Original_To:  BITNET%"allmusic@auvm"
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Tue, 15 Dec 1992 12:58:00 EST
From:         MCINTYRE@MSUPA.BITNET
Subject:      re: progrock

>From:         Paul Heroy <HEROY@LSUVM.BITNET>
>Here's what Noteworthy offers:

>Camel: Compact Compilation, Pressure Points
_Compact Compilation_ is quite good, although it does cover only four
albums.  But those are probably their four best.  _Pressure Points_
is later, after several personnel changes.

>Gentle Giant: Acquiring the Taste, Free Hand, Gentle Giant, Octopus,
>              Three Friends
_Free Hand_ is probably the most accessible.  _Octopus_ is another
good one.

>Gong: Gazuese (with Holdsworth - yeah!)
Except this is Gong II.  This is fusion, not the psychedelics of the
Daevid Allen era.  I contend you need Daevid Allen (and Gilli Smyth)
for it to really be Gong.  Although _Shamal_ does come close, but
Steve Hillage was still around for that one.  There's another name
for you to check out: Steve Hillage.  _Rainbow Dome Musick_ is two
twenty minute space jams.  _And Not Or/For To Next_ is a real nice
double album with one instrumental disc and one vocal.  And his live
album is a good "greatest hits".

>Peter Hammill: Black Box, Fool's Mate, Over
Strange trio of albums.  Of those three, I'd say go with _Over_.
In the recent poll on the Peter Hammill list, quite a few people
cited _Over_ as being their first Peter Hammill album, so it seems
to be a successful intro.

>Hatfield and the North: <eponymous>, Rotter's Club
I would be hard pressed to chose between these, so try either.  The
vocals might take some getting used to, though.

>Soft Machine: Third (2 on 1 CD)
An excellent album.  (So are 4, 5, & 6.)  This is jazz, albeit jazz
with fuzztones on the bass guitar.  And the organ.  The voice might
take some getting used to, but that is only on one cut, and besides,
it's Robert Wyatt.

>Any guidance about the above would be appreciated, as would be recommendations
>for other stuff (and please don't tell me about some impossible to obtain
>recording that's a 'must have great classic orgasmic album' :-)

Oh, they're not impossible to obtain.  It's just they're Japanese. 8-(
(Nothing against any Japanese people; it's just I don't like paying
$20 - $25 for a CD - especially when it's by an English or American
band.)  Still, I have to recommend Curved Air, especially their first
four albums.  (Although the fourth one is proving impossible to locate
on CD.)  However, you should be able to find _Under the Soft_ by Darryl
Way, the violinist for Curved Air, as a domestic CD.  All instrumental
and quite good.  _McDonald and Giles_ by two King Crimson alums is a
good one.

From Italy, I am quite fond of Formula 3's _La Casa Grande_, although it
is probably not for every one as it's an import, under forty minutes,
and the vocals are in Italian.  Of course, I also listen to Omega, and
while they have put out some English versions, most of their stuff is
sung in Hungarian.  Good luck with the liner notes. 8-)  Their album
_Time Robbers_ aka _Omega 7_ in Hungarian is very Pink Floyd like.
Also quite Pink Floyd like is Jane from Germany.  They at least sing
in English.

Hawkwind has quite a few titles available as US CDs and a ton that
haven't crossed the pond yet.  _Hall of the Mountain Grill_ is probably
my all-time favorite album.  _In Search of Space_ and _Space Ritual_
are a bit more hard core.

Not available domestically but very close to Hawkwind is Germany's
Amon Duul II.  _Yeti_ and _Tanz Der Lemmings_ are double albums,
but the best place to start would probably be _Milestones_, an
excellent compilation.

Awfully close to King Crimson is Richard Pinhas and his band Heldon.
(There is a song on the second Heldon album entitled "In The Wake
of King Fripp".)  A lot of their stuff is available as US CDs through
Wayside Music.

Pulsar from France is good keyboard driven rock.  _Strands of the Future_
is my favorite of theirs.  You can get that at a good price through
Laser's Edge.

And through Laser's Edge you can also get _Atlantis Philharmonic_, one
of the best American progrock albums I have ever heard.  Through the
wonders of overdubbing, two guys do pull off emulating an orchestra.

That should be enough to wipe out your credit limit. 8-)

John McIntyre
Physics - Astronomy Dept
Michigan State University
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU