A $500 Musical Odyssey

[Riceball]

Well, I've just come into some cash that I wasn't expecting (~1,000 schmakers, to be suitably vauge), and rather than do the prudent thing and pay off that last little bit of credit card debt I hold...I am offering myself to you, dear DTFers, to correct my infadel ways from the past and recommend me some music. That's right, $500 bucks (about 30 CDs +/- 5 CDs) to be spent, largely to your collective whim, with the aim of broadening my taste beyond my safe set of choice artists.

Sounds kinda boring right? Wrong.

What I plan to do is build up a list based on DTFs recommendations, purchase the hard copies and post short reviews in regular intervals until I've been through each recommendation. That way, I force myself to listen to it, and you get to come along the musical journey with me.

Still sounds boring? Yeah, well, you're boring.

So hows this going down? What I was thinking was to have a sort of nomination - seconded system, where an album makes the list when it gets a nomination and a second from different people. That way, assuming there is minimal trollage (although a pinch of trollage would be a bit of fun too), we can sort the proverbial wheat from the equally-proverbial chaff.

What am I looking for?

In a word: progressive. I'm getting a bit over metal, and as you can see from the list below my library is a bit heavily weighted that way. Lets try and tip the scales a bit more in favour of the lighter side of the world. I enjoy hard rock, ecclectic prog rock, melodic stuff and I've had a bit of an acoustic/soft rock craving as of late. I'm not a bit fan of electronic music, nor rap/hip-hop/et al, I'm willing to explore some more jazzy and soul stuff, assuming its not gospelly or that kind of thing. I don't like religion in my music either.

Assuming this doesn't fail miserably, and assuming I've built enough forum capital (I think I have), lets throw music as the wall and see what sticks.

[Riceball]

Oh and if you want to take a peek at what I've already got, PM me and I'll shoot you a list. Artists include:

Anthrax
Apocalyptica
Arch Enemy
At The Gates
Audioslave
Avenged Sevenfold
Axamenta
Beardfish
Beards, The
Between the Buried and Me
Bigelf
Birds and Buildings
Birds of Tokyo
Black Sabbath
Blackfield
Blotted Science
CKY
Coal Chamber
Creed
Death
Deep Purple
Demians
Dethklok
Devin Townsend Band
Devin Townsend Project
Dio
Disturbed
Dragonforce
Dream Theater
Dream Theater (BL)
Dredg
Enslaved
Explosions In The Sky
Fates Warning
Finntroll
Foo Fighters
Frank Zappa
Frost
Gnar Kill
Haken
HIM
HORSE the Band
In Flames
Infant Sorrow
Iron Fist
Iron Maiden
Jackass Soundtrack
John Petrucci
Karmakanic
Karnivool
Katatonia
Lamb of God
Linkin Park
Liquid Tension Experiment
Machine Head
Many Machines on Nine
Mars Volta
Mastodon
Megadeth
Metallica
Mogwai
Motorhead
Motorpsycho
Muse
Nevermore
Opeth
Pain of Salvation
Pantera
Pathogen
Periphery
Phideaux
Porcupine Tree
Protest the Hero
Queen
Queens of the Stone Age
Queensryche
Racer X
Rage Against the Machine
Rammstein
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Riverside
Roadrunner United
Rush
Scale the Summit
Slayer
Steve Vai
Stone Sour
Strapping Young Lad
Stratovarius
Symphony X
System of a Down
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving
Tenacious D
The Flower Kings
The Human Abstract
The Tangent
The White Stripes
Them Crooked Vultures
Three
Tommy Giles
Tool
Unexpect
Wierd Al Yankovic
Yes
Zimmer's Hole

[Gorille85]

ULVER!!!

[Heretic]

I know you've had to have heard a lot of this, but things I'd immediately suggest based off of what's absent on that list:

Prog:

Fair to Midland
Seventh Wonder
Anathema
Moon Safari
Coheed and Cambria
Dead Letter Circus
Mew
Oceansize

Alternative, folk, etc.:

Thrice
Brand New
The Dear Hunter
The Tallest Man on Earth
Jeff Buckley
Nick Drake
A Great Big Pile of Leaves
Bon Iver 

Post-rock:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Yndi Halda
Sleepmakeswaves
This Will Destroy You
Mono
Hammock

[jingle.boy]

Amaran's Plight - Gary W, Nick D and DC Cooper
One album to get

Darwin's Radio - Dec Burke (of Frost*)
Two albums to get

Go!

[73109]

PM sent

[snapple]

Andromeda - Extension of the Wish. The rest of their albums are worth missing, IMO.

