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Thread: I Prefer the Earlier Stuff

  1. #26
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Lots of bands really, the obvious ones are Yes, Genesis, Mike Oldfield & King Crimson.

    If I think about your second question I doubt I would have gotten interested in King Crimson's reverse catalog until they got to Discipline, I'd probably go backwards (or forwards) and explore after that. The classic artist for me would be Mike Oldfield as I doubt I would have picked up any of his catalog if I had to wait something like 20 albums before he released Incantations.
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  2. #27
    Some exeptions for me:
    Vdgg
    David Bowie
    Tuxedomoon (though havent actually heard their latest but the latter stuff is brilliant imho)
    Henry Cow (including or not including Art Bears) and Lindsay Cooper solo
    Eugene Chadbourne
    Present
    Poil
    Aquaserge
    Magma (Slag Tanz as the first Magma album? Could work...)
    There are probably lots more which I dont remember right now...

  3. #28
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reginod View Post
    I'd bet that the diminished impact of an artist's work over time says as much about the listeners as it does the artists.
    Oh, snap!

  4. #29
    Member bill g's Avatar
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    Well definitely Yes, although they do crank out a few gems here and there (Final Eyes, Mind Drive, In The Presence Of...)
    Definitely King Crimson (first five, not including Earthbound, are my favorites), Genesis, Mike Oldfield, Anthony Phillips, and ELP.

    Sometimes with some bands I actually don't care for the early stuff, (Stereolab is a prime example, love their mid period, as is XTC, where I thought they started getting interesting around 'English Settlement', and got better from there)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Birdy View Post
    Wait until you see the cover of the new one next month. Dreadful!
    I know, I've seen it. Definitely giving "Love Beach" a run for its money.

  6. #31
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    One that springs to mind is Bob Dylan. Don't get the late-career stuff (and the alleged 'return to form') at all.

    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    I was impressed enough with SFTWC to try a blind hearing of the follow-up, Peachtree Road. I couldn’t get past Track 3. Dreadful.
    The first few songs on that are good, but the 3rd one ('Answer In The Sky') is too Adult Contemporary for my taste, and it goes on in that up-and-down way after that. It's a seriously unbalanced album, the production style is all mixed up. However I think The Diving Board was far weaker- Peachtree Road was at least varied. The Diving Board sounds nice, lots of piano, but there's nothing really there in the songs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    However I think The Diving Board was far weaker- Peachtree Road was at least varied. The Diving Board sounds nice, lots of piano, but there's nothing really there in the songs.
    I quite like the Diving Board, though I don't play it often, and I agree it could have done with a fair bit more variation.

    For me, EJ's best album outside of his "classic period" is undoubtedly The One.

  8. #33
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    ^Hate the production on that one so I don't play it much.

  9. #34
    Member at least 100 dead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by adap2it View Post
    If the incremental release dates of your favorite bands was reversed, would you still have gotten into them?
    With Bob Drake's work, it's a resounding YES. His most recent album Lawn Ornaments is also his best.
    "Dem Glücklichen legt auch der Hahn ein Ei."

  10. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by mogrooves View Post
    With the exception of the Beatles I can't think of any bands whose later stuff I preferred over the earlier. It's the early stuff that grabbed and kept me.
    You beat me to it. Certainly the Beatles from their mid period to the end produced much better music than their early stuff. Another band that comes to mind that has been pretty consistent throughout their career is Saga. I think most Saga fans would agree that they love their first 4 releases most but at the same time there isn't a whole lot of dropoff when comparing those to say 10000 Days.

    I think for the 70s era prog bands, part of the problem was the changing of the music industry forcing most of these bands to try to be more commercial to survive. So we saw Camel, Renaissance, Genesis, etc purposefully trying to include shorter, more pop oriented songs in the mix or completely take over their releases. And then there was the sudden success when they broke through (e.g., Genesis) keeping them that way.

    If we are talking modern prog where seems to be a lot less pressure on producing commercial music (because lets face it, no matter what a prog band does, they aren't getting radio airplay), there is less of a noticeable change over time other than the band "evolving" their musical style or tastes or personnel changes. Spocks Beard comes to mind - Neal Morse was such an influence that after he left, the band changed direction, but a band like Glass Hammer instead has evolved by trying (slightly) different sounds. I'd put Breaking of the World up there with their very best.

  11. #36
    Member Birdy's Avatar
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    One band that just came to mind is Spirit. I have tried and tried but just can't get into anything after the first 4 which I absolutely adore! There are moments but man did they ever lose the magic when the band changed rosters.

    Alan Parsons--the first 3 and then(for me) it was never as good.

    Jethro Tull---20 years ago I probably wouldn't have said this but I probably listen more to the first 3 than the rest now.

    King Crimson---hardly ever listen to anything past 1974 now

    David Sylvian--wish he would get back to doing stuff like his first 4 or 5. I just find the last 4 or 5 to be way too "art for art sake, talk over the music, narrate my cosmic feelings over ambient backdrop noodling"

    Talk Talk---love everything EXCEPT the first

    Pat Metheny----like pretty much everything(a few exceptions) but really prefer the beginning up to about 1992 or so.

