# I Know What I Like: Trollheart's History of Progressive Rock



## Trollheart (Sep 11, 2019)

For those who don't know, and for some reason didn't suss it out from the fact that I'm writing such a treatise, I'm a proghead, so the first part of the title above is very appropriate to me: I _do_ know what I like, and I often tend not to venture too far past that. There are a lot of prog rock bands I have never heard, heard of, or refuse to try. I've never heard a Camel album, nothing from Caravan, I know virtually nothing about the Canterbury Scene, have an abiding hatred for ELP and am not crazy about early Yes, though I've heard little. I doubt I've ever heard any Krautrock and King Crimson remain a mystery to me.

These are not good things to admit when you're a proghead, and so I've decided to try to do something about it. The plan here is for me to go chronologically through the development of progressive rock, from its origins (though not too far back: I know some people talk about the Beatles having progressive albums, and Miles Davis, and others; these I won't be touching on, only those who have become or emerged as true progressive rock bands) through its heyday in the seventies to its death and then rebirth in the eighties, bringing in the evolution of progressive metal, and on to the present day, where it continues to enjoy a resurgence and constantly changes and evolves as its name implies.

Although I'm fifty-six this year (oh no!) I only got into what I would class as “my own music” when I was about 15, so that would be 1978, and once I found artistes I liked I tended to stick with them, buying all their albums and occasionally branching out a little, but I was not one who wanted to explore a genre. I found what I liked and I was happy with that. As a result, I could not in any way be said to have a comprehensive knowledge of progressive rock, certainly not a personal one, so I will have to rely on the recollections of others in order to trace the history of this oft-maligned and misunderstood subgenre of rock. 

To help me, I will be using mostly two books I have purchased recently, shown below. Why those? Well, to be perfectly honest, I bought my sister a Kindle for Christmas, and then thought of getting one myself I was so impressed with it. But on discovering I could download an app for my phone which would allow me to read Kindle books, a lot of expense was spared and I am now able to read e-books. So rather than wait for books to arrive in the post, I can now just download them and read them right away. Certainly saves time, and often money.






These books are the only real authoritative records I could find on progressive rock, and so I've decided to let them guide my feet on the steps of this journey I'm undertaking. I may look into some online sources too, but only for reference: I do not in any way want to plagiarise anyone's work or rob from their writings, and the books I mention are there for my own information and to allow me fill in the details I don't have or am not aware of. Wiki will of course play its part, as it always does. Generally the way I'm going to do it is this:





Going chronologically (what other way would I go, after all?) I'll be looking at the beginnings of the subgenre, noting any important albums along the way and mini-reviewing them. Any albums I'm aware of, have heard or know will be noted and spoken about, and here I will bring to bear any personal knowledge or insights or memories that are appropriate. I will try to do it as a kind of book, labelling chapters in important eras, as well as year-by-year. If I can.

I invite any progheads, or anyone interested or who has stories, information, corrections or advice to assist me: this is certainly one of the biggest undertakings I have ever attempted, so any help is certainly appreciated. Do remember though, if you intend to contribute, to keep strictly within the guidelines for chronology. In other words, don't start posting about an album released in 1972 when we're only in 1968, and so on. Which is not to say that we can't discuss same, but I'd like to try to keep the conversation pertinent to the year or era being covered at the time.

I'll be doing my best to give an overall picture of the genre as it has developed over the decades. If an album or artiste I feature here does not tally with your view of prog rock, bear in mind that I'm being guided by these authors, and while I won't slavishly follow their recommendations and advice, they obviously know more about the subject than me and I will have to mostly defer to their expertise. However, if you feel there's an artiste I'm not covering, or I'm covering someone I shouldn't be in this context, feel free to let me know.


After reading several, quite boring and arty-farty chapters of the first book I mentioned I've come to the conclusion that it is --- how can I say this without giving offence? --- total crap. Well, that's not fair, but I had hoped it would give me something of a timeline, who was first, what elements make up a prog album, and so on, a starting point if you will. But it's been jumping back and forth from Duke Ellington to The Who, The Nice to Floyd and I'm still as confused as I was before I began reading. Attempts to answer this question --- which was the first prog album --- have yielded almost flame wars in forums and websites, and everyone has their own idea but there is no clear answer it would seem. Therefore, for the moment (and given that the other book is on Prog Metal which did not really get going till much later) I will discount these authors' opinions and fall back on my good friend Wiki, as I almost always do.

While they do not list a definitive starting point for prog rock --- and it is really hard, given that so much of psychedelia, blues and other forms had nascent elements of prog within their structure --- there is a basic agreed “ground zero” point of 1967 as being the accepted year that progressive rock as a whole more or less came into being. There are albums from the previous year that seem to figure too, though, and so what my plan is here (right or wrong) is to look briefly at albums that are considered allied to the progressive rock movement but not actually part of it --- albums that have, or started, certain principles that became the founding logic of prog rock --- and more deeply into ones which were composed by bands who became important to the movement and influenced other bands later on. I will therefore grade albums on their importance and relevance to the genre.

One which are considered intrinsic to Progressive Rock, founding fathers if you will, will be graded as Type A. Ones which had an effect on Prog Rock, but are not specifically that genre, will be Type B and ones which are decidedly not (in my opinion) Progressive Rock albums will be type C. These grades will appear in the reviews. The reviews themselves may be quite short, a simple look at the album, or they may be reasonably in-depth, but given how much I have to get through here, I don't envision extensive, in-depths reviews. I will be trying to achieve four things with this journal:

1. Get a deeper understanding of the history and legacy of this music
2. Finally listen to albums and bands I have not, for whatever reason, listened to
3. Introduce anyone who wishes to this subgenre as best I can and         
4. Afford those who deserve it their place in the history of Progressive Rock

So buckle up, get your best cape ironed and prepare to sneer at anyone who listens to a song that's less than nine minutes long. It's gonna be a bumpy ride, but hopefully a fun one too.

*TABLE OF CONTENTS
*_Note: Album reviews are not included in this; they are listed below separately by year

_Chapter I:Into the Mystic: the Courtship of Progressive Rock
Before the Storm
Reflections on 1967
Introduction to 1968
Album Review List for 1968
Reflections on 1968
The Agreed Definition of Progressive Rock. Maybe.
Chapter II: Children of the Revolution
Changing Times: Ascendancy of the Album

*INDEX OF ALBUMS BY YEAR

*Note: (1966 only) since several albums are reviewed in each post, the links shown here will bring you to that post, where then you'll have to scroll down to find the album(s) you want. Sorry, but there's no other way to do it and hey: it's just a little scrolling.

*1966*
The Beach Boys: _Pet Sounds_, The Mothers of Invention: _Freak Out!_ and The Byrds: _Fifth Dimension_
*1967*
The Velvet Underground and Nico - _The Velvet Underground and Nico_
Procol Harum - _Procol Harum_
The Beatles - _Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band_
Pink Floyd - _The Piper at the Gates of Dawn_
Captain Beefheart - _Safe as Milk_
The Moody Blues - _Days of Future Passed_
The Nice - _The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack_
*1968
*The Mothers of Invention - _We're Only in It for the Money_
The United States of America - _The United States of America_
Pink Floyd - _A Saucerful of Secrets_
Family - _Music in a Doll's House_
The Moody Blues - _In Search of the Lost Chord_
Giles, Giles and Fripp - _The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp_
Caravan - _Caravan_
Jethro Tull _ _This Was_
The Nice - _Ars Longa, Vita Brevis_
Soft Machine - _The Soft Machine_
Procol Harum _ _Shine on Brightly_
The Pretty Things - _S.F. Sorrow_


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Sep 11, 2019)

What about Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes?

[video=youtube;xeSZHpKERdI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeSZHpKERdI[/video]


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Sep 11, 2019)

Another by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes

[video=youtube;xU0sOVDqpGo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU0sOVDqpGo[/video]


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 11, 2019)

I've never heard of them. Will check them out. What year are we talking here? Remember, we begin in 1967 so really, although it's not a hard and fast rule, discussion should be limited to any bands from that year for the time being.


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 12, 2019)

If you're talking 1967 I can think of Pink Floyd- The Pipers at the Gates of Dawn, The Moody Blues- Days of Future Passed, and Procol Harum (self titled album). Also Zappa and your favorite, Captain Beefheart :lol:


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 12, 2019)

mrmustard615 said:


> If you're talking 1967 I can think of Pink Floyd- The Pipers at the Gates of Dawn, The Moody Blues- Days of Future Passed, and Procol Harum (self titled album). Also Zappa and your favorite, Captain Beefheart :lol:


Yeah, they're all to be covered. Even Beefheart, lord help me.


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 12, 2019)

*Chapter I: Into the Mystic: the Courtship of Progressive Rock*

Even for those of us who weren't there, or old enough to appreciate being there at the time if we were, the sixties is acknowledged as one of the pivotal decades of the twentieth century. Long held conventions were being challenged, youth was on the rise and the old order was slowly crumbling. In art, poetry, literature and a rising trend towards what would become known as “mind-expanding” drugs, in sexual relationships and in man (and woman)'s relationship with the Earth, in fashion and fad, in cinemas and theatres, in schools and universities, the entire world was on a collision course. Old stood firm against the tide of young, but knew in its heart it would not be able to hold: age is the downfall of the more mature, and youth's exuberance can push it to undreamt-of heights. So, in the student riots and sit-ins and protests of the sixties, the names of new heroes and heroines coming through - Mary Quant, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan - the old guard saw its eventual and inevitable fall, but refused to go down just yet.

Attitudes towards youth by the elders became entrenched in opposition and such buzzwords of the time as “beatniks”, “acid heads” and of course “hippies”. Later, words like “draft-dodgers” would make their way into the vocabulary of both sides, a matter of shame and disgrace for the elders, who had after all done their bit in World War II, so that these idle layabouts could waste their formative years smoking pot and listening to the wrong influences and taking a stand against authority. On the other side of the fence, “draft-dodgers” and “peaceniks” became badges of honour for the young; they hadn't asked for a war in southeast Asia, they had nothing against the Viet Cong: why should they fight and die in a rich man's war? Their parents may have held fast to certain principles, but that didn't mean_ they_ had to. The old guys didn't get it: this was a new era, an age of love and brotherhood and understanding, and war was not on the agenda.

It stood to reason, then, that these “bright young things”, the rising force of youth and the hope for the future would not be content to listen to their parents' music, no more than they shared their outmoded values. They wanted something different, something happening, something now. And if it wasn't available, why then they would create it. How hard could it be? In a kind of reverse echo of the punk movement of the late seventies, everyone suddenly began joining or forming bands, or “groups” as they often preferred to be known. This can be seen in the formation of acts like The Animals, The Birds, Pink Floyd, The Nice, The Moody Blues, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf Generator ... the list goes on. And these bands would speak with their own voice, not that of the establishment. They would challenge the old order, they would bring it down. Not like with punk rock, using anger and aggression and a sense of disenchantment, but with love, understanding, new perceptions and new ideas. These bands would open their minds to the endless possibilities that existed, both in music and the world at large, possibilities their “square” parents (ask your parents. Or grandparents) had closed themselves off from, ignored, refused to see. They would, to quote Jim Morrison, open the doors to perception, and if they needed some help getting there via LSD, marijuana and such, then as the Beatles once wrote, let it be.

Everyone was not along for the ride. There were of course some bands of the sixties who were content to play what we would term “normal” rock or pop, with a structured verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus pattern, and to only sing about things like love and girls and maybe cars, and fair play to them. Many of them became huge writing this sort of music and being appreciated for it. But other bands were not happy to be placed in a box, even one of their own devising, and looking at their music notation, or down at their musical instruments, they asked the question that has presaged all great discoveries in science, maths and all other disciplines: _what if?_

And so they began experimenting with unconventional song structures. Who _says_ a song can only be three or four minutes long? Here: this one's seventeen! Take _that_, Government! I don't want to sing about girls and dates: this song's about a dragon's journey of self-awareness, achieved through the use of drugs. In your face, establishment! Guitar, bass, drums? Nah! Let's try a clarinet! A saxophone! A violin! In fact, what are those new machines you invented called again, Mr. Moog? A synth-esiser, eh? I'll have one of them: see what we can do with that! What do you think of me _now_, family values?

This experimentation of course was not always received with open arms by the audiences, many of whom just “didn't get it”, being too steeped in the traditions of rock and roll or pop music to be able to break through the barrier and reach beyond the boundaries. They probably thought such music only fit for college intelligentsia, dropouts and hippies. And to a degree they were right. Coming from the twin influences of jazz and folk music, via straight ahead rock and roll, there was, or would be, a lot to what would become progressive rock music, and it would not be for everyone. Few prog rock bands had hit singles initially (though of course later they would, but still not anywhere as many as the more conventional rock or pop bands) and they didn't really care, concentrating more on developing their themes and ideas into often album-long tracks, sometimes so long they had to be broken up into sections, becoming suites of songs. To a great degree, in form and structure prog rock would mirror classical music, which was often long and convoluted, and went through many changes over the span of the length of a concerto or symphony. Because of this, as well as other factors, prog rock would come to be seen as an elitist form of music, a snobby form only practiced by what we would call today tossers. Real bands didn't play prog rock, that was just wanking around, an accusation Mr. Rotten and his army of slavering punks would level at the subgenre ten years later and which, at that point, would be quite true.

But in 1966 and 1967, the dream was being born. Bands such as The Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and The Moody Blues, Zappa and Floyd, a nascent Genesis and Procul Harum were all about to stop dancing to the standard music of the day and begin writing sheet music for a whole new kind of waltz, one which would take its dancers to strange new places, open their minds and allow their spirits to soar, give birth to the idea of the concept album - and album listening in general, where people had more or less just picked tracks from them before, or bought singles - nod back to the progenitors of music and point the way forward to the next progression (!) of the form. It would be a wild and crazy, often drug-fuelled ride, but if you had the imagination, the sense of adventure and the idea that the current music was stale and boring, and the desire to look beyond the obvious, break the rules and write new ones, you were going to find yourself in a wonderful new place.

Generally accepted as the first progressive rock album, or at least the first to point the way, I always find it odd that a surf rock band like The Beach Boys get such credit, but I guess up until then nobody had really thought of messing with reverb, voice tracks and trying out strange new instruments. The use of the theremin would become part of the signature sound of these California boys, and lead to others adopting it, as well as weirder, more unconventional instruments, into their sound. Impressed with The Beatles' _Rubber Soul_, composer Brian Wilson was amazed that the album sounded like, well, an album, not just a collection of hit singles destined for the charts, surrounded by a bunch of other sub-standard songs, which was generally how albums were recorded up to that point. Utilising the latest recording techniques in vocal harmonies and instrumentation, Wilson set out to produce a rival to the English band's masterpiece, enthusing to his wife that he was about to write “the greatest rock album ever made”.

The general consensus is that he did just that.


*Album title:* _Pet Sounds_
*Artiste: *The Beach Boys
*Nationality*: American
*Label: *CBS Columbia
*Year:* 1966
*Grade:* B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste*: I have heard this album before, but only listened to it briefly. Like everyone else, I've heard (and pretty much loathed) their hit singles.
*Landmark value*:* Seen as one of, if not the first progressive rock albums, the first to really embrace the multi-layered sound and utilise the then-cutting edge recording techniques, and the first US album to be written as other than a collection of singles and filler tracks. Influenced bands from Pink Floyd to Paul McCartney (the latter of which is ironic, given that Wilson was spurred to make this album after listening to a Beatles record) and from Sonic Youth to Fleet Foxes.
*Track listing: *_Wouldn't it be nice/You still believe in me/That's not me/Don't talk (Put your head on my shoulder)/I'm waiting for the day/Let's go away for a while/Sloop John B/God only knows/I know there's an answer/Here today/I just wasn't made for these times/Pet sounds/Caroline, no_
*Comments: *You certainly have to give them points for the most instruments used on an album. Prior to Mike Oldfield's _Tubular Bells_ this has to be in the running: I count over thirty separate instruments! Despite that though, there's often not the “wall of sound” you might expect. I've never been able to justify this album's position in the pantheon of progressive rock luminaries, although in fairness I've only listened to it twice now, but people better qualified than me to make that judgement have made it, so who am I to disagree? Still, to me it's just a pop/rock album with a lot of interesting sounds and vocal harmonies, but nothing more than that. I don't see my stance on this ever changing.
*Favourite track(s):* _Wouldn't it be nice, Don't talk (Put your head on my shoulder), I'm waiting for the day, Let's go away for awhile, Sloop John B, God only knows_
*Least favourite track(s): *Everything else
*Overall impression:* Don't get me wrong: I don't hate this album. In fact I'm starting to quite enjoy it. I just don't see it as being a precursor to progressive rock. Sorry, can't see it. Decent album, ground breaking maybe but not the grandaddy of prog, not for me. Probably doesn't help that I don't like the Beachies.

_*(A word on Rating: as I may not particularly like an album but it may be deserving of a higher rating due to its place in prog rock history, I will rate albums both on a Personal and a Legacy Rating, then use the average of those two to get a Final Rating).*_
*Personal Rating:* 2.5
*Legacy Rating*: 4.5
*Final Rating: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




3.5*


* (Landmark Value is exactly what it says it is: how critical, formative or important was this album --- despite my liking it or hating it, or even being ambivalent towards it ---- to the development of progressive rock, and how much did it have an influence on, or drive the subgenre?)

If the Beach Boys were not really the sort of band you would generally expect to see associated with the term progressive rock, Frank Zappa certainly is. A unique, often inscrutable personality, Zappa began his career with The Mothers of Invention, and in one of those pieces of irony fate loves throwing at us, he was asked to take over the already-formed band due to a fight between two band members, one of whom left. Once he was established as band leader, Zappa took total control of the Mothers, insisting they play his own original work and not covers, and becoming more of a control freak than Roger Waters and Brian Wilson put together. But it worked. Previously unknown, the Mothers (then called The Soul Giants) were discovered and soon began to make their presence felt on the underground music scene in LA, and went on to release their debut album, only the second double album in rock history and the first real concept album.

To quote the man himself:
_If you were to graphically analyze the different types of directions of all the songs in the Freak Out!album, there's a little something in there for everybody. At least one piece of material is slanted for every type of social orientation within our consumer group, which happens to be six to eighty. Because we got people that like what we do, from kids six years old screaming on us to play "Wowie Zowie." Like I meet executives doing this and that, and they say, 'My kid's got the record, and 'Wowie Zowies their favorite song._





*Album title:* _Freak Out!_
*Artiste: *The Mothers of Invention
*Nationality:* American
*Label:* Verve
*Year: *1966
*Grade:* B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* I've heard one track which I did not like, and I believe is on this album. I am not anticipating liking this but it must be experienced due to its importance in the overall development of prog rock.
*Landmark value*:* The first real concept album, so that has to count for something. Also one of the first from a new band to allow the artiste almost total creative freedom and provide him with a virtually unlimited budget with which to realise his vision. One of the first, I think, to take direct aim at the established American way of life and to lampoon it in music.
*Track listing:* _Hungry Freaks, Daddy/ I Ain't Got No Heart/ Who are the Brain Police?/Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder/ Motherly Love/ How Could I be Such a Fool/ Wowie Zowie/ You Didn't Try to Call Me/ Any Way the Wind Blows/ I'm Not Satisfied/ You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here/ Trouble Every Day/ Help I'm a Rock ((i) Okay to Tap Dance (ii) In Memoriam, Edgard Varese (iii) It Can't Happen Here)/ The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet ((i) Ritual Dance of the Child-killer (ii) Nullis Pretii (No Commercial Potential))_
*Comments: *Well initially I'm surprised at how straight rock-and-roll this is, though no doubt it'll get more out there later. But I really did expect something like ten men standing on hills a mile apart and banging dustbin lids while farting. That's probably his third album. Pleasant surprise, very sixties rock with a dash of psychedelia, some great lyrics which he would of course become known and even infamous for. "_Who are the Brain Police?"_ is that one Zappa track I mentioned that I have heard, and I can appreciate it more in the context of the album but I still don't like it. In fact, a little way in I find myself getting bored. "_Help, I'm a Rock"_ is where it really starts to get freaky and psychedelic, and by the end it's more or less where I expected it would be. I suppose his music goes on in this weird, experimental (heavy on the mental!) vein. Bah.
*Favourite track(s)*: _Hungry Freaks, Daddy, I Ain't Got No Heart, Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder, Trouble Every Day_
*Least favourite track(s)*:_Who are the Brain Police?, You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here, I'm Not Satisfied, Help I'm a Rock, The Return of the Son of the Monster Magnet_
*Overall impression:* Started well but fell apart about halfway. Not that I did not expect this, but by the time we were onto the third side I had lost interest and was totally bored.
*Personal Rating:* 2.5
*Legacy Rating*: 4.5
*Final Rating: 3.5
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


*


Although many bands who would go on to impact on the progressive rock scene were formed in or before 1966 - Soft Machine, Barclay James Harvest, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues -- none had any released material until at least 1967, with the exception of The Moody Blues, who released their first album in 1965. This, however, was primarily a rhythm'n'blues album and seems to have no connection whatever to progressive rock, and their second album is regarded as the first of theirs to embrace or influence that subgenre. So that leaves us with very little to work with in 1966, but to complete the year I am, as I said, going to take a quick spin through the only other album deemed to have had any effect on prog rock, even though it seems like an odd choice, to me at any rate. But as I'e said so often before, and it's as true today as it was when I first uttered the words, what do I know?

*Album title:* _Fifth Dimension_
*Artiste: *The Byrds
*Nationality: *American
*Label:* Columbia
*Year:* 1966
*Grade:* C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* “Mister Tambourine man”, “Turn, turn, turn”
*Landmark value:* It's said to have been the album that almost created the subgenre of psychedelic rock. How true that is I don't know, but if so then psychedelia had a real effect on the birth of progressive rock, so it's got to have a decent value.
*Track listing:* _5D (Fifth dimension)/ Wild mountain thyme/ Mr. Spaceman/ I see you/ What's happening?/ I come and stand at every door/ Eight miles high/ Hey Joe/ Captain Soul/ John Riley/ 2-4-2 Foxtrot _
*Comments:* Nice organ work on the opening track, but it sounds quite Country to me and it's followed by a folk traditional song, then I guess _Mr. Spaceman_ can claim to be psychedelic in part, referring as it does to aliens and extraterrestrials, which (maybe) had not been a subject pursued much if at all by bands or singers. It's played in a sort of bluegrass tone though, which I feel robs it of a little of its desired impact. _I come and stand at every door_, while a cover, sounds like a minstrel's lay or something.

They do a version of _Hey Joe_ and though it's not his song, I think we all identify it with Hendrix by now. This version just sounds wrong to me. Generally I'm becoming less impressed as the album goes on. The harmonica instrumental _Captain Soul_ is pretty good though.
*Favourite track(s)*: _Wild mountain thyme, Mr. Spaceman, Captain Soul__
*Least favourite track(s):* Hey Joe, 2-4-2 Foxtrot
*Overall impression:* Yeah. Don't see it. There's little about this album that says nascent prog rock to me, or even psychedelia, though I'm not that familiar with that sort of music yet. I see it as a folk/rock album and that's pretty much it. Can't argue with history though. Anyway I wasn't impressed personally.
*Personal Rating:* 2.0
*Legacy Rating:*  3.0
*Final Rating:* *2.5*

So that's 1966 done. Before I head on to the following year I think it's perhaps incumbent upon me to take a short trip back to note the bands formed in the two or three years prior, who would later rise to prominence within or contribute to the growth of progressive rock. Although none released any albums - at least, prog-worthy - until at least 1967, the mere event of their forming should really be marked, and a short piece perhaps written on who they were/are and what their general effect on and input to the progressive rock movement was. So I'll be doing that in the next entry, then moving on to 1967.

_


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 13, 2019)

Needless to say, we are in disagreement here. I'm still trying to set up my own reviews in the way of greatest bands and albums (I always have to rank things :lol. But I will say that Pet Sounds is in my personal top ten. I can add here (and you'll probably hate this) that Brian Wilson used only session musicians, a studio band that was known as the Wrecking Crew to be exact, and only used his fellow Beach Boys for vocals. There was a pretty good documentary about the album on cable recently. The Beach Boys are not known for their classic albums otherwise but they would have a second wind creatively in the early seventies with Sunflower and Surf's Up. 

And, no, you don't get the joke with Zappa. This was Zappa's style to poke holes at, well, everything. Freak Out is my favorite of all the Zappa albums and the Mothers of Invention as a whole probably fare better than the solo Zappa albums later. Honestly, I've listened to Freak Out dozens of times and even I can't remember every track, but Hungry Freaks Daddy, which opens the double album set (you can't get more progressive than that) and Who Are the Brain Police (a stab at weird psychedelia) would be the stand outs for me. Like Pet Sounds in a different way, this one may have to grow on you.

Now the Byrds are one of my favorite all time bands and Fifth Dimension is my favorite album from them but I will concede that the Byrds were not known for classic albums. Actually, their most acclaimed album is probably Sweetheart of the Rodeo, a country rock masterpiece that is as far away from prog as you can get. As for Fifth Dimension, I do like it but there are some weak tracks admittedly. For me the stand outs are the infamous Eight Miles High, which Roger McGuinn swears is not about drugs :lol: and What's Happening with the sitar like psychedelic guitars. 


And where's Revolver? If you're only doing one album per band, I get it, but Revolver is a very experimental album, at least in parts. It is certainly eclectic. But I'll say more on that in my Beatles review.

It's a good start, Trolls. Looking forward to 1967.


----------



## Princesisto (Sep 13, 2019)

I've never heard the album Pet Sounds but I remember (doesn't that make ya feel young?) as a 10 year old some singles from it like "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" and "Sloop John B" and, with respect, I don't know how you get them into "Progressive": they are typical Beach Boys. 

What is missing, however, is the first Progressive hit, as I can remember, which is from the Beach Boys and completely atypical, in December 1966: "Good Vibrations". Totally unique and we'd never heard music like that! 

[video=youtube;5IYJtdtr678]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IYJtdtr678[/video]


----------



## Princesisto (Sep 13, 2019)

And also, in December 1966, let's not whiten up everything: an equally popular first Progressive hit by Diana Ross and the Supremes: "Reflections".

[video=youtube;Y_NnXjMBwLQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_NnXjMBwLQ[/video]


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 13, 2019)

@ Princesisto: Granted, probably, but I imagine there are quite a lot of bands/artistes who could be said to have had a song or songs that were touching on prog rock. This is a huge endeavour though and I personally am concentrating here on albums, not tracks. I can't see any argument for the inclusion of Diana Ross as a prog artist, or contributing to the prog movement in any way. So I won't be featuring that, and it's nothing to do with race. There were likely some black and of course Asian artists in prog rock, but overall I think it was at least 90% white (though don't quote me) so I'm just following the history of what happened.

@Mrmustard: You and your darn Beatles! :lol: _Revolver_ wasn't mentioned in the Wiki article which is why I didn't select it, though now I look I can see there's a good reason to do so. Therefore, I will give it a spin, write my thoughts down and post that before I go on. Thanks for slowing the whole process up; as if I wasn't busy enough already! :lol:


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 18, 2019)

So when are we going to see 1967? I'm trippin here.


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 18, 2019)

mrmustard615 said:


> So when are we going to see 1967? I'm trippin here.


Patience young Padawan. Much to do there is, and so much time the day only has.


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 19, 2019)

Oh and by the way, we would have been on to 67 already if it hadn't been for you and your bloody _Revolver_! So settle down, and as soon as I have a spare minute I'll listen to it and write it up, THEN we can move on. As John Cleese remarked in the movie _Clockwise_: "Yes, we're all waiting for _you!_"


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 19, 2019)

You better hurry up then. I'm only about three days away from posting my own review of Revolver.


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 19, 2019)




----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 22, 2019)

You're too late. I've posted my review of Revolver


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 22, 2019)

mrmustard615 said:


> You're too late. I've posted my review of Revolver



Been a bit busy with my introduction to country music, friend. You got a problem with that?


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Sep 22, 2019)

Trollheart said:


> I've never heard of them. Will check them out. What year are we talking here? Remember, we begin in 1967 so really, although it's not a hard and fast rule, discussion should be limited to any bands from that year for the time being.




So it's only rock in 1967?
Kinda narrows it a lot.


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 22, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> So it's only rock in 1967?
> Kinda narrows it a lot.


Not sure what you're saying here, Ralph me old mate. Prog rock is generally agreed to have begun in 1966/67, so that's where the history begins. Obviously, the plan is to go through each year right up to this, checking out the bands and the changes along the way, especially the emergence of things like the Canterbury Scene and the rise of Progressive Metal, the eighties reinvention of the genre with neo-progressive rock, and so on. I'm not sure why you think that "narrows it a lot": I'm hardly going to be including genres that have nothing to do with prog rock.

ETA: Having re-read your comment I think I see what you mean. Naturally, discussion of ANY prog bands here is fine, but if you want me to COVER a band from, say, 1972, I won't be doing that till we get to that year. Discussions are fine, but the history will proceed along chronological lines, so if you can suggest a band or album from 1967 that I should be covering now (as Musty did with Revolver) then I'll consider looking at it. But if you suggest, here and now, a band or album from 1985, I'll take note, but won't check them out until I do 1985. Clear enough?

The tealdeer version: you can talk about any prog bands here you wish to at any time, but the main chronological history I'm posting will follow the bands and albums from each year as it comes up.


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 27, 2019)

*DRAW! (Or rather, don't...)
*
As I've been somewhat busy over the past two weeks, posting over a hundred album reviews and also getting in the odd spot of breathing in between, I haven't yet got to review that _Revolver_ album. Am I stalling? Of course: after you've got to know me better you'll all realise I don't have much time for the Fab Four, but I do intend to listen to and review this album, and any others of theirs that qualify, as part of this project.

For now though, it's holding things up so I'm going to use this as a placeholder for when I get the chance to devote the time to it that it presumably needs and demands, and I'm going to move on with the next part. I'll come back to this when I can and NO Musty, I won't bloody forget it (I'm sure you won't let me).


----------



## Trollheart (Sep 27, 2019)

_Before the storm..._
*This is by no means meant to be a definitive biography of any of the bands formed before the proper onset of the progressive rock scene in the late sixties and early seventies. This is merely a few lines pointing to those bands and to how they would later influence the sub-genre. When we get to where they released albums, I will of course go into them in a little more depth.**

One small point: I use the words “first relevant album” to distinguish any of the output of these bands that was not in a prog rock vein, as many, such as The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull and even the mighty Genesis began their career with albums that could not in any way be called progressive rock, and in that case those albums are not important, and so not relevant to the history of prog rock. 

You can't help noticing that, apart from one or two exceptions, all of these bands are British. Progressive Rock seems to have been almost an exclusively British movement, with American prog rock bands only coming much, much later. Like the NWOBHM, the US was well behind the curve when it came to prog rock, still mired I guess in "flower power" and the Vietnam War which gave a focus to more protest/folk-oriented sounds, not to mention the burgeoning soul-to-become-disco scene. Why prog rock developed in Britain almost alone I don't know but I will be looking into.

I guess it has a lot to do with the public school system, as many of these bands met each other in school, and the gentle pastoral English countryside probably played its part too. While students were protesting in US universities and clashing with police, fighting for civil rights and rioting in the streets, you can just hear the English tsk and sigh "Oh, I say!" as they sipped their tea and wrote another song about meadows and rainbows...*

*The Moody Blues (1964 -)*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup:* Mike Pinder,  Ray Thomas Clint Warwick, Denny Laine 
*First relevant album: *_Days of Future Passed_, 1967





*Impact on the progressive rock scene (on a scale of 1 to 10):* 7

Formed in 1964, their band name was  not, as I had originally thought, anything to do with the Elvis song, but was both a reference to M&B Breweries, with whom they had hoped to win a sponsorship contract (they didn't) and the Duke Ellington song, “Mood indigo.” When they formed the Moody Blues were much different to the band we have come to know, and who contributed so much to the progressive rock arena. Justin Hayward was not on board at this time, nor was John Lodge. Their first album, _The Magnificent Moodies_, would bear no resemblance to what would end up being their first real _progressive rock_ album, and one which would bring them to the notice of the general public, _Days of Future Passed_. The debut was more an r'n'b effort, and it flopped, though it would later spawn a hit in “Go Now” which, ironically, was a cover version of an earlier song.

*The Wilde Flowers (1964 – 1967)*
*Nationality: *British
*Original lineup:* Hugh Hopper, Brian Hopper, Robert Wyatt, Richard Sinclair, Kevin Ayers
*First relevant album:* n/a
*Impact:* 6
*Linked to: *Caravan, Soft Machine, Gong

Another band forming in 1964, oddly The Wilde Flowers never released any albums, but were one of the first bands active in what would become known as the Canterbury Scene. They are however notable for the bands their former members ended up in, two of the biggest bands in that scene, Soft Machine and Caravan.

*Pink Floyd (1965 – 2014)*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: *Roger Waters, Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Richard Wright
*First relevant album: *_The Piper at the Gates of Dawn_, 1967





*Impact:* 9

Originally _The_ Pink Floyd, one of the most influential bands in progressive rock music as well as psychedelia, Floyd would redefine how music was created, and performed, and perceived. Mainstay of the band David Gilmour was not part of the early lineup who recorded their first album, and would only be brought in to replace bandleader Syd Barrett, when increasing problems with substance abuse and personality issues made it impossible for Barrett to continue in the band. Under the lineup of Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, Pink Floyd would go on to become a worldwide phenomenon and a true star of the prog rock scene.

*The Syn (1965-1967, then 2004-)*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup:* Steve Nardelli, Chris Squire, Andrew Pryce Jackman, Martin Adelman, John Painter
*First relevant album:* _Original Syn_, 2004
*Linked with:* Yes
*Impact:* 4

Seen as a precursor to prog rock giants Yes, they lasted from 1965 to 1967, then came back in 2004 as a proper progressive rock band. They are notable for including later Yes bassist Chris Squire (RIP) in their lineup.

*Barclay James Harvest (1966- )*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: *John Lees, Les Holroyd, Stuart Wolsthenholme, Mel Pritchard
*First relevant album: *_Barclay James Harvest_, 1970
*Linked to: *The Enid
*Impact: *5

Formed in 1965, they originally included Robert John Godfrey in their lineup, he later leaving to form The Enid. They were successful throughout the seventies but dogged by comparisons to The Moody Blues, leading to their being perhaps unkindly described by critics as “The Poor Man's Moody Blues.”

*Soft Machine (1966-1984)*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup:* Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen, Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge
*First relevant album:* _The Soft Machine, _1968





*Linked to: *The Wilde Flowers, Caravan
*Impact: *7

Another band who later dropped the “the” from their name, they were also a big Canterbury band, and included among others Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers in their lineup. Like many Canterbury (and many progressive bands) they are feted for their contribution to the genre but achieved little in the way of commercial success.

*Stormy Six (1966-1983 (first incarnation), 1990-2010 (second incarnation)*
*Nationality:* Italian
*Original lineup:* Giovanni Fabbri, Maurizio Masla, Franco Fabbri, Luca Piscicelli, Fausto Martinetti, Alberto Santagostino, Antonio Zanuso
*First relevant album:* _Guarda giù dalla pianura_, 1974
*Impact:* 4
*Linked to:* Henry Cow


One of the first Italian prog rock bands, Stormy Six also became involved with, indeed created the idea of Rock In Opposition, (RIO) however they did not really become a true progressive rock band until the middle of the 1970s.

*Genesis (1967-1997 (?))*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: *Peter Gabriel, John Mayhew, Mike Rutherford, Anthony Phillips, Tony Banks
*First relevant album: *_Trespass,_ 1970





*Linked to: *Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins solo careers, Mike and the Mechanics, Tony Banks solo career, Anthony Phillips solo career
*Impact: *10

What can I write about Genesis that I have not yet already? One of the founding members and drivers of the progressive rock movement through the seventies, Genesis eventually fell prey to the bright lights of chart success and turned from their prog rock roots to become just another rock, and then rock/pop band. They disbanded after one album following Phil Collins's departure, but like Yes and ELP were leading lights of the development of progressive rock. Well, to be honest there's some doubt about their breakup, but their last actual album was in 1997 (hence the question mark above) after which they got back together for some tours but have not yet released anything new, and that's over eighteen years now, so you'd have to wonder if they ever will.

*Gong (1967 – 1976) (first incarnation) 1991-2001 (second incarnation) 2003-2004 (third incarnation) 2006 – (fourth incarnation)*
*Nationality:* French
*Original lineup:* Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Ziska Baum, Loren Standlee
*First relevant album:* _Magick Brother_, 1970





*Linked to:* Soft Machine, The Wilde Flowers
*Impact:* 8

One of the first French progressive rock acts, Gong began as more of a psychedelic band and were kind of a forced situation originally, when Daevid Allen, playing with Soft Machine in France, was unable to get a visa to allow him entry into the UK. He thereafter formed Gong, but had to flee France in '68 during the student riots and went to Majorca, where he found his future saxophonist living in a cave. It says here. Trippy, man! Trippy!

*Jethro Tull (1967 – 2011)*
*Nationality: *British
*Original members: *Ian Anderson, Mick Abrahams, Glenn Cornick, Clive Bunker
*First relevant album:* _Benefit,_ 1970





*Linked to: *Fairport Convention
*Impact:* 8

Very much a folk-based band, with bandleader Ian Anderson proficient on the flute, and lyrics often about agriculture, folklore and rural life. They went on to become a very famous and successful band, selling over sixty million albums, despite their strange eccentricities, and even scoring hit singles. 

*The Nice (1967 – 1970)*
*Nationality: *British
*Original lineup: *Keith Emerson, Lee Jackson, Davy O'List, Ian Hague
*First relevant album:* _The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack_, 1967





*Linked to:* Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP)
*Impact:* 7

With their caustic rendition of Leonard Bernstein's “America” and keyboardist Keith Emerson's antics with his keyboard, which would carry through into his association with ELP, The Nice have been credited often with recording the first ever progressive rock album, their debut, _The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack_. This has however been disputed. Whatever the case, what is not disputed is that The Nice was a training ground for one of the world's greatest, and most pompous and arrogant keyboard players, before he joined Carl Palmer and Greg Lake in the immortal prog rock power trio some years later.

*Organisation (or, Organisation zur Verwirklichung gemeinsamer Musikkonzepte ) (1969 – 1970)*
*Nationality:* German
*Original lineup:* Basil Hammoudi, Butch Hauf, Ralf Hütter, Alfred Monics, Florian Schenider-Esleben
*First relevant album:* _Tone Float,_ 1969
*Linked to:* Kraftwerk
*Impact:* 3

With just the one album to their credit, the only real relevance Organisation (I'm not going to write it all out again, but it stands for “organisation for the realisation of common music projects”) have to the progressive rock scene is that they were a Krautrock band which split in 1970 to allow two of the members to form Kraftwerk. 

*Procol Harum (1967-1977) (first incarnation) 1991 – (second incarnation)*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: *Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher, Ray  Royer, David Knights
*First relevant album:* _Procol Harum_, 1967





*Impact:* 7

Best known of course for their smash hit single “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, and were therefore one of the few progressive rock bands who managed to have a big hit first time out. Unfortunately, though they remained active through the seventies, they were never again to repeat this success.

*Van der Graaf Generator (1967 – 1972) (first incarnation) 1975-1978 (second incarnation) 2005 – (third incarnation)*
*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: *Peter Hammill, Chris Judge Smith
*First relevant album:* _The Aerosol Grey Machine_, 1969





*Linked to:* Peter Hammill solo career
*Impact:* 8

One of the most influential early progressive rock bands, Van der Graaf Generator would have a huge influence on Genesis vocalist Peter Gabriel, as well as much later, Marillion's Fish, as both tried to emulate Peter Hammill's style and vocal delivery. VDGG would be another prog rock band though who never troubled the charts, and never strayed from their prog roots, using jazz and blues as part of their musical palette. They would set the standard for much of what was to follow.

