Author Topic: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)  (Read 1459 times)

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Online twosuitsluke

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My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« on: September 11, 2017, 12:20:03 PM »
So my Dad passed away on Thursday morning. It has been really quite hard but he'd been diagnosed with cancer at the end of last year. Although we knew it was coming the end came quite quickly. Fortunately he passed away surrounded by me, all my siblings (which was lucky considering we are all quite spread out around the country) and his wife. He was pain free and peaceful when the end came.

As with all hard times I face in my life, I have sought comfort in music. It is a blessing in so many ways and is helping me deal with many emotions. I am totally my Dad's son as he also had this love (obsession) with music.

Today I have been up in his attic and got down all of his old vinyl. He has lugged all this vinyl around with him for his entire life (some of it he had at the age of 16/17) and even though it all ended up in his attic, he never got rid of it. I was actually given a vinyl deck about 3 years ago and my Dad had given me two 'instalments' of his vinyl over the last two years. He hand picked about 10-15 albums each time and I know he hoped to continue this until I'd listened to it all. Unfortunately that never happened.

I now feel it important to continue to listen to all the music that was so important to him. There is something special about holding vinyl in my hands that he had held as a teenager. I feel in some way that I am still connected to him when listening to his original LP's. It's a gateway to his youth that feels very real. I also know that he would LOVE the fact that I am doing this. We were both massive music nerds and he'd get a kick out of this.

So as I go through his record collection I am going to be sharing my views with you all. My Dad had a love for prog rock and all things folky or psychedelic. All the fogeys will likely recognise a great deal of my Dad's collection but there are a lot of the prog rock classics that I'm sure 95% of you guys will know. As you'll see there is stuff that I have zero idea about (so any knowledge any of you can share would be great) mixed in with all the stuff by The Beatles (and solo projects from the members).

This music is just the representation of what he was listening to at the time when he was still buying vinyl. His tastes developed and there is lots music, some here and some not, that I grew up listening to and has shaped my tastes.

Anyway, here is the list of all the vinyl, feel free to chime in with any thoughts on his collection (I'm going to change the font colour to red as I cross them off):



10cc - How Dare You!
A Geoff Mann Band - Loud Symbols
Barclay James Harvest - Early Morning Onwards
Barclay James Harvest - Once Again
Bob Dylan/The Band - Before the Flood
Black Sabbath - Selftitled
Blind Faith - Selftitled
Centipede - Septober Energy
Compilation - Fill Your Head With Rock
Compilation - Nice Enough to Eat
Compilation - Son of Gutbucket
Compilation - Super-Duper Blues
Compilation - The New Age of Atlantic
Cream - Live Cream
Cream - Wheels of Fire
Crosby, Stills & Nash - CSN
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
David Crosby - If I Could Only Remeber My Name
Donovan - Open Road
East of Eden - Jig-a-Jig
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
ELP - Pictures at an Exhibition
ELP - Selftitled
ELP - Trilogy
Elton John - Honky Chateau
Eric Clapton - Selftitled
Family - Anyway
Family - Music in a Doll's House
Family - Old Songs, New Songs
Fotheringay - Selftitled
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
George Harrison - Selftitled
George Harrison - Somewhere In England
George Harrison - The Concert in Bangladesh
George Harrison - Thirty Three and 1/3
Graham Nash and David Crosby - Selftitled
Grand Funk Railroad - Grand Funk
Gustav Holst/Leopold Stokowski, Los Angeles Philharmnic Orchestra - The Planets
Iron Butterfly - Live
Isaac Hayes - Live at the Sahara Tahoe
Jack Bruce - Songs For a Tailor
Jackson Browne - For Everyman
James Taylor - 2 Originals of James Taylor
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Jethro Tull - Benefit
Jethro Tull - Stand Up
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
JJ Cale - Naturally
John Lennon - Imagine
John Lennon - Milk and Honey
John Lennon - Mind Games
John Lennon - Rock 'n' Roll
John Lennon - The Collection
John Lennon/Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy
John Mayall - Blues From Laurel Canyon
John Mayall - The Turning Point
Jon Anderson - Olas of Sunhillow
Juicy Lucy - Selftitled
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
Michael Chapman - Lived Here 1968-1972
Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge
Mike Oldfield - QE2
Paul McCartney - Give My Regards to Broadstreet
Paul McCartney - McCartney II
Paul McCartney - Pipes of Peace
Paul McCartney - Press to Play
Paul McCartney - Tug of War
Paul Simon -  One-Trick Pony
Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Rick Wakeman - The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Robert Plant - Pictures at Eleven
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
Roy Harper - Flat Baroque and Beserk
Santana - Selftitled
Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park
Spooky Tooth - Ceremony
Steely Dan - Aja
Steely Dan - Katy Lied
Steely Dan - The Royal Scam
Steppenwolf - Live
Steppenwolf - Monster
Steve Howe - Beginnings
Steve Winwood - Selftitled
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
Stevie Wonder - Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
Ten Years After - Cricklewood Green
The Beatles - 1962-1966
The Beatles - 1967-1970
The Beatles - Abbey Road
The Beatles - Beatles for Sale
The Beatles - Early Years
The Beatles - Help!
The Beatles - Let It Be
The Beatles - Love Songs
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles - Please Please Me
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
The Beatles - The Beatles In Italy
The Doors - Absolutely Live
The Incredible String Band - I Looked Up
The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
The Nice - Elegy
The Nice - Five Bridges
The Police - Ghost in the Machine
The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
The Police - Reggattaa de Blanc
The Police - Synchronicity
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
The Who - Who's Next
Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die
Traffic - On the Road
Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
Wings - At the Speed of Sound
Wings - Back to the Egg
Wings - London Town
Wings - Venus and Mars
Wings - Wings Greatest
Wings - Wings Over America
Wishbone Ash - Live Dates
Yes - Close to the Edge
Yes - Fragile
Yes - Going For the One
Yes - Relayer
Yes - Selftitled
Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans
Yes - The Yes Album
Yes - Time and a Word
Yes - Tomato
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 05:11:51 AM by twosuitsluke »

