Desert Island 2.5: Prog Island Album Game Rules and Sign-up Thread

[Axver]

Isn't Queen a bit prog too?

For sure, at least in the early seventies. I was considering a couple of tracks from Queen II, but ultimately left them out.

 

[Zoots]

Hey! I just thought of the Genesis offshoot, Mike & The Mechanics! What about them? Prog or too adult pop to be prog?

 

[Screwtape2]

I guess this page could be a decent guide to what can be included in Prog Rock.

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:374

Wow. What's Kate Bush's Kick Inside doing there.

 

[GibsonGirl]

For sure, at least in the early seventies. I was considering a couple of tracks from Queen II, but ultimately left them out.

I wanted to use some Queen II tracks too. The March Of The Black Queen would have been ideal, but then I would have needed to include Funny How Love Is, which isn't progressive at all. I ended up going with Bicycle Race instead. It shouldn't be possible to fit so many tempo changes into a three minute song, but Queen managed!

 

[Lila64]

Mike & The Mechanics?

Mike Rutherford's solo release 'Smallcreeps Day'

 

[Zoots]

Yeah I guess Mike & the Mechanics is like adult contemporary or something. lol. Anyway, I find it funny that Phil Collins gets a lot of shit from old school Genesis fans but if you look at Peter Gabriel's solo hits... Sledgehammer, In Your Eyes, Big Time, Steam, Digging In The Dirt etc., they're all pretty pop-ish too! Granted, they're not as sugary coated as some of Collins' tunes like I Can't Stop Loving You. Can't believe he wrote such a banal chorus for that one.

 

[Zoots]

Btw, I have to say I don't care what old school Genesis fans think. No Son Of Mine is a fantastic song! It had a great video too!

 

[adrball]

I ain't got a clue what 'prog rock' is! So I just be standing by having a listen. I should be around a bit more to vote this time also.

 

[Screwtape2]

Btw, I have to say I don't care what old school Genesis fans think. No Son Of Mine is a fantastic song! It had a great video too!

We Can't Dance has a lot of great songs. It's my 2nd favorite post-Gabriel Genesis album (their self-titled album being the 1st.)

 

[Zoots]

We Can't Dance has a lot of great songs.

Jesus He Knows Me
Driving The Last Spike
I Can't Dance
Dreaming While You Sleep
Living Forever
The Way Of The World
Fading Lights



I'd like to get the self titled one at some point!

Home By The Sea

 

[phanan]

We Can't Dance has a lot of great songs. It's my 2nd favorite post-Gabriel Genesis album (their self-titled album being the 1st.)

I like both of those as well, although I rate Duke higher.

 

[Screwtape2]

I like both of those as well, although I rate Duke higher.

I'd rate Duke higher if the album didn't feature Misunderstanding and Turn It On Again. I can't stand that pop-ish stuff on an album with so many other great tracks.

Behind The Lines
Duchess
Man Of Our Times
Duke's Travel

 

[Axver]

I wanted to use some Queen II tracks too. The March Of The Black Queen would have been ideal, but then I would have needed to include Funny How Love Is, which isn't progressive at all. I ended up going with Bicycle Race instead. It shouldn't be possible to fit so many tempo changes into a three minute song, but Queen managed!

I was considering Ogre Battle most seriously, just because it's so ridiculous and fun that I thought it would provide a good change in mood for my tracklist. But, alas, you can only fit so much into 4 hours.

And Bicycle Race! That song has so many nostalgic memories for me, as my father played it all the time when we went to visit my grandparents ... until his car's cassette player ate the cassette while we were crossing the Rimutaka Ranges and were 30 minutes from any half-decent radio reception! Funny how that era of cassettes, eaten tapes, and shitty radio reception not far from a large city feels like an entirely different time now.

Though your mention of its musical complexity is making me now wish I had Dream Theater's The Dance Of Eternity on my tracklist. 91 changes between 17 time signatures in 6.5 minutes? Oh yes!

PS WTF happened in the Super 14 final!! Holy shit!

 

[Lila64]

I still need 'Duke'

And Zoots, you have to remember that Phil Collins was the drummer for Genesis first, and after Gabriel left, he took over the vocal duties. They were still "prog" (I guess you'd say) up until that S/T album. We stopped listening after that.