So those are, basically, what I guess you could call the parents or grandparents of progressive rock. They would have many children, some of whom would spread their message far and wide across the world, but at this point even these venerable elders of Prog Rock had yet to even record their first albums, and make their impression on the world of rock music. Some would not even make that impression with their debut, but might take another two or three before they hit the magic formula that put them forever on a course to glory and immortality. But even with all that to come, in a very real sense, the birth of progressive rock began here!


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 28, 2019)

Trollheart said:


> View attachment 24580
> 
> 
> *DRAW! (Or rather, don't...)
> ...





Sure, sure


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

*Album title:* _The Velvet Underground and Nico_
*Artiste:*  The Velvet Underground and Nico
*Nationality: *American
*Label:* Verve
*Year: *1967
*Grade:* B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* “Venus in Furs”, that's about it. And some Lou Reed solo material.
*Landmark value:* Obviously this has a very high landmark value, given the contribution it made to the subgenre, but again I feel it's more on the psychedelic side of things than the progressive. Can't be denied it broke down many boundaries though.
*Tracklisting:* _Sunday Morning/ I'm Waiting for the Man/ Femme Fatale/ Venus in Furs/ Run Run Run/ All Tomorrow's Parties/ Heroin/ There She Goes Again/ I'll be Your Mirror/ The Black Angel's Death song/ European Son_
*Comments:* First track's a bit tame, given what I had expected: bit dreamy, sixties pop really. Things up a little with “I'm Waiting for the Man” as Lou Reed takes over vocals solo and the sound crystallises a bit more, harder guitar, edgier lyrics. Beginning to see it now. Distorted, manic piano at the end really adds to the song. Hmm, but then we're back to that dreamy sound again for “Femme Fatale”. Very laid back and seems a little empty. I mentioned I knew “Venus in Furs”, (who doesn’t, if only from the ads?)  so no surprises here, then we're on to “Run Run Run”], the first uptempo song on the album. Kind of like a fast blues with a bit of southern boogie, pretty infectious rhythm really. “All Tomorrow's Parties” slows down the tempo again, and it's Nico at the mike again, with a dark psychedelic sort of feel. Sounds like sitar there. Is it? No, it isn't.

As if they haven't made it plain enough that they're singing about drugs on the album, the next one is called “Heroin”, so there can be no doubt. Another kind of laid back, relaxed sort of song with some nice guitar, that perhaps belies the bleak nature of the lyrical matter. It speeds up but then drops back again. Great vocal from Reed, really more like speaking poetry than singing. Lots of feedback guitar; at one point it totally drowns out Reed's voice, which I assume is intended to make a statement. Almost the longest track on the album, just beaten out of that place by the closer. This is balanced out by the three tracks in between being no more than three minutes long each. 

Don't see anything terribly great about “There She Goes” - standard sixties rock song, could hear The Kinks or The Animals singing this. Nothing special. Back to dreamy pop then for “I'll be Your Mirror” with Nico back on vocals. “The Black Angel's Death Song” is good though: sort of a bluegrass idea in it, screeching viola from John Cale as well as hissing into the microphone all creates a rather unsettling atmosphere. The final track then is “European Son” with a really nice bass line and again it's reasonably uptempo compared to most of the rest of the album. It's also, as mentioned, the longest track, just shy of eight minutes. There are more sound effects here, like things rolling on the floor, barrels maybe, and crashing breaking glass. Actually no: I read now that it's Cale hitting a stack of plates with a metal chair that made the sounds. Of course it is.

Well, it's a weird end to a much less weird album than I had thought it would be. Good enough, but somehow not the powerhouse gamechanger I had expected to hear. I guess, as they say, you had to be there.

*Favourite track(s):* _I'm Waiting for the Man, Venus in Furs, Run Run Run, The Black Angel's Death Song_
*Least favourite track(s):* _ European Son, There She Goes, Femme Fatale_
*Overall impression:* Not what I was expecting at all. I thought it would be wilder, sort of punkish, more experimental. Pretty pleasant really, all things considered. I'm certainly not denying this album its place in musical history, and I can see the progressive rock tinges in it, but they're tinges only, and if this is one of the ancestors of prog rock, then it's the drunk old uncle with tourettes whom everyone tries to avoid at the Christmas dinner, lest he corner you and start going on about how music was in his day.
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating: *4.0
*Final Rating:* *3.5*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

Up to now, though I’ve tried not to be too dismissive of nor ignore bands who are cited as being influential on the birth of prog rock, I’ve yet to hear anything approaching what I would consider to be the sound of the genre. My understanding of what makes progressive rock may be simplistic and basic, but for me, prog rock music has at its heart long and/or complicated keyboard passages, introspective guitar, other instruments like sax, violin, cello or flute, has long songs that are often broken into suites and deals with fantasy or mythological, or at least other than mundane lyrical content. Obviously, that’s not true of every prog band nor indeed every prog song, but I’ve not yet recognised anything that puts me in mind of, say, “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers”, “2112“ or even “Tarkus”. The bands and albums I’ve listened to so far do not, to me, speak of a new genre straining to be born, and though some of them did experiment with sound and ideas, most seem rooted in blues or jazz tropes, and show no sign or stepping much beyond that. Perhaps that will change as I investigate our next band, jumping off at the next stop along my extremely long journey.





Formed initially as The Paramounts, and having one hit single but getting no further, Gary Brooker and Robin Trower formed Procol Harum and began recording their first, self-titled album in 1967, from which they had their biggest hit single, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. Oddly enough, this was _not _on the UK version of the album, though it does appear on the US one. I guess you can only assume the label were trying to push sales of the single further by not allowing those who bought the album to have access to it that way, but it’s a strange thing to do: most people who bought singles would probably then go and get the album if they liked what they heard.

The success of the hit single assured Procol Harum of a place in musical history, and could very well point to them as being one of the first true progressive rock bands, but it did encumber them with the “first hit single syndrome”, and they never really repeated the worldwide success of that song, which is still the one they are associated with, even by those who have never heard a single album of theirs. Like me.






*Album title:* _Procol Harum_
*Artiste:* Procol Harum
*Nationality:* British
*Label: *Regal Zonophone
*Year:* 1967
*Grade:* A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
*Landmark value:* With a worldwide smash hit single on it (at least, the US version) this album could be said to have brought the fledgling progressive rock to the mainstream. 
*Tracklisting:* _Conquistador/ She Wandered Through the Garden Fence/ Something Following Me/ Mabel/ Cerdes (Outside the Gates of)/ A Christmas Camel/ Kaleidoscope/ Salad Days (Are Here Again)/ Good Captain Clack/ Repent Walpurgis _
*Comments:* Well, I finally hear the organs, Hammonds and keyboard runs that would become part and parcel of prog rock here in songs like the opener and the second track particularly, so perhaps Matthew Fisher can be said to be the first prog rock keyboardist? Meh, probably not, but he’s the first I’ve heard to date that embraces and embodies that style that would be identified with this genre. The music definitely seems more keyboard-driven than guitar-centric, which I believe is important. Some nice bluesy piano on “Something Following Me” which has a really nice country feel to it too. Next one’s annoying though: too “Yellow Submarine” Beatles for me. “Cerdes (Outside the Gates of)” brings back the progressive rock though, with some fine guitar from Robin Trower. 

This version then has that smash single, and there’s little I can say about it that hasn’t been said already, so on we go and I have to say I pretty much love most of what I’m hearing here. Like I say, the main thing for me, the thing that differentiates this from the other albums I’ve listened to up to now is the dominance of keyboard; Fisher really holds court over the album and brings it all together, which is not to ignore the other members of PH, but his keyboard soundscapes form the background for the music here, and the album would not be the same without it. The closer is just perfect. Love it.

*Favourite track(s): *_ She Wandered Through the Garden Fence, Something Following Me, Cerdes (Outside the Gates of), A Whiter Shade of Pale, Salad Days (Are Here Again), Repent Walpurgis_
*Least favourite track(s):* _ Mabel, Good Captain Clack_
*Overall impression: *Think I really love this album, and I can finally say that, as far as I’m concerned anyway, and going only on what I’ve listened to up to this point, this, for me, is the first true example of an album that would lead to the proper emergence of progressive rock. Superb.
*Personal Rating:* 4.5
*Legacy Rating: *5.0
*Final Rating: 4.5*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

As with The Byrds, the first name that drops from my lips when I speak of progressive rock is not that of the "Fab Four". Although I’m no fan and have heard little of their music beyond the singles, and I know they did a lot of experimental work later in their career, their contribution to the evolution of progressive rock has always been a bone of contention to me. I can’t deny that, like _Pet Sounds_ - and on which much of this was based - their concept album did open doors that others had not really tried, but really I see it more as a case of the Beatles opening the door but allowing others to rush through, taking the bones of what they had started and putting a lot more flesh on it, to create what was generally accepted by at least 1970 as the format of progressive rock.

As an aside, I must point out that the Wiki entry on this album goes into almost tortuous detail about every song, dissecting it until the various commentators have almost wrung every drop of soul or enjoyment out of it. It’s something like watching a dispassionate autopsy being conducted. I have never quite in my life read so much psychobabble written about music. Like Freud himself once observed, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar guys!

Nevertheless, this album has its place in history, and we would be remiss to exclude it, as it is hailed as one of the first proper concept albums, though to be honest I fail to see any common thread or plot running through it. To me, it’s more a collection of songs, though the idea of it being performed by a fictional band made up by the Beatles is interesting and certainly was, at the time, pretty ground-breaking. But was it progressive rock? Um...





*Album title:* _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_
*Artiste:* The Beatles
*Nationality:* British
*Label: *Parlophone
*Year: *1967
*Grade:* B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste: *Who hasn’t heard something by the Beatles??
*Landmark value:* Seen as not only very important in the evolution of progressive rock (though I would not call it a prog rock album by any stretch), but also in helping to establish the identity of albums as opposed to singles and one of the first real concept albums, this set the standard for future recording techniques and was one of the few albums that was essentially recorded as a band other than the one the artists were known for.
*Tracklisting: *_Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band/ With a Little Help from My Friends/ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds/ Getting Better/ Fixing a Hole/ She’s Leaving Home/ Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, Within You Without You, When I’m Sixty-four, Lovely Rita, Good Morning Good Morning, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise), A Day in the Life_
*Comments: *We’ll all heard this album - or at least, some of it, so I’ll skip the tracks I, and everyone else, knows, and jump to “Getting Better”, which seems to keep some of the basic idea from “With a Little Help from My Friends”, straigh tahead rock tune really. “Fixing a Hole” has more of a twenties feel about it, sort of music-hall idea there, and “She’s Leaving Home”] slows it all down to a moody dirge with some beautiful violin and cello. I’ve heard this of course before, and I like the way it’s seen from both sides, the runaway and the parents, each giving their reaction.

“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” has the sort of melody that would be very much at home on a Tom Waits album, and I guess you can see the influence of this album in his later work, lot of carnival sounds and effects, seems to be an instrumental, then Harrison’s sitar introduces “Within You Without You” with some suitably Indian percussion (congas?) and a sort of droning, chanted vocal; I’ve heard part of this melody in a much later Marillion song. It’s the only one with Harrison on lead vocals, and almost the longest on the album: whereas most of the other tracks, bar the closer, are around the two or three minute mark, this runs for just over five. I think we all know “When I’m Sixty-four”, which bumps along nicely on tuba and horns, with “Lovely Rita” coming back to the main theme of the title track, bopping along. Interesting that they use the description "meter maid", when they were an English band and on this side of the Atlantic we call them all "traffic wardens", male or female. Still, I guess “meter maid” rhymes better with “Rita”. Sort of.

I’m not too impressed with “Good Morning Good Morning”, bit ordinary, though it has some nice guitar in it. There’s a reprise then of the title track, then if anything is progressive rock on this album - and little is really - I’d have to mark the closer, “A Day in the Life” as an indicator of the direction the genre was going to go over the next few years. I like the way it changes time signatures, tempos and particularly the crescendos that provide the real power behind the song. 

*Favourite track(s):* _With a Little Help from My Friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, She’s Leaving Home, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, A Day in the Life_
*Least favourite track(s):*_ Good Morning Good Morning_
Overall impression: Given that I know so much of this album already, not the biggest surprise, but I’d still have to say the jury is out, as far as I’m concerned, as to how much of a role this album has to play in the genesis (sorry) of progressive rock. It’s certainly an important album, but though I can see some of the processes and thoughts here being used in future prog rock albums, I’m not sure I don’t see it as more of  a psychedelic album than a progressive rock one.

*Personal Rating:* 4.0
*Legacy Rating: * 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.5 *


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

Although I came to their work relatively late, by way of _The Wall a_nd _Dark Side of the Moon_, there can be little argument against Pink Floyd having been one of the prime movers behind the rise of progressive rock. Their music on the albums mentioned, and continuing on into the second side of_ Meddle_, _Wish You Were Here_,  to say nothing of _Animals_, typifies that refusal of the genre to conform to the norms of rock music at the time: albums must yield hit singles, singles must be such-a-length, the setup is guitar-vocals-bass-drums, and so on. Through the pioneering efforts of their seventies output, Floyd blazed a trail for others to follow, and could not more exemplify the term “experimental music” if they were all wearing white coats and working in a lab.

But their first few albums were not quite so progressive as psychedelic rock, though I’m beginning to realise that the two are, or were at that time, quite closely linked, if not inextricably tied together. In ways, what psychedelic rock began progressive rock either expanded on, absorbed into its own music or improved upon. In fact, for the next five or six years the two terms could almost be described as interchangeable, as bands like Tangerine Dream, Gong, Captain Beefheart and The Mothers of Invention tried out new sounds, tested the ground ahead and, even if it gave way and they fell through, always climbed out, nodding and taking notes. It’s not an overstatement, I believe, to say that had we not had psychedelic rock we would in all likelihood never have had progressive rock.

And many bands, as mentioned, began in a sort of psychedelic direction but later changed to a more structured approach as they became more in the way of progressive rock bands. Pink Floyd were one case in point, and a vitally important one. At the time they started playing the local clubs there was literally nothing else like them on Earth; they were the only show in town and the one you had to see if you wanted to “get your mind blown,” Even in my long-vanished youth, when our school shelled out for a rare trip to London and we were taken to the Planetarium, it was the music of Pink Floyd that accompanied the stars streaking across the sky, the visits to alien worlds and the whole voyage through the cosmos. Their music was almost tailor-made for such excursions, both of the eye and, I am reliably informed, of the mind.

But Floyd started off with a drag factor which was to lead to perhaps one of the earliest changes in a band’s history that I know of. Bright as a burning star himself, and commemorated in the almost-album-long “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” eight years later, Syd Barrett was one of the founders of the band, then called The Pink Floyd Sound, though they quickly dropped the last word and fairly soon afterwards the first too, becoming ever after known as Pink Floyd. Barrett was a great musician and songsmith, but his battle with addictions would have detrimental and later, tragic consequences on his career, and lead to his being fired from the band he had created, to allow the others to shine as brightly. It was a tough decision for Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright, but not taken lightly, and done because there really was nothing else they could do.

Before he left them though, Barrett was the creative genius and visionary who wrote their entire debut album, music and lyrics, and sung on almost every song. He even came up with the striking and memorable title, taken from a chapter of the children’s classic “The Wind in the Willows”.






*Album title:* _The Piper at the Gates of Dawn_
*Artiste: *Pink Floyd
*Nationality:* British
*Label: *EMI
*Year: *1967
*Grade:* A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Pretty much everything after _Dark Side of the Moon_, including Roger Waters’s solo material.
* Landmark value:* Heralding the arrival of Pink Floyd on to the scene, the value of this album really can’t be overestimated. Floyd brought things like lightshows, taped effects, feedback, video and special effects to their stageshows, and were probably the first British band to create what is today termed a “full multimedia experience”. I never got to see them live, ever, which I regret, but I’m told it was an experience you never forgot. Although there was a hit single for Floyd at this time, it was not from this album and they helped usher in an era where albums were more important than singles, and you didn’t have to have a hit single for an album to sell well. This, and its followup, would of course lead in time to the genre-defining classic that is _Dark Side of the Moon_, which would have such an influence and effect on musicians as well as fans that it is still the standard today.
*Tracklisting: *_ Astronomy Domine/ Lucifer Sam/ Matilda Mother/ Flaming/ Pow R Toc. h/ Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk/ Interstellar Overdrive/ The Gnome/ Chapter 24/ The Scarecrow/ Bike_
*Comments:* “Astronomy Domine” is a great start, with really atmospheric, spacey effects, not to mention one of the coolest song titles ever, and shows the sort of direction Floyd would begin to move in, while “Lucifer Sam” is kind of more straight ahead rock, though you can get an idea of Waters’s prowess on the bass lines here. “Matilda Mother” is _very_ psychedelic, sort of reminds me of those winged chaps I reviewed a while back. Nice kind of eastern tinges to the melody from Wright on the keys, and a sort of hissing, pumping sound that would later make its way into “Welcome to the Machine”.

The psych elements continue into “Flaming”, and it’s clear by now that though Barrett was a competent singer, there’s something missing from his delivery here. Maybe it’s the bitterness or anger Waters put into his singing, or the more mellifluous tones of David Gilmour, when he joined later and occasionally got behind the mike. I can see why there was concern over Syd being too quiet to be heard; at times here the music just overpowers his voice. The first of two instrumentals on the album, “Pow R. Toc. H” presages some of the music from later album _Animals_, and gives both Wright and Mason their chance to really shine. It’s quite uptempo and all a bit mad, but good fun, with some crazy effects that would become trademarks of this unique band. 

Roger Waters’s only vocal then comes in “Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk”, and even here you can see the difference in styles; Waters is more forceful, more in-your-face, louder than the mostly gentle Barrett. Wright also goes wild on the organ here as the song rushes along at a much more frenetic pace that any of the previous tracks. It is, to be fair, not as great as some of the rest of the album. Where Floyd really hit their stride though is with the nine-minute-plus “Interstellar Overdrive”, which marries space rock, psych and the emerging progressive rock tropes really well. The echoes, the feedback, the effects. Hard to believe that a band starting out could put a nine-minute instrumental on their debut album, but Floyd from the beginning weren’t interested in kow-towing to the charts. And they were right. As they set their own course and people bought into what they were selling, this would become a future classic.They were on their own personal journey, and very soon millions would want to be part of it.

“The Gnome” then is just silly, there’s no way around that. I like the Beatlesesque sound of “Chapter 24”, it’s quite slow and dreamy with some nice keys effects, “The Scarecrow” is nice too, very laid back and pastoral, but I don’t like “Bike”, which closes the album. Seems totally out of place to me. Crazy lyric, I guess reflects Barrett’s personality at the time. Actually, fuck  it, I’ve changed my mind. This is a fun song and I suddenly like it. Yeah, I can change my mind like that: it’s my goddamn journal! Hey, totally weird-out ending!

*Favourite track(s)*: _ Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Pow R toc H, Interstellar Overdrive, Chapter 24, The Scarecrow, Bike_
*Least favourite track(s):*_Flaming, Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk, The Gnome_
*Overall impression*: Not so much the World Tree of Progressive Rock as one of the major seeds that germinated and then spread across the music world, pollinating everything they touched, this album is a nod towards where Floyd were headed, a road sign if you will on the journey they were about to undertake. While for pure progressive rock it’s still not as much an early example as the Procol Harum album, the impact Floyd would have on prog rock far outweighs that of the other band, and for that reason alone this album needs to be heralded as one of the progenitors of the movement.

Not as simple rock as I had been led to believe, there are two seriously prog instrumentals on it and some lyrics that would be at home on any Yes or Camel album. Possibly. But the important  point is that Floyd were pushing, changing, evolving from this album on, transforming the face of rock into something that had really never been seen before, and which would birth some giants of the era. Progression: it’s what drove Floyd for many years, and by association, many other bands who were to come.
*Personal Rating:*4.0
*Legacy Rating: *5.0
*Final Rating: 4.5*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

In 1965 a young contemporary of Frank Zappa called Don Van Vliet decided his own name wasn’t interesting or psychedelic enough, and changed it to Captain Beefheart, a name that would ring down through the annals of progressive, experimental and psychedelic music for decades, and reverberate in even the work of many musicians later to come, including the venerated Tom Waits. Beefheart’s music could probably only be rivalled by the gleeful madness of Zappa, and I certainly found at least one of his albums totally inaccessible to me, leaving me with some trepidation in covering him here. But he is or was a massive influence on so many artistes and on the genre in general that I could not afford to leave him out.

Like some progressive rock progenitors, Beefheart’s music seldom if ever troubled the charts, though his albums have gone on to appear in “best of” lists all over the spectrum, and he is revered and referred to by many a musician. A volatile, enigmatic personality, it seems Beefheart had something of a dictatorial approach to his work and his band, best reflected in this quote from drummer John French, taken from Wiki:

_”If Van Vliet built a house like he wrote music, the methodology would go something like this... The house is sketched on the back of a Denny's placemat in such an odd fashion that when he presents it to the contractor without plans or research, the contractor says "This structure is going to be hard to build, it's going to be tough to make it safe and stable because it is so unique in design." Van Vliet then yells at the contractor and intimidates him into doing the job anyway. The contractor builds the home, figuring out all the intricacies involved in structural integrity himself because whenever he approaches Van Vliet, he finds that he seems completely unable to comprehend technical problems and just yells, "Quit asking me about this stuff and build the damned house."... When the house is finished no one gets paid, and Van Vliet has a housewarming party, invites none of the builders and tells the guests he built the whole thing himself.”_

Not the nicest of people then, and certainly when I listened to - well, suffered bravely through - _Trout Mask Replica_ I just got the feeling of someone having a laugh, imagining people listening to this and calling it music. I certainly didn’t enjoy it.  I’m told though by people who know far more about him than I that his debut album was a lot more conventional than _Trout Mask Replica_, and if so, it’s something I’ll be thankful for, because I do not fancy going though _that_ again. For those wondering, when we get to that album I’ll just be referring back to my previous review of it: I don’t think my fragile psyche could take another trip through that particular wonderland. But this was his first release under his band’s name, one of thirteen in total he would release up until his retirement from music in 1982.





*Album title:* _ Safe as Milk_
*Artiste: *Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band
*Nationality: *American
*Label: *Buddah
*Year:* 1967
*Grade:* C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* _Trout Mask Replica_ (Shudder!) Oh, and “Ice Cream for Crow” - I actually enjoyed that! 
*Landmark value:* As detailed above, Beefheart had a massive influence on progressive rock, but what effect _this _particular album had is debatable, so after listening through to this I would say not that much really.
*Tracklisting: *_ Sure ‘Nuff ‘n Yes I Do/ Zig-zag Wanderer/ Call On Me/ Dropout Boogie/ I’m Glad/  Electricity/ Yellow Brick Road/ Abba Zaba/ Plastic Factory/ Where There’s Woman/ Grown So Ugly/ Autumn’s Child _
*Comments: *It’s pretty straight ahead Delta blues here, which is a relief for me but nothing terribly progressive yet. It’s pretty basic up until “I’m Glad” which has a nice motown soul feel to it, then the weirdness that would become Beefheart’s trademark (it says here) starts to leak in as “Electricity” hits and he assumes a sort of moaning, warbling voice which I can see Waits adopted from about 1983 onwards. Country jamboree then on “Yellow Brick Road”, a few years before Elton snagged it, and I find “Abba Zaba” very annoying. 

If this is seen as the easy way into Beefheart, then while it doesn’t give me nightmares in the same way _TMR_ did, I really don’t see myself being a fan of him ever. This I just find pretty generic with a side of weirdness tacked on and it’s not for me. I also don’t see anything particularly progressive about it, not here anyway. It’s a good blues album, but there are so many of them I couldn’t say this is any better than any of them, or indeed any worse. The only real interest in this for me is hearing where Waits learned to develop his voice, and I can hear echoes of him again in “Where There’s Woman”. Other than that I’m just bored.
*Favourite track(s):* _ Sure ‘Nuff ‘n Yes I Do, I’m Glad, Yellow Brick Road, Where There’s Woman_
*Least favourite track(s):*_ Electricity, Dropout Boogie, Abba Zaba_
*Overall impression:* Decent album, no shock to the system like _TMR_ but nothing that special.
*Personal Rating:* 1.00
*Legacy Rating:* 2.00
*Final Rating:1.50 *


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

Another band who would go on to shape, lead and influence the progressive rock movement began in the south of England when five young lads decided to ditch their overly blues/r&b influences from their first album and looked more towards a fusion of classical, blues and more symphonic music that would result in their second album, which would go on to be one of the most important records of the era. With new boys John Lodge and Justin Hayward in tow, the Moody Blues were ready to take on the world.






*Album title:* _ Days of Future Passed_
*Artiste:* The Moody Blues
*Nationality:* British
*Label:* Deram Records
*Year:* 1967
*Grade:* A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:*_ Sur la Mer, In Search of the Lost Chord, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Long Distance Voyager_ and the singles
*Landmark value:* One of the true progenitors of the progressive rock movement, The Moody Blues tend to get a little forgotten about and left behind, with only their hit single “Nights in White Satin” to mark their passing, but they really were one of the original bands to push their music towards what would become known as progressive rock. This being their second album, first real prog rock one and a concept album, all adds up to make this a very important recording. It also marks the first real use of the mellotron, one of the keyboard instruments which would become a true staple of the genre.
*Tracklisting:* _The Day Begins / Dawn:  Dawn is a Feeling / The Morning: Another Morning/ Lunch Break: Peak Hour/ The Afternoon: Tuesday Afternoon/ Evening (The Sunset/ Twilight Time)/ The Night: Nights in White Satin _
*Comments: *Right away you’re into a whole different kind of music here. It’s full, it’s dramatic, it’s, well, classical. It’s the sort of thing the likes of Jeff Lynne would pick up on in a few years’ time and make his trademark, but here it’s something totally new, initially like listening to a symphony. The album charts, to quote the Beatles, a day in the life, and goes from dawn to night, with little interludes and intros for each piece. There’s a full orchestra here, and it’s not really that surprising, as although this kind of sound could possibly be reproduced today with a few banks of synthesisers, back then they were much more in their infancy and you would need the full orchestra to do this music justice. Mike Pinder’s mellotron however does hold court here, and you can hear its influence all through the album.

I like the way “The Day Begins” opens with the theme for what will become the main melody of their most famous and successful single, “Nights in White Satin”, and it’s a lovely sweeping majestic tune which then gives way to spoken poetry against much lighter, airier music, almost ethereal. “Dawn is a Feeling” is the first real vocal track, slow and grandiose, and again I can hear melodies and progressions here that would form the backbone of many an ELO tune in the next decade. A lot of flute here too, something that had not really been used on rock albums up to that point much, if at all. “Another Morning” is much more uptempo, sort of Beatles in form, some really nice acoustic guitar from new boy Justin Hayward and some peppy flute from Ray Thomas.

A big orchestral intro then for “Lunch Break” and then it hits into that rush-rush pumping sort of tune that always seems to depict the big city, people hurrying to and fro, going to appointments and meetings, catching buses and taxis; you know the kind of thing. “Peak Hour” then breaks in with a real rock tune driven on electric guitar and bass, the percussion hard and heavy and the vocal a little wild. I know “Tuesday Afternoon”, with its gentle boppy feel, again the acoustic guitar and this time the voice of Hayward, and a really sumptuous orchestral passage leading into a kind of folky campfire ending. 

“Evening” doesn’t do too much for me I’m afraid. The semi-tribal opening of “Sunset” is a little jarring, even given the classical sweep that follows it, and even though there’s some nice bass work from John Lodge and some more lovely flute from Ray Thomas, it just doesn’t sit right somehow. The mix of orchestral and rock and roll on “Twilight Time” is much better; the vocal harmonies work really well and the whole thing just hangs together better. Of course I know “Nights in White Satin”, an extended version of which closes the album in fine style, a song which would not only become one of their biggest hits but a staple on love compilation albums for decades to come. Pinder really comes into his own here on the mellotron, and there’s a powerful spoken piece by him before the orchestra brings everything to a triumphant close. 

*Favourite track(s): *_ Dawn is a Feeling, Tuesday Afternoon, Twilight Time, Nights in White Satin_
*Least favourite track(s):*_ Sunset, Peak Hour_
*Overall impression: *A very impressive and ambitious album, and one which would certainly point the way for progressive rock bands that were to come. The first time a rock band had really married symphonic orchestral music and rock together and come up with something that was greater than the sum of its parts.
*Personal Rating:* 4.0
*Legacy Rating*: 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.5 *


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

I’ve never had that much time for Keith Emerson, but it can’t be denied that in the same way as Mike Pinder brought the mellotron into progressive rock music, Emerson ensured that keyboards took centre stage. Almost literally. He’s more known, in some ways, for the abuse he practiced on his keyboards - dragging them around the stage, attacking them with knives etc - than he is for his prowess on the instrument, but there’s no getting away from the fact that he knew how to play. He may have pushed showmanship to the fore in preference to musical ability, but he had both in spades.

The band he started out in, more or less, is the feature of our next article. With a name that typically sounded acceptable and normal, but actually referred to drug-taking, The Nice were big on the scene from 1967 to about 1970, and in that time they popularised the idea of marrying jazz, classical and other influences into their music. They would also be feted as the first real supergroup, although for me the term has a different meaning: you have to have been in a big, successful band and then joined others who have done the same, in the way Asia, Box of Frogs and The Travelling Wilburys did. But that’s just my opinion.

With arrogance that would become one of his worst traits, Emerson made sure his name was first when the band released their debut album, and it was his somewhat dictatorial approach to his bandmates and his desire for more and more of the spotlight that would eventually lead to their breaking up in 1971. Before that though, they released four major albums, one of which is said to have been one of the cornerstones of the progressive rock movement.






*Album title:* _ The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack_
*Artiste:* The Nice
*Nationality:* British
*Label:* Immediate
*Year:* 1967
*Grade:* A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero; I saw them playing “America” live on some prog history show, but that’s about it.
*Landmark value: *Bringing together both the idea of interpreting classical music for a new generation and pushing the keyboard towards the front of the band, whereas before it has been more of a backup instrument, The Nice certainly laid many of the foundations for what would become prog rock, and of course Emerson went on to found ELP, one of the biggest and most successful prog rock bands in history, and ironically, one against whom the backlash of punk rock was aimed and which spelled, for a while, the end of the genre.
*Tracklisting:* _ Flower King of Flies/ The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack/ Bonny K/ Rondo/ War and Peace/ Tantalising Maggie/ Dawn/ The Cry of Eugene_
*Comments:* A brief rant at Spotify, though I probably shouldn’t; they provide me with so much music I would otherwise have to pay for. But still: they have The Nice on their books but not this, supposedly their most important album! Why? I had to go Groovesharkin’* to find it. But to the album: there’s a lot of psychedelic rock here, decent enough song to open, and you can certainly hear Emerson’s organ (ooer!) taking the lead in just about every song. He does prove he’s a master of it though. The title track has a nice sort of early prog feel about it with some classical mixed in, and I sort of hear early Moody Blues here too. Good marching rhythm, very upbeat, I really like this.

“Bonny K” is more a rock-and-roll track, with the guitar getting in some fine licks and Emerson almost pushed to the background for a little, but he’s back with a bang for “Rondo”, based on Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk”, which is pretty damn excellent. The “Toccata and Fugue” extract, almost in the background is tremendous, like the past calling “Don’t forget me!” Must say, I really love this. “War and Peace” is another instrumental, this time with a real blues/boogie flair, and again I must admit it’s totally bitchin’. The keyboard arpeggios and runs are amazing. 

Not so impressed with “Tantalising Maggie” though; bit kind of folky with elements of rock, doesn’t really work for me. Stupid ending too, with some sort of taped laughter? Yeah, definitely my least favourite so far, almost the only one I don’t like. “Dawn” has a great creeping menace about it, reminds me of later Waits at times; the dark whisper works really well. Like this one too. Gets a little indulgent towards the end, bit freeform; you can see where Emerson was going to go later with ELP. It recovers well though and it’s still a great track. Which leaves us with only one song proper to go. I say proper because although it wasn’t included on the original release, how could I not mention their rendition of Bernstein’s “America” from _West Side Story_? 

But before that we have “The Cry of Eugene”, with a Beatles-like psychedelia and some really nice violin it sounds like, though I see none credited. Can’t be synthesised as at this point even analogue synthesisers had to make their presence felt. Maybe a guitar effect? Good anyway. It’s not, to be fair, the greatest closer (“Dawn” would have been much better) but it’s a decent song and I have little bad to say about it, or indeed this album.

But then, technically that’s not it, is it? Although excluded from the original release as I said, their most famous/infamous song is their pastiche of Leonard Bernstein’s “America”. What Jimi did for “The Stars and Stripes” Emerson and co. do here, ripping the piss unmercifully out of the nationalistic theme for _West Side Story_, and it’s probably one of the first real protest songs without words. Maybe the only one. Great stuff, and again proof that, despite my dislike for him, Emerson was a true keyboard wizard. Apparently Bernstein hated it. Good: I’m sure he was meant to.

*Favourite track(s):* _ The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, Rondo, War and Peace, Dawn. America_
*Least favourite track(s)*:_ Tantalising Maggie_
*Overall impression:* Brilliant album. Keyboard-heavy of course, and a real pointer to the way prog rock would develop, thrive and grow. I may not like ELP but I certainly love this.
*Personal Rating:* 4.5
*Legacy Rating: *5.0
*Final Rating: 4.5 
*
 * _Grooveshark, for those who don’t know, was something of a minor competitor to Spotify, but they didn’t last. As Agnes said to Marge Simpson when Marge intimated that Macys and Gimbels could get along, “Gimbels is gone, Marge! You’re Gimbels!” Indeed._


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

Before I move on to 1968, a brief word about this year and the albums I have listened to. With apologies to 1966, it does seem that ‘67 was the year prog rock began struggling towards some sort of birth. To paraphrase Yeats: “What rough beast, its hour come round at last, strides towards Canterbury to be born?” Whereas we had the likes of the Beach Boys and the Byrds laying claim to some sort of responsibility for, or hand in the genesis of prog rock, as I said I don’t really see it that way. Those albums certainly impinged on and helped spur the ideas and fire the imaginations of those who would later lead the way, but as for being fathers, or grandfathers  of the genre? Nah. They pointed the way a little perhaps, but more in the manner of a farmer leaning on a gate who, when asked the way to the big festival, indicates the direction to the band in the van and then turns back to his cows and sheep. In the same way as that hypothetical farmer sent the band in the right direction but had nothing to do with them or their music, had no interest in fact in either and just happened to be there to point the way, the Beach Boys, the Byrds and to an extent Zappa helped prog along on its journey but could not really be said to have seriously contributed in any real way.

Make of that what you want, fume and rage and tell me I’m wrong, but I heard little in any of these three albums to make me realise a new era of music was approaching, a new direction being taken. Zappa particularly was experimental and that added to the prog melting pot, if you will, but to call him a prog rock artiste, or at least to say that _Freak Out!_ was a prog rock record is I think stretching it a little. You may disagree with that of course, especially if you’re a fan of the man and know his music better than I do, and there’s no doubting the possibility that down the road he may have contributed more widely or specifically to the genre, but for that album on its own, I think not. 

So 1966, the year of the Beach Boys and the Byrds and the emergence of Frank Zappa, does not for me cut it for the year prog began. 1967 on the other hand has some gems. The ability of the Moody Blues to change from straight blues/rock to a more classical idea, leaning into what would become progressive rock, the coming to life of Pink Floyd, the birth of Procol Harum and the efforts of Keith Emerson to take keyboard players out of the shadows of the background and into the limelight, all speak to me of a new shift in music at the time, a real feeling that something was happening, that something was about to change, that something was being born.

There are exceptions. Not every album I reviewed here gives me that sort of feeling. Let’s quickly look at them one by one. *Velvet Underground*’s debut was the first one I took in ‘67 and as I said, I didn’t feel it with them. That, to me, was not progressive rock nor anything close to what prog rock would become. In parts, yes, it was maybe art rock, and that would be a kind of subset of prog rock, but too much of it is psychedelia or just plain rock to afford it a place in what I would see as the hatchery of this new music. *Procol Harum*, on the other hand: a great blend of the sort of influences that would indeed create prog rock - the mellotron, the strange lyrics, the time signature changes, the longer songs. _Sgt Pepper’s _deserves its place because of the recording techniques used, as well as for almost single-handedly redefining the idea of an album as opposed to a collection of singles plus fillers, and of course for being one of the first concept albums. But even so, it’s not what I would call prog. Or to put it in the words of the late Leonard Nimoy’s famous alter-ego (and robbed from the pages of “Prog” magazine) it’s prog, Jim, but not as we know it.

The inclusion of *Captain Beefheart*'s debut here baffles me, as it is so far away from prog rock as to be almost indistinguishable from it. It's a half-decent blues album but that's about it. Like Frank Zappa, though, it's true he had a pretty big effect on the genre with albums like the dreaded _Trout Mask Replica_, so I would not have the temerity to suggest he was not important to prog rock, just not with this record. *Pink Floyd*, although their debut was not quite what you would call a prog rock album, does have the beginnings of how their sound was to develop and evolve over the years, and there are some very proggy moments on _Piper_, so I would certainly count that as a very important album in the conception of progressive rock.

Nobody could deny the *Moody Blues* did more than nearly anyone to advance and even create the genre of progressive rock with their second release, _Days of Future Passed_, particularly with Pinder’s efforts to make the mellotron the prog instrument of choice, while with the marrying of classical music with rock, the suites and the ecological nature of the music on the album,  leaving aside my contempt for his ego, Emerson and *The Nice *really advanced the cause by putting keyboards centre stage, developing the idea of a gig as more a show than just a concert (something Floyd had also done, but more with light shows and multimedia than by sheer force of personality), and of course again the idea of using classical music to set their own themes to, paying homage to the past while creating the future.

With a few very important albums then, the seeds for the germination of progressive rock were sown, and over the next decade would blossom and spread, though oddly again this new subgenre would be primarily a British phenomenon. Though other countries would get in on the act, most notably Italy, prog rock, even though it would grow to gigantic, almost bloated proportions by the end of the next decade, would still only be driven by and practiced in that sceptred isle. Later of course, America would wake up to the scene, but not for a long time. For now, and for a considerable amount of years, as she had once ruled the waves, Britannia would rule the progsphere.


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 1, 2019)

Well, you sure grade hard :lol:


Nope, Sergeant Pepper isn't really a progressive album in the classic sense and it was only a concept album because they said it was, as Lennon would put it thirteen years later. Velvet Underground is certainly not a progressive rock album, but guess what? Neither was Procol Harum's debut or Pet Sounds or admittedly, Revolver. What all these albums were though were albums by which all future albums would be measured. Needless to say I differ in opinion on the reviews of VU and Pepper in particular (A 4.0 legacy rating for VU and Nico?) and even Gates of Dawn to an extent (I'm a real Syd Barrett fan). I think you're right on with Days of Future Passed but I probably don't like Procol Harum quite as much as you do. The Nice, I've only really heard Flower King of Flies which I happen to like a lot. I'm pretty sure that was meant as the single for the album. Maybe I'll give that one a listen for my own album reviews. As for Safe as Milk, I have to wonder if there is a personal bias at play there though I'd probably only rate that a 3 on your scale myself.