Offline OpenYourEyes311

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2017, 12:41:17 PM »
Sorry to hear about your father. Mine passed about 3 years ago, and my brother and I ended up splitting his CD collection. Took a few hours to do, as he had a LOT of CDs (even after misplacing a bunch over the years). But it definitely is therapeutic to go and listen to some of his favorites. I wish you luck!
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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2017, 02:04:25 PM »
I'm sorry to hear about your dad.  Prepared or not, it's still hard.  My mom passed from cancer some years back, and my dad has started the decline.

But I think it's very cool that you have his music collection and intend to explore it.  I have over half of the albums in that last, probably closer to 2/3, so I will say that I commend his taste in music, and in a way I envy you, because you'll be discovering some awesome music in the near future.  And I'm always curious to hear what this music sounds like to "modern ears".

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2017, 02:16:57 PM »
To this day I can hear song and it brings me back to my mom. I cry, I smile and I cry some more. Makes me yearn to see my mom again but it also makes me happy that I have such great memories. I hope these songs bring the same to you.  The pain will never go away but remember those good moments.
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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2017, 02:36:17 PM »
Wow, Luke, I'm sorry to hear that. How old was your father? He couldn't have been that old, looking at his albums.



Oddly, when my grandmother (who I was very close to) passed away a few years ago, when we cleared out her house, the only thing I grabbed was a box load of vinyl. Real old stuff. I've never listened to a lick of it, though I pulled a few tunes up on youtube. Not sure why I had to grab them. But that's what I did.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2017, 03:06:13 PM »
But I think it's very cool that you have his music collection and intend to explore it.  I have over half of the albums in that last, probably closer to 2/3, so I will say that I commend his taste in music, and in a way I envy you, because you'll be discovering some awesome music in the near future.  And I'm always curious to hear what this music sounds like to "modern ears".

Thanks. I mean, I already know quite a lot of the albums. Dad was always a massive Beatles fan so I know all that stuff like the back of my hand. I never heard any of The Beatles live albums though and only know a little bit of their post-Beatles stuff. I also know most of the Cream, ELP, Led Zeppelin and Yes. It's gonna be an adventure, that's for sure.

To this day I can hear song and it brings me back to my mom. I cry, I smile and I cry some more. Makes me yearn to see my mom again but it also makes me happy that I have such great memories. I hope these songs bring the same to you.  The pain will never go away but remember those good moments.