And Peter Gabriel had at least 3 solo albums in the 70s. 'Security' came out in the early 80s, and the big 'hit' there was 'Shock The Monkey'. Before that, you might recognize 'Solsbury Hill'. Maybe you heard 'Games Without Frontiers' from the 3rd solo. I'd name a few more, but I figure it's pointless

 

[phanan]

With the exception of the Invisible Touch album and a few choice songs here and there, I'd argue that Genesis really continued in a prog-type vein for most of their career. Take We Can't Dance, for example. Sure, there are a couple of songs that definitely are more in the pop vein, but No Son Of Mine, Driving The Last Spike, Dreaming While You Sleep, and Fading Lights are some of their best moments ever.

In my opinion, of course.

And really, Peter Gabriel never went over to pop as much as Collins. Nowhere near it. His last album, Up, is as far from the mainstream as anything you'll hear.

 

[phanan]

So we're still looking for one more person it seems, perhaps two. I'm not sure if we'll get it or not. Any ideas for getting this thing underway?

 

[LemonMelon]

And really, Peter Gabriel never went over to pop as much as Collins. Nowhere near it. His last album, Up, is as far from the mainstream as anything you'll hear.

Indeed. People who think that Peter Gabriel is a pop songwriter has obviously never heard Intruder or Darkness.

 

[Screwtape2]

I still need 'Duke'

You might have an e-mail some time tonight.

And Zoots, you have to remember that Phil Collins was the drummer for Genesis first, and after Gabriel left, he took over the vocal duties. They were still "prog" (I guess you'd say) up until that S/T album. We stopped listening after that.

And Peter Gabriel had at least 3 solo albums in the 70s. 'Security' came out in the early 80s, and the big 'hit' there was 'Shock The Monkey'. Before that, you might recognize 'Solsbury Hill'. Maybe you heard 'Games Without Frontiers' from the 3rd solo. I'd name a few more, but I figure it's pointless

In all honesty, Tony Banks should get a lot of the blame for where the band went. Phil's drumming remained unique but what didn't was Tony's keyboards. I don't think he was ever the same after Steve Hackett's departure. If anything Phil Collins is what kept the prog going as long as it did.

Solsbury Hill, Games, Shock The Monkey, Sledgehammer and In Your Eyes are about as pop-ish as Mama and Home By The Sea. Gabriel has always had a knack for great chorus's and I think people confuse that for being pop-ish. Plus the rest of those albums are unbelievably unique. Lila, didn't he release No Self Control as well? That's very pop-ish.

There seem to be three kinds of Genesis fans: those who really love Phil Collins, those who really love Peter Gabriel and those who long for more Britannia. I'm among the latter.

 

[Lila64]

 

[GibsonGirl]

I was considering Ogre Battle most seriously, just because it's so ridiculous and fun that I thought it would provide a good change in mood for my tracklist. But, alas, you can only fit so much into 4 hours.

And Bicycle Race! That song has so many nostalgic memories for me, as my father played it all the time when we went to visit my grandparents ... until his car's cassette player ate the cassette while we were crossing the Rimutaka Ranges and were 30 minutes from any half-decent radio reception! Funny how that era of cassettes, eaten tapes, and shitty radio reception not far from a large city feels like an entirely different time now.

Though your mention of its musical complexity is making me now wish I had Dream Theater's The Dance Of Eternity on my tracklist. 91 changes between 17 time signatures in 6.5 minutes? Oh yes!

PS WTF happened in the Super 14 final!! Holy shit!

Ogre Battle is a good one too. Reversed drums + ogre men + screaming + gongs = a song that wins a hundred times over.

I miss the days of cassettes and eaten tapes. You're right, it feels like a completely different era. Those long trips between Natal and the Western Cape just wouldn't be the same these days without the cassette getting stuffed up in the tape deck. The frustration of having to stick your index finger into the little holes in order to wind up the tape again was half the charm!


