Topic: The Music Thread

@TheBrandedSwordsman I have heard the album ages ago but I'm going to have another listen in about 2 hours I'll get back to you

@Voltan Thanks! Looking forward to hearing what you think!

@TheBrandedSwordsman I just finished listening. Good stuff. I’m a fan of that 70s sound in general so it’s usually a safe bet I’ll like a high profile album from that period like that, however Zappa stands out being a bit more experimental than most (even if not as complex as British prog bands in the early 70s). My favorite parts are probably the bluesy pianos and the extensive (for what’s essentially a rock band) use of chromatic percussion.
While I’m not a huge fan of the vocal performance, the signature style of the lyrics makes it stand out a little further 😉

Totally unrelated: this is what I played right after and I think pretty cool too

@Voltan I loved the Meer song, and thanks for posting your thoughts on Zappa. Can you recommend any specific early 70s British prog rock records with complex arrangements?

@TheBrandedSwordsman I’ll post some stuff tomorrow. I mostly mean some things by Yes, Genesis, King Crimson (they actually became more complex and experimental as time went on) and/or EL&P

Here's what I've been listening to today. Guesses? No using the web!

On the first day that I met you,
I was looking in the sky
When the sun turned all a blur,
and a thunder cloud rolled by
the sea began to shiver and
the wind began to moan...
It must have been a sign for me
to leave you alone
I was born without you baby,
but my feelings were a little bit too strong
you never said you love me,
and I don't believe you can
'cause I saw you in a dream,
and you were with another man
you look so cool and casual,
and I try to look the same
but now I've gone and loved you,
tell me who and what's to blame
i was born without you baby,
but my feelings were a little bit too strong
just a little bit too strong
now the whole wide world is reeling,
cause there's iron in my heart
I just can't keep from crying,
cause you say we've got to part
sorrow grips my voice,
as i stand here all alone
and watch you slowly take away
a love i've never known
i was born without you baby,
but my feelings were a little bit to strong,
just a little bit too strong

@Voltan Any chance of that prog rock post?

@LordSteev I think Black Sabbath are great. You must be a Led Zeppelin fan as well? What's your favourite album by Zeppelin?

@TheBrandedSwordsman Do Spotify links work for you?

@Voltan Youtube is probably the safest bet, or you could just list the album titles.

@TheBrandedSwordsman

K... I asked because I had trouble finding some things on YT - but I think I got what I need in the end

Here are some British prog classics:

This is probably the album that made me pick up keyboards as my instrument

And last but definitely not least (full album as a playlist, hope it works fine in the post)

The first thing you might notice is that while Zappa's stuff is mostly based in bluesy rock with some jazz and general weirdness sprinkled on top, the Brits were definitely leaning a lot more into into classical music.

@Voltan Yes we were leaning a lot more into classical music in the 70s, King Crimson were much more interested in jazz than classical imo, though. Still, very astute comparison between Zappa and early 70s British prog in that post, I feel. Some brilliant choices there and I have added all four albums to my Wishlist .I think it was Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth that made me want to take up the electric guitar, on that subject, even though I became a lead guitarist later and he is a rhythm guitarist and songwriter principally. Have you heard any early Iced Earth? Their era with Matt Barlow is probably their best. The solo at the end of this one was also very inspiring at an early age.

And this is probably the best song they have ever produced.

Thoughts?

@TheBrandedSwordsman I even have a picture with Matt Barlow somewhere, we were playing the same festival in 2011
I gotta say I never fully got into Iced Earth though (I do like "Horror Show" a lot) and current developments with Schaffer don't make it easier
Also I saw them again a few years ago (with Stu Block on vocals) and unfortunately found the performance a little boring.

@Voltan Congrats on your photo, Horror Show is an excellent record. Sorry to hear you didn't like performance with Stu Block, but then again, it's hard to compare him to Barlow, anyway, what else have you been listening to recently?

@TheBrandedSwordsman Let's see...
I did listen to the new Liquid Tension Experiment but unfortunately was not impressed. Returning after 20 years but it's not nearly as good as the other 2 albums.
Other than that it's been mostly some Spotify-generated "personal mixes" with the familiar stuff. I didn't have a lot of time to listen to music when I wasn't working - and when I am I don't want it to be too distracting.

Currently waiting for the new Frost* album, coming May 14

@Voltan I'll check out Frost* on Spotify, thanks. Also, "working" does that make you a professional musician or do you do something else for a living?

@TheBrandedSwordsman I'm a software developer actually. I say I'm only able to listen to music while working because I'm either playing games or working on my own music when I'm not

@Voltan Back before Covid and we were actually allowed to go into the computer labs, if I took my headphones out then I could hear about 90 different songs in the background playing at once from people’s headphones while working. It’s interesting that different people listen to different styles of music to concentrate!

@nessisonett Yeah, I know a lot of people who listen to electronic and ambient music for work. I guess it helps to separate them from the surrounding noise while not being too distracting itself.

For me it's really anything from chill piano jazz to occasional extreme death metal, depending on the day

@Voltan Absolutely yeah, I can go from listening to Chopin to Merzbow in the space of one day 😂