Prog Island Album Game: Round 1, Heat 4

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Which tracklist do you prefer?

  • hardyharhar's tracklist

    Votes: 4 57.1%
  • notAxver's tracklist

    Votes: 3 42.9%

  • Total voters
    7
  • Poll closed .

Axver

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Please vote for the tracklist you LIKE THE MOST.

Welcome to the fourth heat of the B&C Prog Island Album Game! This competition is essentially edition 2.5 of the Desert Island Album Game, serving as a mini-tournament bridging the gap between the second and third editions, and we are trialling some new format ideas. This tournament alters the basic premise of the game a little. Instead of being stranded on a desert island and seeking the best tracklist to enjoy while there, we're heading off to Prog Island to savour the best that the prog genre has to offer. There is a strong emphasis in this competition not just on good individual songs, but on creating a cohesive work of musical art.

In the third heat, phanan came from behind to just defeat Screwtape2 7-6. The table for Group 2 is now:

Forum name: total competition points, played, won, lost, votes for, votes against, votes difference
phanan: 2, 1, 1, 0, 7, 6, +1
Screwtape2: 0, 0, 1, 6, 7, -1.
hardyharhar: N/A
notAxver: N/A

This heat is the last for the opening round and features hardyharhar against notAxver. It will run for 48 hours, but the first heat of round 2 will begin in 24 hours in order to speed the game up. Below, you will find the contestants' tracklistings.

Forum name: hardyharhar

hardyharhar writes: At first I thought, “easy - Genesis ‘Foxtrot’ & ‘The Lamb’, Pink Floyd ‘DSOTM’, Yes ‘Close To The Edge’, first King Crimson and a couple odd tracks. That should be 4 hours”. But that would be too easy and there were many unknown bands I could give some brief exposure to. So that’s what I did. Most of these tracks are from the first wave of progressive rock, about 1970 through mid 70’s. My main years of interest in it. Though it was never embraced by the mainstream media, it was still an exciting and experimental branch of rock music. What most people forget is that the band members were still teenagers and college age when they began. I started off with King Crimson, because with all due respect to Sgt. Pepper, psychedelics, Moody Blues, early Floyd, this album probably had more influence on the direction of the early purveyors of ‘classical rock’ like Genesis, Yes and ELP, and therefore everything to follow. The first half is mainly UK bands, where prog was initially embraced. The one glaring omission is Pink Floyd, I just don’t have any on disc. The 2nd half takes us to Europe, where Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator and others influenced a huge movement there. The groups here are from Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and Italy. Most of these bands focused on longer tracks which are more along the traditional prog lines, but I wanted to get as many less known groups in as possible, so I chose tracks that were a bit shorter in duration. All in the hopes of giving a little exposure to some bands who for whatever reason fell through the cracks. An outcome all too common for many of the early prog groups. It was tough breaking up 25 minute songs and keeping some sort of flow going, so my Genesis ‘Lamb stew’ was scrapped because after each song there was a pause, ruining any continuity I was striving for. I kept a few tracks by others where it’s obvious another song had begun, but I tried to keep that to a minimum.

I’m pretty sure I’ve committed votercide with this list, but my intention here is to give a few people who enjoy this music a chance to hear some things that are obscure and soon to be forgotten. I’m not sure I’d take all these if I was to be dropped on a desert island, but I know I’d miss them if I didn’t. 4 hours isn’t very long in the realm of progressive rock.

