Is Rock and Roll dead. Part 2.

[Diggin It]

Most of those bands I've never even heard of. Some of them, you couldn't pay me to go see.

Many of them I would not want to be in the same city at the same time.

But bands I've never heard of? In the past few months, I've become aware of quite a few I'd never heard of. And I like them. A LOT. 'The Flower Kings' for one, very much like Yes, ELP and other very big Prog Rock groups. 'Opeth', 'Kamelot', 'Symphony X' and a few others that do performance/story based heavy metal along the line of Rock Operas. 'Russian Circles' which is an odd mix of keyboards and heavy guitar metal. Then there is 'Thought Chamber' and 'Nektar'. Some of them are apparently very big groups with origins in the same period as Pink Floyd and King Crimson, with some crossover of members, engineers and recording studios. Others are more recent, but were influenced by Prog Groups of the past.

 

[PJSprog]

Many of them I would not want to be in the same city at the same time.

But bands I've never heard of? In the past few months, I've become aware of quite a few I'd never heard of. And I like them. A LOT. 'The Flower Kings' for one, very much like Yes, ELP and other very big Prog Rock groups. 'Opeth', 'Kamelot', 'Symphony X' and a few others that do performance/story based heavy metal along the line of Rock Operas. 'Russian Circles' which is an odd mix of keyboards and heavy guitar metal. Then there is 'Thought Chamber' and 'Nektar'. Some of them are apparently very big groups with origins in the same period as Pink Floyd and King Crimson, with some crossover of members, engineers and recording studios. Others are more recent, but were influenced by Prog Groups of the past.

True enough. It's not just that I haven't heard of them, but more that I'm not likely to pay money to see a band I've never heard of. Some of those listed might be very good.

I'm a long-time fan of The Flower Kings and Symphony X. Huge prog fan ... in case my screen name didn't give that away. If you like all of those bands, I suspect you might enjoy Spock's Beard as well. Kind of a hard rock Beatles/Yes vibe. I listen a lot to the internet prog radio station Morow.com. Lots of excellent stuff played there.

 

[Diggin It]

Yup, got some of them too. I hear 'Snow' is great, so I'll need to get that.

 

[3930dave]

Thanks for the morow reference, hadn't found that one before....

Rgds, D.

 

[PJSprog]

Thanks for the morow reference, hadn't found that one before....

Rgds, D.

You are quite welcome. Most of the newer (and some older) prog bands I've discovered in the last 10 or so years have been through either listening to Morow or browsing The Laser's Edge website.

 

[Diggin It]

I'm a long-time fan of The Flower Kings and Symphony X. Huge prog fan ... in case my screen name didn't give that away. If you like all of those bands, I suspect you might enjoy ...

What's your take on Fate's Warning?

 

[PJSprog]

What's your take on Fate's Warning?

Something about that band just never clicked with me. Not sure why. Interesting and talented stuff. I might need to give them another try.

 

[Diggin It]

I'm checking their page on Bandcamp: Fates Warning

I only have one track so far off a sampler, but their history on Wiki is quite impressive, including a connection with Dream Theater; Fates Warning - Wikipedia

I'm also looking into Nightwish.

 

[Diggin It]

FW ... OK, but not as good as others. Strikes me as more heavy metal than prog. Not wild about the vocals either. Too shrill.

 

[PJSprog]

FW ... OK, but not as good as others. Strikes me as more heavy metal than prog.

Yeah, and I think that was always my issue with them, too. They strike me as more along the lines of an Iron Maiden type of band than Dream Theater. Nothing wrong with that, as I'm a fan of Maiden. But, for a band touted as progressive metal legends, I just don't hear the prog elements all that prominently in their music.

I did a YouTube dive last night, listening to several tunes from them. Still came away with the same conclusion; good stuff, but just not clicking with me.

As progressive metal goes, Dream Theater and Symphony X have pretty much spoiled my tastes. To me, those guys are still at the pinnacle of that genre.