Prog Island Album Game: Round 1, Heat 2

[Axver]

Please vote for the tracklist you LIKE THE MOST.

Welcome to the second 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 first heat, GibsonGirl achieved a decisive victory over Axver by a margin of 12-4. The current table for Group 1:

Forum name: total competition points, played, won, lost, votes for, votes against, votes difference
GibsonGirl: 2; 1, 0, 12, 4, +8.
Axver: 0, 0, 1, 4, 12, -8.
Liamcool: N/A
Supertracklist: N/A

This second heat features Liamcool against the collaborative effort that is the Supertracklist. This poll will run for 72 hours. Below, you will find the tracklists.

If you are not familiar with the songs, leave your e-mail address. We have links!

PS Liam's tracklist is now available.

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)

Forum "name": Supertracklist

What is one thing prog musicians do all the time? They play in odd time signatures like 7/8, 17/16, and Pi/e; they can play more notes in 10 seconds than The Edge plays in an entire concert; and THEY FORM SUPERGROUPS. So in homage to this, each contestant in the tournament has submitted tracks for a combined "Supertracklist". I wonder if anyone can tell who submitted what.

1. Spock's Beard - "Day For Night" - Day For Night (7:34)
2. Porcupine Tree - "Buying New Soul" - Recordings (10:27)
3. Marillion - "Script For A Jester's Tear" - Script For A Jester's Tear (8:42)
4. Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "Fugue" - Trilogy (1:56)
5. Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "The Endless Enigma, Part 2" - Trilogy (2:02)
6. Fairfield Parlour - "Drummer Boy Of Shiloh" - From Home To Home (3:16)
7. Supertramp - "It's A Long Road" - Supertramp (5:34)
8. Caravan - "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" - In The Land Of Grey And Pink (5:01)
9. Gravy Train - "Messenger" - A Ballad Of A Peaceful Man (5:57)
10. Formula Tre - "Rapsodia Di Radius" - La Grande Casa
11. Roxy Music - "Out Of The Blue" - Country Life
12. Aphrodite's Child - "The System/Babylon" - Supernatural Fairy Tales (3:13)
13. Dredg - "Ode To The Sun" - Catch Without Arms (4:12)
14. The Mars Volta - "Eriatarka" - De-loused In The Comatorium (6:21)
15. Wolverine - "And She Slowly Dies" - Still (7:40)
16. Pure Reason Revolution - "Victorious Cupid" - Online single (3:37)
17. Oceansize - "A Homage To A Shame" - Everyone Into Position (5:52)
18. Dream Theater - "The Glass Prison" - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (13:51)
19. Dark Suns - "The Euphoric Sense" - Existence (5:54)
20. Focus - "Hocus Pocus" - Moving Waves (6:43)
21. Procol Harum - "Repent Walpurgis" - Procol Harum (5:04)
22. Chroma Key - "Undertow" - Dead Air For Radios (4:48)
23. Genesis - "The Colony Of Slippermen" - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (8:13)
24. Pink Floyd - "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" - Careful With That Axe, Eugene single (5:44)
25. Utopia - "Caravan" - Adventures In Utopia (7:01)
26. Renaissance - "The Vultures Fly High" (3:07)
27. Earth & Fire - "Circus" - Atlantis (6:13)
28. Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "Jerusalem" - Brain Salad Surgery (2:44)
29. Focus - "Hamburger Concerto" - Hamburger Concerto (20:19)
30. Starcastle - "Lady Of The Lake" - Lady Of The Lake (10:27)
31. Queen - "Father To Son" - Queen II (6:14)
32. Eloy - "The Apocalypse" - Silent Cries And Mighty Echoes (14:58)
33. In The Woods... - "299 796 km/s" - Omnio (14:46)
34. Porcupine Tree - "Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape" - Staircase Infinities (9:36)
Total runtime: 3:57:14

UP NEXT: Screwtape2 vs phanan

Competition master list.

Have fun!

 

[Screwtape2]

This match was even harder than the last to decide.

The Supertracklist had a lot of songs I liked. The playlist had pretty good atmosphere, flow and mood. The middle and end of it are also very good. Certain parts of it are truly excellent. What made this so hard was that the second half of it is just so good. Queen, Starcastle, Utopia and Focus are represented by underrated gems.

Unfortunately for the Supertracklist…Liamcool’s playlist is a masterpiece. The songs flow so well and the experience is truly prog. The whole thing is balanced between melodic, rhythmic pieces and fast paced songs. It works so well and to such a degree that I don’t think I fully understand all the amazing things going on in it. Tubular Bells and Echoes work so well in the playlist. The whole thing is just fantastic. The first LP is my favorite. Liamcool wins my vote.

Good luck to Liamcool and the Supertracklist.