So what's up for 1968? Jethro Tull released their first album that year and you also have the Move and I believe the Idle Race. The Grateful Dead released Anthem of the Sun that year and I think that might rate as their one and only progressive album. And, of course you have Forever Changes by Love. And of course the established groups already mentioned like Moody Blues and Pink Floyd. Really looking forward to what you think of King Crimson though when you get to 1969. Of the bands that are labeled progressive, they're probably my favorite.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 1, 2019)

mrmustard615 said:


> Well, you sure grade hard :lol:


Live hard, grade hard. :lol: Seriously, I tried to be as fair as I could, so there's my own personal grade (my opinion of the album in general with regard to its place in the prog movement, NOT my personal opinion of it as an album on its own) its Legacy Rating (how important the history of music sees the album as, despite what I may think of it) and then the average becomes the final rating. I think that's the only way to do it.


> Nope, Sergeant Pepper isn't really a progressive album in the classic sense and it was only a concept album because they said it was, as Lennon would put it thirteen years later. Velvet Underground is certainly not a progressive rock album, but guess what? *Neither was Procol Harum's debut* or Pet Sounds or admittedly, Revolver. What all these albums were though were albums by which all future albums would be measured. Needless to say I differ in opinion on the reviews of VU and Pepper in particular (A 4.0 legacy rating for VU and Nico?) and even Gates of Dawn to an extent


I think, having admittedly only listened to it the once, I'd argue that PH's album was very much either a prog album or one that pointed the way. Moodies certainly was. I agree with your overall assessment above though, which is I think something I said anyway.


> (I'm a real Syd Barrett fan).


Not me: never liked the first two albums, though I can see how they contributed to the overall sound Floyd would develop. Barrett for me was more in the folky, bluesy side of things, though he could write some very progressive epics, as evidenced by the longer songs on _Piper_.


> I think you're right on with Days of Future Passed but I probably don't like Procol Harum quite as much as you do. The Nice, I've only really heard Flower King of Flies which I happen to like a lot. I'm pretty sure that was meant as the single for the album. Maybe I'll give that one a listen for my own album reviews.


The Nice album is really good. You should listen to it. As someone who doesn't like ELP I didn't think I'd enjoy it but I did.


> As for Safe as Milk, I have to wonder if there is a personal bias at play there though I'd probably only rate that a 3 on your scale myself.


Personal bias is as personal bias does. Yeah, of course there is: that's why the Personal Rating is there. It's also why it isn't the only way I rate the albums, cos, you know, that would be stupid. But while_ SaM_ isn't the worst album, I'm not rating them on my Personal Scale as to how I enjoyed them, but how I feel they deserve to be called part of the prog movement, and I don't think that one does. Wait till you see the review for _TMR_!
 :lol: :ChainGunSmiley::ChainGunSmiley:


> So what's up for 1968? Jethro Tull released their first album that year and you also have the Move and I believe the Idle Race. The Grateful Dead released Anthem of the Sun that year and I think that might rate as their one and only progressive album. And, of course you have Forever Changes by Love. And of course the established groups already mentioned like Moody Blues and Pink Floyd. Really looking forward to what you think of King Crimson though when you get to 1969. Of the bands that are labeled progressive, they're probably my favorite.


Tull's first two albums are generally not considered to be prog, which is why I don't start reviewing him till I think 1971? The Dead were never part of the prog movement; just cos they had one proggy album doesn't mean they were important to the genre, so I don't think they're included. Other bands who had only one album, or one prog one, unless it was VERY influential, won't be featured. See what you think of 1969, coming up real soon!


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

If 1967 was a pretty nascent year for prog rock, the following year would prove to be even more so.  Bands who would rise to become true giants in the field would be formed in 1968, though many of them would not release their first album for another year, even two in some cases, and then, their debuts would not always be the groundbreaking classics later ones would grow to be. I guess if you consider 1967 - and to some smaller extent, 1966 - as the nursery years of prog rock, 1968 was when the chicks began hatching; breathing the air but as yet nowhere near strong enough to fly.

Put another way,  the seeds that had been sown were beginning to grow,  but would still need a whole lot of sunshine before they could bear any fruit. Once they did, though, everyone would want a taste! Here then are some of the important bands that got together this year.

_Note: as this gets a little closer to the sort of prog rock I’m familiar with, I’m introducing a new category, which with typical self-effacement and humility I’m calling “The Trollheart Factor”. This is an indication of how well, if at all, I know and am familiar with the artiste in question, and how qualified I am therefore to speak about them. I’ll also add this to album reviews, as even though I may know some artistes well, there may be albums of theirs I’m not that well versed in._

_Further note: since I’ve a pain in my arse writing the word “incarnation” all the time, I’m in future going to indicate each time the band reformed with a Roman numeral (bein’ a bit of a pretentious git), so the original lineup will be (i), a reformed one (ii), the next (iii) and so on, put after the relevant years._

_Even further note: for those bands or artists with which I am very unfamiliar or even know nothing about, and where I can't determine quickly their impact on the subgenre, I will just put a question mark, and it can be amended later, when I've read more about them or listened to them._


*Amon Düül II (1968 – )*

*Nationality:* German
*Original lineup: *Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner, John Weinzierl and Renate Knaup
*First relevant album:* _Phallus Dei_, 1969





*Impact:* 6
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:*

Progenitors of what would become known as Krautrock, Amon Düül II grew up out of a hippy commune in Germany, where the music really originally came second to paying the bills to keep the camp open. Apparently in the beginning they worked really hard - _”The band played almost every day”_ according to Wiemzierl. “We played universities, academies, underground clubs, and every hall with a power socket and an audience.”

*Art Zoyd (1968 - )*

*Nationality: *French
*Original lineup:* Gerard Hourbette
*First relevant album:* _Symphonie pour le jour où brûleront les cités,_ 1976
*Impact:* ?
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked with:*

French avant-garde, free jazz and experimental band that seems to have been under the direction of one man, the abovenamed Gerard Hourbette. Part of the Rock In Opposition (RIO) movement.

*Brainbox (1969-1972 (i), 2004 - (ii))*

*Nationality: *Dutch
*Original lineup: *Jan Akkerman, Pierre van der Linden, Kazimir Lux
*First relevant album:* _Brainbox_, 1969





*Impact: *4
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked with:* Focus

Most famous as the launching board for Focus, Brainbox released three albums(including, weirdly, a “Best of” after just one album!) before they split in 1972. They reunited in 2004 and have since released another two albums plus a live one, the last being put out in 2011.

*Can (1968 - 1979, (i)1986 - 1989 (ii))*

*Nationality:* German
*Original lineup: *Michael Karoli (RIP), Jaki Lebezeit, Irmin Schmidt, Holger Czukay, David C. Johnson, Malcolm Mooney
*First relevant album:* _Monster Movie_, 1969





*Impact:* 9
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked with: *

Another band instrumental in the Krautrock era, Can are one of the most well-remembered and artists from Joy Division and The Fall to Bowie and Talking Heads cite them as an influence on their music, with Brian Eno composing a short movie in tribute to them. Although they disbanded in 1979 they reunited seven years later to record one more album. There were sporadic other appearances by them over the years, but since these usually concerned recording a track or a live performance I’m not counting them. They remain however a huge influence right across the music world, from jazz to avant-garde to electronica and of course prog rock.


*Caravan (1968 - 1978 (i) 1980 - 1985 (ii) 1990 -1992 (iii) 1995 - (iv)) *

*Nationality: *British
*Original lineup: *David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye  Hastings, Richard Coughlan (RIP)
*First relevant album: *_Caravan_, 1968





*Impact:* 8
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked with: *Soft Machine, The Wilde Flowers

One of the premier bands in what would become known as the Canterbury Scene, Caravan were not a commercially successful band, but then, a large percentage of prog rock bands can say the same thing, and the real success lies in the legacy they leave behind and the bands they influenced.

*Deep Purple (1968 - 1976)*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: *Rod Evans, Nick Simper, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore
*First relevant album:* _Shades of Deep Purple_, 1968 (but really _Deep Purple in Rock,_ 1970)





*Impact:* 3
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 5
*Linked with: *Rainbow, Whitesnake, Ian Gillan Band, Roundabout

I don’t really want to get bogged down too much exploring or talking about bands who were more or less just on the fringes of the progressive rock scene and who made their name in other spheres, and this certainly applies to Deep Purple, whom everyone will know as primarily a hard rock or even heavy metal band. But they began as prog rock and it might (might, depending on how many albums were released in this year) be interesting to see the direction they had originally been heading in. I’m also only recording their active years above as the times when they played what could be termed progressive rather than hard rock.

*Henry Cow (1968 - 1978 )*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup:* Tim Hodgkinson, Fred Frith, Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler
*First relevant album: *_Legend_, 1973





*Impact: * ?
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked with:*

One of the few British RIO bands, Henry Cow seemed determined to stay out of the mainstream, even of progressive rock, and they seemed to compose their music by committee, having actual meetings where they thrashed out the ideas and decided which ones to use and which to discard. Their music has been described as inaccessible, overcomplicated and brilliantly innovative. Sounds like I’ll have fun reviewing _them _when the time comes!

*King Crimson (1968 - 1974 (i) 1981-1984 (ii) 1994 - 2004 (iii) 2007 - 2008 (iv) 203 - (v))*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup:* Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield, Greg Lake, Ian MacDonald
*First relevant album: *_In the Court of the Crimson King_, 1969





*Impact:* 10
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked with:* A host of acts, including but not limited to 21st Century Schizoid Band; ProjeKCts; UK;  Giles, Giles and Fripp; Crimson Jazz Trio and Porcupine Tree

One of the true giants of the progressive rock scene, King Crimson bestrode the movement like a colossus. Or so I’m told. Personally, I’ve never heard anything by them, and while this may be reason in some people’s minds to lynch me with the strings of a Hammond, I readily admitted when I began this journey that there were prog rock bands, many of them considered essential to the genre, whom I had not heard, and Crimson are one of them. Needless to say, I’ll be redressing that here. Driven by the genius and some would say tyranny of founder Robert Fripp, King Crimson shied from the pop song, or melodies too easy to play, and they certainly did not seem to court (sorry) chart success. Yet they have remained one of the most influential bands not only in progressive rock but in music as a whole, and continue to confound their critics, still rocking after over forty-five years.

*Rush (1968 - )*

*Nationality: *Canadian
*Original lineup: *Geddy Lee, John Rutsey, Alex Lifeson 
*First relevant album: *_Fly by night_, 1975





*Impact:* 9
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 7
*Linked with:*

Beginning life as a blues rock band with their debut album, Rush soon began incorporating fantasy lyrics and themes into their music with the release of their second album, and quickly identified with the progressive rock crowd. One of the first, if not the first, progressive rock bands to come out of Canada, they have remained with pretty much the same lineup since 1974, always a power trio, and singer Geddy Lee has become famous for his high-pitched, often falsetto vocals. Rush released some of the most seminal prog rock albums of the seventies, including _2112, Caress of Steel, A Farewell to Kings _and _Hemispheres_.

*The United States of America (1967 - 1968 )*

*Nationality:* American
*Original lineup:  *Joseph Byrd, Dorothy Moskowitz, Gordon Marron, Rand Forbes, Craig Woodson, Ed Bogas
*First relevant album:* _The United States of America_, 1968





*Impact:* ?
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked with:*

These poor guys split after recording only one album. Despite being the only band at the time I know of (as if that means anything!) to use instruments like calliope, harpsichord, fretless bass and electric violin, and not have any guitars at all, tensions within the band led to their disbanding a year after they got together. Their single album has however gone down in the annals of the history of prog rock, psychedelic music and avant-garde rock, it says here.

*Yes (1968 - 1981 (i) 1984 - 2004 (ii) 2008 - (iii)*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: *Jon Anderson, Chris Squires, Peter Banks, Tony Kaye, Bill Bruford
*First relevant album:* _Yes_, 1969





*Impact:* 10
*The  Trollheart Factor:* 6
*Linked with:* The Buggles, The Syn, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Squackett, Jon Anderson solo, Vangelis, King Crimson

Another giant of the genre, Yes built their appeal and their fame on intricate keyboard passages, long, multi-part songs, and the soaring soprano voice of Jon Anderson. Some of their songs took up one full side of an album (_Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans_) and as a result, though hugely popular in the seventies they became identified as one of the bands against whom the punk rock backlash hit out, calling music such as they played pompous, overblown, and irrelevant. Well, they probably called it pretentious shite, but we’re not going to say that here.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

The albums then for 1968 are, to me, something of a disappointment. Not because of the albums themselves, _per se_, but because with very few exceptions they're just albums by each of the artists I featured in the previous year, although some of them went on to be very famous and influential. Still, I would of choice have preferred albums from new artists, but as mentioned in the last entry, some of the bigger acts (Yes, Rush, King Crimson) were only getting together at this point and it would be a year or two later before we would see any material from any of them. As we get further into the seventies I assume new artistes will tend to crop up more often, but as of now, here's what we have to work with.





_We're Only in It for the Money_ --- *The Mothers of Invention *

Ah, Frank Zappa how I hate you. Apologies to the fans of you both for my boorish, stubborn attitude to your music, but you and Beefheart seem to epitomise everything I dislike about experimental music; nevertheless,  this album is apparently important, in that it was something of a backlash against another album that had come out the previous year and was heralding the birth of progressive rock itself, The Beatles' _Sgt Peppers_. I have fears for my sanity when I read about the composition of Zappa's album, but we'll give it a go.





_The United States of America_ --- *The United States of America*
Already mentioned in the piece on the bands formed in 1968, this was the one and only release from this band, so if nothing else I owe it to their memory to listen to it and allow it its place in progressive rock history. Will I regret it? Probably.






_A Saucerful of Secrets _--- *Pink Floyd*

Floyd's second album heralded the arrival of Dave Gilmour, originally to “prop up” the undependable and increasingly erratic Syd Barrett, though he would fairly quickly replace him as the founder left the band. After this, Waters and Gilmour would solidify their creative control over the band's music and Pink Floyd would begin to head in one direction, with fame and fortune and legendary status beckoning.






_Music in a Doll's House_ --- *Family*

To be honest, I'm not so sure about this one. I know nothing at all about Family and have a feeling they may be more in the psychedelic/hippy mould rather than prog, but I'll include it and see what people think, if anyone cares to advise me. It is in the list of_ 30 Cosmic Rock Albums_, so there's that I guess.






_In Search of the Lost Chord_ --- *The Moody  Blues*

Third overall, second progressive rock album by the Moody Blues, another concept record but this time they played all the music themselves rather than use an orchestra. It includes Indian ethic instruments like the tabla and the sitar, and ends on a track that would be immortalised by Lister in the series _Red Dwarf_: it's called “Om”...






_The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp_ --- *Giles, Giles and Fripp*
Precursor to the mighty King Crimson, how could we not check this one out?






_Caravan_ --- *Caravan*

As already noted above, Caravan would go on to become an integral part and driving force of what would come to be known as “The Canterbury Scene”. This was their debut album.


_This Was_ --- *Jethro Tull*
Another band I never got, this was the debut album from Jethro Tull.






_Ars Longa, Vita Brevis_ --- *The Nice*

Second album from Keith Emerson's The Nice, who impressed me so surprisingly with their debut effort.


_S.F. Sorrow_ --- *The Pretty Things*

Just getting in under the wire - released in the UK in December 1968 and not until August of the following year 'cross the pond - this is another one I'm not sure about, but it is a concept album so should probably be looked into.






_The Soft Machine _--- *Soft Machine*

Another band pivotal in the Canterbury Scene, this is the debut album from Soft Machine.






_Shine on Brightly_ --- *Procol Harum*

Continuing their pioneering work in progressive rock, Procol Harum released their second album neat the end of 1968.

So that's our list for 1968. I'll start reviewing them in the next entry. If anyone has comments, thinks I'm missing an album out or wants to offer any advice, you know what to do!


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 3, 2019)

Okay, some quick thoughts before you do your reviews.

1) Don't worry, Zappa probably hates you too :icon_cheesygrin:

2)  United States of America- I was called out on MB by your nemesis for thinking this was Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies. Joe Byrd is indeed the leader of this bunch though. It's one of the early great electronic albums and I do recommend it. 

3) A Saucerful of Secrets- Good album, not as good as Piper. I don't recall you liking Piper that much so you probably won't like this one either.

4) Family- In a Doll's House- You got this one right on, it is more or less a psychedelic album. A very good one in my opinion. I have a feeling you won't like it through.

5) In Search of the Lost Chord- This is actually my favorite Moody Blues album. Not that I think Days of Future Passed is overrated- I don't, but Legend of a Mind alone rates this album above the norm. Not sure if this rates as truly progressive though.

6) Giles Giles and Fripp- I've only heard snippets of this one. I think there may be some folk elements in this. There was a version of I Talk To the Wind on The Young Person's Guide to King Crimson that I think was from these guys.

7) Caravan- Haven't heard, so I'll be interested in your take on this

8- This Was Jethro Tull- You won't like this. It isn't progressive at all. I like it though. Incidentally, Jethro Tull opened up the Rolling Stone's R&R Circus with A Song For Jeffrey. And where's the cover? Ian Anderson isn't that ugly (okay, so he is :icon_cheesygrin: )

9) Ars Longa...- Not as good as their debut, but then again, I'm not as deep into progressive as you are. You may like this.

10) SF Sorrow- Again not really progressive in my opinion. I also think this is overrated. I really prefer the original R&B Pretty Things. I also think Parachute is better. I suspect you won't like this one for the most part. Another missing cover by the way

11) Soft Machine- Yeah, great one without a doubt.

12) Shine On Brightly- I have to listen to this one again but I think I liked this one. Probably better than their debut which isn't bad.



Okay, those are my early takes. Do a good job on this one :mrgreen:


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

Okay, well starting at the top I guess we're stuck with Zappa again. It's funny: from the few albums sleeves of his I had seen when much younger I somehow had a feeling I would not like his music, and while this is certainly not a good basis upon which to form an opinion of a band, my original impressions do seem to have been borne out here, because anything I've listened to from him has either been meh or too off the charts for me. I don't quite get (though I'm sure others will explain, probably in some detail and with eyes rolling) his contribution to progressive rock. I have of course yet to listen to this album, but from what I've read about it it seems it will be the same sort of mishmash of sounds, effects, words, tapings and other assorted oddities that make up the likes of Beefheart's fearful_ Trout Mask Replica_ and which indeed informed the second half of Zappa's* _Freak Out!_ If that's the case, I don't really see how that applies to progressive rock.

Nevertheless, many artists prominent in the subgenre have stated him as an influence, and I guess it must be accepted that he was part of the push towards a more experimental, loose and improvisational attitude towards music, turning away from the basic rock and roll of the late fifties/early sixties and incorporating elements of jazz, blues, soul and the emerging psychedelia into compositions. The title of this journal is “I Know What I Like”, and I know what I don't, but in fairness I can't just listen to what I like here. This is the history of progressive rock, and there will undoubtedly be bands and artists in there that I don't care for, but who will have to be reviewed and spoken of anyway. Guess FZ is one of those. Let's get this over with then.

Released as, as mentioned above, a kind of anti-_Sgt Peppers_, The Mothers' third album featured a lot of instrumental music which appeared on Zappa's solo effort, _Lumpy Gravy_, which I had originally intended to cover but then backed out of (chicken gravy?), and both are seen as part of a trilogy, completed by _Cruising with Ruben and the Jets_, released at the end of the year, all to be tied together under the banner title of _No Commercial Potential_. Indeed.





*Album title:* _We're Only in It for the Money_
*Artiste: * The Mothers of Invention
*Nationality: * American
*Label: * Verve
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* _Freak Out!_
*The Trollheart Factor:* 1
*Landmark value:* Seen to be striking a blow against what was becoming to be seen as the overcommercialisation of music, and specifically against The Beatles, it's seen as a landmark album. I'll reserve judgement until I've heard it.
*Tracklisting:* _ Are You Hung Up?/ Who Needs the Peace Corps?/ Concentration Moon/ Mom and Dad/ Telephone Conversation/ Bow Tie Daddy/ Harry, You're a Beast/ What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?/ Absolutely Free/ Flower Punk/ Hot Poop/ Nasal Retentive Calliope Music/ Let's Make the Water Turn Black/ The Idiot Bastard Son/ Lonely Little Girl/ Take Your Clothes off When You Dance/ What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (Reprise)/ Mother People/ The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny_
*Comments: * Okay, so the usual spoken-word nonsense I've come to associate Zappa and to a lesser extent Beefheart with gets us under way, not exactly helping my attempts to be unbiased towards this album. At least there's music for the second track, and you can certainly see where they're slagging off the Fab Four here. Hey you know it's not bad. Like the humour: _”I will love everybody/ I will love the police/ As they're kicking the shit out of me.”_ “Concentration Moon” is decent too, as is “Mom and dad”. This is a lot more, um, musical than I had expected, I must say! “Telephone Conversation” is exactly what it says on the tin, which does not surprise me. Seems to be a 911 call though, which is interesting. “Bow Tie Daddy” is like a twenties song, but I actually like it. Mind you, it's only seconds long.

There's a lovely classical piano intro to “Harry, You're a Beast”, and it's a good enough track to be fair. I know they're kind of slagging off the Beatles and psychedelic pop here, so maybe that's why it sounds so, ah, palatable to me? But either way, it's turning out to be a far more enjoyable experience than I expected. “Flower Punk” is funny, ripping off “Hey Joe”, then it's like Vangelis's “Beauborg” (huh? Educate yourself man!) for “Nasal Retentive Calliope Music” - just weird to the max. Most of the album though is (dare I say it) listenable and decent music. Colour me surprised.

*Favourite track(s):* (Did not expect to be filling this in at all but as it happens...)_ Who Needs the Peace Corps?, Concentration Moon, Mom and Dad, Harry, You're a Beast, Let's Make the Water Turn Black, Flower Punk, Lonely Girl, The Idiot Bastard Son, Take Your Clothes off When You Dance_
*Least favourite track(s): * (And this is a lot less populated than I expected it to be...) _ Hot Poop, Nasal Retentive Calliope Music, Mother People, The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny_
*Overall impression: * A lot of strange sounds but apart from that and the odd backward-masking effect, not at all bad really. I know: I'm surprised too!
*Personal Rating:* 4.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating:  4.0* 

_* Okay, okay! It was by The Mothers of Invention, but come on: it was basically Zappa in all but name, as is this one. _


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

One of the original protest bands or just a bunch of hippies who hated America, or at least the establishment of the time? Don't ask me: I never even heard of the United States of America until now (simmer down, Columbus! I'm talking about the band, not the country! Stop turning in your grave!) A band who had only the one, self-titled album and then split up over tensions mostly created by having to work with the founder and driving force of the band, Joseph Byrd. Drugs, you'll be unsurprised to learn, also featured in the difficulties. Their one album is however remembered fondly. Why? Let's see.





*Album title:* _ The United States of America_
*Artiste: * The United States of America
*Nationality: * American  (duh!)
*Label: * Columbia
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* As an early exponent of experimental and electronic music, the album is afforded a place in the history of progressive rock, and indeed, later electronic music.
*Tracklisting:* _ The American Metaphysical Circus/ Hard Coming Love/ Cloud Song/ The Garden of Earthly Delights/ I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar/ Where is Yesterday/ Coming Down/ Love Song for the Dead Che/ Stranded in Time/ The American Way of Love (i) Metaphor for an Older Man (ii) California Good Time Music (iii) Love is All_
*Comments: * The opening is very annoying and disorienting, as various instruments and tracks vie for the same ear: I hear an organ, a carnival sound, marching bands, all meshing together and crossing over one another. Too much, man! But once it settles down it's a nice slow psych ballad with a great organ driving it. I hear too much of The Doors in “Hard Coming Love” though it's a decent enough song; like the change to female vocals. “Cloud Song” is nice and pastoral, not sure if they're being ironic here or not but it's a lovely little tune. 

Some pretty cool effects in “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, especially when you consider they couldn't afford a decent synth (20K for a Moog?) and it has a nice hippie vibe to it,while “I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar” (?) is like a blues tune mixed with a traditional folk song. Weird but in a good way. “Coming Down” sounds like some sort of Gregorian chant. Sorry, that must be “Where is Yesterday” as “Coming Down” rocks along like a good thing. I really like “Love Song for the Dead Che”; lovely organ melody in it, almost Carpenters-like. “Stranded in Time” is pure Beatles, really like it too. Quite surprised with how I ended up liking this. Pretty cool to the max really.

*Favourite track(s):* _ Cloud Song, The Garden of Earthly Delights, Coming Down, I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar, Love Song for the Dead Che, Stranded in Time_
*Least favourite track(s): * Nothing.
*Overall impression: * Considering how it started I'm surprised to say I really enjoyed this once it got going. 
*Personal Rating:* 4.50
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating: 4.50 *


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

Being a child of the seventies, it was through albums like _The Wall_ and _Dark Side of the Moon_ that I got into Pink Floyd, and to be honest I never had too much time for, or interest in, their previous, more psychedelic albums. For me, Floyd began with Waters and Gilmour, not Waters and Barrett, and from what I knew of the latter, and backed up by what I've read since, he only held the band back and put them in an impossible situation where they had to first cover for him and then make the difficult decision to part company with him. I don't have much time for “troubled genius”, especially when the problems of same are so usually rooted in the inevitable addictions. To me, this just seems weak and an excuse to abrogate  your responsibilities as an artist, and while many have managed to - at least for a while - make the two work together and have often created their best work through the association with drugs or alcohol - or both - eventually it seems to me that it's a self-destructive path which, once you're on you have little hope of ever returning from.

All that said, there's no question that it was albums like_ Piper at the Gates of Dawn _and this one that got Floyd originally noticed, and so they should not, cannot and will not be pushed into the dark recesses of the history of prog rock; I will not pretend they don't exist and I won't look down my nose at them, but neither to me really represent the Floyd I grew up on and came to love. At the time of their second album though, the association with Barrett was grinding to a juddering and uneasy halt, and Dave Gilmour was brought in initially to help out, for those times when Barrett didn't feel like or couldn't contribute, whether in the studio or onstage. He worked out so well that before the album was even completed Gilmour was already seen as the fourth member of what was technically a quintet at the time, and Barrett and Pink Floyd soon parted ways. Though they wrote tributes to him on later albums, and he arrived at the studio once to watch them play (so completely unrecognisable that the band members took some time to realise it was him) Barrett was never again involved in Floyd and though he attempted a solo career it floundered, after which he basically retired from music. Floyd, of course, would go from strength to strength, achieving world domination status, but always touched by the inner sadness that their friend could not share it with them, and be part of it.





*Album title:* _ A Saucerful of Secrets_
*Artiste: * Pink Floyd
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * EMI
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* See the entry on _Piper at the Gates of Dawn_
*The Trollheart Factor:* 7
*Landmark value:* Although not the sort of Floyd I was used to, this album did feature Gilmour for the first time, led to the departure of Barrett and set the stage for the proper coming of Pink Floyd.
*Tracklisting:* _ Let There be More Light/ Remember a Day/ Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun/ Corporal Clegg/ A Saucerful of Secrets (i)Something Else (ii) Syncopated Pandemonium (iii) Storm Signal (iv) Celestial Voices (iv)/ See-Saw/ Jugband Blues _
*Comments: * It's kind of like something out of Vangelis's playbook as we start off, with a racing, pulsing synth and bass running things, a sound like a sitar occasionally coming through, though I doubt they used one at this point, then it breaks down into what would later become a fairly recognised Floyd melody before the vocals from Roger Waters start. My first thought is that this is a lot more what I would call progressive rock than the previous, debut album, and this may be reflected in the fact that Waters writes or co-writes every track here bar two, one being the closer. There's little of the folk/hippies aspect of_ Piper_ to this, so far, that being largely led I assume by Barrett and the way he wanted the band to go.

Good interplay between the guitar and keys here, though in fairness as both Gilmour and Barrett played on the album I can't say who it is on the frets. “Remember a Day” has a timeless, spacey feel to it with some fine piano work from Wright. The vocal is very sparse, only a few words all through the whole thing, almost making of it an instrumental, then even I know the superb “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”, a song which would go on to be included in their stage set for years, even decades to come, and which really put them in the frame as a space-rock band. With almost Ray Manzarekesque keys sort of low in the background, the vocals also hushed, the whole thing gives a sense of dark, gripping tension, danger and a feel of awestruck wonder about it. 

“Corporal Clegg” then is the first really out-and-out rock track, sort of sounds like Beatles/Kinks. Not crazy about it, but it does highlight what would go on to become recognisable as the famous Floyd vocal harmonies that would surface on albums from _Dark Side_ onwards. I guess it's fun, I just don't dig it as much as the other tracks I've heard so far. Then we're into the three-part suite that makes up the title track. Again, it's spacey, a bit unnerving in ways and very psychedelic. Could sort of see it having been the theme to a horror movie maybe. Probably gets a little improvisational for me: I can see this being repeated on the side-long “Echoes” on _Meddle_. I wasn't crazy about a lot of that. Much of this is discordant piano notes and weird synth noises; not really for me. It's a bit long too, at nearly twelve minutes. Actually, the end section is really good - “Celestial Voices”?

“See-Saw”, the only track written by Rick Wright, is really nice, has a sense of seventies ELO about it. Yes, I know that should be the other way around. Really like this. Nice gentle ballad which, actually now I think about it, really reminds of the Alan Parsons Project. Shut up. The only Barrett song then is the closer, “Jugband Nlues”, which I expected not to like and don't: it's more of the psych/hippy shit I didn't enjoy on much of _Piper_. 

*Favourite track(s):* _ Let There Be More Light, Remember a Day, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, See-Saw_
*Least favourite track(s): *_ A Saucerful of Secrets, Jugband Blues_
*Overall impression: * A far better album than_ Piper_, one that points the way towards the direction Floyd were going in and certainly an album more deserving of the term “progressive rock” than its predecessor.
*Personal Rating:* 4.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

There's no question that certain bands who came out of the progressive rock movement went on to do really well, some phenomenally so, but for every winner there is a loser, and for every band that made it big there are hundreds or more littered across the motorways of music history like trash jettisoned from passing cars; bands who, while successful for a time, never quite made it and faded away, often leaving just one or two albums - sometimes less - for them to be remembered by. The recently-reviewed The United States of America are one such case, and it could probably be said that Family are another.

Although the British band flourished for longer than their American counterpart - they lasted from 1967 to 1973 and put out a total of seven albums in that time - they have become equally forgotten, for the most part. While bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP, Rush, Camel, Floyd and The Moody Blues have hammered in their own personal stars on the progressive rock version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, bands like Family, while remembered fondly by some, could probably be compared, in the above analogy, to the bit-part actors who look at the stars' names enviously and wish they were alongside them. Not that, to my knowledge, there is any animosity or jealousy directed at the bigger prog bands by anyone who played with Family, but it must hurt, to some degree.





*Album title:* _ Music in a Doll's House_
*Artiste: * Family
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Reprise
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* Seen as one of the defining psychedelic albums of the time.
*Tracklisting:* _ The Chase/ Mellowing Grey/ Never Like This/ Me My Friend/ Variations on a theme of “Hey Mr. Policeman!”/ Winter/ Old Songs New Songs/ Variations on a Theme of “The Breeze”/ Hey Mr. Policeman/ See Through Windows/ Variations on a Theme of “Me My Friend”/ Peace of Mind/ Voyage/ The Breeze/ 3 x Time_
*Comments: * First it's like hearing Deep Purple with a big Gillan-like scream, then vocalist Roger Chapman sounds just like Peter Gabriel! Weird! Nice flutey sounds there with warbling mellotron, then the next track seems to be an acoustic one. Chapman's vocals are very tremelo or vibrato, whatever: sounds like someone's hitting him on the back as he sings. This song reminds me of the early stuff I've heard from The Moody Blues. As does the next one. The saxophones and touches of jazz nod towards VDGG too. 

Nice bit of harmonica in “Old Songs New Songs” and it rocks along nicely, but I must say I'm being possessed by an overwhelming case of don't-give-a-fuck here: I just can't seem to care about any of the music here. It just ain't gripping me. Actually I take that back: that last track was good. What was it called? Oh yeah: “Old Songs New Songs”. Good stuff. The next track, “Hey Mr. Policeman”, is good too: has some heart about it. Again love the harmonica. Still, of all the albums I've listened to for 1968 so far, this is the one I've been the least interested in, the one that's just boring me. I said at the beginning that I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to include this, and I'm still not sure. I can see the influence on prog rock to an extent, but mostly it's just standard rock with jazz and some hippy shite again. Not very impressed really. Oh well, at least it's nearly over.
*Favourite track(s):* _ Old Songs New Songs, Hey Mr. Policeman_
*Least favourite track(s): * Wasn't really bothered enough to be listening to most of the rest.
*Overall impression: * A big fat meh.
*Personal Rating:* 2.0
*Legacy Rating:* 3.0
*Final Rating:  2.50*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

As the Moody Blues left behind the r&b style their first album had featured and began developing their own version of what would become progressive rock, their third album would retain the idea of the concept, this one following a basic theme of travelling, and would also continue their use of orchestral music, though in this case as mentioned above they would play the instruments themselves rather than hire an orchestra. Bringing in instruments like the sitar and the tabla gave this album a more eastern feel, fitting in with the idea of travelling to strange countries and making it more cosmopolitan than most albums out at the time. In a departure from the previous album though, this one has no multi-part suites, and the longest two tracks clock in at less than seven minutes each.






*Album title:* _In Search of the Lost Chord_
*Artiste: * The Moody Blues
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Deram Records
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* see the entry on  _Days of Future Passed_
*The Trollheart Factor:* 4
*Landmark value:* I don't see a huge landmark value here to be honest. The use of the ethnic instruments is interesting, and it's another concept album, but why it would be rated above _Days of Future Passed_ I would be hard pressed to say.
*Tracklisting:* _ Departure/Ride My See-Saw/ Dr. Livingston, I Presume/ House of Four Doors/ Legend of a Mind/ House of Four Doors (Part 2)/ Voices in the Sky/ The Best Way to Travel/ Visions of Paradise/ The Actor/ The Word/ Om_
*Comments: * “Departure” is a short, forty-five second spoken word piece with rising guitar line pulling it right into “Ride My See-Saw”, which I do know. It's a psychedelic rock song, uptempo with a great melody, very catchy. Great vocal harmonies, which would of course become one of the hallmarks of the Moodys. “Dr. Livingston, I Presume” is a little Beatles-y I feel, bit vapid, but “House of Four Doors” is much better, with an ethic, dramatic feel, a slower track that still pops along nicely. Some nice flute from Mike Pinder. Pretty nice harpsichord too. “Legend of a Mind” really reminds me of ELO, and yes, again, I know they weren't going at that point. Really slick little hypnotic bass line in this. Lot of stuff about Timothy Leary, in whom I have no interest. Good song though.

“House of Four Doors (Part 2)” is a slow kind of reprise which reminds me of the Everly Brothers, not mad about it but it's short. The other track I know then is “Voices in the Sky”, which features some really nice acoustic guitar and the vocals of Justin Hayward. “The Best Way to Travel” is also acoustic. I have to say, generally I'm not as impressed with this album as I was with the previous one. Not too much of the prog rock in it I feel. Okay, there's some nice kind of spacey keyboard here so it's not bad, but it's still not what I'd call a prog powerhouse or anything close to it. “Visions of Paradise” is a lovely little flute-driven ballad with acoustic guitar, very pastoral and relaxing; you can really hear the sitar here too. 

Oh, I forgot: I know “The Actor” too. Nice boppy mid-tempo piece, kind of skips along nicely with again Justin on vocals, then there's another spoken word piece, almost completely unaccompanied, titled, appropriately enough, “The Word”, which then leads into the closer, “Om”. It's very Indian, with plenty of sitar and tabla, good vocal harmonies and a very decent closer to what is, I must admit, not the greatest album. Expected a lot more. Bitchin' album sleeve though!

*Favourite track(s):* _Ride My See-Saw, House of Four Doors, Voices in the Sky, Visions of Paradise, The Actor, Om _
*Least favourite track(s): *_ Dr. Livingston, I Presume_
*Overall impression: * After _Days of Future Passed_ I was hoping for a continuation, something at least as good. I find this album something of a minor disappointment if I'm honest.
*Personal Rating:* 2.00
*Legacy Rating:* 4.00
*Final Rating: 3.00*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

I already admitted I'm one of those rare prog heads who has never heard King Crimson, and therefore I have of course no experience whatever of Giles, Giles and Fripp, but this is the band in which founder and driving force behind KC Robert Fripp cut his musical teeth, so it's certainly expedient that we feature one of their albums. Their only album, in fact. GG&F later more or less metamorphosed into King Crimson with the departure of Peter Giles and his replacement in Greg Lake. Anecdotal evidence says this album sold a mere five hundred copies.





*Album title:* _ The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp_
*Artiste: * Giles, Giles and Fripp
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Deram
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* Other than being the springboard to the formation of King Crimson, I don't really think it's seen as having any particular landmark value, though if it sold as few copies as they say then it's probably highly sought-after now and a collector's item.
*Tracklisting:* _ North Meadow/ Newly-Weds/ One in a Million/ Call Tomorrow/ Digging My Lawn/ Little Children/ The Crukster/ Thursday Morning/ How Do They Know/ Elephant Song/ The Sun is Shining/ Suite Number 1/ Erudite Eyes_
*Comments: * Well I guess being such a rarity, it's hard to find. Spotify has not got it, nor has Grooveshark, and even YouTube, when it does have it, tells me I can't watch it. Bastards. At any rate,  I've cobbled it together from loose tracks so let's see how we go. Oh, I should point out there are two spoken word pieces here as well, but I can't find them and as I'm more concerned with the music anyway I'm not that bothered. 

“North Meadow” starts out like a cross between a seventies soul song and the theme to some cop series, but then the vocals come in and it's very sixties, very psychedelic. Interestingly, it mentions “Willow Grove Farm”, which makes me wonder if Genesis's “Willow Farm” on “Supper's Ready” was influenced by that? Nice horns and organs, and right away you can hear the guitar technique and expertise for which Fripp would become famous. “Newly-Weds” initially rides on a nice bass line but is very reminiscent of “She's Leaving Home” by The Beatles, while “One in a Million” is a quaint little English folk song in which you can hear echoes of The Kinks. Nice cello, and I can hear where Neil Hannon would get some of his inspiration over twenty years later.

“Call Tomorrow” is a dour, bleak piece on slow piano with a kind of acapella section, then “Digging My Lawn” gets back to the mid-tempo folky material, again a really nice bass line, and “Little Children”, the first of only three tracks on the album written by Fripp, keeps this basic idea going though it's a little faster of a tempo. I can't find “The Crukster”, so next up is “Thursday Morning”, with again very much a Beatles feel to it, slow cello and violin, very nice. More uptempo and cheery really is “How Do They Know”, really _really_ reminds me of Dionne Warwick's “Walk on By” in places. Yes, I know you hate it when I do that. Not going to stop though. “Elephant Song” has more brass to it and kind of a mix of folk with a lot of jazz and psych thrown in. There's a certain celtic feel to it too, and I think it may be an instrumental, the first yet on the album. Like the sudden false stops during the piece. Some smooth harmonica too. Cute, if a little repetitive. 

Can't find “The Sun is Shining”, so it's on to the classical-infused second instrumental and second of three Fripp-penned tunes, both of the last of which close the album, “Suite No. 1”. Some excellent piano here, then it breaks down into a lovely slow strings passage with hummed choral vocals; really quite beautiful and certainly my favourite on the album. The third movement as such then comes on what sounds like harpsichord and guitar, sort of reminds me of early Sky (yes, yes! I know...) before it bursts into a fast bass run that takes it the rest of the way with ticking percussion, bringing in bright piano as the piece heads towards its conclusion, with an odd little spoken word snippet at the end, sort of ruins it for me. The final track then is Fripp's other solo written piece and it's called “Erudite Eyes”. It's okay, and I hear where the likes of Eric Woolfson and Colin Blunstone may have been influenced by this album, but I much prefer the previous track and think that would have been a better closer.