[adace]

Besides what's already been mentioned:

Pink Floyd
King Crimson
Genesis
Camel
Steven Wilson
The Flower Kings
IQ
Return to Forever
Weather Report
Mahavishnu Orchestra
Miles Davis
Nine Inch Nails
Cocteau Twins
Portishead
Massive Attack
My Bloody Valentine
Smashing Pumpkins
Iron and Wine
Sufjan Stevens
Alcest
Threshold
Redemption
Gazpacho
God is an Astronaut
Russian Circles
Jesu
Sigur Ros
If These Trees Could Talk
Tides from Nebula
65daysofstatic
M83
The Flaming Lips
The Moody Blues
Ozric Tentacles
The Sword
Wolfmother
Kyuss

[Riceball]

I don't think I made my intentions clear: I'm looking for specific albums, not just artists. I can trawl ProgArchives for artists (and, really, for albums) but this way is better

[adace]

In that case, here are my favorite albums from some of the artists I listed:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound, A Trick of the Tail
Camel - Moonmadness
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior
Weather Report - Heavy Weather
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde
Threshold - Subsurface
Redemption - Snowfall on Judgement Day
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
Ozric Tentacles - Paper Monkeys

[73109]

PM resent

[WindMaster]

Previously mentioned, you need some Fair To Midland. I suggest Fables From A Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True.

It's the most accessible of their albums, but if you're looking for something a teensy bit more progressive, try Arrows & Anchors (their most recent release).

EDIT: Also, some Rishloo. I'd recommend Eidolon as a good starter for them. They do sort of a Tool-like alternative progressive metal, but less heavy.

[Fluffy Lothario]

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

I second this, to get the seconding rolling. This album is essential to every music collection ever.

My recommendations will be fairly all over the place, and none of them are prog, but they're all great music, I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't think there was a chance you might dig them, and hopefully, someone will back me up on some of them.

Gustav Holst's Planets Suite - Not an absolute favourite, but I've always thought this would be a great entry-level classical piece. Seven "songs", none of them too long or daunting, with great variety between them.
Listen to: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity

A disc with at least one of, but preferably both of, Rachmaninoff's 2nd and 3rd Pianoconcertos (I'd hope someone else can recommend a specific edition) - I hate to give him such a tag, but Rachmaninoff seems to be the go-to classical artist for metal fans. His music is extremely dense, dark and stormy stuff, for the most part, and when it's not, it's achingly beautiful, and it's frequently both at the same time. Plus he plays a fucking mean piano.
Listen to: The second movement of the second concerto (Adagio sostenuto)

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks - one of my dearest albums, and one that seems to get really badly overlooked in general. Sits somewhere between folk, rock, and jazz, much of it written in a bizarre, semi-improvised, stream-of-consciousness style.
Listen to: Cyprus Avenue.

Grateful Dead - Live/Dead - Simultaneously spaced out and incendiary early rock, with occasional strong blues influence. Your experience of rock as a genre isn't complete until you've heard this album. In the year and a quarter since I heard it, I've amassed almost three days worth of this band's music, and I'm just getting started.
Listen to: Dark Star

Shakti - A Handful of Beauty - this album (and the Shakti project in general) has John McLaughlin, an awesome jazz guitarist, experimenting with Indian classical. Great acoustic guitar, insane violin, great tabla, combining in well-crafted, amazing songs.
Listen to: Lady L.

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady - Ever since hearing this album, almost every jazz album sounds a little bit worse because it's not this album. That says it all.
Listen to: Track A – Solo Dancer: Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!

Kimbra - Vows - Because Kimbra.
Listen to: One Way Street

[Mosh]

Chris Potter-Follow the Red Line

Everybody on the planet should know Train.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Wow! I never expected to find another Birds and Buildings and Phideaux fan on the forum!

Big Big Train - The Underfall Yard (listen to Victorian Brickwork)
Van der Graaf Generator - H to He Who Am the Only One, Pawn Hearts, Godbluff, Still Life (my all time favourite band. The first two listed are more odd and harder to get into, the last two are more straightforward but just as stunning as the first two.)

Those are my big ones.

[jingle.boy]

Recommendation ... have a check out at Grooveshark or something first to sample some stuff before buying.

Darwin's Radio - Eye's of the World

Can't help you with their second album - Temple for a Generation.

Amaran's Plight (Voice in the Light) isn't there either.  But, with DC Cooper (Royal Hunt), Nick D (Spock's Beard) and Gary W (Shadow Gallery), if you like any of those, you'll dig Amaran's Plight.

