Neo Prog bands

Anyone like this genre? I know a lot of 70's prog purists and elitists don't like it.

Marillion(probably my favorite band in this genre... and just one of my favorite bands):




Twelfth Night(I've seen these guys described as Punk Floyd):




IQ(There are no samples from the first album on youtube):




Pallas(Eddie Offord produced The Sentinel album):




What's funny is that all of thede bands have changed vocalists at one time either early or late(or middle, by now for some of them) in their careers.
Thoughts???

I'll post other 80's and 90's and beyond bands as well. It's amazing what an impact early Fish-led Marillion had on the scene. In the late 80's and 90's a number of bands would copy their style.

I missed this entire era, because during those years I was busy investigating and exploring the 70's bands that inspired them. That was also around the same time I discovered DiMeola, McLaughlin, etc.

Interesting idea for a thread, I look forward to seeing what other bands land in this category.

I like Neo-Prog but a lot of what the 80s had to offer has that dreaded 80s sound and it kind of ruins it for me.

Chewie, what do you think of the' 80s, '90s and '00s releases of bands like Camel, Eloy, etc?

Akeldama wrote:

I like Neo-Prog but a lot of what the 80s had to offer has that dreaded 80s sound and it kind of ruins it for me.

This also causes me problems. I prefer the sound of analog synths, hammond organs, fender rhodes and wurlitzers to the sound of 80's synth.

S.D. wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

I like Neo-Prog but a lot of what the 80s had to offer has that dreaded 80s sound and it kind of ruins it for me.

This also causes me problems. I prefer the sound of analog synths, hammond organs, fender rhodes and wurlitzers to the sound of 80's synth.

I'm still trying to get into '80s King Crimson...

There is actually very little synth in 80's Crimson, most everything was done with guitar effects, particularly multiple looping delays.

Then I don't know what it is then b/c I think Fripp and Belew are a killer combo...

S.D. wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

I like Neo-Prog but a lot of what the 80s had to offer has that dreaded 80s sound and it kind of ruins it for me.

This also causes me problems. I prefer the sound of analog synths, hammond organs, fender rhodes and wurlitzers to the sound of 80's synth.

I went thru that phase and realised that I was missing a lot of well written music. The 80s sound doesn't bother me at all.
I used this website to discover a LOT of 70s prog. He has a hatred of anything after 1980 and digital synths(which aren't all bad).................. and funk. Very informative, though.
http://www.vintageprog.com/

Akeldama wrote:

Chewie, what do you think of the' 80s, '90s and '00s releases of bands like Camel, Eloy, etc?

Well, chewie?

Akeldama wrote:

Chewie, what do you think of the' 80s, '90s and '00s releases of bands like Camel, Eloy, etc?

I like a lot of the 80s-90s Eloy stuff, actually. I was a latecomer to that band so had no preconceived notions.
Camel - good as well, even if their first two comeback offerings are a bit depressing.
Genesis - alot of the bonus tracks from their post Duke work make a better album than some of the actual albums.
Yes - The best Rabin album was Talk, but 90125 had the most energy.

Now, back to neoprog........

Akeldama wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

Chewie, what do you think of the' 80s, '90s and '00s releases of bands like Camel, Eloy, etc?

Well, chewie?

Ha! Couldn't wait, eh?????

chewie wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

Chewie, what do you think of the' 80s, '90s and '00s releases of bands like Camel, Eloy, etc?

Well, chewie?

Ha! Couldn't wait, eh?????

Sorry bro, it's just cuz I like post '70s Camel and Eloy and wanted to see what you'd say.

Akeldama wrote:

chewie wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

Chewie, what do you think of the' 80s, '90s and '00s releases of bands like Camel, Eloy, etc?

Well, chewie?

Ha! Couldn't wait, eh?????

Sorry bro, it's just cuz I like post '70s Camel and Eloy and wanted to see what you'd say.

I've been into Camel since the mid to late 80s.I absolutely LOVE 70s Camel: from selftitled to Rain Dances.... all very solid albums. After Doug Ferguson(who, I beleive, was the balance/buffer between Bardens and Latimer) left and then Peter Bardens, the albums got spotty. I do like from Dust And Dreams thru A Nod And A Wink, though. I saw them on the Rajaz tour with Guy LeBlanc on keys(from Nathan Mahl - progfusion band)..... AWESOME show!

Eloy I discovered in the late 90s early 2000s when I went into Prog again and started digging.

I jammed Dust & Dreams the other day, I like the fact that it's mostly instrumental. I've never been to a Prog concert, I bet it's a blast!

Pendragon:

Fly High Fall Far(1984)
Victims of Life


The Jewel(1985)
Alaska




This is from Kowtow(1988). They still were at the crossroads of pop and prog before they went fully into Prog. First album to feature Clive Nolan(Shadowland, Arena, Casino) on keys.
The Haunting



This is when I heard them on the radio(The Stone Trek Show)
The World(1991)
The Voyager

I'll have to wait til work to jam these

Does Glass Hammer fit in the theme?




Or the newer Saga?

It seems that Glass Hammer is considered Symphonic Prog(though a band like Enchant is considered Neo-Prog, go figure!) and actually Saga supposed to be an early influence.

I've always read about GH but never heard them, they sound good! Interesting a Fogelberg cover.

I always thought that it was called neoprog because it had close ties with New Wave, ya know, Progressive New Wave..........

Here's what Progarchives has to say about Neoprog:

Quote :

If one analyses the progressive movement just before 1980, then some albums which heavily influenced the Neo-Prog movement easily come to mind: Steve Hackett - Spectral Mornings, Genesis - Wind & Wuthering, Genesis - And Then There Were Three, Genesis - Seconds Out, Saga - Saga, all the Camel albums between Breathless and The Single Factor included, and some Eloy's albums, especially Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes.

It's all based on the 80s sound from what I can gather, but it really ballooned in the 90s(with a bunch of Marillion wannabes. some good some not, as with any genre).

Arena - Songs From The Lion's Cage(1995):
Solomon


Features Original Marillion Drummer Mick Pointer and Keyboardist Clive Nolan from Pendragon

My main problem with this genre is it's a little too "clean and safe" sounding, very precise, very well played and arranged...but not nearly enough grit.

S.D. wrote:

My main problem with this genre is it's a little too "clean and safe" sounding, very precise, very well played and arranged...but not nearly enough grit.

Good description............... That's what I was trying to get at. Yea, no loose jamming or going crazy ala Sound Chaser. It makes for a "nice and pleasant" listen after you've been jamming some Magma, Henry Cow, However or Yezda Urfa.

I think that's why it's compared to some of the old guards later works. More songwriting less jammy and loosey goosey.

Being that I go back and forth between jazz and prog rock quite regularly, I would imagine that the improv aspect has a lot to do with my appreciation of both genres.

In jazz very few solos are written out, they may have melodic passages that the player may re-use in subsequent performances, but the whole point of jazz is to play it differently every time.

The prog bands of the 80's and 90's tended to have most everything written out, with little variation from performance to performance. Many of my favorite bands do the same thing, Rush being a prime example. Don't get me wrong, I love a beautifully composed guitar solo, I could listen to David Gilmour play Comfortably Numb over and over again without ever tiring of it.

But the early 70's prog bands like King Crimson straddled the fence beautifully between the spontaneous creation of jazz and the composed nature of contemporary groups like Camel. Since Prog rock also had a tendency to edge toward extremes, it amplified that tension between composition and improvisation.

That tension is one of the main things that draws me to that era.

You're last 2 posts are spot on, SD.