PROG: Ten WORST Albums
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- In this video we look at the worst of Progressive Rock as we explore some albums that just were not up to scratch. (Health warning - my include men in capes, funny trousers and gratuitous flute) as we embark across topographic oceans to locate the worst of progressive rock.
If you appreciate the work that goes into my videos, please support my channel. You can -
Become a Patron! - Be part of a Classic Rock Community!
There is a fine body of work on there now. / classicrock
Make a one-time donation!
Help me to make more videos or buy stuff to annoy my wife with and unbox on my channel: www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
Gift me something to unbox from my Amazon Wish List: www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/...
Buy me a coffee.
All that talk is thirsty work: ko-fi.com/classicalbum
Like the Facebook page:
I add stuff on a daily basis: / 1968rock
All music used in my videos come from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/
#prog #worstalbums #classicalbum 
Видеоклипы
Just any 10 albums by Pink Floyd.
...kidding, Pink Floyd is not prog.
Its like they are speaking directly to me !!!!!
@Krzysztof Pink Floyd is pop and blues in prog clothes
Totally agree, Floyd is not prog.
@@watttyler8281 Correct, it has a wider range than most prog rock and is generally of higher quality. Plus, women actually went to some of their shows!
Yep. They were better than most prog bands.
This isn’t so much a list of bad prog albums, as it is a list of bad albums by prog artists listening to their record companies post 1978.
Exactly.
You nailed it.
@@makeitthrough_ exactly why I spent. The entire 80s following the dead around 🤣
@@makeitthrough_ I agree completely. I loved 70s music. As a jamming, loose 60s style drummer, the 80s was horrible. Suddenly I had to simplify and standardise my beats and hit super hard. In the 70s I was part of the musical conversation. In the 80s I provided a "skeleton" around which the music happened.
Then came f*ckin drum machines and tacky e-drums that sounded more like f*ckin explosions than drums.
And everyone had to sound more machinelike. And the f*ckin endlessly repeated hooks and vacuous lyrics. And the songs were so staid. Once they started you already knew how it would finish. The old prog tunes, by contrast, were interesting and took unexpected turns.
//rant :)
@@AlmostEthical Good point. Record companies imposed a softer edge to progressive music, and it was very hard for them to adapt themselves.
Quite the Rogue's gallery there. Irony of ironies, if you took all the lists you had ever made, on any topic, I'd reckon that Love Beach figured so frequently that it was, in effect, one of your most regularly discussed records. Thus putting it on a kind of par with dark Side of The Moon.
It's a classic.
You two are a great double act! Morecambe and Wise -like.
@@classicalbum Oh, you two...
That's pretty funny! (Like the man said, there ain't no such thing as bad publicity.)
"Love Beach by the Begees" got a hearty chuckle out of me. Great list!
Glad you enjoyed it!
He says that every time he features that album - which is quite often!😄
That poor much maligned Love Beach. Canario, Memoirs great stuff. All I want is you energetic positive sounding track despite poppiness. Title track great soundtrack for fucking as Taste of my cum (sorry love). Lake still had his great voice unlike two last ELP albums which are their worst. Definitely better than Giant for a day which isn't proggy at all. Renaissance Time Line should be included in this sad list. That hurts me cause I love Renaissance.
ELP were effectively falling off a musical cliff after the tugid Works 1 & 2 especially after the classic first 5 albums. As you say it was the worst at this point in their career which an important part as you say, but in the Hot Seat was the worst album in fact and Gregs voice was shot to pieces!
@@mikewest1542 By far In The Hot Seat is light years worse than Love Beach. It's inexcusable in it's horridness.
I think critics are way too harsh on "Calling All Stations." As a person who lives just outside of Chicago, I'm not ashamed to say that the Chicago Tribune had no idea what they were talking about when they wrote that review. I really liked this album when I was in college. I think they would have made a stronger follow-up album if they had continued. And the song "Not About Us," in my opinion, has taken on a new meaning amid this pandemic. When I hear that song, I think about our healthcare workers. I actually like "Calling All Stations" better than "We Can't Dance."
This is a good album imho
"I actually like "Calling All Stations" better than "We Can't Dance." me too...also, Invisible Touch!
to me the last two genesis albums are my least favourite
but 80s era still had bops like me and sarah jane, do the neurotic and naminanu
i could name some more
Most music critics (literally) don't know what they're about. There are a few exceptions, but as an erstwhile critic myself, many are musically illiterate, jaded, or just focus on what they think will sell. Most of the early rock critics had literary degrees; only a handful had any musical background. Many worked with A and R men from the record companies; this is why certain artists are elevated and others are ignored. Finally, most want to identify the next big thing. This is a major problem in news in general; generating audience attention is more important than truth. Whew! I am glad I got THAT out of my system. But it's something that has bothered me about critics in general since the 1970s. The critical foundation for punk, for instance, was laid by New Musical Express in the UK and Village Voice and Creem for 7 years before a breakthrough Punk group like the Ramones or the Sex Pistols actually appeared. Both gained a lot of attention because the rock music media was laying the foundation for them.
At least on Calling All Stations they got a real singer
I still enjoy listen to Love Beach and I think that the suite Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman is one of the great moments of ELP’s discography… Canario is also a very good piece well damn played by them… The only bad thing about Love Beach is the title and the cover… and yes they seems like Bee Gees…
Agreed. I love the same tracks on that LP.
Calling All Stations is one of those albums that would have gotten more love with any other band name on it, but since it was a Genesis release, it gets more scrutiny than it probably deserves by comparison to the rest of the catalog. Frankly, I think if any Genesis album needs to be on this list, it's We Can't Dance.
