Which five bands?

    Quote from MoonlitKnight

    Thinking about the bands I listen to (see my previous comments) reminds me that I generally have an aversion to prog rock bands other than Genesis. I can’t stand most Yes songs. Their lyrics often sound to me like the pseudo-intellectual musings of a wannabe 16 year old poet, and their music is not as consistently melodic as is that of Genesis. ELP tends to be “too grandiose” by half for my taste. I could go on, but the general point I’m raising is that Genesis is the only prog band that consistently does it for me (though King Crimson has its moments). Am I out on an island alone feeling like this?

    I have often wondered if I am the only one.


    I love Pink Floyd but I'm unsure of their prog credentials. I feel like they are more in the psychedelic/classic rock line of work.


    I love Genesis with a passion but have yet to register anything like a moment of excitement for their stablemates.

    Quote from Liquid Len

    hmmm..maybe I’ll try giving Yes a listen, the only song of theirs I know is Owner of a Lonely Heart....

    I have felt for years that I needed to discover Yes. I now have a Best Of CD called Highlights which includes tracks like Roundabout & I've Seen All Good People. Slowly but surely.


    Here they are doing Roundabout at their Hall of Fame induction with Geddy Lee.


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    Quote from Liquid Len

    (Snaps out of it), And whoa, Genesis is an extremely close second?! Haha. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Just joking by the way.

    when I say “extremely,” I’m talking millimeters! :P


    I became a Yes fan as a teen thanks to a high school buddy. Before meeting him, I wasn’t very musical. I got into Yes and Rush at the same time through this friend, and I fell in love with it all quickly. I’ve seen Yes three times, both YesWest with Trevor and YesO with Howe and the gang. Howe and Squire....unbelievable.


    I like Genesis primarily in the Hackett era and despite loving Phil dearly as a drummer, singer, and human being, I’m a massive Peter fan. I like the pop Genesis era, but I’m insane over the 70’s. I’m a Yes not all the way full bore!

    Quote from Liquid Len

    hmmm..maybe I’ll try giving Yes a listen, the only song of theirs I know is Owner of a Lonely Heart....

    Try going to YouTube and listening to these Yes tunes....


    Turn of the Century

    Long Distance Runaround

    Parallels

    Awaken

    Heart of the Sunrise

    Starship Trooper


    they’re pretty tame. Usually anyone I know who likes 70’s Genesis l....they like Yes, too. If you’re a “Hold on my Heart” style Genesis fan, you’d prefer the YesWest 80’s sound of Yes.

    Quote from FeelItComing

    I have felt for years that I needed to discover Yes. I now have a Best Of CD called Highlights which includes tracks like Roundabout & I've Seen All Good People. Slowly but surely.


    Here they are doing Roundabout at their Hall of Fame induction with Geddy Lee.


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    Awesome!!!


    Close to the Edge is widely considered the greatest progressive rock masterpiece ever. You listen to that album and you’ll be spellbound! What a masterpiece!

    I like a lot of prog bands and LOVE In The Court Of The Crimson King but strangely enough, apart from a few tracks, never got into any of their other albums. Like ELP, Yes.


    I also like a lot of good pop bands like The Kinks, Procol Harum and Jethro Tull, but not sure if they are pop or prog but either way I have every album they have made good or not so good. Also like heavy metal specially slightly experimental heavy metal like Enslaved and Meshuggah which I admit are an acquired taste.


    As for Genesis it is the Gabriel years for me, I like a few songs with Phil Collins singing but also I like his solo music just can't take to him in Genesis, they went too poppy for me.


    I have a lot of Steve Hackett solo albums, a few Peter Gabriel, and assorted albums by the others but if I could only listen to 6 albums for the rest of my life it would be the first 6 Genesis albums every time.

    • Official Post

    It’s interesting that you mention listening to the first six albums, because I find myself constantly rotating their first six albums as well. And I love the post PG stuff, including the 80’s catalogue, but recently I find myself in a constant rotation of Trespass to the Lamb, with FGTR mixed in occasionally. I’ve really had Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, and Selling England especially in heavy rotation lately.

    Quote from MoonlitKnight

    Thinking about the bands I listen to (see my previous comments) reminds me that I generally have an aversion to prog rock bands other than Genesis. I can’t stand most Yes songs. Their lyrics often sound to me like the pseudo-intellectual musings of a wannabe 16 year old poet, and their music is not as consistently melodic as is that of Genesis. ELP tends to be “too grandiose” by half for my taste. I could go on, but the general point I’m raising is that Genesis is the only prog band that consistently does it for me (though King Crimson has its moments). Am I out on an island alone feeling like this?