 

[Axver]

This is all too hard. The Supertracklist has more that I dislike or at least consider inferior, but it also has more stuff that I really love. I haven't decided where my vote will go yet as I haven't fully absorbed Liam's fifth LP. For now, here's my critique of the Supertracklist:

1. In some places, the flow isn't ideal. I take full responsibility for that, but I am happy with what I managed to achieve. It can be very hard to create a cohesive work when you have so much variety, especially when a lot of it is completely new to you. The sections containing songs I already knew are probably those that flow the best.
2. My favourite passage is 16-22. Great flow, and the heaviness is to my liking.
3. The following songs should never have been submitted: Genesis's The Colony Of Slippermen and Earth & Fire's Circus. The former in particular is absolutely dreadful.
4. The closing passage from Hamburger Concerto is absolutely beautiful. Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape provides for a particularly intense conclusion. I seriously love that song. Yes, it was one of my contributions. I've always wanted to use it to close something.
5. The opening is great too. Day For Night is very appropriate, as it's by a band with strong stylistic ties to seventies classic prog but who nonetheless play nineties modern prog. It introduces both facets of the tracklist.
6. My least favourite portion is 4-12. Some of the songs in there are great, don't get me wrong, but I think it lacks the spark that other parts of the tracklist have. I'm also not particularly sold on that Caravan song. (I was initially going to put it with Utopia's Caravan for a laugh though ...)

 

[Axver]

I must say, I'm surprised Liam is currently leading 4-0. Going by his runs in previous tournaments, I wasn't optimistic about his chances.

I'm leaning towards voting for his tracklist at the moment. The first and last LPs in particular are incredible.

 

[phanan]

I haven't listened to Liam's list yet, so I'll hold off voting until I've done so.

As for the Supertracklist, which I listened to last night and again this morning, I think the flow worked out well for such a diverse group of songs. Good job with that, Axver.

The 1-2 punch of Day For Night and Buying New Soul is fantastic - of course, I have both of those songs already, so no surprise there.

There's probably too much older material embedded in this playlist, which of course is partly my fault as that is all I contributed to this. I think it makes the whole thing a bit uneven.

For my one song that I was blown away with that I didn't previously know, it's Ode To The Sun. What a soaring track! I've never heard of Dredg before, so that's an artist I'll have to find out more on.

I also really enjoyed the ending, from Starcastle on. Lady Of The Lake is a beautifully underrated song, and I thoroughly enjoyed that In The Woods track. And to finish it with PT's Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape was a nice touch.

So overall, I quite liked the Supertracklist. However, it will most likely be hard to beat Liam's set, because I love the songs that I know on there already (well, except Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, which I never have liked). Unless I can't stand the others, he's probably going to get my vote.

 

[phanan]

Good thing we have this one going all weekend, as it appears not too many people have listened to everything yet. Only four votes so far.

Of course, I'm one of those people.

 

[phanan]

Can't let this fall past the first page.

 

[Axver]

I'm amazed at how badly the Supertracklist is doing. 6-0 right now.

 

[liamcool]

Something's very wrong. I'm scared. Why the hell am I winning by so much?

 

[Axver]

Something's very wrong. I'm scared. Why the hell am I winning by so much?

Well, I was leaning towards voting for you, but if it'd make you feel better, I'll vote for the Supertracklist instead.

 

[phanan]

I went to download liam's tracks but realized they were never sent to me. Can someone either email or PM them to me?

Thanks...

 

[Axver]

Just e-mailed you the link.

 

[hardyharhar]

to Liamcool for getting The Mothers in. But the supertracklist is a juggernaut of prog that I like.

 

[phanan]

Just e-mailed you the link.

Thanks. Listening now.

 

[Axver]

I think there's about 2.5 hours left of voting time, folks, so get those votes in ...

 

[phanan]

So overall, I quite liked the Supertracklist. However, it will most likely be hard to beat Liam's set, because I love the songs that I know on there already (well, except Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, which I never have liked). Unless I can't stand the others, he's probably going to get my vote.

Well, I've listened to Liam's playlist, and of course I liked most of the songs I already knew, but for the ones I wasn't familiar with, I didn't really get into them too much. I've never really liked Iron Maiden or Frank Zappa, and while I do like some Phish, I don't consider them a regular artist that I listen to.

However, I loved the inclusion of Tubular Bells. I seriously considered some portion of it for my own list, but with Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream already on mine, I left it off.

I also thought LP 4 was by far and away the best of the four sides. With the exception of the Zappa track, every other song on there is fantastic (well, I'll give the Marillion song a "good" actually). But definitely my favorite side.

I thought the sequencing for LP 1 was a bit jarring, but otherwise liked it (with the exception of the second Marillion track on there - just didn't care for it).

LP 3 was the part I liked the least. The only song in that section that is really good, to me anyway, is Vital Signs by Rush.

Seeing as how my vote is probably not going to change things at this point, as this poll closes in a couple of hours, I'm actually going to give the Supertracklist another vote. While I found that playlist to be uneven at times, I ended up enjoying more songs on there that I didn't previously know, and that was the difference for me.