I have a joke. I got into progressive-Genesis after they became pop-Genesis. I went to see them in concert and instead of Supper's Ready Genesis I saw We Can't Dance Genesis. I remember the lined up to do that little dance step from the video and Rutherford tripped and fell.
Nope. It's a bad album regardless.
Peter Gabriel was Genesis
You could say the same thing about Yes's _Drama_. It would probably be judged to be a better album if anyone else's name was on it.
@@christopherheckman7957 YES is my favorite band since 1976 and I love Drama and I saw the tour. Sadly, I can't say I liked Horn singing And You and I though.
I'm always so incredibly disappointed when I hear GTR getting such a bad rap. I can understand that it's criticized for its production values as it's very dated sounding and there was a lot of odd choices as far as sampled drum tones or some harsh guitar tones. However, from a writing stand point, this album is *SO* good compared to Asia and other super groups of the time. Every song is so catchy and unlike a lot of attempts at "progressive pop," the ENTIRE record has many memorable hooks throughout. And the musicians on the record are the top of their craft - some which don't get credit as "regulars" in the progressive world (Jonathan Mover is a world-class drummer and Max Bacon is a superbbbbb singer both on record and live). It's not meant to be a Prog Rock opus; there are plenty of those. But if you take it for what it's worth (a solid collection of pop-prog songs), it stands to be one of the very best of it's kind during that time.
Yeah, GTR is one of my ten best LPs of the '80s
Such a sad end to Triumvirat...I didn't think they could sink lower after A La Carte...but they proved me wrong.
Agreed Jim. Very disappointing , considering who and what they were.
I love Triumvirat, but they really lost the thread in the late '70s. Eurodisco seemed to infect a lot of bands from the continent.
Fully agree. But, I've always thought that if Hacket and Howe had decided to forego the AOR singer, and focused on making an instrumental album, then we might have had something worth remembering.
Howe said to Hackett; "hey we made a lot of money in Asia - we could try that sort of thing" ..
Love Beach is awful, quite unlistenable, until you get to track 6 (Canario) and track 7 (Memoirs), which are terrific. And those two tracks comprise half the running time of the album, so overall Love Beach is not half bad for a BeeGees album...
Agreed.
Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman is the forgotten gem of ELP's catalog. It isn't Tarkus, Karn Evil 9 or Pirates, but it's very close to that level. Had they been on better terms with each other they could have brought it to that level. Canario is another great example of rocking the classics...the rest of the album was cringe worthy.
For You is nice.
The BeeGees were actually nothing to make fun of. Some of the best voices and harmonies in popular music.
I always thought "For You" was a good one too @@kathyratino962
Heaven and Earth: "What you expect to hear while browsing the cheese counter at your local supermarket." LOL!
Uncontaminated with cheese
I think this guy is confusing 'bad prog rock albums' with 'bad albums by prog rock artists'. Half of these albums wouldn't be considered prog on their own.
I certainly agree for #1. I'm listening to it now.
Man's got a point here.
Agree entirely - there are much worse Prog albums out there by less well known artists
I'm with you...
Who cares? Prog is an attitude not a genre.
As they say in England, this was good fun! It was a pleasure to laugh along with your humor, in addition to appreciating your obvious knowledge of progressive rock. This seems like a reasonably accurate list, and I would agree with most of your assessments here. That being said, I do very much like several songs on Love Beach, especially Canario, which I think is one of ELP's best. Also, I concur with your liking of Ray Wilson as a vocalist. I believe Wilson is a phenomenal singer, to a degree that he would have been a suitable replacement for Peter Gabriel, had the band chosen to continue in a late proggy direction. I don't love Calling All Stations, as you also feel, but sometimes I listen to album cuts just to hear Wilson's singing. All in all, another great job!
I really enjoy Dream Theater’s music normally, but The Astonishing was a real slog to listen to. I agree with your assessment completely.
I enjoy 'Love Beach' and 'Giant for a Day'. Let's just not unfairly compare them with ELP's and GG's other albums!
I didn't think that "Highly Strung" was that bad, I think was trying to be a lot more commercial than his early albums. "Cured" I also enjoyed "Air Conditioned Nightmare" and some of the vocal tracks are enjoyable.
Any chance of getting a Top ten best of 90's Alternative video?
Also, please keep the channel going man. I know a while ago you had doubts on whether or not you wanted to continue or not, but this channel is truly an underrated gem. Always very witty and interesting.
Thank you. Do share these videos as I want to get to 30,000 subs. I will try to keep it going . I appreciate your support.
I always love listening and reading great reviews and bad reviews. I figured I'd check out some of these releases and hear what caused such a negative reaction, so I looked up Triumverat. Having never heard their music I wasn't sure how to react when I listened to Russian Roulette. It's very New Wave that's for sure. Sounds as if they were trying to cash in on the music at the time. Interesting to note that Steve Lukather is on guitar. That may have steered the band towards more "commercial" music, aka sellout. I'll have to checkout their older material. Great channel!
I subscribed not only for the content, but for the dulcet tones of Our Narrator and his tendency to use phrases such as "processed mulch".
A gent after my own heart. Bravo, sir. Cap sincerely doffed.
Magnification was the last album Chris played on as far as I'm aware and, although it's a low bar, it is much, much better than Heaven and Earth. In fact, unlike anything on that album, two or three tracks make it onto my personal best of late Yes compilation.
I have something to say about Giant For A Day from Gentle Giant.
