Greatest Prog Songs by non Prog Bands

[Trane]

A prog band? If this was the only clip you ever saw....

Actually I wished I'd never seen. wall.gif

It just ruined the only proggish track of theirs - and even then it was mainly the bombastic intro (which is little more than a masturbation)

[BravadoNJ]

BICYCLE RACE - QUEEN.
i recently listened to the instrumental version which is a bonus track on the 2011 remasters.
without listening to the vocals i was able to focus on the complex music for this track.
it's got all the elements and all compacted in 3 minutes.

[Trane]

I've always loved Jazz... I think of it as Queen's last shot at greatness after the relatively poor ADATR and NFTW

[Skullhead]

BICYCLE RACE - QUEEN.
i recently listened to the instrumental version which is a bonus track on the 2011 remasters.
without listening to the vocals i was able to focus on the complex music for this track.
it's got all the elements and all compacted in 3 minutes.

Fantastic, thanks for posting.

[iguana]

here's charlie burchill, mel gaynor, derek forbes and mick macneill preempting new artrock by a good twenty years:

[Rarebird]

Would this be considered prog?



Some prog details:
Length more than 15 minutes
Arranged by Hermann Weindorf, who played with Passport.

[auxfnx]

Smashing Pumpkins - The Dream Machine


They did this one live and haven't released a studio version, some metal in there but definitely a lot of prog in there too, and the song structure is very prog.

Another one they did live but no studio release is the 30 minute Gossamer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVn-_nWUkbY

Frank Black of Pixies also dabbled in some proggy stuff like this one Two Reelers:


Queens of the Stone Age always had some prog elements in some form, I think most prominently displayed on this one, The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkS-ySqJx7g

Related, the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures with Josh Homme, John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl, had plenty of prog moments:

[Progbear]

Fantastic, thanks for posting.

I saw the sheet music to “Bicycle Race” some years back. The changes to that one are just insane. At first glance, it looked like a Bartók piece!

[GuitarGeek]

I saw the sheet music to “Bicycle Race” some years back. The changes to that one are just insane. At first glance, it looked like a Bartók piece!

You mean the Queen song? Yeah, that one's got a pretty tricky arrangement, which is probalby why they never played the full song live. They played a short bit of it during the medley they did on the 78-79 tour (as heard on Live Killers), but I don't think they've ever played the full song. I'd be curious to know how much of that song was actually written by Freddie. Like did he have all those time changes worked out in advance, or did that come together in the rehearsal room or studio or what.

[GuitarGeek]

I've always loved Jazz... I think of it as Queen's last shot at greatness after the relatively poor ADATR and NFTW

See, for me it's the other way around. A Day At The Races and News Of The World were both fantastic albums, it was Jazz where it started to slip. I mean, there's some great songs on Jazz, but did the world really need If You Can't Beat Them and Fan It? There's nothing as bad as those two songs any of the earlier Queen albums.

[ThomasKDye]

See, for me it's the other way around. A Day At The Races and News Of The World were both fantastic albums, it was Jazz where it started to slip. I mean, there's some great songs on Jazz, but did the world really need If You Can't Beat Them and Fan It? There's nothing as bad as those two songs any of the earlier Queen albums.

Maybe not on ADATR, but "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" sucks on toast, and "Get Down Make Love" is insufferable unless you just love everything Freddie Mercury wrote.

[GuitarGeek]

"Sleeping on the Sidewalk" sucks on toast,

Why am I not surprised to hear an art rock fan say that a blues tune "sucks on toast", whatever the frell that means. I personally think it's a pretty good song, though not quite up to the usual Brian May standards.

and "Get Down Make Love" is insufferable unless you just love everything Freddie Mercury wrote.

Well, the lyrics aren't Freddie's best, obviously, but I think the rest of the song is pretty good. I always dug that bass line and piano during the verses, and of course, you've got that great freak out in the middle, sort of like their version of Whole Lotta Love.

[JKL2000]

A prog band? If this was the only clip you ever saw....

Did you post this only to say it isn't Prog?

[Mythos]

More Simple Minds:

[Progbear]

You mean the Queen song? Yeah, that one's got a pretty tricky arrangement, which is probalby why they never played the full song live. They played a short bit of it during the medley they did on the 78-79 tour (as heard on Live Killers), but I don't think they've ever played the full song. I'd be curious to know how much of that song was actually written by Freddie. Like did he have all those time changes worked out in advance, or did that come together in the rehearsal room or studio or what.

I imagine it was like “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “The Prophet’s Song,” pieced together in the studio, but the prospect of playing it live turned out to be an insurmountable task.

[Scrotum Scissor]

These days, though, so many prog bands sound like they don't listen to much except other prog bands and a lot of AOR, plus maybe metal, maybe some song-oriented indie rock, but not much else. Think of Neal Morse for an example - in terms of pure talent he's up there with the Seventies greats, but he sounds like he doesn't listen to anything but older prog, some neo, the Beatles, and probably Christian music; he's got craftsmanship for days but not much imagination. And he's symptomatic of the whole genre.

Which, by that definition, isn't the "same genre" as the initial one at all. No imagination, no creativity, no eclecticism, little knowledge of or insights as to anything from outside of the box. If the "initial genre" had been this prone to conformity and conservatism, it would have actually outdefined itself and indeed never existed in the first place. Go figure.

[Buddhabreath]

[moecurlythanu]

^ Never heard that one before, but it's pretty great. If it's on any of their albums along with "Vahevela" (sp?) and "House At Pooh Corner," I'm going to have to put it on the list. Thanks.

[Halmyre]

More Simple Minds:

Mick MacNeil, a big hole left behind when he departed Simple Minds. Him and Derek Forbes.

[bigbassdrum]

Gary Wright - Dream Weaver (sorry if someone posted a video, but I can't view them at work)

[Progbear]

From the sadly late (1963-2013) Asuka, née Minako Suga. Prog-J-Pop anyone?

[iguana]

Mick MacNeil, a big hole left behind when he departed Simple Minds. Him and Derek Forbes.

this. this. his chiming CP70 was a hallmark of the band’s early/mid period sound and some of the versions on their “live in the city of light” set (1987, already in their sub-U2 stadium rock mode) are nothing short of magical. i am sure that there is a SiMPLE MiNDS appreciation thread somewhere here …

[Scrotum Scissor]

Mick MacNeil, a big hole left behind when he departed Simple Minds. Him and Derek Forbes.

The whole of the Real to Real Cacophony release is a largely undiscovered gem for listeners into post-kraut'ish late-70s/early-80s art-rock. There were several of those coming from British bands of the day.

[Rick L.]

The whole of the Real to Real Cacophony release is a largely undiscovered gem for listeners into post-kraut'ish late-70s/early-80s art-rock. There were several of those coming from British bands of the day.

Real to Real Cacophony is killer. I believe the first thread I started back on the previous PE when I was Ape7Rick was an early Simple Minds thread.

[winkersnufs]

… and speaking of the band Boston ~ I recall when that debut album was released. !976/77?? I was not driving quite yet but remember riding to school with a neighborhood friend Billy Gillen, in his Chevrolet Vega (nice looking car), and listening to the release front to back during the ride in. It WAS indeed a nice, clean, and definitely cool signature sound at the time! Cutting my musical teeth, that intro to (Foreplay)>>>Longtime was indeed an ear opener. Good Days Indeed!

Carry On
Chris Buckley