    You are definitely not alone in this, and I agree with pretty much everything you wrote there. I'm into a couple prog-adjacent bands like Pink Floyd and Rush. But with only a couple exceptions, I've never gotten into Yes, ELP, King Crimson, or any other bands in that genre. They're just too 'noodly' for me. I think that's why I don't really like 'Epping Forest'. I like a lot of the other early Genesis stuff, but that one really doesn't work for me.


    Top 5 (not including Genesis) right now?

    Floyd

    Counting Crows

    Lyle Lovett

    Blind Pilot

    Playlists off my phone with lots of different bands mixed in

    Quote from drw4d

    You are definitely not alone in this, and I agree with pretty much everything you wrote there. I'm into a couple prog-adjacent bands like Pink Floyd and Rush. But with only a couple exceptions, I've never gotten into Yes, ELP, King Crimson, or any other bands in that genre. They're just too 'noodly' for me. I think that's why I don't really like 'Epping Forest'. I like a lot of the other early Genesis stuff, but that one really doesn't work for me.

    I feel exactly the same way. Right down to BoEF!

    Quote from thewatcher

    I feel exactly the same way. Right down to BoEF!

    I’m on board with the critique. Perfect example for me is Close to the Edge. Once the “noodly” part kicks in at 1:00 I’m turned off. One of my issues with some prog bands is they seem to emphasize technical skill over melody. As for Genesis songs, for the same reason I don’t really care for the jazz-prog instrumental sections of DWTMK, DOAV, and R,A&B. It’s not that I don’t like extended keyboard solos: Apocalypse in 9/8, the second part of Cinema Show, and the intro to Watcher are 1, 2, and 3 on my list of all-time favorite instrumental sections. They have a melodic structure (and in the case of 9/8, paints a musical picture that perfectly captures what is happening thematically in the song at that point) that appeal to me. So that’s my two cents for what it’s worth. Last time I made a negative comment about Yes on this board I got blasted by overheated fans. Different strokes for different folks, people.

    Quote from MoonlitKnight

    I’m on board with the critique. Perfect example for me is Close to the Edge. Once the “noodly” part kicks in at 1:00 I’m turned off. One of my issues with some prog bands is they seem to emphasize technical skill over melody. As for Genesis songs, for the same reason I don’t really care for the jazz-prog instrumental sections of DWTMK, DOAV, and R,A&B. It’s not that I don’t like extended keyboard solos: Apocalypse in 9/8, the second part of Cinema Show, and the intro to Watcher are 1, 2, and 3 on my list of all-time favorite instrumental sections. They have a melodic structure (and in the case of 9/8, paints a musical picture that perfectly captures what is happening thematically in the song at that point) that appeal to me. So that’s my two cents for what it’s worth. Last time I made a negative comment about Yes on this board I got blasted by overheated fans. Different strokes for different folks, people.

    Yeah, I love all eras of Genesis but BoEP never excited me. And though I love Floyd, I have as much difficulty getting into those other bands that have been mentioned as I have getting into Hackett's solo work. I appreciate I might be missing something. Of those bands, King Crimson seems like they might be a go but I haven't given them a fair try yet. I cannot warm to Yes.

    Quote from thewatcher

    Yeah, I love all eras of Genesis but BoEP never excited me. And though I love Floyd, I have as much difficulty getting into those other bands that have been mentioned as I have getting into Hackett's solo work. I appreciate I might be missing something. Of those bands, King Crimson seems like they might be a go but I haven't given them a fair try yet. I cannot warm to Yes.

    Totally agree on Steve's solo work. I'm actually not too big a fan of any of the solo stuff. There are bits and pieces from each of them that I like. But there's nothing that I'm passionate about from any of their solo careers. I really feel like they each needed things that the others brought. Someone needed to write the really long epics, while someone else needed to edit them down some. Someone needed to push the more artistic elements, while someone else needed to keep a little focus. Someone needed to bring harder sounds, and someone else needed to keep pastoral melodies in mind. They each brought something that the others lacked, that made the band incredible. But on their own ... meh (in my opinion at least).

    King Crimson

    U2

    Metallica

    The Rolling Stones (R.I.P., Charlie Watts)

    Rush


    (P.S. Next month and going forward, our beloved band will be featuring more since their tour started last night. Stay healthy, Phil (and everyone else on the planet), so that the tour can finish in the UK/ROI and the US!)


    (P.P.S. Yes, I'm finally back to posting again after a very long absence. My apologies if you missed me. Of course, many of you may have no idea who I am. Whichever camp you are in, I will be around as prominently as I used to be very soon.)

    Stepping out the back way, hoping nobody sees...