Modern prog album suggestions

[StanFan]

Hi,

I often find myself searching local music stores for an album to pick up, and either find myself settling on an album I'm either already familiar with or buying yet another album from one of my favorite artist's extended discography. So I'm looking for any suggestions on any progressive/prog bands to check out (preferably from the 90s or later, but it doesn't have to be). Here are some bands I've been listening to lately, but you don't have to limit suggestions to bands that sound like these ones:

Fates Warning
Devin Townsend
Tool
King Crimson
Yes
Gordian Knot
Between The Buried And Me
Behold .... The Arctopus
Porcupine Tree
Jethro Tull
Mr. Bungle

[Dosed_Mind]

The Mars Volta would be an obvious suggestion. Start with the first album and go from there

[BrentSimons]

I really enjoy Spock's Beard and Dream Theater. Rush of course!
B

[darthbatman]

Battles(one of my current favorites. soo rhythmic and so very modern)

Tera Melos(progressive, chaotic, manic-depressive goodness)

Russian Circles(slow prog-drenched post-rock)

Spock's Beard(old-school 70's style prog)

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by Dosed_Mind

The Mars Volta would be an obvious suggestion. Start with the first album and go from there

Personally, I think they peaked with Frances The Mute. But yes, by all means, check out TMV.

It looks like you're into the heavier side of this sort of stuff, so look up Opeth, Cynic, and Atheist, too.

[StanFan]

I'll also add that I've pretty much got every Opeth and Dream Theater album, and plenty of Rush. I also have all Atheist's albums and both of Cynics, but keep the suggestions coming. I like being kept busy in this fashion.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Well you hadn't said that

How about Atomship?

[jimmothy.green]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

Personally, I think they peaked with Frances The Mute. But yes, by all means, check out TMV.

It looks like you're into the heavier side of this sort of stuff, so look up Opeth, Cynic, and Atheist, too.

I completely disagree. Amputechture may have been a little bit of a throwaway even though I really dig some of the tunes on that album but Bedlham and Goliath is just a monster album for me. Definitely a progression in my opinion concerning melody, approach, and depth of song writting.

BTW

Deluge is one of my favorite standards.

[Joe Gress]

Mastodon. Especially the last two albums. (and most likely the next one that is coming out)

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by jimmothy.green

I completely disagree. Amputechture may have been a little bit of a throwaway even though I really dig some of the tunes on that album but Bedlham and Goliath is just a monster album for me. Definitely a progression in my opinion concerning melody, approach, and depth of song writting.

BTW

Deluge is one of my favorite standards.

Its definitely a progression, but none of their records have had that same "holy ****, what is this awesome thing I'm hearing" effect on me besides FTM. It blew me away.



As for the standard, I haven't heard it, or heard of it. What is it?

Also, +1 to Mastodon, but judging by the bands he mentioned, I'd stick to Blood Mountain.

If you're into screamed/shouted vocals, you can't go wrong with Dillinger Escape Plan.

[StanFan]

Listening to Battles right now, and i like what I hear.

Dillinger Escape Plan is a good one too. Off topic, but anyone know what they're gonna do for a drummer now that Gil left? Chris return perhaps?

[f'nar f'nar]

Between the buried and me, Mastodon, Opeth and Yes. Followed by Porcupine tree and Cynic.

[kosmicwizard]

I have seen dream theatre, mars volta, and TOOL. I would love to see Rush (they were very good when I saw then on T.V. at the 2003 Sarsfest. So for clairification, is a band considered prog if they push the envelope? Because if this is the criteria, here are some other bands that you might like, Death from above 1979, Les Claypool (in all his incarnations), The Tea Party, David Bowie (with Tony Visconti, Trevor Bowlder, or Gail-Anne Dorsey on bass [I don't like his '80's stuff]), Arthur Lee's "Love" is a truly great band, but very few people have heard of them, his bass player Ken Forssi took bass playing to the next level IMHO. Enjoy! I hope I gave you some food for thought. Cheers.

[StanFan]

Russian Circles is sounding pretty nice as well.

Didn't expect this many results this quickly. My threads usually die a quick death, but I'll be sure to keep this one on life support.