    Eloy---all great(well not the VERY first) but after 1983 or so, big downhill slide.

    Pretty much love everything from Beatles, Camel, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, Jade Warrior, Eno,
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  12. #37
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    "I Prefer the Earlier Stuff"

    That's like rule #1 for me, with a few exceptions (notably for prog bands..... and U2 (from TUF to AB)


    Quote Originally Posted by Birdy View Post
    I much prefer Hatfield and The North's early stuff!!
    Quote Originally Posted by Digital_Man View Post
    Didn't they only put out two proper albums?
    Plus three archival releases and one live DVD concert from 1990
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  13. #38
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad View Post
    Lots of bands really, the obvious ones are Yes, Genesis, Mike Oldfield & King Crimson.
    axctually for the classic prog bands, this "I Prefer the Earlier Stuff " doesn't always rule ...

    It took most of these bands a few album to get to the stratospheric heights they reached.

    Often the first two or three albums were "trial & error" things. Cruimson being a bit the exception that confirms the rule.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  14. #39
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    axctually for the classic prog bands, this "I Prefer the Earlier Stuff " doesn't always rule ...

    It took most of these bands a few album to get to the stratospheric heights they reached.

    Often the first two or three albums were "trial & error" things. Cruimson being a bit the exception that confirms the rule.
    If you discount the Genesis debut (which most people seem to do) then I jump onboard from the second one through SEBTP. On Oldfield I love TB through Incantations then my interest starts to wane progressively through Crises.
    Ian

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    Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
    I blame Wynton, what was the question?
    There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.

  15. #40
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad View Post
    If you discount the Genesis debut (which most people seem to do) then I jump on board from the second one through SEBTP. On Oldfield I love TB through Incantations then my interest starts to wane progressively through Crises.
    I do without any kind of Oldfield without the slightest itch.

    I can do without Aerosol Grey Machine, the first two Yes album, FGTR (though I reasonably like it), Piper, Future Past (and the Fab Moodies thingie), the first three Rush, etc... and I only got FGTR and AGM

    I could do without the GG debut, Time Was, Saucerful, Soft Machine 1, but wouldn't dream of not owning them
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  16. #41
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bob_32_116 View Post
    I know, I've seen it. Definitely giving "Love Beach" a run for its money.
    We can all be thankful that it only resembles LB in terms of hokeyness and bears no similarity to it in terms of wardrobe.

  17. #42
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    Metheny...yeah. The ECM stuff is all great. After that I'm much more circumspect, although I've by no means heard everything he's done since then- it's a big discography. Certainly with the PMG stuff I think he started to like a slicker production when he went to Geffen.

  18. #43
    Member nosebone's Avatar
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    Black Sabbath - Only the first six

    Blue Oyster Cult - the first four
    no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone

  19. #44
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    I don't have a ton of Metheny but The Way Up and The Orchestrion Project are two faves.

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    ^The first one I heard was Secret Story and I love that. So it's not a hard-and-fast rule.

  21. #46
    Yeah, I think that's common in Progdom--a band starts out strong, then fades away. I wonder if there's an element of excitement of creating something new and fresh .. and then making a job out of it. Going through the motions. That said, some exceptions:

    * Pink Floyd. Don't care much for the early stuff. I've only heard Piper like once, and I liked it okay, but the rest of the pre-Dark Side stuff was pretty meh.
    * Eloy. Not as big a fan of the early organ-driven jam rock as their later space-symph stuff. But I do like just about everything I've heard, even the maligned mid-/late-80s albums. Ocean 2 is a personal favorite.
    * Fates Warning. I like Arch, and Awaken is a monster album, but the rest of the early albums leave me kinda flat. I like what they did with Symmetry and Parallels, and I like their newer, heavier sound.
    * Genesis. I like Phil, but I know others don't, so ... yeah.
    * Magma. Not a big fan of the jazzy early stuff. Love everything I've heard from them since their late 90's reformation.
    * Crimson. I love something from just about every era of this band (and feel "meh" about other things from each era as well).
    * Camel. Similarly, I find things to celebrate (and meh) about each era of this band.
    * Tool. I like the early grunge-metal stuff, but I think it was with Lateralus where they really found themselves and hit their stride.
    * Rush. Okay, I think think their best-of-the-best stuff was from the "classic" era, but I like their newer stuff too (esp. Vapor Trails and CWMFA).
    flute juice

  22. #47
    Member Rick Robson's Avatar
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    I think it's not just me that consider Steve Hackett an exception to this thread rule.
    "Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven

  23. #48
    Member Lopez's Avatar
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    If I were new coming to music and had to start at the end of the catalog for my favorite bands (Byrds, Strawbs, Flying Burrito Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, King Crimson), I say definitely no. I would say definitely yes if it were the Move.
    Lou

    Looking forward to my day in court.

  24. #49
    Carlos and Jean-Luc, more commonly known as The TITTE Brothers

  25. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by DTA View Post
    Kaipa's most recent albums have been their strongest IMO. I know they had a 20-year break, but their reunion albums have been getting better and better. Vittjar especially.
    You are correct, sir!!!
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