1. KING CRIMSON – “21st Century Schizoid Man” In The Court Of The Crimson King (7:20)
2. THE STRAWBS – “Hero & Heroine” Hero & Heroine (3:20)
3. MARILLION – “Heart Of Lothian/Wide Boy/Curtain Call” Misplaced Childhood (6:06)
4. YES – “America” Fragile (10:33)
5. STEVE HACKETT – “Ace Of Wands” Voyage Of The Acolyte (5:25)
6. GREENSLADE – “Drowning Man” Greenslade (5:50)
7. PAVLOV’S DOG – “Episode” Pampered Menial (4:03)
8. CAMEL – “Separation” Camel (3:57)
9. CARAVAN – “Grandma’s Lawn” Caravan (3:25)
10. GENESIS – “Can-Utility And The Coastliners” Foxtrot (5:47)
11. ENGLAND – “Poisoned Youth” Garden Shed (16:17)
12. EMERSON LAKE & PALMER – “Knife Edge” Emerson Lake & Palmer (5:09)
13. VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR – “Man-Erg” Pawn Hearts (10:21)
14. GRACIOUS – “What’s Come To Be” Gracious!/This Is Gracious (3:32)
15. RAW MATERIAL – “Ice Queen” Time Is… (6:44)
16. ARTHUR BROWN’S KINGDOM COME – “Gypsy” Journey (9:14)
17. SECOND HAND – “Death May Be Your Santa Claus (Reprise)” Death May Be Your Santa Claus (5:21)
18. BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST – “Medicine Man” Once Again (3:55)
19. VANGELIS – “La Mort du Loup” L’Apocalypse des Animaux (3:07)
20. TANGERINE DREAM – “Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares” Phaedra (9:55)
21. TAI PHONG – “Circle” Windows (5:30)
22. MACHIAVEL – “Beyond The Silence” Mechanical Moonbeams (6:11)
23. GROBSCHNITT – “Otto Pankrock” Solar Music Live (7:25)
24. SAHARA – “For All The Clowns” For All The Clowns (11:01)
25. SHYLOCK – “Le Quatrieme” Gialorgues (13:11)
26. ANGE – “Exode” Au DelaDu Delire (4:59)
27. KAYAK – “Mountain Too Rough” Royal Bed Bouncer (3:56)
28. EARTH & FIRE – “Voice From Yonder” To The World Of The Future (6:58)
29. FOCUS – “Eruption” Moving Waves (23:02)
30. LATTE E MIELE – “Introduzione” Passio Secundum Mattheum (2:20)
31. LATTE E MIELE – “Getzemani” Passio Secundum Mattheum (4:16)
32. LATTE E MIELE – “Il Processo” Passio Secundum Mattheum (1:30)
33. LE ORME – “Collage” Collage (4:49)
34. MUSEO ROSENBACH – “Degli Uomini” Zarathustra (4:07)
35. SEMIRAMIS – “Frazz” Dedicata A Frazz (5:09)
36. IL VOLO – “I Primi Respiri” Il Volo/Essere O Non Essere? (3:54)

notAxver

notAxver writes: What do most people associate with prog? Huge sprawling epics as long as a whole month. Apparently, this is actually perceived as a negative quality. Accordingly, the point of this tracklist is to show how progressive musicians can successfully overcome limitations. These limitations are both external and internal: the former are those factors that demand short compositions, and the latter are those factors that state that long compositions can become repetitive and excessive if one becomes lazy or indulgent. The songs in this tracklisting show that some ideas simply cannot be adequately realised in 5 or even 10 minutes. To create the full artistic effect, more time, care, and attention is required, and the limitations must be discarded. Subjugation Of The Limitation is made for people who believe in music as an artform.

Subjugation Of The Limitation
1. Transatlantic - "All Of The Above" - SMPT:e (30:59)
2. Porcupine Tree - "The Sky Moves Sideways (Alternate Version)" - The Sky Moves Sideways (2004 remaster) (34:34)
3. Green Carnation - "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness" - Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness (60:06)
4. Dream Theater - "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (live)" - Score (41:30)
5. Neal Morse - "The Door" - Sola Scriptura (29:13)
6. Incredible Expanding Mindfuck - "Gospel According To The I.E.M." - I.E.M. (12:59)
7. Spock's Beard - "The Great Nothing" - V (27:03)
Total runtime: 3 hours, 56 minutes, 24 seconds

UP NEXT: Axver vs liamcool

Competition master list.

Have fun!
 
Some comments...

First, hardyharhar.

I love the beginning with King Crimson followed by The Strawbs, and how Hero And Heroine kicks in as soon as 21st Century Schizoid Man ends. Excellent 1-2 punch.

I also have to mention how glad I was to see both Vangelis and Tangerine Dream on someone else's playlist, as I love these two artists, especially Vangelis.

I had never heard a good majority of this list, which I expected, so it was really cool to discover some new music that is over 30 years old! If there was one track that stood out for me, it was England's Poisoned Youth. What a great composition. I read up on the album it's from and am very intrigued, and plan to download it at some point to take a listen.

Not everything was to my liking, however. There were quite a few selections that were really out there, and the last 15 or so songs tended to drag for me. Obviously, there was no representation of any newer material, which probably could have provided some relief here and there.

But having Yes, Genesis, ELP, Vangelis, and Tangerine Dream (as well as the previously mentioned King Crimson and Strawbs) overcomes the negatives for me.

As for notAxver, some of my favorite bands are on here, like Transatlantic, Porcupine Tree, and Spock's Beard. Listening to these beautiful pieces of music all the way through can be a bit daunting, however. Some things, like Dream Theater, are better left on their own.

In other words, by themselves, these are excellent works, but all together, it can be tough to listen to it as one playlist. So while I prefer a few songs on notAxver's list more than anything on hardyharhar's, I think as a whole I'm going to lean towards hardyharhar on this one.
 
I'm going to need a little longer to digest this one...haven't been able to listen to much music lately, thanks to the excruciating pain of post dental surgery. :( Right now, though, it looks like I'm leaning more towards hardyharhar. I'll check back on this thread later.
 
Hey, phanan or GG, I don't suppose one of you could do me a favour? I need the assistance of a premium member as it requires the making of polls, and you're the two most active premium members in the game. If any other premium member can do it though, that'd be cool.