*Favourite track(s):* There's nothing I really hate here but little I love either, other than _ Suite No. 1_, which really stands out for me.
*Least favourite track(s): * As above
*Overall impression: * A pleasant little album; nothing bad about it but nothing revolutionary or groundbreaking either. Kind of neutral on it. As a precursor to King Crimson it has to be afforded respect, but I wasn't crazy about it. Still, as Monty Burns once said, I know what I hate, and I don't hate this.
*Personal Rating:* 2.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 3.50*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 3, 2019)

Although there is some debate as to what exactly defined the musical movement known as “The Canterbury Scene”, it seems to have originated with The Wilde Flowers, who later segmented into both Soft Machine and Caravan, two bands who were very prominent in, and founder members of the scene. Rather than being a particular type of music, the Canterbury Scene appears to have been a sort of fluid group of musicians who would migrate from bands to band (progressive rock gypsies?) and who began in, or played basically around the area of Canterbury in Kent, in the south of England. I may end up doing a full article on this later, but right now I mention them mostly because I'm about to listen to the debut album from one of those main driving influences in what became known as The Canterbury Scene.





*Album title:* _ Caravan_
*Artiste: * Caravan
*Nationality: * English
*Label: * Decca
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:*  Seen as one of the first and most important albums of The Canterbury Scene, fusing psychedelia, jazz and classical with the emerging prog rock.
*Tracklisting:* _ Place of My Own/ Ride/ Policeman/ Love Song with Flute/ Cecil Rons/ Magic Man/ Grandma's Lawn/ Where But for Caravan Would I?_
*Comments: * You can hear the whimsicality spoken of in the piece on TCS as soon as the album opens, and I'm glad to say there are plenty of keys – never really consider a band totally prog without a few keyboards - musicianship is excellent as demonstrated by the instrumental break that takes most of the latter part of “Place of My Own”, vocals from Pye Hastings are very easy on the ear and you can hear where Supertramp were going to tread later. “Ride” begins in much the same vein, soft and gentle before the guitar crashes through and another extended instrumental kicks off. I like the mix of a very easy, relaxed vocal with harder guitars and crashing drums, though I hear little keyboard here. It's all over “Policeman” though, honking and trumpeting in a somewhat Beatles-style tune, some great organ pounding its way sonorously through the tune, which appears to be the first full instrumental. 

“Love Song with a Flute” is a slow ballad, as you might expect, with warbling keys and, well, flute, a nice sort of echoey vocal on it. Ramps up a little, rather unexpectedly, halfway through, the organ coming in much more forcefully (yes, yes, tee-hee) then “Cecil Rons” is the first one that sounds not only psych but also sort of threatening, ominous with a staccato drumbeat and kind of warped keyboard line. Little unsettling, almost seems out of place beside the rest of the album so far. “Magic Man” is a really nice laid back folky style song with acoustic guitar and some nice organ work, very relaxing. Man. “Grandma's Lawn” is pretty trippy, with the vocal again buried deep in the mix so that it sounds like it's being sung at the bottom of a well or something; great keyboard line, and then the closer is a nine-minute monster.

A soft gentle guitar line opens “Where But for Caravan Would I” with an equally gentle vocal in a slow ballad with rising organ then kicks up with a good instrumental break carried mostly by said organ. It finishes well but is I feel overlong.

*Favourite track(s):* _ Place of My Own, Ride, Policeman, Love Song with a Flute, Magic Man_
*Least favourite track(s): *_ Grandma's Lawn, Cecil Rons_
*Overall impression: * A very good album but I would venture to think they have better. Not a bad introduction though into this Canterbury Scene stuff.
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating:  3.50*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

So far we've dealt mainly with bands I either know and like, or have no experience of, but now we come to one I know, and do _not_ like. I have never been able to get into Jethro Tull's particular mix of prog rock and semi-medieval music; it just never sat well with me, and unless there is a real miracle during this journal I doubt it ever will. Nevertheless, they're a big player in the genre and so must be covered. 

Another of the British bands formed out of grammar school friends, Jethro Tull initially began as a blues band, but when frontman Ian Anderson feared he was in danger of being squeezed out of the limelight by the lead guitarist, as he could not play as well, he switched to a more interesting instrument, and so became the focus of the band as he cavorted madly onstage playing a flute. Few other bands at this time featured this instrument, so it was a good gimmick and certainly earned them rave reviews. 

Their first album, like the debuts of many of the bands featured here, was a far cry from the music they would become known for. Based more on blues standards and covers, it would be another year before they would make it big with their second album hitting the number one spot, although this did make a very respectable showing at number ten.





*Album title:* _This Was_
*Artiste: *Jethro Tull
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Island
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Very little. I've heard a few singles and the album _Heavy Horses_ which was ok.
*The Trollheart Factor:* 2
*Landmark value:* As a band pushing the envelope by including folk music and medieval themes in their music, Jethro Tull stood out as something very different, but also polarising: you either loved them or hated them. Guess where I stood? Also, for years I thought Ian Anderson's name _was_ Jethro Tull...!
*Tracklisting:* _My Sunday Feeling/ Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You/ Beggar's Farm/ Move on Alone/ Serenade to a Cuckoo/ Dharma for One/ It's Breaking Me Up/ Cat's Squirrel/ Song for Jeffrey/ Round_
*Comments: * I'm not quite sure what it is I dislike about this band. Yes  I am. It's the flute. I've never been a big fan of flutes in general, and the overuse of it on Jethro Tull's music sets my teeth on edge. I'm also not a fan of Anderson's style of singing, which really makes me feel that he is putting on a country bumpkin act: maybe he isn't but that's how it always seemed to me. Not crazy about their agricultural themes either. In fact, if there was any way I could not call this prog rock and avoid including it I would, but they're part of the fabric of what grew to be progressive rock, and so I have to look into them. Doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't. 

Actually this probably is not the best album to start with, but there are apparently prog rock influences on it, unlike with The Moody Blues' debut, so for better or worse here we go. Well the bloody flute is right in your face from the first chord, but it almost sounds incongruous against the pretty basic blues music in the opener. Nice bit of Waits-style bass near the end, is about as much as I can take from that. Pretty bleh really; at least the next one up has a cool harmonica and a nice slow blues vibe, but adding a flute onto that does not, for me, make it prog rock or anything close. “Beggar's Farm” has a kind of early Fleetwood Mac/Supertramp feel to it, and at least the flute has been dialled back. 

“Move on Alone” is  the only song Jethro Tull played, apparently, on which someone other than Anderson sings, and to be honest it's okay but again, it's not prog, not to me. Sounds pretty dated really, though the guitar on it is good. Very short too, which is not something you can say of their cover of “Serenade to a Cuckoo”, which is - oh no! - a jazz standard. Now, I may be going out on a limb here, but I expect to hate this. It doesn't help that it's flute-driven. Ugh. Like some of the worst wallpaper/elevator music I've ever had to sit through. And it's six bloody minutes long! Well it did nothing for me as expected, and flute leading in the next track doesn't help either. Sigh.

For me, Jethro Tull succeed best - on this album anyway - when they stick to the slow blues boogies, as in “It's Breaking Me Up”, with again the return of that harmonica and little or no flute, but then I guess I have to take that back as “Cat's Squirrel” is fast and uptempo and great fun. But then again, it's a cover. And there's no flute. Most importantly, there is no flute. God I hate that flute. And it's back for “A Song for Jeffrey”, leaving its annoying fingermarks on the last instrumental track. Bah!
*Favourite track(s):* _Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You, Beggar's Farm_
*Least favourite track(s): *_Serenade to a Cuckoo, Dharma for One_
*Overall impression: * Okay, as I said this is not a typical JT album, sure, but it has not done anything to change my opinion on them. That however will really have to wait till I review a “proper” Tull offering I guess. For now though, this does not come across to me as prog in any way, shape or form and with hindsight I probably should have omitted it and gone straight to their second album. Still, as it made them very popular I guess it has to have a decent Legacy Rating at least.
*Personal Rating:* 1.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating: 2.50 *


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

And so we go back to The Nice. When I reviewed their debut I was unexpectedly impressed. Is this likely to continue with the release of their second album, which featured one of those side-long suites, the title track in fact? This second outing also features Keith Emerson stepping out a little from behind the keyboard and taking on some vocal duties, which is in itself a little odd as once he joined ELP he just played and never sang. Maybe this album will underline why?





*Album title:* _Ars Longa Vita Brevis_
*Artiste: * The Nice
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Immediate
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* see the review of their debut
*The Trollheart Factor:* 2
*Landmark value:* I guess again, pretty much seen as a precursor to ELP, so significant in that regard and again, one of the albums that pushed both keyboard and classical influences more to the forefront than they had previously been.
*Tracklisting:* _ Daddy Where Did I Come From/ Little Arabella/ Happy Freuds/ Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite/ Don Edito el Gruva/Ars Long Vita Brevis: (i) Prelude – 1st movement: Awakening (ii) 2nd movement: Realisation (iii) 3rd movement: Acceptance “Brandenburger” (iv) 4th movement: Denial (v) Coda: Extension to the Big Note/_
*Comments: * Before we get going, the title: apparently it translates as something like "life is short but art is eternal". Hmm. I see this album in some versions features “America” but as I've covered that on the debut (even if it's shown as “2nd movement" and may be a little different; the joke has worn thin now) and it's not on my copy we kick off on “Daddy Where Did I Come From?” which has a sort of uptempo rocky Doors feel to it, certainly Emerson at centre stage again, no surprise there. Sounds like some sort of taped effects there being used: I could be wrong but I think only The Beatles had done that up to now. It's okay but a bit meh. “Little Arabella” is quite annoying, just a basic rock track with not too much in the way of keyboard though there's some nice piano. I do hear the orchestra they're using this time out though. Super bass line but I'm not terribly impressed overall so far.

Okay well I see why he wasn't invited to sing in ELP. Emerson is not a good singer. I know he's putting it on a bit here in “Happy Freuds” but it doesn't work, not for me. Great keyboard work of course as ever, but again overall I'm pretty disappointed with this album at this point. I don't know the classical piece “Intermezzo from Karelia Suite” by Sibelius, but I must admit The Nice's version of it here is the best I've heard on this album so far ... oh wait, I do know it. Just didn't know that was the title. Nice stuff. The percussion really adds something. So after a tiny little totally pointless “track” we get to the suite.

Starts off well, big intro, though the titles seem a little skewed. If it's meant to be a cycle of life/death, doesn't denial come before acceptance? Anyway, hopefully this is where the album begins a decent upswing. Well after the intro the first movement is mostly percussion and has a nice kind of mechanical feel, titled as it is “Awakening” I can see how that works. It might be a shade too long though. As was said on the “Bad News” comedy programme, “He did a twenty-minute drum solo. Would have been longer, but I can't stand drum solos.” I don't think most people can. I know for me personally they get boring after a few minutes and this really drags on and on and on, nearly six minutes of pretty much the same thing. I'm sure if you're a drummer you can appreciate it, for me it's just tedious. 

I can hear where Rush would pick up their early influences in the second movement, with a good driving guitar and keyboard combo, but oddly enough it has vocals; for some reason I thought this whole thing would be instrumental. Shows what I know, huh? I guess the third movement then uses Bach's “Brandenburg Concerto” as a basis, given the subtitle. Pretty cool all right. Fourth movement rocks pretty well but is again just really a showcase for Emerson's flamboyance. I think this would have worked better overall without the vocal part. Not bad though. 

*Favourite track(s):* _ Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite, Ars Longa Vita Brevis_ (most of it)
*Least favourite track(s): * Everything else really
*Overall impression: * Meh. Nowhere near as impressed with this as I was with the debut. Kind of confused as to where it wants to go: first side is basic rock while side two is a classical suite. Confusing.
*Personal Rating:* 2.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating: 3.0 *


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

It's a return to Canterbury next, though this is the first time we've featured, or even heard, this band, who were very instrumental in the Canterbury scene. Formed out of members of already-mentioned The Wilde Flowers, who didn't release any albums and who also spawned previously featured Caravan, Soft Machine (who at this point, rather like Barret, Waters, Wright and Mason had the definite article before their name and were therefore known as The Soft Machine till the next year) pioneered much of what would become known as jazz fusion, and would go on to perhaps explore the excesses that would dog progressive rock later through bands such as ELP and Yes, with side-long suites on their albums. A side effect of one of the band members being refused re-entry into the UK later would be that another classic psychedelic/prog band would be born, under the name of Gong.

Soft Machine's self-titled first album was, however, restrained in comparison to later efforts, and the longest song on it runs for just over seven minutes, though I'm reliably informed that live versions of another track, “We Did It Again” could often run to three-quarters of an hour. You sit through that, you're either dedicated or stoned out of your brain. You choose. 





*Album title:* _The Soft Machine_
*Artiste: * (The) Soft Machine
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * ABC Probe
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* One of the progenitors of the Canterbury Scene, and giving birth also to Gong, the impact of Soft Machine upon progressive rock, and psychedelic rock too, can't really be overstated
*Tracklisting:* _ Hope for Happiness/Joy of a Toy/Hope for Happiness Reprise/Why am I So Short/So Boot if At All/ A Certain Kind/ Save Yourself/ Priscilla/Lullabye Letter/We Did It Again/Plus belle qu'une poubelle/Why Are We Sleeping/Box 25/4 Lid_
*Comments: * Can't say I'm sold on Robert Wyatt's vocals; sort of like a low drawl or something. The music's good, pretty penetrating bass and as expected plenty of wild keyboard going on, but I'm not really buying into it just at this point. “Joy of a Toy” is much better, love the phased guitar (look, I'm not a guitarist ok? It sounds phased or some sort of effect to me) and Kevin Ayers' slick bass really drives the tune too. Almost a settling down after the somewhat directionless opener. Like this a lot, very laid back. The reprise of the opener drags it all back down though, but at least it's only short. 

You can really hear the jazz influences on “Why am I So Short”, but despite that (!) I like it. “So Boot if At All” (huh?) suffers from that other bugbear of mine, extended drum solos and I feel it too meanders all over the place and is way too long at over seven minutes. Some nice ideas but it's not too cohesive. The organ on “A Certain Kind” is just gorgeous, however the vocals are so low in the mix I almost can't hear them (I'm never quite sure if this is a fault in my amp, but I've been able to hear the vox on the rest of the tracks okay so I'll say no) then “Save Yourself” is much harsher, again organ-driven but very sharp, though at least I can hear the vocals this time. Good enough song to be fair. “Priscilla” is a neat little keyboard workout that works well, instrumental again and it slides right into “Lullabye Letter”, which I also like a lot. Interestingly, this track is nothing like the ballad I would have expected; it's quite frenetic really and has some powerful keys in it. 

I've been prepared for this from reading about it, but it's still odd to find that “We Did It Again” is not even basically, but literally, just those four words repeated against pretty much the same melody all through its three minutes and forty-six second run. Different certainly, but I wonder how many people would listen to that for forty-five minutes without being high? Even stranger: this is the first track on which Ayers takes vocal duties, but what can you do with four words? Hard to gauge his performance, and he's only on one other track here. The next one up is just over a minute, with a French title which I can't translate, (either beauty or something, maybe) but it seems to be more or less just an extension of the musical idea within “We Did It Again”, then “Why Are We Sleeping?” gives Ayers a chance to sing properly.

Except he speaks. Ah. Great organ line underpinning the melody I must say. A few piano notes then ends the album. Overall I think I liked this more than I hated it, but so far not a fan.

*Favourite track(s):* _ Joy of a Toy, A Certain Kind, Priscilla, Lullabye Letter, Why Are We Sleeping_
*Least favourite track(s): *_ Hope for Happiness, So Boot if At All_
*Overall impression: * You have to give credit to Soft Machine for their legacy, and this is a decent album, but it hasn't made me want to listen to the rest of their stuff just yet. Still, there are some interesting ideas on it that I'm sure they expanded on, so I'll file this under “may grow to like” and see how we do as the years go on and we move further into the history of progressive rock. For now...
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

Another band to impress me - one of the first, of those of which I knew little initially - was Procol Harum, and like many prog bands coming up at this time they didn't hang around for years waiting to release their followup to the self-titled debut which gave them their massive and classic single. Like The Nice and the Moody Blues, this album also features an almost side-long suite which runs for just over seventeen minutes, one of the first of what would become _de rigeur _among the bigger prog bands, with Genesis, Rush, Yes and ELP all following suit(e) – sorry - and making this almost expected as the seventies burgeoned with what could in fairness be said to be progressive rock's excess. But for now, this was new, this was exciting, and this was a challenge to the ears of those listening to it for the first time.





*Album title:* _Shine on Brightly_
*Artiste: * Procol Harum
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Regal Zonophone
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* See review of debut album
*The Trollheart Factor:* 3
*Landmark value:* Following on from their impressive debut, Procol Harum had by now made a name for themselves with the timeless “A Whiter Shade of Pale” ensuring their place in rock history. This album though contains one of the first side-long (or almost) suites that would become a staple of future prog rock albums.
*Tracklisting:* _Quite Rightly So/Shine on Brightly/Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)/Wish Me Well/Ramble on/Magdalene (My Regal Zonopohone)/In Held 'twas I: [(i) Glimpses of  Nirvana (ii) 'twas Teatime at the Circus (iii) In the Autumn of My Madness (iv) Look to Your Soul (v) Grand Finale_
*Comments: * Unbelievably, Spotify don't have this album (though they have plenty of PH) and Grooveshark, though it does have it, omits the fucking suite! What's the point in that? So, a YouTubing I must go. And the big Y does not let me down. Starts off well with  a good rocker, plenty of keyboard and organ, then the title track has a slow classical piano intro and a spoken word start before effects slam in and keyboard and piano take the tune into a more uptempo vein. “Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)” has a staccato, marching beat to it, more guitar driven with a really good instrumental workout at the end. 

Good old honest blues drives “Wish Me Well”, great organ and powerful piano with a really strong vocal; like this one a lot. And “Rambling on”, with its slow blues balladry and growling guitar. Just great. Nothing bad so far. Things stay slow then for “Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)” with a slow militaristic drumbeat and some bright organ before we move into the suite. Somewhat like The Moody Blues on _Days of Future Passed_, it opens with a spoken passage while some spacey organ holds court in the background. Sitar coming through then a nice slow piano passage with choral vocals, which give way to another spoken passage.

A madcap carnival beat then for the second part, “'Twas Teatime at the Circus”, very psychedelic, while “In the Autumn of My Madness” is total prog, with big booming organ and a great vocal, guitars slicing across the melody too, then it gets really dark and menacing with a stomping, marching beat driven on bass and piano with the guitar painting its strokes across the music, before this breaks down into a melancholic piano passage. “Look to Your Soul” is the fourth movement of the piece and brings it all down to earth, heavy percussion kicking in before the big finale brings it all to a close in fine style, making this the second PH album that has seriously impressed me.

*Favourite track(s):* Everything.
*Least favourite track(s): * Nothing.
*Overall impression: * Really loved this album, and given what happened with the Nice on _ALVB _I thought maybe it might be pushing it for this to be as good as their debut, but it outshines even that. Just brilliant. I look forward to hearing more of their material, and can certainly say this is a great example of a proto-prog rock record, a formula many other bands would follow in the years to come. 
*Personal Rating:* 5.0
*Legacy Rating:* 3.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

As I stated when I listed the albums I'd be reviewing for 1968, I have my doubts about this final one, but I see that David Bowie covered two of their songs, so that must be some sort of claim to fame. Nevertheless, I've never heard of them at all, so wonder if this is an album I should be covering? Furthermore, it's their fourth, and as most if not all of the main progressive rock bands are only starting around now, this seems like it may be the output of a psych/blues band who might have turned towards progressive rock at this time. If so, then I guess that's okay but I hope it's not a _Safe as Milk_ or _Fifth Dimension_, having very little to do with the genre. Mind you, it is a concept album, and arguably an influence on The Who's later classic, _Tommy_, so perhaps it deserves its place.





*Album title:* _S.F. Sorrow_
*Artiste: * The Pretty Things
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Columbia
*Year: * 1968
*Grade: * C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* Another one of the early concept albums, but other than that I have to say I don't really see the LV for this one. I've never heard of them at all, though of course that doesn't necessarily mean anything. 
*Tracklisting:* _S.F. Sorrow is Born/Bracelets of Fingers/She Says Good Morning/Private Sorrow/Balloon Burning/Death/Baron Saturday/The Journey/I See You/Well of Destiny/Trust/Old Man Going/Loneliest Person _
*Comments: * The concept revolves around a life, the eponymous character, and to be fair, the moment it starts, though I'm not that familiar with The Who's epic, from what I have heard I can hear the similarities. It's very hard-folk oriented, with a strong guitar line driving the opener, which leaves you in no doubt as to the theme: “S.F Sorrow is Born”. Sebastian F. Sorrow is the protagonist, but as this is a very short look at the album I won't be going into the concept, which I don't know anyway. I hear trumpets and other brass here which somehow gives the song a kind of Mariachi feel in part. “Bracelets of Fingers” is a slower track, very Beatles/Beach Boys, then kicks into a kind of Barret-Floyd vibe, picking up tempo. The stop/start nature of the song is a little offputting; hope that doesn't continue all through the album.

The next one is more hard rock really, good guitar while the one following that is back to folk, with flute and maybe sitar, bit repetitive. I can hear the sound Bowie would adopt in the vocals of Phil May, particularly in “Balloon Burning”. Much slower and almost a precursor to some of the stuff Nick Cave would do in the eighties is “Death”, with much moaning and crashing of slow cymbals. Nice bit of guitar coming in to shake it up for a moment but it's basically a dour piece, as you would expect from a song so titled. 

“Baron Saturday” has a vague kind of “Yellow Submarine” hippy groove to it, some interesting effects in “Well of Destiny”, but overall I'm just kind of bored, a little uncaring, and while “Trust” has a nice laid back guitar ballad in it, I'm in that frame of mind now where I'm just waiting for the album to end. Which it does reasonably well as it happens, but I'm just not that interested now.

*Favourite track(s):* Didn't like or dislike anything enough to choose.
*Least favourite track(s): *
*Overall impression: * Meh. Probably should have gone with my instincts and not bothered.
*Personal Rating:* 1.0
*Legacy Rating:* 1.0
*Final Rating: 1.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

And so we come to the end of 1968. While there were some very influential and important albums released this year (the second efforts from* Floyd* and *Procol Harum, Soft Machine*'s debut, *Zappa'*s lunatic masterpiece) I feel the progressive rock iceberg was still about ninety-eight percent still submerged under the waters, with only the barest glimpses being given of what was to come. It wouldn't really be until 1970 that really classic prog rock albums would come to the surface, but 1969 does have at least a far longer list to choose from, and with bands like *King Crimson,Yes* and *Van der Graaf* - to say nothing of *Genesis *- entering the fray, you can probably begin to see the first real shapes beginning to emerge in the portrait prog rock would draw through the seventies.

I have to admit, I haven't been overly impressed with the crop so far. Even back to 1967, with a few exceptions these come across as bands trying to tentatively cross over the borders from blues or psychedelic rock to the new genre, or in the case of some, like *The Nice*, performing a balancing act by keeping one foot firmly on the ground of classical and jazz music while trying to stretch over and see how far they can make it into rock territory before losing their equilibrium and falling back on one side or other of the fence. Nobody strikes me as really going for it: even *Floyd *have still at this point the ghost of Syd Barrett to deal with, and until they shook that free in 1973 they would never really quite be regarded as a pure progressive rock band. It would take five more albums until they would finally hit the winning formula and define the sound of a generation.* The Moody Blues* would continue testing the boundaries, while *Zappa* would delight in kicking them down and trampling on them while scrawling rude messages on the brickwork, but would never really fall into the same category as the likes of* Rush, Genesis, Camel *and *Yes. Jethro Tull* would fart about for a few more years before finally deciding to go all-in with _Aqualung_ in 1971, while* Soft Machine* would tread their own weird path into the seventies and *The Nice* would disband to allow Emerson's ego a much larger stage to strut on from 1970.

1969 was, though, when things began to get interesting, and that's where we're headed next.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

Although I'm not fond of quoting articles verbatim, I'm too lazy to transcribe this, and it says everything I need to say about the subject. I have been searching for a more detailed description of what progressive rock is, or is seen to be, than Wiki could give me, and came across this on the Prog Archives website. As I have expressed doubts about many of the bands I have listened to being strictly prog  the question then arises naturally, what _is_ progressive rock?

From Prog Archives

Progressive Rock - Definition, Genres & Articles

*A definition of Progressive Rock Music*
Progressive rock (often shortened to prog or prog rock) is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." The term "art rock" is often used interchangeably with "progressive rock", but while there are crossovers between the two genres, they are not identical.

Progressive rock bands pushed "rock's technical and compositional boundaries" by going beyond the standard rock or popular verse-chorus-based song structures. Additionally, the arrangements often incorporated elements drawn from classical, jazz, and world music. Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy. Progressive rock bands sometimes used "concept albums that made unified statements, usually telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme."

Progressive rock developed from late 1960s psychedelic rock, as part of a wide-ranging tendency in rock music of this era to draw inspiration from ever more diverse influences. The term was applied to the music of bands such as King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Soft Machine and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Progressive rock came into most widespread use around the mid-1970s. While progressive rock reached the peak of its popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s, neo-progressive bands have continued playing for faithful audiences in the subsequent decades.

*Musical characteristics*
*Form:* Progressive rock songs either avoid common popular music song structures of verse-chorus-bridge, or blur the formal distinctions by extending sections or inserting musical interludes, often with exaggerated dynamics to heighten contrast between sections. Classical forms are often inserted or substituted, sometimes yielding entire suites, building on the traditional medleys of earlier rock bands. Progressive rock songs also often have extended instrumental passages, marrying the classical solo tradition with the improvisational traditions of jazz and psychedelic rock. All of these tend to add length to progressive rock songs, which may last longer than twenty minutes.

*Timbre (instrumentation and tone color): *Early progressive rock groups expanded the timbral palette of the then-traditional rock instrumentation of guitar, organ, bass, and drums by adding instruments more typical of jazz or folk music, such as flute, saxophone and violin, and more often than not used electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and electronic effects. Some instruments – most notably the Moog synthesizer and the Mellotron – have become closely associated with the genre.

*Rhythm:* Drawing on their classical, jazz, folk and experimental influences, progressive rock artists are more likely to explore time signatures other than 4/4 and tempo changes. Progressive rock generally tends to be freer in its rhythmic approach than other forms of rock music. The approach taken varies, depending on the band, but may range from regular beats to irregular or complex Time Signatures.

*Melody and Harmony:* In prog rock, the blues inflections of mainstream rock are often supplanted by jazz and classical influences. Melodies are more likely to be modal than based on the pentatonic scale, and are more likely to comprise longer, developing passages than short, catchy ones. Chords and chord progressions may be augmented with 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, and compound intervals; and the I-IV-V progression is much less common. Allusions to, or even direct quotes from, well-known classical themes are common. Some bands have used atonal or dissonant harmonies, and a few have even worked with rudimentary serialism.

*Texture and imagery: *Ambient soundscapes and theatrical elements may be used to describe scenes, events or other aspects of the concept. For example, Leitmotif is used to represent the various characters in Genesis' "Harold the Barrel" and "Robbery, Assault and Battery." More literally, the sounds of clocks and cash registers are used to represent time and money in Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.

*Other characteristics*
*Technology:* To aid timbral exploration, progressive rock bands were often early adopters of new electronic musical instruments and technologies. The mellotron, particularly, was a signature sound of early progressive bands. Pink Floyd utilized an EMS Synthi A synthesizer equipped with a sequencer on their track "On the Run" from their 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon. In the late 1970s, Robert Fripp, of King Crimson, and Brian Eno developed an analog tape loops effect (Frippertronics). In the 1980s, Frank Zappa used the Synclavier for composing and recording, and King Crimson utilized MIDI-enabled guitars, a Chapman Stick, and electronic percussion.

*Concept albums:* Collections of songs unified by an elaborate, overarching theme or story are common to progressive rock. As songs by progressive rock acts tend to be quite long, such collections have frequently exceeded the maximum length of recorded media, resulting in packages that require multiple vinyl discs, cassettes, or compact discs in order to present a single album. Concepts have included the historical, fantastical, and metaphysical, and even, in the case of Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick, poking fun at concept albums.

*Lyrical themes:* Progressive rock typically has lyrical ambition similar to its musical ambition, tending to avoid typical rock/pop subjects such as love, dancing, etc., rather inclining towards the kinds of themes found in classical literature, fantasy, folklore, social commentry or all of these. Peter Gabriel (Genesis) often wrote surreal stories to base his lyrics around, sometimes including theatrical elements with several characters, while Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) combined social criticism with personal struggles with greed, madness, and death.

*Presentation: *Album art and packaging is often an important part of the artistic concept. This trend can be seen to have begun with The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and played a major part in the marketing of progressive rock. Some bands became as well known for the art direction of their albums as for their sound, with the "look" integrated into the band's overall musical identity. This led to fame for particular artists and design studios, most notably Roger Dean for his work with Yes, and Hipgnosis for their work with Pink Floyd and several other progressive rock groups.

*Stage theatrics:* Beginning in the early 1970s, some progressive rock bands began incorporating elaborate and sometimes flamboyant stage theatrics into their concerts. Genesis lead singer Peter Gabriel wore many different colourful and exotic costumes in one show and frequently acted out the lyrical narrative of the songs, and the band used lasers and giant mirrors synchronized with the music. Yes incorporated futuristic stage sets designed by Roger Dean, including massive spaceship props and complex lighting. Yes also performed 'in-the-round', with the band on a round stage set up in the middle of the arena. Jethro Tull released rabbits on stage (see here). One of ELP's many stage antics include Emerson's "flying piano" at the California Jam concert, in which a Steinway grand piano would be spun from a hoist. Pink Floyd used many stage effects, including crashing aeroplanes, a giant floating pig, massive projection screens, and, in 1980, an enormous mock brick wall for The Wall performances. Rush incorporated lasers and film backdrops into their stage show. Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention used a giant giraffe prop and did improvisational comedy skits. Marillion's former lead singer Fish wore a jester costume inspired by the band's first album, Script for a Jester's Tear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that really explains it far better than I could, and gives you an idea of just how diverse prog rock in its proper form is. Of course, you could always go for this wag's definition:

_Progressive Rock is an attempt to musically orgasm as many times as possible during a 15-minute song._

Either is good. :lol:

I may - probably will - return to discussing this at some length with respect to some of the bands already reviewed, and those to be reviewed in future entries. For now, it will serve as an explanation to those who are unsure what exactly prog rock is.


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 4, 2019)

Yeah, I didn't think you'd be crazy about SF Sorrow, especially when you consider the Pretty Things first came out as a straight out R&B band in the mode of the Rolling Stones, who Dick Taylor actually played with early on before the Stones signed with Decca. In some ways SF Sorrow could be a different version of Their Satanic Majesties Request, which I'll cover when I do my Reviewing the Rolling Stones thread eventually. I'll tell you though, if you do like early Stones, I think you'll like mid sixties period Pretty Things. In their day before SF Sorrow, they were one great hard edged group.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

That's really interesting, because Urban (remember him) made almost the very same comments, though somewhat more disparagingly - well, he would, wouldn't he? He also likened the album to _TSMR_ so there must be something in it. Personally it just bored me. Win some, lose some. At least I gave it a go.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 4, 2019)

*Chapter II: Children of the Revolution*

It may seem odd to speak in terms of revolution when talking about a genre of music that has become identified with being one of the most indulgent, self-absorbed, overblown and pretentious in rock music, but back when prog rock was just forming as an idea, its ideals and intentions were certainly seen as outside the norm. Rock music had, until then, and for some time after too, been based on pretty standard formats: four/four time, verse-chorus-verse, and with lyrics mostly concerning love, sex, parties or other "earthy" subjects. To paraphrase and mix Shakespeare and Paddy McAloon, progressive rock musicians began to see that there were more things in Heaven and Earth than just cars and girls.

So they experimented with new time signatures, odd changes of rhythms and tones, different instruments and began to look beyond the tried and trusted lyrical content of rock and roll, bringing in elements from fantasy, literature, mythology and the emergent science-fiction, as well as the also emergent fascination with mind-expanding drugs, much of which enhanced and in some cases informed their music. To the staid and button-down rock scene of the late sixties, this was indeed nothing short of a revolution.

While we've certainly reviewed and listened to some very interesting, even pivotal albums in the genre from 1967 and 1968, in a very real sense 1969 was where it all really began for prog rock. With the summer of love fading away to a distant memory as the sixties drew to a shuddering close, and Vietnam looming large in the headlines as it would for another five years, psychedelic rock began to recede as hard rock took a more central role, both in the US and in Europe, with Woodstock sounding both the climax and the last hurrah for the hippy generation. Peace and love was at an end, and protest against an unjust war and a corrupt administration was on the agenda. Flower power was out, and people power was in.

None of which in the least sowed the seeds for the birth and eventual dominance over the seventies of progressive rock, which at its heart had little or no protest, was not concerned with politics or current events, and really in many ways was the music industry retreating into itself, hiding in the trappings of a softer, happier time and largely ignoring the events taking place around it. Certainly, as time went on, prog bands got more politically aware, but really for most of the seventies they were more concerned with singing about towers in far-off lands, dragons and wizards and higher states of consciousness. Rarely if ever did a prog band take on the issues of the day, and in this way perhaps they made themselves a target for the slavering beast of punk rock, which was waiting for its chance to leap upon them and savage them as it snarled and growled and spat at the establishment, and roared in a primordial and often extremely raucous and off-key voice its disenchantment with the _status quo._

But that particular showdown was yet almost a decade away, and as American students protested and chanted “Heck no! We won't go!”, thousands of miles across the ocean to the west four friends at Charterhouse Public School were getting together and putting ideas down for the, ah, genesis of  a music group, a barman met a bassist and they began gigging at the Marquee, trying out various names for their new band before they both said Yes, Robert Fripp prepared to unleash King Crimson on an unsuspecting world while Peter Hammill made his entrance with much less fuss, and The Beatles were putting the finishing touches to what would be their penultimate album, a true classic that was destined to be remembered for all time and enshrine the name of the studio where it was recorded in music history.

1969: the year held almost mystic significance as the world prepared to move into a new decade, and a new way of doing things. The old ways, the old music, held on to so long by the guardians of the values of World War II and the fifties, were slowly being eroded away, and the new decade would belong irrevocably to the young. As synthesisers became more widely available and used, and bands branched out, embracing non-standard instruments such as violin, cello, harmonica, harp, mandolin and saxophone, a whole new sound, grounded in and conceived by the bands who had ushered in the beginnings of the prog rock movement over the last two years was about to come to fruition, and a new type of music was about to be born. Having given vent to its birth cries in bands like The Moody Blues, Camel and Procol Harum, progressive rock was beginning to feel its teeth grow, and its little fingers busily reached for the necks of guitars and the keyboards of pianos, while strange, half-formed ideas flitted through its impressionable mind as lyrics began to spool out like broken scenes from a film it was too young to see, never mind understand.

As hard rock and heavy metal would go one way - and eventually the twain would meet, much later - progressive rock would take the other direction and explore the road less travelled, and in the process would have a profound influence on the history of music for the coming decade.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 5, 2019)

A lot of really pivotal bands were formed in this year, and as we did for the previous year let's take a rather quick look at who they are, and what sort of an impact, if any, they would have on the scene. Obviously, once we get into their albums I'll talk more about them, and some will certainly deserve their own article, but for now here's the list.

* Atomic Rooster (1969 – 1975 (i), 1980 – 1983 (ii))*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: * Vincent Crane, Carl Palmer, Nick Graham
*First relevant album:* _Atomic Roooster_, 1970





*Impact:* 7
*The Trollheart Factor:* 1
*Linked to:* The Crazy Word of Arthur Brown, ELP

Not many bands can say they opened for Deep Purple. Fewer can say that Deep Purple opened for _them! _But after the breakup of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and following his recovery from mental illness, founder Vincent Crane got together with later ELP skinsman Carl Palmer and one of the most important prog rock bands of the seventies was formed. 

*Beggars Opera (1969 – 1976 )*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: * Ricky Gardiner, Alan Park, Raymond Wilson, Marshall Erskine and Martin Griffiths
*First relevant album:* _Act One_, 1970





*Impact:* 2
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:*

One of the few, perhaps the only progressive rock band to come out of Scotland before the neo-prog revival of the eighties, Beggars Opera lasted for three albums and a total of seven years before they broke up. Founder Ricky Gardiner later worked with David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

* Egg (1969 – 1972  (with a brief revival of sorts in 1974))*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: * Dave Stewart, Mont Campbell and Clive Brooks
*First relevant album:* _Egg_, 1970





*Impact:* 4
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:* Hatfield and the North, National Health

Another prog band who didn't have too great a time of it. With their debut album released and relatively well received, they seem not to have wanted to put out the followup, and their third album only came about after the split of the band in 1972. Egg also peripherally featured folk supremo Steve Hillage, though in a previous incarnation of the band and before they became Egg.

* Eloy (1969  – )*

*Nationality:* German
*Original lineup: * Frank Bornemann, Erich Schriever, Manfred Wieczorke, Wolfgang Stocker and Helmuth Draht
*First relevant album:* _Eloy_, 1971





*Impact:* 4
*The Trollheart Factor:* 4
*Linked to:*

One of the few German progressive rock bands not to be linked to the Krautrock movement, Eloy were in fact pioneers in German rock history, being among the first bands in that country not to just play covers but to compose their own material. Their name is taken from the enlightened humans in the HG Wells novel “The Time Machine”. They are still active today (albeit being in hiatus from 1998 to 2009) although there was a gap of nine years in between their last after the abovementioned hiatus, they have since released two in two years, the most recent this year.

*Focus (1969  – 1978 (i) 2002 - (ii))*

*Nationality:* Dutch
*Original lineup: * Thijs van Leer, Jan Akkerman, Hans Cleuver, Martijn Dresden
*First relevant album:* _Focus plays Focus/In and out of Focus_, 1970





*Impact:* 6
*The Trollheart Factor:* 1
*Linked to:*

There's never quite been a thriving Dutch prog rock scene, but Focus were the ones to blaze a trail for the Netherlands and are probably best known for the hit single “Hocus Pocus”, as well as having guitarist Jan Akkerman in their ranks at one time. They, too, persist in releasing albums up to this very year.

* Hawkwind (1969 – )*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: * Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Michael Davies
*First relevant album:* _Hawkwind_, 1970





*Impact:* 10
*The Trollheart Factor:* 8
*Linked to:* Space Ritual, Motorhead, Pink Fairies, Inner City Unit

Perhaps one of the true progenitors of space rock, and certainly one of the first major bands to cross over into prog rock, Hawkwind are often known for being the springboard for later Motorhead vocalist and founder Lemmy Kilminster, but he did not join until 1971. Hawkwind use science-fiction and fantasy as well as classical literature in their lyrics, make a lot of use of feedback and spoken passages, effects and soundscapes. They are one of the oldest progressive rock bands, having never split up or taken a break, and have been going strong now for a total of fifty years!

* Organisation (1969 – 1970 )*

(Already mentioned in the “Before the Storm” feature)

* Renaissance (1969 – 1987 (i) 1998 – 2002 (ii) 2002 - (iii) )*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: * Annie Haslam, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf, John Tout, Michael Dunford, Jon Camp and Terry Sullivan
*First relevant album:* _Renaissance_, 1969





*Impact:* ?
*The Trollheart Factor:* 1
*Linked to:*

I must admit, I only know of Renaissance through the hit single “Northern Lights”, and for some reason thought they were Canadian! It seems they've been around from the start though, and are still going, having released a total of thirteen albums, so I had better get reading up on them! They are the first of the bands featured here to actually have released their debut in 1969, so we'll obviously be looking at it.