Cheers King, we're in the process of picking songs to play at his funeral and there are so many that always make me think of him. Mainly, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Led Zeppelin

Wow, Luke, I'm sorry to hear that. How old was your father? He couldn't have been that old, looking at his albums.



Oddly, when my grandmother (who I was very close to) passed away a few years ago, when we cleared out her house, the only thing I grabbed was a box load of vinyl. Real old stuff. I've never listened to a lick of it, though I pulled a few tunes up on youtube. Not sure why I had to grab them. But that's what I did.


He was 64. He was quite young when he got the majority of these albums. Obviously there are some them came later but quite a lot are from the late 60's/early 70's.

I'm going to just go through the albums randomly and do a little write up. I'll probably pick out the first one tonight and stick it on.

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2017, 05:43:51 PM »
So here we, starting with some of Paul McCartney's post-Beatles work...







As much as a big Beatles fan as I am I've never listened to a Wings album. George Harrison has always been my favourite Beatle and from all the stuff I've heard from all of them, George always played the sort of stuff I loved the most.

I mean, other than Live and Let Die, I can't even name a Wings song. It must've been hard to follow up the success that all of them had with The Beatles. I'll try not to go into this with too much prejudice but I'm not expecting to love this.

To the music. Well 'Let 'Em In' is a nice little song to start but nothing exciting. 'The Note You Never Wrote' has a really nice little guitar solo which was a little unexpected. 'She's My Baby' has that quirky sort of songwriting that I've come to expect from Paul McCartney but doesn't do a great deal for me. 'Beware My Love' is quite piano driven and features some of the better McCartney vocals of the album, it's certainly a highlight. 'Wino Junko' is fairly uneventful but has some cool moments, nothing I'd be desperate to revisit though. 'Silly Love Songs' is a exactly what it says, a silly love song. I suppose it just sounds very of it's time and not my sort of thing. 'Cook of the House' features Paul's wife Linda on vocals, but it's over quite quickly and left pretty much no impression on me. 'Time to Hide' is another song that doesn't have any Paul McCartney vocals, it's ok but I admit I was losing interest a bit by this point. 'Must Do Something About It' falls into the same category as the previous song. Back to some McCartney goodness with 'San Ferry Anne', which features some horns and something about the vocal melodies reminds me of 'I Me Mine', which is nice. Wings round off the album with a Paul McCartney piano ballad, 'Warm and Beautiful' which is a fine ending.

I'd say my favourite track is quite easily 'Beware My Love', I doubt I'll be listening to this again anytime soon but it wasn't terrible.

I don't think my Dad was particularly a big fan of Wings as I don't ever remember hearing him play them or rave about them. I think he just bought anything with an ex-Beatle in it, hoping it'd recapture that magic. I will continue to try to go into every album with an open mind. I don't feel like this would've been an album Dad would've loved anyway so I don't feel guilty about disliking it.

« Last Edit: September 11, 2017, 06:17:25 PM by twosuitsluke »

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2017, 06:10:48 PM »
I've never heard a Wings song that I didn't like. In fact, when I hear Wings, I think back to my childhood. My father was not into music per se, but he was a school teacher, and at night while correcting papers, he always had the radio on. Soft rock hits of the 70's puts me right back there.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2017, 06:28:11 PM »
I'll follow up with a second album tonight before heading to bed...





So the 'Five Bridges Suite' is (as described by Wikipedia) a modern piece of music, written in the 1960's, combining classical music and jazz. Written about the UK city of Newcastle Upon Tyne, it was released as an album by The Nice as Five Bridges. The Nice featured Keith Emerson and you can hear his sound all over this. This really reminds me of the ELP album 'Pictures at an Exhibition' as it is recorded live and features a modern (at the time) take on classical music. Side one is the suite and it's a nice 18 minute piece and really is the sort of progressive, classical jazz that needs to be heard to be believed. This is the sort of thing I can listen to and imagine my Dad listening, and loving. He loved to listen to weird, out there stuff that people didn't get. This falls neatly into that category as it is kind of niche. I like it a lot.

Side two features more live performances of classical pieces interpreted by the band to give a modern take on it. We have 'Intermezzo Karelia Suite' by Sibelius, 'Pathetique (Symphony No. 6, 3rd Movement)' by Tchaikovsky, 'Country Pie/Brandenburg Concerto No. 6' which is a Bob Dylan/Johann Sebastian Bach mash up and 'One of Those People' which is an original piece by Emerson and Jackson. If this sort of thing takes your interest then I suggest giving it a go, especially if you like ELP. Having a full orchestra perform along with all of this live just sounds amazing.

