prog

 i’d like to think i have quite a varied taste in music. that doesn’t necessarily mean it is a good taste in music, just that there is a lot stuff that i will listen to. 

generally when i am asked what music i like i generally plonk for heavy metal, most people understand that. really the music that really floats my boat is prog. i love prog: there i have said it. i love prog.

there is something special about prog, whether it is the complexity of the music, the musicianship of the players, the over the top lyrics with a fantasy bent, or the neo-classical stylings. perhaps it is all those things together.

whether it is genesis, king crimson, yes, pink floyd, kansas, the nice, dream theater, rush or marillion or many others, prog is where my heart is. epic songs, complicated time signatures and concept albums. oh yes.

the proggiest of them all is probably emerson lake and palmer, or as they are fondly known, elp. they took prog to 11. despite their huge success elp never released that many studio albums, and in truth their fame rests on a handful of their earlier releases and their live performances.

it is their live stuff that has caused me to write this because as i was searching on youtube to look at some of their performances i stumbled onto a little goldmine of video that comes under the heading ‘what the fuck’.

one of my chief regrets in life (and i have a few, too many to mention) is that i never learnt to play a musical instrument. i tried the bass guitar. got nowhere with it, i have even given up my air guitar habit. when i saw these videos i have seen just what i could have accomplished if i had just focused a bit more.

enjoy – these need to be seen by everyone. 

first up is a snippet of elp in action - with some shots of keith emerson flying his plane (so very prog and roll). 

but just to show that prog isn't just for old men - here are a few young japanese girls playing various elp tunes. 

tarkus - condensed down to just under 4-minutes 

same tune, slightly longer, different player

and here is a 9-year old playing it 

all are pretty awesome when consider the ages of the players. 

it makes me wonder why in michael gove's recently announced tough and back to basics school curriculum announcements he hasn't made music part of it all - not so we can have even more people wanting to go on x-talented voices but so they can appreciate why such programmes are not all that good.