* Supertramp (1969 – )*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: * Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, Richard Palmer, Robert Millar
*First relevant album:* _Supertramp_, 1970





*Impact:* 5
*The Trollheart Factor:* 9
*Linked to:* Roger Hodsgson solo career

Although many will scoff at the inclusion of Supertramp as a prog rock band, that is how they started out, later metamorphosing into a sort of Genesis pop clone with hit singles like “Breakfast in America”, “Dreamer” and “The Logical Song”. Despite their later becoming the creative nucleus of the band and penning some of their greatest hits and best known songs, both Davies and Hodgson were initially reluctant to write lyrics for their debut album and left this to Richard Palmer, with the result that their first album is really nothing like what they would become known for. Although technically there were two incarnations of Supertramp, the one with Hodgson and the one that continued on after he left in 1982, the band never officially broke up so in reality they have been going since 1969, and are still going today, after a fashion.

* Uriah Heep (1969 – )*

*Nationality:* British
*Original lineup: * Mick Box, David Byron, Alex Napier, Paul Newton, Ken Hensley
*First relevant album:* _Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble_, 1970





*Impact:* 8
*The Trollheart Factor:* 5
*Linked to:*

Another band who have been going since '69 without a break, Uriah Heep have recorded twenty-four albums, their latest being released last year. Founder Mick Box is the only remaining original member.

So those are the main bands - there were others of course, but I have chosen not to feature every one of them - that got together this year although most if not all of them would not have an album released for at least another year. As for the albums we're going to look at for 1969...


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 5, 2019)

_From Genesis to Revelation_ --- *Genesis*





If I followed my own rules then this should not be featured at all, as although it was Genesis's first album, it was far from being a progressive rock one. It's certainly more in the gentle folk area, and what's more, it doesn't even feature Steve Hackett or Phil Collins. But then again, it was the first anyone had heard from Genesis, so, I guess, suck it. 

_Uncle Meat_ --- *The Mothers of Invention*





Frank Zappa, isn't it enough that you haunt my dreams, skulking through my sleeping hours like some sort of spectral bogeyman waiting to assault my ears with nonsense and atonal sounds? Must I listen to an album of yours every year? It seems I must. This was another strand of the “No Commercial Potential” project Zappa created, of which we've heard already _We're Only in It for the Money_.

_On the Threshold of a Dream_ --- *The Moody Blues*





Another concept album from a band who were fast becoming one of the flag-bearers for the emerging progressive rock movement, this was the album that lifted the Moody Blues into the heady heights of number one position for their album, and into the top twenty cross the pond, though its only single failed to create even a ripple (geddit?)...

_Trout Mask Replica_ --- *Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band*





If there's one album I look forward to listening to less than _5000 More Things to Do With Really Loud Annoying Sounds_, it's this. My initial experience of it was, well, that I would rather listen to _5000 More Things to Do With Really Loud Annoying Sounds_ than Captain Beefheart. Sigh.  Anyway, supposedly a very influential album on the genre and one that is namechecked by very eminent and respected musicians, so must be featured.

_Yes_ --- *Yes*





Not to be confused with _The Yes Album_, this was the debut from a band who would go on not only to define progressive rock, but the more bloated excesses of it. 

_Abbey Road_ --- *The Beatles*





I have my doubts about this one. I know it's seen as a seminal Beatles album with an iconic cover, but did it impact upon the prog rock scene? I'll leave it here for now, and await the judgement of those of you who can answer this question better than I.

_The Nice_ --- *The Nice*

Third album from The Nice. I'm not too certain about this one either; was it important? Have we heard all we need to of Keith Emerson's first band? These questions, and more, will all be answered in due course.

_Volume Two (The Soft Machine Album)_ --- *Soft Machine*





Second album from Soft Machine.

_The Aerosol Grey Machine_ --- *Van der Graaf Generator*

Debut album from Van der Graaf Generator, who would tread that precarious line between almost free jazz, classical and prog rock that would always keep them on the fringes, never having a hit single, and lead most people to shake their heads when asked about the name, unless they happened to be scientists. 

_In the Court of the Crimson King_ --- *King Crimson*





An album that would go on to have a profound effect on prog rock, introduce the world properly to the genius of Robert Fripp, and become a classic of the genre, how could we not feature King Crimson's seminal debut?

_Hot rats_ --- *Frank Zappa*





Just can't get away from this guy, can I?


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 5, 2019)

Now you're into some bands I'm not all that familiar with but I did notice Hawkwind and I think you're about to curse me again. There was an American Band in the late sixties who recorded a couple of interesting albums including something called Space Hymn which was, you guessed it, space rock. I like the earlier album better though as they were experimenting with the theremin on that album. Wow, another album to review :icon_cheesygrin:


Renaissance, I don't that much about either but I think they had a reputation of being boring. It will be interesting to see how they sound with Keith Relf knowing these guys sound nothing like the Yardbirds. 

I admit I haven't heard everything from Uriah Heep but they always struck me as more of a hard rock band than a progressive band in the classic sense. One thing for sure, you certainly won't confuse them with Genesis :lol: 


That's about it here. Bring on the Crimson


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 5, 2019)

Okay. I'm putting my cloven hoof down here. I am NOT reviewing "some band from America who had an album called..." You get me details on the band, we'll see. The fact that they were even an American prog band in 1969 may merit their inclusion, but if you want them, find out who they were.

Uriah Heep, yes, agree I would see them as hard rock, but then they had some amazing prog rock-influenced albums such as _Demons and Wizards_ and _The Magician's Birthday_, also Wiki says so and I do what Wiki says. It is my master, as you should know. 

_*Somewhat Late Edit: I just realised that as I got caught up in all this banter (ahem) I missed out some albums on the list for 1969. 
So here they are.*_


_Ummagumma_ --- *Pink Floyd*

Double album by a band who would go on to become one of the most important in the genre. Half of it is live, while the rest is made up of solo work from each band member. In case anyone's wondering, I've left out _More_ as it's a film soundtrack and I don't think needs to be visited. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

_To Our Children's Children's Children_ --- *The Moody Blues*

Yes, they had two albums released this year. We'll be taking a look at both.

_Renaissance_ --- *Renaissance*
One of the only bands formed this year to put out an album that same year, this is the debut album from Renaissance.

_Phallus Dei_ --- *Amon Duul II*

Often cited as the first real Krautrock album, this was the debut album from Amon Duul II.

As you can see, the amount of albums released in 1969 far outstrips those released in the previous year, and as we move into the seventies and beyond this will only increase. While not every one of them is important, essential or even relevant to the progressive rock movement, I'm trying to cover all those that are. But there are others that, while they bear no real importance, are still worth listening to and talking about. These I'll be looking at in two separate sections, titles yet to be decided but possibly “ProgWorthy”, “On the Fringes” or “We are not Worthy!”, which will feature albums that deserve not to be ignored, but are outside the main thrust of the journal, and something I may call “A bit of fun” or something similar, which will be albums that are, basically, just fun to listen to. Within those banners, these are the ones from 1969 that I intend to feature.




_Liege and Lief_ --- *Fairport Convention*

Said to be the first British folk rock album. We'll see.

_Brainbox_ --- *Brainbox*
An album that came with a serious warning about causing serious psychological damage if listened to? How could we _not_ grasp that nettle?

_Catherine Ribeiro + 2 Bis_ --- *Catherine Ribeiro*

Must listen to this, if only because its title gives the impression it was recorded with two lesbians!

_Dracula's Music Cabinet_ --- *The Vampires of Dartmoore*

I've heard so much about this I _have_ to take the opportunity to review it! 

_It's a Beautiful Day_ --- *It's a Beautiful Day*

Because why not?

So that, finally is our complete list for 1969. Obviously, there's a whole lot to get through so this is going to take a lot longer than 1968 did. I'll begin reviewing albums soon, as we move into the realm of what I would term more actual prog albums than just ones that influenced the genre. And Zappa.


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 5, 2019)

> Trollheart said:
> 
> 
> > _From Genesis to Revelation_ --- *Genesis*
> ...


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 5, 2019)

Trollheart said:


> O*kay. I'm putting my cloven hoof down here. I am NOT reviewing "some band from America who had an album called..." You get me details on the band, we'll see. The fact that they were even an American prog band in 1969 may merit their inclusion, but if you want them, find out who they were.*
> 
> Uriah Heep, yes, agree I would see them as hard rock, but then they had some amazing prog rock-influenced albums such as Demons and Wizards and The Magician's Birthday, also Wiki says so and I do what Wiki says. It is my master, as you should know.




Space Hymn album- Lothar and the Hand People


Lothar and the Hand People on Wiki


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 5, 2019)

They don't appear on ProgArchives, Wiki has this to say about them

It is electronic country, a kind of good-time music played by mad dwarfs, and it is really good to listen to. There is no tension here, no jarring forces at war with each other. It may be strange that New York, the city which deifies speed and insanity, could produce this music, but it is as if Lothar and the Hand People have gone through this madness and come out on the other side, smiling.

and that video you linked me to sounded like flower-power, dreamy hippy shit. Being the first band (apparently) to record with synthesisers does not, in my view, allow them a place in prog rock history and they seem to have faded without making any impact on the genre, so sorry, Lothar and the Hand People can go do hand jobs on each other. Their fingers won't be walking into my journal! (If you get that reference you're as old as I am)...


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 5, 2019)




----------



## Trollheart (Oct 5, 2019)

mrmustard615 said:


>


Yes, well, their flower power is no match for my glower power!
[video=youtube;dSfnmztRqE4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSfnmztRqE4[/video]


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 5, 2019)

mrmustard615 said:


>


Yes, well, their flower power is no match for my glower power! (2:10)
[video=youtube;qTabwzoihiI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTabwzoihiI[/video]


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 5, 2019)

Trollheart said:


> Yes, well, their flower power is no match for my glower power!





Trollheart said:


> Yes, well, their flower power is no match for my glower power! (2:10)





You said that.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 5, 2019)

mrmustard615 said:


> You said that.


I did. I meant to edit but posted twice instead.
I did. I meant to edit but posted twice instead.
Sucks being old.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 6, 2019)

*Changing Times: Ascendancy of the Album

*It’s probably very hard for the millennials among you to understand, but your world of digital downloads, streaming services, YouTube and itunes was not always how we accessed music. In the dark, dim past of the seventies - and before, but I was only born in the sixties - you had no real option but to buy a record if you liked it. The usual sequence went: hear it on the radio or maybe see it on a programme on the telly like _Top of the Pops_ or _The Old Grey Whistle Test,_ go into your local record store (yes, they really used to exist!) and buy it. Alternatively, you could check with your mates to see if they had it and borrow it to tape it on an audio cassette. Finally, if you were _really _desperate and/or cheap, you could tape it off the radio. Some few of us did resort to holding a cheap microphone up to the TV, warning everyone to silence while the latest single from Spandau Ballet or Thin Lizzy or whoever was on, and fuming when the dog, who had clearly _not_ received the memo and/or threat, ruined it all by barking out in the garden.

Why do I tell you all this? Because it’s fairly important to understand how it was back then, and for you guys I imagine that’s hard. In a world where you can now basically have any music you want at any time, and often for free, or just a monthly charge, it must te hard to contemplate a time when these services were not available. As a result, popularity of a song was based on record sales, more or less as it is now, but as record sales drop as music becomes more and more easily available, and you don’t have to pay for what you want to listen to, the record charts become less and less relevant in the twenty-first century.

But in the 1970s they ruled, and while you may look at many of the bands featured here over time and opine that they “couldn’t have been that good, I never heard of them”, it’s true that few if any had singles, hit or otherwise. Single releases was not how prog rock worked. It was, almost exclusively, an album-oriented genre. People bought albums because, well, they _wanted_ albums. Prog being one of the first genres to utilise the concept album, um, concept, you often had to hear an album all the way through in order to properly understand or appreciate it. Floyd’s _The Wall._ Genesis’s _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. _Rush’s _2112_ to perhaps a lesser degree and Camel’s _The Snow Goose _all work best when listened to in one sitting. Many had no singles released at all from them, but still shifted massive amounts of units. 

So although the prog rock acts of the day would seldom if ever trouble the charts, singles-wise, by the late sixties the likes of_ Sgt Pepper’s_ had already begun moving the record-buying public away from the almost exclusive purchase of singles and towards buying albums, with a power shift then occurring as the seventies hit. People began to buy albums more than singles, and record companies began to see that it wasn’t actually necessary to have singles off albums, as fans would buy the albums anyway. And whereas a casual record buyer might spend fifty pence or a pound on a single, even if they bought two or three, this would still not equal the five or six pounds, often more, that an album would cost. So the record companies stood to make more money out of people buying albums than singles, and if there’s one thing record companies love, it’s to make money.

In fact, many fans, not only of prog rock but other genres, might _never_ buy a single. They might buy the lead single as they waited for the album to be released, but almost invariably they would buy the album (on which the single would usually be anyway) whether they had bought the single or not. It’s probably impossible to describe to you young ‘uns the feeling of buying an album, coming home, putting it on the turntable and listening to it all the way through the first time. We had no playlists, no pause, skip or reverse, and generally once the needle hit the vinyl it stayed there until the record needed to be flipped over for the second side to be played. If all this sounds mad and confusing to you, ask your parents. Or grandparents. Man, I feel old!

The rise in popularity, and subsequent soaring sales of albums meant that the bar had been raised, or at least changed, as to what was considered successful, a good seller. Now, bands who never released a single in their entire career could still command great respect and be well known, and draw adoring fans to their concerts. Bands who never had, and never would, see the inside of a television studio, who would never experience radio airplay, and had no wish to, were still huge stars. The ownership of albums became almost a status symbol, and to be entirely fair, those who only bought singles were somewhat looked down upon by us “real” fans. 

Another thing to consider was, and still is to a great extent, that an artist’s best work is often the music that does not see the light of release through singles, the non-chartworthy, deeper and more introspective, the more controversial, the longer and more thoughtful songs on the album. Tracks are, after all, chosen from the album that conform to certain criteria in order to be released as singles. They should be catchy, memorable, easy to sing, good to dance to. They also should be, or must be shortened to, no more than maybe four or five minutes. It’s hard to imagine anyone shaking their booty to Genesis’s “The Musical Box”, which runs for just over ten minutes,  or getting down with their bad self to Van der Graaf Generator’s twenty-five minute opus “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers”! 

Album tracks that are not released as singles, therefore, were and are only available to those who owned the albums, and so yes, definitely, a kind of snobbery prevailed. Someone who enthused about, for instance, ELO’s smash hit “Mr. Blue Sky” might be told, possibly rather condescendingly, by an owner of the album _Out of the Blue_, that for their information, that was only the very end of a four-part suite called “Concerto for a Rainy Day”, and that “Mr. Blue Sky” was in fact the most inferior of the parts in that suite. But it was the most commercial, the most accessible, the most, if you like, poppy, and so was released as a single, and did very well, and good luck to Jeff and the boys for that. But to properly appreciate the work that went into “Mr. Blue Sky” one had to listen to “Concerto for a Rainy Day” in its entirety, when then the well-known single takes on a whole different aspect and meaning, and it can be seen how it fit into the overall work.

In some ways, perhaps, those who only listened to singles and never bought the albums might be likened to someone who reads a chapter from a novel but not the full thing, or someone who knows a piece of classical music from the television, movies or from an advertisement, but who has never heard any of the rest of the composer’s work. “Mars: the Bringer of War” by Gustav Holst, without ever experiencing - or even knowing of the existence of - _The Planets Suite_. “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff, never realising it’s the tiniest extract from a choral mass called _Carmina Burana_. Or “Carmen” by Bizet, never having heard the opera. Of course, I can’t claim to have done all these things, and can be accused of being the same sort of “casual listener to classical music or opera” as I damn these people for, but I do understand that, were I to listen, I would gain a greater appreciation of the work I do know.

It’s easy enough, therefore, whether it is or was right or wrong to do so, to see why those who only bought singles - call them the chart-buyers or pop pickers or whatever you want (I prefer sheep, but I can be nasty on occasion) - were sneered at by those of us who knew the albums, and would listen with rolling eyes to some bright young thing talk about how Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America” was a great song, but was completely unaware of the existence of such gems as “Lord is It Mine” or the superlative “Child of Vision”, and, worse, would probably not be interested in them, which we felt denigrated the art of the artist.

But, while those sort of people would still doggedly buy singles and nothing else, the world of music was changing. Prior to say 1965, a band or artist without a single in the chart would be probably pretty much unknown, and not very successful. But after the release of the Beatles’ groundbreaking and game-changing opus, having a hit single, or _any _single, was no longer a requirement for fame and success. In fact, those who did release singles were often seen as pandering to the lowest common denominator, and accused of selling out. 

So as far as prog rock was concerned, singles didn’t come into it. Chart position - at least on the singles chart - didn’t come into it. People bought the albums, mostly not because they were popular, or because everyone else was buying them, or because the trends of the time told them to. They bought the albums because they liked them, they followed the band and wanted to have their music in their collection. This is one of the big things that marked progressive rock, and to some extent the emergent heavy metal bands out from the pop and rock outfits of the time. As album sales soared, partially on the back of the popularity of the prog rock movement, it was becoming more and more evident that, as from the beginning and up until it became a bloated, overconfident, indulgent monster, progressive rock would chart its own course through music. 

And if the pop pickers didn’t like it, well, we knew what we liked, and it was getting better for us anyway in this particular wardrobe.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

_*Note: obviously, I'll be writing lengthy articles on the bigger bands in the genre, Genesis being among them, but to be fair I'll wait till about the mid-seventies or later, so that by then we'll have listened to and reviewed most of their at least better known albums.
*_
*Album title:* _From Genesis to Revelation_
*Artiste: * Genesis
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Decca
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Total; Genesis are/were my favourite band. I have all their albums.
*The Trollheart Factor:* 10
*Landmark value:* 10
*Tracklisting:* _Where the Sour Turns to Sweet/ In the Beginning/ Fireside Song/ The Serpent/ Am I Very Wrong?/ In the Wilderness/ The Conqueror/ In Hiding/ One Day/ Window/ Limbo/ Silent Sun/ A Place to Call My Own_
*Comments: * I only got to hear this album long after I had devoured most of Genesis's discography up to about _Abacab_, and to say I was disappointed is an understatement. What I didn't understand of course at that time was that the band were still finding their feet, honing their sound, learning to play with one another and more to the point, the movement which would be known as progressive rock was only very embryonic at that stage, so there wasn't a lot for them to emulate or even influence. Even one of Peter Gabriel's later heroes, Peter Hammill of Van der Graaf Generator, had yet to come onto the scene. Add to that the fact that they were all still at school at the time of recording, most of them being only seventeen years old while Anthony Phillips was a mere sixteen, and that both the names Genesis and Revelation were taken and you can see how they wouldn't exactly have been on fire with enthusiasm for their debut album. Hell, look at the album cover: it's about as boring, nondescript and generic as you can get. 

A note on the back of the CD cover sighs, in a typically what-can-you-do apologetic English way, “We were Genesis, then we learned there was a band with that name, so we changed our name to Revelation, only to find that name was also taken. Now are the band with no name, but we still wish you to enjoy our music”. That's not an exact quote --- I looked for the CD but can't find it --- but it's close enough. It does, however, allow you to see that this is hardly going to be the kind of band, should it last, that will sing about rockin' all night and dirty women! Far more esoteric and genteel subjects would colour Genesis's lyrics, making them a target for ridicule and leading to accusations of snobbery, some of which may have been justified.

But if there's one word that characterises all of the music here it's gentle. There is none of what would later become Peter Gabriel's trademark snarl (copied mostly from Hammill) or the sarcasm that would drip from titles on their next album, their first progressive one. If this album belongs anywhere, it's with the likes of The Byrds and Simon and Garfunkel and Gordon Lightfoot: soft, inoffensive, restrained music with a very poppy tilt. And yet, there are certainly pointers towards the kind of music Genesis would compose in later years, in tracks like “Fireside Song”, “In the Wilderness” and “One Day”.

Pastoral is another word that fits the album, and it's a style that would continue through at least their early albums, although the opener is perhaps a little more in-your-face and uptempo than most of the rest of the album, with a sort of psychedelic/blues feel to it and Gabriel's distinctive vocal shines right away and grabs your attention, even at the tender age of seventeen. Given how Genesis would become known for long, convoluted and epic songs, this album has none over five minutes, with most coming in around the three or four-minute mark. That spacey, psychedelic feel continues through to the next track, “In the Beginning”. You know, Wiki tells me that Jonathan King had the band record an album based loosely around the Bible, but I don't see it here. Sure, this track, one called “The Serpent”, “In Limbo”, could be seen to refer to the Bible, but it's nowhere near a concept album based around the Holy Book. The themes are varied, mostly concentrating on nature, man's need for conflict, and women.

The first real standout comes in the gentle “Fireside Song”, where for the first time you can hear the band come together and really write what could be called a proper song that could have been heard on the radio, though of course it was not released as a single. Soft, comfortable, safe, it's the perfect title for the song, and slides in on a lovely piano line from Tony Banks, taken up by Rutherford on the acoustic guitar as the song gets going. The first time I really sat up and took notice of this album when I initially listened to it. The strings accompaniment really helps too. “The Serpent” has a much bluesier, hard rock vibe to it, not one of my favourites, some good organ work certainly, then “Am I Very Wrong?” is quite gentle but has a hard piano line to it, sort of reminds me of some of Nick Cave's later work. The next great standout is “In the Wilderness”, with a great hook in the chorus and a strong vocal from Gabriel, presaging the kind of presence he would create on later albums.

“The Conqueror” is okay I guess, but it's nothing special. “In Hiding” is nice, has a kind of jangly rhythm to it but very rooted in the sixties for sure. Another great song is “One Day”, which, while naive to the max is still very endearing with its tale of the man living in the forest and hoping to bring his lover to live there with him. It's driven on a rippling piano line from Tony Banks, and powerful percussion from John Silver. “Window” is a gentle little ballad with a very low-key vocal from Gabriel, while there are horns and a sort of Beach Boys vocal harmony to “In Limbo”, but the song chosen as their only single (which flopped of course) is just very pedestrian and you can see how King was trying to make them into a pop group, something they were at the time very much not suited for. The short closer is very nice, and bookends the album well.


*Favourite track(s):* _Fireside Song, One Day, In the Wilderness, Window, A Place to Call My Own/_
*Least favourite track(s): *_The Serpent, Silent Sun_
*Overall impression: * Were this the first time I was hearing Genesis I would have thought they probably had no real future. There's little on this album that really stands out or marks this band as being destined to lead the progressive rock revolution, but then in fairness a lot of that is down to the almost iron grip Jonathan King exerted over the band, and once they parted company with him they were free to explore their own, more intricate and daring compositions, and a legend was born. But apart from diehard Genesis fans like me, and completists and collectors, you can get by without having to listen to this album at all.
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 19, 2019)

Really? I like Silent Sun. I think that was the single from the album, wasn't it?

I bought the album as Early Genesis in the states and, yes, it's totally different from the Progressive era, but maybe that's why I like this album. Silent Sun and That's Me would be my favorites on the album (okay maybe That's Me was a single- I don't see it on the album but it was on my American album). There is another song I can't seem to find that I really like that I don't think is on the album either. I'll have to check my mp3s (I converted the album I had to an Mp3 album). Anyway, I thought the album was quite listenable.


And don't tell me The Byrds or Simon and Garfunkel were inoffensive. They both could get a bit political, especially the Byrds with Drug Store Truck Driving Man. Gordon Lightfoot? Well... :lol:


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

You know, I've been away for some time now, but one thing that has stopped me from updating this journal, other than suffering ill health recently, has been the anticipatory dread I've experienced, knowing that the next album up for review is not only a Zappa, but a double album! I've just kept avoiding it. But some things don't go away, and if I want to ever get this back on track, I'm gonna have to man up and face my demons. So go on, Frank, I'm ready: do your worst!

*Album title:* _Uncle Meat_
*Artiste: *The Mothers of Invention
*Nationality: * American
*Label: * Bizarre/Reprise
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* At this point, you have seen me experience him, so just those two albums so far.
*The Trollheart Factor:* 2
*Landmark value:* Seems the album was highly praised for its innovation in recording techniques, overdubs and mastering. Also one of the earlier prog or proto-prog albums to follow a science-fiction storyline, to say nothing of being, apparently, the soundtrack to a movie that never got made. According to the man:_"It's all one album. All the material in the albums is organically related and if I had all the master tapes and I could take a razor blade and cut them apart and put it together again in a different order it still would make one piece of music you can listen to. Then I could take that razor blade and cut it apart and reassemble it a different way, and it still would make sense. I could do this twenty ways. The material is definitely related.”_
 If you say so, Frankie.
*Track Listing:* _ Uncle Meat: Main Title Theme/ The Voice of Cheese/ Nine Types of Industrial Pollution/ Zolar Czakl/ Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague/ The Legend of the Golden Arches/ Louie Louie/ The Dogbreath Variations/ Sleeping in a Jar/ Our Bizarre Relationship/ The Uncle Meat Variations/ Electric Aunt Jemima/ Prelude to King Kong/ God Bless America/ A Pound for a Brown on the Bus/ Ian Underwood Whips It Out / Mr Green Genes/ We Can Shoot You/ If We'd All Been Living in California.../ The air/ Project X/ Cruising for Burgers/ King Kong Itself (As Played by The Mothers in a Studio)/ King Kong (Its Magnificence as Interpreted by Dom DeWild)/ King Kong (As Motorhead Explains It) / King Kong (The Gardner Varieties)/ King Kong (As Played by 3 Deranged Good Humour Trucks)/ King Kong (Live on a Flat Bed Diesel in the Middle of a Race Track at Miami Pop Festival ... the Underwood Ramifications)_
*Comments: * Jesus on a pogo stick! Even writing out the track listing has exhausted me! And I haven't even begun listening to the _music_ yet! How is it that side four is taken up with six (count 'em) versions of the one song? Oh yeah, I forgot: it's Zappa!  Well, let's sidle up to the door and push it gingerly open with this ten-foot barge pole I just happen to have ....

Interesting kind of sound, sort of xylophone-y, not too bad at all, quite quick and while not frenetic very bouncy. I see there _is_ a xylophone credited, so maybe that's exactly what it is. Who knows? Some typical Zappa weirdness at the end, just in case we forgot who we were listening to, then “The Voice of Cheese” introduces us to, apparently, a major recurring character in Zappaland, Suzy Creamcheese, but she's just talking and I couldn't care less. Instrumental mayhem then for “Nine Types of Industrial Pollution”, which to be fair is mostly run on guitar, could be classical, maybe, not sure. Very expressive. Percussion is a bit haphazard, I'm sure it's meant to be. Quite distracting though. Six minutes of this. Could be worse I guess. Actually most of the tracks (and there are a total of_ twenty-eight _of them) are short, many under a minute or just over, so thank god for small mercies. Not too bad so far though I must admit. I'm sure it'll get much weirder soon enough.

One of those short tracks is up next, less than a minute and very close to something Waits would later develop, with a little hint of echoes from the future on Genesis's “The Colony of Slippermen” before it's into a kind of slow soul/jazzy groove with salsa or some sort of Latin American overtones for “Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague”, another almost six-minuter, and the first so far with lyrics. Operatic singing, Mariachi, semi-Beach Boys, it's all there. “The Legend of the Golden Arches” sounds kind of like a carnival, pretty upbeat and again you can see where Waits would get his ideas for instrumentals like “Dave the Butcher”. This is an instrumental too, apart from another spoken bit by I guess Suzy. Live now for “Louie Louie”, which seems to be just some sort of idea of the lads larking about with a tuba. Yeah. “The Dogbreath Variations” closes out side one, nice strummed acoustic guitar and some warbly keyboard. Not bad. Not bad at all. More xylo too, which is pretty cool. Even get a kind of solo from the thing. Never heard that before.

Side two opens on “Sleeping in a Jar”, another piece which runs for less than a minute and is quite nice with a sort of almost proggish feel to it, maybe the first time I've heard Z do prog or come close enough that I could recognise it as such. Suzy's back (she's really starting to annoy me I must say) and talking her way through the next track, which takes us on to “The Uncle Meat Variations”, which really must have had Waits scribbling feverishly as he listened. Another instrumental, I think? Some nice accordion and organ with maybe vibes or that xylo again. I like this I must say. Oh wait, some sort of Japanese singing or something is cutting in, kind of ruining it for me. Well, I can't say I'm surprised; the big Z seems to hate being in one groove for anything more than a few minutes. Good guitar solo kind of makes up for it though. “Electric Aunt Jemima” is some sort of Everly Brothers style ballad, with suitably silly voices, while “Prelude to King Kong” is probably well named, as, as I mentioned, there are no less than SIX versions of the song on the album, and in fact they all take up the fourth side. This one is like some sort of polka or something, dashing along on horns and muted percussion, sort of like a military charge.

We're live again next for the patriotic “God Bless America”, possibly played on the kazoo, with much enthusiastic if not rhythmic banging on drums, followed by a short little instrumental and then the interestingly-titled “Ian Underwood Whips It Out”. Indeed. Starts off with a spoken introduction by the man in the title, explaining how he joined The Mothers, then an annoyingly jazzesque screech on the sax I guess it is. This, to my not inconsiderable horror, goes on for just over five minutes. And so side two ends, and we're halfway there. Sanity check. Seem still to be able to interact with the world at large. Not so bad.

Side three opens with “Mr Green Genes”, slow kind of marching tune on tuba I think with more vocals, not just talking this time. Not bad, even if the lyric is silly. Nice organ line underpinning the tune. Xylophone takes us into “We Can Shoot You”, a lot of random percussion effects, also flute, slide whistle, you name it. Another round of talking then (seems like the band arguing with the Big Z about how little they're working and getting paid) then another fifties doo-wop style ballad for “The Air” before we head into “Project X”, pretty spacey, quite Twilight Zone-ish, very weird. Need I add it too is an instrumental? It, too, is an instrumental. Finally, “Cruising for Burgers” takes us to the end of side three, with what at first fools me into thinking he's singing a cover of “White Christmas” but quickly settles (!) into a cross between a soft ballad and some pretty wild, off-base drumming, making the whole thing very hard on my aged ears. At least it's short.

Side four, as I mentioned, is six versions of the song “King Kong”, and as they all have ridiculously long and nonsensical subtitles I ain't gonna write them all out again, refer to the track listing if you need to. Here, they're just gonna be numbered. So, “King Kong I” is a mere fifty-odd seconds long and is a nifty little instrumental which in particular gives the bass a chance to shine, with some really nice organ. Quite funky. Brother. “KK II” is also short, segueing directly in from the previous track, and not surprisingly the very same melody, though the sax or trumpet seems to have taken over here. Bit too of that oft-feared subgenre for me, freeform jazz. Yuck. “KK III” is ... already halfway through. Didn't hear the changeover, I must admit, and it's not that surprising as they're very similar, almost identical. And now we're into “KK IV”, which again has just transitioned over without any change or gap. This one however is over six minutes long. Don't see the point in all this, I have to admit. Still, nearly there. The final part is seven minutes though! Before that there's a brief few seconds of “KK V” (apparently supposed to be ice cream vans. Hmm) before we end on “KK VI”, not only the longest of the sextet but the longest track on the album at almost seven and a half minutes. I can see the finish line though. Just hold out for another four hundred-odd seconds and we're done. Okay, this version is possibly the most coherent of them all, sort of marching beat with nice organ and even the wild horns don't scare me off. That much.


*Favourite track(s):* _ Uncle Meat: Main Title Theme, Dogbreath, in the Year of the Plague, The Legend of the Golden Arches, Dogbreath Variations, Sleeping in a Jar, Mr Green Genes, The Air_
*Least favourite track(s): * Pretty much everything else, especially the spoken word ones and doubly so for any with Suzy fucking Creamcheese on them.
*Overall impression: * Weird yes, but perhaps not as consistently weird as I had feared. Some nice, even accessible tracks amid all the insanity. Certainly individual: no way this could be anyone other than Zappa, or maybe his protege, Beefheart. Not something I would listen to again for pleasure though. Hey, at least it's not _TMR_! Not looking forward to revisiting _that!_
*Personal Rating:* 2.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating: 3.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

*Album title:* _On the Threshold of a Dream_
*Artiste: * The Moody Blues
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Deram
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Landmark value:* Another concept album, making the Moodies perhaps the first band to release three different concept albums in a row, this gave them their first experience of the number one slot and also broke them in the USA. Oddly, for such a successful album, it had no hit singles. Not a one.
*Track Listing:* _ In the Beginning/ Lovely to See You/ Dear Diary/ Send Me No Wine/ To Share Our Love/ So Deep Within You/ Never Comes the Day/ Lazy Day/ Are You Sitting Comfortably?/ The Dream/ Have You Heard (Part 1)/ The Voyage/ Have You Heard (Part 2)_
*Comments: * The concept for the first (real) album was a single day, the second travelling. This third one concentrates on the world of dreams, so it's no surprise that there's a dark, atmospheric synth lead in, then a spoken piece before some jarring effects which eventually takes off into a very late-sixties rock tune, uptempo and bouncy as we move into “Lovely to See You”, one of only three tracks on which Justin Hayward takes lead vocals. Nice, but nothing terribly special and certainly nothing proggy, not to me. Early days yet though, or to put it in the context of the album, the dream has but begun. More laidback and bluesy for “Dear Diary”, which has echoes of early ELO: guess Lynne and Wood listened to the Moodies then! Ambles along nicely, sort of like someone taking a leisurely stroll at night through the backstreets of the city. Some nice phased vocals (were there vocoders this early?) with some nice flute from Ray Thomas. Much better, though again not a prog rock song. Almost country then for “Send Me No Wine”, more uptempo, then Mike Pinder handles vocals for the next two tracks. The first, “To Share Your Love” is again uptempo pop/rock, not bad but where the hell are the Hammonds and the mellotrons, huh? I'm also not crazy about his rather more raw vocal style, preferring Hayward's more gentle, mellifluous one. The other track is “So Deep Within You” (ooer!) and it's a total Pinderfest, as he both wrote and sings the song. It's pretty terrible, almost a foray into funk, or disco at least. Urgh. Even the flute doesn't help. Kind of reminds me, in terms of incongruity, of “Waiting for Your Love” on _Toto IV_. If that means nothing to you, I can't help you.

Thankfully Hayward is back to save the day with a lovely little ballad that kicks off side two, as “Never Comes the Day” re-establishes order with some beautiful cello from John Lodge and a soaring, aching vocal from my favourite Moody, who unsurprisingly also wrote this ballad. Love the harmonica in it too. Ah, and _there's_ the mellotron! Finally! The first song I enjoyed on this album was the Ray-Thomas penned and sung “Dear Diary”, so I have high hopes for “Lazy Day”, his only other contribution, and I'm not disappointed, though it's certainly Beatlesesque, and was in fact the only single released from the album (I can see why) which completely flopped sadly. It has a nice finger-clicking breezy rhythm about it, then morphs into the closest I have yet heard to prog on this album, though it goes back to the original rhythm. Nice use of harmonica again, and violin I think. The vocal harmonies are good too.

Hayward returns for the final time, collaborating with Thomas on “Are You Sitting Comfortably?”, and perhaps predictably it's another ballad, with a really nice bass line and some horns, soft piano, very relaxing. This then takes us into what I believe is known as “The Voyage Suite”, kicking off with “The Dream”, in which Mike Pinder narrates (it's barely a minute long) and references the album's title, and then the first of two parts of “Have You Heard” opens with a nice acoustic guitar ballad, Pinder running the show now as he wrote and also sings the last three tracks. Well, the penultimate one is an instrumental, showing not only what the Moodies could do but their love of classical music as they rearrange Strauss on “Also Spake Zarathustra” (you'd know it as the music that opens the movie _2001: A Space Odyssey_) for “The Voyage”, the second-longest track on the album at just under four minutes, before things wrap up with “Have You Heard (Part 2)” which basically reprises the first part.


*Favourite track(s):* _ Dear Diary, Never Comes the Day, Lazy Day, Are You Sitting Comfortably? Have You Heard (Part 1) _
*Least favourite track(s): *_ So Deep Within You_
*Overall impression: * Generally I'd have to say side two is better than side one, but while parts of the album show proggy touches, especially the instrumental “The Voyage”, and notwithstanding the proggy title, I am a little disappointed that this album is rather more removed from the precepts of prog than their previous two outings. Good, but more a rock album than a prog rock one.
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

At the end of the review of _Uncle Meat _I remarked, "Hey, at least its not _TMR_!"
No, but this is...






*Album title:* _Trout Mask Replica_
*Artiste: *Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
*Nationality:* American
*Label: *Straight/Reprise
*Year:* 1969
*Grade:* B
*Landmark value:* One of the most important albums in the field of experimental music and art rock (it says here) _Trout Mask Replica_ failed to set the world alight when it was released, completely flopping (like a trout on the riverbank. Sorry) but as is often the case, history has apparently recognised its importance and the mad genius that was Don Van Vliet, and today it is revered as one of the founding albums of out-there music. I would probably have to agree, despite my own feelings about it.
*Tracklisting: *_Frownland/ The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back/ Dachau Blues/ Ella Guru/ Hair Pie: Bake 1/ Moonlight on Vermont/ Pachuco Cadaver/ Bills Corpse/ Sweet Sweet Bulbs/ Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish/ China Pig/ My Human Gets Me Blues/ Dali's Car/ Hair Pie: Bake 2/ Pena/ Well/ When Big Joan Sets Up/ Fallin' Ditch/ Sugar 'n' Sikes/ Ant Man Bee/ Orange Claw Hammer/ Wild Life/ She's Too Much for My Mirror/ Hobo Chang Ba/ The Blimp (Mouestrapreplica)/ Steal Softly Thru Snow/ Old Fart at Play/ Veterans Day Poppy _
*Comments: *Oh boy! I'll try to keep my own negative view of this out of it, but don't blame me if I begin ranting. Anyway, this is the second time I'll have to suffer through this, so seconds out, round two! No hitting below the belt, let's have a good clean fight. Place yer bets! And so we're off with a kind of rock song with what sounds to me to be most of the instruments playing independently of each other, very confusing, with Beefheart's growl over the whole thing. Next up is what sounds like some sort of folk song sung _acapella_, while “Dachau Blues” is I guess basically a Chicago blues style song with sharp guitar. I can certainly see where Tom Waits would develop his sound listening to this. Track's not too bad to be fair. “Ella Guru” has that hard sharp guitar again, and now it sounds like someone is slowly strangling a violin to death for five minutes. “Moonlight on Vermont” does at least bring some music back into the frame, and we're at the end of side one.

Death seems to haunt the first two tracks, with “Pachucho Cadaver” kicking things off with a rather catchy rhythm, not a bad song to be fair. Could do without the squeaky horn, but that's just me. Continuing on the same theme them we get “Bills Corpse” (it's spelled without the apostrophe, so, you know...) which is a short, manic track leading into “Sweet Sweet Bulbs”, a nice boppy blues style tune. You know, it's odd, but listening to this I've realised just how much Waits ripped off Beefheart's style. I used to think he was unique, but from the time he started emulating the Captain (around the time of _Heartattack and Vine_, certainly in full flight by _Swordfishtrombones_, which even shows Beefheart's penchant for running words together) he really just became a copy of him. Sobering thought. Back to the album though.

I have absolutely no idea what “Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish” is meant to be, (and no, it’s not misspelled) but what else is new? At best I guess it's an exercise in expressionism or art gone mad. “China Pig” has that Delta blues stripped-down feel, “My Human Gets Me Blues” is a rocky madcap tune, and one minute of hard banging guitar ends side two, bringing us into “Hair Pie: Bake 2” which is at least a whole lot more tuneful than “Hair Pie: Bake 1” on the first side. “Pena” is mostly speech, particularly manic speech near the end, sounds female, but may not be. “Well” is another short track, just over two minutes with an _acapella_ rendering of what sounds like a folk song, then “When Big Joan Sets Up” is the longest song on the album at just over five minutes, another madcap rocker. I've nothing to say about “Fallin' Ditch”, but “Sugar 'n Spikes” hops along nicely, and “Ant Man Bee” takes us three-quarters of the way through the album.

