhythm section.

[A Lark Ascending]

Brits of a certain vintage should tune into BBC4 over the next week for a number of programmes on 'prog'. Some are things I'm sure I've seen before but at 10.00 pm tonight there's a new 'Prog-rock Britannia' programme with repeats next week.

Get the cheese cloth shirts and loons out!

[Guy Berger]

Brits of a certain vintage should tune into BBC4 over the next week for a number of programmes on 'prog'. Some are things I'm sure I've seen before but at 10.00 pm tonight there's a new 'Prog-rock Britannia' programme with repeats next week.

Get the cheese cloth shirts and loons out!

The Financial Times had an article plugging this special in today's edition.

Guy

[sidewinder]

I caught both shows on this last night - the 'Prog Rock Britannia' and 'Prog at the Beeb'.

The latter had a nice clip by Soft Machine with a lineup that looked like it included drummer John Marshall and Karl Jenkins on baritone/oboe.

Some nice King Crimson too.

Plus 'Wishbone Ash Plays Brother Jack McDuff'

And some cringe-worthy bits from ELP, Genesis etc. Check out Carl Palmer's 2 ton (I think that's what they said), half-inch steel drums complete with mega-gongs and early drum synth (sounded like a space invaders machine). Only in the 70s...

Edited January 3, 2009 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

Nice, balanced programme. Instead of repeating the usual received wisdom (pretentious, bombastic etc) it recognised the excitement, range and aspiration of the music that was retrospectively plonked under the 'prog' label. At the same time it pointed out one of its central flaws...girls didn't like it! And how the energy that had once gone on making music outside the norm had, by the mid-Seventies been squandered on stage sets and the sort of megalomania ELP seemed to indulge in.

Having lived through that era, cut my musical teeth there, I always find it sad that lazy journalism focuses in on the bloated '75 era and the emerging stadium type shows. Most of us heard this on record without visuals (beyond the record covers) or in bare student union halls where the 'show' part was minimal. The appeal of a a band like Genesis might escape listeners today who just see the daft costumes and the synth-drenched mega-group they became; but around 72-3 they were a breath of fresh air in a musical world where music beyond the charts was generally leaden blues-rock. Instead you got rippling 12-string guitars, flutes and oboes and a slightly twisted Englishness. I can still recall being horrified when I bought my NME in late '72 to see a picture of Peter Gabriel dressed as a flower. Surely it was all about the music, man!

The hour of BBC clips before made me chuckle. Two things stood out:

a) How the marionette dancers of Top of the Pops (did they ever smile?) carried on regardless, even though the Jethro Tull and Atomic Rooster records were quite undanceable!

b) The leering antics of Ian Anderson....then cut forward to the end of the documentary to Johnny Rotten doing somethng very similar.

[sidewinder]

a) How the marionette dancers of Top of the Pops (did they ever smile?) carried on regardless, even though the Jethro Tull and Atomic Rooster records were quite undanceable!

Ha ! The 'dancing' on that Atomic Rooster clip was pretty funny. Some nice ladies in hot pants tho.. (they will be grannies by now)

TOTP used to have some unlikely acts performing there. Pigbag and Rip, Rig and Panic Come To Mind. Not to forget either Robert Wyatt doing 'Shipbuilding'. How did they dance to that?

Edited January 3, 2009 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

b) The leering antics of Ian Anderson....then cut forward to the end of the documentary to Johnny Rotten doing somethng very similar.

That was one of the funniest bits - when he admitted that their concept album ('Trick of the Tail'? - I'm not into Tull) was a p-take with its 40-odd minute single track and intended as a sort of 'Spinal Tap'.

The clip of Anderson in action 'gurning' was pretty hilarious !

Memo to self - get hold of some King Crimson LPs..

[A Lark Ascending]

b) The leering antics of Ian Anderson....then cut forward to the end of the documentary to Johnny Rotten doing something very similar.

That was one of the funniest bits - when he admitted that their concept album ('Trick of the Tail'? - I'm not into Tull) was a p-take with its 40-odd minute single track and intended as a sort of 'Spinal Tap'.

I think he was reinterpreting the past to suit himself there (The album was 'Thick as a Brick').

I was never much of a Tull listener, but I did have 'Thick as a Brick'. They followed it with something called 'A Passion Play' (I think) which got absolutely slaughtered by the critics. I think it was where the reaction against that sort of music really started...Summer '73 if I recall correctly (a good three years before punk exploded). A few months later they went for Yes' 'Tales of Topographic Oceans' in the same way, an album which is still wafted as the prime evidence to condemn prog-rock (it's actually a very good record, probably the last decent one they made!).