This is much more to my liking and I can imagine sitting down and listening to this with my Dad and him telling me a load of random facts about the recording of it.

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2017, 07:09:22 PM »
A couple of killer albums right there.

Wings showed who was the better songwriter between Paul McCartney and John Lennon (to me anyway), and yes I know that George Harrison and Ringo Starr also wrote some Beatles songs, but this isn't about them.  John had some good songs for sure, but Paul always had that gift for melody.  Great song after great song, with very few exceptions.  After The Beatles broke up, Paul put together a great band in Wings, and sure they were mainly to serve as the vehicle for Paul's songwriting, but everyone understood that and was fine with it.  Great band.

The Nice were intense!  People thought Emerson Lake & Palmer were nuts (and they were) but before them was The Nice.  Like most keyboard players (or at least most back in the day), Keith had started with piano lessons when he was a boy, and of course piano lessons back in the day were 99% Classical Music.  So keyboard players in rock bands were basically psychotic to being with, starting with a split musical personality and always struggling to reconcile the pieces.  We didn't even call it prog yet; it was still "Classical Rock", and it's obvious to see/hear why.  Another great album from a great band.

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #10 on: September 12, 2017, 02:02:28 AM »
I know my Dad was definitely more of a Lennon fan and I think I'm there with him. I'm totally biased, because I REALLY love The Beatles, but no matter what post-Beatles stuff I hear, it's clear Lennon and McCartney wrote their best stuff together.

As for The Nice. Dad did used to bang on about them every now and then but I never listened to them until last night. I've given ELP a really good go in the past and dig a fair bit of their stuff.

I'll try to continue The Odyssey and keep it flowing at a good pace.

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #11 on: September 12, 2017, 07:48:21 AM »



Just sticking this on whilst me and my girlfriend chill.

This is a double album recorded live (in Central Park obviously) on September 19th 1981.  It's surprising how many of these songs I know actually. On side 1 there is 'Mrs. Robinson', 'Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard' and 'Scarborough Fair' alone. I'm pretty sure most people will know 'Mrs. Robinson' as it's always been played on the radio as long as I can remember. I know 'Me and Julio' because one of my favourite ska punk bands, Streetlight Manifesto, do a great cover of it. I'm sure when I was at primary school we sang 'Scarborough Fair' for some play or performance. I feel like I'm going to be surprised by how many songs I know on this record.

Side 2 only had one song that I knew, 'Wake Up Little Susie', and side 3 had 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. The latter is arguably their most popular song but I'm not really a fan of it. I far prefer their more upbeat songs. This leads me onto side 4, which had a song which I knew but wouldn't have been able to tell you who it was by or what it was called. Turns out it was 'The Boxer' which I really like. The encore at the end of the album was ok and featured 'The Sound of Silence' (that song that Disturbed covered, I really don't like that band). I just can't see myself ever really being a fan of these guys, too many misses and not enough hits in my book.

None of these songs have ever really reminded me of my Dad as I didn't even really know that he was a Simon and Garfunkel fan, then again this only one of two LP's he had, so maybe he wasn't really.

« Last Edit: September 12, 2017, 08:48:59 AM by twosuitsluke »

Offline Silent Man

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #12 on: September 13, 2017, 03:58:55 AM »
Sorry about your dad's passing. His collection surely looks like mine! (I'm 66). Except for, among others, The Wings stuff, they never did anything for me. But ELP, Who, Nice, Yes, Cream...I can go on. I could surely have had a nice discussion of music with him  ;) ..only thing I wonder, he must have overlooked Genesis. At that time, when you said Yes, it was always bringing up Genesis as well (or the other way around). In fact it was mostly Yes-Genesis-ELP when the talking was going. With his musical taste, he would have enjoyed Genesis!

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #13 on: September 13, 2017, 07:06:14 AM »
Dad wasn't a huge Genesis fan, I'm sure he did have some on vinyl but he probably lost it along the way. He said he used to swap vinyl with friends all the time and some he never got back. I know he at least loved the album Foxtrot, as he lent me the CD a few years ago. I just don't think he loved them as much as the other classic prog bands.