[Zantera]

A few albums I could recommend:

*Oceansize - Frames (Progressive Art/Post-Rock)
*Amplifier - The Octopus (Progressive Space-Rock)
*Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here (Progressive Atmospheric Rock)
*The Dear Hunter - Act II (Progressive Rock)

[lonestar]

Grateful Dead - Live/Dead - Simultaneously spaced out and incendiary early rock, with occasional strong blues influence. Your experience of rock as a genre isn't complete until you've heard this album. In the year and a quarter since I heard it, I've amassed almost three days worth of this band's music, and I'm just getting started.
Listen to: Dark Star

Seconded

I'll add an album that has owned me the last two weeks, I.Q.-Frequency, an intense and aggressive, very proggy tour de force, here is your sample... IQ-The Province

[Heretic]

Edited my list to fit your request a bit closer:

Prog:

Fair to Midland - Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True
Seventh Wonder - The Great Escape
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
Moon Safari - Blomljud
Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of the Silent Earth 3, or Good Apollo 1
Dead Letter Circus -  This is the Warning
Mew - Frengers
Oceansize - Frames

Alternative, folk, etc.:

Thrice - Vheissu
Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me
The Dear Hunter - Act II
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt 
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
A Great Big Pile of Leaves - Self-titled
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Post-rock:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Yndi Halda - Enjoy Eternal Bliss
Sleepmakeswaves - ...and so we destroyed everything
This Will Destroy You - Young Mountain EP
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
Hammock - Raising Your Voice, Trying to Stop an Echo

[Sketchy]

As is probably expected from me:
Cold Fairyland - Seeds On The Ground (Chinese prog folk-rock)
Khan - Space Shanty (Canterbury scene, pretty spacey)
Gong - Flying Teapot (uh... yeah, this one's a little bit wierd. Quite jazzy, funky in places, but yeah, it's really, really wierd. I probably should warn you of that.)
The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night (pretty much what happens when Canadian hipsters discover mellotrons and long, atmospheric build-ups)

[Sigz]

Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye
Thrice - The Alchemy Index
Isis - In the Absence of Truth
Agalloch - The Mantle
Fair to Midland - Fables from a Mayfly
The Dear Hunter - Act III
Dog Fashion Disco - Adultery
Giant Squid - The Icthyologist
Grayceon - All We Destroy
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

[Onno]

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here. And to all the people that posted that one too, ETERNAL GLORY

[The King in Crimson]

Here are some albums that have already been mentioned:
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
Agalloch - The Mantle
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Mew - Frengers
Redemption - Snowfall on Judgement Day

Some other recommendations:
Radiohead - OK Computer (It's Radiohead in awesome alternative rock mode)
King Crimson - Red (Some heavy and dark prog rock from the 70's)
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (Steve Wilson at his most unique, lots of prog and atmospheric moments)
The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing (Good mix of prog and electronic elements)
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Sing-Along Songs For The Damned and Delirious (Super-fun jazzy, swing, operatic metal)
Jethro Tull - Aqualung (A prog rock classic, IMO)
maudlin of the well - Bath (Weird, avant-garde metal)

[darkshade]

Make sure you go through the catalog at lasercd.com because they have a lot of prog and fusion albums for very cheap ($2-$9), and a lot of well known albums (not just obscure stuff that no one wants).

[TioJorge]

It would behoove you to check out Thrice's The Alchemy Index, specifically, Alchemy Index II: Water. It has some of the greatest, most entrancing, beautiful music I've heard in a long time. I'm a newcomer to Thrice myself and I believe this is my favorite album (album part?) by them thus far.

[Dr. DTVT]

Rather than just spew out every band I have that you don't, which seems to be the MO around here anytime someone asks for music, I'll just give you two suggestions with an explanation for each, and I'll stay off the beaten path so you can truly discover something that not a lot of people will have rather than just end up joining the club.  Furthermore, since I actually read your OP, I'll limit it to progressive - I'm seeing a lot of metal in these lists you lazy, inconsiderate bastards.  Hopefully that snarkiness counts as just a little bit of trolling, which you also asked for.

First one is Enchant - Juggling 9 or Dropping 10:  These guys are some of the best songwriters out there.  They get proggy without going over-the-top for the sake of going over-the-top, the songs are very relatable to personal experience for the most part, and "What to Say" is one of the most emotionally powerful songs ever written.  I've had this album since the week it was released in 2000 and it hasn't gotten old or stale.  It will stand the test of time for you.

Arena - The Visitor:  This is my favorite neo-prog album of all time.  It's got a cool story, some great riffs, and amazing keyboard leads.  It's the album that opened up neo-prog to me, and it's still a great listen.  I've had this album over 12 years and I still play it fairly regularly even as my collection is pushing the 900 album mark.

Just to be lazy, I will also second the recommendation for Amaran's Plight - it's only one album so you can own the discography in one purchase.  It's more of a supergroup, Nick D'Virgilio on drums (Spock's Beard), Gary Wehrcamp (Shadow Gallery) on guitar and keys, and one of the best vocalists around, D.C. Cooper.  The bass player did a good job too I just don't know what band he's from.