I've just found out my grandfather's got cancer, so I'm flying back to New Zealand to spend a week with him, and while I will have some Internet access, I have no idea how regular it will be - or if I will really want to spend too much time hiding behind a computer. Rather unfortunately for the Prog Island, I leave on Friday next week, the day I'm meant to start Round 3, Heat 3. I'd really appreciate it if one of you could do the threads in my absence. Here's my proposed schedule, all in my dates (I imagine you'll do this the day before, or on the morning of these dates):

29 June: Round 3, Heat 3
30 June: Round 3, Heat 4
1 July: Semi-final 1
3 July: Semi-final 2 (I don't plan to run more than one semi at a time)
5 July: Third place play-off
7 July: Final

I get back early in the morning of 8 July, so that would mean I'd make it in time to cast a vote on the final and make a winner's thread, followed by the Desert Island III rules/sign-up thread.

Would either of you (or any other premium member) be up for doing that?
 
Axver said:
Hey, phanan or GG, I don't suppose one of you could do me a favour? I need the assistance of a premium member as it requires the making of polls, and you're the two most active premium members in the game. If any other premium member can do it though, that'd be cool.
yeah you wouldn't wanna ask me :mad:

on a serious note though, i'm sorry to hear about your grandfather :hug: i hope everything's okay
down.gif
 
:pray: I hope your grandfather is ok Axver!!


Back to the game, I don't know any songs (expected) except Yes-America on my dad's list. But it wouldn't really be fair for me to vote because I only know one song. But I'm rooting for you dad! :D
 
phanan said:
A busy week for me with the July 4th holiday, but I'm sure I can help.

It wouldn't matter if you missed a day or two - then I may even be able to do a round when I get home. Any help is much appreciated. :up:

And thanks for the good wishes, everyone. Still hasn't really sunk in at this end. Hopefully it was detected early enough ...
 
Thanks. :) I understand the type of cancer he has typically has a good recovery rate, so I'm being optimistic at the moment.

Also, bump! Still got 24 hours to go on this poll.
 
Very sorry to hear about your grandfather, André. :( He's in my thoughts. I will try to help out with the polls if necessary.
 
Wow, I may squeeze through a round through apathy. GibsonGirl warned us about the German accent on the Eloy track. I should have put a giant red stop sign before my second half of foreign languages began :wink: But obviously my goal was to expose some fringe old stuff. If I did this again I definitely would add some more recent stuff. Just wasn't sure what was considered progressive rock anymore. But judging from Axver's lists, a debt is owed to the old timers by bands from different genre's of rock music today. It's nice to see elements of it still kicking today.

Phanan - I'm not sure where you live, so this may not mean anything to you, but I got to see Vangelis and Tangerine Dream live back in the day. A rare treat for Southern California. Vangelis was the big coup, because evidently he doesn't fly, so coming to the states was a long shot. But he sailed to New York for something, and somehow UCLA got him to do a one off show there. All I remember is that Jon Anderson was in the crowd, and he came up and sang two songs. One of them was So Long Ago, So Clear from Heaven & Hell. :drool: That made my night. Tangerine Dream was one of the strangest live shows I've ever seen. I'd call it space music, but most others would probably call it a snooze fest. Just 3 guys sitting around banks of keyboards playing music seemingly going nowhere. Had to go alone to this one, couldn't find anyone into it. I liked it though.
 
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That was back in 1984 for Vangelis, I believe. Correct? He rarely performs, so that must have been special, especially with Jon Anderson there. I'm jealous.

I'm in New Hampshire, an hour north of Boston, so I understand the significance of the show, as Vangelis hardly ever came to the U.S.
 
It must have been. Lila was there also. I'm not sure if he performed anywhere else. I would imagine he would have somewhere.

I saw that the Strawbs electric were touring east Canada and U.S. Just looked, maybe not close enought for you. GibsonGirl, maybe your nearby? They're pretty good live.
http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk
 
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Yeah I remember seeing the show. We had front row on the right hand side of the venue. When Vangelis called out for Jon Anderson to come up to the stage, he had to walk right in front of us. We could have tripped him, LOL. Only problem with the seating was that Vangelis was on the left hand of the stage.
 
phanan said:
That was back in 1984 for Vangelis, I believe. Correct? He rarely performs, so that must have been special, especially with Jon Anderson there. I'm jealous.

I'm in New Hampshire, an hour north of Boston, so I understand the significance of the show, as Vangelis hardly ever came to the U.S.

Now that you mention 1984, I'm wondering....... when was Chariots of Fire released. Maybe it had something to do with the Academy Awards? :hmm:

This is Lil Pal's dad by the way. :wink:
 
Yes, Chariots Of Fire was 1981, but he never performed live in the U.S. that year.

It actually wasn't 1984 that he made the appearance in L.A. - it was 1986. I just checked. I see that he performed one of my favorite songs of his there, To The Unknown Man.
 
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