I think you almost had it. The title and mask implies (to me at least) that the audience of the album
(being that this album is more accessible compared to the ironically titled Acquiring the Taste or the
even more gently giantish (pun intended) Proclamation gets to experience being a Gentle Giant for at least a day.
That being said, I actually like Giant For A Day.
So don your cardboard Giant mask and bask in the Power and The Glory that is Gentle Giant
(but don't really cut out that mask, PLEASE)
Have all G.G.'s albums except" Giant for a day " . Civilian is well below their usual high standards but is a reasonable album for all that . "Aquiring the taste" and " In a glasshouse " were the band at their peak "Giant for a day " an album best forgotten and remembered as a great band ( briefly ) losing it's way .
"Another steaming 80s t...d" 😂 Good combination of humour and sharp analysis. I think your reviews and top tens are the best online, and I do watch a fair few.
Glad you like them!
As those in the know have already stated, ELP's Love Beach does have merit thanks to it's final two tracks Canario and Memoirs... which make up over half of the album.
ELP did Love Beach under duress. Following the quicksand money pit of the Works Tour in 1977/78 which nearly made them bankrupt, they wanted to go on hiatus, recharge their batteries and most of all get away from each other. Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertugen (sic) told them that they had one more album on their contract and that he wanted an album NOW, an album with some "hits" on it, and that if they didn't produce something NOW he would see to it that they never record again either as a group or individually. So they convened at Compass Point Studios , gritted their teeth and recorded the half hearted Love Beach album. Those first songs were the dreadful "hits" efforts.
In retrospect, Greg Lake said that it wasn't such a bad album as it's been made out to be and that if it had a different album cover it probably would be much more fondly remembered.
"In The Hot Seat" is the true donkey turd of the ELP catalog. I've hated it from day one and my opinion gets worse with every listen.
The “Heaven’s Gate” of prog albums
They had other weak tracks . But their best stuff blows away the generic product that ruled radio back then . If they didnt want to record , they should have waited until they did .
Interesting ranking and a good choice. Two times i would disagree. "Highly Strung" is surely not the best Hackett album but i think it's far better than his previous album "Cured" and Genesis' "Abacab". I always loved "Cell 151", "Hackett to pieces" also a cool instrumental. "GTR"... hmmm, more an AOR than a Progalbum. "When The Heart Rules The Mind", "The Hunter", "Toe The Line", "Imagining"... strong tracks in my opinion. I never liked the vocals from Max Bacon. Since it's release i wished, that Hackett had done the lead vocals und Howe the second voice. Always a pleasure to watch your channel. Sorry, if my english isn't perfect... greetings from germany, bye and take care.
As for as Genesis goes this is about right , I had the album and got rid of it quickly, no memorable tunes and some turgid playing from Banks/ Rutherford , their hearts weren’t into this. GTR I heard at a friends , I had the single When the heart rules the mind and the B side Hackett to pieces and Sketches of the sun , thats all I needed from that lousy album , also I agree I never liked the singers voice either . Hacketts worse was Cured , MOR pap especially as what came before it !
To be honest, I think Till We Have Faces is by far the worst Hackett album.
Highly Strung is infinitely better than 'Cured'!
Great vid. Enjoyed. Cheers. Under wraps sticks for me, its a shame cause lyrically I think it's interesting. It could of potentially been great but obviously it was severely let down.
I would also mention Earth Moving by Mike Oldfield and Free as a Bird by Supertramp
Indelibly Stamped much worse..
Re 'Under Wraps' the only way it will get a fortieth anniversary re-release is if Ian Anderson re-records it with live drums, or so he has said. If Anderson gets that he will surely replace the synths with something more sensitive to people's ears too. This will effectively make the original album a demo recording for the record Anderson/Tull really wanted to make all along....
Hard to believe Triumvirat were the same band who did Illusions on a Double Dimple.... how did it all go so wrong?
Well now, that was a bit of fun, and hard to argue with your choices. It hurts so much more when they are bands you hold in high regard! Can I ask what Hackett album you refer to as a lost Genesis album? Maybe you said the title but I missed it. Cheers
Voyage of the acolyte
I don’t think Love Beach is as bad as some make it out to be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a big stinking pile when compared to ELP’s first five albums but I actually prefer Love Beach over Works 2. Yeah the more poppy/commercial tracks are forgettable and grating but think Canario, For You and the title track are pretty good and Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentlemen is reminiscent of the band’s past material. Oh, and the cover is an absolute travesty. I think that’s something we can all agree with.
After Brain Salad Surgery, ELP had nowhere to go but down.
I totally agree on this one….However I could easily add a few more to this list. Seems to me that the perspective of this list has to do with expectations as well as quality of the music and there you are, high expectations gives way for grand disappointments.
Thanks for posting. It would be nice to hear your thoughts on albums like Aphrodites Child, 666, Patrick Moraze’s Refugee, Dave Greenslade, Robert Connolly’s Plateau and why not trough in Dead Can Dance. All the best from me to you.
Great list! I recently revisited the first two Asia LP's, and was pretty disappointed. They reminded me of General Tso's chicken...sweet and spicy deliciousness at first taste, turning quickly into a cloying mess lacking any real dynamics and just shoving bombast at you. GTR made your list, but those Asia LP's aren't far behind.
Agreed . Asia proved that musical skill cant make up for idiotic songs .
I quite like Highly Strung. It's Cured I loathe. Walking Through Walls I like just for the use of chewing-an-apple as percussion.
I tried listening to 'Highly Strung' recently and couldn't get through it. For me a lot of this music is ruined by the 1980s production.
