Dr. DTVT's 50 Underappriciated bands v. Better than the Loch Ness Monster

[King Postwhore]

All great albums but Whatever and Ever Amen is a masterpiece.  If you ever have a chance to get the DVD of them playing on Sessions at West 54th, a PBS show.  Do it.  You will not be disappointed.

[obscure]

Hey not bad at all... I'm pretty sure my ears would look for some electro guitars pretty much in every song but I quite enjoyed some of those rec'd tracks...

Song For the Dumbed is really cool!

And for the fans of this genre, I'd also rec to check out Gowan.  another piano oriented rock project...

Criminal Mind

picks up at the 1:30 mark

[King Postwhore]

Love Gowan and he is killer in Styx now.  The new Styx Blu-Ray Concert is great.

[obscure]

King of DVDs! 

[jingle.boy]

Hey not bad at all... I'm pretty sure my ears would look for some electro guitars pretty much in every song but I quite enjoyed some of those rec'd tracks...

Song For the Dumbed is really cool!

And for the fans of this genre, I'd also rec to check out Gowan.  another piano oriented rock project...

Criminal Mind

picks up at the 1:30 mark

Love me my 80s Gowan ... Larry Gowan that is, before he got all pompous and went by Laurence .  I think this was the track I gave to Rich in his Roulette.  Strange Animal is a great album.  Great Dirty World has some nice memories for me.  One of the last albums I bought on vinyl.  If I listened to it today for the first time, not sure it would resonate with me.

[yorost]

Unexpected but nice, I had a roommate in university that was really into Ben Folds Five.

[WindMaster]

My friends bass teacher was in Ben Folds Five.

[Dr. DTVT]

Yeah, that DVD is great, I have it. 

[obscure]

Unexpected but nice, I had a roommate in university that was really into Ben Folds Five.

My friends bass teacher was in Ben Folds Five.

After seeing these two posts back to back, I thought that Mason was gonna say 'I'm the Ben Folds Five' 

[WindMaster]

 

[Dr. DTVT]

Actually, my brother-in-law is a spitting image of Ben Folds, particularly in the Battle of Who Could Care Less video.  My sister sees it as well, but he doesn't.

[obscure]

bahahah that's close 

[wolfking]

Ben Folds Five were huge in Australia and Ben actually resides here now in Adelaide.  Good band.  Never got any of their albums but all their hits I really enjoy.

[Dr. DTVT]

I guess I didn't explicitly say it, but some of my favorite BF5 songs aren't the hits he had, which was one of the big reasons I listed this band.

[Dr. DTVT]

Sorry for not keeping up with this thread guys.  In two weeks I have my final defense, and on top of preparing for that, I am sending out job applications like crazy, cold calling professors at other schools looking for a post-doc position as a backup plan, and this morning I got a request to do a conference-call preliminary interview, so I anticipate more phone interviews and hopefully on-site interviews soon.  In addition too all of that, I have a potential buyer for my house so I have to start getting that ready as well.  I'm going to try to make it to 26 by the end of the week, call it halftime, and resume once things start to crystallize.

[yorost]

Life, important.

[lonestar]

What the hell?!?!  Inexcusable.




Good luck on your final defense, it's not like most of us don't have 20+ new bands we can check out in the meantime thanks to you.

[Dr. DTVT]

28.  Pendragon - Pure & Passion



Genre: Neo-prog
For fans of:  IQ, Marillion
What makes them unique:  These two albums (their two newest) might be best described as "new neo-prog" as their sound is more modern than what I associate neo-prog with.

If you followed Nick's top 50 list, you know he had two of their early albums in his list.  I don't own those, so I'll talk about the new albums.  When I think of neo-prog, I think of Fish era Marillion (my favorite era), so when I heard these albums, the first thing that really struck me was the guitar work.  It really keeps the sound from sounding dated in a bad way.  These albums are much more raw and aggressive than what I associate with neo-prog - it really comes across in all facets - and I really like it.  Aside from the guitar, the keyboards also deliver, which one would expect when Clive Nolan is involved.  The songwriting is also above reproach on these albums, both in terms of melody and lyrical content.  They are catchy and I've been caught on two occasions belting out choruses at my desk.  These are the only two albums of theirs I own, but that will change, don't worry Nick.

Tracks to try: Indigo, Eraserhead, The Freak Show, Passion, Empathy, This Green and Pleasant Land

[lonestar]

Gee whiz bud, think I'd like them?