[Deluge Of Sound]

I'm pretty sure "prog" means "technically complex ______(your preferred genre here) with unconventional song structures"

[StanFan]

Originally Posted by kosmicwizard

I have seen dream theatre, mars volta, and TOOL. I would love to see Rush (they were very good when I saw then on T.V. at the 2003 Sarsfest. So for clairification, is a band considered prog if they push the envelope? Because if this is the criteria, here are some other bands that you might like, Death from above 1979, Les Claypool (in all his incarnations), The Tea Party, David Bowie (with Tony Visconti, Trevor Bowlder, or Gail-Anne Dorsey on bass [I don't like his '80's stuff]), Arthur Lee's "Love" is a truly great band, but very few people have heard of them, his bass player Ken Forssi took bass playing to the next level IMHO. Enjoy! I hope I gave you some food for thought. Cheers.

Primus sucks!!

[gweimer]

Don't know what King Crimson you've been listening to, but their last release, The Power To Believe, has become my favorite. And I've got TONS of their stuff. It's better than Red and Lark's Tongue In Aspic, imo.

If you don't mind a little borderline Prog/Pop, check out Deerhoof (either The Runners Four or Friend Opportunity)

[Lync]

I have been digging Symphony X..they remind me of Dream Theater, Kansas, Fates Warning, and Yngwie rolled into a modern prog band.

Also...check out http://www.pandora.com

Put in what band or tune you are in the mood for, and then you can check out music with similar qualities. I bookmark the tunes I like and have ended up buying a bunch of discoveries. Good stuff.

[markblasco]

I find a lot of that stuff (dillinger, battles, volta, etc.) is too crazy for me, and I don't put it into the same category as groups like Fates Warning, Porcupine Tree, etc.

Spock's Beard - Modern progressive rock/pop with a strong vintage prog element. their newest self titled record is fabulous. Other than that, V is also a stand out record, but in a very different way, since they had a major lineup change a couple of years after that record.

Pain of Salvation - Heavy prog metal with lots of different elements. These guys are truly progressive, mixing genre's and styles in a way that is very musical. Their newest (Scarsick) is great, but may take a couple of listens to get into. They have a habit of writing albums that sound great as albums, but the individual songs don't always stand up on their own for the first listen or two. "Be" is also a great record, much more composed and with a small orchestra playing along. All of their records so far are concept records, with some of them being very obvious (Be) and others you wouldn't notice until you dug a little deeper (Scarsick)

Enchant - Prog rock, not too heavy, a bit similar to Rush (but now that I've said that, you will probably say they don't sound at all alike). They write songs, and not wanky riffs. Very musical stuff, with some good playing (the bass player is very good). I don't always think of these guys as one of my favorites, but the songs get stuck in my head all of the time.

Frost - Rock with a bit of a heavy edge and a good amount of keyboards. Their first record is amazing. The second record is still pretty good, with some moments that are just perfect. Check out the first one, it is one of the best records I have heard in a long time.

Flower Kings - old school psychedelic prog. Probably not what you are looking for, but the bass player on the last 4 or 5 albums is fantastic. Space Revolver is a great record, but definitely has a strong old school influence.

O.S.I. - Heavy prog rock/metal with some electronic influences. Cool stuff, the drummer of Dream Theater, and guitarist of Fates Warning, with some electronic samples and editing from Kevin Moore, which gives it an interesting flare.

Opeth - Heavy prog metal with a sort of gothic influence. Check out Ghost Reveries as a first listen, very good songwriting, and it has less of the growly vocals than a lot of their other albums (expect about 1/3 of them to be growly). His singing is very good, though, so it kind of makes up for it.

Tiles - Harder prog rock. The bass playing with these guys is pretty good. I have some of their songs I really like, and others I can't stand. They definitely aren't super modern, but they don't have a vintage feel to them either.

Dream Theater - I don't think I need to mention these guys. I am not a huge fan of the newer stuff, although if you like heavier prog, you can't get much better in terms of flashy playing than them.

If I could suggest only three records, they would be these:

Spock's Beard - Spock's Beard
Frost - Milliontown
Pain of Salvation - Scarsick or Be (depending on if you want more heavyness or more of an orchestral feel)

[Lync]

One more...a shout out to Dug, Ty, and Jerry for King's X.