Prog Island Album Game: Semifinal, Heat 2

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Please vote!

  • phanan

    Votes: 6 66.7%
  • liamcool

    Votes: 3 33.3%

  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .

phanan

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Please vote for the tracklist you LIKE THE MOST.

Welcome to the semifinals 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 and final round, The Supertracklist won for the first time, upending Axver, 7-5, in Heat 1, while in Heat 2, GibsonGirl remained undefeated with a close victory over liamcool, 8-6. In Heat 3, phanan held off hardyharhar by the score of 7-4, and finally, Screwtape2 easily beat notAxver in a Heat 4 blowout, 10-2. The standings for both groups ended this way:

Group 1

Forum name: total competition points, won, lost, votes for, votes against, votes difference
GibsonGirl: 6, 3, 0, 26, 15, +11.
liamcool: 2, 1, 2, 17, 19, -2.
Supertracklist: 2, 1, 2, 17, 19, -2.
Axver: 2, 1, 2, 15, 22, -7.


Group 2

Forum name: total competition points, won, lost, votes for, votes against, votes difference
phanan: 6, 3, 0, 22, 12, +10.
Screwtape2: 4, 2, 1, 23, 12, +11.
hardyharhar: 2, 1, 2, 11, 17, -6.
notAxver: 0, 0, 3, 7, 22, -15.


The top two in each group advance to the semifinals, with the top seed in Group 1 going against the second seed from Group 2, and the top seed from Group 2 battling the second seed from Group 1. The seeding is as follows:

Group 1 Top Seed: GibsonGirl
Group 1 2nd Seed: liamcool*
Group 2 Top Seed: phanan
Group 2 2nd Seed: Screwtape2

*liamcool and the Supertracklist finished with identical records and vote difference - however, liamcool finishes second based on his head-to-head win over the Supertracklist.

The second semifinal heat features phanan against liamcool. Below are the tracklistings.


Forum name: phanan

phanan writes: When I set out to do this, I briefly considered constructing it around a certain theme, but in the end, I decided that the best theme was to present an overall snapshot of how vast the progressive rock music genre is, from its early beginnings in the late 60's to now. Consequently, a majority of the artists represented here are well-known, and a good portion of the selections will be ones that are quite familiar to most people. But it's the beauty of arranging those songs in a certain way (and mixing them in with either more obscure titles or cuts that break away from the traditional progressive vein), that tend to give them a certain musical freshness when you listen again. Let's face it - you're not going to hear Anathema and Kraftwerk back-to-back very often, but it's amazing how the two songs by these artists work so well together in this sequence (due in no small part to the major presence of the vocoder on both). Same thing with King Crimson and Can. Who knew that such a well-known epic with quite the sudden ending would work well being followed by a 3 minute tour-de-force of improvisational and experimental sounds with strange vocals. But hey, that's what progressive rock is all about, isn't it?

I have several important notes to a few of the tracks listed here. The third song is by Asia. Yes, this is the supergroup from the 80's that became a brief sensation in the corporate rock world, but by the dawn of the 1990's, this group as we knew it ceased to exist, and transformed itself into more of a progressive entity. Having only one original member during this era (Geoff Downes, the keyboardist), they took on an entirely new sound that worked on some albums and misfired on others. Their crowning achievement came in 2001 with the album Aura, a beautiful piece of work that is highlighted by "Free". Take a listen for yourself and tell me they're the same group (the original members have since reformed though, which is a shame, because they'll never match what this other version came up with at times).

There will be other selections that people unfamiliar with progressive rock may raise an eyebrow at. Electric Light Orchestra? You mean ELO? They're not prog! To be fair, they did take a turn to a more conventional rock sound as their albums progressed, but in the early 70's, they were as progressive as anyone else. There certainly weren't too many bands out there combining rock with classical music. I'd say that's progressive. And Kraftwerk are the true pioneers of electronic music, creating a unique sound never heard before. Why? Because they were progressive.

Finally, when you look at my listing, I will be indicating the original albums where the selected songs come from, because people should know where to look first if interested in hearing more. However, for the purposes of this playlist, two selections will not technically be drawn from those albums due to different edits being available, or for sound quality purposes. The first is "The Cinema Show" by Genesis. You'll find this song on the classic Selling England By The Pound album, but the version on my playlist actually comes from the Platinum Collection, which has better sound quality and a nice fade out that worked well here for sequencing purposes. Also, with ELO's "Mister Kingdom", a version from the Flashback box set was used because of the use of a fade out, whereas with the original album it's on (Eldorado), it goes right into the next song. Other than those two, everything else is the original album version.

