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Thread: The Great Prog Leap Forward

  1. #1

    The Great Prog Leap Forward

    In some cases, bands started out as "prog" from the get-go and generally remained in that genre. For example, I would say, King Crimson, Moody Blues, ELP, Flower Kings, Spock's Bear and even Porcupine Tree and Marillion all started as as "prog bands" (however you want to define the genre) and remained so through their tenure. Others had prog or psych tendencies and then morphed into prog bands, such as Yes and Floyd.

    Others started out as hard rock or blues based and then also morphed (most temporarily in the early 70's since prog was the soup de hour), such as Rush, Tull and Led Zep.

    Finanally, we have some BeeGee wannabes who became PROG like Genesis.

    In terms of bands that make the great prog leap forward, I have to say Genesis going from Genesis to Revelation to Trespass was a pretty huge step, but what really blows my mind is Tull's change from Aqualung to TAAB. Every time TAAB comes on AOL's prog station I just can't get over how freakin awesome a song TAAB is, how "prog" it is and what a leap forward it is in terms of songwriting, arrangement, playing, chops and creativity over Aqualung (not that Aqualung is not a awesome album). I always think how did they do it! John Evans and Barry B really shine on TTAB.

    What sayeth you?

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Adinfinitum View Post
    Spock's Bear
    That would have been SO a better name.

  3. #3
    Member emperorken's Avatar
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    Funny how Genesis went from pop to prog and then back to pop again. Full circle, I guess.

    As for the Moody Blues, they certainly didn't start out as prog. They took a great leap with DOFP.

    Also, Strawbs went from folk to prog.

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    Quote Originally Posted by emperorken View Post
    Funny how Genesis went from pop to prog and then back to pop again. Full circle, I guess.
    In a way, Genesis's first album is an anomaly. The band members were very young (15 to 17) when they recorded it, and I don't know of any major prog band who recorded an album when they were so immature as musicians. Genesis have also stated many times that the Bee Gee-type songs were written to please their manager. I don't think From Genesis To Revelation should be considered as a strong artistic statement, unlike Trespass which shows the first signs of the band's true musical direction.
    Not just a Genesis fanboy.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Adinfinitum View Post

    In terms of bands that make the great prog leap forward, I have to say Genesis going from Genesis to Revelation to Trespass was a pretty huge step, but what really blows my mind is Tull's change from Aqualung to TAAB.

    What sayeth you?
    Try these, and play them all through - they were four releases apart:


    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
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  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    That would have been SO a better name.
    My car audio system has only 12 characters before it scrolls, so I am used to seeing Spock's Bear!

    Back to the subject, I can't think of any other great leaps, except, maybe... Charlotte Church?

  7. #7
    Spock's Bear! That's what you get for trying to type on an iPad. I'm surprised autocorrect didn't change it to Spock's Beer or Spock's Bra.

  8. #8
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Simon Dupree & the Big Sound -> Gentle Giant

    The earliest Soft Machine (before the fist album) wasn't very proggy either, as I remember it.

  10. #10
    I agree about TAAB. If you compare it to the earlier Tull, its an impressive shift from blues, jazz and hard rock to prog.

    Todd Rundgren went from Todd to Todd Rundgren's Utopia (if we can consider his solo stuff and Utopia to be the same band).

    To a lesser extent, Renaissance went from folk and jazzy rock to classically inspired prog rock when they shifted lineups. But Renaissance kept that early sound for the first two of the Annie Haslam lineup, really only cementing their place in prog once they reached Turn of the Cards, so their leap was staggered.

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    Agreed on TAAB from 'Aqualung', though it could be said that a track like 'To Cry You A Song' looks forward to that direction somewhat.

    The Moody Blues were by no means 'always' prog. They did a whole album and various singles with Denny Laine, mostly cover versions of R&B hits, 'Go Now' was the only real success.

    Quote Originally Posted by mogrooves View Post
    Manfred Mann: from "Mighty Quinn" to Chapter III
    In this case, the song 'Travelling Lady' has its origins as the B-side of 'Ragamuffin Man' (not their finest work!), called simply 'A B Side'. That line-up had a few other adventurous moments like 'Up The Junction'. They were one of the first acts to really use the Mellotron in an upfront way on the likes of 'Ha Ha Said The Clown' and 'Semi Detached Suburban Mr James'. So there was a slow transition, I guess.

    Also with Genesis, listen to some of those pre-'Trespass' recordings again and you'll hear various ideas they came back to later. On one of those segues on FGTR you hear some of what became 'Twilight Alehouse' and that belatedly released 'Jackson Tapes' demo is full of motifs that would appear in things like 'The Musical Box', '...Salmacis', 'Anyway'...

  12. #12
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by emperorken View Post
    As for the Moody Blues, they certainly didn't start out as prog. They took a great leap with DOFP.
    Thats a tough call, per se. Not for the music, but the original lineup lost their primary vocalist/guitarist and bassist. Although John Lodge had previous history with the the other members, he was a good vocalist himself (vocals are always a game-changer in any band) and he and Justin Heyward (an excellent songwriter and vocalist) were newly met - and they both hit it off very well. The combination of Justin Heyward, John Lodge, and a third entity in their mutual bond, really changed that band --- they may as well have been a completely different group. Those two (primarily Justin) became the faces of that band.

    EDIT: their was one more big game changer for that lineup which was Mike Pinder's acquisition of a mellotron
    Last edited by klothos; 01-18-2014 at 09:44 AM.

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    Member BobM's Avatar
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    I would throw the Beatles into the mix as well. Their later albums definitely paved the way for a more experimental and progressive sound. Maybe not "prog" as we define it today, but it was proggy for the time.

    Funny, how so many bands DID start out progressive and then devolved into pop culture, like Ambrosia, Genesis, etc.
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  14. #14
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobM View Post
    Funny, how so many bands DID start out progressive and then devolved into pop culture, like Ambrosia, Genesis, etc.
    Its also funny how many of those bands have the exact same story: Pressure from their record labels to record chart singles

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    Member dgtlman's Avatar
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    Rush! Started as a basic hard rock, Zeppelin sounding band. Then began to bring proggy influences into the fold with songs like Bytor, then of course, the two epics on COS... although they really weren't that proggy, just long. 2112 brought out even more of the prog influences, but it really wasn't until AFTK that the prog really started to dominate IMO. The next several albums had lots of prog in them, with Hemispheres being the most proggy. After Signals the prog started to go away & although there were plenty of proggy moments in their material, they have essentially reverted back to being more of a hard rock band.
    IMO, it was that prog period that put them fully on the map & created their cult following, as well as establishing themselves as top players. Without it I think they would have just been another rock band from the era with a short life, because they definitely were not "hit makers".

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