If you can’t own up to liking Prog on an audiophile software forum, what the hell are we doing here ?
Here’s three clips on YouTube that I recently fearlessly favourited, despite derisive laughter from daughters and partner:
I’ll add a review from Progblog here
Reference my earlier post on audio quality and sitting with the composer listening to his work via Roon.
Are We There Yet?
Gary Bennett is the bassist with Steve Hackett-approved full-blown symphonic prog band Yak (Journey of the Yak, 2008, Quest for the Stones, 2015); bassist/guitarist/keyboards player with Oktober (Sandcastles, 2015) alongside Yak drummer David Speight and the vocalist Molnár Kinga; and collaborator with bespoke hi-fi manufacturers Rega.
Sandcastles is difficult to pigeonhole, though prog and folk influences do shine through. It’s well-crafted, intelligent pop-rock along the lines of Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin, able to reach a wide audience that naturally includes anyone into prog.
Bennett has just put out a 24 minute-long instrumental track Are We There Yet? that he’s been working on for some time, playing all instruments apart from bodhran (provided by Fez Powell, who also contributed to Sandcastles); an earlier version was posted on YouTube at the end of 2018. There’s no doubt that Are We There Yet? is more proggy than Sandcastles, something that has the feel of an early 70s epic, carefully built up in layers and employing the appropriate choice of instrumentation. Sandcastles features tracks with what I’d describe as Mike Oldfield-like guitar which adds to the prog feel; Are We There Yet? also includes the same clean, compressed and EQ’d guitar sound but there’s so much more going on. The electric piano (a Hohner Pianet T carefully renovated with the help of staff at Rega) used in the introduction and conclusion adds to the 70’s vibe, as electric piano seems to have fallen out of favour from the current scene.
The track consists of four themes which appear throughout the piece, but I think you can subdivide the composition into four roughly equal-length sections; part one has the electric piano intro followed by a development built up from symphonic choral keyboards, through acoustic guitar melodies over keyboard chord patterns that seamlessly introduce electric guitar; part two is more reflective, slower paced and less dense but still highly melodic; a child’s voice asking ‘are we there yet?’ marks the transition to part three, which has a pleasant bucolic atmosphere featuring acoustic guitar and percussion; part four begins with some Canterbury-like electric piano and the pace alternately hastens and slows as the different themes surface.
I imagine this would appeal to fans of Camel, Gordon Giltrap, Steve Hackett, Jon and Vangelis or Mike Oldfield. It’s a very satisfying piece of music - I really like it.
You can listen to it here https://youtu.be/jdyWj2id41s #progressiverock #progrock #prog #symphonicprog Oktober
Alright @Chrislayeruk, you got us. Mods have admitted defeat. It seems like you’ve posted the above in [another] thread by mistake, but what in all the seven hells is the thread you meant to post in ? Is there a Prog Rock thread in Music ? Has anyone told @Rugby ? Or are we just posting about Prog randomly now, because I think I’d like to join the Dark Side if so.
Edit: I started this thread, just to give your post a good home !
6 Likes
LITE - “Bond”
Covet - “Falkor”
Scale the Sumit - “Oort Cloud”
2 Likes
A dedicated Prog category would be nice. Love my weekend mornings in Starbucks reading PROG magazine and checking out all the new groups on Tidal. Then I add them to my favs to checkout in more detail with roon at home. This weekends pick - Wired for Madness - Jordan Rudess.
5 Likes
Thanks, it was referencing an earlier post where the composer listened to his music on my system. I was just fleshing out that this music is actually out there. 
Thanks for making a new topic for prog fans.
1 Like
Hi, my name is Greg and it’s been 10 minutes since I listened to Prog music.
Cheers, Greg
14 Likes
All very fine songs 
The “new kid”
6 Likes
He is great in concert. Saw him a couple of months ago.
2 Likes
Wow. Hard to believe it’s all more or less recent recordings (except from the King Crimson one). Are we just seeing a PROG revival (despite or maybe becauseof* derisive laughter from @andybob 's daughters and partner)?? 
3 Likes
Love me some prog.
Really enjoy these youtube analyses that Beato does (this one about Roundabout):
4 Likes
It’s funny, I have actually seen a huge upswing in popularity surrounding prog music over the last 10 years.
I have been in numerous metal, and “core” bands over the years, and a lot of the bands (and former band mates) I use to share the stage with have either moved to prog stuff or post rock/shoe gaze.
Animals As Leaders - “Physical Education”
The Omnific - “Objets de Vertu”
The Contortionist - “Language (Rediscovered)”
3 Likes
Anyone here attended one or more ctte ? Next year will be 6 and this time with family. Prog is alive and well!
Riverside from Poland. Highly recommended for all fans of Prog!
13 Likes
If Prog Rock is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
Been a Yes fan since I was old enough to care about music, in the days when we “streamed” our music from AM radio (seventy seven, W A B C…).
While not technically prog rock, will be seeing Brit Floyd in June (again). If you’re a 'floyd fan, do not hesitate to see these guys if they come near you.
3 Likes
Yup, been to a few. Usually go to ROSfest each year (next week - they moved to Sarasota, FL) and occasionally to other prog meetings. Prog is still my favorite music genre.
Karel
I saw them a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the show.
Big Big Train are an interesting group if you haven’t checked them out.
3 Likes
All but 2014, PN14 instead. 2020 is already booked.