Enjoy!

1. Porcupine Tree - "Even Less" - Recordings (14:06)
2. Dream Theater - "Metropolis, Part 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper" - Images And Words (9:32)
3. Asia - "Free" - Aura (8:12)
4. Spock's Beard - "At The End Of The Day" - V (16:29)
5. Tangerine Dream - "Cloudburst Flight" - Force Majeure (7:26)
6. Genesis - "The Cinema Show" - Selling England By The Pound (10:49)
7. Kansas - "The Pinnacle" - Masque (9:37)
8. Electric Light Orchestra - "Mister Kingdom" - Eldorado (5:08)
9. King Crimson - "The Court Of The Crimson King" - In The Court Of The Crimson King (9:26)
10. Can - "Spoon" - Ege Bamyasi (3:04)
11. Crack The Sky - "Ice" - Crack The Sky (4:38)
12. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Knife Edge" - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (5:06)
13. Yes - "Starship Trooper" - The Yes Album (9:27)
14. Rush - "The Camera Eye" - Moving Pictures (10:59)
15. IQ - "Failsafe" - Subterranea (8:57)
16. Pure Reason Revolution - "The Twyncyn/Trembling Willows" - The Dark Third (7:16)
17. Porcupine Tree - "Anesthetize" - Fear Of A Blank Planet (17:45)
18. Anathema - "Closer" - A Natural Disaster (6:19)
19. Kraftwerk - "Europe Endless" - Trans Europe Express (9:39)
20. Vangelis - "Pulstar" - Albedo 0.39 (5:46)
21. Pink Floyd - "Echoes" - Meddle (23:31)
22. Tangerine Dream - "Sequent C'" - Phaedra (2:17)
23. Transatlantic - "Bridge Across Forever" - Bridge Across Forever (5:33)
24. The Third Ending - "Fingerprints" - The Third Ending (28:25)

Total Time: 239:21


Forum name: Liamcool

LP one

1) Marillion - "Psuedo Silk Kimono" - Misplaced Childhood (2:14)
2) Pink Floyd - "Any Colour You Like" - Dark Side Of The Moon (3:25)
3) Marillion - "Hooks In You" - Season's End (2:59)
4) Anathema - "Don't Look Too Far" - Judgement (4:57)
5) Opeth - "Requiem" - Orchid (1:11)
6) Mike Oldfield - "Tubular Bells Part One" - Tubular Bells (25:36)

LP two

1) Phish - "Down With Disease" - Live Phish Volume 15 (10:17)
2) Dream Theater - "The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun" - When Dream And Day Unite (8:04)
3) Pink Floyd - "Echoes" - Meddle (23:28)

LP three

1) Derek Sherinian - "God Of War" - Mythology (5:16)
2) Pink Floyd - "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" - Atom Heart Mother (13:00)
3) Ayreon - "Day Twenty: Confrontation" - The Human Equation (7:02)
4) Iron Maiden - "Only The Good Die Young" - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (4:45)
5) Rush - "Vital Signs" - Moving Pictures (4:43)

LP four

1) Rush - "Freewill" - Permanent Waves (5:01)
2) Frank Zappa - "Plastic People" - Absolutely Free (3:42)
3) Pink Floyd - "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" - Ummagumma (9:12)
4) Porcupine Tree - "Fear Of A Blank Planet" - Fear Of A Blank Planet (7:28)
5) Dream Theater - "Disappear" - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (6:44)
6) Marillion - "Forgotten Sons" - Script For A Jester's Tear (8:23)



UP NEXT: FINAL

Competition master list.

Have fun and vote! :)
 
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As I've mentioned previously, there are parts of liamcool's playlist that are awesome (LPs One and Four are my favorites). I do tend to enjoy my list as a whole more, however.

I'll bet liamcool sees that he's in the semis and is floored. :lol: But he deserved it, as his track listing is totally unique to anyone else's.
 
I also have to mention that Axver provided me with his voting perferences in his absence. While his vote can't be included in the actual poll, I will be adding it manually to the overall totals.

In this heat, Axver's vote goes to phanan.
 
phanan said:
I'll bet liamcool sees that he's in the semis and is floored. :lol: But he deserved it, as his track listing is totally unique to anyone else's.

And at this rate, he just might end up in the final, which would be a huge accomplishment...
 
About 4 hours left now.

FYI - the Final probably won't start until tomorrow, as I'll be away from the computer when the semis end.

And my Mac at home is having issues, so thankfully I have my work laptop to still get on here.
 