And argh, I wish I could have seen the final...even though the Sharks lost by a hair! I saw highlights on YouTube and it looked like a fucking amazing match. It's funny, the last rugby match I ever saw in the flesh was between the Sharks and the Bulls at Kings Park. The Sharks lost then too. It wasn't anything like the quality of the match on Saturday though.

 

[GibsonGirl]

By the way, Lila, thanks again for sending me those Kayak tracks. I just can't stop listening to Trust In The Machine. I have to find some way to fit it into my list.

 

[Zoots]

those who really love Phil Collins

I don't know about "really love" but I'm definitely in that category! Granted, I've heard almost nothing of Gabriel's Genesis.

The frustration of having to stick your index finger into the little holes in order to wind up the tape again was half the charm!

I remember my tapes would sometimes get dirt accumulated in them over time, and the spools would get really heavy making it almost impossible to rewind or fast forward, or even play. I had this old Panasonic mono tape recorder which seemed to have a really high speed rewind for some reason. I would spin my tapes in there and that would get rid of the dirt or whatever and loosen the spools.

 

[Screwtape2]

I'm finished.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how it'll go over. The concept is...unique to say the least.

 

[phanan]

The uniqueness of everyone's playlist is what will make this really cool. I won't care if I don't get a single vote - just being able to make it up, and see what others create, as well as perhaps getting exposed to some things not previously knowing well, is the rewarding part of this.

 

[LemonMelon]

Granted, I've heard almost nothing of Gabriel's Genesis.

You will have mail some day very soon.

 

[Axver]

Ogre Battle is a good one too. Reversed drums + ogre men + screaming + gongs = a song that wins a hundred times over.

I miss the days of cassettes and eaten tapes. You're right, it feels like a completely different era. Those long trips between Natal and the Western Cape just wouldn't be the same these days without the cassette getting stuffed up in the tape deck. The frustration of having to stick your index finger into the little holes in order to wind up the tape again was half the charm!


And argh, I wish I could have seen the final...even though the Sharks lost by a hair! I saw highlights on YouTube and it looked like a fucking amazing match. It's funny, the last rugby match I ever saw in the flesh was between the Sharks and the Bulls at Kings Park. The Sharks lost then too. It wasn't anything like the quality of the match on Saturday though.

I'm still seriously thinking of adding Ogre Battle. I have a couple of songs that I may remove ... this is really so agonisingly hard.

I still remember the nervousness of putting an old and over-played cassette into the player, wondering whether this would be its last spin before it got eaten and mangled for good. And I remember the days of copying tapes - having to play the whole bloody thing to get it to copy onto another tape! I hate to think how much bloody time would have been spent making one of our Desert Island compilations back in the cassette era.


The last 10 minutes of that Super 14 final must've been heart-in-your-mouth/heart attack material for Sharks and Bulls fans. I just cannot believe that final try by Habana. That guy scares the shit out of me, simply because he seems capable of creating tries when no reasonable - or even faint and totally unreasonable - opportunity exists. The All Blacks damn well better shut him down in the Tri-Nations! Oh oh oh, and did you see GEORGE GREGAN HAS LOST THE WALLABIES CAPTAINCY! I just about threw a party, especially because they gave it to monkey man Phil "I'm the missing link in the evolutionary chain" Waugh! The Wallabies are doomed.

 

[phanan]

I keep thinking I'm done, and then I find something else I'd like to include.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I'm very interested in learning more about the prog genre, and excited to see what everyone comes up with.



I believe I fit into the really loves Peter Gabriel category of Genesis fans...although, I need more Genesis

 

[Screwtape2]

I went back through the thread and we've got 10 interested people outside of the 7 contestants and Brau who will secretly listen to the playlists behind an alter. We could have 20-30 people voting in this. This is more than I was honestly expecting.

On a different note, I'm watching the Classic Album documentary of Dark Side Of The Moon. I've seen it a dozen times but it still fascinates me every time.

 

[Lila64]

This is tedious work ripping CD
I told hubby he'll have to register here and chat with you guys. Or not, hehehee.

List isn't made, just ripped a ton of tracks so far
Some I like and haven't heard in a while. Used to hear this stuff a lot working in a record store with guys who likes all this prog stuff. I may have to sneak a few CDs out to listen to once this is over

Dinnertime!