Another_ acapella _folk song-thing to open side four with “Orange Claw Hammer”, “Wild Life” brings back the guitar (Jesus! Even Waits's guitar player sounds like this!) as does “She's Too Much for My Mirror” and well, it ran into the next track without me noticing. Now he's shouting about “The Blimp!” (which I find really annoying) before we get to “Steal Softly Thru Snow” which kind of continues the ideas explored in “Wild Life” and “She's Too Much for My Mirror” as we head towards the end of the album. “Old Fart at Play” is mostly spoken against a jangly guitar which is pretty good to be honest, and we end on another long track, four and a half minutes of a bluesy “Veterans Day Poppy”. Well, kind of bluesy. In parts. Hey, it's Beefheart! Leave me alone!
*Favourite track(s):* _Dachau Blues, Moonlight on Vermont, Sweet Sweet Bulbs__
*Least favourite track(s): *Pretty much everything else
*Overall impression: *Second time in, not as bad as I remembered, but still not an album I would listen to for pleasure, nor one I expect ever to listen to again. Not, to be fair, what I would consider in any way part of the progressive rock movement; certainly I can see his influence on art rock, experimental music and avant-garde, but prog? Don't see it. Might as well call Tom Waits a progressive rock icon. Nevertheless, given that so many musicians in all fields cite this album, and the place it occupies in rock history, it has to get the top Legacy rating, even if my own is a lot more modest and represents my personal view of the album.
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*

_


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

*Album title:* _Yes_
*Artiste: * Yes
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Atlantic
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* _Big Generator, Union, 90125, The Ladder, Close to the Edge, Fly From Here, The Keys to Ascension_ Also the ABWH album, which was essentially Yes under another name.
*The Trollheart Factor:* 5
*Landmark value:* It's always a little bit of a gamble, looking at debuts. Many of the first, or in some cases even second, albums from bands who went on to be huge in the prog rock scene are not what you would necessarily think of as either iconic or technically prog. Look at Genesis's first effort, or the debut from The Moody Blues. Look at Rush, or David Bowie. None of these bands produced what could in some cases even be marginally recognised as a prog debut, and yet many of them went on to become prog giants. Such I feel may be the case with Yes's debut, and yet, given the huge impact they had on the prog scene, I feel it only fair to look into this album, if merely to see how much their style had changed by the third album. So in terms of Landmark Value, I would say very little, but given that it was the first the world heard of Yes, perhaps more than they could have expected.
*Tracklisting:* _Beyond and Before/ I See You/ Yesterday and Today/ Looking Around/ Hrold Land/ Every Little Thing/ Sweetness/ Survival_
*Comments: * When bass player Chris Squire was introduced to a young barman near The Marquee club, musical history began to write itself. With drummer Bill Bruford and pianist Tony Kaye joining, the band Yes was formed and they released their debut, self-titled album. It opens on “Beyond and Before”, which has already the sort of close-harmony vocals that would become one of the band's staple sounds as well as Jon Anderson's unmistakable high vocal. It's a lot more guitar-driven than the later Wakeman-controlled soundscapes that would characterise albums such as _Tales from Topographic Oceans, Close to the Edge_ and _Going for the One_, but even here you can hear that this is more than just a simple rock record, and for the year it has some very deep lyrics and clever ideas.

Much jazzier is the cover of The Byrds' “I See You”, quite hippy and psych; reminds me of very early Supertramp, like the kind of thing that would surface on their own debut released the following year. Can't say I really like it, but then I'm no fan of the winged ones. It does however give Yes their first real shot at an extended instrumental jam, something that would become a mainstay of their own compositions and lead, in time, to the accusations of pointless noodling and technical wankery that would dog them, and by association, most of the bigger bands in prog rock as the seventies drew to a close. For now though, it was different and very acceptable, even exciting to hear such sounds.

“Yesterday and Today” is one of only two songs penned by Anderson solo, and is dripping with his spiritual sentimentality, a lovely little soft ballad that perfectly suits his high alto tenor vocal, backed mostly by just acoustic guitar and piano. “Looking Around” gets things moving again, and this time Kaye has a chance to really make an impact on the keys, putting in quite the solo; in fact, in places he pretty much takes over the song. This influence carries on into “Harold Land”, where the song is introduced by a powerful keyboard solo, and it's quite a dark song, decrying the futility of war and the cheapness of human life, perhaps piggy-backing on the ideas of the protest singers of the sixties and updating them for a rock audience. The rhythm and pacing are almost incongruously light and breezy, with some really nice guitar touches from Peter Banks and another extended solo from Kaye.

Another cover is up next, this time it's The Beatles' “Every Little Thing”, which rocks along at speed, the guys even throwing in the guitar riff from “Day Tripper” for good measure. Clever, but I'm not a Beatles fan either (yes, I know _Abbey Road_ is up next!) and the song does little for me, nor I believe did it do anything for the credentials of the band who would grow up to be godfathers of the prog rock movement. “Sweetness”, on the other hand, is just beautiful, another gentle ballad and the first song written for the album between Squire and Anderson. While it kind of has hippy Beatles overtones it's something you could see being absorbed into what would become the core Yes sound. “Survival” then is the longest song on the album, and the closest I suppose you could come to a mini-suite, with its instrumental intro that fades away and leaves a soft acoustic guitar before Anderson's equally soft vocal joins the tune. This is the other song he composed solo, and it's certainly been worth waiting for, a very fitting closer.
*Favourite track(s):* _ Yesterday and Today, Harold Land, Sweetness, Survival_
*Least favourite track(s): *_ Every Little Thing_
*Overall impression: * To be honest, though it's nowhere near a prog masterpiece or even a totally recognisable prog album, this has more pointers to the direction Yes would take than I had expected. Definite markers showing how they would blossom and grow, develop and evolve into one of the biggest and most popular bands in the prog rock scene.
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

Okay, let's take a break from all this hard work to have a little fun.

Oh, go on with you! As I mentioned in the intro, although I'm charting the progress of artists who contributed significantly to what became known as progressive rock, there were those albums out there on the fringes, albums or even artists who are largely unknown, made little real impact on the scene and whose albums hardly became classics, but who, for one reason or another, resonate with and are linked with this period of time. In general, I guess you could describe them as fun albums. Or, to tie in with what I have now decided will be the title of this section (and _just _the one: I've gone with merging both "fun" and "fringe" albums together): if you consider that the bigger prog bands were all busily working in the garden, planting, tending, and eventually harvesting crops of amazingly-coloured flowers, tasty vegetables and exotic plants which would all go to make up the landscape of prog rock, these guys were outside smoking cigarettes, sneering perhaps at the hard work going on in the garden while they worked just as hard as the other bands did, but in a vastly different way. They would have been more or less shut out of the main prog rock scene, and muttered and laughed and cursed as they carried on their own unique experiments in sound





I'm going to do these alphabetically, and so the first album up is this

*Album title:* _Brainbox_
*Artiste: * Brainbox
*Nationality: * Dutch
*Label: * Imperial
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * n/a
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* n/a
*Tracklisting:* _Dark Rose/ Reasons to Believe/ Baby, What You Want Me to Do/ Scarborough Fair/ Summertime/ Sinner's Prayer/ Sea of Delight_
*Comments: * Perhaps not quite as unanchored to the prog scene as I had at first thought, as Brainbox introduced us to both Jan Akkerman and Thijs van der Linden, who went on to form Focus, of whom much later. But I imagine if you mention the name to any one, even a diehard prog fan, they might have difficulty recalling this band and this album. I have to admit, I'm not quite sure now where I got the quote about the warning of psychological damage – I've searched my usual sources and nothing has come up – but I know I read it somewhere. Be that as it may, it's a relatively short album with only seven tracks, though in fairness one of them is seventeen minutes long.

Kicks off with psychedelic flute and drums, man, kind of an eastern/Indian feel I guess then the guitar comes in and it morphs into a sort of blues/rockabilly tune picking up serious speed as it goes. Yeah, it's basically an extended jam, with added flute. And more flute. It's good, it's enjoyable but there's not really a whole lot more I can say about it. Some great guitar from Akkerman, but then, that goes without saying, does it not? Next one's basic blues with a little folk, and I've heard comparisons made to the late Rory Gallagher, which I hear in “Baby What You Want Me to Do?” In fact, were I not sure what album I was listening to, I would have sworn this was the lamented bluesman. Nothing faintly prog so far though, barring the flute in the opening track.

Next up is a rather nice rendition of the song made famous by Simon and Garfunkel, “Scarborough Fair”. Unsurprisingly there's a lot of flute in it, though perhaps surprisingly not as much as you might expect. The song goes on for way too long though. Then they take a stab at my number one favourite song of all time ever, the beautiful “Summertime”. Led on a dark organ line, it's actually quite a decent attempt. Blues boogie then as we again almost hear the ghost of Rory (who of course was alive and well in 1969, but you know what I mean) on “Sinner's Prayer”, taking us into the closer, and surely the closest this album can be expected to get to prog, the seventeen-minute “Sea of Delight”. Hmm. Yeah, basically it's a 17-minute instrumental jam, with the odd smattering of vocals. Oh, and a bloody long-ass drum solo. Not that impressed really. The only possible reason I can see that there may have been that warning about psychological damage if you listened to this was from pure boredom, at least on the last track.

*Favourite track(s):* _Baby, What You Want Me to Do, Summerime, Scarborough Fair, Sinner's Prayer_
*Least favourite track(s): *_Dark Rose, Sea of Delight_
*Overall impression: * I have to admit it was a little all over the place – blues, psych, folk, even the odd showtune in there, and jams too – but in general I found it a little boring. Nothing I could say would add to the growing prog rock movement, despite that closer. Fringe, definitely, for me. Also an early and unwanted example of technical wankery, the kind of thing ELP would go on to flog to death over the next ten years or so, until Dream Theater came along..
*Personal Rating:* 2.0

_(Note: as none of these are important to the emerging prog scene, and I’m listening to and reviewing them just for the craic, and for something different, I’ll only be rating them on a personal basis, which will reflect entirely whether or not I enjoyed the album, not whether it is a good or bad example of prog.)_


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

OK, that's enough fun for you for now. Stub out that cigarette and let's head back over the wall and into the garden; there's work to be done!





*Album title:* _Abbey Road_
*Artiste: * The Beatles
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * EMI
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * C
*Landmark value:* As far as the crawling ones were concerned, their penultimate record together. As far as prog is concerned, don't know but not expecting too much.
*Tracklisting:* _Come Together/ Something/ Maxwell's Silver Hammer/ Oh! Darling/ Octopus's Garden/ I Want You (She's So Heavy)/ Here Comes the Sun/ Because/ Medley (You Never Give Me Your Money/ Sun king /Mean Mr Mustard/ Polythene Pam/ She Came in Through the Bathroom Window/ Golden Slumbers/ Carry That Weight/ The End)_
*Comments: * You know, I get it: the Beatles are an institution and some people revere them as gods, but it constantly annoys me the minutiae some of the articles are concerned with. Instead of just a track listing, every song (and I mean _every_ song) has to be dissected to the nth degree! Anyway, even if you somehow were not aware of this album you would certainly recognise the cover, which has become so iconic it has been parodied, copied and reproduced to death, and yet, like so many good album covers, it's the very simplest of ideas: four guys walking on a Zebra crossing. Despite, or perhaps because of this, it has become instantly recognisable.

All right, even I know “Come Together”, with its hollow percussion and its tinny vocal from McCartney, one of their many hits, with some smooth electric guitar and funky organ and “Something” has also gone down in history as another hit, a love ballad this time with an instantly recognisable guitar melody at the end of the chorus. It's really nice, but again it's not prog, and neither is “Maxwell's Silver Hammer”, with its sort of twenties style, maybe a bit of Barrett there too. Interestingly, it appears to be a song about murder, which is certainly not alluded to in the music, which is breezy, upbeat and cheerful. A joke perhaps? It's doo-wop then for “Oh! Darling” which is really nice, but here we are almost at the end of the first side and I couldn't point to a single song or even idea that had any influence on prog, so far as I can see. I must admit I'm enjoying the album on its own merits, however.

I've always loved “Octopus's Garden”, ever since I heard Kermit sing it on Sesame Street! It has the very off-kilter weird vibe of _Yellow Submarine_ and is great fun, with a sort of Hawaiian/islands flavour and of course you can't take it seriously. Side one then comes to an end with the longest track, “I Want You (She's So Heavy)”, and this could be where the prog rock influences start to leak in. Meh, sounds more like jazz or jazz fusion to me, and very repetitive. I guess for the time it would have been seen as new and exciting, bold and daring and possibly linked to the new prog bands coming up. Not so sure myself. It's actually the first song on the album I haven't enjoyed; sounds very indulgent. Hey, maybe it _is _prog after all!  And they used a Moog, so there is that I guess. Actually you know, I've changed my mind. That ending instrumental was pretty prog and I grew to like it.

“Here Comes the Sun” kicks off side two, and is one of only two songs before the long medley that more or less completes the album. Another well known hit, it's a happy little tune which is of course very catchy, while “Because” is a really nice little ballad with sort of Byrds overtones, very nice vocal harmonies and into the medley, which is by turns nice and relaxing, a bit boppy but again nothing I could honestly call close to prog. “Sun King” in particular is really laidback and pleasant, “Mean Mr Mustard” is meh, “Polythene Pam” much the same; a basic rock bopper, very short as all of these tracks are. “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” is better, with some nice harmonies, and “Golden Slumbers” is a lovely piano-led ballad with orchestral backing. That leaves us with “Carry That Weight”, which I know and is very powerful and anthemic, linking in with “You Never Give Me Your Money”, which opened this selection and leading to the appropriately-titled “The End”, the longest in the medley. It's a fast, rocky guitar piece with a very powerful message at the end (sorry) _”The love you take is equal to the love you make.”_


*Favourite track(s):* Everything
*Least favourite track(s): * Nothing
*Overall impression: *Odd indeed. A Beatles album without a single bad track. No, I don't mean that's odd; I mean it's odd that _I _should like every single track, and I'm not a Beatles fan. But from a personal standpoint, I loved the bones off this album. From a prog standpoint, not so much. I don't see anything bar the possible use of the segueing medley at the end and the track “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” to justify this being an influence on prog in any way. So given my personal enjoyment of the album, the final rating below might be taken as slightly skewed.
*Personal Rating:* 5.0
*Legacy Rating:* 1.0
*Final Rating: 3.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees, which is rather unfortunate if you’re a lumberjack, and sometimes it takes a musician to see things you can’t, which is why I mention this. One of the guys on Music Banter made some very valid and important points _vis a vis_ recording techniques in this period, something I have not really covered up to now, not being versed in such, and not being a musician. I did watch George Martin's fascinating documentary _Soundbreaking_ – highly recommended – and was amazed to find that originally, back in the forties and fifties, and especially with jazz bands apparently, the process of recording was: band come into studio, play, are recorded directly to the album which is then cut, all done in one take! Primitive, and with no room for overdubs, changes, cutting or anything else, and extremely immediate. Also meant everyone had to get it right first time, as there was no second chance. With that in mind, then yes, the evolution of the recording of sound through the works of The Beatles, Zappa and Beefheart, among others, underwent something of a seismic change during the latter half of the sixties and on into the seventies, and for those reasons alone these bands and their engineers and producers should be credited with having added to the overall sound that emerged eventually as progressive rock. Thanks, dude!


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 19, 2019)

Well you knew I was going to have to comment after reviewing a Beatles album, didn't you? :icon_cheesygrin:

First of all, I told you Abbey Road wasn't a progressive album but you didn't believe me, did you? [-X

Anyway some nits:

The tinny vocals on Come Together are Lennon's, not McCartney. He actually got successfully sued by whoever owned Chuck Berry's songs for ripping the line Here Comes Old Flattop from You Can't Catch Me- Just a little trivia there. :icon_cheesygrin:

Maxwell's Silver Hammer is horrible. That was McCartney practicing his Silly Love Songs phase. Comparing him to Syd Barrett? AARGH!

I like Octopus' Garden too. We must be the only two people who do. I swear Ringo gets no respect.  

I Want You (She's So Heavy) is, of course, a blues number. That would probably explain to repetitiveness. Yeah the end is awesome isn't it?

And about Mean Mr. Mustard, are you calling me Meh?!!! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	






Interesting note. By about 1969, bands were excited at the amazing recording studio invention of the eight track. Sgt. Pepper, for example, only had the availability of the four track so, yeah, things were pretty primitive then.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 19, 2019)

*Album title:* _Nice_
*Artiste: * The Nice
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Immediate
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Landmark value:* For this album, I don't know. Some of it was rehashed stuff from the first album, so other than carrying on the legacy from that, I don't guess all that much.
*Tracklisting:* _Azael Revisited/ Hang on to a Dream/ Diary of an Empty Day/ For Example/ Rondo '69/ She Belongs To Me_


*All right buddy! Stop right there!*
This album is neither available on Spotify or god-damn YouTube, and I will be damned if I am paying for it just to review it! So unless someone can shoot me a link, this will have to be one we pass over. We've had two albums from the Nice already so I doubt we're really going to be missing anything out...

So it's on to






*Album title:* _Volume Two_
*Artiste: * Soft Machine
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Probe
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Landmark value:* See review of their first album
*Tracklisting:* _Rivmic Melodies (Pataphysical Introduction Pt 1/ A Concise British Alphabet Pt 1/ Hibou, Anemone and Bear/ A Concise British Alphabet Pt 2/ Hulloder/ Dada Was Here/ Thank You Pierrot Lunaire/ Have You Ever Bean Green/ Pataphysical Introduction Pt 2/ Out of Tunes) / As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still/ Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening/ Esther's Nose Job (Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging/ Pig/ Orange Skin Food/ A Door Opens and Closes/ 10.30 Returns To the Bedroom)_
*Comments: *Still known, for now it would seem anyway, as _The_ Soft Machine. Well just looking at the song titles I'm feeling a Beefheart come on, or at least an English Zappa! In other words, a little trepidation is creeping in! Bit of an abrupt start really, nice piano line with just a spoken vocal (well I guess it_ is_ an introduction) which then runs into a literal singing of the ABC and then with a buzzy guitar we hit the first song proper (this is all part of an overarching suite called “Rivmic Melodies” - get it? English people often speak in this way: rhythm becomes rivvim, so it's actually a play on the way they would say “rhythmic melodies”) “Hobour, Anemone and Bear” and it's quite jazzy in its way, a six-minute instrumental with a lot of horn I guess, kinda psych too – oh, there are vocals coming in now. So much for being an instrumental. Sort of calming down now into a nice pastoral sort of sound, gentle vocal, quite nice. Will it stay that way? Well, kind of, and then we're into another recitation of the alphabet (this time backwards) before it's on to “Dada Was Here” via a short little ditty called “Hulloder”.

“Dada” sounds like it might be sung in Spanish or Portugeuse or something, pleasant enough, and the next three tracks all average just under or over one minute, so hard to judge them really. The piece then ends on “Out of Tunes” which is essentially a Beefheartesque manic run with everything going at once. I can see why they so titled it! Chaotic is not the word, though I'm sure it's anything_ but _chaotic. It sounds a mess, but then rather than actually everyone being out of tune, I have no doubt this is a band so well versed in their music that they can pretend to play out of tune while still being totally in control of what they play. That's true class. Nevertheless, it sounds like a mess to me.

Side two opens with “As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still”, which kind of sounds like a cross between The Beatles and later soul music. Can't say I'm wild about it. One more short song then with “Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening”, a simple little acoustic ballad before we move into the second suite, which this time is called “Esther's Nose Job” (don't ask me! ) which is broken into five parts, the first of which is simply called “Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging” and features an extended organ run and percussion, which sounds nothing to me like fire engines, but there you go, and on into “Pig”, which runs on bass piano and percussion, and reminds me of the _Peanuts _music, then “Orange Skin Food” is a kind of jazzy continuation of the theme begun in the previous track, with what sounds like warbly effects on the organ while sax keeps up an annoying sound like a car alarm going off.

Now we have “A Door Opens and Closes”, as electric guitar takes over and rocks things up a little, horns and organ also getting in on the act, with some scat singing for good measure, and the piece comes to a close on “10:30 Returns To the Bedroom”, a decent instrumental workout, and the second longest track at over four minutes.


*Favourite track(s):* I didn't really like any of this. Most of the songs were too short, and even those longer suites were made up of songs that were too short. Much of it was what I would term musical nonsense and I got very little personally out of the album.
*Least favourite track(s): * As above
*Overall impression: * Really odd and weird, kind of like a more musical Zappa or Beefheart. Some very weird ideas, some clever ones but overall I personally for myself found it to be something of a mess and I couldn't get my head around much, indeed, most of it. I fear Soft Machine may remain a mystery to me. Nevertheless, because of their massive influence on the Canterbury Scene they had to score big on the Legacy Rating, whatever I may think.
*Personal Rating:* 1.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 3.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

*Album title:* _The Aerosol Grey Machine_
*Artiste: * Van der Graaf Generator
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Charisma
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* I've heard some of their albums; some I like, some not quite so hot. Also heard some solo Peter Hammill material.
*The Trollheart Factor:* 4
*Landmark value:* Although they would never have a hit or even a successful single, Van der Graaf became inextricably tied into the prog movement, with icons like Peter Gabriel and, later, Fish from Marillion using singer Peter Hammill's distinctive vocal style as their template.
*Tracklisting:* _Afterwards/ Orthenthian St., Part 1 and 2/ Running Back/ Into a Game/ Aerosol Grey Machine/ Black Smoke Yen/ Aquarian/ Necromancer/ Octopus_
*Comments: * Once again Spotify lets me down: one of the only VDGG albums they don't have is this one! So off to YouTube I again must go. This album was supposed originally to have been a solo Peter Hammill record, and you can see that from the fact that he writes almost every track on it. It did, however, become the springboard for what would become one of the perhaps quietest in terms of commercial fame and overlooked prog bands of the era.

 Nice easy opening, sort of reminds me a little of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” as “Afterwards” gets us on our way with a gentle push. Immediately you can hear that Peter Hammill is a special voice; there's something very distinctive about the way he sings, and as the album goes on you'll hear him change from altar-boy to devil, though he's the former here. Really nice piano solo here too. This is the kind of VdGG I prefer, rather than the more manic, disjointed, freeform songs they often play, though they can be good too. 

Slightly more uptempo for “Orthenthian St Pt 1 and 2”, and anyone listening to this for the first time would certainly hear the inflections that would make their way into the style of Fish from Marillion. Very gentle midsection then Hammill gets a little manic again, and there's a really good buildup at the end, including a rather excellent sort of drum solo. “Running” seems to be another low-key acoustic style ballad with a sort of echoey vocal, as if Hammill is a long way away. Some lovely flute here, proving that it doesn't always have to be in your face (Ian!) to be effective. Another fine buildup intro to “Into a Game”, really great actually, and then it runs on a soft little piano line, almost classical. This is an early example of VdGG's propensity for sudden stops in the middle of songs, then picking them up again a half-second later, something the likes of Yes would also engage in. On either side of the “gap” here the song changes – and there are two gaps, one from ballad to rocker and then one from rocker back to ballad. It's a system that works well for them.

Great instrumental break there in about the fifth minute, mostly driving on thick funky bass and some almost honky-tonk piano from Hugh Banton. The title track is a bit Soft Machine-ish, a twenties style little thing which lasts less than a minute and takes us into “Black Smoke Yen”,  another short little instrumental driven mostly on organ and percussion and on into “Aquarian”, where the organ continues to hold court and the vocal gives Hammill a chance to be a little more forceful than he has up to now. Good backing vocals too. And a nice catchy melody. For an eight-minute song it doesn't drag. 

“Necromancer” comes in on a marching beat and some sort of whistling keyboard, perhaps pre-dating Rush's mythic tales of sorcerers and wizards, and the vocal is expectedly strident. It's uptempo but quite short with a kind of cringeworthy chorus that then hits into a thumping drumbeat. Could have been better. The album closes then on “Octopus”, which is an example of the more psych sort of track they often did, though to be fair, again, for an eight-minuter it doesn't  drag and there are some pretty cool instrumental parts in it.

*Favourite track(s):* _Afterwards, Running, Into a Game, Aquarian_
*Least favourite track(s): *_Necromancer, The Aerosol Grey Machine, _
*Overall impression: * Very much together for a debut album, though I can see why it failed to score commercially. Kind of an acquired taste, especially Hammill's vocal, which was something really quite different to anything around at the time. A very influential album though, as it brought Hammill to the public consciousness for the first time. Sidenote: listening to Hammill’s voice, delivery, inflections, tones, I can hear echoes of David Bowie. Was the Thin White Duke a VDGG fan? Enquiring minds want to know...
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

*Warning! Mature content! (F-Bombs abound!)*




*Album title:* _In the Court of the Crimson King_
*Artiste: * King Crimson
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Parlophone
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero (go on, laugh: you know you want to!)
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* Seen as one of the defining albums of prog rock, one of the first to embrace elements of jazz and classical as well as symphonic material. One of the first early prog albums to not only make a decent showing the charts, but get into the top five.
*Tracklisting:* _21__st Century Schizoid Man/ I Talk to the Wind/ Epitaph ((i) March for No Reason (ii) Tomorrow and Tomorrow)/ Moonchild (i) The Dream (ii) The Illusion)/ The Court of the Crimson King (i) The Return of the Fire Witch (ii) The Dance of the Puppets)_
*Comments: * It might seem odd to those of you who don't know me for me to admit that I have never listened to King Crimson at all, but those more familiar with me will know that although I am a prog head, there are quite a few major prog bands I either have not heard or do not enjoy, and this is certainly one of the former cases. A chance to address this now, though I have to admit there's a word in the Wiki description of this album that worries me: atonal. I like my music to have melody, harmony, call it what you will: I need to be able to enjoy the music, and atonal music is not a thing I enjoy. However, we will see.

Once again, Spotify lets me down and off to the Y I go. That's YouTube, not the YMCA. It's a powerful, punchy start for “21st Century Schizoid Man”, with a long intro on guitar and keys, which so far is relatively pleasant to me. Well, not that long after all: I was originally listening to some cunt doing a cover on his synth! Jesus! Got the original now, so start again, and vocal then is heavily distorted, can't say I really like that. Sort of like listening to Waits playing prog, if that analogy doesn't offend every KC fan, and Waits himself. I can just see the man sitting there at the bar, slurring into his whiskey, growling “Pro-god-damn-_what _rock?”  I can definitely hear the jazz in this and, well, you know me and jazz, so no, I don't personally like it. I'm sure it's very technically pleasing but it's a little too much for me. Does get heavy as hell though near the end as the vocals leak back in. I see why there is no part two, or rather, don't understand why they break it up as it's basically an instrumental with a few vocal bits thrown on. Not the worst I've ever heard but I don't get the love, not at least on the basis of this track.

Great: the next track is live from the BBC! Well fuck you Robert poxy Fripp and your obsesseive control over your music, neither allowing Spotify to have it or it to be uploaded to YouTube! Now I have to buy this album, an album I probably won't like, just to review it. That's ninety cents out of my hard-earned paycheque! That's nearly half! Well, not quite, but still, ninety fucking cents! But it's the only way I'm going to be able to review this properly instead of hopping from YouTube to poxy YouTube and trying to piece it together. I guess it deserves better. 

Okay, so here we go. Track two is “I Talk to the Wind” and has a very classical opening and then an almost Everly Brothers vocal harmony; very pastoral and with a lot of Simon and Garfunkel in it too. I'll say a ballad, though I suppose it could change. I hope not though. Nah, it isn't going to change now. Very nice. Enjoyed that. “Epitaph” starts off beautifully, slow and majestic, even if the vocal is almost inaudible. Builds to something of a crescendo in the fourth minute and then into a really nice instrumental section which I assume is the second part. Very impressed with this. Very. Oh, right: it's not instrumental. Still lovely. Great so far. What's next? “Moonchild”, a twelve-minute track. Okay.

Seems again very laid back, with a lot of soft flute, at least at first, which surprises me, as I had somehow been led to believe this would be a very harsh, in-your-face album. Not so far. Opener aside, I've really enjoyed it. This gets a little abstract and expressionist further in but it's nothing to set the teeth on edge (gets so quiet that at times I had to check my amp was turned up: it was, as I found out suddenly when the title track kicked in!) and even when the title comes through with a slight punch it's still relatively gentle enough, with some great harmonies and sort of psych overtones. Stops at the seventh minute of the nine it runs for to usher in a sort of little instrumental I guess, a reprise of sorts, very effective.


*Favourite track(s):* Everything bar the opener, and even that was all right.
*Least favourite track(s): * Nothing really
*Overall impression: * Considering what I had expected, this album pretty much blew me away. I can see now why King Crimson are so highly rated, and I'm glad I didn't try to experience this via piecemeal videos stitched together on YouTube. A superb first effort, and if this is typical of them, they may have found, at this late stage, a new fan. Glad I spent the ninety cents now!
*Personal Rating:* 5.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 5.0* 
(Look at that! Our first ever top score!)


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

Well that was an unexpectedly pleasant result. The next, however, I doubt will be, as we fall headlong once again, screaming and gibbering into the crazy world of Frankie Z. Let's take the opportunity to defer that particular ordeal though by escaping once more









*Album title:* _Liege and Lief_
*Artiste: * Fairport Convention
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Island
*Year: * 1969
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Tracklisting:* _Come All Ye/ Reynardine/ Matty Groves/ Farewell Farewell/ The Deserter/ Medley (The Lark in the Morning/Rakish Paddy/Foxhunters' Jig/Toss the Feathers)/ Tam Lin/ Crazy Man Michael_
*Comments: * While the opener sounds like it should be a Christmas carol, it's a bouncy uptempo folk rocker driven on hard guitar and fiddle, with Sandy Denny in fine form on the vocals, very catchy tune. Like it. “Reynardine”, on the other hand, is one of several arrangements of traditional songs, and is sung in very much a trad way. Sounds quite a lot like “She Moved Through the Fair” to me, but what do I know? Meh, it's a bit boring I find. Picking up then with some nice fiddle on “Matty Groves”, another trad arrangement, but with more punch and energy than the previous. Makes you tap your feet. Quite why you'd want to put a faucet on your feet I can't explain really. The song is a bit long at over eight minutes, but the second half is taken up by a pretty sweet jam, so there is that. Next up is an original, and quite a short one at just over two and a half minutes. “Farewell, Farewell” has more than a touch of Simon and Garfunkel's “I Am a Rock” in it (or is that the other way around?) and is a nice gentle little ballad which gives Sandy Denny the chance to explore the softer side of her voice. Very nice.

Side two is even more heavily on the trad arrangements, kicking off with “The Deserter”, which I find a little dour, though then again, given the subject matter, this is no surprise. It's typical of the usual “soldier's song” that has been around since, I don't know, eighteenth century? Before? Doesn't do a lot for me I have to say. The ending is terrible: the soldier doomed to be shot for desertion seems to be reprieved at the end for no reason I can discern. Bah! A set of reels gets us into the medley next, so there's plenty of toe-tappin' action, and sure, if you should feel the need to take your partner by anything, I'm not going to stop you. Great work on the fiddle here by Dave Swarbrick, but “Tam Lin” sounds a little boring and it's seven minutes long! Driven on guitar this time and with what I would consider a more harsh vocal from Denny, it just does not do it for me.

That leaves us with “Crazy Man Michael”, an original composition, bringing back in the violin (what's the difference? Violin is slow and sad, fiddle fast and cheerful?) and it's a really nice ballad to close.


*Favourite track(s):* _Come All Ye, Farewell Farewell, Medley _
*Least favourite track(s): *_The Deserter, Tam Lin_
*Overall impression: * Yeah it's a decent album, and if you're into folk I'm sure it's great, but this can have zero relevance to prog, unless you include the likes of Tull. Not even sure why it was included. Oh yeah: I wanted fun. I guess it was that. And it took my mind briefly off Planet Z, so it has to have been worth it for that if nothing else. 
*Personal Rating:* 2.0


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

*Album title:* _Hot Rats_
*Artiste: * Frank Zappa
*Nationality: * American
*Label: * Bizarre/Reprise
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * B
*Landmark value:* One of the first albums – not just prog albums – to use the new sixteen-track recording technique, thereby allowing far more overdubs and intricate mixing, something that would definitely become a feature of prog rock, especially once the likes of Pink Floyd arrived properly on the scene.
*Tracklisting:* _Peaches en Regalia/WIllie the Pimp/ Son of Mr. Green Genes/Little Umbrellas/The Gumbo Variations/It Must Be a Camel_
*Comments: * An almost completely instrumental album, without the vocal high-jinks and other assorted nonsense prevalent in previous albums? Could be a godsend to me. This was Zappa's first proper solo album, ie without The Mothers of Invention, and though it sounds like there's a whole band playing it's basically just him and Ian Underwood from The Mothers, with a few others helping out. Pretty impressive. Only six tracks too, which makes a change from the double albums I've had to endure prior to this. The second track has vocals and they're supplied by Captain Beefheart. It's really not bad at all, more blues/psych rock than avant-garde, quite listenable, even when the Captain starts raving and hollering as he tends to do. Some really fine guitar on this. And fiddle too.

The third track takes it back to instrumentals, and it's nice to hear what a great musician Zappa is without having to endure all that avant-garde stuff he practiced on his previous albums. Great piano work here and horns a plenty too, but the guitar holds centre stage. There's an Arabic/French feel to the next track, “Little Umbrellas”, with what sounds like a clavier or maybe tubular bells; a hollow, ringing sound anyway and plenty of organ. Hey, even “The Gumbo Variatons”, which is basically horn-driven and a sort of jazzy jam, can't dampen my enthusiasm for this album. Much better than expected. Pretty slick little bass solo there, and good work on the piano and organ. Long, at over twelve minutes, but doesn't drag or seem a chore to get through.

That leaves “It Must Be a Camel” to close the album, another fine instrumental, quite relaxing and with a slower jazz feel.
*Favourite track(s):* Nothing I didn't like on this.*
*Least favourite track(s): * Didn’t you just hear me?
*Overall impression: * In my opinion, a huge step forward for Zappa as he leaves (hopefully) behind all the musique concrete and avant-garde stuff and concentrates on what he does best, making music, and very good music, judging from this album. You can hear the advantage gained in having so many more tracks to work with, and it really gives the album extra depth and volume. Wasn't looking forward to this, but it was a much pleasanter experience than I had anticipated, kind of a revisiting of my recent experience with King Crimson.
*Personal Rating:* 4.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 4.50 *

* _Trollheart was examined by three independent psychiatrists after making this statement, and rather to everyone’s surprise, deemed clinically sane. Doctors remain baffled. _


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

*Album title:* _Ummagumma_
*Artiste: * Pink Floyd
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Harvest
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Landmark value:* Given that this was essentially the first official live Floyd album and also featured compositions from each member, as well as being the first produced entirely without Syd Barrett, I'd say it ranks pretty high amongst the classics of prog rock, yet is often overlooked as just “a live album with some solo studio stuff tacked on.” Even the band have all dismissed it as “horrible” (Gilmour), “a failed experiment” (Mason) and “a disaster” (Waters). It was, however, received very favourably at the time, and is probably only seen as “the worst of rock excess”, as one critic put it in 2001, after the takedown of prog by punk rock, with Floyd being one of the major targets accused of being overblown and pompous.
*Tracklisting:* (Live)_Astronomy Domine/ Careful with That Axe, Eugene/ Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun/ A Saucerful of Secrets_ (Studio)_Sysyphus (Parts 1 -4)/Granthchester Meadows/Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict/ The Narrow Way (Parts 1-3)/The Grand Vizier's Garden Party (Part 1: Entrance; Part 2: Entertainment; Part 3: Exit)_
*Comments: * As the live tracks have already been discussed within the confines of their original studio versions, I'll jump right to the solo material, which opens with a thirteen-minute classical piano driven composition by, who else, Richard Wright, which, while excellent, certainly can't escape the accusation of being indulgent. You know, after a rather unexpectedly relaxing listen to Zappa I find this hard to get through; it's so up its own arse. I like Wright, but frankly this never needed to see the light of day, and doesn't give me much confidence for the rest to follow. The last part, at least, is soothing and relaxing after the somewhat histrionic effects of the previous two. Waters's effort seems to be more in the vein of a laidback folk song, very low-key and seemingly on acoustic guitar, the birdsong is a nice touch, but then in typical Waters fashion, where everyone else has one he has to have two, and so “Several Species ...” is another of his, following hard on the heels of “Grantchester Meadows”, and as different to it as can be. A real experimental, psych, avant-garde piece, it's the only one I know from here, as I had heard it before when some guys I knew were discussing crazy song titles and were trying to get this right (they didn't); it's nonsense but it's damn funny anyway.

Gilmour then gets his chance, with “The Nervous Way”, and unsurprisingly it's very guitar based. It's good, there's no doubt about that, but it's clear it's a moment of pure indulgence for him, a chance to play around with some of his toys, although part three is the closest of what I would call a proper Pink Floyd track, with nice vocals from Gilmour and some cool slide guitar. Meanwhile Mason's three-part “The Grand Vizier's Garden Party” of course contains an extended drum solo: to paraphrase the spoken lead-out on their classic _Dark Side of the Moon_, matter of fact, it's _all _a drum solo. Of the eight minutes it runs for, seven are skinbashing. Sigh.


*Favourite track(s):* _Grantchester Meadows, The Nervous Way (part 3)_
*Least favourite track(s): *_The Grand Vizier's Garden Party_
*Overall impression: * I'm never really sure what the idea is with this album. For a band who had put out basically two proper albums (and one soundtrack) prior to this, I don't see the need for a live recording, but even if so, if that was all it was, then fine. It would then not be featured here until much later, if and when I decide to include live albums. But then you have each of the band members indulging themselves, basically solo, for the other half of the record. As Richard Wright himself later admitted, “pretentious”, and I would certainly agree with him.
*Personal Rating:* 2.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating: 3.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

*Album title:* _To Our Children's Children's Children_
*Artiste: * The Moody Blues
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Threshold
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * A
*Landmark value:* No more so than any other Moody Blues album, I think. Another concept
*Tracklisting:* _Higher and Higher/Eyes of a Child I/Floating/Eyes of a Child II/I Never Thought I'd Live To Be a Hundred/Beyond/Out and In/Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)/ Eternity Road/Candle of Life/Sun is Still Shining/I Never Thought I'd Live To Be a Million/Watching and Waiting_
*Comments: * I suppose back then it must have seemed like the dawn of a golden age, Man walking on the Moon, and it's this great human event that apparently inspired this album.  However, as we know, we did sod-all on the Moon other than blow billions in taxpayer dollars, and Neil Armstrong's first steps seem a long way back now. And they are. Nearly half a century back, would you believe? But the Moodies obviously envisaged some bright future for their children (and their children, and theirs) that so far at least we have completely failed to realise. Well that's the thinking behind the album, but what about the music?  “Higher and Higher” opens with something like a crash, then a rising noise effect (to signify the launch of the Apollo rocket?) before a choir comes in, then we have a narration against a rocky guitar piece, not bad at all. “Eyes of a Child I” is a lot more laidback and gentle, the vocal slowly rising into the tune, then “Floating” is slightly more uptempo, though hardly a rocker. Quite a lot of Beatles in it I would think. 