Actually, I have heard a song or two, just haven't gotten around to digging deep into their stuff.  Didn't you send them to me in my roulette, or was that Jingle?

[obscure]

A cyber-friend who has a great grasp of my taste sent me 'This Green and Pleasant Land' some time ago... then I checked'em their other stuff out... good choice!!! 

[wolfking]

I picked up Pure on a whim at the record store about a year ago now.  I wanted to just buy something random and see how it goes.  Pure stuck out, and I instantly bought it.  It is simply one of the best prog alums I've ever listened to.  It has everything, I couldn't believe I picked this album up by random.  i still listen to it a lot.  Passion is great too, not as good as Pure but very, very solid.

Their older stuff is lighter and more Marillion style.  I'm slowly working my way back through their discography.  Great band, very underrated.

[jingle.boy]

Gee whiz bud, think I'd like them?


Actually, I have heard a song or two, just haven't gotten around to digging deep into their stuff.  Didn't you send them to me in my roulette, or was that Jingle?

Don't think it was me.  But yes, i think youd love these guys RJ.  These are my two favorite albums by them for sure. awesome albums.

[yorost]

I hope you don't mind me asking this here, DTVT.  I'll delete it if you want.

I'm not big into new-prog, and Pendragon has never sounded like something I would want to order before so have ignored them for years.  However, DTVT's description of the latest two intrigues me, and the two songs I just sampled were interesting.  Is there anyone here that doesn't really like earlier Pendragon that can comment on these two albums?  Which is the most unlike earlier Pendragon?

[Dr. DTVT]

I freely accept any discussion - positive or negative - about any choices.  I don't take it personally when someone doesn't like something, and I've been rather free-speaking in other peoples lists.  I'm all about informed customer decisions.

[wolfking]

I hope you don't mind me asking this here, DTVT.  I'll delete it if you want.

I'm not big into new-prog, and Pendragon has never sounded like something I would want to order before so have ignored them for years.  However, DTVT's description of the latest two intrigues me, and the two songs I just sampled were interesting.  Is there anyone here that doesn't really like earlier Pendragon that can comment on these two albums?  Which is the most unlike earlier Pendragon?

Pure and Passion are totally different to their earlier material.  What songs have you heard before?

I think Believe is more towards this new direction, but I have that on order so I haven't heard it yet.  I like their older stuff, but I can totally see why people would only really prefer these two albums, they are completely different.

[yorost]

Don't remember, heard some of their stuff 5+ years ago and decided they weren't for me.  What you said is what I was interested in, I'll put one of these on my to buy queue.

[wolfking]

Don't remember, heard some of their stuff 5+ years ago and decided they weren't for me.  What you said is what I was interested in, I'll put one of these on my to buy queue.

Get both of these, but make Pure top priority.

[Nick]

Everyone knows I love me some Pendragon. As far as the two newer albums go definitely go with Passion if you've heard neither.

[wolfking]

Everyone knows I love me some Pendragon. As far as the two newer albums go definitely go with Passion if you've heard neither.

I can see that Passion may be easier for a new fan to get into, but for me Passion just simply doesn't compare to Pure.  I guess the conflicting opinions shows how strong both the albums are.

[yorost]

Don't remember, heard some of their stuff 5+ years ago and decided they weren't for me.  What you said is what I was interested in, I'll put one of these on my to buy queue.

Get both of these, but make Pure top priority.

One at a time, I make sure to take time between buying albums from the same band.  I make fewer regretted purchases that way.

I'm more interested in the album that is stronger overall, especially if it is more unusual.  Which is the more challenging listen or more rewarding listen?  That appeals to me.

[Dr. DTVT]

My opinion on this might be skewed by the fact that I've been listening to Pure more lately, but it has more of that agression I referred to.

[Elite]

I'll definitely check out Pendragon some more. Tried them a year back or so and couldn't really grasp it then, but I'll try it again.

[wolfking]

Don't remember, heard some of their stuff 5+ years ago and decided they weren't for me.  What you said is what I was interested in, I'll put one of these on my to buy queue.

Get both of these, but make Pure top priority.

One at a time, I make sure to take time between buying albums from the same band.  I make fewer regretted purchases that way.

I'm more interested in the album that is stronger overall, especially if it is more unusual.  Which is the more challenging listen or more rewarding listen?  That appeals to me.

For me, Pure is the only answer.

[Nick]

And I'll still take Passion any day of the week.

[wolfking]

Holy f%$&ing shit!!