Why no 'USA' Prog bands made the big 5?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Rufus rag, Mar 5, 2018.

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  1. jay.dee

    jay.dee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    Lay down your guns I come in peace
    No need to run my friend into the trees
    We've been through this so much before
    But still we get it wrong
    Lay down your guns and stand up strong

    :)
     
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  2. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    That influence is a little easier to spot-- Yes (The Ancient), Genesis (Waiting Room). But nobody seemed to pick up on the Lizard/Islands sound, which came close to abandoning conventional rock altogether.
     
  3. Rufus rag

    Rufus rag Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I don't think King Crimson where ever considered a big 5! They have never really rose above 'cult' status! I don't like their music one little bit but that hasn't influenced my thoughts. You only have to look at stats & figures, not even a Gold album after the debut, no sold out tours, was all downhill after the debut, artistically and commercially!

    The Top 5 has always been this in the UK

    Pink Floyd
    ELP
    YES
    Jethro Tull
    Genesis
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2018
  4. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Well it was more in the vein of jazz which the Canterbury scene is associated with. But in the true sense the music was still progressing.
     
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  5. jay.dee

    jay.dee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    Everyone claims so, but after a short while starts to replace the bands not to his/her liking with personal favourites! ;)
     
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  6. In the US, King Crimson was probably a bigger draw than Genesis, who enjoyed their biggest sales of their prog albums retro actively after the success of 80s popGenesis.
     
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  7. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    We could just as easily ask why fusion was so US-centric in the 70s, I suppose.
     
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  8. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Knowledge is key when evaluating the "Progressive" scene. Just because you have no influence or thoughts on King Crimson means nothing in the big picture.
     
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  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    john mclaughlin (mahavishnu orchestra) english :) brand x?
    but yea mainly american bands
     
  10. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    True for a time, but Genesis was very committed to US touring (more than one tour per album) and Crimson less so. As a result Genesis was just hitting the big-theater level when Crimson went on hiatus.
     
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  11. Rufus rag

    Rufus rag Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I can relate to that! Actually Focus where a more successful band than both King Crimson & Genesis both in the UK & Stateside between 71-75 but get little recognition of that fact !
     
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  12. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    Again, it's certainly not that there were no U.S. prog bands. Between the late 60s and now there's over 2000 of them to check out.

    Lots of folks probably don't even have 2000 different artists in their collections period.
     
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  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    i know i was just playing, i'm tired
     
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  14. drad dog

    drad dog A Listener

    Location:
    USA
    You need a catalog to have that. Do they? I'll check it out if they do.
     
  15. RangerXT

    RangerXT Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Camel is a pretty great Canterbury band to get into if you feel this way. Andy Latimer's guitar work often rivals the emotional impact that David Gilmour's playing has. His vocals sound a bit like him, too.
     
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  16. Andreas

    Andreas Senior Member

    Location:
    Frankfurt, Germany
    Sorry for going off-thread, but several posters want to draw a line between "prog rock" and "jazz fusion". There are countless bands whose musical style is a combination of prog rock and jazz fusion, so that I would even say that there is a subgrene "jazz fusion prog", which does not include Bitches Brew or Weather Report. Examples are Canterbury Scene bands such as The Soft Machine, Hatfield & The North and National Health and some Italian bands such as Perigeo, Dedalus, Napoli Centrale, Picchio Dal Pozzo or Arti E Mestieri.
     
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  17. old school

    old school Senior Member

    Hocus Pocus was recorded in 1971 but did not chart until 1973. The OP is making up his own facts & timeline. Focus is a top tier Dutch band I admire.
     
  18. RangerXT

    RangerXT Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Kerry Livgren is a great lyricist, in my opinion. Kansas' lyrics are anything but "high school" lyrics.
     
  19. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    I actually looked up the numbers and was a little surprised to see how well Moving Waves and Focus 3 did. Both albums went gold in the US. Still, I'd say that they achieved a comparable level of success at the time, but Genesis and King Crimson proved to have more longevity and influence.
     
  20. And every fan of progressive Rock should own a copy of Moving Waves by Focus. Amazing album!
     
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  21. old school

    old school Senior Member

    I agree.
     
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  22. Barnabas Collins

    Barnabas Collins Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    I love Camel but I never really thought of them as being a Canterbury band. They have the quirky song titles but most of their music sounds like streamlined symphonic rock to me. I guess the first two albums have a bit of a jazzy feel to them, but they "rock" more than most Canterbury bands.
     
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  23. Say It Right

    Say It Right Not for the Hearing Impaired

    Location:
    Niagara Falls
    Made even more difficult with 2/3 of them being deceased.
     
  24. Barnabas Collins

    Barnabas Collins Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    My personal favorite is 3 but both Moving Waves and Hamburger Concerto are fantastic albums too, IMO.
     
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  25. Check out Camel's Raindances and Breathless albums if you want to hear them at their most Canterbury-like. Richard Sinclair's vocals help and he injected the band with some jazzy influence.
     
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