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #14 on: September 13, 2017, 06:17:01 PM »
Sorry to read about your dad. I'll be following your posts with interest.

My girlfriend and I have been on holiday in the US for the last two weeks. Last night, we had the opportunity to see Paul McCartney in Newark so we thought why not, despite neither of us being particularly big fans of his, Wings or The Beatles. He was absolutely wonderful. 75 and putting on a two and a half hour show. Incredible. Had goosebumps during Blackbird and Band On the Run. Would absolutely see him again if we ever get the chance back home.
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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #15 on: December 11, 2017, 12:11:30 PM »
After a long time away from this I'm getting back to it. Got Thick as a Brick on right now.

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #16 on: December 11, 2017, 03:22:26 PM »
Damn, sorry for your loss. :(

Cool idea! I have attempted to do the same (my dad passed away almost 9 years ago) but even though he is the one that got me into metal in the first place, most of it does not really resonate me. Same reason I can't really comment on the albums in this thread. I remember there were some cool flute parts in that Jethro Tull album but it's been too long.
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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2017, 03:37:26 PM »
Damn, sorry for your loss. :(

Cool idea! I have attempted to do the same (my dad passed away almost 9 years ago) but even though he is the one that got me into metal in the first place, most of it does not really resonate me. Same reason I can't really comment on the albums in this thread. I remember there were some cool flute parts in that Jethro Tull album but it's been too long.

Cheers dude.

I think I've heard you talk about your Dad before, sorry for your loss as well. I feel I owe it to my Dad to give all these albums a really good listen as they were so important to him. Like I said, some of them he'd carried though life for close to 50 years! It also makes me feel close to him in a weird way because they are something tangible that were his and now they are mine. When I listen to one of these albums I try to imagine my Dad listening for the first time.

He'd talked my ears off about some of these albums many times over the years so I already know (and like) quite a few. My love of The Beatles and Led Zep came at an early age, from my Dad. If I fall in love with one album on this list then it will be worth it. I just wish I'd done this when he was around to read it, he'd have loved it!

Offline Mark Levinson Jr.

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Re: My Dad's Vinyl Experience (The Odyssey)
« Reply #18 on: December 12, 2017, 05:55:52 PM »
Wow, amazing story. Yep , there's magic in those old LPs!
I have a few comments from a Dream Theater fans perspective, I hope they're helpful!


Crosby, Stills & Nash - CSN
A moody and mature album. Although the name suggests a debut, this self-titled album was later in their career. Not proggy, but more intricate than their folksy early stuff. Highlights for me are Shadow Captain and Cathedral, and maybe Dark Star.

David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Bowie in his prime, IMHO. Easily as good as his Ziggy Stardust album. Guest piano player is Rick Wakeman from Yes. Light-hearted (Kooks), heart-felt (Quicksand) and bizarre (Andy Warhol).

Grand Funk Railroad - Grand Funk
The only Grand Funk album I ever got into. As heavy as it gets. Last three songs (Winter in my Soul, Paranoid, and Inside Looking Out) are just classic. Sounds almost recorded live in the studio, too.

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
A prog-rock masterpiece. One 40-something minute song (like 6DOIT). Takes about 10 listens to "get it", then you'll freak out at the melodies, lyrics and transitions. Start of 2nd side is maybe just too weird, but when they bring it all home at the end... what a payoff! If you have the version of the LP with the full newspaper inside it, you're in for an entertaining read while you listen.

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
This album is to prog-rock is what Black Sabbath's debut was to metal. 21st Century Schitzoid Man is as frantic and cool as it gets. I Talk to the Wind is typical 60's music, but made really tastefully. In the Court of the Crimson King is a case study in trippy lyrics. Also has Greg Lake before ELP.

Yes - Close to the Edge
Yes - Fragile
Yes - Relayer

This music, to me, is Dream Theater without the metal. Fragile's South Side of the Sky and Heart of the Sunrise will shock you, if you haven't heard them. Some true prog epics on par with Octavarium, Change of Seasons, and 2112 (Rush). Not catchy... takes a bit of work, but just amazing especially considering the old, analog equipment they must have used in the studio. Like Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, these albums were crafted with care.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2017, 11:49:22 AM by Mark Levinson Jr. »