|
Post by nimos on Dec 27, 2008 15:52:08 GMT
I can't stop listening to The Dark Third! I've completely fallen in love with this band and (literally) can't wait until the next album.
Does anyone know of any bands similar to PRR's style? i.e. modern progressive rock, well produced, mix of soft/heavy passages, memorable melodies, and - most importantly to me - lush, polyphonic vocal harmonies with male and female vocals.
I've listened to every band on Last.fm who have "Super similarity" or "Very high similarity" to PRR and nothing's quite hit the spot; it's probably the case that they're unique, but I had to ask!
|
|
|
Post by Lawrie on Dec 27, 2008 16:46:19 GMT
Hi nimos, and welcome to the forums! Right, to get my oar in on this before all the more prog-minded members of the forum bombard you with Porcupine Tree and other such recommendations, I'd recommend Klaxons' Myths Of The Near Future. It's a bit more of a 'dance-y' sounding record than Dark Third-era PRR (though the sound is not that far away at all from some of what we've heard of Amor Vincit Omnia) and there aren't any parts that are quite as heavy as the relevant parts of Ambassadors/Trembling Willows etc. However, the flavour and structure of many of the songs is still somewhat 'proggy' to my mainstream ears (without ever being what you could call proper prog-rock), and the production values are similarly excellent to those heard on The Dark Third. For the vocals - which you say was your biggest draw in looking for a new and similar band - the whole album is full of polyphonic harmonies that definitely remind me of PRR, and are a large part of the reason why I'm a big Klaxons fan. There aren't any female vocals in the harmonies, but there are often lovely falsetto parts to the harmonies which work very well indeed and are the next best thing to what you're looking for. I don't think they're a perfect match for PRR (as you say, the band do have a fairly unique sound), but if you're interested in checking out a band that are on the more mainstream side of PRR's sound (as opposed to the more proggy/rocky side) then I'd say they're as close a resemblance as I can think of. The tracks to especially look out for on Myths (trying to fulfill the requirements of your brief) are: #1 - Two Receivers; #5 - As Above, So Below; and #6 - Isle Of Her I think these might be closest to what you're looking for (the other tracks are slightly more 'poppy' or more 'dancey'), but the whole album is excellent anyway - it was easily my favourite album of 2007, more so than Radiohead's In Rainbows which I loved - and well worth checking out even if it doesn't turn out to be quite your thing.
|
|
|
Post by ryan on Dec 27, 2008 20:59:59 GMT
in before 'pink floyd'.
Anyway, you won't really find anything that hits all those bases, especially the male/female vocal harmony thing. PRR have sort of taken a lot from other places then wrapped it together in a way that hasn't quite been done before.
Earlier Porcupine Tree kinda hits most of those boxes I suppose, minus the vocal stuff. Maybe older Oceansize stuff like 'Relapse', where there was a bit more of a jammy vibe. Dunno, tricky really.
Prehaps you're better off going back to the bands that PRR take those elements from (assuming of course you don't know them already), stuff like Pink Floyd, Cooper Temple Clause (first album mostly), The Beach Boys (for the harmonys if not the ace pop songs).
|
|
|
Post by blondeambassador on Dec 27, 2008 21:08:00 GMT
I'd say Fields... though they are most certainly not as heavy as PRR but some beautiful harmonies ( www.myspace.com/fieldsband Check out 'The Death) I'm sure there are others but having a mind blank...so may have to get back to you.
|
|
|
Post by nimos on Dec 27, 2008 21:53:51 GMT
Thanks for all your suggestions. I never thought Klaxons would be similar but I'll definitely check them out.
I should perhaps mention Porcupine Tree are probably my favourite band (and Pink Floyd were for a time). I saw Oceansize when they supported PT at the Indigo2 in October; they didn't really make an impression on me as I was waiting for PT to come on! I'll listen to the other suggestions and report back soon....
Lawrie: Peep Show marathon on E4 in a few minutes!
|
|
|
Post by ryan on Dec 27, 2008 22:05:35 GMT
Oceansize were proper hung over at the gig, I doubt they were on form. hehe.
|
|
|
Post by Lawrie on Dec 27, 2008 23:20:20 GMT
Lawrie: Peep Show marathon on E4 in a few minutes! Haha, thanks - but it's probably best I give it a miss: I already have a neat sideline going in alienating all but my close friends by [almost unconsciously these days] including direct quotes from Peep Show in 90% of my general conversation...
|
|
|
Post by Lawrie on Dec 28, 2008 9:42:43 GMT
Oh, and regardless of similarities or differences to PRR, this thread has had me checking out Fields for the first time ever, and they sound really, really good on their Myspace: I shall be investigating them further! Cheers BA! ;D
|
|
|
Post by nimos on Dec 31, 2008 0:11:21 GMT
Listening to Fields' Everything Last Winter now and liking it a lot. There's something about harmonised melodies that I just love, both vocal and instrumental.
|
|
Agrajag
Ambassador
Oh, Globbits!