“Eyes of a Child II” basically takes the same melody but pumps it up, though it lasts just over a minute, and so does the next one, enigmatically called “I Never Thought I'd Live To Be a Hundred”, giving us the first Justin Hayward vocal and a nice acoustic guitar accompaniment. They'll come back to this later. The only instrumental is “Beyond”, which is uptempo and catchy, some nice flute mixing with electric guitar, though it then slows down kind of oddly into a keyboard-driven sort of dirge, then, um, comes back to the original theme. Okay. There's some very nice orchestration here, that's not in doubt. The Beatles influence returns with “Out and In”, another ballad, this time with Mike Pinder on vocals. “Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)” is a bit rockier and gives us Hayward back on vocals while “Eternity Road” tails it back a little, even though there is some good guitar work on it. Some fine fluting too there from Pinder. It fades into “Candle of Life”, with the first duet vocal, between Lodge and Hayward. Like the piano line, and the song itself is quite laid back with a sort of bitter edge. Love the orchestration in this. 

Nice jangly guitar in “Sun is Still Shining”, it's quite uptempo in a gentle kind of way, good work on the tambourine at the end. It leads into the followup to “I Never Thought I'd Live To Be a Hundred”, which this time is suffixed by “a million” but lasts only thirty-four seconds and is  the penultimate track, as “Watching and Waiting” takes us out easily, very gentle and relaxed, with a fine vocal from Hayward. 

*Favourite track(s):* I pretty much like everything here.
*Least favourite track(s): *
*Overall impression: * Good album. Nothing terribly special really that I can see, but pointing the way towards a development in the Moody Blues' sound that would go on to stand them in good stead as the wave of progressive rock began to break over England, and then the world. 
*Personal Rating:* 3.0
*Legacy Rating:* 4.0
*Final Rating: 3.50*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

We're actually getting close now to the end of our trip through 1969, with only two albums remaining to be reviewed. With that in mind, and given that there are still three “oddball” albums to be looked into, make sure you're not wearing your Sunday best and come with me as we scuff our hands and skin our knees, spending some more time 




These albums are proving to be a mixture of eclectic material just on the fringes of prog rock and ones that are completely outside it, yet still linked to it in a very tenuous way. This one I have no idea about, but it looks interesting and Wiki thought it eligible for its list, so who am I to argue?

Catherine Ribeiro is a French experimental and avant-garde vocalist, who performed with Patrice Moullet on this first album, whereafter she changed partners (musically speaking) and, I'm told, this was the pattern for every album she recorded after that; she also changed the name of the band to Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes. Given the quip I made about the title of this one, I don't know if that was the reason, but it does sound damn funny. Give Ribeiro her due though; she has so far recorded about thirty albums, and even in her seventies is still recording now, with her last release in 2006. Impressive.






*Album title:* _Catherine Ribeiro + 2Bis_
*Artiste: * Catherine Ribeiro
*Nationality: * French
*Label: * Disques Festival
*Year: * 1969
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Tracklisting:* _Lumière Écarlate /Sœur De Race /Les Fées Carabosse /Voyage 1/La Solitude/ Un Sourire, un rier, des Éclats/Le Crime De L'Enfant Dieu/Le Point Qui Scintille  _
*Comments: * Nice acoustic guitar then her voice is pretty out-there, shaking and howling then dropping down to a gentler register but still sounding pretty raw. It's all in French of course so I have no idea what she's singing about but she certainly seems to be singing with passion. The next one is purely acoustic, and a lot more easy on the ear, almost pastoral. I could see this being labelled as a sort of prog rock track, sure. It's called “Sœur De Race” which I think might mean “saviour of the race” or something, while the next one is on what sounds like classical or Spanish guitar and hops along at a faster pace. It's quite interesting how Catherine dominates every song; even though the guitar is obviously driving the tune here, she's seldom absent and comes to the forefront every time. Powerful personality indeed. Goes a bit mad at the end, almost like providing human feedback. Intense!

Sounds like our man Patrice might be trying to grab some spotlight for himself here, with a big dirty riff opening this, and then what sounds like violin and some very cool congas. This may very well be an instrumental. Yeah, it kind of is, though Catherine throws a few sharp barking laughs and moans in along the way. That man is something else on that violin. This is excellent. “La Solitude” starts out very gentle and relaxed, then burst into something of a diatribe, accompanied by a fast classical guitar (maybe Spanish; classical is mentioned in the track listing so I'm going with that). Great vocal, very emotional. Almost a Beefheartesque hard guitar in “ Un Sourire, un rier, des Éclats”, quite choppy and also sounds like this may be a live track, though surely that's unlikely on your debut album? Well, maybe. Another good guitar intro, more rocky at first this time for “Le crime de l'enfant Dieu” with rather a lot of laughing for such a serious title, then we end on “Le point qui scintille”, good fast Spanish guitar (or classical) and a sort of playful vocal from Catherine.

*Favourite track(s):* _Sœur De Race, Les Fées Carabosse, Voyage 1 _
*Least favourite track(s): *
*Overall impression: * Decent stuff; probably would appreciate it more if I could understand the lyrics, but not a bad album. Wouldn't be mad about it though.
*Personal Rating:* 2.0


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

*Album title:* _Dracula's Music Cabinet_
*Artiste: * The Vampires of Dartmoore
*Nationality: * German
*Label: * 
*Year: * 1969
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Tracklisting:* _The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sex/ Crime and Horror/ The Fire-dragon of Hong Kong/ Murder in the Ohio Express/Dance of the Vampires/Hello Mr. Hitchcock/The Executioner of Dartmoore/Killers End/Soaked Body/A Handful of Nitro/Dr. Caligari's Creeps-cabinet/Frankenstein Greets Alpha 7_
*Comments: * Very little information seems to exist on this act. Why, if they were German, did they choose the name Vampires of Dartmoore, a place in England, and why add the extra “e” (Dartmoor is spelled _this_ way)? Only two of many questions which I suppose will never be answered. What I do know is that the creative genius behind the effort were Horst Ackermann and Herbert Thusek, apparently both known for their work in the field of jazz. Who plays on the album? No idea. What's the premise behind it? Not a clue. Is it good? Well, now there we can at least answer one question...

A dark creepy voice bids us welcome, there are screams, footsteps, creaking doors, an organ, sounds of some girl being smacked and what may be someone being sliced up, with a kind of kitschy smooth jazz tune going on and someone moaning as if in pain or pleasure, and the opening piece ends on a female scream. Next there's some nice striding guitar shuffling along, very funky and jazzy, bringing in organ and, um, slide whistles as well as sax, the sound of someone walking downstairs, a demonic laugh, a woman screaming, more slapping sounds, the sound of a struggle, breaking glass. All very weird. Dogs barking now. This goes under the name “Crime and Horror”, while there's a distinctly oriental flavour to “Fire dragon of Hong Kong”, which mostly runs along on a peppy organ (Hammond?) but occasionally breaks for a moaning vocal. 

“Murder in the Ohio Express” is carried on a bright guitar line, but occasionally breaks to allow what sounds like an effect meant to convey the motion of a train with the music in the background. Someone is shot. The music surges back up. And it just goes on like that. The next one has springs, lounge keyboard and a really nice melody but it's hard to concentrate on the music with all the odd effects being thrown in. Think someone's gasping out their last breath or something, then “Hello Mister Hitchcock!” croaks a creepy voice, “In two minutes you will be dead!” while happy keyboard hums along, and the man counts down the time, finally telling Hitchcock he is dead. The next one appears just to be a simple instrumental, very similar to the music that formed the background to the previous track, followed by a jazzy little upbeat tune interspersed with ambulance or police sirens. And gunshots. It's kind of like watching a movie while listening to some background music, or more like watching a movie while someone else listens to music, and occasionally the door opens and their music gets louder, then recedes as the door is closed again. Not too surprisingly, “A Handful of Nitro” features a lot of explosions, and there's maniacal laughter, footsteps, creaking doors and a grandfather clock in “Dr. Caligari's Creeps-cabinet” and we end as we began, with a big helping of weird and some extra weird on the side.

*Favourite track(s):* Um...
*Least favourite track(s): *
*Overall impression: * It's hard to know what to think of this. I have no idea why this project was created, other than perhaps as a bit of fun for the two guys involved. It certainly is a fun album, but it's so out there, so verging on the edge of being frankly ridiculous that it's hard, even impossible, to treat it in any way seriously and make any sort of critique of it. Still, I reckon I would listen to it again for fun. Would definitely recommend it. Everyone should hear this at least once. 
*Personal Rating:* 4.0


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

Back to the serious albums we go then. 





*Album title:* _Renaissance_
*Artiste: * Renaissance
*Nationality: * British
*Label: * Island
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* The hit single “Northern Lights”.
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0.01
*Landmark value:* I doubt it has one, other than being the first album (I think) by a prog rock band to feature a female lead. Why did I always think these guys were Canadian?
*Tracklisting:* _Kings and Queens/Innocence/Island/Wanderer/Bullet_
*Comments: * What can I tell you about Renaissance? Nothing really. I only ever knew of them, as above, from that single, and even then I didn't realise they were prog. It will however be interesting to hear a prog band fronted by a female singer – don't think we've had that before, Catherine Ribeiro excepted. Only five tracks, but two of them are in the eleven-minute bracket. Powerful classical piano intro to “Kings and Queens” (that sounds like a real prog song title, doesn't it?) which is one of those eleven-minuters. Hmm, doesn't sound like a female when the vocals come in. Maybe Jane Relf shares vocal duties with her brother Keith, who used to be with the Yardbirds apparently. John Hawken is certainly giving it socks on the piano here. Excellent work. Okay, that is definitely a man's voice also on the second track, bit boppier but slowing down into a quite beautiful piano sonata about halfway through. I think Hawken must have been seen as the heart of this band; he's certainly driving most of the melodies so far. Speeding up now, again on the piano, great stuff.

Ah, now I hear Jane Relf's voice as we hit “Island”, a slow, acoustic guitar-controlled ballad with unsurprisingly some great piano although as the keys come in it shifts the pace up slightly, with a superb harpsichord solo halfway through. Actually, it's almost as if the song itself ends and then Hawken throws this in as an extra. I'm not complaining! And it just gets better as the harpsichord continues into “Wanderer”, the shortest track on the album at just over four minutes, and features the almost operatic voice of Jane Relf again. Very hippyish man. The closer then is the other eleven-minute opus, and at this point it would probably surprise me if it wasn't opened with a big piano – ah. It's actually sort of muted tribal drums that kick in “Bullet”, though the piano does come through. The song has a very African feel to it, with a kind of chant going on in the background against a pretty funky piano line. It features Keith Relf back on the vocals. Ooh, harmonica! Always like harmonica. Some really nice soft guitar on this too. Weird effects near the end, very atmospheric. 

There's an extra track here on the Spotify copy that doesn't appear anywhere on their Wiki page, but it's only a short one, so I'll include it, not knowing if it should be there, or if it's a bonus track or only available on reissues or something. It's Jane again on vocals and it's a nice sort of uptempo bluesy tune called “The Sea”. 

*Favourite track(s):* I like everything here.
*Least favourite track(s): *
*Overall impression: * A pretty impressive debut, though if a selling point was to have been that they had  female lead (I don't know if that was the plan, or if things just happened that way) then maybe they might have used her voice on more tracks. A real talent though in John Hawken, who really makes this album.
*Personal Rating:* 4.0
*Legacy Rating:* 1.0
*Final Rating: 2.50 *


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 20, 2019)

Yeah, looking for Crimson on the internet is a bitch, isn't it?  Luckily I have In the Court of the Crimson King and Lark's Tongue in Aspic plus assorted tracks from the seventies via The Young Person's Guide to King Crimson. 

Hot Rats is definitely one of the better Zappa albums though I have to admit I'm more partial to the earlier Verve albums. 

I assume you're referring to the More soundtrack by Pink Floyd. I can't remember the entire album (I do have it) but I do remember The Nile Song being one monster track. Pretty heavy by Floyd standards as well. 

And I like To Our Children's... too. I find it superior to On the Threshold of a Dream. Their classic period is almost over for me though. One more complete album left than it's all good tracks and filler after that, but then again, that's me.


Oh, and I like Fairport Convention too, probably because I do like folk. I think Unhalfbricking is better though. 


Maybe I should do a history of folk


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

Nothing says the sixties better than the words _hippy commune_, and that's where our last actual band to be featured for 1969 began, in a political, artistic and radical commune in Munich. Perhaps disturbingly, it seems future founders of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group were also members. Hmm. Anyway, apparently many of the members of the commune – which was called Amon Duul – didn't think that talent or musical ability was that necessary for what they wanted to do, but others did, and so the more musically proficient (and you would have to say, based on their success, the more serious) members split into a faction which became known as Amon Duul II, in order to differentiate it from the other, less musical Amon Duul. This is supposedly widely believed to be one of the first Krautrock albums.





*Album title:* _Phallus Dei_
*Artiste: * Amon Duul II
*Nationality: * German
*Label: * Liberty Records
*Year: * 1969
*Grade: * B
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Zero
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Landmark value:* Seen as the first Krautrock album, as above, and therefore also makes Amon Duul II the fathers of the entire Krautrock scene, if true.
*Tracklisting:* _Kanaan/Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren/Luzifer's Ghilom/Henriette Krötenschwanz/Phallus Dei_
*Comments: * Sounds like sitar and drums with a nice bassline opening the album, and now we get some vocals, though they appear to be spoken in German (obviously) while some woman croons or moans behind the male voice. Picks up a fair lick of speed as it goes along. Some very cool guitar indeed bringing the song to something of a crashing close and we're on to the second track, which is a little more pastoral, almost like someone running up octaves on a fretboard, while a weird and warbly voice says something I can't understand and laughs a lot. Music is decent though. Next one seems a bit more cohesive, very nice rapid acoustic guitar and percussion, no vocal yet ... oh. Sounds like he's rapping in German, though of course I guess rapping wasn't even a thing this early. Well, talking fast and in rhythm certainly. 

Pretty atmospheric opening to the title track (all twenty minutes of it), kind of like a film score or maybe incidental music to same; lots of weird sounds, effects, someone chanting or moaning, someone shouting and now we have a snarling sax. In fairness, it's not as harsh as I might have expected, but it's a little formless in terms of being able to review it. Eventually a bassline is laid down with some percussion then some good fast guitar and a violin join in. Sounds like a rendition of “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night” to be honest, then it all dissolves into a mad tribal drumfest with lots of yelling and cheering. 

*Favourite track(s):* I can't honestly say I enjoyed any of that; I doubt I could remember much of it but similarly
*Least favourite track(s): * can't say I hated anything enough either. 
*Overall impression: * ? Well, all I can say is that if that's the serious musicians I'd hate to hear the other side! No, seriously though, it's clear these people could play; they just chose to do so in a ... different way. Still, if this is Krautrock, or proto-Krautrock, ain't likely to be for me.
*Personal Rating:* 1.0
*Legacy Rating:* 5.0
*Final Rating: 3.0*


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

Before we leave 1969 then, it's time to take one more trip




to find an album by a band who basically lived in an attic. Well, sort of. With very little money, no transportation and barely enough food, the band ironically called It's A Beautiful Day hung out in a cramped freezing attic in Seattle while they recorded their debut album. Now _that's_ rock and roll! Or, perhaps, not. At any rate, this is the one we're finishing up our look at the sixties with.





*Album title:* _It's a Beautiful Day_
*Artiste: * It's a Beautiful Day
*Nationality: * American
*Label: * Columbia
*Year: * 1969
*Tracklisting:* _White Bird/Hot Summer Day/Wasted Union Blues/Girl with No Eyes/Bombay Calling/Bulgaria/Time is_
*Comments: * You can hear what I guess would be called the California sound, the kind of thing you'd have heard from The Mamas and the Papas around this time as “White Bird” gets things underway with a nice soft organ line and pretty good double vocals from David and Linda LaFlamme, with some beautiful violin from David. The way these two complement each other vocally is very impressive, and I think the dude is playing violin and flute here, almost on top of each other (or produced that way anyway); it fleshes out the song, but I still think six minutes is pushing it a little. “Hot Summer Day” has a nice line in organ and some fine harmonica, and again the singing is superb. Another lovely violin solo, really adds something to a song I already like.

Then there's a total (and I mean total) shift for “Wasted Union Blues”, with a big nasty squealing guitar and hard piano, some of it a little discordant, the song perhaps reflecting the band's frustration at their situation as described in the intro. Some slick harmonica coming in though, however it gets seriously frenetic at the end, and we're into “Girl with No Eyes”, a lovely little gentle waltzy ballad, with what sounds like a harpsichord solo, really beautiful song. Oh yeah, I hear it, the elephant in the room. I know Deep Purple were accused of ripping it off for “Sweet Child in Time”, and the opening of “Bombay Calling” does sound really similar. Think it will turn out to be an instrumental. Great work by David on the violin, and yes, it is an instrumental. Seems like “Bulgaria” may turn out to be a really nice ballad, very evocative and moody, totally superb and builds up to a hell of a climax.

The last track is nine minutes long, but somehow I don't think that's going to be a problem, as I have thoroughly enjoyed everything (almost) here. “Time is” starts off as some sort of mad frenetic folk dance style and then the vocal comes in and it just gets better. Just David on the mike initially anyway, kind of has an almost Nick Cave thing going, very energetic. Some superb organ work here, and there's even a drum solo that doesn't suck or have me reaching for the Glock. Bit of a fun jam all round, very enjoyable.

*Favourite track(s):* _ Hot Summer Day, Girl with No Eyes, Bombay Calling, Bulgaria_
*Least favourite track(s): *_ Wasted Union Blues_
*Overall impression: * Really surprised how much I loved this. I thought it was kind of a joke record, but it obviously is not, and in fact displays emerging talent and vision that would see this band release another three more albums into the seventies, although by the second album Linda LaFlamme had left. They apparently still gig even now, over forty years later. 
*Personal Rating:* 4.50


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

Before we move on to 1970, a few last words about the late sixties. The effect, both of the bands formed and of certain albums released, as well as the overall embryonic first steps of progressive rock can't be overestimated. Although much of the better known and indeed more successful albums, the ones that have stood the test of time and gone on in some cases to become classics, and which broke certain bands commercially, happened in the seventies, it's likely that they would not have had the chance to do this had it not been for the trendsetting (and, perhaps paradoxically, trend-defying) bands who came first. As noted in the original intro, though prog rock later became known for and reviled as overblown, pretentious and up itself – accusations I can not, in most cases, defend – at the time of its birth it was something entirely new. Breaking away from the restrictions of the standard song format, sacrificing chart success in order to produce meaningful albums, utilising instruments and arrangements that had not been popular before, and not worrying about the length of songs were all ideas that were very new, and indeed risky at the time, so there was no guarantee that they would find favour with the music buying public.

And in many cases, they did not. Prog was not by any means successful by itself initially; many of the bands who played prog, or dabbled with it, or skirted along its edges, were of course already known for other, more perhaps standard and accepted forms of music – the Beatles, Chicago, Santana – so did not have as much to lose, theoretically, as did the newer kids on the block – Pink Floyd, Yes, Frank Zappa, Beefheart, Soft Machine, Van der Graaf Generator – who had no following and had to rely on the hope that people would buy into the new music they were creating. But as more and more of these types of bands began to rise up, and as psych and blues and jazz crossed over and mixed, and elements of classical married up to more conventional rock, a strange kind of hybrid was being born, and soon most if not all of these bands would be a part of it. As 1969 gave way to 1970, the following decade would produce some of the most iconic and important albums in the genre.

1969 was also more or less the death knell for the end of the flower power and hippy movement;  the Summer of Love would be followed by the Winter of Discontent as the shootings at Kent State loomed large and ugly on the immediate horizon, and overall protests against the Vietnam War escalated and got more militant, leading to crackdowns by the US government against their own people, as the gulf between old and young, traditional and new ideas, establishment and counter culture grew. It wasn't a civil war of course, not on the streets anyway, but within the hearts and minds of the young people who had grown up in this era of war on one side and peace and love on the other, there was certainly a battle raging, and one that would not be easily won. Haight-Ashbury was closed for business, free love now had to be paid for and hippies turned their energies from writing songs about wizards and castles to chanting “Hell no! We won't go!” as those in power watched, simmering with rage as the beloved Stars and Stripes went up in flames, a harsh symbol of and rallying cry for a country opposed to a war they did not believe was their concern, but which their young men were expected to die in.

The 1970s would see a huge shift in musical direction with the explosion of disco and funk, which would expand on the soul music coming out of Detroit in the sixties and move to take over the charts for most of the decade, while slowly, hard rock would metamorphose into and give birth to heavy metal, while there would also be a minor resurgence in folk and country music, with the likes of John Denver, Cat Stevens and Gordon Lightfoot all making it into the charts. Against this background, progressive rock would strive and thrive, and for a while it would  be seen as the thinking man's music, as fluffy disco and chart hits peppered the top reaches of the charts, and whimsical folk tunes would also make a respectable showing. Prog rock would without question champion and make popular the idea of buying albums, as distinct from the chart-topping record-buying public, who would prefer to shell out on singles and often not care what else the artist had written or played if it was not popular. Prog would introduce the idea of stories in songs, stories in albums, and birth the idea of the concept album as well as pioneering a trend which would see some of the most lavish and detailed cover art adorning their albums, with artists like Roger Dean and Storm Thorgerson rising to the top of their field. 

Prog bands would also engineer huge advances in the concept of the stageshow, with lighting, effects, the emerging video technologies and stage art all being used to their utmost, often leading to a band so wreathed in dry ice and surrounded by such massive backdrops that it could be hard to see them onstage. Gigs would become no longer just a way to see the band and hear the music; they would become totally immersive experiences, equivalent in some cases to seeing, or even participating in, a movie only the audience there would ever get to see, and bring the fans closer to the band while simultaneously, if not deliberately, pushing them back  and holding them at arm's length. Massive talents would rise in the seventies who would go on to become legends, dominate the music scene for decades, some of whom are still with us.

In 1970 alone, both ELO and ELP would be formed, and this first year of the new decade would also see the rise of Gentle Giant, with already formed bands like Genesis and Yes releasing important albums, and others, formed but without an album, releasing their debuts, such as Supertramp, Egg and Focus. Though it would really take another two or three years before prog rock really found its stride, it was at this point climbing out of the cradle and if not actually walking yet, certainly crawling across the floor like certain characters in a later Genesis song. And to further paraphrase that song, these bands were already beginning to lift their faces to the sky, like the forest fight for sunlight that takes root in every tree, and soon those trees would blossom, grow and yield wonderful fruit.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 20, 2019)

Sorry about that. In a frenzy of posting I completely missed your comments. Let me now deal with them.



mrmustard615 said:


> Really? I like Silent Sun. I think that was the single from the album, wasn't it?
> 
> I bought the album as Early Genesis in the states and, yes, it's totally different from the Progressive era, but maybe that's why I like this album. Silent Sun and That's Me would be my favorites on the album (okay maybe That's Me was a single- I don't see it on the album but it was on my American album). There is another song I can't seem to find that I really like that I don't think is on the album either. I'll have to check my mp3s (I converted the album I had to an Mp3 album). Anyway, I thought the album was quite listenable.
> 
> ...


Yes, you're right: that track was and is not on my album, but I don't feel compelled to go look for it. It's not that_ GtR_ (hah!) is a bad album, it's just a very bad _prog_ one. As a folk album, great. As any other band, yeah maybe. But when you remember what Genesis were going to become, and when you see the difference between this and their second album, it just isn't good enough. Sure, it's a debut, and sure, they were young, but compare it to the debut of one of the other mainstays of prog, Yes. Or Van der Graaf's first album. Both are streets ahead of _Genesis to Revelation_. 

It has good tracks, no doubt about that, even some very good ones. But when you listen to the other two debuts you knew, even at the time, here was something special. These bands were going to be huge. When you listen to the debut from Genesis, for me anyway it's a case of shrug and move on. Nice, but we'll probably never hear of them again. Not a great way to announce the arrival of what would be one of the giants of prog. 



mrmustard615 said:


> Well you knew I was going to have to comment after reviewing a Beatles album, didn't you? :icon_cheesygrin:


I would expect nothing less.


> First of all, I told you Abbey Road wasn't a progressive album but you didn't believe me, did you? [-X


Not that I didn't believe you, but it's on the list so I have to include it. Anyway, the medley at the end is kind of proggish. Though not really.


> Anyway some nits:
> 
> The tinny vocals on Come Together are Lennon's, not McCartney. He actually got successfully sued by whoever owned Chuck Berry's songs for ripping the line Here Comes Old Flattop from You Can't Catch Me- Just a little trivia there. :icon_cheesygrin:


Did not know that. Also, did not care. Still don't. :lol:


> Maxwell's Silver Hammer is horrible. That was McCartney practicing his Silly Love Songs phase. Comparing him to Syd Barrett? AARGH!


Yeah well I don't rate Barrett much, and to me it was like something off one of the first two Floyd albums, and I'm not talking about "Set the Controls" either...


> I like Octopus' Garden too. We must be the only two people who do. I swear Ringo gets no respect.


Yay for the Muppets!


> I Want You (She's So Heavy) is, of course, a blues number. That would probably explain to repetitiveness. Yeah the end is awesome isn't it?
> 
> And about Mean Mr. Mustard, are you calling me Meh?!!!


Oh wow. Didn't even realise that was where you got your name! No need to get all spicy about it! 



> Interesting note. By about 1969, bands were excited at the amazing recording studio invention of the eight track. Sgt. Pepper, for example, only had the availability of the four track so, yeah, things were pretty primitive then.


Ah, how times have changed!



mrmustard615 said:


> Yeah, looking for Crimson on the internet is a bitch, isn't it?  Luckily I have In the Court of the Crimson King and Lark's Tongue in Aspic plus assorted tracks from the seventies via The Young Person's Guide to King Crimson.


I have them all now, so if you want anything just shout in my general direction.


> Hot Rats is definitely one of the better Zappa albums though I have to admit I'm more partial to the earlier Verve albums.


Verve? I was surprised by how much I didn't hate it. I really was.


> I assume you're referring to the More soundtrack by Pink Floyd. I can't remember the entire album (I do have it) but I do remember The Nile Song being one monster track. Pretty heavy by Floyd standards as well.


I was, yeah. I can't after all feature everything.


> And I like To Our Children's... too. I find it superior to On the Threshold of a Dream. Their classic period is almost over for me though. One more complete album left than it's all good tracks and filler after that, but then again, that's me.


Yeah I admit I thought they'd be more out-and-out prog, and while there are definitely elements there, I haven't really thought of them as proper prog since _DoFP_....


> Oh, and I like Fairport Convention too, probably because I do like folk. I think Unhalfbricking is better though.


Would that be fullbricking then? 


> Maybe I should do a history of folk


Somebody folking should anyway. :lol:


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 22, 2019)

*Chapter III: New World Rising:
Learning to Crawl*

There are those (myself among them) who will tell you that the seventies was the best time for music. Now that may or may not be true, depending on your viewpoint and also, critically, depending on whether or not you lived through that period. But what can't be denied is that this was the decade of innovation and change. So many new and varied music forms came bubbling up in the 1970s, more than I believe any before or since. Hard rock, already well established through bands like Free, Cream, The Yardbirds, The Stones and The Who, would slowly metamorphose into heavy metal, while breaking down cultural borders, the soul, funk and r&B from the black ghettoes would find its place in the mainstream, as disco began its careful takeover of the airwaves and the charts. And of course, waiting in the wings, one of the branches from the hard rock tree, progressive rock would make this time its golden period. Bands like Yes, ELP, Genesis and Camel would come forth – some of whom had already made their mark a year or two earlier, some of whom had yet to make themselves heard – melding influences like psychedelic rock, jazz, classical and folk to form what would become initially one of the most exciting forms of rock, but which would overstretch itself, become complacent and eventually more or less die a bloated corpse, choked on its own excesses and unable to move with the changing times.

Taken as a whole, the 1970s is a pivotal decade for prog. You could say, without too much fear of contradiction really, that it both rose and fell within those ten years. With a penchant for costumery and lavish stageshows, light sequences and the beginnings of multimedia, eager to tell stories instead of just write love songs or feel-good songs, and a core of true, dedicated musicians, progressive rock would be seen, for a long time, as the thinking man or woman's rock, the intellectual side of heavy rock, and a welcome alternative from the fluff and nonsense of disco. Disco music was, and still more or less is, unsurprisingly, made for dancing, so there's not, to be fair, a huge amount of worth in the lyrics, generally. Prog rock was made for those who wanted to stop and think about what was being sung; concept albums ranged over such diverse topics as politics, war, space exploration and the nature of good and evil, among others. These were not throwaway lines and to be fair again, they would generally not be guaranteed to get you laid, at least not in the way a Marvin Gaye or Drifters song might. Disco, soul and funk had its own agenda and its own messages to impart, and to his credit, the aforementioned  Gaye was perhaps one of the first, if not the first soul artist to realise this and do something about it, setting something of a trend for those who followed. But prog rock had always been, from the start, about the music but especially about the lyrics. Yes, there were and would be bands who performed instrumentals, but even these were imbued with a sense of fantasy, of importance, of storytelling. Prog rock appealed to the reader, the thinker, the dreamer.

Prog rock audiences and fans were also different to disco fans in that to them, buying albums was more important than buying singles. In fact, while disco survived largely on the sale of songs that took its adherents into the heady reaches of the charts, few prog bands would even bother releasing singles. Much of this of course had to do with the fact that most prog songs were too long to be singles, with some notable exceptions, but a lot of it also had to do with the fact that the bands wrote their music – even if the album in question was not a concept – more as a suite, a collection of related songs, and to take one out of context meant the song lost something. It's easy to say prog bands didn't sell singles because nobody wanted to buy them, and to some extent yes, this is true: your proper prog fan was more interested in buying the latest Yes or Rush or Camel album than he (mostly, they would be male fans, at least for the first few years, and probably further) was in buying their single. He knew he would just buy the album once it was released, so why bother shelling out for the single? Unless it was the lead single of course.

So on the face of it, chartwise, prog bands would seem to look as if they had little or no impact on the record-buying public, or at least the single-buying ones anyway. There were some exceptions, of course: Genesis released “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” in 1974 and it did quite well in the charts. “Wondrous Stories” took Yes up into the rarefied and unfamiliar territory of the top ten, and of course “Money” was a hit for Pink Floyd, to say nothing of The Moody Blues almost hitting number one with “Nights in White Satin”, although that was towards the tail-end of the sixties. But the point is, that whereas buyer of pop or disco singles would in all likelihood not go on to buy the album, any prog fan who bought a prog single either had the album or was waiting for it to be released so they could buy it. Singles were not the be-all and end-all in the world of prog, and while of course record companies wanted prog bands to have hits, the overall success of their music, their growing fanbase and the rise of the popularity of prog rock through the seventies meant that their albums sold really well and to some extent there was no need for singles. Prog bands survived – even thrived – despite a lack of chart success.





Another thing that prog brought to the fore was the gatefold sleeve. If the genre had been successful in focussing the attentions of its fans on the album rather than the single – or at least, the album as an entity to be enjoyed as opposed to backup tracks for the single(s), it was certainly almost responsible singlehand if not for the actual creation of the gatefold sleeve, but its elevation to an art form. Gatefold sleeves (a cover for the album that opened up, often presented with double albums, one record in each sleeve, but not always) allowed for far greater expression of creativity. Up to this, mostly, album covers had been adorned by pictures of the band or artist, maybe some landscape or other feature, but usually nothing more. The Beatles may have been the first to have explored this new form with _Sgt Peppers_, though I don't know that for certain, and  I'm sure others were using gatefold sleeves before them. But as a statement of creativity, and with the rise of artists like Storm Thorgerson and Roger Dean, albums – at least, prog albums, and later many heavy metal ones too – began to “peacock out”, for want of a better phrase. Where an album would previously have had as mentioned above a photograph or drawing of the artist, now they had far deeper aspirations. Bands like Yes, ELP and Gentle Giant would do much to advance the whole idea of album covers as art, and of course Pink Floyd and Genesis, using Thorgerson's Hypgnosis company, would create some iconic album sleeves.





But it wasn't just the art, either. Inside the cover would often be printed, in beautiful, lavish script sometimes, the lyrics to the album, and other information. The cover art might continue over to the inside, so that essentially you might have one painting, as it were, beginning on the front, going on to the inside and ending on the back. With progressive rock, art had definitely arrived for the humble album sleeve. Look at the differences between, say, Yes's first two albums and _Tales from Topographic Oceans_, below, released only three years later. It's fair to say that art on album sleeves had developed, even in that short time, in leaps and bounds.





1970 is still something of an embryonic year for prog rock bands, hence the subtitle _Learning to Crawl_. Although Genesis would release their first proper prog album this year, it would be largely ignored, and while Yes would get a chart placing with their second this year, it would be very much at the lower end of the scale, and little interest would be generated. Mostly, the actual prog revolution, such as it was, would only really kick into gear around 1973, with major releases from ELP, King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Caravan and Pink Floyd. After that, almost to the end of the decade really, there would be no stopping it.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 22, 2019)

We will of course be getting back to the timeline presently, but I'd just like to diverge slightly from the laid down path, stop and take a breath, and pay tribute to the bands and artists that did so much for progressive rock, some of whom are rightly lauded, some of whom are not, but all of whom are what I would definitely class as 




The first guys I want to look at probably fit more into the latter category, and personally I know little about them, and have heard I think one album (though that will of course change as we move along the timeline), but they are certainly recognised to be a large part of the progressive rock movement overall.










With a name like that, if you don't know them, you'd probably think they were a folk band, quite low key and laidback, relaxed sort of chaps. You might be interested to hear that although yes, they did incorporate folk music in their sound, they also used soul, jazz and classical elements, and over their ten-year career they produced no less than eleven albums. Perhaps one of the only prog rock bands to not only contain, but be founded by, three brothers, Gentle Giant was Derek and Ray Shulman, and their younger brother Ray. Perhaps not too oddly, but still interesting, the first two were born in Scotland (Glasgow) while Ray did not arrive until the family had moved to Portsmouth, perhaps as far from his brothers' birthplace as it is possible to get and yet remain on the mainland of Britain, and so would be technically English while his siblings were Scottish.

With a musical family background, the boys were all encouraged from a young age to learn whatever instruments they could, with the result that the three of them grew to be multi-instrumentalists, again something of a rarity in a family, but certainly good groundwork for their later ventures into progressive rock. Originally though – and again almost uniquely – they were a soul/pop band which turned to psychedelia as that became popular and actually had a top ten hit single. Instead of capitalising on that though, the brothers hated the new sound their record company was pushing them towards and dissolved the band, and after a short stint as another band called The Moles, they eventually decided to create and found Gentle Giant.

The oddities with these guys continue. With three of them in the new band they hired three more bandmembers, two of which were ... wait for it ... multi-instrumentalists too! These were Gary Green and Kerry Minnear, and drummer Martin Smith. He wasn't a multi-instrumentalist. How left out he must have felt! Not to mention that the newly-formed band now had three lead vocalists – Derek and Phil Shulman and recently-joined Kerry Minnear – and even two of the remaining six members also sang on occasion. Gentle Giant released their first, self-titled album in 1970 (which we will be looking at soon), a relatively short affair with only seven tracks and clocking in at just over a half hour in total.





Less than a year later they were back with their second, much more experimental album, which contained their “mission statement”: _”It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being unpopular.”_ Their, even for prog rock, eclectic approach to the subject matter for their songs was evident in their usage of the writings of a French Renaissance humanist in one of the songs. The album, again, was short, just over half an hour with this time eight songs.





The title may have been quite appropriate, as it was certainly not to everyone's taste, and in what was becoming, and would become, the standard for prog rock bands in the seventies, their third album was a concept. Even at that, it was short and had again only six tracks. It would appear Gentle Giant were not eager to follow the likes of Yes and ELP with side-long compositions and multi-part suites. 





Nevertheless, that same year they released their fourth album, _Octopus_, which is generally regarded as one of their best works. Sadly, during the tour to promote the album Phil Shulman left the band, and the remaining band members carried on to release their fifth album, 1973's _In a Glass House_, another concept, followed by yet another concept album, _The Power and the Glory_ in 1974, which is generally rated as a favourite among fans but which of course did nothing commercially, and also led to them changing labels, to move to  Chrysalis Records, with whom they spent the rest of their career.





The first album released on the Chrysalis label was the more accessible, almost commercial _Free Hand_, which even scraped into the top fifty in the US, followed by the weird _In'terview_ in 1976, a concept album based on the idea of an actual interview (not surprisingly, that bombed and failed to capitalise on their recent mini-success in the States). Although their albums were not exactly shifting platinum or gold units, Gentle Giant did become famous for their incredibly versatile onstage musical prowess, and their fame spread that way, but soon the advent of punk would make its mark upon the world, and Gentle Giant found their eclectic and energetic music no longer appealed to the general populace. They retreated into a sort of semi-pop style, as with both 1977's _The Missing Piece_ and 1978's all-out pop _Giant for a Day!_. Their final album, 1980's _Civilian_ maybe says it best with its title: after trying to live up to their grandiose statement on their second album, Gentle Giant had slowly succumbed to the pressure of commercialism and the changing attitudes towards music as the 1970s became the 1980s, and finally retired after their eleventh album.





Perhaps one of the great “could-have-been” stories of the prog rock movement, Gentle Giant typified a band who started off with lofty ideals, tried to remain true to them despite little real commercial success or recognition, and eventually gave it up as a bad job. We'll be sampling all of their catalogue (or most of it, depending on the years and what was released) as the timeline goes on, so I can't speak to whether or not they deserved to be bigger, or it was right that they faded away, but whatever the truth is, it's a pity they didn't make it as they seemed to be genuine musicians with a genuine desire to entertain and please. 

Unfortunately, as bands like Genesis, Yes and Rush learned, and would demonstrate, sometimes that just isn't enough.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 22, 2019)

As mentioned in the previous article, progressive rock bands really started something of a trend, later taken up by hard rock and metal bands, as well as AOR ones but for a long time almost exclusive to prog rock, for intricate and often rather beautiful album covers. I'll be looking at some of the best in this section.





Bearing a striking resemblance to much of the artwork from 70s Yes album covers, which is no coincidence as artist Roger Dean worked on both, and this was basically a Yes album by any other name, _Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe _was the debut, and only album by the ex-members of Yes before they got back together with the rest of the band.





Although their early album covers were nothing much to write home about, once Pink Floyd joined forces with Hipgnosis they began turning out some very iconic sleeves, such as this one from _Wish You Were Here_.





Rush had some great ones too, like 1977's _A Farewell to Kings_





Early work from HR Giger, who would go on to become famous as the designer of Ridley Scott's _Aliens_, this is the 1973 album from Emerson, Lake and Palmer, entitled _Brain Salad Surgery_.





Camel's 1979 _I Can See Your House From Here_ uses a rather_ risque _subject, the joke about Jesus on the cross, and transposes it to an outer space setting. Very clever.





I like the pure expressionism on this one from Eloy, entitled _Floating_





while King Crimson's _Lizard_ is ornate, detailed and intricate.





Finally, this 1975 album from Hawkwind shows the beginnings of fantasy art becoming almost standard on prog rock album covers.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 24, 2019)

A new decade, new bands, new albums. This was the beginning of an exciting time for music, as hard rock began to metamorphose, or at least diversify into nascent heavy metal with the rise of Black Sabbath and the harder (at least temporarily), heavier approach taken by Deep Purple, plus heavier, less bluesy albums from Led Zeppelin. But of course we’re concerned with the rise of progressive rock, and though it still had some way to go before properly establishing itself as a true music genre that could stand and face other forms of rock, and the later wave of disco and pop music, there were some important albums released this year. It was the year when certain bands and artists began to place their stamp on the world, and while at this point few if any were well-known and almost none had, or ever would have, hits in the charts, it was also, as I mentioned previously, the beginning of a time when purchase of albums began to overtake that of singles, as people looked more to the full story than just the highlights.

