My favourite bands, artists and albums
Favourite All-Time Bands & Artists
Dream Theater Simply the best band ever! Staggering musicianship from all the members of the band, superb song writing and arranging and the instigators of the "progressive metal" movement. There has always been a large number of people that like both progressive rock and heavy metal bands......it just took Dream Theater to come along and produce a working combination of the two! The complexity of the orchestral-like arrangements, the cranky time signatures and dizzily changing keys, the intricacy of the guitar, bass and keyboard parts and the high-brow lyrics are pure "prog", while the thundering drums and "in your face" rhythm guitar tones are definately rooted in metal. DT also display an enormous diversity of musical styles, from acoustic ballads, to symphonic epics and wild bursts of fury that border on speed metal. All of their albums are quite superb, but the breakthrough album "Images & Words" and the more recent "Falling into Infinity" are just breathtaking. In late 1999, the band released "Metropolis Part II: Scenes From A Memory"........this is probably the best rock album ever made!
Rush Canada's finest export have been around for a very long time and are still making some of the very best music around! Some would argue that Rush were really the first "prog-metal" band, but while I can sort of see the point and although they have been a very obvious influence on Dream Theater and their protoges, I have never seen Rush as a "metal" band. They are in fact, totally unique and have metaphormosed so many times during their long career (through Zeppelin-influenced hard rock, to strongly progressive epic albums and onto the more song-orientated and uniquely "Rush" sounding band of today) that it is not possible to pin a label on them. It is almost impossible to pick out the best albums from the colossal Rush back catalogue, but I would personally recommend the consecutive quartet (1977 to 1981) of "A Farewell To Kings", "Hemispheres" (the two most prog-rock influenced albums), the commercial breakthrough album "Permanent Waves" and the magnificent "Moving Pictures". In my opinion, they are also the best live band in the world: unbelievable perfomances with immensely impressive and original stage shows and a unique band/audience relationship that verges on quasi-religous fervour. If you've "been there" and experienced 12 000 Rush fanatics singing along to "Closer to the Heart", you'll know what I mean!
Genesis(only up to about 1980!). Before they went into a sad artistic decline (following the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett) and turned into the "Phil Collins Band", Genesis were one of the most original and inspirational bands of all time. One of the original, progressive "supergroups" of the 1970s, they made complex, melodic and powerful music that was totally unique. When guitar genius Steve Hackett left in 1978, things were never the same again, but their earlier legacy stands up against anything ever recorded: unique and classic albums like "Foxtrot", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Trick of the Tail". In addition, "Seconds Out" from 1978 remains the best live album ever recorded. Many of you out there may well have "certain opinions" about Mr. P. Collins (no doubt shared by many who didn't enjoy watching the creative death-pains of Genesis), but his drumming interactions with Chester Thompson on that album are quite magnificent.
Tori Amos. Simply put, the best female singer/songwriter ever! A truely magnificent voice, coupled with a colossal talent for writing fascinating and unique songs. This woman is a true genius. Venus Rising, From The Choirgirl Hotel and Under the Pink are all brilliant albums and her debut masterpiece, Little Earthquakes should make anyone's all-time top-ten albums......it's a stunner!
Marillion
Spock's Beard. A band recently discovered, but who are now firmly established as one of my absolute favourites. After Dream Theater, definitely the no.#2 band in the "new prog" movement. Not as metal-influenced and more commercial-sounding than DT, Spock's Beard are maybe what Genesis could have sounded like today if they had not lost their creative spark. The Beardy ones are led by brothers Neil and Alan Morse (no relation to guitar-God Steve Morse!), backed up by a hugely talented bass, drum and keyboard trio, whose previous playing credits include the likes of Genesis, Phil Collins, Sheryl Crow, Tears for Fears and Eric Clapton ('nuff said!). Spiritual leader Neil Morse writes very melodic (often quite "poppy") tunes, with the prog elements provided by the complex arrangements, the extended instrumental passages and most characteristically by the Genesis-esque walls-of-sound originating from Ryo Okumoto's mellotron! Spock's Beard are quite unique and a real "love them or hate them" sort of band. The songwriting is quite oustanding and you can't help but get the feeling that if they got "that" break, they could end up being hugely successful. The recent studio albums The Kindness of Strangers and Day For Night are both superb examples of how good music can still be and give us all some hope! They are also friends and collaborators with members of Dream Theater and will be supporting them on the European leg of the "Metropolis II" tour.....now what a double bill that is going to be!
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