@@classicalbum Yeah I hear you on that.
The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony by Dave Greenslade is a classic one. Magnificent artwork utterly let down by dreadful beige library music. It would've been far better if it had just been released as a book and the records dumped in landfill.
Totally agree about The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony. Fabulous packaging. Fabulous artwork by Patrick Woodroffe. Horrible 'music' by Dave Greenslade.
It wins my "Biggest Waste of Vinyl" award.
I'm surprised that Tales of Topographic Oceans wasn't here.
@@christopherheckman7957 Actually only about 6 minutes of it is weak . And that part just needed take 2 .
There isn't a worst of tubular army, and fun fact tubular army's discography consists of 1 self titled album not 2 as replicas is in effect gary numans 1st solo album
Steve Hackett's Highly Strung? Funny because I thought it was among his best -- very eclectic.
Dream Theatre is always a mixed bag, but it's a pretty interesting journey.
Jethro Tull Underwraps is an interesting trip into electronica.
I love Under Wraps! I would have picked Roots to Branches (YUCK!) as their most un-listenable album until I heard The Zealot Gene. Catfish Rising is pretty rotten, too.
Ian Anderson's solo album "Walk Into Light" was a much better album than "Under Wraps."
From a bad case of Saturday Night Fever to making Love Beach a classic, great word play.
I love Calling All Stations
GENESIS - CALLING ALL STATONS
One has to consider the background to this album. Collins had called time on Genesis, but Banks and Rutherford believed they could get a new singer and carry on as before, hence they got Ray Wilson in. Now in my opinion, Calling All Stations stands up reasonably well; it's not 5*, but more of a 3* to 3½*. The trouble was that Collins was both the face and voice of Genesis and the fans didn't warm to the new guy. The North American tour got cancelled due to poor ticket sales, Genesis had to pay Wilson the minimum money he was due to earn from that tour, and Banks and Rutherford were left licking the wounds to their egos and concentrate on solo projects.
(As an aside, I thought Ray Wilson sounded like Peter Gabriel.)
I agree, especially the part about Peter Gabriel
I don't think Ray wilson sounded anything at all like Peter gabriel, sorry🙄
@@dougreed2257 How so?
@@JIF882 coz iv'e listened to genesis and Peter gabriel for years, have listened to "calling all stations" a lot, have most of Ray wilson solo albums, so I just don't think he sounds much like Peter gabriel to these ears, they are both distinctive singular vocalists, iv never heard or read anywhere before of anyone comparing rays voice to Peters, now the late great David longdon of big big train sounds like Peter, and David sounds nothing like Ray. Wilson, so that's how!!!
@@dougreed2257 A lot of people have said that.
Dang highly strung, I gave it some slack maybe just because I grew attached to the 80s sound, we got Ian Mosley from Marillion is playing drums before his marillion days. Weightless, Camino Royale are my favourites and yes walking through walls is just too weird.
I'm surprised by your inclusion of Calling All Stations. It's not brilliant, but I actually rate it as one of Genesis' better later efforts. Ray Wilson WAS uncomfortable in the company of Banks and Rutherford (and has said so), but musically the tracks are quite memorable. I think so, anyway. Any post-Marbles album by Marillion would rank far lower in my all-time playlist.
I’m a huge ELP fan, so I thought Love Beach would be no 1, as it’s dreadful - but not as bad as The Hot Seat! But Gentle Giant?? Oh no no no no! There are many albums far worse!!
Gentle Giant had an album titled _Acquiring the Taste_. Enough said. (And speaking of acquired tastes, I'm surprised that Magma didn't show up.)
@@christopherheckman7957 Magma! I’d forgotten about them! Now you’ve reminded me, I’ll have to have more psychotherapy. They were incredibly bad!! Well, how can they be anything else if they’re French 😀 They should have the whole top ten of the worst albums. I suppose most bands are an acquired taste for some people. For instance, I have never seen the point of Jethro Tull - all the songs are the same.
@@johnsurrey7426 surely Thick as a brick is about the same thing as Locomotive breath or Aqualung
@@ZaphiroAnejo I agree - every Jethro Tull album is like every other one, and every Jethro Tull song is the same as every other one.
I nominate an album by one of my absolute heroes - Out In The Sun by Patrick Moraz. His previous album, The Story Of i, is one of my all time favourite albums of all time, Smashie. But OITS has no ideas, no excitement - it tries to put TSOi into 3 minute pop songs, and fails dismally. A real embarrassment from a brilliant and original musician.
Thoroughly entertaining list Barry. What it included was almost irrelevant as your quotes, analysis and asides were top notch!
Really enjoy watching and learning from you! Thanks for another excellent list.
Glad you like it
It is very far from Excellent List :)
Another great video but I have to respectfully disagree with 3 albums on this list. I understand the 80's vibe and the music being very synthesizer oriented but "Under Wraps" is a great album. I know most Tull fans hate it but to me it is one of my favorites, Lap Of Luxury is a great opening song and Astronomy is still one of my all time favorite Tull songs. I love how Tull tries to do things differently and this album may have a few misses but it still shines overall. I have to say that "GTR" doesnt get much respect either. The opening track is a massive song that was very popular but showcases the immense talent of Hackett and Howe. The album has fantastic instrumentals from both of them and may have felt misguided in some spots but I will always have a soft spot for the album. Finally "Calling All Stations" is a fantastic album that gets thrown aside too often. Just check out "The Dividing Line" and "Alien Afternoon. Ray Wilson does an amazing job on this album and way too often its forgotten.
Enjoyed the video as always. Thanks Barry.
Under Wraps is one of my favorite records of all times. History will redeem this album.
@@AlesPickar yes I agree
I also like Under Wraps, the drums are pretty naff but the music/lyrics are among Tull's best. As for the Astonishing I would have agreed totally a year ago but my son has been playing it endlessly in the car and I have to say that I now really like it.
@@marinedreamboy my brother got me into Tull about 30 years ago. This was always one of his favorites and became one of mine. It is always in my Tull rotation along with Minstrel, Songs From The Wood, Heavy Horses and Crest of A Knave.
Wow, great to see some love here for Under Wraps. I remember being kinda underwhelmed when I first heard lap of luxury but was intrigued when I heard under wraps 2. I gradually came to really dig the cold war/spy themes in the lyrics, and I actually like the synth work. Over the years it became a must listen to when driving to my backpacking destinations here in Colorado. To be honest I think it's a better 80s album than yes 90125. I still listen to it a lot to this day. P. S., Redbubble has a lot of merchandise with the guyunder wraps logo. I have three t shirts, buttons, and a baseball cap to support this much maligned album. Savor!
Triunvirat’s Russion Roulette shouldn’t be heard as a prog album. It was actually a pop album, and seen from this standpoint it has great moments, such as Rien Ne Va Plus, Games and You Can’t Catch Me.
It’s actually terrible pop album to me personally. vocals are bad (and unlistenable) and music felt very off putting and odd for pop album. The title track was the worst. At least Genesis and Yes made catchy songs. It’s fine you enjoyed it, I just think it’s one of the most horrible things I’ve ever heard.
"the cover is the stuff of nightmares"! good work sir!
Thanks for attempting, I only have listening to GTR lately, and it is a good representative of songs from that era, but maybe if you don't take the perspective of needing to be prog you may enjoy it more. Heaven and Earth are more Fragile than Yes's first attempt at an earth work, and glad you see how uninspiring it is.
That Gentle Giant album is excellent. Granted it's not as good as their earlier albums but it's filled with great songs. I was disappointed to see that on your list.
It would have been an excellent Supertramp album.
As always your knowledge, research and descriptions are simply delicious. I'm quite happy to accept your 'Worst' fest at face value as you are far more knowledgeable than I on such matters but, how can Yes' Heaven & Earth be at No 9 in the top ten worst, yet have three worse than that in their own Yes rankings video, namely Open Your Eyes, Talk and Union were all below Heaven & Earth. Apologies if this is a bit 'Smart Arse' but it does show I listen to, and thoroughly enjoy, your channel. Thx Ian
These things are never set in stone. These albums can always be reappraisd and reevaluate. But all those Yes albums are pretty much the bottom of the pile
Union??!!!
Oh, wait.... You must be referring to the album Bill “My admirers unanimously HATE my Simmons Electronic Drums" Bruford affectionately calls "Onion" from (most of, but not ALL of) the nominally "united" -but-in reality completely separate members of YES during a year-long venture into what can only be described as misguided & 100% fruitlessly unlistenable record production/promotion/publicity stunt-ing. The sole redeeming feature of this semi-disaster was a tour which doubled as a "YES/ABWH Greatest Hits Trip Down Memory Lane".
I must mention at least these two names: Peter Banks and Patrick Moraz. (Honourable mention: Trevor Horn & Geoff Downes.)
edit:
p. s. 2nd redeeming feature.... Tony Levin's bass contributions.
GTR was brilliant, wouldn't call it prog rock just because it had Hackett and Howe. Great channel by the way 🤟🤟🤟
As ever, I don't agree with everything, but done well - like here - these are always good fun. Also, if something you like gets panned, it's interesting to think how long ago you actually listened to it and, if it's a long time, going back to see if its merits from years ago still hold true.
Good call on GTR, I only made it to the end of side one. As for Tull, I think Under Wraps is better than Catfish Rising, which is full of bad to mediocre songwriting (with the exception of Rocks on The Road, which sounds like a Mark Knopfler song), and IA singing several songs in a weird sneery Elvis hiccup voice.
Rocks on the Road sounds like Ian Anderson took Crest of a Knave, pulled out 20 seconds of each song and pasted it together. I do hear the MK similarity somewhat.
Spot on .what makes it worse is that I bought most of these when they were released.....
GTR. I was excited when I heard about this, so pre ordered the 12 inch single. The second I saw the logo I knew it would be shit. It was.I never bought (or even heard the album). That from a big Hackett fan. I don't think you should have included Genesis in this list as they had long, long since given up any pretensions at rock or Prog. At this point they were just an ageing boy band.
Russian Roulette had Steve Lukather on guitar and bass and Jeff Porcaro on drums, so it was high quality shite.
As an AOR (that is, not prog) album, I do love GTR & think Max Bacon is a secret weapon. I know I'm in the minority, but, hey, we like what we like, right?
I agree with all your album choices, except for Calling All Stations. Next to the first trio albums, that is my favorite Genesis album. I love Ray's voice and the moody dark music. Is it Genesis? No. Something completely different. ... I've tried to like GTR, but its just commercial pop for me.
If is one of your favourite by Genesis i think you don't like Prog music and you like Pop
Punk Rock basically killed Prog Rock...the real Prog Rock around 1978. Still,the artists mentioned on this video went on to make new interesting music. Compared to today's music all the albums mentioned are fantastic!!!
The Astonishing should’ve never been that long, also it was a Petrucci and Rudess vision. Why they branded it under DT was a shame. I do give them credit for a way outside the box attempt as I thought most everything they did since Portnoy left was redundant. However too there credit they bounced back with two memorable albums since the Astonishing.
Ah man, you slammed GTR, lol! I saw this tour, and the absolutely best part of it was the opening act, which ironically was Steve Howe (doing some solo numbers) and Steve Hackett (doing some solo numbers). Liked a lot of Hackett's and Howe's solo and Yes/Genesis work, but yeah, GTR was strictly an AOR money grab. I remember some call-in radio show where a caller told Hackett "I love GTR's sound... you sound like Styx..." which, you could tell, kind of left Hackett stumbling, and you could almost FEEL his cringe at the comparison. "Well, we were an early influence on them, and now we're back to show them how it's done..." or something to that effect was Hackett's response.
Interesting to note that both Hackett and Howe made it on here twice...
I have nothing but love for Hackett and Howe, but even great artists sometimes make albums that are a bit... ughh
I agreed most all of these albums are almost unlistenable. But I can't agree with GTR. I really like this record. I saw them play live, and it was one of the better concerts I ever saw. And I've seen a lot.
@@doug5145 Biggest problem for me was always the vocalist. Technically a very proficient singer, but I just didn't like his voice (the timbre or the style). Thought he was better suited to a Broadway production over a rock band. Though I didn't mind it as much at the time, the album production did NOT age well either (hey, let's add some reverb to the reverb!!). Lastly, though I liked enough of the music, some of the lyrics were way cheezy too. I met Steve Hackett on the 2019 Cruise to the Edge, and I joked to him whether there would be a GTR reunion on the boat since Steve Howe was there as well. Not realizing I was kidding, he responded rather bluntly "oh no...not at all...". It just apparently wasn't something he was too proud of, I think.
The only thing I remember of the GTR concert was seeing Steve Walsh in the audience and talking to him after the show. He told us that they were trying to restart Kansas without Livgren.
Great show..Any HM mentions?
Though I was a huge ELP fan, I was glad to see your inclusion of "Love Beach." PU!!!
A good list but I take exception to your rather brutal dismissal of Steve Hackett's "Highly Strung"album.I agree with you about "Walking Through Walls" and-it's pretty bad "Cell 151" is similarly ham fisted with that awful cavernous drum sound which pervades the whole album. However there are some really good tracks like the opening "Camino Royale" , "Always Somewhere Else" (which you acknowledge) and the extended fusiony work-out "Group Therapy".So OK not his best but certainly in my opinion hardly a total stinker.
Also, and I have to admit to probably being the only person on Earth living or dead who does, but I actually like "Love Beach" I am not bothered about the sleeve or title- there are plenty of other way worse looking album covers even by Prog bands.I actually like the band's lighter touch on this album - I love their version of Canario, I enjoy "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman" which is just proggy enough but without the band's usual relentless bombast (yes I know that's "what fans want to hear blah blah blah"- I'm so sick of that argument) and I even like the opening track. So that effectively leaves only a few pop songs which as far as I am concerned are all way better than any of Greg Lake's solo stuff on Works Vol 1 - now that is one truly overrated pile of doggy-do even with its iconic non-more-black cover and pretentious title.
I'm sick to death of the criticism of calling all stations it's actually a good album and much better than we can't dance Ray Wilson brought a great new dimension to the band and genesis could of improved again but obviously some fans didn't give it a chance
Agree with you. Adding it to a list of worst albums is a bad take.
It took me a few listens, but I grew to like Calling All Stations. My first Genesis album was Trespass. I spent a lot of my teen years in record stores. I used to buy albums based on album covers, band names, song titles and instruments played. Genesis was unknown to me. I didn’t care for Trespass until about 5 listens. I grew to become a huge Genesis fan. I gave Calling All Station a chance based on that first experience with Trespass. My friends don’t care for it, but I like it.
Absolutely agree with you. It IS a good album. What a shame they wouldn't continue with Mr Wilson.
Banks actually wanted to continue the band with it's newer touring band im the studio (which was the addition of Anthony Drennan and Nir Zidkyahu) but mike decided to cut the band off for Mike and the Mechanics.
As someone who really dislikes Calling All Stations, I'll admit that to me, it seemingly a lot of potential. The B sides are actually pretty good, but the album itself just drags. The title track feels almost unfinished, like it ends too abruptly. Also, there's something about Tony's synth patches on CaS that just rubs me the wrong way, there's a marked sterility and lack of color to his patches that is not present on We Can't Dance or even his then recent solo album.
Generally, CAS just feels too safe and anodyne, almost like a late response to the changing musical landscape of the 90s. The early part of the decade was marked by the popularization of grunge and rap, 2 flavors of music that often sounded way darker than what preceded it. CAS seems like an attempt to pivot Genesis into that kind of sound. However, by '97, the happy, sunny late 1990s were in full swing, and CAS just doesn't really fit into anything that was popular at the time. Had it come out just 2 years earlier there might have been a warmer critical reception and more sales associated with the album
Chris Squire's last recording was as a guest bassist on Steve Hackett's album "Wolflight" on the song "Love Song To A Vampire". So your Yes entry wasn't his swan song....
I love your Ian Anderson cosplay
I action agree with this - I love 'Calling all station' - BUT don't listen to it as a genesis rec.. more like how I listen to Mike & The Mechanics.... At the time I loved GTR - (Asia + guitars?) - but now, nope.. agree Foerigner....finally I was frightened you'd include 'Yes - Talk' - which I LOVE so so much.. the rest - 100% agree with the deep analysis... of the 8 other albums, I've probably only listened them once or even 1/2 way (Triumvirat for example)...