Of course, I could give you hundreds more, but that would take too much effort to do properly.  Hopefully you decide to check them out because I actually put thought into mine ( to the rest of you)

[snapple]

I am serious about Extension of the Wish. Make sure you get Final Extension - it has the new vocalist. It'll have a bonus track, which is how you should be able to tell what it is. But that album truly has some amazing musical moments. You should be able to find all of the songs on YT if you feel you need to taste test first. In The Deepest of Waters and The Words Unspoken are pro. The title track is also amazing.

[wolfking]

Evergrey - Recreation Day, In Search of Truth (metal, but amazing)
Pendragon - Masquerade Overture, Pure, Passion
Sieges Even - The Art of Navigating By the Stars, Paramount
Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness
Magnitude 9 - Decoding the Soul
Eternity X - The Edge
Enchant - Juggling 9 or Dropping 10, Tug of War, Blink of An Eye

[Riceball]

Fantastic response guys (safe to assume), thanks for the suggestions.

Confirmed Purchases (nominated & seconded) – 15 Albums
Agalloch - The Mantle
Amaran's Plight
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
Enchant - Juggling 9 or Dropping 10
Fair to Midland - Fables from a Mayfly
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Grateful Dead - Live/Dead
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Oceansize - Frames
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Redemption - Snowfall on Judgement Day
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
The Dear Hunter - Act II

That means I’ve got room for ~20 more. This gives me a really good start.

[Dr. DTVT]

Eternity X - The Edge

Holy shit I thought I was the only person who knew about this band.  It only makes sense that you would be the only other.

I'll second Evergrey's Recreation Day.

Since you took one of mine and my other seconded, I'll add two more albums:

Tiles - Fence the Clear.  Again, staying away from metal, but they're on the prog / rock borderline.  I love almost everything about this band, the singer, the guitar tone (LOVE the guitar tone), and fairly strong songwriting.

Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit.  Top 3 album from last year IMO, and a couple other DTF'ers who sadly probably won't come in here to validate this opinion (calling kirksnosehair).  Vocals split between male and female.  Very strong debut album.

Again, I'm staying away from obvious picks like Spock's Beard and Marillion, but certainly nothing wrong with most of those band's catalogs.

I'm also adding a demerit to the Steven Wilson album.  There's much better, more imaginative material out there.

[Jirpo]

Try out some classical music! I'm far from an expert myself so I'm sure some others will love to throw in suggestions. I love Mozart - Requiem and Vivaldi has a lot of amazing works.

[bundy]

Excellent thread.

I'll second Camel - Moonmadness (my favourite Camel album)

also Gong's Flying Teapot although all of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy (the others are Angel's Egg and You) are worthwhile and ought to be what you're after.

Don't see any recomendations for Caravan. Their album In the Land of Grey and Pink is essential for any prog fan's collection and like most albums by bands from the "Canterbury  scene" has a jazzy feel to it.

A couple more that I recommend which haven't been mentioned but I know there are a few fans of on these boards:

Magma - Mekannik Destrukiw Kommando (Perhaps the ultimate zeuhl album. If you visit Progarchives you'll find pages on this album, Magma and zeuhl)
 
Devil Doll - Dies Irae

Hope you're enjoying discovering and buying some new albums.
 

[wolfking]

Eternity X - The Edge

Holy shit I thought I was the only person who knew about this band.  It only makes sense that you would be the only other.

I'll second Evergrey's Recreation Day.

Since you took one of mine and my other seconded, I'll add two more albums:

Tiles - Fence the Clear.  Again, staying away from metal, but they're on the prog / rock borderline.  I love almost everything about this band, the singer, the guitar tone (LOVE the guitar tone), and fairly strong songwriting.

Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit.  Top 3 album from last year IMO, and a couple other DTF'ers who sadly probably won't come in here to validate this opinion (calling kirksnosehair).  Vocals split between male and female.  Very strong debut album.

Again, I'm staying away from obvious picks like Spock's Beard and Marillion, but certainly nothing wrong with most of those band's catalogs.

I'm also adding a demerit to the Steven Wilson album.  There's much better, more imaginative material out there.

It's the only album I have by them, but The Edge is a great piece of music.  Really deserves much more respect.  I have never seen it mentioned around here.

I missed your paragraph on J9OD10, apologies.  I saw you mentioned Arena, this is another band I need to get into, especially since I found out that John Mitchell is the guitarist.

I have been meaning to check Tiles too, and I'm still going to order Beyond the Bridge.

[snapple]

Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head or Viva La Vida are both excellent albums

[Sketchy]

Oh, yup Camel and Caravan are two that I should definitely second.

Moonmadness has an epic ending instrumental.