Inevitably, as we progress into the seventies, we’ll be dealing with more bands and more albums, and equally inevitably, and I hope understandably, I will be unable, nor would I be willing, to deal with every single one. Looking down Wiki’s list for 1970 I can count at least forty albums released this year, and while it might be fun to look into all of them for one year, I imagine the novelty would wear off quickly, for me at least, as the list only grows as more and more artists come on the scene. I also want to finish this before I die. So I will be cherry-picking from the list, taking the albums I see as either essential or important, or ones I feel made some contribution to the movement, even if they may not have made a big impact at first. I’ll also look into those which may not have made a big splash, prog-wise, in 1970 but which led to greater things for those bands. And of course, I’ll be selecting a few for our _Over the Garden Wall _feature, albums that didn’t do much to advance the cause of prog, and may only have been connected to it by the most tenuous of strands, but which provided the one element missing in most prog albums: fun. The jokers in the pack, as it were. Damn! Should have used that to name the section! Oh well, too late now.

One list which will however always be complete and on which I will, to the best of my ability, do my very best not to miss out anyone will be the list of bands formed in any particular year. This is I feel very important, as even if the bands in question did little or nothing, they still should be seen as if not contributing, then trying to contribute to the overall picture of prog rock, and some of them, indeed, while not finding fame with those bands, may have gone on to better things with other bands or even solo.

Something else I will look at  from this year on will be those bands who didn’t make it, who decided either this wasn’t for them and disbanded, or who changed their direction away from prog, or who for whatever reason disappeared into the murky mists of the history of progressive rock. Some may even get a short article written on them, who knows? For now, though, here are the names that popped up in 1970.

*Ange  (1970 – )*

*Nationality:* French
*Original lineup: * Christian, Francis and Tristan Décamps, Jean-Michel Brézovar, Jean-Claude Rio, Patrick Kachanian, Gérard Jelsch
*First relevant album:* _Caricatures_, 1972

*Impact:* 0
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:*
I always respect bands who sing in their native language, but it can be a two-edged sword. Look at Trust: they remained relatively unknown outside of France because they didn’t sing in English, eventually having to bow to pressure and release some of their albums in English. Ange were the same, though they seem to have stuck to their guns. Fronted by the three brothers Décamps, they released a quite impressive total of 23 albums up to 2018, but despite opening for Genesis at the Reading Festival in 1973, and gigging at over 100 concerts in the UK, they remained an enigma to the Brits, who couldn’t understand a word the guys were singing. Ange did release one album, their fifth, in English, but it sold badly and they probably said something like “Zut Alors! C’est ne pas un jeux des soldats!” Though probably not. As a result of nobody being able to understand them, they had no real impact on the prog scene that I can see. 


*Curved Air ((i) 1970 – 1972 (ii) 1974 - 1976 (iii) 2008 -  )*

*Nationality:* English
*Original lineup: * Darryl Way, Francis Monkman, Rob Martin, Florian Pilkington-Miksa, Sonja Kristina
*First relevant album:* _Air Conditioning_, 1970

*Impact:* ?
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:* Sky, Roxy Music, The Police
One of the few prog bands to have a hit single - and the only, I think, in 1970, and further, the only to have a top four single, Curved Air hit it big with “Back Street Luv” from their first album, which went to number four. However, commercially that was it for them. Captained by two polar opposites - Francis Monkman, who went on to form SKY, and who was a total jam fiend, loving extensive noodling and improvisations, and Darryl Way, a serious-as-shit violinist and keyboard player who liked everything to be just so - it was never going to work, and within a few years of their association they had split up. The band continued a few years later, resurrected but only for two more years, after which there was a lengthy hiatus, leading to the phenomenon of a band being technically around for almost fifty years but in that time only releasing a total of seven albums, the last of which came in the twenty-first century.

In addition to being the only (to my knowledge) prog band to have a hit in 1970, Curved Air were also famous in being the first rock band to use a violin, and for later featuring future Roxy Music member Eddie Jobson as well as founder of the Police, Stewart Copeland in their lineup. Also famous for being one of the few (at least, at that time) prog bands to feature a female lead singer.


*Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) ((i) 1970 – 1983 (ii) 1985-1986 (iii) 2000 - 2001 (iv) 2014 - )*

*Nationality:* English
*Original lineup: * Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan
*First relevant album:* _The Electric Light Orchestra_, 1971

*Impact:* 5
*The Trollheart Factor:* 10
*Linked to:* Jeff Lynne solo career, The Move, ELO Part II
I could write pages about ELO. But I won’t. Not here anyway. One of the very earliest bands I got into, ELO were one of the few prog rock(ish) bands who truly made it, crossing over into the world of pop to have a slew of hits, while somehow keeping their classical orchestral leanings, and in the process perhaps introducing younger people like me (hey! I was young once! Honestly!) to the delights of classical music. ELO would more or less hover on the fringes of the prog rock movement, being fairly quickly accepted by the mainstream music public, but I feel prog rock owes them a similar debt as it does to the likes of ELP for their dissemination of classical music tropes into, not only the world of prog but further afield. ELO essentially split after 1986, with drummer Bev Bevan forming ELO Part II (which went largely unremarked) until Lynne took the band name and added his for their twenty-first century reincarnation.

Founder member Roy Wood is one of a very small handful of prog musicians who assured themselves of immortality when, as leader of Wizzard, he advised us that he wished it could be Christmas every day. Indeed. And he keeps doing so every year, but he has never convinced me to think as he does.


*Emerson, Lake and Palmer ((i)1970 – 1979 (ii) 1991 - 1998 (iii) 2001 )*

*Nationality:* English
*Original lineup: ** Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Carl Palmer
*First relevant album:* _Emerson, Lake and Palmer_, 1970

*Impact:* 9
*The Trollheart Factor:* 3
*Linked to:* Asia, Emerson Lake and Powell, King Crimson, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster, The Nice
And these guys I could write a line or two about too. Continuing his efforts with earlier band The Nice to merge classical, jazz and rock music, ELP became possibly prog’s first ever supergroup, joining members of The Nice, Atomic Rooster and King Crimson, and becoming in the process a massive mainstay and star of the progressive rock world. Most of their material, being based on classical tunes, was instrumental, which left them, to me at any rate, a little less accessible than other bands such as Genesis or Rush, whose lyrics interested me as well as their music. ELP, along with Yes and Genesis, became the poster-boys for late seventies excess, not least due to the supermassive ego of Keith Emerson. Already fed to bursting by his time with the Nice, it became a true monster with ELP, as he forged a reputation for showmanship and some might say show-off-manship too, attacking his keyboard with knives, riding on it down to the stage and so on.

Singer and bassist Greg Lake joined ELO’s Roy Wood in creating a perennial favourite in the somewhat more sarcastic and bitter “I Believe in Father Christmas”. Indeed, again. Still, with characteristic ELP arrogance, Lake couldn’t resist ripping Prokofiev off for the melody. Despite their overblown excesses though, ELP have to be given credit the same as ELO for trying to bring classical music into rock, though in their case it never really crossed over into the pop scene, and they used more of a sense of superiority and aloofness rather than ELO’s cheerful friendly sharing of classical music.

_* This was the ONLY lineup of ELP, making them I think unique in prog. I suppose with a name like that, they couldn’t very well change band members, could they?_

*Gentle Giant (1970 –1980 )*

*Nationality:* English/Scottish
*Original lineup: * Derek, Phil and Ray Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green, Martin Smith
*First relevant album:* _Gentle Giant_, 1970

*Impact:* 8
*The Trollheart Factor:* 2
*Linked to:*
Everything that needs to be said about this band of brothers (sorry) has already been written in my article on _ProGenitors: the Godfathers of Prog_. Formed by three brothers, all multi-instrumentalists, Gentle Giant were probably one of the most talented bands of the prog era, per person, as each of them played multiple instruments and also sang. They released eleven albums over a ten-year period, but though feted and referenced by bigger prog artists, and loved by fans, they never really had even a hint of success. In the end they disbanded in 1980, perhaps a metaphor for the death, at the time, of progressive rock. They are fondly remembered though as one of the better prog bands.


*Grobschnitt ((i) 1970 - 1989 (ii) 2007  – )*

*Nationality:* German
*Original lineup: * Joachim Ehrig, Gerd Otto Kühn, Volker Kahrs, Stefan Danielak, Wolfgang Jäger, Rainer Loskand, Milla Kapolke
*First relevant album:* _Grobschnitt_, 1972





*Impact:* ?
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:*
Germans with a sense of humour? Surely not! Well, perhaps a candidate later for _Over the Garden Wall_, perhaps not; Grobschnitt (“rough cut”, as in how tobacco is cut) certainly did not take themselves too seriously, making weird noises and using odd effects in their music, as well as performing German comedy sketches and writing silly, nonsensical lyrics. But their fans took them seriously, and between 1972 and 1987 they released ten albums, not including live ones, of which there were many. Grobschnitt began as a psychedelic rock band, changed to symphonic prog, then a German post-punk derivative called NDW before ending up sort of in the same boat as Genesis, as a pop/rock band.


*Jackson Heights (1970  – 1973 )*

*Nationality:* English
*Original lineup: * Lee Jackson, Charlie Harcourt, Tommy Sloane, Mario Enrique Covarrubias Tapia
*First relevant album:* _King Progress_, 1970

*Impact:* 0
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:*ELP, The Nice. Phil Collins, Jon Anderson
Keith Emerson wasn’t the only one who went solo after the breakup of The Nice. Remember Jackson Heights? Neither do I. Seems they were less than successful, despite putting out three albums, and disbanded three years after they formed. Oddly enough, I could have sworn founder Lee Jackson would have been part of Python Lee Jackson, who had that big hit, but if he was, Wiki ain’t sayin’ nothin’ about it. 


*Jane (1970 – )*

*Nationality:* German
*Original lineup: * Peter Panka, Klaus Hess, Werner Nadolny, Charlie Maucher, Bernd Pulst
*First relevant album:* _Together_, 1972

*Impact:* 0
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:* Peter Panka’s Jane, Werner Nadolny’s Jane
What can I tell you? A German Krautrock band from Hanover who went through so many lineup changes it must have seemed like someone had installed revolving doors in the studio! 


*Kansas (1970  – )*

*Nationality:* American
*Original lineup: * Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, Phil Ehart, Lynn Meredith, Dan Wright, Don Motre, Greg Allen, Larry Baker
*First relevant album:* _Kansas_, 1974

*Impact:* 7
*The Trollheart Factor:* 5
*Linked to:* Saratoga, Proto-Kaw, Streets, Seventh Key, AD, Deep Purple, Shooting Star, Native Window, Dixie Dregs, White Clover
Known even to non-prog fans as the band behind “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind”, Kansas always seemed to me to be more in the pomp rock area, like Magnum, but hey, I never claimed to know everything about prog! I’m reliably informed that they were one of the major American prog rock bands of the seventies, and seemingly bucked the trend among proggers by consistently bothering the charts, and in the US of all places. This certainly made them a household name, and helped them sell out huge arenas across the States, rivalling American stadium rock favourites like Toto and Journey.


*Khan (1970 – 1972)*

*Nationality:* English
*Original lineup: * Steve Hillage, Nick Greenwood, Dick Heninghem, Pip Pyle
*First relevant album:* _Space Shanty_, 1972

*Impact:* 0
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:*Gong, Kevin Ayers, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
Perhaps the shortest-lived prog band of 1970, certainly the shortest-lived Canterbury band, Khan was formed by folk/blues legend Steve Hillage but only managed to release the one album before disinterest from his record label led Hillage to disband the band and head Gong-ward. By all accounts (well, Wiki’s) their only album was pretty special, so we may end up having to listen to it when the time comes.


*Mogul Thrash (1970 – 1971 )*

*Nationality:* English
*Original lineup: * James Litherland, Michael Rosen, Bill Harrison, John Wetton, Roger Ball, Michael Duncan
*First relevant album:* _Mogul Thrash_, 1971

*Impact:* 0 (other than giving the world John Wetton, I guess)
*The Trollheart Factor:* 2
*Linked to:* King Crimson, Family, The Average White Band, Asia, Roxy Music, Colosseum, Uriah Heep
Guess I spoke too soon! Mogul Thrash also only got together for one album before splitting. If they left any mark behind it was to give us John Wetton, who would go on to find fame with, among others, King Crimson, Roxy Music and of course end his career with Asia.


*Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes ( 1970 – 1981)*

*Nationality:* French
*Original lineup: * Catherine Ribeiro, Patrice Moullet
*First relevant album:* _No. 2_, 1970

*Impact:* 0
*The Trollheart Factor:* 2
*Linked to:* Catherine Ribeiro + 2 Bis
Yes, we experienced Catherine and her two lesbian friends in the previous section, when we checked out what was her first album released in 1969 as part of our_ Over the Garden Wall _feature. So why is she here again? Well, it seems that after that one album she and Patrice changed the band name, and so technically 1970 saw the birth of Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes, which was the name they retained right up to their last album, released in 1980.

*YU Grupa ((i) 1970  – 1981 (ii) 1987 -** )*

*Nationality:* Serbian
*Original lineup: * Dragi and "Žika" Jelić, Miodrag Okrugić, Velibor Bogdanović
*First relevant album:* _YU Grupa_, 1973

*Impact:* 0
*The Trollheart Factor:* 0
*Linked to:* A whole lot of Serbian bands I ain’t even gonna_ try_ to write down! Nobody outside of their native country though.
Surely the first, certainly the longest-lasting prog rock band to come out of the former Yugoslavia, from which presumably they originally took their name, YU Grupa were the first to combine traditional Balkan instruments into their music. They’re big in Belgrade, apparently.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 24, 2019)

So that appears to be the list of bands who started off, got together or called themselves a band in 1970. But as these new suns rose (well, some of them anyway) what of the stars that fell to earth? Which bands, formed in the sixties but unable to break through or for whatever reason calling time on their careers, folded in 1970? And what, if anything, happened to them?  Glad you asked.

*The Beatles*
You don’t need me to tell you what happened when the “world’s greatest rock group” decided to call it a day, do you? Four, well, three successful solo careers, (ah, Ringo! Drummers don't get success on their own you - what? Talk to Phil Collins? Sorry, I meant _talented _drummers!) :lol: that is until poor John Lennon got shot by some fucking lunatic in the 1980s. Or was it the CIA? Makes you think, doesn’t it? No, it really doesn’t. If you need more information, see Musty: he’s your man.

*The Nice*
As already explained in two entries above, the Nice basically became the springboard for the launch of the career of Keith Emerson, at the helm of the new supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who would usually be known simply as ELP. The other two didn’t do so badly either. Actually, they did. As related already, Lee Jackson formed Jackson Heights, but all they experienced over five albums was lows, leaving him to join Patrick Moraz in the rather appropriately-titled Refugee, while Brian Davison formed Every Which Way, which went no which way and after one album he followed his former bandmate for refuge with Moraz. Rather unfortunately for both, it would seem, Moraz then ditched them both to go occupy the empty seat left behind Rick Wakeman’s keyboard banks in Yes. 

All three rejoined in 2002 for a Nice reunion concert series. Davison died six years later of a brain tumour, while Emerson shot himself, doing a Cobain in 2016, leaving only Lee Jackson as the remaining member of the Nice.

*Organisation*
After releasing their only album, Tone Float, Ralf Hütter  and Florian Schneider-Esleben left the band to form a little-known outfit named Kraftwerk, leaving the remaining Organisation members to head back to college. Ah, those Germans, huh?

*Quill*
Never heard of them? Not to worry, neither have I. They were gone by 1970, though not before making something of a name for themselves across their native US soil by supporting not only bands like The Dead, The Kinks, The Who and Deep Purple, but also once opening for Steve Martin! How many rock bands, never mind prog rock bands, can say that? They even  played at Woodstock (and again, how many prog bands managed that?) but somehow the gods were against them, as their performance, due to be broadcast in the famous film about the festival, was omitted due to a glitch in the tape. Don’t you just love those ancient recording mechanisms? Hey, they were even produced at one time by Jon Bon  Jovi’s cousin, Tony!

Headed by two brothers, Jon and Dan Cole, the disappointment at missing out on the biggest advertising and PR opportunity of the sixties depressed the two, and Jon went off to pursue a career in alternative power sources. Today he runs one of the world’s largest solar power companies. Dan got into the production and management business, software development and eventually became a private investor and management consultant. He didn’t give up the world of music though, and is apparently still writing and recording in his own studio.

*Sam Gopal*
Who? We didn’t even cover them. Him. Whatever. But to be fair, neither did we cover Quill, and they’re on the list, so maybe he, they, whatever was or were a big prog name before… no. I see first of all it’s a he, and second he is or was a psych musician. One guy huh? How do you suppose one guy disbands? Was he a leper? A Transformer before his time? Let’s find out. 

Oh no wait: Sam Gopal _is_ a guy’s name, but he also named his band after himself. How very arrogant of you, sir. Well it seems our Mr. Gopal has the distinction of having been the only prog, well, prog-worthy act to have come from the fair shores of Malaysia, of all places, so that’s interesting in itself. Why is he in an article about prog, you ask? Frankly, so do I. I guess one claim to fame is that he, sorry they performed on the same stage as Pink Floyd, The Crazy World of You-Know-Who and Soft Machine, though not at the same time I expect. The mighty Hendrix sat in with them on one gig. Impressive, though hardly prog I think. 

Oh look! At one point Sam’s lineup included Hawkwind and later Motorhead metal god Lemmy. Now that_ is_ good! Doesn’t say what happened to our Sam, but he/they is/are down as having kicked it to the curb in 1970, so I guess that was the end of them. Him. Whatever.


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 24, 2019)

And now, a new section.





This is where, rather obviously, we’ll note any other interesting, important or amusing events that took place in the world of prog during that year. And for 1970 the headlines are:

*YES SAY NO TO BANKS!*
Not Tony, of Genesis fame, for never did he wander onto stage with Anderson and Wakeman, but yea, did he stay verily true, plighting his troth to his bandmates in Genesis. In other words, no it wasn’t the keyboard player and co-founder of one of the biggest prog rock bands in the world who missed out on being in another of the biggest prog rock bands in the world. This was Peter Banks, who had played guitar on Yes’s debut self-titled album, and his career is an interesting one.

And here it is.

Starting with a band called, rather ominously, The Devil’s Disciples, he would replace Ray Fenwick in The oddly-named Syndicats, Ray having replaced one Steve Howe. Hold that thought. Banks then teamed up with future Yes-man (sorry) Chris Squire in The Syn, who you may remember we featured all the way back at the beginning of this journal. The Syn had no releases but did kind of give birth to Yes, or some of them, which is why they were included. He followed Squire to his next band, Mabel Greer’s Toyshop, who were to rename themselves in the affirmative. 

Banks’s claim to fame, or one of them at any rate, is that it was he who came up with the name for the band, after Jon Anderson had suggested Life and Chris Squire World, but Yes was settled on and adopted by the band. Under this name they recorded their first album, but for the second,_ Time and a Word_, Anderson wanted to use an orchestra. Guitarists don’t like orchestras; they take over their guitar parts and leave them twiddling their thumbs and fuming in impotence. Or at least, this one had that effect on Peter Banks, who had been against the idea from the start. “Musical differences” emerged and he was asked to leave the band. He didn’t say no. Sorry. In one of those twists of fate that makes you think she must have a really warped sense of humour, he was replaced in Yes by none other than Steve Howe. Howe’s that for revenge? Sorry again.

Undeterred, Banks went on to form his own band, Flash, who did all right, but split in 1973 after three albums. His next band was Empire, who also released three albums, but oddly none were released. They broke up in 1979. Meanwhile Banks had made a friend of Jan Akkerman of Focus and had also played with both Phil Collins and Steve Hackett of Genesis. He tried his hand at recording a few solo albums, mostly instrumental, and in 1993 co-ordinated the release of a special Yes compilation album, and worked right up until his death at the age of 65 from heart failure. His body was found after he failed to show up for a recording session. Now _that’s_ rock’n’roll, if not exactly prog.

Perhaps the greatest accolade paid him was to be named as “one of the ten great prog rock guitarists” in Gibson Guitar’s _Lifestyle_ Magazine, and an epitaph could be a quote from that which remarked that “Before there was Steve Howe, there was Peter Banks.” Steve Howe was probably unavailable for comment.

*NO TRESPASSING! ALL CHANGING AT  GENESIS!*
Indeed. One of the original  founder members of Genesis, Anthony Phillips should have had a glittering career with the prog rock icons, but found he could not play onstage. He literally suffered from terrible stagefright, and the band, shocked at his departure, forced on medical grounds, considered breaking up, but instead hired a new guitarist, Steve Hackett. Phillips went on to record some solo albums, but after a disastrous foray into the world of pop retreated to his first love, classical music, and became a music teacher and composer. He still records, but is very specialised in what he does.

John Mayhew, who had played drums on their second album _Trespass_, was ditched too and replaced by Phil Collins, who would become both their mainstay drummer and, later, lead vocalist until he left in the 1990s to pursue his solo career.

*BRAINBOX LOSE FOCUS!*
Or to be more accurate (these Fleet Street hacks, huh? Always looking for a good headline while not being too worried about how appropriate to the story it is) Focus gain Brainbox. In other words, both Jan Akkerman and Pierre van der Linden left the one-shot crazy weird band whose only album we featured in 1969’s _Over the Garden Wall_, and joined Focus, where they would hit gold (probably not literally in terms of sales) with their second album. Akkerman left in 1976 but returned for a reunion in 1985, leaving again in 1990 for good this time while Van der Linden is still there, and Focus are still recording and releasing albums.

So that’s the bands who were formed, dissolved (not literally, of course!) and the headlines for the year 1970. As for the albums? Well, as I said we have about forty to choose from, so I tell ya what, I’ll get back to you on that, okay?


----------



## Deleted member 56686 (Oct 24, 2019)

Finally, some bands I've never heard of, so I'll comment on the ones I do know about 










> *Curved Air ((i) 1970 – 1972 (ii) 1974 - 1976 (iii) 2008 -  )*
> 
> *Nationality:* English
> *Original lineup: * Darryl Way, Francis Monkman, Rob Martin, Florian Pilkington-Miksa, Sonja Kristina
> ...




I had a couple of their albums. I loved Air Conditioning. I don't think they did anything commercially in the US. The other album I had, I can't remember the title- I think it was 1972. It wasn't very good, imo.




> *Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) ((i) 1970 – 1983 (ii) 1985-1986 (iii) 2000 - 2001 (iv) 2014 - )*
> 
> *Nationality:* English
> *Original lineup: * Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan
> ...



A favorite band of mine. I was on cloud nine when they finally got in the R&R HOF. It's hard to call them prog though, especially later on when they got a bit more commercial. Still an amazing band, though, if it is mostly one person (Jeff Lynne). 



> *Emerson, Lake and Palmer ((i)1970 – 1979 (ii) 1991 - 1998 (iii) 2001 )*
> 
> *Nationality:* English
> *Original lineup: ** Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Carl Palmer
> ...




They used to catch a lot of flak in the States too. They started out great but after Trilogy, they did become a little too pompous. Emerson and Lake did record an album with Cozy Powell and called it Emerson, Lake, and Powell.



> *Gentle Giant (1970 –1980 )*
> 
> *Nationality:* English/Scottish
> *Original lineup: * Derek, Phil and Ray Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green, Martin Smith
> ...



Still have to listen to these guys more. What I have heard reminds me more of Genesis during the same era. 






> *Kansas (1970  – )*
> 
> *Nationality:* American
> *Original lineup: * Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, Phil Ehart, Lynn Meredith, Dan Wright, Don Motre, Greg Allen, Larry Baker
> ...




Kansas may have considered themselves a prog band at one time, but they got caught up in the whole corporate rock genre, more affectionately known as arena rock (and don't get me started with Journey of whatever incarnation of the hypocrites in the Jefferson Starship). I do love Dust in the Wind though. 



And that's it. I did noice you mentioned some krautrock bands but I wasn't familiar with any of them. Can I assume Can and Faust came out in 1971 or 1972? I know Kraftwerk was later.




Trollheart said:


> *The Beatles*
> You don’t need me to tell you what happened when the “world’s greatest rock group” decided to call it a day, do you? Four, well, three successful solo careers, (ah, Ringo! Drummers don't get success on their own you - what? Talk to Phil Collins? Sorry, I meant _talented _drummers!) :lol: that is until poor John Lennon got shot by some fucking lunatic in the 1980s. Or was it the CIA? Makes you think, doesn’t it? No, it really doesn’t. *If you need more information, see Musty: he’s your man.*





Yep


----------



## BadHouses (Oct 24, 2019)

Wow.  I feel like such a rock radio n00b.  I've listened to _Tarkus _(1971) by ELP, and that's about it.  And I'm fairly familiar with King Crimson, the Robert Fripp String Quintet, and the League of Crafty Guitarists.  I've heard Fripp was an insufferable nightmare.

These are some interesting groups.  I know ELO for "Evil Woman" and that's it. I'll have to look farther into their back catalogue.  Never would have pegged them as prog.  I gave _The Electric Light Orchestra_ a listen and I can see how they brush up to it.  Nice album.

Also, can you just do that?  Call your band "my band Part II"?  That's hilarious!


----------



## Trollheart (Oct 24, 2019)

If you want to hear really prog ELO check their three albums _Face The Music, On the Third Day _and especially _Eldorado_. Then there's _Out of the Blue_, which actually has a full suite on it ("Concerto For a Rainy Day", from which came the superhit "Mister Blue Sky"). After that they're really not worthy of the prog tag, and it's a little like Supertramp being called prog, as they're known for more poppy songs, but there are definitely prog credentials in there.

Bev Bevan was one of the founders of ELO, so when there were disputes over who could use the name he split off with his own band and called it, yeah, ELO Part II. Same thing happened with Asia - former singer John Payne tours under John Payne's Asia. There are other examples but I can't think of them right now.

If you're interested in prog rock, in learning more, stay tuned as this is going to be a wild and hopefully informative ride. Welcome along.


----------



## Trollheart (Nov 13, 2019)

And here I am, back with the list. To be fair, it’s hard to discount any of the albums released in 1970 that contributed to the prog scene, so I haven’t.

_The Madcap Laughs_ - Syd Barrett


While I can find no actual reference to this album being prog rock of any sort, it has to be accepted that without Syd the chances are that Pink Floyd might not have existed, or might have been a totally different band. Certainly, “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” and “Wish You Were Here” would likely not have been written, and, while Syd’s musical and mental demise is sad and lamentable, sometimes it’s tragedy that brings the best out of a band. And so we owe it to the mad one to at least listen to and review his debut solo album, released in the year his own band would start to make major waves. Without him.

_The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other_ - Van der Graaf Generator




Second album from a band who would become very important to the emerging prog scene, blending elements of jazz and blues into their music, and influencing a whole slew of young bright-eyed hopefuls in the future. At this point though, VDGG were bright-eyed hopefuls ,and their debut album, released the previous year, had hardly set the charts alight. This one wouldn’t either. It did however scrape into the top forty, by the skin of its teeth, a better performance than _The Aerosol Grey Machine_, and indeed their best ever chart placing.

_Egg_ - Egg

I know nothing about Egg, other than that they were big on the Canterbury Scene, and they were the band Steve Hillage wasn’t in. I’ll be finding out more about them as I review this and their other albums, this being their debut. Obviously.

_Benefit_ - Jethro Tull

I feel this may be a dodgy choice, as it seems to have been some time into their career before Tull achieved a sound that could in any way be described as progressive rock, but I can hardly ignore icons like them, so we’ll give it a listen, but I won’t expect too much. Hey hey hey! I’ll give them the “benefit” of the doubt! Yes? No? Have it your way then. Moving on…

_Yeti_ - Amon Duul II

Considered very important in the new Krautrock scene, this is Amon Duul’s second album, and some say, their best. We’ll see.

_In the Wake of Poseidon_ - King Crimson

Having exploded onto the prog rock scene the previous year with the now-classic _In the Court of the Crimson King_, Fripp’s boys did not rest on their laurels, releasing their second album a mere seven months later. It further reinforced their place as future prog rock giants. It says here.

_Barclay James Harvest_ - Barclay James Harvest 

Always thought this was an interesting name for a band. Not interesting enough for me to check them out though, which means that I know almost nothing about them. This was their debut album.

_Home_ - Procul Harum

I’ve already been impressed with their first three albums, so hopefully the fourth will continue that trend.

_Third_ - Soft Machine

These guys, on the other hand, have yet to impress me. Big they may have been in Canterbury, but I wasn’t sold on their first two albums. It’s Soft Machine again, with their imaginatively-titled third album.

_Time and a Word_ - Yes

This is the Yes album (no, not _The Yes Album_!) I spoke of in the … And in Other Prog News feature, the one where Jon and the boys decided to use an orchestra, and Peter Banks wasn’t having it, precipitating his departure. We’ll find out how it all worked out for the remaining members of Yes, and hear Steve Howe’s first contributions to the band. Oh no, we won’t; Banks stayed for the recording but left before the album’s release.

_Supertramp_ - Supertramp

Almost more of a folk record, somewhat in the _From Genesis to Revelation_ mould, Supertramp's debut album nevertheless signposted some of the greatness that was to come from this band.

_Weasels Ripped My Flesh_ - The Mothers of Invention

What is it with Zappa and rodents? First _Hot Rats_ and now this? Ah, sanity, how I fear for you! The things I do for prog!

_If i Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You_ - Caravan

What a great title! If it wasn’t Caravan, one of the leaders of the Canterbury scene, this album would gain its place here just for that imaginative title. But it is, and they are, and it is. Capische?

_Atom Heart Mother_ - Pink Floyd

While Syd was finding himself, or losing himself, or doing whatever the hell it was with himself after leaving Floyd, Gilmour, Waters, Mason and Wright were getting on with it. With a proper, working band now and no issues to concern them (at least, in the studio) they crafted their first album to break them commercially, hitting the number one spot. This was also their first foray into working with Storm Thorgerson’s Hypgnosis, who would design so many of their icon album sleeves.

_Trespass_ - Genesis

Ah, the first of what I consider the “real” Genesis album, _Trespass_ set down a template other prog bands would follow, with long, involved songs telling long, involved stories and creating the persona of stuck-up arty bands whose feet weren’t rooted in the real world. One of my all-time favourite Genesis albums, it was the end for poor Anthony Phillips, but the beginning of a glorious career for Genesis, leading the charge of the riders on the prog rock storm.

_Chunga’s Revenge_ - Frank Zappa




And here he is again. Like a turd in my bowl who just won’t flush away, it’s Zappa again. For the second time in the same year. Again. As a matter of fact, it would have been three times, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to listen to _Burnt Weeny Sandwich_ too! There’s only so much one man can take! 

_Air Conditioning_ - Curved Air

I already spoke about the problems Curved Air had in the previous section. This is their debut album.

_Emerson, Lake and Palmer_ - Emerson, Lake and Palmer

If any band typified the excesses and overblown self-indulgence of progressive rock, it was ELP. Though they had masses of fans, they had probably as many detractors, and were seen as elitist and arrogant, claims which are hard to deny. We’ll get to all of that in due course, but for now this was their debut album, after the breakup of The Nice.

_Gentle Giant_ - Gentle Giant

Already referenced in some detail in the ProGenitors section, this is the debut album from the trio of brothers who tried, didn’t really make it, but gained a cult following even decades after their demise.

_He to He Who Am the Only One_ - Van der Graaf Generator




Yes, back then some bands did release more than one album in a year. VDGG were another, their third effort hitting the shelves as 1970 drew to a close.

_Lizard_ - King Crimson

Not to be outdone, King Crimson got a second one (their third in all) out too, before the year closed.

_Act One_ - Beggars Opera

I haven’t yet decided if this album will be reviewed in the normal timeline or as part of _Over the Garden Wall_. They don’t seem to have been that well-known or influential, but I could be wrong. One way or another, we’ll get to the debut from these guys.

_In and Out of Focus_ or _Focus Plays Focus_ - Focus

But these guys are definitely in. Jan Akkerman left Brainbox and joined up with Thijs van Leer, and prog history was made.

_Magma_ - Magma

The only French prog band to release an album this year, Magma created the sub-genre known as zeuhl, of which we’ll learn more later. This was their debut album.


----------



## Trollheart (Nov 13, 2019)

We’ll also be looking at some of these albums in _Over the Garden Wall_ It’s almost certain that we won’t get to them all but we’ll see how we go).

_Quill_ - Quill




We’ve already come across Quill in the section on bands formed this year. This was their one and only album.

_Ahora Mazda_ - Ahora Mazda

Another band to have only one album, this time a Dutch one. Seem to have been something along the lines of the prog Grateful Dead…

_Barrett_ - Syd Barrett

The second and final album from the ex-Floydie seems to bear no resemblance to prog at all, but as it’s him I thought we really needed to do it, so I’m popping it in here.

_Aardvark_ - Aardvark

Surely destined to come first in any alphabetical search for prog albums, Aardvark’s claim to fame is to have had future Free founders Simon Kirke and Paul Kossoff in their band at one time. When they went off to seek fame and glory, the anteating ones released… one album. And apparently they had no guitarist, which is odd, given that their second album, released in, um, 2016 (!) was titled _Guitar’d ‘n Feathered_! Guess they must have found someone to play the axe then!

_Almendra II_ - Almendra

Very hard to track down, this. A band from Argentina (the first we’ve had here? I think possibly) and seem to have had little or nothing to do with prog, but Wiki have it on their list. Seems to be a LOT of tracks on it, but as there are no times I don’t know how long it runs for. Guess I’ll find out.

_Earwax_ - Association P.C.

German/Dutch band of whom it was apparently said that “eighty percent of [them] is electronics”. Hmm.

_Cressida_ - Cressida

Took their name from a famous fizzy drink - oh no wait, that was Cresta. Oh well. 

_Output_ - Wolfgang Dauner

Jazz fusion pianist. Why is his album here? Christ knows. Maybe I will, once I get to it. Maybe not.

_Goliath_ - Goliath

A grandiose-sounding name for a band who had one album and then folded. Oh well.

_Trauma_ - Gomorra

Very unsure about this one. Both ProgArchives and Discogs say the album was released in 1971, so chances are Wiki got it wrong. German prog band who at least had two albums, which puts them ahead of the last few anyway.

_Gracious!_ - Gracious

And this one beats them too, with three albums. 

_Marsupilami_ - Marsupilami

Jesus! Where did these bands get their names from? Speaking of…

_Moving Gelatine Plates_ - Moving Gelatine Plates

Another French proto-prog band. Of course they are.

_Present From Nancy_ - Supersister

Not a sister in sight. Nor, indeed, anyone named Nancy.

_It’ll All Work Out In Boomland_ - T2




Sure it will.

_Walrus_ - Walrus

Not to be confused with the seventies prog band Sealion, who did not exist.

_Tombstone Valentine_ - Wigwam

If you think that’s an odd name for an album, their debut was called, ahem, _Hard’n’Horny_! Oh, I see! They’re Finnish! Well, that explains it. Oh no wait, it doesn’t.


----------



## Trollheart (Nov 17, 2019)

*Album title:* _The Madcap Laughs_
*Artiste: * Syd Barrett
*Nationality: * English
*Label: * Harvest
*Year: * 1970
*Grade: * C
*Previous Experience of this Artiste:* Only via the first two Floyd albums
*The Trollheart Factor:* 3
*Landmark value:* 5
*Tracklisting:* _Terrapin/No Good Trying/Love You/No Mans Land/Dark Globe/Here I Go/Octopus/Golden Hair/Long Gone/She Took a Long Cold Look/Feel/If It’s in You/Late Night_
*Comments: * Although we’re only beginning the seventies here, Barrett’s music always seems to me to have been firmly rooted in the sixties, with no intention of or willingness to come into the new decade. This has flower power written all over it. The opening track is whimsical and limp, played seemingly mostly on an acoustic guitar, while there’s a certain sense of Floydesque feedback on “No Good Trying to Love You” (perhaps a synonym for how the band felt about him before dismissing him?) and “Love You” sounds like a rushed version of a Beatles/Kinks crossover, though it does have some nice piano in it. 


Interesting to see that the man who would replace him in Floyd, Dave Gilmour plays bass here. Perhaps he felt he owed something to the man whose job he was taking? “No Mans Land” features a kind of muttered laconic vocal in the lead-out, which probably best represents Barrett’s approach to music, almost a motif for his way of working in the studio. Apparently he often responded to requests as to what key a song was in from other musicians working with him with a non-committal “Yeah”. Must have been hard to work with the guy. “Dark Globe” almost sounds like Waters is singing, but no it’s Syd of course, again acoustic guitar driven, and you can hear the kind of confused, chaotic way he’s playing. “Here I Go” is another sixties pastiche, then “Octopus” is regarded as the best track on the album, but really that’s not saying much. Sort of puts me in mind of “I Am the Walrus”...


It sounds all very derivative to me, like he’s copying the Beatles really, but it’s not terrible. Definitely not prog though, in any way, shape or form, and had I not heard the first two albums I would never have linked him to Pink Floyd. “Golden Hair” has something about it, a kind of dark menace with tinkling piano like bells and a slow, laconic guitar with a sort of fractured vocal. Despite the fact that it’s a mere two minutes long it says this was the eleventh take! I suppose that just underlines how difficult a person he was to work with. “Long Gone” is another acoustic ballad, but with the rising powerful organ line it’s the closest I see this coming to any sort of Floyd tune.


“She Took a Long Cold Look”, on the other hand, passes by without making any impression on me, while “Feel” sounds like it could have had something but Syd doesn’t seem interested, and the production (or his vocal) keeps coming and going, fading in and out. I also don’t think much of the stop/start instructions and chatter going on during the beginning of “If It’s In You” - if this is intended, a way of showing the usually-shut-out public how things can go on in the studio, a kind of backstage pass to the recording process, then fine. But this is not what it is: this seems to have been the best take the producer could get from Syd, and in a sort of resigned way it was left in. The song, by the way, is fucking awful, Syd howling like a wolf, often not in tune. Worst of the bunch by a long long way. At least it’s short. 


Which leaves us with “Late Night”, which is a lot better, with what I think is the first proper electric guitar riff; I would have said Gilmour but he’s shown only as playing bass and acoustic guitar, so I guess it’s Syd, so props to him for that. But it’s too little too late, and can’t rescue what is kind of a train wreck of an album, that didn’t need to be. There are some good ideas in there, he just doesn’t seem to have known how to use them properly or mould them into songs. 


The Madcap may have laughed, but he didn’t have the last laugh.




*Favourite track(s):* _Dark Globe, Octopus, Golden Hair, Long Gone_
*Least favourite track(s): *_If It’s In You_
*Overall impression: * Not a terrible album but, made by anyone else, this would have sunk without a trace. As it kind of did, but it got special attention due to being made by an ex-member of Pink Floyd. All I can say is I’m glad he did leave, as I’d hate to have seen him drag the others in this weird, return-to-the-past direction he seemed determined to head. Look, maybe Barrett was a misunderstood genius, or a genius who was unable to communicate his ideas to others in order to have them properly executed, or maybe he was just a musician who thought he was better than he was. Maybe, had his mental state been better, this might have been a better album. But I’m reminded of a scene from the series _Red Dwarf_ that perhaps illustrates the problem.


Lister: “The last time you sat your engineer’s exam, you wrote _I am a fish_ a hundred times on the paper, did a funny little dance, and fainted.”
Rimmer: “If you must know, Lister, what I did was write a thesis on porous circuitry that was so different, so ground-breaking, so ahead of its time that nobody could appreciate it.”
Lister: “Yeah. You said you were a fish.”
If we use this as an analogy for Syd Barrett, I believe that what he did here was write_ I am a fish_ all over this album, then perhaps not fainted but certainly passed out, out of the possibility of ever being a true rock star. Maybe that’s not what he wanted, which is just as well, as it’s not what he got.
*Personal Rating:* 1.0
*Legacy Rating:* 3.0
*Final Rating 2.0:*


----------