So I find his arguments a bit disingenuous - Jethro Tull were huge c.1972-3 and just as prone to giganticism as many of the others.

Tred carefully with King Crimson - they are most definitely a rock group. And their records are so diverse (expect near heavy metal chording, whimsical pastoralism and abstract improv...but not always on the same record!) - the first one would probably sound hopelessly bombastic to a listener today; the 80s band has more in common with Talking Heads. They are probably the band of that era I return to most frequently - there's a long thread about them elsewhere.

Edit: Re: Jethro Tull, this is interesting:

NME item from 1973

As for Jethro Tull being above pretension:

NME Concert Review

Edited January 3, 2009 by Bev Stapleton

[sidewinder]

That 80s Crimson clip with the Talking Heads guy in the lineup sounded pretty good to me. I'm sure I saw that when it was originally broadcast on the OGWT (early to mid-80s?).

[A Lark Ascending]

That 80s Crimson clip with the Talking Heads guy in the lineup sounded pretty good to me. I'm sure I saw that when it was originally broadcast on the OGWT (early to mid-80s?).

Then 'Discipline' is the album you want:

I didn't much care for that version of KC at the time (not enough of Fripp's wonderful snakey guitar); but have come to enjoy them since.

Should be obtainable very cheaply.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Bev Stapleton

[sidewinder]

Thanks ! I'll keep my eye open for a vinyl copy.

That film clip of KC live on stage in the early 70s looked good too (there was an interesting altoist in the lineup).

Think I'll stay clear of some of the music though. Never could get into Rick Wakeman's solo albums of the time (and in the mid-70s most of my friends were playing this stuff 24/7 through their Koss headphones, along with Van Der Graaf, Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant etc).

[A Lark Ascending]

That film clip of KC live on stage in the early 70s looked good too (there was an interesting altoist in the lineup).

Think I'll stay clear of some of the music though. Never could get into Rick Wakeman's solo albums of the time (and in the mid-70s most of my friends were playing this stuff 24/7 through their Koss headphones, along with Van Der Graaf, Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant etc).

Ian MacDonald. I think he ended up in Foreigner!!!!!!!!!

I hated the Wakeman solo albums even at the time - in fact I was never that keen on Wakeman. The arrival of synths in these bands in force around 1973 also took away some of their lustre for me. I was always happier with pianos, electric pianos, organs and the glorious mellotron. Synths (which were monophonic at that time) encouraged keyboard players to squiggle a great deal.

It's worth remembering that 'prog' was but a part of a very varied music scene and was far from an exclusive genre. At the same time there was lots of soul and Tamla type music in the charts, bubblegum pop and then glam-rock. The 1969-76 years of prog also saw folk rock (Fairport, Steeleye, John Martyn etc), lots of ongoing blues-rock bands. Where do Led Zeppelin and their ilk fit in? - heavy metal hadn't yet been codified and those of us buying Yes albums were also buying their records. Then there were all the American bands - Chicago, Grateful Dead, Crosby Stills, Nash and Young etc. And it's often forgotten that one of the biggest successes of the 71-3 period was 'soft-rock' - Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young ('Harvest' was huge in 1972) etc (that's what the girls were listening to if they didn't care for the charts!). There was also a subterranean scene of country influenced bands in the UK, drawing off the likes of the Byrds and the Burritos - I recall Bob Harris having a particular thing for bands like Home and Help Yourself. And all manner of outright weird experimentalism from people like the Third Ear Band and Henry Cow. And psychedelic/spiritual kooks like Quintessence and Gong. And much, much more. Most people I knew were listening to the lot and picking our own favourites rather than adhering to a single genre.

One of the points that it was easy to lose in the programme was when they were talking about the festivals and how you'd get a complete mix of performers and the audience would listen curiously to the lot. I recall going to an all day event where I sat through the short lived Carla Bley/Jack Bruce Band, Steeleye Span and the then chart topping Steve Harley! Maybe the same holds true today - I don't know. I do know that in the punk aftermath what really turned me away from rock/pop music was how mono-dimensional and doctrinaire it seemed to become (more 'you can't do that because it's pretentious' then 'why don't we try this').

The official history of rock writes off the early 70s through the prism of the punk perspective of '76 - and its easy to dismiss it as 'bloated prog'. For those of us who listened through that era and didn't re-educate ourselves when the fashions changed it still holds a memory of a time where anything was possible in music. In retrospect I can see that most of the musicians lacked the musical knowledge to take things much further...or perhaps, more truthfully, were unable to follow their instincts without losing what audience they had and, consequently, the record company support. But what I really value about that era is that it introduced me to so many musical possibilities. When rock dried up for me c.1976 I had a number of seeds that I could follow up - jazz, folk, classical.