COBL_04 said:
So does everyone else I think, no offence.

No offence taken. Unfortunately, I thought Axver was coming back today or tommorrow but he actually won't be back until the 8th. So the sign-up thread won't be up until then.

I would suggest that anyone interested start making their playlist. The sooner the playlists are in the sooner we'll start the tournament.
 
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I have 3 playlists ready to submit, I just need to pick which one to use. :crazy:
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
I have 3 playlists ready to submit, I just need to pick which one to use. :crazy:

The hardest thing is that you know every other playlist will be way above average and that you really have to make it unique. I really believe that the playlists in the next game will be great. Knowing that you have to elevate yourself to the top of a pool of other great playlists makes it that much more difficult. Everyone will be like IMP last year where he had to play you and Lancemc in back-to-back matches. That is an intimidating prospect. :wink:
 
I'm trying to focus more on an overall mood and flow while still having standout tracks. I have been experimenting with shorter tracks acting as interludes or exitludes, though.

The funny thing is the first playlist was made a month ago, another was made last night, and I made one blending the best of both together which I'm probably going to submit.

Is yours going to have a narrative, Screwtape?
 
Is the next game going to be another "desert island" type of thing, or is there a theme/genre?
 
It's going to be the standard Desert Island game like before, I think.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
I'm trying to focus more on an overall mood and flow while still having standout tracks. I have been experimenting with shorter tracks acting as interludes or exitludes, though.

The funny thing is the first playlist was made a month ago, another was made last night, and I made one blending the best of both together which I'm probably going to submit.

Is yours going to have a narrative, Screwtape?

That sounds neat. Actually, I have three different playlists and just like you one was made a month ago and the other a few nights ago. The one I'm using is a blending of the two. :lol: Great minds think alike.

My playlist actually has two narratives. :wink: The first one is a pretty straightforward. The second however is a narrative but through a unique prospective which I won't reveal at this time. :wink: More than anything the playlist is an emotional journey that tries to put you into the place of someone else much like my first playlist. I hope people really enjoy it.
 
Can't wait to hear it :up:

I might end up doing a narrative as well, I'd sacrifice that for better flow / mood though, which is what my last playlist was lacking in comparison to my first.

It sucks not being able to use any of the songs from the first 2 contests though. :|
 
corianderstem said:
So more of a flow/mood thing, rather than just a collection of your favorite songs?

It's whatever you want it to be, really. Some people, mainly the proggies :wink: , prefer to make their playlists with definite moods/good flow between songs. Almost like mixtapes.

I'd try to go for a combination of both, but it's up to you. It's all about what you would listen to for the rest of your life.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
Can't wait to hear it :up:

I might end up doing a narrative as well, I'd sacrifice that for better flow / mood though, which is what my last playlist was lacking in comparison to my first.

It sucks not being able to use any of the songs from the first 2 contests though. :|

I'm going to send it out to a couple people early. If you want, I could send it to you when I'm done.

I think mood and flow are the most important parts of the playlist outside of great songs. That is what made Gibsongirl and IMP's so great in the last game. Taking a listener somewhere or into a unique mood can be as a good as a narrative.

The no-repeat rule does suck but it is an important role. There a couple songs that would have been perfect on this playlist that have already been used.
 
corianderstem said:
Screwtape's "artistic" comment threw me. I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks!

Sorry, I'm not fond of the term but it seems to best sum it up. :wink:

LemonMacPhisto said:


It's whatever you want it to be, really. Some people, mainly the proggies :wink: , prefer to make their playlists with definite moods/good flow between songs. Almost like mixtapes.

I'd try to go for a combination of both, but it's up to you. It's all about what you would listen to for the rest of your life.

Exactly. I would say the proggies :wink: are very much focused on mood while the Indies (IMP and Irishteen) focus on flow. Then there are people who really focus on diversity. It almost sounds like I'm teaching a music history class. :lol:
 
Screwtape2 said:


I'm going to send it out to a couple people early. If you want, I could send it to you when I'm done.

I think mood and flow are the most important parts of the playlist outside of great songs. That is what made Gibsongirl and IMP's so great in the last game. Taking a listener somewhere or into a unique mood can be as a good as a narrative.

The no-repeat rule does suck but it is an important role. There a couple songs that would have been perfect on this playlist that have already been used.

I wanted to use Breathe by Floyd and Jungleland by Springsteen so bad, but I had already used them before.

Yeah, I'd love to hear yours soon. I can package mine up and send as soon as I finalize it, too, if you like.
 
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