Not a "new" band at all, but Big Big Train is mid-70s Genesis reincarnated. Fortunately, they are good enough to pull it off...
Not a "new" band at all, but Big Big Train is mid-70s Genesis reincarnated. Fortunately, they are good enough to pull it off...
"And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision."
Occasional musical musings on https://darkelffile.blogspot.com/
For me Citizen Cain sounds as if someone said, "You know what, I love how wordy 'Epping Forest' is. Let's create a band out of the idea of cramming lyrics into every second of all of our songs."
Mongrel dog soils actor's feet
Just downloaded Unifaun. I had never heard it before. The guys voice is spooky in its resemblance to Phil Collins' voice sometimes. For the rest it is very pleasant and yes, the Genesis influence/tribute is obvious, but I'm a bit underwhelmed. The synth sounds verge on cheese sometimes. Either because of the way they're recorded or out of choice I don't hear a Pro-soloist. But I suppose that's nitpicking... Mr. Sylvan is one talented musician...
Ed
Just heard Citizen Cain (Somewhere but Yesterday) for the first time. The singer apes Peter Gabriel's style to a "T", which I think hurts the band's music. His phrasing, pronunciation and timing seem to be meant to copy Peter Gabriel as much as possible. You can't help but think while you're listening that "Gee, this sounds a lot like the singer is trying to imitate Peter Gabriel". The music is certainly pleasant and well played, but it's a tier below the prowess of Genesis.
IQ, Jadis and Big Big Train have more of an individual stamp while still clearly branching off from the 70's Genesis tree. IMHO....!
I guess I've always thought "Neo Prog" was a sub-genre for bands that try to ape Genesis. There are a ton of bands that do. It seems there have been sub-genres created and inspired by the big 4: Yes (Moth Vellum, Glass Hammer), Genesis, ELP (Triumvirat) , Crimson (Anekdoten, Philharmonie). There are certainly more under the Genesis classification than any other.
Last edited by Guitarplyrjvb; 07-02-2020 at 04:08 PM.
How about this:
And this:
A little more Genesis meets Beatles:
And maybe just a little bit harder edge (but great piano):
Check out Greg Walker's site: synphonicmusic.com. He has 6 of their CDs available for sale.
Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.
Featuring a lead singer who tries as hard to ape Peter Gabriel’s style as his limited range (two notes, it seems) will allow. I had Serpents in Camouflage and Somewhere but Yesterday on CD, which I picked up based on rave reviews. I found the former to be unbearable, the latter rather less so, yet still substandard. All the surface-level sound of Genesis with none of the substance. A lot of that formerly-acclaimed 90s prog revival stuff has aged badly, Citizen Cain is hardly alone in this.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Stewart Bell is the drummer and Keyboardist for Citizen Cain. All CC releases are available on the web site and also his two excellent solo albums. As far as Cain goes I'd order the 2012 release Skies Darken. IMO it's their finest effort. http://citizencain.nl/
Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.
I could name perhaps a few hundred just right off my own shelves across from me in my livingroom. A certain percentage of these are even discussed and/or mentioned fairly often here at PE, many of them on a daily basis.
In fact, ca. 97,9% or thereabout of modern progressive rock artists do attemptively not aim to "sound like" any given other, seeing as this would by definition probably make them into something else entirely. Classic Genesis being an original, idiosyncratic and innovative group and progressive on the strength of those specific virtues, rendering mere copycats (such as most soundalikes mentioned in this thread) entirely different entities than ones truly "influenced" or rather encouraged by Genesis' example - say, Frankie Goes to Hollywood or Grandaddy or Grizzly Bear or Make A Rising, all of which were/are about equally original and idiosyncratic (if not as contemporarily innovative) and all have admitted their debt. Classic Genesis culled sources from an amazingly wide array, so naturally would "newer bands like classic Genesis" do that as well - instead of counterfeiting Genesis. Seeing how the latter wasn't what Genesis were doing. Counterfeiting someone else or themselves, I mean.
Copycats abound, of course. They did already in the 70s. Some were quite good at that craft - counterfeiting, I mean - yet even more were really shitty. In either case their artistic motives/intentions/incentives were not the same as that of classic Genesis, which appears to have been to actually -create- stuff. Progressive rock setting out as a purportedly creative genre, like.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
^^^^I tend to agree here. With me its just that I like the symphonic style of old Genesis. And I do agree that many Genesis clones lack substance. I defend Unifaun as I believe the effort was heartfelt. And as previously mentioned I also like the last Citizen Cain release and member Stewart Bell's two albums. The Italian Rome Pro(g)ject to me seems a homage to the band. And what about IQ? Their Genesis influence has always been obvious, but I think they have survived due to the quality of their writing. I'm with you on most of your sediments, as who could give us the highest standards in music presentation as Genesis did? Those that try would have to climb higher that Mt. Everest.
Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.
https://www.beyondrock.nl/ 4 albums Citizen Cain.
^ Oh, there were absolutely several highly entertaining and sometimes also (artistically) fairly interesting candidates among even the most obvious counterfeiters. That Babylon album from 1978 is worthwhile, but not -because- it's derivative - rather it's due to those assets about it which aren't. Such as the clumsily amateurish execution of arrangements which they're only barely able to carry through even though they're reasonably simple in shape. A similar example could be given by Swiss Yes-counterfeiters Welcome, who at least had the forté of a monster Hammond to the fore.
Copycats - of Genesis, Yes, ELP, KCrim, VdGG, GGiant, Tull etc. - were often fun and listenable, but I wouldn't necessarily namecheck them as progressive bands. Their surface aesthetic may have yielded equal ideals as more original acts, but the substance objectivs were usually not along that line of ethos at all.
This gets to be solely subjective, of course - as in a matter of taste. People prefer what they do, for varying reasons. While I used to cherish a band like Genesis, they're no longer a favourite. But they were still, "objectively" speaking, one of the defining -progressive- acts precisely because of their creativity. Which is arguably why I find modern Genesis-clones of little particular worth.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
^^^^Ok, again I tend to agree Scrotum Scissor. However, not with what you call copycats. YES was influenced by the Beatles, jazz and pop. ELP was influenced by classical, jazz, folk and King Crimson (at least by Greg Lake). King Crimson by jazz, rock, folk, avant-garde, The Moody Blues. VDGG by classical, folk, rock, gothic (Hugh Banton). GGiant, classical, medieval, rock. Tull by rock, blues, folk, classical, medieval, Celtic. All were influenced by psychedelic. And it was Genesis that was highly influenced by King Crimson as quoted by them in one of Armando Gallo's books. That is what created the huge change in direction from their first album to Trespass.
Last edited by AncientChord; 07-02-2020 at 04:56 PM.
Day dawns dark...it now numbers infinity.
Some highly influenced but still very great bands:
VdGG: Island, Areknames, HOKR
KC : Bi Kyo Ran
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