I tried to listen to Triumvirat Russian Roulette and I finally gave up about 3-4 songs in, in sad disappointment that the band that gave us Illusions on a Double Dimple and Spartacus gave us that.
Dishonorable mention to Octave, the comeback record for the Moody Blues that miserably, and rightly, failed.
Nah, Octave is a good album. I prefer the mellotron-dependent style too, but the LP is a somewhat different style, really mellow and very pleasant.
No the Moodies did some pretty crap albums but Octave isn't one of them. Not heard December?
Yeah, I listened to "Octave" for the first time in many years, and I agree. It's just not very good.
'Underwraps' contains some good tracks which sounded fantastic live. Might be not very "prog", but quite dacent and powerful.
Yup both 'Under Wraps' and 'Fly By Night' have tracks that really really shine live on the 1984 tour.
I saw them on that tour. Fond memories of the Under Wraps era.
I also saw them for the Under Wraps tour. Good show.
Underrated, solid album.
I agree. A real drummer could make this a classic. And - it's one of the best electric bass guitar albums ever. Also, sometimes I think that Jethro Tull are regarded as being in the Prog category because there's no where else to put them!
Argh! I've just discovered your channel and really like it so far but I do wonder how you define "prog." I watched the best of prog video and while I don't consider Amon Duul or Pink Floyd or Jethro Tull to be prog, it's close enough for rock'n'roll, so to cheek, and not worth a quibble. But GTR and the Bee Gees? My goodness man! Have you no boundaries at all?
And while I'm at it, it's "Amon Duul TWO!" Dos! Dois! Deuce! II! Ffs!
"The worst of Kajagoogoo and the worst of Tubeway Army?" That is hilarious. Cheers from across the pond, although I personally don't consider it a pond....
I've don a video on 'pink floyd are they prog' , Jethro Tull had a brief prog phase, and although Amon Duul are kraut rock, it is still one of those tributaries, like the Canterbury bands, that feed into prog
@@classicalbum Oh I understand, I was just messing around. Although there was a time when I used to debate such things, especially Tull. "A Passion Play" is on deck for another listen. You're right that the word "prog" and it's associations was the turn-off for many in the punk/hardcore scene, a scene that ended the second that I left it ; )
I don't know if you like Agitation Free but there's a great video here of them playing the A- side of "2'nd" in 1973 on French TV. And I'll be watching more of yours - it's a great channel man.
While I actually like several of these albums (Calling All Starions!) 👀 This video is hilarious in its delivery. Thanks for the great musings! 🇺🇸
that was a good list. if you want to go further down the nasty yes solo rabbit hole check out Alan White: "Ramshackled" and Stever Howe's solo, I forget the name. I think it had a Dean cover art. Kansas went to sh!t on all their later albums too. i got rid of all the later ones.
Giant for a day is not a bad album.
If you try to compare it to their earlier stuff, well, the comparison does not work because it would be comparing apples with oranges.
The album is actually pretty good, at least to me (I am aware that even the boys in the band did not like that record)
The key to get enjoyment out of it is to listen to the songs for what they are, and not compare them to other stuff.
When I did that I found that the only "weak" songs on that album for me are "take me" and "rock climber"
There’s the old adage that you shouldn’t never judge a book by its cover, but I feel that may not apply to prog albums....
I know relatively well all the albums you mentioned. The worst is undoubtedly the last of the Triumvirat.
As for "Dream Theater - The Astonishing" I have a completely opposite opinion to yours, it's a beautiful album´. It takes time to listen and several times.
And the Jethro Tull {1984} "Under Wraps" I also hear it well. You have to frame it in the awful 80's. It's a good experience
Yep. Agree 100%. Particularly astute summary of GTR...What a disappointment that was. I still remember when it came out. Two of my favorite guitarist from two of my favorite bands and then...zzz.
Great list. I only disagree about "Love Beach" being included, it is a fine album by all measures. "In The Hot Seat" would have been definitely a much better choice if you wanted to include something by ELP.
I think GTR was a good album for it's time. I looked at it as an Arena Rock album, not a Prog album. Otherwise you had some solid selections for the Prog Hall of Shame. Especially The Admonishing and Under Craps.
Giant for a Day and Love Beach! We hated those when they came out, fortunately punk was around by then and we had new music to listen to. Peter Hammill, however, continued to put out great albums at that time.
Agree on most of these but Under Wraps improves with acquaintance and Love Beach does include a couple of good tracks (Fannario and Memoirs Of An Officer & A Gentleman).
I saw them on the "Wraps" tour and have a bootleg from that tour. I know I'm in the minority...but I really like that album and the show was great!
It’s a good list save for The Astonishing. That’s actually a very good album particularly if people take it from the perspective of the Broadway-style prog musical that it’s intended to be.
Also, some of Calling All Stations is good. That could have been a pretty good album if they had left off quite a bit of it. As for The Beegees (lol), at least that has some redeeming value (like bits of side 2), but In the Hot Seat? Pictures at an Exhibition was fine and superior in its original recording, so that remake was unnecessary, and the rest is trash. While Love Beach is the classic poster boy of bad prog, I think Hot Seat came along and did the impossible: give ELP fans something even worse.
Hackett's Highly Strung was probably what it should have been (highly strung) but Weightless and India Rubber Man are two tracks that would be on 'The Best of Steve Hackett' if such an album was ever made.
Is Dr. Evil still working on the Alan Parsons Project?
Giant for a day is a fun record (and much better than 76-77 GG albums) You just should have to view it not from a narrow prog perspective.
