"Non-Prog" Discussion

[Reepicheep]

Nanci Griffith is one of the finest singer/songwriter's on the planet. I've seen her live a couple of times and she's wonderful in that context too. Same for the Indigo Girls. Everytime I see them I come away wanting to say "Y'all" but I just can't pull it off with my California accent.

You have excellent taste! I have never seen the Indigo Girls live, but I did get to see Nanci Griffith, and I have the DVD of "One Fair Summer Evening" which is very nostalgic for me, since my parents had the cassette tape of the same show, and played it all throughout my childhood!
I can't pull off a good "y'all" either.
When we first moved to TN from Cali, I taught preschool, and all the kids said it and I thought, to get their attention, I might as well try it.
"Y'all" coming from the lips of a Californian sounded truly ridiculous.
I was glad no one was there to hear it.

[theHermit]

Thanks Flo!

I live in upstate NY now and there is a definite local accent that sounds like a cross between Wisconsin/Minnesota and New England. One Fair Summer Evening is a lovely record and contains my favorite version of Love at the Five and Dime. That song almost always brings tears to my eyes. The Indigo Girls also write such affecting love songs. Power of Two is in my top five.

Moose, the growls are more menacing to my ears. I think they work in the context of the songs, though it took me a while to get used to them. Shortly before I moved from California to NY I stayed with a buddy of mine for about a week before flying out and when we would drive over the hill from his house to the city I'd often be playing the new Opeth record Ghost Reveries since all of my other cd's were on a moving van, and he couldn't help but chuckle at Mikael's growls! Now to my ears Ayreon reminds me of cheese though I like Mikael's voice on that album you are referring to.

[ts_mpls]

Woohoo, Minnesota!

...sorry, felt obligated to say that

tim

[yyzmoose]

Thanks Flo!

Moose, the growls are more menacing to my ears. I think they work in the context of the songs, though it took me a while to get used to them. Shortly before I moved from California to NY I stayed with a buddy of mine for about a week before flying out and when we would drive over the hill from his house to the city I'd often be playing the new Opeth record Ghost Reveries since all of my other cd's were on a moving van, and he couldn't help but chuckle at Mikael's growls! Now to my ears Ayreon reminds me of cheese though I like Mikael's voice on that album you are referring to.

I hate metal growling with a passion, but the few brief spurts on the Ayreon album seem to fit, to my ears. I don't hear that "cheese" factor on "the Human Equasion". It's actually one of my all-time favorite albums. The very dark lyrical content is enough to steer me clear of the Opeth metal albums even without the vocals. I've heard many of their songs and they also come across as too repeptetive for my taste.

[theHermit]

I didn't care for the growling either at first. It has grown on me to the point to where I find it an essential part of their music, especially when alternated with clean vocals in the same, long track. I was drawn to Opeth initially because I'd listened to a video interview with guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt and the interviewer asked him whether he was into a particular religion and after he responded that he was an agnostic, he talked about how he liked to write about the same sorts of fantasy/ghost story/occult subjects that fascinated him as a teen. These sorts of subjects also interested me as a kid and still do, so I picked up Orchid to begin my Opeth journey. Heck when I was about ten I asked our local parish priest to take me along with him on his next exorcism! My mom nearly fainted, but when the kindly man mentioned that excorcisms weren't preformed much anymore, I told him that the service obviously existed for a reason and if he ever did need to go perform one that I'd like to come along

[yyzmoose]

Without starting an argument on religion, my take on those calling themselves agnostic is simple, MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY! Kind of like being a political moderate. I love asking moderates to state their core beliefs. So, in less than one paragraph I manage to bring up the two topics most likely to start a fight. And of course I completely forgot the topic at hand... Oh yeah, the Opeth guy. It seems to me that such dark subject matter can work well with this type of music. But does every song have to be that way? Doesn't it get awfully redundant? Even in metal, I think songs should cover a wide range of emotions and subject matter, or it can get boring pretty fast.

[theHermit]

I think agnosticism is understandable in that faith is a lot like Kierkegaard characterized it in his analogy of leaping into a black whole that you can't really see into. You have to just take the jump on faith. People get to that point in there own time, is my theory. And some never do. In a more recent interview Akerfeldt talked about his wife and young daughter and how his family left him feeling like he didn't have a void to fill in other ways. I have friends like this and I respect where they are in life. Thing about life though is that everything changes over time, and the lack of a void one day could turn into a gaping hole of emptiness the next.

The thing that keeps Opeth's music interesting to me is how they've grown as a band over time. On the most recent record they've added a full time keyboardist and this adds an interesting dimension to the new tunes and to the older ones in a live context.

[theHermit]

I listed again tonight to the Human Equation and that album does have some very nice moments. Less Bree than I remember. The second track still bugs though. Mikael Akerfeldt's vocals on this work well.

[Rumpska]

Just pretend this post isn't here, I can't delete it.

[Joe-×]

I like tons of non-prog stuff as you might notice if you click on that little WWW button at the bottom of my post. I don't get too hung up on genres. I just like good music. Simple stuff can be good. Even some simple CCM is awesome - I liked early-mid Petra and everything with John Elefante - even those Kansas albums! When I was young and stupid, I bought tons of hair metal. I'll listen to pop, power pop, rock, pomp rock, celtic, new age, electronic, trance, metal, classical, whatever. I'm nuts about those two pompy Dutch boys - Valentine and Valensia. And I even dig that schlocky Michael Buble pop standards ectojazz stuff. I like a good mix of things. It's easy to get bored with any one thing.

Joe

[Reepicheep]

I like tons of non-prog stuff as you might notice if you click on that little WWW button at the bottom of my post.

Awesome! Old school Fountains of Wayne and The Corrs!!
Of course I also was glad to see you had a lot of Sarah M. too.


i need to catalogue my music.

[MayorOfLongview]

My new favorite non-prog band....
Hooverphonic
Anyone heard of them (except Bethany)?

[yyzmoose]

Awesome! Old school Fountains of Wayne and The Corrs!!
Of course I also was glad to see you had a lot of Sarah M. too.

I always wondered why The Corrs were not more popular in the US. They play catchy but high quality pop, are talented musicians, and lets face it, they are great looking. I prefer when they play the more celtic type of music as opposed to the pop, but they are good at both.

[mflorio]

I think agnosticism is understandable in that faith is a lot like Kierkegaard characterized it in his analogy of leaping into a black whole that you can't really see into. You have to just take the jump on faith. People get to that point in there own time, is my theory. And some never do. In a more recent interview Akerfeldt talked about his wife and young daughter and how his family left him feeling like he didn't have a void to fill in other ways. I have friends like this and I respect where they are in life. Thing about life though is that everything changes over time, and the lack of a void one day could turn into a gaping hole of emptiness the next.

Wow - I concur 100% with that.... The only thing I would add from my own experience is that faiith can only be a gift from above. You can't reason yourself into it logically. Which is certainly the agnostic approach. Faith is given to both the most intellegent and learned, as well as the most simple and naive.

[theHermit]

I've not heard of Hooverphonic, though I'll do a web search to see if I can find some samples. I'm always happy to discover new tunes!