Posts: 19
|
Post by Agrajag on Jan 5, 2009 22:33:07 GMT
Just look for anything neo-prog and you'll find similarities. Try the first album by The Reasoning ('Awakening' ... though the second - 'Dark Angel' - is less so). Also try 'The Human Equation' by Ayreon.
Porcupine Tree are one of my favourite bands and their mid-period stuff is just astounding (but have gone 'off-the-boil' a bit of late with an incomprehensible attempt to go 'indie')
I would especially recommend Little Atlas' album Wanderlust to fans of PRR, and anything by Swedish band Carptree.
The word 'prog' has become rather unfashionable of late, generating many ill-informed sneers, but PRR are at the forefront of the new prog (or 'intelligent-rock' as it is becoming known as) avalanche. Aside from the vocal harmony issue I strongly suggest that you take time to listen to Frost's 'Experiments In Mass Appeal' which has a PRR like eclecticness.
|
|
|
Post by ryan on Jan 6, 2009 5:00:49 GMT
Porcupine Tree are one of my favourite bands and their mid-period stuff is just astounding (but have gone 'off-the-boil' a bit of late with an incomprehensible attempt to go 'indie') Indie?! Metal maybe, but indie... can't hear that. The word 'prog' has become rather unfashionable of late, generating many ill-informed sneers, but PRR are at the forefront of the new prog (or 'intelligent-rock' as it is becoming known as) avalanche. Aside from the vocal harmony issue I strongly suggest that you take time to listen to Frost's 'Experiments In Mass Appeal' which has a PRR like eclecticness. Prog's always been unfashionable. What gets missed is the difference between 'Prog', as a fairly well defined genre, and 'Progressive Music', as in music that just going somewhere a bit new. A lot of the time all the stuff tagged 'neo-prog' isn't really, it's just 'progressive'. Sure influences come from there, but also from lots of other places.
|
|
Agrajag
Ambassador
Oh, Globbits!
Posts: 19
|
Post by Agrajag on Jan 6, 2009 7:53:13 GMT
Porcupine Tree are one of my favourite bands and their mid-period stuff is just astounding (but have gone 'off-the-boil' a bit of late with an incomprehensible attempt to go 'indie') Indie?! Metal maybe, but indie... can't hear that. I suggested it was 'attempted', not necessarily successful The word 'prog' has become rather unfashionable of late, generating many ill-informed sneers, but PRR are at the forefront of the new prog (or 'intelligent-rock' as it is becoming known as) avalanche. Aside from the vocal harmony issue I strongly suggest that you take time to listen to Frost's 'Experiments In Mass Appeal' which has a PRR like eclecticness. Prog's always been unfashionable. What gets missed is the difference between 'Prog', as a fairly well defined genre, and 'Progressive Music', as in music that just going somewhere a bit new. A lot of the time all the stuff tagged 'neo-prog' isn't really, it's just 'progressive'. Sure influences come from there, but also from lots of other places. This nuance is widely debated on numerous forums; for my part I don't really differentiate between 'progressive music' and 'prog' ... I just like what I like. The 'healthiest' debate I have seen is that currently raging on the Frost forum
|
|
Agrajag
Ambassador
Oh, Globbits!
Posts: 19
|
Post by Agrajag on Jan 6, 2009 7:55:01 GMT
Prog's always been unfashionable I beg to differ. A one time what you label as 'prog' was the height of hipness! Not recently mind you.
|
|
|
Post by ryan on Jan 6, 2009 9:40:04 GMT
I can't even hear the attempt. When you say 'indie', what kind of thing are you referring too?
You could have music that is progressive but features no guitars, for example. I suppose one of the big separators is use of the word 'rock' as well. I still think the two are used too interchangeably though. The bit about liking what you like, well yes but that's not the point surely?
I'm generalising. For a pretty short period, among certain London crowds, perhaps. It never lasted long though.
|
|
|
Post by the dark fourth on Jan 6, 2009 14:56:03 GMT
There was an amuzing little documentary on prog rock the other day on the BBC...dunno if anyone caught it? They captured the flavour nicely by making it massively overlong and calling it 'an observation in three movements.' PRR didn't feature....neither did Floyd, surprisingly.
|
|