I'm glad to see this thread as well. I've always gravitated to prog since I was a young teen in the early '80s tracking down the earlier bands the members of Asia had been involved in. By my late 20s and 30s, I was starting to get into the more obscure realms of global prog and experimental music. More recently I've been moving away from prog a little bit, with more exploration into jazz, classical, and alternative/art rock/pop. But prog always feels a bit like "home" to me, if that makes any sense. By the way, when the new release from Bubu(!) came out last year, I read that there would be a release on vinyl, but I have yet to see any evidence that it has or will materialize. Anyone have any info on this, or know the best place to look?
I've always felt the Crimson comparison isn't quite right. Think it's mostly based on the fuzz tone guitar, and the "angry" nature of the music. Heldon's music is not compositionally that adventurous, more of a repetitive electronic style of music with slight rock decoration. The Heldon album covers are absolutely amazing. Some of the best covers in the Genre.
I would recommend starting with either Moving Waves or Hamburger Concerto. They're both different, but along with Focus 3, they're consistently cited by fans as their best albums. IF you enjoy jamming - of the sort which is frequently criticized as "self indulgent" - I'll also recommend 3. The jamming takes up about 3/4 of the album. Some of it is pretty heavy duty, including unaccompanied drum and bass solos, but for me personally, it's heaven! I agree with all of this. Definitely, the KC comparison is because of the guitar sound, and on Stand By in particular, the "angry" quality which you mention.
I am one who doesn't buy into self indulgent as a band criticism. Making an album is self indulgent, so make something good and indulge me
Yes! My first introduction to prog was the Moody Blues and the Alan Parsons Project (and Pink Floyd I guess...)
Of the three, Moving Waves is far and away the best, in my opinion, although 3 does include the beautiful Sylvia. Moving Waves, though, doesn’t have a weak link, and the side 2 epic, Eruption, is up there with the very best by any prog band. And of course, the album opens with the Focus signature song, Hocus Pocus, which is always a blast. Focus 3, is great for the jams, but I’ve never been that keen on Hamburger Concerto, but saying that, it definitely has it's moments. Just a shame Live at the Rainbow was so poorly recorded.
The thing with these three Focus titles is that they're pretty equally divided among Focus fans as to which is felt to be their best album. Although you might find something on, say, Hamburger Concerto, to be a weak link, another fan will feel that something on Moving Waves is equally weak. But because the general consensus is that all three are among their highest musical achievements within their entire catalog, I feel it's a safe bet that any of them can serve as a fair introduction. With, of course, my already stated caveat that 3 is heavy on jamming, which can be a major problem for some.
This nice Symphonic rock song is, according to liner notes, probably the first Mp3 ever posted on Internet - only hours after the software to make an mp3 had been released; later on, this Andy Tillison's (ex-The Tangent, Po90) song found its place on Po90's The Corner of My Room the album (1996) that is re-released online today at Bandcamp. Enjoy! The Third Person, by Parallel Or 90 Degrees
I don't have Un Reve Sans yet. I only have Stand By, Heldon IV and Allez Teia. I really enjoy them all. I just got Allex Teia about a month ago so I'm still pretty new to it. It reminds me a bit of a Fripp/Eno excursion in some ways and how can one not be reminded of the Crim with a track called "In the Wake of King Fripp"? LOL There are some really beautiful moments on that album too. I've yet to explore Richard Pinhas' solo albums. Are there any good ones?
I really couldn't choose between those three Focus records as my favorite. I love them all. I guess if I *had* to choose a desert island disc, it would be III. The jamming quality doesn't bother me at all since there's so much melodic stuff to be found all over that record, especially on side one and most of side 4.
Sounds a bit like an Anglagard off shoot so that can’t be a bad thing! I like it so far but definitely need more spins to reveal evrything going on here.
Some of you remember Crack The Sky. Here's one from their 1975 self-titled debut...Ice They're still active BTW. Great thread!
Yep. My favorite one would be Chronolyse. Half is clinically repetitive Moog sequencer pieces, mostly variations on a theme, but short enough to avoid monotony. The other half is a half hour piece played by Heldon. It's a slow, moody, churning piece with some of the best use of mellotron that I've ever heard. A very evocative piece, kind of like being suspended into the middle of a storm but being in such a dream haze that you don't care. L'Ethique is a combination of synth pieces with full band pieces. There are a couple of themes which receive more than one treatment throughout the album, which helps tie it all together. Rhizosphere is an all synthesizer album except for one long piece which is a synth/drum duet. I also have to mention his collaboration with Jon Livengood, Cyborg Sally. This one's almost like a more alien step onward from Heldon's Interface (which itself is quite an intense album - you NEED it!). He has some others which don't do it for me personally, especially his Frippertronics works, which add nothing to Fripp's similar work to my ears.
Meh, your opinion is as valid as mine, no worries there! If you still have it, give it another spin. Who knows?!
Really like the first 2spins. I only bought the download but may splurge for the vinyl once my prog retailer has it in stock.
Whether some prog-head in the late 1980s - i.e. at the time when our beloved genre went to clinical death - might got a precognition that Prog in the early '90s would to experience an instant recovery due to creepy wedding with Heavy Metal? I didn't hear yet about such a prophet, but in the early nineties Dream Theater saved Prog actually; Dream Theater gave to the genre a new blood with their creation of a new genre of Progressive music that is amazing DT-school of tasteful Progressive metal which could be defined as metalized Symphonic rock a la Yes. Although previously there had been some exciting, but sporadic attempts to merge Metal and the Prog Rock idiom - maybe the best example of those attempts is Stargazer the song from Rainbow's 1976 album Rainbow Rising - nobody did it so fundamentally before Dream Theater. It was 1992 and Images and Words; that masterpiece album raged from the speakers and push thousands of kids around the globe to move from Heavy Metal to Progressive metal that is so heavy in riffs, nothing less heavy than any band of NWOBHM, and yet Prog. Thanks to Dream Theater, our beloved genre being resurrected in all of its glory. Dream Theater Learning to Live (from Images And Words, 1992)
A.newish progressive band, (we older fans do not call it prog.) is Big Big Train from the uk. Their latest double live cd, Merchants of Light is excellent.
Top rated album for 2018 on progarchives.com. I still need to check out Anglagard, and I feel like I should do that first for some reason. As ATOE is several members of Anglagard plus a few outside musicians, if I'm not mistaken.
Anglagard is quality stuff. I haven’t heard their comeback album, but Epilog and Hybris are both great albums (released in the early 1990s).
Well said. I get that Dream Theater might too heavy and/or flashy for some, but there is no doubt that they are responsible for the resurgence of the prog genre.