GG were good in 1976 . Spin the discs again .
Absolutely brilliant critical vocabulary here. So colorful and funny!! The negative hyperbole stings!!!
I know I'm in the minority....but I really like "Under Wraps". Saw them on that tour..and it was great. I think there's some decent stuff on here. It's not a masterpiece and not classic Tull, I'll agree.....but I find myself reaching for it often.
Good to see someone else who likes Under Wraps
@@rushbravado1972 Count me as another one. Fantastic album. Not a single bad track on it IMO.
I've never heard most of these albums, and it seems I never will. What you have against Eddy Grant I am not sure though. 😆 Electric Avenue was one of the first 45's I ever bought and I still love it.
Eddie Grant's ok. It was one of those songs that was played to death when I was a kid - like that Human League number. But he's ok. I wasn't being totally serious.
Rather confusingly, Alan Parsons Project put out an album called Ammonia Avenue around the same time.
Love the list.
Though i have to admit i'm very fond of Genesis' Calling All Stations.
I'll get my coat!!
Rather than just a rant, which I was afraid this video would be, there was some real insight. And I didn't even realize "Russian Roulette" existed. I'll have to check that one out.
While I may disagree with some of your other rankings, I'd largely agree with your selection here for the albums I'm familiar with of them, except GTR. I thought it was a decent album. And it's really more a blend of AOR & Prog like other bands I've mentioned.
Suspicious edit after the word "stools" when discussing Calling All Stations...you thought twice about making a coarse pun, didn't you? The only one I disagree about is Under Wraps. It may be the least Tullish of Tull albums, but for what it is, I think it's great. The drum machine stuff WAS experimental at the time, and I *love* Ian's bizarre vocal delivery, with all those weird grunts and woo-hoos in between the lyric lines, an approach he (probably wisely) never repeated. I also have to give *some* defense to Love Beach: while the first five songs are all stinkers, "Canario" is great, and the side two epic is fine. As I always say, that makes the album more than half good, something that certainly can't be said of the execrable In the Hot Seat. Plus, the utterly tasteless "Taste of My Love" is such an outrageous misstep that at least there's entertainment value. Cheers!
You're right - you got me. My stools joke is currently steaming away on the cutting room floor.
Rush "Hold Your Fire". As an original Rush fan starting from 1977, I was blessed to be right in the middle of my adolescence as they released one earth-shattering album after another culminating with the twin masterpieces, Permanent Waves & Moving Pictures. By the time of the release of SIgnals (1982) there was a shift in sound that crept in slowly and over the course of the next 5 years each successive Rush album got farther & farther away from their original sound until it was barely recognizable. Remaining ever hopeful to a return to a hard rock sound I waited patiently, but with the release of Hold Your Fire in 1987 it was more than my ears could take. I called this album an "unlistenable abortion" of prog-lite ditties that turned my stomach inside out. Gone were the lush glorious Rickenbacker-Gibson tones and its place were shrill active pickup over-delayed, over-chorused, over-sequenced noise making that was like shards of glass bouncing inside ones ear canals. And the songs were just bad to boot. 35 years on, this album sounds no better. This was by far Rush's worst album and my entrant for the worst prog album of all time.
Agreed. I'm a big fan of Rush myself, but everything after Power Windows was weak. There were a few good songs here or there, but they lost their edge. Disappointing. Neil wasn't telling the cool stories anymore. He fell to weak social issues and nonsense. Oh well.
Hold Your Fire is Rush’s best album.
@@tristenaeon7609 You're certainly welcome to your opinion.
@@tristenaeon7609 I suppose if you live in some alternate reality bizarro universe where Surstromming tastes good, Mississippi leads the world in education & forward thinking, and there was no such thing as Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, Hemispheres, A Farewell To Kings, 2112, et. al.. this might be true. In THIS universe...an unlistenable abortion. Trust me, I know these things.
It's true what you say about how Rush changed. (Geddy got into New Wave/New Romantic stuff and everything went in that synthetic pop direction for a while.) I think 'Hold Your Fire' is a very beautiful album though - if you don;t make any stylistic comparisons with early Rush. 'Time Stand Still' is wonderful, the title track as well. Some of the production may be too '80s and jarring but there remains much that is almost classical beneath the overbearing electronica. Great melodic work and quite moving. I still listen to HFR and love all of it now. (It does not deserve to be on any bad list lol.) 'Presto' afterwards was an incredible album. Amazing songs. ('Test For Echo' is the one I struggle with, where the mojo seems to have disappeared over the horizon.)
Hackett's Cured album is even less prog than Highly Strung. I think of it as his answer to ELP'S Love Beach.
As a Gentle Giant fan, I concur. Giant for a day is a great album if you make your own sleeve and write Manfred Manns Earth Band on it, and pretend its them.
And well done for not including Music From The Elder!
"GTR" did give us "Sketches In The Sun", which is one of my favorite Steve Howe songs. I remember wanting to like the album so much when it was released, and didn't want to admit to myself I really didn't.
True. I found most of the album quite bland, but sketches in the sun is a really good instrumental piece and another great showcase of howe's guitar skill
I saw Tull on the under wraps tour... it was knackers. Broadsword tour was slightly synth heavy, but a great album
Great '70's band , crap '80's and after and l used to be a fan years ago but they lost it .
Lost interest in Tull after Barry Barlow and John Evans were kicked out . Big mistake by Ian Anderson.
Honorable mention to your list. Patrick Moraz - Out In The Sun. Almost makes me wish to puncture both ear drums.